we just talked about the house. let's shift over. the question now is who will the leader be? >> exactly. donald trump is starting to tread lightly into that race. really calling into question whether or not he is going to endorse who he thinks would be best to fill the senate leadership role. now that mitch mcconnell is on his way out. earlier this evening donald trump posted on social media essentially he wants whoever is selected to be the next senate republican leader to move forward with recess appointments. is essentially a process that would allow donald trump to bypass the confirmation process for many of his top cabinet officials. i

think it is so important to note that this is completely breaking with judicial norms over the past several years. for the ever since george w. bush was in office and henry reed started turning the process in congress over all, but many the senate going from voting to have a recess to doing what we call these sessions. i think what is really notable is to see how the top three contenders how this role are responding. first we saw a rick scott way in. i would note that he has received a number of endorsements and just picked up two more this evening from senator tommy tuberville as well as the cpap and preventive collection action committee. this evening after writing this on truth social in twitter he said i 100% agree i will do whatever it takes to get your nominations through as quickly

as possible. that was responding to donald trump. then he got the support of elon musk who wrote rick scott for senate majority leader. i will also say that we then saw both senator john the as well as another write in as well saying and responding online that they believe he has the right for recess appointments and that his nominees should be going through their process very swiftly. one thing i want to note as well about what you talked about with the house race is that if republicans are able to get over that 217 or 218 threshold and clinch the house majority that is only going to edward donald trump and his team now feels like

what they have is a mandate, and it is only going to add to that. i can tell you from my conversations with trump advisors those who are crummy huddled with him working on his transition. they argue unlike in 2016 donald trump always thought had some sort of the mandate but feels even more so that he has one now. particularly being competent to make the decision that he wants to make. he argues if he can get the house and senate both read and he won the popular vote that means that he is very much in the right place to move forward with his key agenda items. >> the latest from west palm beach, florida. thank you for your reporting the following vice president harrises lost democrats are now left asking what went wrong, where does the party go from here? isaac has been speaking with leaders across the spectrum and shares his reporting in his new piece titled still stunned immigrants began to squint towards their future. he joins us now. i know you have been talking with a number of sources. what are they saying? >> first of all they can't wrap their heads around it quite still. not just that kamala harris lost, but the way that the loss was. the scale of it. the kinds of demographic moves towards donald trump, and it really has put a lot of

pressure on people looking to the future of the party to think how we start to win the voters back for real. one of the things that i did in this piece was talked to a number of people who won in house races as democrats running ahead of kamala harris. some of them in swing states like pennsylvania. even in upstate new york and washington state people who were at least a couple of points ahead of her and won their races by talking about what they said was getting really to the core of what the voters are thinking about. they say this is a bigger thing then just liberal versus conservative. a congressman from new york who won said to me the actual way to think about this is not moderate or progressive or liberal or conservative, but are you with the people and against the elite of power ? he said that

is the reality for people on the ground. it is also about democrats digging in and studying these election results. the governor of illinois said to me that they have to look at really digging in and saying why is it that donald trump did better than he did against hillary clinton and just illinois. he is a uniquely popular figure, but what is it about him that makes him that way? we can guess, but why don't we look and find out? it will be a long and drawn out process that will play out while democrats are maybe completely locked out of power. if i was goes to republicans. at least largely locked out of power, and of course with donald trump in the white house a very different kind of future for them then they went into last week thinking they had a head of them. >> it is going to be a long walk in the wilderness for them for a while, and it will be interesting to see how that develops over time. thank you

so much for your reporting. republicans have now taken back the white house. they have won back the senate and though it is still up for grabs we have said the gop could very well take that chamber and retain control as well. what does history tell us about parties that control all lovers of government? what happens then? we are joined now by douglas brinkley. thank you for being here. good to see you. >> of course. good to see you. >> it is not uncommon in a change of election for that party to kind of sweep all parts of the government, but i think in this particular case republicans on the hill don't seem to have much appetite to be a check on president trump at all or a guardrail for him, and certainly the supreme court is this:with many justices that he put there and helped to put their and nominated. where is the check do you think if the republicans do take the house? >> keep in mind in the 21st century al gore won the popular vote in 2000. hillary clinton won the popular vote in 2016,

but they were president. they did not win the electoral college but what was impressive though trump is he won the popular vote also. i think that makes him feel that he has a mandate. the democrats are in a tough position guardrail-wise because unless we are going to assume some of the supreme court justices and certainly not thomas, but if robbers really wants to be a fair broker on some things it might work, but most likely you are going to see trump take the presidential immunity claus and act as if if the president does it it must be legal, and he is going to sign dozens if not hundreds of executive orders right out of the gate. the guardrail will be the core system. judicial. because people will see that. you will have somebody sue over voting rights if there is some kind of gerrymandering scheme. it is endless. that will slow down trump's executive order mania,

and they will try to run out the clock with an eye on the midterm election and tried to develop a bench of new leaders when they figure out what the democrats did so terribly this time around. >> also interesting just thinking about the filibuster. is someone who covered the hill for a couple of years. people in both parties want to get rid of it to others are more towards the middle and tried bipartisan to make sure that it stays in place. for everyone watching that means that in the senate they have to get 60 votes on some things. not all things. the argument goes that it can be kind of one of the last guardrails to really have to build consensus on a piece of legislation. what do you think comes of that? because either party can get rid of it with the simple majority vote. >> i do not think the republicans want to do that

much that quick. you are going to start messing with the filibuster right out of the gate. it is going to be chaos. i think the number one concern is the border, and dealing with this deportation. president trump headset is something i always thought was not up for prime time. he praises fdr for the japanese internment camps during world war ii. most scholars see that as a low point of fdr. president trump praises eisenhower for operation went back. most denounce eisenhower forest. he may over read the mandate because you are going to start to talk about seven or eight million undocumented people living in america. putting in retention camps. finding buses. are you going to knock on their door? we are living in an iphone age dealing with things being recorded all the time and public opinion in the end bbb the guardrail. they might say

we don't like this but this is got a bridge too far, and trump did well with latino voters. stunningly well in places like wisconsin where a lot of people did not see it coming up. if you start arresting and mexican-american that has lived here for generations because of the color of their skin because of a misidentification from local police you could start to turn off that latino coalition that drifted towards trump because of this machismo, and i think because he is running against a woman. because he is a person who attracts those people. >> i want to ask you as a host orison and someone who studies our presidential history about legacy. bidens legacy. what it may be, and more broadly there was a lot of reporting that obama had a lot of skin in the game because it also impacts his legacy as well. because trump came in between them . what do you make of all of that?

>> it is correct. barack obama will always go down as a two-term president, but the coattails of joe biden just left him. joe biden is in a difficult place. a little like jimmy carter was in 1980 where there is a lot of anger within the democratic party directed at biden. there is no question. local carter did over time. he won a nobel peace prize. eradicating river blindness. free and fair elections around the world the. habitat for humanity. the difference was carter was in his 50s and had decades to build his postpresidential legacy. biden it is about his time in the senate and vice president. he doesn't have that much time left to do this incredible post-presidency. he will have to try to do a book or a memoir and build his presidential library in wilmington, delaware. they have public-policy centers going on. university of delaware and university of pennsylvania.

meanwhile everybody in the democratic party is looking to scapegoat somebody, and he is it right now. obama is. apollo see. even harris in some way is and so it is going to take a while for these wounds to heal. the democratic party thought barden should have gotten out. it was a health cover up. it is not going to be a great couple of months for them. >> some great analysis. thank you so much. we appreciate it. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu confirming his country is responsible for the exploding attacks on hezbollah as we are learning about several conversations between benjamin netanyahu and president elect donald trump. my conversation tonight with outspoken democratic lawmaker who is facing backlash for his critique of his own party and comments about transgender rights. retail therapy to deal with election anxiety. we will talk to a financial expert about how to get ahead financially when

you feel like you do not have control.

for the first time israel is confirming it was behind the september operation that that to nays in thousands of pages and walkie-talkies. israeli media saying prime minister benjamin netanyahu acknowledged his role in the attacks in a

meeting with his cabinet. >> the israeli prime minister has for the first time confirmed that israel was behind the operation in september. he told them an operation to detonate the pages as well as a separate operation that has been lost despite the opposition of officials in the security establishment and the political echelon in charge . israeli media has interpreted that a phrasing as implicit criticism of israel's military leadership and intelligence establishments as well as the former defense minister who benjamin netanyahu fired on tuesday. thousands of explosions targeting their

pagers and walkie-talkies. the blasts killed at least 37 people including some children and injured nearly 3000 including civilian bystanders according to the lebanese health authorities. back to you. benjamin netanyahu says he has spoken three times in the past few days with president elect donald trump and has described those as a very good and important conversations aimed at strengthening the solid alliance between israel in the united states for joining us is a cnn political and national security analyst and correspondent for the new york times. also author of the book new cold wars. david, good to see you. >> great to see you. >> thank you. we know that president elect donald trump has previously said he thinks israel needs to finish what they started with hamas and also said he wants the war to come to an end. how do you see his election impacting that war?

>> i think one thing that we could fairly interpret from the three conversations between benjamin netanyahu and president elect donald trump is that benjamin netanyahu is delighted to be back talking to somebody who will basically say to him whatever you think you need to do go do. the conversations with president biden have been over the past year, and remember that about three weeks ago the secretary of state and secretary of defense wrote a letter to benjamin netanyahu that basically said you need to allow more aid into gaza, and if you don't you are in violation of one of the u.s. laws governing whether the u.s. can continue to give you weapons. and we heard the national security advisor sullivan say earlier today that this week they will be making a decision about whether or not benjamin netanyahu has abided

by that . so i think the dynamic for the next two months is going to be benjamin netanyahu hearing things he doesn't want to hear from the biden administration and largely ignoring them , and calling a president elect donald trump and getting the reassurance that he can move ahead with whatever plans he has for gaza and so forth. >> it does not sound like this is wrapping up anytime soon. >> it sure doesn't. while we have heard president elect donald trump say that he wants to see an end to the war he has not said how. he has not particularly endorsed a deal to get the hostages back or a cease-fire. of course the benjamin netanyahu line now, and you heard this from the interesting report before is had i listen to the americans. had a listen to my own defense

establishment we never would have hit that great strike on you using the pagers or never would have killed the leader of hezbollah. in his worldview he thinks that by listening to his own inner voice that he has made sure that hezbollah has suffered a huge defeat. >> before i let you go i also want to ask about ukraine because that is another pressing foreign policy issue. it could have a big in the changing of the guard of the white house could have a big impact for president zelenskyy. and we have learned that elon musk was on this phone call when zone ski talked with president elect donald trump. where do you see that going, and what have you seen since he has won -- what have you been tracking? >> a few things. personnel may be policy and i but it was very

interesting that he put on the social media truth social saying that mike pompeo who had been secretary of state and cia director in his first term would not be invited to have a role in this administration. mike pompeo for all of the other controversies around him was one of the biggest russia hawks in the old administration. so this is another sign that it seems likely that what president trump has in mind is calling president putin and saying what do you need to end this war. putin will say i need at least 20% of the country that russia already occupies. and after that calling zelenskyy and saying do i have a deal for you? you can end just losing 20% of your territory. the

issue here is really one of agency. whether it is up to the ukrainians to decide what it is that they are going to do to bring the war to an end and whether they will surrender territory. >> that will be the big question. thank you very much for your time. >> great to be with you. still ahead. more on my conversation and what he is saying about the democrats big election loss and what he thinks the party needs to do differently. you are in the cnn newsroom.

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democrats are soul-searching and blaming each other over losing their elections. earlier i spoke with one of those light makers from massachusetts. take a listen. >> you are getting pretty heavy criticism from pulling your own party for something you said to the new york times. i want to read it for our viewers. democrats spend too much time trying not to offend anyone rather than being brutally honest about the challenges many americans face. i have two little girls. i don't want them getting run over on a playing field by a male or formerly male athlete, but i'm supposed to be afraid to say that. your fellow democrat from massachusetts who is sent social media the only thing we in massachusetts shouldn't be afraid to say is you should find another job if you want to use and election laws as an opportunity to pick on our most vulnerable. calling those

remarks he speech. you are getting quite a bit of pushback. i want to hear what you think it all means and how you are responding to this. >> sure. i was just speaking authentically as a parent about one of many issues where democrats are out of touch with a majority of americans. i stand by my position. even though i may not have use the right words . i'm willing to have this debate as i have been having with lgbtq advocates and others and some who agree and others who don't, but we are engaging in a thoughtful debate. on the other hand some of the people like you mentioned are more interested in shaming fellow democrats. shaming a majority of voters when they simply do not meet their ideological purity test. and these are the same people who told us to defund the police. who told us there wasn't a problem at the southern border. the same people who attacked me when i

said that biden should step aside because he was going to lose this selection. we have to be willing to have these debates. if they don't come up with a winning strategy they are going to wipe the floor with us in january. just like they did last tuesday. >> do you think this specific issue is a big part of why trump won? >> the sad reality is there is pulling out that shows that in one poll among swing voters it was the number one issue. you can say that is because the ads were effective or whatever else, but another important point here is that trump is

going to try to attack trans people. he is going to in:minorities across the board for the republican agenda is legitimately dangerous for a lot of people in america. we are not going to be effective at defending these people and their civil rights and access to healthcare. says things are really important to them. as i have heard in the community over the past several days. if we don't actually put ourselves in a position of power because god knows republicans are not going to stand up to trump or protect their fellow americans when he goes after their rights. what about women in reproductive freedom? that should really scare people because republicans and trump are absolutely going to try to ban abortion nationwide, and we are not going to be able to stop that if we do not start winning elections and get back in power. >> i want to ask because he did cosponsor two separate bills cause the transgender bill of rights that would have guaranteed transient people the right to participate in sports teams that match their gender identity and other rights. are you saying you no longer believe in the legislation or that the democrats should go a different way? >> absolutely not because this is a prime example of what we are talking about, which is those republican bills that

went too far that were too radical. candidate if republicans control the white house and senate and house that is exactly the kind of radical agenda that they are going to shove through. and so we have to come up with reasonable alternatives that not only the majority of voters can agree with, but that we may even get republican votes for, which will be necessary if we don't have majorities in the house or the senate in order to stop this kind of policy from going through and hurting a lot of americans. >> help me draw the line between what you said, which is that as the father of it are your fearful they might be run over by formerly male athletes. to guaranteeing transgender people the right to participate in sports teams that match their gender identity. how do you hold all of that at the same time?

>> this is exactly the debate we have to have. i am not an expert on these issues. there are people in the community have much more specific views. one of the consensus views i have been hearing is that kids play coed sports all of the time. i have little kids who are on coed soccer teams and that is totally normal. it has been fine for generations. it is different when you get to competitive sports at the college level for example. i have heard anecdotes from parents who reached out to me over the past several days who share these concerns who think that it is unfair. that transgender women or men are able to compete against their daughters. that is the debate that we have to have. there are reasonable questions about what is fair from a competitiveness perspective and also what is safe at those levels. >> just broadening out before we let you go. i hear what you are saying about you want more debate. you want to be able to talk about these things. what do you say to the people in your party who say this isn't up for debate? i do not want to debate these things. i do not

think we should be considering another position on this or any number of issues. >> if you keep preaching and talking down to people. if you just ignore the majority of voters. that is fine. you can have the position, but we are going to keep losing elections. in the business of politics you have to win if you want to make change, and i want to make change for the american people and protect people who are going to be attacked by them. we want to win elections to do that. >> our thanks for that conversation. we are going to be joined by former texas congressman can get his reaction to donald trump's big win and if he is concerned about the president elect following through on threats against his political enemies. you are in the cnn newsroom.

we are now 71 days from trump again taking office. he made a long list of promises and threats. i am going to buy myself and my multiple overnight shifts this week for putting as a congressman from texas even though we know it was illinois. but former congressman from illinois, but thanks for being here. >> of course. >> we have all had a few days to reflect on trump's victory. i am just curious how you see his return to power shaping the

country's future? >> to some extent that is a good thing because now they are going to have an opportunity to put their vision in place. we have been talking about trump's vision for years now, and they are going to have to own whatever that is. the idea of massive tariffs. we may actually see what massive tariffs do. mass deportations. we might actually see what they are or they are going to show this is a completely unrealistic thing anyway. americans spoke, and now it is an opportunity for trump to show what he is made of. i think it is possible that in two years republicans lose a lot of power in the house and senate and then in four years maybe they will say we never should have done that. i do

wish the president well. i want him to succeed because america succeeds. i do not necessarily know if i agree with this vision. >> you are being the drum for months supporting kamala harris is saying there is an american that was your duty even though you didn't agree with her on all of the issues. did it frustrate you that you are really serious about the state of democracy if trump were to resume office, and that did not seem to be a message that was received by a lot of americans. >> people have a right to vote. animated by culture were be we are being animated . the thing about the transgender athletes. i think that is a serious issue that we have to have a real discussion on. democrats have to take a look at their position. that is not really an issue that is just driving people into poverty or creating wars. it is in essence an

invented issue that creates a lot of anger. that is a concern for me is watching this culture were continue to be driven. also the frustration i have with the harris campaign and i tried to get this message out as much as i could. they had a problem with men and not women and yet they spent the whole time trying to reach out to women, and that is actually you are doing okay with women. you need to do a better job of reaching out to men. young men feel like they have been abandoned and don't have a place in this world. donald trump came and although that was a bad version of masculinity he showed them a version that i think is really weak. >> he wants to included you in a list of people that should be going to jail for roles in the

january 6th committee. what you think about these threats to go after former officials or current officials and political enemies that he has made? because he made them a lot. what do you think? >> it is very antidemocratic to do that. to make those threats. i hope they don't do it. i have 0.0% fear of that. anyone that is publicly saying they are super scared of trump . stop it. he is not going to come after us. if you broke the law may be. they should be held accountable. because he disagreed with you he can do whatever he wants to try. we are still a country with a rule of law is. i have your present concern because if you're going to make stuff up then america will see exactly what you are. i am not concerned whatsoever about it . i am glad

you are asking because there is this narrative that we should be leaving the country or something. stop. we do have a justice system, and it will be just fine. >> sounds like you're trying to grant people in the reality. >> let's say that is a decision made to come after his enemies. they are going to have to make stuff up like they will have to lie and make up stuff. if you go through the court system you are going to be fine. i think the american people all of a sudden see the administration is locking up opponents for no reason there will be a massive rebellion. uprising within this country to say we are not that kind of country. stay grounded. if you are one of these folks. i have seen a few of them out there like chicken little running around. all you are doing is

making donald trump happy. you are acting like you're scared of him. do not be scared of him. there is nothing to be afraid of. >> thank you so much for your thoughts. we appreciate it. still ahead. it is called doom spending. people are feeling like there is dumas had, and they're spending. apparently americans are doing a lot of this pure we will talk to an expert to figure out why.

it is called doom spending.

people are swapping their credit cards to feel some iota of control. joining us now is a money expert . thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me back. >> doom spending. why are people doing this? >> i am not immune either. i was in target grabbing everything in sight. it is just the idea of you do not have a lot of control . the economy, politics, the general state of the world. you're doing something you can't control, which is spend money. we are

seeing a really high increase of people stressed out and anxious and trying to fill that void by spending more money. this is how we know it is not really about math or excel spreadsheets but about her emotions and psychology. >> what can people do? maybe your advice . maybe you didn't spend every once in a while. what else can people do when they do not feel like they have control financially? >> i am not the money expert that is going to say you can't spend money. that is not realistic or any fun. i would spend a budget. i got $100 and i'm going to spend this on things that make me feel joy even if it is for a fleeting moment but i would rather you spend that time rather than doom spending. let's save or invest. there are ways you can take action with your money that have lasting impacts that protect you from a lot of the things you are concerned about. having those emergency funds to save. having enough money saved so that he can have flexibility. said yourself the budget and also think about how you can channel the energy and

anxiety into actually doing something that is going to benefit myself and money. >> that seems a little more balanced but also thinking about doom spending and scrolling or being on your phone all the time like on instagram. looking at people living seemingly perfect lives are getting targeted by ads. if you are feeling like everything doesn't feel great in my feel pretty good to try to spend money to make that feel better. >> yeah. i think more information. we believe it is going to sue the us. i kept trying to get more information. thinking maybe this is the video that will be my salvation. it might make me feel better for a couple of seconds, but long term i'm trying to protect my energy and money. >> there was no doubt about it . they were loud and clear on

this. they were worried about the economy or economic situation. they are fearful about what that means for the future and want to change. to those americans what do you say to them as an expert that works in this and trying to make sure that people are able to save and invest. >> their number one fear is how i get by on a good day let alone a day that feels very stressful. i was mentioned this before, but the emergency fund is your top priority. even if it is a little bit of money every single month to go into the emergency fund to protect you in case of emergency. in

case of a job loss or if somebody gets sick. it is also mental stability and peace of mind knowing that you have the money in the bank. set up an automatic transfer from your checking account to your savings account. may be every time you get paid were once in a month. increase it if you can over time and start to say that emergency fund to be able to protect yourself and know that you have a little bit saved should something happen. >> hopefully you can do it even in baby steps. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me. thank you for joining us. we will see you back here next weekend. a special edition of cnn newsroom is up next. have a great night.

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