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Trump Transition Team Gets to Work; Harris Concedes, Biden Invites Trump to White House; Europe Reacts to Trump Win; Netanyahu Congratulates Trump on Greatest Comeback; China's Xi Jinping Congratulates Trump Over the Phone. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired November 07, 2024 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT, 2024 PRESIDENT ELECT: It's a political victory that our country has never seen before.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President-elect Donald Trump's transition is already well underway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vice President Kamala Harris delivering a concession speech a day after losing a landslide election to former President Donald Trump.

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really shocking and a kind of disappointing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really hoping he can rein himself in a little bit and continue doing the work that he was doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm Erica Hill live in New York. It is Thursday, November 7th.

We begin this hour in South Florida where sources tell CNN U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is ready to move on his second term agenda and could in fact announce staff picks within a matter of days. His allies are said to be jockeying at this point for key positions in the administration. Sources also telling CNN Trump has prepared a raft of executive orders and regulation reversals for his first day on the job.

Trump also has some pretty important decisions to make about the roles for some of his most vibrant supporters, including billionaire Elon Musk, former presidential candidate RFK Jr. as well. Top cabinet positions could also go to Senator Tom Cotton, Congressman Mike Wallace and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Kamala Harris, meantime, has called Trump to offer her

congratulations. The vice president telling supporters in Washington on Wednesday that while she concedes the election, she does not concede the fight that fueled her campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.: This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves. This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Harris and President Joe Biden have both promised a peaceful transfer of power. Mr. Biden is set to address the nation from the Rose Garden later today, and he has invited President-elect Trump to the White House. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more now on the next steps for Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President-elect Donald Trump's transition is already well underway. Even before the election took place, the heads of that transition team were already trying to vet potential candidates for high-level administration posts. Now, I am told that all day today, Donald Trump was fielding calls from allies, donors, as well as advisors, all people trying to get in his ear either to pitch themselves for administration posts or to pitch people that they knew.

It is now turning into an all-out knife fight between Trump's orbit as they try to prove who has been the most loyal to him and who deserves a spot on his cabinet or within his administration. Now, one place to look as they fill these administration posts is Project 2025. Obviously, as we know, Donald Trump has sought to distance himself from Project 2025, this campaign cycle, particularly the policy.

But even though they want to separate from the policy, they also had Project 2025, a smaller, lesser-known-about personnel filing system run by Johnny McEntee, who is still a close Trump ally. They essentially vetted thousands of people for these potential administration posts. Those were people that they deemed loyal to Donald Trump.

They are expected to provide recommendations to the transition to fill the thousands of posts that are going to be available when Donald Trump takes office. Now, it really is a rush here. There are a lot of big-time positions that people want, and we are told that Donald Trump's team wants to fill those positions as quickly as possible, that he could even name some of these people as early as this week.

Think about positions like chief of staff, attorney general. These are the things that really matter to Donald Trump and really matter in any administration. And all of that is currently happening, the wheels in motion, as we start heading towards that Trump presidency. Kristen Holmes, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Ahead of the transition, the nation's former leaders offering their congratulations. Former U.S. President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama, saying in a statement, quote, this is obviously not the outcome we had hoped for, given our profound disagreements with the Republican ticket on a whole host of issues. But living in a democracy is about recognizing that our point of view won't always win out and being willing to accept the peaceful transfer of power.

Bill and Hillary Clinton praised the Harris campaign and went on to say they wished the president elect well and also hope that he would govern for all Americans.

While George W. Bush thanked President Biden and Vice President Harris for their service and also congratulated Donald Trump on his election.

Joining me now is Thomas Gift. He's director of the Center on U.S. Politics at University College in London. Nice to talk to you again. The last time we spoke, we didn't know it was going to happen. And here we are. President elect Trump preparing, as we just heard from my colleague, Kristen Holmes, getting ready for this transition. He also is very clear promises made promises kept.

He made a lot of promises, whether it was mass deportations, the making good on his promise right to go after some of his enemies, but also lowering prices. What do you think he needs to do in this first 100 days?

THOMAS GIFT, DIRECTOR, CENTER ON U.S. POLITICS, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: Well, I think you're right that these next four years will be Trump unleashed and untethered by the prospect of another election. And first things first in this 100 days, we have to take Trump at his word that he plans on exacting a retribution tour using the federal government and state apparatuses to go after political adversaries. But in terms of policy, I think we can expect a litany of standard Republican orthodoxy.

He'll try to get his 2017 tax cuts made permanent. He's going to try to lower the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 15 percent. He'll push for more deregulation and especially within the administrative state.

He wants to impose fewer constraints on energy production domestically and on tariffs, which is probably the first thing that he might do. He's pledged to impose upwards of 10 to 20 percent tariffs on all imports into the United States, upwards of 60 percent tariffs on imports from China.

HILL: So in terms of getting all that done, you know, our reporting is that there's already work happening when it comes to executive orders, also some rolling back of existing regulations. The fact that Donald Trump is coming in with a decisive victory from voters here in the United States, he is also going to be joined by a Senate that, of course, is controlled by Republicans and the House is leaning that way. How much easier will that make it for him in terms of getting those priorities done?

GIFT: Well, certainly having unified government on Capitol Hill is going to go a long way to helping Trump achieve at least some of his priorities. We still have to keep in mind that Republicans will not have 60 votes to override the filibuster in the Senate. And so, you know, despite having a majority there, there's still constraints on what Trump will be able to do.

But yes, especially during these first 100 days, I really think presidents usually have kind of one opportunity to pick one big legislative item. For George W. Bush, it was no child left behind.

For Barack Obama, it was the Affordable Care Act. For Donald Trump in his first term, it was these tax cuts. And then for Joe Biden, it was really the American Rescue Plan and then eventually the infrastructure bill.

HILL: Voters were very clear. For majority of voters, and this was consistent for months, frankly, their top issues were the economy and immigration. And they really felt Donald Trump was the one who was going to change both of those things for them.

You know, you mentioned a couple of things that we could see in terms of his priority for the 100 days. When it comes to the economy, there was also a promise of lowering prices, but there are concerns that these tariffs could do the exact opposite.

GIFT: I absolutely agree with you. Tariffs and mass deportations, it's hard to think of any other policies that would be more pro- inflationary than that. Both are absolutely going to raise prices.

Of course, Trump's pledge to deregulate, particularly the energy industry, could have cancer bailing pressures. But Trump on the economy, I don't think that he's going to raise prices if he pursues the policies that he's advocating.

HILL: When we look at things from the Democratic side, there's a lot of soul searching going on and there will be for some time to come. There is finger pointing as well when it comes to the Harris campaign and when it comes to the former president, quite frankly. I was struck by a comment from Bernie Sanders who said the party had abandoned working class people and so it shouldn't come as a great surprise to find that the working class had abandoned them.

Was that the biggest issue, you think, or something more?

GIFT: Well, there certainly needs to be a post-mortem among Democrats into what went wrong for the Harris campaign. How the party could lose to someone who's been impeached twice, who's been criminally convicted, who's been tarred by scandals, who's whipped up an insurrection at the Capitol four years ago. Why Democrats can't win an election under that scenario has to be answered because there is something that the Democratic Party is failing to do or communicate that led to this disappointment. And I think that Bernie Sanders does have a point because ultimately white working class voters in particular have almost entirely shifted over to the Republican Party. Donald Trump has staged this realignment and he's been very, very successful.

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I think Democrats spend a little bit too much time talking about cultural issues. I think they spend too little time talking about the economy and ways to, you know, make prices more reasonable and to improve jobs.

HILL: There's also the issue of, you know, sort of the data versus the vibes, as we've been talking about for months. So the data has been pretty positive when it comes to the economy. Unemployment is staying low. Inflation is down. A strong GDP report just last week. But the reality is people don't feel it.

That was part of the messaging that had been pointed out, frankly, for some time, even when Joe Biden was still on the ticket, that was not working for Democrats. Messaging has been a problem for Democrats for decades. This isn't new.

GIFT: No, I completely agree with you. I mean, I think Joe Biden didn't do a very great job at going out to the country and touting all of his legislative achievements. You just go down the list, the pandemic response bill, the Inflation Reduction Act, the infrastructure bill.

All of these are great policies. All of these are bipartisan, more or less, initiatives that have a real positive impact on the American people. And so whenever it comes to public relations, he just wasn't out there selling it or to the extent that he was selling it, he wasn't using language that was resonating with the American public.

HILL: Joe Biden is set to speak to the American people today a little bit later this morning, a few hours from now. What do you expect him to say? What should he say?

GIFT: Well, I don't know if there's much that he can say at this point. I have not considered that question. I think that he basically needs to kind of strike a tone of optimism, say that it's important for Democrats to work with Republicans where they can find compromise, because that's putting the interest of the country above the interest of the party.

I've heard a number of Democrats already, including Elizabeth Warren, using language such as we're going to fight tooth and nail the Trump administration on every single issue. I don't think that that's the right message. You know, America wants the country to come together.

Of course, there are substantive and fundamental disagreements between the Democratic and the Republican Party, but we need to work together where we can and, you know, fight where we can. And I think that that's kind of the tone that Biden should strike. HILL: Thomas Gift, good to talk to you this morning. Thank you.

GIFT: Thanks.

HILL: European leaders are, of course, now preparing for a second Trump presidency. Why some of them are happier about it than others.

Plus, Ukraine is hoping U.S. support for its fight against the Russian invasion will continue under this new Trump administration. How Trump's past may influence that decision.

And a little bit later, Donald Trump says he will govern by the motto promises made, promises kept. We're going to take a closer look at some of those promises from the campaign trail, including his plans for day one when he returns to the White House.

Stay with us.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: European leaders know how tricky it will be to have a stable relationship with the United States with Donald Trump at the helm. So as they congratulate Trump, they're also emphasizing the existing bonds between the U.S. and their respective countries.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying, quote, the EU and the U.S. are more than just allies. We are bound by a true partnership between our peoples and is urging them to continue to work together.

Among the other leaders, Ukraine's president, of course, also appealing to Trump's pride in their messages as they hope to build a good working relationship with the somewhat volatile politician.

Clare Sebastian, joining me now from London. There was some expectation about what a second Trump administration would look like among world leaders. Now they know what it is. The reality is they've been planning for this, Clare.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely the reality, Erica. In fact, we see European leaders meeting today in Budapest. This is the European political community meeting.

And I was at the last one in July in the UK, and they were already telling me that this was sort of baked in. I remember the Belgian prime minister said that they were planning for more America first, whoever won in November. And Trump has made it very clear he thinks Europe should shoulder more responsibility for its own security.

And Europe is definitely trying to do this. We see this with sort of increased defense production. We see actions like Europe taking control under NATO, taking control of the coordination of military supplies for Ukraine, which was previously under U.S. control. So there is clearly an effort underway, but certainly the Trump victory will concentrate

e the mind on this. And while we hear, of course, in those congratulatory messages from European leaders, expressions, emphasis on the unity with the U.S., I think this will definitely focus attention on intra-European unity. They will now have to pull together more than ever on issues, like I said, like defense production, on NATO, on support for Ukraine when it comes to institutions like NATO and the EU.

So this is really a critical moment for these leaders. It's interesting this meeting today is in Budapest, though, because, of course, Viktor Orban is very much the outlier here, very jubilant over the Trump victory. But in general, we see this as a very concentrated moment for European leaders and some trepidation, of course, as to what will come.

HILL: And specifically what will come in Ukraine. A lot of that concern, obviously, shouldered by President Zelenskyy and those in Ukraine. The reality is Donald Trump has claimed that he could end this war in 24 hours.

You know, there's also been reporting that part of that would likely include, from his view, some ceding of territory by Ukraine to Russia. What is the sense in Ukraine this morning about what this will mean?

SEBASTIAN: So it's a little nuanced, actually, Erica, because on the one hand, yes, the rhetoric that has been coming from the Trump campaign has been extremely concerning to Ukraine. You'll remember, of course, that Trump really stepped up his rhetoric when Zelenskyy was in the U.S. around the U.N. General Assembly, calling him the greatest salesman on earth. He comes to the U.S. and always goes back with a hundred billion.

But then again, if we look at the status quo under the Biden administration, which you can assume would have been continued if Kamala Harris had won, that is also not going very well for Ukraine.

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The sort of trickle of aid, the red lines that they've expressed, all of that has brought Ukraine to a point now where we see them facing what the commander in chief has described as the most powerful offensive from Russia yet. They are losing territory on the eastern front and they are facing an exponential increase in aerial attacks affecting their cities. So going into winter now with severely crippled energy grid facing blackouts and all of that.

So I think this is an existential moment. They are very concerned. But you see President Zelenskyy coming out with this charm offensive, trying to appeal to President Trump.

I think they are still hopeful that perhaps a new approach might at least be something to sort of grip onto in this moment.

HILL: We will be watching it all. Clare Sebastian in London this morning. Thank you. In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu is calling Trump's win a huge victory, according to the prime minister's office. He was among the first to call and congratulate Trump. The office releasing a statement saying the two agreed to work together for Israel's security.

Netanyahu posting on social media: Trump's return to the White House offers, quote, a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to their alliance.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, however, Trump's victory is sparking concern and even dread. CNN's Paula Hancocks following these developments from Abu Dhabi and joins us now.

Talk to us a little bit more about the support and, frankly, the enthusiasm from Benjamin Netanyahu. Not surprising at all. But when we talk about the concern and the dread, what does that look like?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, there was certainly one man in the region that was delighted with the result. It was the result that he was hoping for. As you've said, the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, calling it history's greatest comeback.

But, of course, on the other side of that, you do have Palestinian concern that this could not bode well for them. Both sides are looking at the example, the precedence of Trump's first term. And during that term, we saw the former president accept and recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Now, that was something which everybody was expecting to be discussed between the Israelis and the Palestinians in a final peace deal. He also recognized the sovereignty of Israel over the Golan Heights. This is territory which Israel had taken from Syria during the 1967 war.

And so we are hearing from the Palestinian side concerns about what else could be given to Israel when it comes to the next term beginning next year.

Now, when it comes to the Gaza war, for example, it's not exactly clear how former President Donald Trump will deal with that. He has not been clear as to how he would approach that conflict.

He did say back in April to Israel that it does need to finish what they started, get it over with fast, and they are losing the PR war. But he hasn't given details on how exactly he would end that conflict. The same when it comes to Israel and Lebanon with Hezbollah there.

I think there's an expectation that the Israeli prime minister, certainly with his gushing congratulations to President-elect Trump, will be feeling that over the next couple of months, he does have free reign and he will be able to continue the way he wants to when it comes to Gaza, when it comes as well to Israel, excuse me, when it comes to Lebanon.

Now, the one country that is saying at least publicly they're not concerned by this change in power, but potentially would be concerned is Iran. We've heard the statement saying that there is no significant difference. The general policies of the U.S. and Iran are unchanged.

But we know that Iran and Israel is currently engaged in this very high stakes tit for tat attacks where both countries are firing from their own territory onto the enemy territory. So for Iran, knowing that Donald Trump will be and is expected to be very full-throated in his response and his support for Israel, there could well be more of a concern in Tehran -- Erica.

HILL: Paula, appreciate it. Thank you.

Donald Trump's sweeping victory made the front page of publications around the world. Let's take a look at some of them for you. The headline on Australia's "The Age" reading, Here's Donnie. The smaller print there, says he is a man guilty of 34 felonies, twice impeached by the House, accused of racism, misogyny and inciting a riot. But for the second time, he will become president.

In Britain, "The Mirror" asks, What Have They Done Again? Uncertainty and fear is world rocked by staggering U.S. election result. And the "Namibian" shows Trump embracing and kissing the U.S. flag with the headline: It's This Man's World.

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Leaders from Asia also calling to congratulate Donald Trump, including China's Xi Jinping. The president, Chinese president, says he hopes both countries can, quote, find the right way to get along in the new era.

The last time, of course, Donald Trump was in power, he slapped tariffs on China during his final term and has been threatening more of the same.

CNN's Steven Jiang following all of the developments here from Beijing. What is the sense there in China about what a second Donald Trump administration means?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Erica, remember four years ago, Xi Jinping waited more than two weeks before he sent a message of congratulations to Joe Biden. This time around, as you mentioned, he picked up the phone rather quickly to offer Donald Trump not only congratulations, but also Beijing's usual platitudes, emphasizing the importance of mutual respect and win-win cooperation in this relationship.

Now, the timing of the phone call, perhaps indication that Chinese officials have learned something from Trump's first term in office in terms of how he operates and what matters to him, because Trump and his advisors reportedly have been tracking very closely when and how world leaders reach out to him.

But for a lot of Chinese officials, according to our sources, they were still very much haunted by the wild swings of Trump's China policy during his first term in office and the resulting nightmares those interlocutors had to live through. So understandably, many of them are still dreading the prospect of having to deal with this all over again.

But as of now, Trump going back to the White House seems to be the only certainty in this picture full of uncertainties when it comes to this critically important relationship between two superpowers, between the world's two biggest economies.

And as you can imagine, topping the minds of many officials and the public as well is that potential economic and trade conflict you just mentioned because of Trump's campaign rhetoric of slapping new, even bigger 60 percent tariffs on Chinese imports. Now, we have no way of knowing whether or not he's going to make good of this promise, but the Chinese are taking him very seriously, given his track record.

The worry here, though, according to some analysts is there is this sense in Beijing this time around that they're not going to take this lying down. Even with a sluggish economy at home, they feel they have enough tools and measures in their toolbox to fight back to Trump bluff. So that prospect obviously could be very devastating for both economies and the world at large.

But on the other side of the coin, though, Trump's perceived transactional nature and this America first going the long approach in foreign policy is still seen to be benefiting China strategically on issues ranging from Taiwan to the South China Sea, compared to the Biden and Harris administration's strategy of forming a united front with allies and partners to target China on multiple fronts -- Erica.

HILL: A lot of questions this morning. That is for sure. Steven Jiang in Beijing, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still to come this hour, what Donald Trump has planned for day one in office as he focuses now on his second term agenda.

Plus, Republicans believe they can secure both the House and the Senate. So what do the numbers tell us? We'll take a look.