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CNN International: Trump Could Announce Key Positions in Days; World Leaders React to Trump's Victory; Harris Concedes, Urges Supporters "Don't Ever Give Up" Cause; Trump Allies Jockeying for Key Spots in Administration; Trump Vowed to Fire Special Counsel Smith "Within Two Seconds"; U.S. Federal Reserve Expected to Cut Interest Rates Again. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired November 07, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and this is the CNN "Newsroom". Just ahead, America and the world reckon with Donald Trump's remarkable return to the White House. We have reaction from the U.S. and abroad, coming up.
Kamala Harris concedes the election, but not the fight that fueled her campaign. And now the focus turns to Joe Biden with the U.S. President due to speak today and later. The economy was a leading issue for voters. We take a look at how Wall Street is reacting to Trump's victory.
Celebration and some for Donald Trump, in the wake of his election victory, the U.S. President-elect is looking at potential candidates for top positions in his administration. His transition team has set up offices in West Palm Beach near his Mar-a-Lago home. And sources say Trump could begin announcing key roles in his administration in the days.
One big question now is, what roles prominent supporters like Elon Musk and RFK Jr. will hold. Musk is not expected to take a formal government position, as doing so would require him to divest from the companies that he owns. Kamala Harris, meantime, on Wednesday, conceded the election to Trump, taking a very different path than he did four years ago at her alma mater, Howard University in Washington, D.C.
She delivered a positive and uplifting speech to supporters. She said she had called the president-elect to congratulate him on his victory and offered to help his team with the transition. She urged her supporters to accept the election results, but also said that her loss does not mean the end of their cause. She said it is time to organize, mobilize and stay engaged in the fight for freedom and justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAMALA HARRIS (D), U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign. Sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win. That doesn't mean we won't win. The important thing is, don't ever give up. Don't ever give up. Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: For Trump supporters, his victory was a validation of their belief that he can fix the country's problems. At election night parties all across the nation, Republicans spoke about the issues they're eager for Trump to tackle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On day one, well, we got to close the border.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first thing I want him to do is pardon every single January 6 protester.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immigration, trade and jobs and endless wars, ending the endless wars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, let's go now to CNN's Alayna Treene, she is tracking the Trump transition process. Alayna, what are they focusing on now?
ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, look, things are moving at a very quick speed now, Fred. And that comes after, really, for several months. Despite it being very normal for presidents to have conversations about who could fill their cabinet roles or top administrative roles.
Donald Trump had really not wanted to seriously have any conversations about who he would be considering for those roles untold. He is superstitious. He said that he didn't want to do what Hillary Clinton did back in 2016 and having planned out and mapped out some of what a potential administration would have looked like.
But now that he has won, these conversations are taking on, you know, a new level of urgency, and we know that even before the race was even called, top people and people close to the former president had really been jockeying behind the scenes, reaching out to those in Donald Trump's inner orbit to see which positions they could be considered for.
Now, one key thing, I think there's a couple top roles that Donald Trump cares about the most, and those, I think, are the ones that we're going to see some of the most activity around.
[08:05:00]
I think, first of all, Attorney General, Donald Trump has said in the past, that one of the most important roles he thinks that he would have in an administration is whoever he selects for Attorney General. And he has also said that he had regretted in the past who he had selected, including Jeff Sessions and Bill Barr.
So that's going to be a very big role here. We're hearing some names for that. Of course, I've heard Senator Mike Lee, a Top Donald Trump Ally, but also a senator from Utah. We've heard of Ken Paxton, the Texas lawmaker who had also been impeached in the past like Donald Trump.
A couple other names there that they are currently batting around and have under consideration. Of course, another major role, Fred, is going to be who he selects as his chief of staff, who will be the main person, kind of dictating what is happening within the White House.
Many people have said that they believe that Susie Wiles, his campaign manager, did such a good job on getting Donald Trump elected, that she should really be thought of for that role. However, others I've spoken with have mentioned that they think perhaps she would be better for or maybe would have more influence in a role like a senior counselor or an advisor.
Similar to what we saw Kellyanne Conway take on in the aftermath of the 2016 election, where she was also a campaign manager. Now you mentioned some big names that we have seen throughout the past several months who have been trying to help Donald Trump get elected.
That is Elon Musk and RFK Jr. Now Musk, as you mentioned, is not expected to take on an official role, given his businesses, but he has said and Donald Trump has vowed to make him be a point person on some government efficiency program or a new agency that they may set up to really focus on waste.
Now, Donald Trump himself has also mentioned that he thinks he would have loved to have Elon Musk be a formal secretary, serve in his cabinet in some capacity, but said that Elon Musk does not want to do that. So, we'll see what happens with him and then for RFK Jr. I mean, especially in the end the final weeks of Donald Trump's campaign.
He had been saying he wants RFK Jr. to have a very key role when it comes to handling the nation's health care, and that is expected to happen. I think a key question is whether or not he could actually become the Secretary of the Health and Human Services Agency, or if he would have a different role.
All of those things are being worked out behind the scenes. Now, as for timing on this, because, you know, he just got elected, and we have now only a couple months until Inauguration Day. There are some key dates that I think you should be keeping in mind that we're all kind of watching and waiting for to see what happens.
First of all, December 17 is when they're going to have the electoral college vote, the official vote. Keep that in mind, we should have heard of some of these key names by then. January 3 is when the new Congress will be seated. January 6 is when the Electoral College votes will be counted.
Of course, we remember that from four years ago, and then January 20 is Inauguration Day, and he's expected to have many of these roles filled by that point. Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right, busy schedule indeed. All right. Alayna Treene thank you so much. All right, in about three hours from now, Joe Biden is set to make his first public comments on Donald Trump's victory. He'll deliver remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House.
He spoke to staffers on Wednesday, telling them to take pride in the accomplishments of the Biden Administration. He also praised Kamala Harris, calling her the best vice president he could have hoped for. Our Arlette Saenz is at the White House. So, what do we expect to hear from the president today?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the nation will hear directly from President Joe Biden for the first time since voters decided to send Former President Donald Trump back to the White House next year. The speech will really give President Biden his first opportunity to publicly reflect on the stakes of this election, but also talk about the path forward.
In a statement yesterday, Biden congratulated Vice President Kamala Harris for her historic campaign, saying that she ran so one under extraordinary circumstances. And the President also held a call with staff here at the White House last night, where I'm told he acknowledged the varying emotions that so many are feeling in the wake of Donald Trump's re-election.
President Biden on that call said, quote, while I am sure you're all feeling a variety of emotion today, I hope there's one emotion you didn't lose sight of. That's pride, pride in everything we've accomplished. Now, the president will also use his speech today to talk about this transition period.
His advisers have explained that he is really committed to trying to ensure that there is a peaceful transfer of power, something that Biden was not afforded by Trump back in the 2020 election, when Trump put up many roadblocks to his transition process and never actually conceded or called Biden, following this their race against each other.
Now we're told that Biden did call Trump yesterday to congratulate him and extended an invitation for him to meet with him here at the White House. The two sides are still negotiating the exact date, but we're told it could happen as soon as next week.
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Now, another big question heading into the speech is whether President Biden will try to acknowledge in any way what went wrong for Democrats in this election. In the past 48 hours, there has been a lot of soul searching, a lot of questioning of strategy and messaging from Democrats.
And there is a lot of blame that is being pointed in President Joe Biden's way. There are many Democrats who believe that he set the party back by even pursuing a second bid for re-election at the age of 80. And then when he did finally drop out that it really didn't give whoever the Democratic nominee would be enough time to run a campaign to defeat Trump. Of course, his advisers feel a little bit differently about that, but we'll see if President Biden tries to acknowledge that in any way as Harris' loss is likely to be a key part of his legacy. Now, one thing that the White House Chief of Staff told -- staff in that call last night is that they feel they have a lot more work to do in these final two months in office.
One thing they will try to do is trying to shore up some of those Biden legacy items. They are hoping to focus on ramping up more aid for Ukraine, also implementing some of the legislation that was passed relating to infrastructure, trying to get money out the door for some of these projects that they have.
And there's also potential that they could try to push through some judicial nominations up in the Senate. But so much of the Biden legacy has also been under threat by Donald Trump, who has said that he would reverse many of the plans that Biden had put into place.
But for today, the president really is expected to lay out his view on the election, but also trying to present a way forward for a country that still remains very divided. Of course, the president has said that he does want to ensure there is a peaceful transition of power to President Trump in the coming months as well.
WHITFIELD: All right, Arlette Saenz at the White House. Thank you so much. All right, no surprise, Donald Trump's win is reverberating around the world. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated Trump on what he calls his greatest comeback. Iran says it makes no significant difference who becomes president.
The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia sent his best wishes to Trump. China's President sent Donald Trump his congratulations, adding that he hopes their countries can find the right way to get along. South Korea's President congratulated Trump and said he plans to meet with him soon. And the NATO chief also says he will take Trump's advice from the last time he was president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK RUTTE, NATO SECRETARY GENERAL: I look forward to sit down with Donald Trump to discuss how we can face the threats collectively, what we need to do more. And yes, part of this, and here, he is absolutely right, will be that on the European side of NATO, we will have to spend more, do more to make sure that we reach the capability targets.
When he was president, he was the one in NATO who stimulated us to move over the 2 percent. And now also thanks to him and NATO, if you take out the numbers of the U.S. for a moment, is above the 2 percent and I think very much that is his doing his success, and we need to do more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, before the election, our next guest, Max Boot wrote in "The Washington Post", Trump is a chaos candidate, and we already have far too much chaos in the world. If Trump were to win, he is likely to do great damage to the U.S. military, just when it is needed more than ever to protect the United States and its allies from looming threats abroad.
Max is joining us right now. In addition to being a "Washington Post" Columnist. He is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the author of Reagan, his life and legend. Good morning to you, Max.
MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW AT COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Good morning.
WHITFIELD: Do you still feel the same way?
BOOT: Well, yeah. I mean, I still feel the same way, but I also devalue hope that I am wrong. I mean, I think the thing with Trump is he is inherently unpredictable, because he has so few fixed principles, and he is so subject to manipulation, which is why you're seeing all these world leaders call in and praise him.
You're seeing that NATO Secretary General, talk about his amazing contribution to NATO, even though he's actually very hostile to NATO. So, it's very hard. I mean, he's -- Trump is very transactional, very deal oriented, so it's really hard to know exactly what he's going to wind up doing. And I certainly hope that my worst fears will not be confirmed.
WHITFIELD: And what do you think about like his, the pre-Trump victory? There were expressed worries from a lot of allies, particularly European allies, and now that he has won. How are they tempering their worries or concerns and trying to be optimistic about the road ahead in working with a Trump Administration?
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BOOT: Well, I think it really depends on which allies you're talking about, because in the Middle East, I think the Israeli and Saudi governments are pretty happy to see Trump come back. And Europe, I think there is much more concern, even perhaps you might call it a freak out.
And certainly, there is a lot of worry in Ukraine about whether Trump will cut off Ukraine force them into a bad deal of the Russians, whether, and across Europe, in general, concern about whether Trump will abandon NATO. So, I think these are all major concerns. And I think you know, various leaders are, you know, rushing to try to massage Trump's ego, to get them, you know, Trump on their good side.
So, you saw calls from President Zelenskyy, President Macron and various others, and we'll see how successful that is. But I think it's also imperative for the Europeans in particular, to dramatically ramp up their own military spending, even beyond the 2 percent threshold, because they need to understand.
They could very easily be abandoned by the United States. They could be on their own, but they are -- they still, you know, it's a large and wealthy continent, so they need to be able to devote more resources to their own defense. And you know, whether they like it or not.
WHITFIELD: What do you read into Israel's Prime Minister, his comments saying, you know, this is the greatest comeback. You know, he has expressed, real favorable in you know, Trump leadership versus you just touched on it, Ukraine. Ukraine's leadership may have very different concerns about what kind of continued support they might be from the U.S. under a Trump Administration.
BOOT: Well, you know, Bibi Netanyahu doesn't celebrate Christmas, but if he did, this would be kind of Christmas come early in November. Because, you know, he thinks he's going to be greatly advantaged by having Trump in the White House. He's not going to, you know, he's kind of, even though President Biden has been pretty supportive of Israel.
Netanyahu is chafed at Biden's attempts to rein in Israel, to push for a diplomatic solution in Gaza and Lebanon, to avert a larger war with Iran, and to prevent, you know, Israeli annexation of the West Bank. And now Netanyahu is going to feel like he's going to get to do anything he wants, that the Trump will give him carte blanche.
And that may very well be the case, but he could also wind up being unpleasantly surprised, because, you know, Trump has made clear he doesn't like seeing the headlines about casualties and war. And he wants Israel to wrap up its conflicts by the time that he takes office on January 20. And I think that will be very hard to do for Netanyahu.
WHITFIELD: All right. Max Boot, great to see you this morning. Thank you so much from the Council on Foreign Relations. All right, as we mentioned, Chinese officials confirm that China's President has been in contact with Donald Trump. President Xi Jinping told president- elect that both countries will benefit from cooperation and lose from confrontation.
During his last term, Donald Trump slapped tariffs on billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods, and he promises to do it again. Let's bring in now Marc Stewart from Beijing, good evening to you. So, what is Trump's return to office mean for China? And it's at times, frost your relationship with the U.S.
MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, Fredricka, Beijing, for the moment, is playing it very safe, because it wasn't that long ago when we saw the previous Trump Administration. It's causing flashbacks, I'm sure, for many government officials when they would lie awake at night wondering what exactly is next.
Indeed, Xi Jinping did extend his congratulations. And if we look at the readout from the Chinese government, it is full a very safe diplomatic speak, talking about win-win cooperation, mutual respect, peaceful co-existence. This is a very complicated relationship between these two world leaders.
At one time, we saw them early on in the administration having chocolate cake together at Mar-a-Lago. But then things became a bit frosty when it came to China's response to COVID, and then this bigger issue of trade and tariffs. And this tariff threat is something that is very much well on the minds of the Chinese public.
We have been looking at social media postings on the site Weibo, which is pretty much China's version of X. And there is concern about these additional tariffs that could be facing Chinese products. At the same time, this is an administration that may actually empower China.
President Trump in the past, President-elect Trump, was very critical of alliances such as NATO. This at a time when China is trying to establish itself as the leader of a new world order, the alternative to the West.
[08:20:00]
So, Fredricka, this may give China some diplomatic license, if you will, when it comes to very contentious issues such as Taiwan, such as the South China sea, Korea, South Korea, as well as Japan and the broader concerns of security here in the Asia Pacific region, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Marc Stewart, Beijing, thanks so much. All right. Still to come, Harris concedes the election, but not the fight that fueled her campaign. What's ahead for her and the Democratic Party when we come back?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Vice President Kamala Harris is in Washington, D.C. today, where she will get briefings and have internal meetings with staff. On Wednesday, she offered an uplifting message to her supporters at Howard University, saying she conceded the 2024 presidential election, but not the fight that fueled her campaign.
As the Democratic Party comes to terms with its loss, it's also doing some soul searching. Harris offered this message of unity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: I am so proud of the race we ran, and the way we ran it, and the way we ran it. Over the 107 days of this campaign, we have been intentional about building community and building coalitions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Eva McKend has been with the Harris campaign, and she's joining us now from Washington, D.C. All right, so what is Kamala Harris's message to her supporters, to the country? And you know, what is the unfinished business in these last couple of months?
EVA MCKEND, CNN U.S. NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, the vice president, really urging her supporters to hold the values that drove her campaign while bracing for the next Trump Administration. It was a forward-looking speech that she gave at Howard where she sought to console her supporters about the direction of the country.
But it was on the campaign trail where she often doubted her love for Gen Z. And she had a special message for the young people who championed and worked on her campaign. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: To the young people who are watching, it is OK to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it's going to be OK. On the campaign, I would often say, when we fight, we win, but here's the thing, here's the thing, sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn't mean we won't win. That doesn't mean we won't win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCKEND: And now the transition begins, Fred. December 17 is the electoral college vote. January 3, the new Congress will be seated. We know that the Senate is going to be led by Republicans, as the House votes are still being counted. January 6, the Electoral College votes are counted.
And that is a process that actually Vice President Harris will preside over. January 20 is the inauguration. So, things moving right along, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, all right, Eva McKend, thank you so much.
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All right, still to come when Donald Trump returns to the White House in January, he will be one of the most powerful presidents in history. And his second term will likely look a lot different than his first. We'll explain when we come back. And we'll get reaction to Donald Trump's re-election from around the world, including those from the war zones in Ukraine and Israel.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, two days after Donald Trump's sweeping election victory, his transition team is moving quickly. They're already setting up offices in West Palm Beach, Florida and sharing space with the campaign. New cabinet names are also now being floated.
And sources say Trump could announce key staff picks within days. On Wednesday, the president-elect had this message for American voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- ELECT: We overcame obstacles that nobody thought possible, and it is now clear that we've achieved the most incredible political thing. Look what happened. Is this crazy? But it's a political victory that our country has never seen before. Nothing like this. I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Kamala Harris, meanwhile, has called Trump to offer her congratulations, and in a concession speech, the vice president said the nation must accept the results, but she urged her supporters to keep fighting for their ideals. One day after the election, some voters shared their thoughts with CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm happy. I hope my portfolio goes back up 40 percent, gas goes down by half, and we started making a lot of money again.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In my personal opinion, Trump is the Almond Joy of presidents, terrible and way too nutty. And it definitely kind of hit really hard that people would choose, you know, a campaign basically run on hateful rhetoric over somebody with a level head on their shoulders,
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm feeling relieved that America came together and saved our democracy. I'm hoping for secure borders. I'm hoping for economic change. The main concern here is women's rights, but strong women are going to always rally together and fight for our rights, and we need to vote and come together to make the right decision in the States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm pretty disappointed. I'm just sad. I'm worried.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Stephen Collinson joining me now from Washington. Good morning to Stephen. So, a Trump White House, Republican majority Senate, possibly House. Will Trump have sweeping power? And you know, if so, what does that mean?
[08:30:00]
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: There are going to be very few restraints on President Trump when he gets back into the White House, even fewer than they were in his first term. First of all, if he has that complete control of Washington, he will be in a much better position to advance his agenda and what were pretty extreme policies that he laid out on the economy, big tariffs on immigration.
He's promising a round-up of undocumented migrants, and a lot of the checks and balances that normal presidents have faced in the past won't be there. He's already been impeached twice. That is the remedy for presidential overreach in the Constitution. I don't think Trump's going to be too worried about that, even if Democrats were to win back the House in the midterm elections in two years.
And Trump has also defied all the attempts to bring him to account, for example, for trying to overturn the 2020 election in the legal system. So, what exactly is there to stop Trump pursuing some of his most radical policies.
WHITFIELD: Also, the incoming administration is reportedly focusing on a major economic package centered on taxes, energy policy, border security and deregulation. This, according to two people familiar with the discussions, what more do we know about support on those items?
COLLINSON: If Trump, or if the Republicans managed to win the House, it's still not sure exactly who will control the House. Then it will be a lot easier for the new president to get his agenda through. If Democrats can somehow rally and win the 218 seats needed for a House majority, then things going to be a lot more difficult for Trump.
They could put a break on Trump's agenda. They probably couldn't stop it completely, but there would be negotiations with the White House. So, the former -- the former and future president's big tariff policies, he plans to really target U.S. trading partners, as well as China and for a very harsh enforcement policy on immigration, look like they will come through. It shouldn't, fairly quickly if Republicans get control of the House.
WHITFIELD: All right. So, what about -- you know, all of those previous Trump cabinet members, from Mark Esper to John Bolton, Mark Milley, who all said Trump is dangerous if he's back in the White House, how will warnings from previous administration team members influence newcomers on how they approach their jobs?
COLLINSON: I think a lot of the people that Trump will bring into the government this time are true Trump believers. All the people you mentioned and many others in Trump's first term acted as constraints on the present. Sometimes they worked to shelve some of his most radical and outlandish ideas.
The Trump campaign has been pretty clear that it's building a roster of personnel whose main qualification would be complete loyalty to the new president. So, I don't think we're going to see the kind of efforts to stop him implementing what he exactly wants to implement during his second term.
Now that can change if, if an official is faced with the choice, for example, of whether to take an act that could fall foul of the law that may change their mind. But we've seen that Trump, and I expect we will see as soon as he gets into office, that some people who did fall foul of the law, for instance, the rioters on January the 6th, 2020 were now imprisoned. They're going to get absolved and pardoned by the president and released. So, he has substantial power to protect people who do what he wants them to do.
WHITFIELD: This outcome of this election does this mean that voters overwhelmingly believe that a new Trump Administration will be more of the same, similar to his previous administration, or that something is different this go round.
COLLINSON: I think a lot of voters went for Trump because they are hurting because of high grocery prices, the impact of high interest rates. I don't think those voters necessarily all like the chaos and the anger and the insults that come with the Trump presidency.
I think the new Trump presidency, however, will be more of the same, because the president, the future president, understands that one aspect of his appeal to his most loyal voters is the fact that he's going to go to Washington, tear the economy down, which they don't believe has served them, take aim at governing elites, people in the media, people in big business.
So, he's -- at times during his first administration, he almost seemed to be at war with his with the government machine in Washington. And I think that will continue. And as there are fewer guard rails that will constrain his activity, it will be more of the same, but probably more extreme.
[08:35:00]
WHITFIELD: Stephen Collinson, thank you so much. All right, the re- election of Donald Trump could have an enormous impact on two major war zones, Israel and Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin says he has no plans to congratulate Trump on his victory. During the campaign, Trump promised to solve the Ukraine war in just one day.
Meanwhile, Israel, Gaza and Lebanon are waiting to see how a Trump Presidency will affect them. Israel's Prime Minister congratulated the President-Elect as well. We've got Fred Pleitgen standing by in Berlin. But let's also join here Matthew Chance in Jerusalem. Matthew, let's begin with you. So, Benjamin Netanyahu, very quick to congratulate Donald Trump. Is there a sense on what Trump's win might mean for the Israeli Prime Minister?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I think it's seen as a big positive for Benjamin Netanyahu. He has trumpeted, if you excuse the expression, his relationship, his close relationship with Donald Trump, although there have been tensions in the past. And there's a general sort of expectation amongst pro government supporters in the country and Israelis in general, that this would mark a new, sort of -- you know positive period in relations between Washington and Israel.
I mean, look that -- in the past year or so, since the October the 7th attacks, many Israelis, including many pro-Netanyahu Israelis, have been very sensitive to the idea that the Biden Administration has sought to restrain their military response to the October the 7th attacks, critical of what's been taking place in Gaza and the humanitarian toll of the military action there, not altogether supportive of what's taking place in Lebanon and Israel's attacks on Hezbollah and its invasion of southern Lebanon, its incursions into southern Lebanon.
It's not clear the extent to which the U.S. supported Israel's recent strikes on Iran and its missile production facilities earlier either. Look in contrast, President Trump's first term four years ago or so, was seen as very pro-Israel. He undertook a number of moves which were very favorable to Israel, moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israeli sovereignty in the Golan Heights, which is territory in the north which Israel captured from Syria back in 1967.
Trump adopted a very sort of anti-Iranian, or a tougher response, a tougher stance towards Iran as well. And so, I think the expectation here is that there'll be more of that in a second Trump term. And that's something that many Israelis are kind of looking, looking forward to, with the caveat that -- you know they've been through this once before. Trump is immensely, sort of changeable. He can say one thing and do
another. And so -- you know I think there's a general understanding, both among ordinary Israelis and among privately Israeli officials as well, who know that. You know this close relationship with Donald Trump could -- you know, turn on us expense, and that's something that is a concern.
WHITFIELD: Thank you, Matthew. All right, Fred Trump famously said he'd end Russia's war with Ukraine in a day. Are Ukrainians nervous about what could happen next?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I think they're pretty nervous. I think it's pretty safe to say they're pretty nervous. I think it's also pretty safe to say Fredricka that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is pretty nervous about all of this as well. The same time he is trying to put a brave face on things.
In fact, just a couple of minutes ago, he was speaking at a conference here in Europe where he said that he had congratulated Donald Trump, that he had called him and congratulated him, and I want to read you some of what he said. Then he said he spoke to Donald Trump.
It was a good and productive conversation, he said. But then he also added, and I think this is key, of course, we cannot yet know what his specific actions will be, and I think that's one of the things that's really driving concern, not just in Ukraine, but, of course, across Europe, as to what exactly Donald Trump plans to do in Ukraine.
You're absolutely right. He said he definitely wants to end the war as fast as possible there. He has hinted that perhaps he was going to at the very least cut U.S. weapons supplies to Ukraine, possibly even end them at all, which, of course, would be catastrophic for the Ukrainians on the battlefield.
But I think one of the things that concerns the Ukrainians most is something that J.D. Vance said in the Presidential Race where he essentially laid out what he thought should be the plan for Ukraine, and that seemed to be pretty much matching what the Russians were calling for Ukraine to do as well, which essentially would amount to a ceasefire.
That is very similar to Ukrainian surrender the Ukrainians losing territory, and then also disarming essentially and to becoming neutral with no prospect of ever reaching NATO.
[08:40:00]
That was definitely something that did cause a lot of concern inside Ukraine. Certainly, they're hoping that that is not something that materializes, because, of course, at the same time on the battlefield, the Ukrainians right now on the back foot, and one of the things that they've asked from currently the Biden Administration.
But in general, the U.S. and Ukraine's Western allies is for more weapons, and to be able and allowed to use those weapons to strike deep inside Russian territory. The Ukrainians believe that that is something that is essential for them to try and stop the Russian momentum forward and then possibly even turn the tides on the battlefield, although they're pretty far away from being able to do that.
And finally, Fredricka, I think the other thing that concerns the Ukrainians a lot is that if Donald Trump, as President of the United States decides to cut aid to Ukraine significantly, cut aid, what are the European allies of Ukraine? The U.S.'s NATO allies going to do then? Are they going to stick by their commitments, or are they also going to be forced to, then, at the very least, cut down their aid to Ukraine? Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much Fred Pleitgen and Matthew Chance. All right, still to come, President-Elect Donald Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in New York later on this month, and he's also facing charges in three other criminal cases. So, what happens now? We'll take a look. Also ahead, for the first time in four years, Republicans are in control of the Senate. Will the House be next? A live report on the new shift in the balance of power when we come back.
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WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. Donald Trump is the first U.S. President-Elect who is a convicted felon. In less than three weeks from now, he's scheduled to appear for sentencing in a Manhattan courtroom on charges he falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal.
He's facing charges in three other state and federal criminal cases as well. We're also learning that Special Counsel Jack Smith is in talks with Department of Justice leaders to wind down the two federal cases against Trump. So, what does it all mean? CNN's Zachary Cohen is joining me now from Washington. Good to see you. So, a pretty remarkable situation, the President-Elect facing these legal challenges. What happens to these cases?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Fred is the first time a criminal defendant has ever been elected as President of the United States. So, Donald Trump finding himself once again in a very unique legal situation. But undoubtedly, this election outcome will most -- will have the biggest impact on those two federal cases brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Of course, one relates to Donald Trump's attempts to overturn his 2020, election loss and the other relations handling of classified documents, but both of those were told that Jack Smith and the Justice Department are looking at ways to wind down those cases, basically trying to figure out a way to bring them to a close before Donald Trump takes office.
Donald Trump has made it very clear that he would fire Jack Smith in two seconds, as he says, once he becomes president, he would move to have those cases dismissed once he's in office.
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But that might not -- might not be necessary, as Jack Smith and the Justice Department are trying to bring this to a close before Inauguration Day. And really the only outstanding question as far as those federal cases goes is whether or not Jack Smith will end up writing some kind of a report he is required to, under federal law to produce that report, but it remains to be seen what form or fashion that might take.
And then you have the criminal case in Georgia, that state level case that Donald Trump doesn't really have any power over like he does in the two federal cases. That Georgia case also relating to his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss there. That case has been on hold for several months as a court is weighing whether or not to disqualify the top prosecutor, Fulton County, DA Fani Willis.
There's a hearing next month where that could come to a resolution if Fani Willis is removed, we're told that case essentially goes away. But even if she's allowed to remain on the case and continue prosecuting Trump, sources say that they're skeptical state judge is going to let her move forward while Donald Trump is in office, that would delay the Georgia case into at least 2029.
And then, like you mentioned, there is the case in New York, the hush money case, the conviction of those 34 felonies counts that Donald Trump was scheduled to be sentenced for later this month. Donald Trump's legal team is going to try to make sure that that sentencing does not happen.
They're going to argue essentially, that a President-Elect cannot be sentenced. So ultimately, all these cases are really proof that that strategy we've seen from Trump's legal team for years of delay, delay, delay has been successful.
WHITFIELD: Yep, ends up possibly being pretty effective. All right. Zachary Cohen, thank you so much. All right, results continue to come in for key U.S. Senate races across the country, but CNN projects Republicans will take the majority with at least 52 seats. They've been locked out of the majority since 2021.
Control of the U.S. House well, that's still up in the air, but lawmakers, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, insists they're not in any danger at this point. It could be days or even weeks until the final results are known. Let's bring in now CNN's Lauren Fox, with more on all of the potential shift and the other thing that remain -- may remain the same. So, Lauren, so how likely is the GOP to have control of the presidency and both Houses?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. I mean, I think it's important to remind viewers that there are a lot of races that are still outstanding. But like you, noted Republican Leaders and campaign aides that I'm talking to are feeling very bullish about their chances of maintaining their majority.
And furthermore, they have been preparing for months for what they would do with that majority, if, for some reason, in this case, they are able to win the trifecta, keep the House, win back the Senate, win the White House. What are their policy agenda items that they want to be working on?
And I've been talking with Republicans on both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee they are staring down working on a massive tax bill. Remember that that signature tax legislation that was passed under the Trump Administration, the tax cuts and Jobs Act back in 2017 a lot of the provisions are going to expire at the end of 2025.
And you know, I was talking to one Republican Representative from New York, Nicole Malliotakis, who told me yesterday that they've been actually working in these smaller groups on the committee for months, having meetings with stakeholders, having meetings with people downtown, trying to understand what's working about the legislation we passed back in 2017 what's not working.
And this legislation could include more than just tax policy. It could also include some rollbacks of key parts of the Inflation Reduction Act. That's a piece of legislation that was a signature accomplishment of the Biden Administration. They're also potentially looking at doing some border security provisions as part of that larger bill.
Anything that passes out of the House, however, is going to have to follow a very wonky budget process in the United States Senate, because despite the fact that Republicans have a majority in that chamber, and we know that now the reality is they have to pass legislation. We're just working through this very narrow budget process because they don't have 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, Fred.
WHITFIELD: All right. Lauren Fox, thanks so much. All right still to come, it's Fed decision day for U.S. interest rates. It's also election week in America, but Fed Chief Jerome Powell isn't expected to touch on Donald Trump's big win, details next.
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WHITFIELD: All right, market watchers are expecting the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates later on today, it would be the central bank's second rate cut this year, and it's surrounded by concern that some of Donald Trump's policies could push inflation higher.
Wall Street staged a stunning rally Wednesday on news of Trump's election victory. Here's how U.S. Futures are faring at the moment. Market attention is also expected to shift to what Fed Chief Jerome Powell could say about the future pace of interest rate cuts. CNN's Julia Chatterley is joining us now from New York. Good morning to you, Julia. So, what are we expecting to hear from the Fed later on today?
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: Good morning, Fred. It's all about the do's and don'ts for Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve today. What he does want to be talking about is, as best he can, the path of future interest rates and the economy. What he doesn't want to be talking about is Donald Trump and anything really related to his policies.
It's a tough one. Look, the good news is, as you pointed out, they're expected to cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Good news for borrowers. Then it gets more exciting. He's going to try and circumvent and avoid any talks about tariffs, the impact of perhaps tax cuts, higher spending that's been suggested by the President-Elect and Trump in general.
It's very difficult, but we all know some of the policies that he suggested, whether that's limits to immigration, whether that's potential trade tariffs and an impending tariff war, if he does do that, could have massive implications for the path of future interest rates. The problem is he can't be pre-emptive Jay Powell.
He has to react to what he's got, and right now it's all promises and very little action. So that's where he's left today. It is a bit of a political earthquake. It could be an economic earthquake too, and that's the challenge. And we're already seeing it, by the way Fred.
I'm not just watching stock markets go up. I'm also watching government borrowing costs go up, particularly longer-term borrowing costs. And mortgage rates in the United States are far more sensitive to that than they are to what the Federal Reserve is doing. So, if you're looking at mortgage rates in the U.S. and watching them track higher over the past six weeks, this is why.
Now some part of that's tied to stronger growth, some part of this is tied to the prospect of higher spending. It's also tied to the prospect of higher inflation, and we know immigration limits tariffs, they could ultimately be inflationary. So right now, the expectation is Jay Powell will cut today. He'll try and cut in December.
He'll try and cut next year, but Trump's policies themselves could change that. And the other thing Jay Powell is going to be asked today is, can he remain independent? Is he still going to have a job? Will he stick around? Because we know, in the first iteration of the Trump Administration, their relationship was pretty contentious.
WHITFIELD: Right, those are going to be pretty powerful questions unclear, whether he's going to actually answer them. He may -- you know try to change the second a little bit --
CHATTERLEY: Circumvent.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, circumvent indeed, go the circuitous route. Hey, so I wonder, too, when we look at -- you know all those arrows, those green arrows --
CHATTERLEY: Yeah.
WHITFIELD: -- going upward, and the reaction was swift and strong following the announcement of Donald Trump's win. If you have that, along with what you said is likely to be the prospects of higher spending, that just doesn't seem congruent. Why is it then that we're seeing the reaction that we are? CHATTERLEY: A lot of what we saw yesterday for the stock markets was palpable relief and a bit of partying tied to the prospects of what policies look like. But remember, going into this election, we were talking about not having a result for several days, not having a decisive result, perhaps for several weeks, we suddenly had a result within hours.
A lot of that was investor relief. Then you look at some of the policies, deregulation, there was palpable business optimism in what we saw in the markets yesterday. The banks were enormous winners. They're expecting to deal with less red tape deregulation for big oil and gas, they were also big winners.
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On the reverse side, renewable energy stocks some of the biggest losers. The expectation is under a Trump Administration, they'll receive less support. Obviously, the counter to that was Tesla, of course. Elon Musk, palpably richer, palpably more powerful as a result of this election win. So, its early days, Fred I will couch that, but a lot of what we saw today was relief and then a bit of what might come. But we have to wait and see what policy looks like.
WHITFIELD: Yeah, indeed, very fascinating. All right. Julia Chatterley, thank you so much. Great to see you this morning. All right, and thank you for joining me here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Connect the World" with Becky Anderson is up next.
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