Return to Transcripts main page
Isa Soares Tonight
Trump Claims Ending Russia-Ukraine War in "Just One Day"; Economists Prepare for Second Trump Era; Victory Could Give Trump Legal Reprieve; Special Counsel in Talks to End Trump's Prosecutions; Immigration Under Trump's Second Presidency; Netanyahu Calls Trump's Win "History's Greatest Comeback". Aired 2030-3p ET
Aired November 07, 2024 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: Hello, and a very warm welcome, everyone, I'm Isa Soares. Hot on the heels of an election day that returned
Donald Trump to the presidency. The Federal Reserve is announcing its decision on interest rates -- I want to go straight to our Richard Quest
who is in New York, who I'm sure has got the results for us. Richard, what is the decision?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, I'm waiting to be told in my ear what their decision --
SOARES: Oh --
QUEST: And what they've actually managed. I know it's a quarter point, I'm telling you -- there you are, you see, within --
SOARES: Wow --
QUEST: Twenty five seconds, Isa, they have cut rates as expected by a quarter percentage point, takes the Fed funds rate, the -- to 4.75, it's a
target rate to 5. And this means it's the second rate cut. The first was half a percentage point -- I'm going to lean over and grab a piece of paper
that's chuntering out the printer as we speak.
Here's the statement. Here we go. The important words from the Fed's indicators suggest economic activities continue to expand at a solid pace,
inflation's made progress towards the committees 2 percent object, remains somewhat elevated. That's a polite way of saying we're not quite there yet,
and the committees strongly committed to a 2 percent percentage.
So, the rate is 4.5 to 4.75. It's as expected. It's based on information received over the last month, and forgive the anticipation of your next
question. It has nothing to do with the election result.
SOARES: That -- yes, I was going to go there. I was just going to mention I'm keeping an eye on the Dow pretty flat at this hour where we have seen,
haven't we, Richard? A bit of an election -- well, following the results, markets taking that --
QUEST: Yes --
SOARES: In their stride, kind of celebrating --
QUEST: Well --
SOARES: But we are expecting to hear -- yes, go ahead, go ahead --
QUEST: Sorry, yes, just to say that. The market was on a tear yesterday. We went up some 2.5 percent. If you look today, we have been up, it's now
just given back many of the gains, the choppiness there shows --
SOARES: Fact, yes --
QUEST: The uncertainty. This is largely because the policy is expected of the next Trump administration are likely to -- oh, I can hear you beeping
away there. The policies are likely to be far more beneficial for the market than if say Harris had won it. It's going to be much more juicing
up, if you will, of the economy per tax cuts --
SOARES: Yes, the beeping --
QUEST: And the like --
SOARES: The beeping was over, the Fed which obviously, the breaking news you got before any of this beeping started. But look, very quickly, Richard
--
QUEST: Yes --
SOARES: We are expecting to hear from Jerome Powell in what? Twenty, twenty seven minutes or so --
QUEST: Right --
SOARES: And I put money on the fact that you probably face questions on Donald Trump's economic policies, right? And whether that will impact --
have any sort of impact on the Fed's plans. What do you think, Richard?
QUEST: Oh, I think the first question is going to be, are you going to stay until the end of your term? Because there are -- CNN has some
reporting this afternoon that the administration expects Chair Powell to --
SOARES: Yes --
QUEST: To see out the rest of his -- of his term, which takes them into 2026. Look, they couldn't really get rid of him anyway. So, the idea was
some weirdness about a shadow, FOMC or whatever. But the reality is, they'll keep with him because interest rates are coming down anyway. And
so, it will be far too difficult to upset the Fed applecart at this particular point.
SOARES: Richard Quest, as always, appreciate it, thank you, Richard --
QUEST: Thank you --
SOARES: Good to see you. And four years after Donald Trump rejected the results of a U.S. presidential election, President Joe Biden is calling on
Americans to accept Trump's election win, vowing there will be a peaceful transition of power on January the 20th. Biden today addressing the nation
for the first time since the election, praising Vice President Kamala Harris for running what he called an inspired campaign.
The President also made a plea for unity, saying a very divided nation needed to bring down the temperature. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For over 200 years, America has carried on the greatest experiment in self-government in the history of the
world. And that's not hyperbole. That's a fact. Where the people, the people vote and choose their own leaders and they do it peacefully.
And we're in a democracy, the will of the people always prevails. Yesterday, I spoke with President-elect Trump to congratulate him on his
victory, and I assured him that I'll direct my entire administration to work with his team to ensure a peaceful and orderly transition. That's what
the American people deserve.
[14:05:00]
I also hope we can lay to rest the question about the integrity of the American electoral system. It is honest, it is fair and it is transparent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more from -- and bring in our CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak. And what we heard today from President Biden was
positive message trying very much, Kevin, to seem to unite the country at a moment where he seems to be -- a lot of finger-pointing and soul searching
over what happened to the Democratic Party in this last round of election. And some people going as far as blaming President Biden. Just give us a
sense of the mood.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and that is a viewpoint among Democrats when you talk to them in these days after the election.
Certainly, there's plenty of blame to go around where President Biden is on the receiving end of a lot of it. Many Democrats feel like he should never
have sought a second term to begin with.
They think that he should have sort of bowed out after the midterms in 2022. And the fact that he only stepped aside about 100 days before the
election put Kamala Harris in essentially an impossible position, and that she eventually lost because she wasn't given the time to really introduce
herself to the American people.
That's certainly a view among some Democrats, it's not a universally held view. And actually, when you talk to allies of Biden, they think that he
could have potentially performed better, particularly when you look at some of the demographics that Kamala Harris lost. So, certainly, a lot of
finger-pointing about how this election was lost.
In some ways, those questions are masking the bigger questions of how Democrats lost so many elements of the coalition that they needed to win
this election, and that has a lot more to do about the Democratic Party as a whole. But what you heard from President Biden there really kind of
papered over all of those questions.
He is very much focused on ensuring this smooth transition to power. He did speak to the President-elect Donald Trump yesterday. He's invited him to
come visit at the White House, that could happen as early as next week. Of course, the subtext to the conversation about transition and smooth
transition of power, peaceful transition of power is that President Biden was not afforded that four years ago.
SOARES: Yes --
LIPTAK: And so, when he's talking about how he will respect this bedrock principle of American democracy, he is saying essentially that he is going
to do what Donald Trump did not do four years ago. And I think that did not go unnoticed, certainly among the President's aides. He's also trying to
burnish his legacy.
Of course, talking about the accomplishments that he was able to achieve during office. And it was interesting, he said, that a lot of those things
won't be seen for years, potentially for 10 years. And you could almost hear Democrats kind of gritting their teeth when he said that, because
while that may have been great policy, it certainly wasn't great politics if he had hoped to be elected or if he had hoped to help his Vice President
be elected. Americans wanted to see those benefits now, and clearly, they just didn't see them.
SOARES: Indeed, Kevin Liptak there for us, thanks very much, Kevin, good to see you. Well, Elon Musk and Robert Kennedy Jr., just two of the names
that could become a part of the new Trump administration. CNN's Kristen Holmes is following all of the Trump transition team developments and joins
us now from West Palm Beach, Florida.
And Kristen, speculation, of course, very much rife over who is going to fill these roles, right? Just talk us through the names that we have been
hearing. What is your sense?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and remember this. It's not all just about the administration's post in terms of formal cabinet
positions, who can get confirmed, et cetera. There's also going to be advisory roles. So, for example, just talking about someone like Elon Musk,
we have no indication that Musk wants to leave his company, which he would have to do if he joined the government, to take a government role.
However, I was told that there are certain kinds of loopholes that they can -- they can put through to make sure that Musk is part of the
administration. For example, a presidential blue ribbon committee that Musk could sit on and have complete full access to, but not actually have to
serve in the government and give up his interest in Tesla or in X for example.
Now, in terms of positions and what the most important positions are, we know that there are two -- that there is a very heavy focus on. One, of
course, being chief of staff, this is going to be one of the most powerful people in government. It's going to be someone who needs to be incredibly
loyal to Donald Trump, and it's essentially going to be his right hand.
And we are told that up for consideration, and generally, the person who would have to turn it down is Siouxsie Wiles at this point. She was the
head of the campaign. She has been by his side since he left office in disgrace in 2021, and when most Republicans were distancing themselves from
him, she stuck by his side.
She ran the campaign and she mostly kept him at least for him, in line, trying to make sure that he stayed back on topic, doing everything she
could to try and keep the campaign together when the candidate himself was often times throwing it into disarray.
[14:10:00]
Now, the other big position that we're taking a look at is the attorney general. The reason why this is going to be so important, it's always
important in every administration, but it's particularly important in a Trump administration, and that's because Donald Trump wants to take control
of the Justice Department.
The Justice Department historically, while it is under the executive has operated independently. That's so that they can show that they are not
influenced by the White House. Now, Donald Trump wants to make sure that the White House is influencing the Department of Justice. So, he's going to
need an attorney general who's going to go along with that.
Keep in mind, there is still litigation against him from the federal government. He's going to want that dismissed. He needs an attorney general
who's going to do that as well, firing special counsel Jack Smith, also something that he's going to want this attorney general to do. So, we're
looking at a series of different names there.
Now, none of them are concrete. He's having conversations with everyone, but just a little bit of context here on who's being considered, Ken
Paxton, he's the Texas Attorney General, Matt Whitaker, who served as the acting Attorney General after Jeff Sessions was fired. We know Mike Lee,
the senator from Utah is under consideration.
John Ratcliffe, who is the former director of National Intelligence, there's also some outside non-government people, Mark Paoletta, who has
been a conservative attorney and one of Donald Trump's rabid attack dogs. He's running policy for the Justice team in the transition. He's also up
for consideration for attorney general.
Another name that's been floated around is Mike Davis. I have been told that Mike Davis does not want a role there, but he's one of his more
controversial people that are defending him. A lawyer who says a lot of things that are not vetted through --
SOARES: Yes --
HOLMES: A campaign and would likely operate --
(CROSSTALK)
SOARES: Kristen, apologies to interrupt you. Karine Jean-Pierre speaking right now, I just want to take you to the White House. Let's have a listen.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It wasn't something that he gave a second thought to. As I just said, he knew it was the right thing
to do, and I would want to say as well, is that if you look at the four years, almost three -- well, three-plus years, there are some historic
accomplishments that they were able to do together, whether it's beating big pharma, and now Medicare is able to negotiate.
Now, whether it's getting a bipartisan infrastructure law, whether it's the Pact Act, the bipartisan infrastructure, the CHIPS and Science Act -- thank
you so much -- these are things that were able to get us out of the pandemic. And you heard me say at the top that the President is proud to
leave the strongest economy for the next person that's coming, for the President-elect, and that's what they're going to inherit.
But with all of that said, and this gets to your question, despite all of the accomplishments that we were able to get done, there were global
headwinds that -- because of the COVID-19 pandemic, obviously COVID-19 led to disruptions with the supply chain, and it had a political toll on many
incumbents.
If you look at what happened in 2024, globally, and that's what you -- that's part of what you saw, right? You saw that there was a political toll
on incumbent parties around the world here. Now, to be very mindful and leave the political analysis to the pundits, they're going to dig in.
They're going to look under the hood.
They're going to see exactly what happened. But what we saw two nights ago was not unusual to what we have seen from the incumbencies around the world
on the global stage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To restate the question --
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does the President feel any responsibility for the outcome?
JEAN-PIERRE: The President understands that he's going to respect the will of the people. That's what he understands. He understands that the American
people made a decision and he's going to respect that. He believes he made the right decision when he stepped aside, decided that he wasn't going to
run, he automatically --
(CROSSTALK)
JEAN-PIERRE: Guys, here's the thing and we can't -- we can't rewrite history. We have to remember what happened in 2022. Twenty-twenty-two is
a perfect example actually, because when we came out of 2022 Midterms, we saw a successful Midterms from -- for any new administration in over 60
years.
And it was because of the president's policies. Let's not forget that all of the accomplishments that the President did -- again, I had listed the
bipartisan infrastructure legislation, CHIPS and Science Act, the Inflation Reduction Act. Those are popular with the American people, yes, those
policies were indeed popular.
And that's what got us through the 2022 Midterm, there was supposed to be a red wave that didn't happen. And so, coming out of that, we did see some
historic markers there. And so, the President believed that he needed to do, he's always going to put the American people first when he decided to
step down and endorse immediately the Vice President, that's what he thought was the right thing to do in that moment, in that time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One last for me --
JEAN-PIERRE: Sure --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure my colleagues have a few to unpack. The President entered the office, he said he went around, traveled around the
world, met with -- he's always --
[14:15:00]
Recount this anecdote of, you know, I'd say America is back, and then they would --
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say, but for how long? Which means the world now has that answer, four years and two days. Does the President feel like he's let
down America's allies and partners that now sort of very different world view than him --
JEAN-PIERRE: Yes --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will now be in the Oval Office?
JEAN-PIERRE: So, look, I'm not going to get into what the President-elect is going to do, not going to do, I'm not going to do that. What I'm going
to say is the President's message is going to continue to be the same, American leadership matters, how we conduct ourselves on the global stage
matters.
You know, we are indispensable nation on the world stage. That is what the President believes. And that is something that he's heard. To your point,
when he was around the world, and he appreciates the cooperation that he's received from our partners and our allies when -- if you think about
Ukraine and how he -- we were able to make NATO stronger and get 50 -- more than 50 countries behind Ukraine.
When you think about what's happening in the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East, and so, cannot speak to what the next administration is going to do,
I can only speak to what the President was proud that he was able to do over the last, you know, three-plus years. And that's going to continue to
be our focus, and that's what we believe is the right thing to do on behalf of the American people. OK, Nancy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you --
JEAN-PIERRE: Well, you have been listening there briefly to the White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre there at the White House. She was
asked on two occasions, you saw there, how much responsibility the President Biden bears over the loss of the Democratic Party. Does he feel a
let-down his allies and partners?
And she said, as you heard her, he respects the will of the people, he believes he made the right decision of course, to pull his name out of the
hat, not to continue with the race. And that's of course, what led to Kamala Harris putting -- going forth. So, you can see very much the
pressure, the questioning that you're getting over here, a lot of soul- searching in the United States as to what happened within the Democratic Party.
Let's delve deeper into this. Tom Nichols; a staff writer for "The Atlantic" joins us now with his take. Tom is also the author of "Our Worst
Enemy: The Assault from Within on Modern Democracy". Tom, great to have you on the show.
Let me just pick up, I'm not sure whether you could hear Karine Jean-Pierre there, asked on several occasions to how much responsibility President
Biden bears for this Democratic loss because there's a lot of finger- pointing, Tom, as I've seen, as you've definitely seen as well in the United States over whether he decided too late to not run. Your thoughts.
Who's to blame here?
TOM NICHOLS, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Well, first, I think asking the President's Press Secretary that kind of question is guaranteed to get a
non-answer, because she's not --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: Going to stand there and say, oh, of course, you know, the President thinks it's his fault. I think, the make or break point was
probably after the 2022 Midterms where the President could have withdrawn. I personally thought he looked vigorous enough to carry on a campaign, I
think most of us didn't realize how much that was out of reach until the debate with -- that one debate with Donald Trump.
After that, there was really no going back. But I also wonder, given the size of Trump's margins and his sweep of the seven battleground states,
whether there was anything, any Democrat could do in this environment. The fact is people -- I think wrongly, continue to blame governments, not just
in the United States and elsewhere for post-pandemic inflation.
The United States actually came out of that better than most countries. There was no recession here, which was widely predicted to happen. But, you
know, voters don't think that way. They don't think, wow, you know, we had good policy, we avoided a recession, inflation came down fast. All they
know is that things are expensive and they want to blame somebody for that.
And I don't -- and the party in power is just always going to take that hit. There were some other missteps I think the Democrats -- I think Kamala
Harris ran a very good campaign, but I think there was the assumption that a lot of Americans -- and I think this was the assumption for a lot of
people, not just the Harris campaign, is that the United -- people in the United States could never go backward and actually choose Donald Trump
after everything he's done and said, the -- you know, encouraging an insurrection, the crazy statements from the campaign hustings this time
around.
And so, I think there wasn't as much outreach to some groups in part because I think there was just an assumption that, that the non-Trump
voters would just coalesce around almost anyone who wasn't Trump.
[14:20:00]
And that turned out not to be true especially among minority voters. So, some blame to go around, but it was also just --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: Going to be a bad year for Democrats no matter what happened during the -- at least for a Democratic presidential candidate --
SOARES: So, not so much. Perhaps the policy, perhaps some of the messaging, would you say, Tom?
NICHOLS: Yes, I wrote many times during this campaign, this campaign was never about policy --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: Donald Trump offered no policies to speak of. I mean, to watch his rallies is not exactly an excursion into policy. But I think that this
was a vibes election. This was, you know, people just kind of internalizing that message of, I think things were better when Donald Trump was President
because they're remembering the period before the pandemic.
And they've kind of memory-holed a lot of things that happened after it. Harris, although the Vice President, you know, the United States, the Vice
President isn't usually a very visible figure, and they didn't really have a good sense of her. I don't think that Joe Biden, especially given his
propensity now after the debate that he would have these lapses and gaffes.
I don't think he was going to be able to carry that forward with policies, because he tried during the debate to start talking about Medicare and
student loans and, you know, people just -- I hate to say it, but I think people just don't care about that stuff. And there was some culture war
stuff that I think policy issues don't capture.
The Trump campaign made a very strong push with ads about transgenderism that really --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: Did cause -- cost her some points that really did shift some of the electorate by hammering on this issue about trans-people --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: And that's not really a policy issue.
SOARES: I mean, in October, you then had -- you wrote your piece was, "Trump's depravity will not cost him this election. Many Americans know
exactly who Trump is and they like it." So, going back to your point --
NICHOLS: Right --
SOARES: You know, this is a vibes election. But you most recently, Tom, you have written this. You have every right to be appalled, sad and shocked
and frightened. Soon, however, you should dust yourself off, square off your shoulders and take a deep breath. Americans who care about democracy
have worked to do.
So, then, given what we know about President Trump, what can we expect from this President? This is a man, of course, as we all know, who believes
Presidents have absolute power here. So, talk to the political or legal restraints. Are there any at this stage?
NICHOLS: Well, we're about to find out. I mean, you know, simply impossible to answer. If he captures the Justice Department as your -- you
know, your reporter was talking about earlier, he's going to try and capture the Justice Department. How much --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: Will the U.S. Senate roll over for that? It's controlled by Republicans. They'll probably give him whatever he wants. But you know,
there are still members of Congress, there are committees, there are other branches of government. And I keep trying to remind Americans that we live
in states. We are a federal system.
And so, you know, a lot of action can happen in the state houses and in legislatures. For example, abortion rights advocates found that to be their
fall-back, that the Supreme Court said, we're going to throw it back to the states. What they were really hoping for, of course, the conservative
majority was hoping that it would simply be banned and go away.
But when it was thrown back to the states --
(CLEARS THROAT)
NICHOLS: People in places like Kansas surprisingly said OK, challenge accepted. We're going to write it into our state constitution. And I think
Americans -- a lot of Americans have gotten too used to only voting every four years for president. The next election, the next chance to put a brake
on Donald Trump is two years from now. It's already --
SOARES: Yes --
NICHOLS: Underway, and people need to think about that, and they need to think about what's going on in their state houses, county government, their
attorney generals in the states, there's a lot of work to be done to try to shore up the American system from this wannabe autocrat.
SOARES: Tom Nichols, always great to get your insight, thanks very much, Tom.
NICHOLS: Thank you.
SOARES: And still to come tonight, Trump's election victory brings uncertainty for the future of Ukraine's military funding. I speak to Kyiv's
former Minister of Economic Development and Trade. That is after this short break, you are watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:25:00]
SOARES: Well, leaders in Europe have emphasized the continent's close ties with the U.S. following Donald Trump's election win. EU leaders put on a
united front as they gathered in Budapest, you can see there for a summit hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. He is as you know, a
staunch ally of Trump, calling his victory the biggest comeback in U.S. political history.
But not all leaders are as thrilled Trump's re-election brings uncertainly about future military funding for Ukraine. Speaking at the summit in
Budapest, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is pushing for more international pressure on Russia. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE: We are defending ourselves, not against Russian wars, but against Russian attacks. Therefore, we need
sufficient weapons, not supporting talks, hugs with Putin will not help. Some of the leaders have been hugging him for 20 years, and things are only
getting worse.
He thinks only about wars and will not change. Only pressure can put limits on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, Donald Trump claims he can end Russia's war in Ukraine overnight in 24 hours, he said -- the Kremlin says that's an over-
exaggeration. I want to bring in Tymofiy Mylovanov; he's Ukraine's former Economic Minister of -- Economic Development and Trade and currently the
President of Kyiv's School of Economics.
Tymofiy, great to have you back on the show. Let me get your reaction first of all, to the news of Donald Trump's win. We know that President Zelenskyy
has had a call with President -- with the President-elect of the United States, seems to have been a good starting point. What's your -- what's
your reaction? Do you think you'll be good?
TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV, PRESIDENT, KYIV'S SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: Well, I hope it will be good. That's the reality today. It's a new reality and Ukraine has
to adapt. Of course, a lot of people are very anxious in Ukraine about Donald Trump's position, and the recent report by the "Wall Street Journal"
is quite concerning about a potential plan to sort of put pressure on Ukraine not to join NATO for 20 years. However, we don't believe that's
going to happen.
SOARES: Yes, let's talk through that because you have been tweeting about this plan that "Wall Street Journal" is reporting. He said, of course, as
we said -- just remind to our viewers that President -- the former President -- President-elect, I should say, said that he would resolve the
conflict in 24 hours.
But throughout the entire time, he never provided -- I think it's important to mention here, Tymofiy, any clarity or detail when exactly he was going
to do that. Now, the "Wall Street Journal" seems to have some sort of proposals that they're being -- they're fleshing out. And one idea that is
being proposed inside Trump's transition office, this according to "Wall Street Journal" is that it would involve Kyiv promising not to join NATO
for at least 20 years, and in exchange, the U.S. would continue to pump Ukraine full of weapons to deter a future Russian attack.
Your thoughts regarding that proposal, and start off with?
TYMOFIY MYLOVANOV, PRESIDENT, KYIV SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: The problem is that resonates or reminds us of the Budapest memorandum, where Ukraine has
given -- or gave up nuclear weapons and other strategic deterrence weapons. And the promise or -- in exchange for security guarantees, which would do
exactly the same, provide needed support. That support never was first coming. And so, Ukrainians are very worried about this, that it might be,
you know, the same case.
And that part of the proposal that the Wall Street Journal is reporting on also has an element of boots on the ground where the Trump administration
allegedly is saying no American boots on the ground, no United Nations boots on the ground, but place European boots on the ground. So, there are
a lot of if and buts in this proposal, and frankly, I don't think it's feasible.
SOARES: And one of the other areas that have been -- that it seems to have been spoken about in -- at least earlier this year, that was presented to
Trump, according to Wall Street Journal, was this blueprint that includes, Tymofiy, withholding weapons from Ukraine until Kyiv agrees to peace talks
with Russia. I mean, would that even be feasible to President Zelenskyy?
MYLOVANOV: Well, so, you know, we are constrained by our constitution, too, similarly to the way the United States is constrained by the
constitution of the United States. So, President Zelenskyy cannot simply abandon the territories or cannot simply give up territories. He will be
out of the office and no one will ratify that agreement ever.
And putting pressure on Ukraine by withholding weapons. I think there are two mistakes in this argument. First of all, it's not Ukraine who is not
willing to negotiate, it's Putin and the Kremlin who are unwilling to sit down and talk seriously.
And the second one, it actually invites the Kremlin to continue with the offensive. If Ukraine has no weapons, what's the point of having any
ceasefire? You have to push forward and try to get Kyiv. So, I think it will be a disaster.
SOARES: And let's focus, Tymofiy, very briefly, on what is happening across Ukraine. We have seen Russia stepping up kind of massive drone
attacks to try to overwhelm the Ukrainian defenses. We have seen North Korean troops being deployed to Ukraine to assist the Russians. I wonder
then your message -- what your message would be -- the Ukrainian message would be to President Biden, of course, who's got, what, some 74 or so days
left in office? What would the Ukrainians being asking for would -- should be asking for right now? Is it more weapons or to use those long-range
missiles that, you know, President Zelenskyy has been asking for, for so long, Tymofiy?
MYLOVANOV: That's absolutely true. Both are important. There's still $6 billion of authorized funding, which can be delivered to Ukraine, but there
is bureaucracy and logistics. So, we'll have to push through that. And then, within the weapons that we already have in Ukraine, there should be
no restrictions on how we can use that. So, that's simple.
SOARES: Do you think, though -- is that push still ongoing? Is that push with the Biden administration still ongoing, to try to get the green light
on those long-range weapons before, of course, the president-elect gets into office on January the 20th?
MYLOVANOV: Some people have been trying. I'm pretty sure our administration is trying. And I also know that there have been a lot of
speculation that maybe right now the Biden administration would be open to be a little bit more decisive on -- a little bit more hawkish on Ukraine.
SOARES: Tymofiy, as always, great to have your perspective. Thanks very much.
And still to come tonight, with mass tariffs and tax cuts on the agenda, how economists are preparing for a second Trump era. That is just ahead.
Plus, he was indicted on 91 felony counts, but used that to his political advantage. Now, he's won the White House. We'll see how some of those legal
troubles could go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:35:00]
SOARES: If you're joining us at the top of the hour, you saw that we had the breaking news. The Fed -- as you can see, Jerome Powell speaking right
now. The Fed cut interest rates by a quarter percentage points, a second cut, of course, this year. We are listening to what the Fed Chair Jerome
Powell say, as is my colleague, Julia Chatterley, the anchor of "First Move."
And of course, when he takes questions, we'll dip in, because I think it'll be interesting to see what he says regarding the next president, of course,
the president-elect and what pressures that puts in him as well as his position, which we'll talk about in just a minute, Julia.
But first, this rate cut very much expected. The Dow pretty flat. You know, second cut the year. Talk us through how this impacts the American people
who voted primarily, as we saw, on the economy.
JULIA CHATTERLEY, CNN ANCHOR, FIRST MOVE: This helps borrowers, doesn't it, at the margin and this was what was expected today. And it's good news.
But to your point, this was the absolute easiest part of what Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve get to do today. The harder part is what comes
next.
He would love to be able to be standing there and talking about what he just described as a solid economy that, look, they've managed to engineer
what is called a soft landing. They've managed to raise interest rates and avoid a recession. Inflation's just about coming to target. It's all good
news. And it's progressing, even if, to your point, people are still struggling with the pain of higher prices.
What he really doesn't want to have to do is talk about Donald Trump and his future policies. But that's now what the future path of interest rates
ultimately is going to be determined by and just how quickly and to what degree they can bring interest rates down.
At the absolute worst case, Isa, if he follows through on mass immigration limits, if he follows through on the mass global tariffs, we are expecting
growth to be slower. Economists agree we could see inflation around one percentage point higher next year. That will simply slow the Federal
Reserve down, and the market's already sort of moving in that direction.
But Jay Powell can't really talk about that today. He can't be preemptive. He has to react to what he gets, and that's going to take time. It's going
to be a delicate balancing act today and what he says and what he doesn't say.
SOARES: Yes, and I have no doubt that he will be peppered by questions on that --
CHATTERLEY: Oh, yes.
SOARES: -- on whether those tariffs add to those inflationary pressures, of course, that he is trying -- has been trying to fight.
CHATTERLEY: Right.
SOARES: The other aspect, of course, and you have reported on this, is that Trump has frequently, Julia, basically aired frustrations, I think
it's fair to say, with Powell, and occasionally threatened to remove him, right, from his post, which I believe no president has done, by the way.
We're now, from what I understand, from our colleague, Tausche reporting, that Trump is likely to allow him to serve the remainder of his term.
[14:40:00]
What more can you tell us? I mean, this was surprising. I never thought that he couldn't serve the remainder of his term. Just explain it.
CHATTERLEY: Well, he also, apparently this adviser to the future president said that that could change. So, there's always an overlying threat, let's
be clear. I think you were putting it diplomatically. This has been a pretty toxic relationship during the first administration. The irony, of
course, this time around is that they're sort of on the same side.
We know the former president -- the president-elect likes lower interest rates. And of course, that's what the Federal Reserve is now trying to do.
And one of the crucial factors that might prevent him doing that is the future president's policies. I'm sure his advisers will be pointing that
out to him, but it is unclear at this stage. And hopefully, the fact that the Fed is going in the direction the former president likes is a good
thing. But we know that he said even last month, look, I want to be able to opine on it, maybe I don't get a say and can't order them around. We know
the importance of the independence of the central bank. And assuming Jay Powell wants to keep the job, I think that's good news.
SOARES: Indeed. We all should be listening in, of course, as soon as he takes those questions, we will make sure we bring that to our viewers.
Julia, as always, really appreciate it. Thank you, Julia.
CHATTERLEY: Thank you.
SOARES: And still to come tonight, a seismic shift is expected. New U.S. immigration policy. When Donald Trump returns to the White House, what it
may include. We'll explore that.
And then, why is this special counsel already in talks and two federal criminal cases against Trump even before he takes office. We will explore
after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: While Americans elected Trump despite his status as a convicted felon, now he could use the power of the presidency, as I was discussing
with our guest Tom Nichols earlier, to make at least some of his legal troubles go away.
A Department of Justice official tells CNN Special Counsel Jack Smith is already in talks with the DOJ about how to end the federal prosecutions of
Trump. Trump, of course, has repeatedly threatened to fire Smith, and he said he should be thrown out of the country along with other, quote,
"mentally deranged people."
Let's get more now from CNN's Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid. And, Paula, you're just the lady we need right now to make sense of what is
happening. Just explain to viewers right around the world why would Jack Smith be winding his cases and packing his boxes? I mean, what -- why
wouldn't he continue to pursue this?
[14:45:00]
PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fact is you cannot indict or prosecute a sitting president, and it is expected that
that also applies to a president-elect. This is internal guidance within the Justice Department. That's always been the understanding. But we've
never been in a situation where you have a president-elect facing a federal criminal case.
My sources tell me Smith is talking to top leaders at the Justice Department about how to wind down this case and how to interpret that
guidance. What does this mean for a president-elect? But it's pretty clear to them, they cannot continue with this case and be in line with Justice
Department guidelines and protocols. I'm told Smith is someone who wants to do things the way they're supposed to be done. So, they got to figure out
how to wind down this case.
Trump has said that he would fire Smith or have his Justice Department take care of Smith and his cases, but it doesn't appear that's going to be
necessary. Smith and his cases will likely be gone before Trump gets to back to the White House.
SOARES: So, what happens then to the cases?
REID: They'll be dismissed. They'll be dismissed and they'll be gone. They'll never see trial. The evidence is out there in the complaints. Smith
will likely file a report or he will file a report with the attorney general, which will likely be public, though I don't expect to have a lot
of new information. I think the most interesting thing there will be eventually when Congress calls Smith to testify.
SOARES: And they could always be revived, could they?
REID: Probably not. The way this works, it is unlikely that those cases could just pop up again. You can't just bring back a case that's been
dismissed. There's also questions about the viability of these cases after the Supreme Court's ruling on immunity. So, unlikely that these cases would
be revived.
SOARES: And sorry, I've got so many questions about this. What about the evidence here, Paula? What happens to the evidence?
REID: So, it depends specifically what you're talking about. I mean, the Justice Department will still be in possession of transcripts, grand jury
testimony, things like that. That will remain at the Justice Department. Some of it's in the public record, much more so than would normally be the
case because they released a lot of the arguments that normally would not be released until you were at trial and had a chance to defend yourself.
So, the evidence will be out there. Jack Smith will have a report, that will have additional evidence and maybe some things we haven't seen before.
But it's clear, Trump is not going to go to trial on either one of these cases.
SOARES: And very quickly, I know that he is -- well, he's scheduled, right, Paula, to appear in New York courtroom November 26th over the hush
money trial. I mean, what are the chances this is going to happen?
REID: Very slim. They are going to argue that he should not have been sentenced because he's the president-elect and he has a constitutional
protection. Again, they'll argue, just like a sitting president, from being prosecuted, indicted, or in this case sentenced.
Now, the judge in that case is also looking at the Supreme Court's decision granting Trump some immunity and trying to figure out, does that apply
here? If he believes it does, the whole case gets tossed. There'll be no sentencing. But if he doesn't decide to toss the case, they still have this
argument that the sentencing shouldn't happen. He's the president-elect. He can't be facing a criminal sentencing. And it is widely expected by sources
in and around Trump, and really in legal circles, that the sentencing, it's just -- it's not going to happen.
SOARES: Paula Reid, really appreciate you making sense of this for us. Thanks very much, Paula. Good to see you.
Now, meantime, America is bracing for a monumental shift in immigration policy, a cornerstone of Mr. Trump's 2024 campaign. Sources say Trump's
allies have been preparing for mass deportation of migrants. A senior adviser to Trump says the former president's day one priority is to
reinstate his former administration's border policies and reverse those off President Joe Biden.
Discussions among Trump's team have reportedly focused on the removal of under -- undocumented immigrants who've committed crimes and whether to
deport immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children.
Let's get to our Priscilla Alvarez, who joins me now from Washington. And, Priscilla, I mean, as you showed us throughout campaign immigration right
was the cornerstone off Trump's campaign, promising also mass deportation. What are you learning this hour about how he plans to deal with this?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we also learned over the course of the time on the campaign trail was that Americans want to see
something different on immigration. Of course, part of that is because there have been multiple border crises here in the United States over the
last three years.
So, what I'm being told by sources is that Trump allies and some in the private sector have been quietly preparing now for some time for -- to
execute on this plan, essentially, to be able to do mass detention and mass deportation.
The reason the private sector is involved in this is because the federal government will often lean on contractors to manage and facilitate spaces,
particularly detention spaces. And it is that part of this that is the key element, because after arresting someone you would have to detain them,
have a space for them, and then repatriate them back to their home country.
And I've been told that in some parts of the private sector there had already been quiet preparations happening and discussions, even before
Tuesday, to execute on a plan should he win. Now, he has won and those plans are expected to ramp up.
[14:50:00]
Now, while there are some ways to contract out for detention space that would allow the incoming Trump administration to set those facilities up
pretty quickly, it also comes down to money. And current and former officials tell me that, yes, the Department of Homeland Security has
previously moved funds around to different agencies but that -- what they're looking at and what the administration -- the incoming
administration has said would be so much larger than anything the U.S. has done in recent memory that they would need so much more money to accomplish
it. So, that is going to be a challenge, not to mention that some nationalities are easier to deport than others, simply because of diplomacy
and the arrangements we have with those countries.
But what I will also tell you is that in my conversations with officials who are currently in the Department of Homeland Security, they are
preparing for this seismic shift in immigration policy and they are no strangers to it. They've gone through this whiplash before when the --
during the Trump administration, then when President Joe Biden reversed those policies. Now, they're getting ready for those policies to come back
just based off what Trump's senior advisers have already said.
Mixed mood. Some are shocked about what the election results, other -- while others welcome the changes on the horizon.
SOARES: Yes. And look, the money is interesting. The average cost of apprehending, detaining, processing, and removing one undocumented
immigrant from the U.S. in 2016 was $10,900. I think that's important. Priscilla Alvarez, appreciate it. Thank you, Priscilla.
Still to come tonight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls it history's greatest comeback. How Israelis are reacting to Donald Trump's
election win. That is just ahead for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was among the first world leaders to congratulate Donald Trump, calling his victory, history's
greatest comeback. Our Matthew Chance looks at how Israel's -- Israelis, I should say, are reacting to Trump's election win, and how it could impact
the wars both in Lebanon and in Gaza.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the occasion of Donald Trump's presidency, God bless America, God bless Israel.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some Israelis are feeling unleashed, like this soldier in Gaza, who the Israeli
military says will be disciplined for this.
On Israeli TV, a pro-government news show celebrates with song. For an anchor toasts the U.S. president-elect.
[14:55:00]
We congratulate Donald Trump. The success of Israel is his success, he says.
For many here it is a new era free of Biden administration restraints on the Jewish state.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's good for Israel. Yes, no doubt. It's better than Kamala Harris.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's going to be a new era for the world, for the Middle East, for Israel. Things are going to be -- things are going to
change.
CHANCE (voice-over): In Gaza, that change couldn't come quick enough. This, the chaotic aftermath of an Israeli strike on a Nuseirat Refugee
Camp. Israel says it targets Hamas fighters, but the civilian cost continues to climb. Trump has called on Netanyahu to end the conflict
quickly, arguing Israel was losing the PR war. But few Gazans believe a Trump presidency will save them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump will not be different than Biden. It's the same policy, the same mentality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I hope he will be better and the war will stop and reach a truce. We're already exhausted.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: We had no wars. They said he will start a war. I'm not going to start a war. I'm going to stop wars.
CHANCE (voice-over): And it's that promise to stop war that may prove Trump's biggest challenge. A region where conflict shows little sign of
easing.
Matthew Chance, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOARES: And that does it for us for this hour. Thanks very much for your company. Do stay right here. Newsroom with Lynda Kinkade is up next. Have a
wonderful day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
