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Biden Attending His Final G20 Summit in Rio de Janeiro; Trump Confirms Plan to Use Military in Mass Deportation Program; Soon, Giuliani Back in Court for Lawsuit Over Unpaid Legal Bills. Aired 7- 7:30a ET

Aired November 18, 2024 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, President Biden is kicking off the G20 summit in Brazil, fresh off the announcement that his administration is giving Ukraine the green light to strike Russia with longer range U.S. weapons.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, President-elect Trump weighing in on how exactly he will address the issues at the border. Could the military be used?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight, Spirit Airlines files for bankruptcy just in time for holiday travel.

I'm John Berman with Sarah Sidner and Kate Bolduan. It is Monday. Can you feel the burning? This is CNN News Central.

BOLDUAN: This morning we are standing by to see President Biden in Rio de Janeiro at the G20 Summit attending the final international summits of his presidency, as he's about to meet with world leaders here in Brazil. But it is who's coming next that appears to be the real focus. A diplomat from Western Europe telling Politico this, the real topic, is Trump's arrival.

Adding this about Ukraine and beyond, Trump's impact is incredibly visible. There are new ceasefire talks in Lebanon. Scholz is now calling Putin. It's like something powerful just happened. And we're starting to see accelerating shockwaves across the globe. Clearly, Trump's promises on Ukraine, tariffs and the climate already are looming large.

CNN's Kayla Tausche traveling with President Biden joining us now. Kayla, Biden is heading. Into this summit right now, right after, as I mentioned, announcing this -- the new position opening, opening things up further for Ukraine to strike further into Russia. What are you hearing about today?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly it is a major shift in policy, a significant decision by the Biden administration after months of deliberating on whether such a change would even be effective to allow Ukraine to strike targets up to 190 miles away using those U.S.-made long range missiles, and that decision could also green light new authorities from the U.K. and France, to use their manufactured long range missiles as well into targets into Russia.

Earlier today, the principal deputy national security adviser, John Finer, bristled at the suggestion that the Kremlin is saying that this is going to lead to more retaliation and potentially widening of the conflict to involve the United States or NATO allies. Finer saying earlier today, Russia lit the fire and it was Russia that upped the ante, both with recent aerial attacks on Ukraine, as well as the recruitment of thousands of North Korean troops that they see as an expansion of the war on its own.

Now, of course, that is just one of the major conflicts that's going to be discussed here at the G20. Russian President Vladimir Putin declined to attend, even though he's a member of the G20, because just a few weeks ago he said that his attendance could disrupt the gathering. There was also the threat that Brazil could perhaps arrest him if he set foot on soil here.

But, of course, as you mentioned, the backdrop to all of this is the fact that in just about two months time, there will be an incoming administration that's going to upend the status quo for these U.S. alliances and adversarial relationships that are, by their nature, the fabric of the G20. The U.S. has acknowledged that this is not a group of likeminded nations, that they disagree on quite a few areas. And so already there is jockeying to figure out where there might be more alignment with the Trump administration, what exactly the incoming president would do.

But as we heard from President Biden yesterday in the Amazon, where he was talking about the progress made on climate, he said no one can undo his legacy. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's no secret that I'm leaving office in January. I will have my -- I will leave my successor and my country in a strong foundation to build on if they choose to do so.

It's true. Some may seek to lie, deny or delay the clean energy revolution that's underway in America, but nobody can reverse it, nobody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAUSCHE: Now, President Biden and President-elect Trump held a long ranging conversation last week that officials say discussed a whole host of issues from Biden's own legislative priorities to the U.S. position in these conflicts around the world, but asked today whether the U.S. was worried that some of these world leaders would seek to essentially do a runaround of the Biden administration. Finer, the deputy national security adviser, said there's only one president at a time. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Kayla Tausche in Rio, thank you so much, Kayla. Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate. Breaking overnight, President-elect Donald Trump confirming he plans to use the military to assist in those mass deportations he's promised throughout its campaign. Overnight, Trump reposted a comment about his plans to declare a national emergency over illegal immigration and use military assets, adding this, true, exclamation point. And the president-elect is refusing to back down over his cabinet picks, even as some of the most controversial ones may face an uphill confirmation battle in the Senate.

Now, just overnight, Trump announced his pick to head the Federal Communications Commission. Brendan Carr. Carr is currently an FCC commissioner and authored a chapter on proposed changes to that agency in the Project 2025.

CNN's Steve Contorno joining us now. What are you learning this morning about both the picks and the potential use of the military for these mass deportations?

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, good morning, Sara. Donald Trump is back in Palm Beach today, where we expect him to continue to build out his cabinet. Over the weekend, his allies defended his picks and made the case that Donald Trump deserves to have the cabinet of his choice, no matter the controversies that are looming over some of these picks, like Matt Gaetz for attorney general, or Pete Hegseth, his pick for defense secretary. Take a listen to what Mike Johnson had to say about the cabinet that Trump is currently putting together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): These are disruptors. They are. I think that's by design. Any president has the right to name their own cabinet, to nominate persons that they think will fulfill their agenda. And the people that are on this list will do that. They will go into the agencies that they're being asked to lead, and they will reform them. These agencies need reform. And I think the vast majority of the American people understand that. You can't have status quo appointments in a moment like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Now, Trump is quickly assembling his cabinet at much faster speed than eight years ago when he was elected in 2016, although there are still some key jobs that remain unfilled. Let me walk through a few of them, the treasury secretary, for example, commerce secretary, labor, housing and urban development, transportation and education. Education, an interesting one because Donald Trump has vowed to shutter the Department of Education. So, it'll be interesting to see who he puts in that role.

Of course, he has already taken a number of steps to fill key roles related to immigration. And as you said, Sara, Donald Trump has been threatening to use the military in order to execute some of his plans over the weekend. We learned that that includes potentially declaring a state of emergency that would allow him to use Pentagon resources in order to fund his plan. SIDNER: I want to ask you about some of the things that have come up both investigations and accusations that have been meted out at Hegseth and Gaetz. Where do those investigations and where those accusations stand at this point?

CONTORNO: Let's start with Hegseth. Over the weekend, we learned that a lawyer for Hegseth acknowledged that he paid a woman in a settlement related to a claim about sexual assault. He denies the claim. They also did not share the amount, but they acknowledged that it was related to an October 2017 incident in which he was accused by this woman of sexual assault. He was never charged. He was not actually even named in the police report that we -- the police statement that we saw as a suspect. However, he was involved in that incident in Monterey, California in 2017.

Trump and his campaign so far is standing by Hegseth. In fact, yesterday, Karoline Leavitt, his incoming press secretary, defended him in a tweet that she posted on social media.

And then Gaetz, we are told Donald Trump is, quote, 100 percent behind that nomination, even as the questions remain over the contents of an ethics investigation related to alleged sexual misconduct. Sara?

SIDNER: There are calls to have that report come out. We will see what happens. Thank you so much, Steve Contorno, there live for us from West Palm Beach, Florida. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, Rudy Giuliani has no apartment, no Mercedes, no fancy watches and no attorneys. So, what does he have? A court date as he tries to get out of a new lawsuit.

And he says he was stepping up to save fellow New Yorkers. Today, we could hear the first defense witness for Daniel Penny, the man charged with choking to death a homeless man on a New York subway.

And the brand new forecast for holiday travel this morning.

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Let's put it this way, if you want to get somewhere for Thanksgiving, you better leave now.

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BERMAN: So, a new legal battle for former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani this morning, he will be in a courtroom trying to get a lawsuit thrown out over unpaid legal fees and in what could be a sign of financial and legal troubles Giuliani is representing himself.

So, let's get to seeing as Kara Scannell outside the courthouse. Kara, where does this fit exactly in all of Giuliani's problems?

[07:15:01]

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a lawsuit that was filed last year by the law firm that represented Giuliani in a number of his criminal investigations, including that one in New York having to do with foreign lobbying. Of course, Giuliani was not charged in that, but the law firm has filed a suit saying that Giuliani owes them more than $1.3 million in unpaid legal bills, and Giuliani is in court today to try to get that lawsuit thrown out.

His argument is that he signed a retainer with the lawyer, Bob Costello, and it was the deal with him that he had struck, saying that he did not sign a deal with the law firm and Costello no longer works there. So, that is one of his arguments. The other, he's saying he never received the invoices to pay these bills.

So, he's going to try to convince a judge of that today. You know, as you say, though, it is one of many legal issues Giuliani is facing as numerous people are coming after him to try to collect millions of dollars. John?

BERMAN: Yes. And what's the status of his watches and cars and luxury items? And things like that he's had to turn over as part of this defamation ruling.

SCANNELL: So, there is a deadline on Friday for Giuliani to turn over some of his assets to the two Georgia election workers. And according to his new attorney in that case, because there's ones representing him in that, also sought to remove themselves, he said that Giuliani had turned over this 1980 Mercedes that was once owned by Lauren Bacall, as well as about two dozen watches.

Giuliani, though, is in the process of transferring his New York apartment to the women, but now he is saying he wants the refrigerator that is in it, because under the rules that govern this issue, he's allowed to keep some things that are essential.

So, he's trying to fight to keep this refrigerator. He was also supposed to turn over on Friday some sports memorabilia, including a signed Joe DiMaggio shirt, but he did not turn that over, according to his lawyer. John?

BERMAN: All right. Kara Scannell, thank you very much, very interesting. So, giving up the two dozen watches, but wants to keep the fridge, Kate?

BOLDUAN: You know, essential, essential versus non-essential goods.

BERMAN: I guess it depends what's in it.

BOLDUAN: Joe DiMaggio gear, essential.

BERMAN: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Apparently so. We will see. A judge is deciding all of that for him.

Coming up for us, Donald Trump promised he will fix inflation and bring down prices. But could another of his promises carrying out mass deportations actually force prices to rise? New analysis for you.

And if all you want for Christmas is a little beyond, say, halftime show, you may be in luck.

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SIDNER: New this morning. Spirit Airlines, a no frills discount airline, has filed for bankruptcy, mounting losses, unaffordable debt, increased competition and its inability to merge with other airlines left them little choice. The airline said it will continue to operate as normal as it restructures its debt.

As you know, we're just ten days before Thanksgiving, which is usually the busiest travel day of the year. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Timing is everything. So, the high cost of living was a driving force for millions of Americans voting for Donald Trump this time, and the president-elect has vowed to bring down prices during his during the campaign. That promise may collide now with another one of Donald Trump's biggest promises, carrying out mass deportations of undocumented migrants and could actually force prices to go up rather than come down. So, where does it leave us?

CNN's Matt Egan has been looking at it? This is a question you were kind of diving into with a new analysis. What are you finding?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, listen, no secret. Americans are fed up with high grocery prices, but mass deportations could make them go even higher. The problem is that these industries are heavily reliant on undocumented workers. And it's simple, right? Fewer workers mean less food.

Let's just look at one example, crop farm workers. The USDA found that 41 percent of the people who work as crop farm workers in the U.S. are unauthorized. I spoke to a farmer in Michigan who told me that if there are mass deportations like what the president-elect has proposed, he said it would be devastating to the ag economy because there'd be nobody to pick the crops.

But it's not just about farm workers. Across the entire food chain, you have this issue. Many sectors have tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of unauthorized workers, including food production, food related wholesale, grocery, restaurants, of course, all together and estimated $1.7 million people who work in the food industry are undocumented.

Take a listen to this warning from Chuck Connor. He's the CEO of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK CONNER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATOINAL COUNCIL OF FARMER COOPERATIVES: You take away from those workers, you're not going to have production. There's only one way prices are going to go. They're going to go dramatically higher.

When cows don't get milked, when apples don't get picked, you know, when fruits and vegetables are not harvested, your supply is going to fall, probably fall dramatically, and that only drives prices up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EGAN: The problem, of course, is that high grocery prices are a major frustration for Americans. They sent Trump back to the White House, but one of his key campaign promises could make them go higher.

BOLDUAN: How much progress has been made, though, in terms of just food prices at the grocery store?

EGAN: A surprising amount, actually. So, the rate of food inflation, food at home and supermarkets, look at this, skyrocketed north of 13 percent two years ago. That was a nightmare for everyone. But look how sharply it's come down. It's come down to about 1 percent. It's actually below the overall rate of inflation.

Now, the level of prices, of course, are still very high from all of these price increases but it's certainly moving in the right direction.

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We could start to see this chart go move in the wrong direction, though, if there's mass deportations, especially for food items that require manual labor, right, anything that has to be picked, like tomatoes or berries or apples, also anything involving meat and dairy.

BOLDUAN: And you also -- here, these are jobs that Americans do not want to fill these jobs. That's what we've often heard.

EGAN: That is really a very critical point. We heard that again and again, is that Americans don't want these jobs, that when they're open, they don't take these jobs. And again and again, I heard from industry officials who say they need more foreign workers, not fewer. I should point out, we reached out to the Trump transition. They did not get back to us. They've repeatedly argued that their plans will not add to inflation.

But, Kate, the devil's in the details, right? How many people do they really want to deport? How many could actually be deported? And the answer I think to those questions is going to go a long way to showing what happens next when it comes to prices.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and what direction that that graph goes. Thank you so much. That's something to continue to track, for sure. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Brand new reports this morning that president elect Trump is having second thoughts about his top two candidates for treasury secretary. We'll discuss why that is, coming up.

And a perfect record thwarted a look at the highlights after the Chiefs faced a stampede by the Buffalo Bills.

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