♪ today and everyday , indeed, we say thank you to all of america's veterans for their service to our country. we are so grateful. wolf blitzer from the situation room, thanks for watching. erin burnett, our friend, start right now. day

president-elect now stacking his administration with diehard supporters, and punishing those who spoke out against him. we will be reporting this hour on what is happening behind closed doors in mar-a-lago. breaking news, vladimir putin and kim jong-un, striking a major deal. see in and speaks to people inside russia about trump's promise to end the conflict in ukraine. john edwin is back out front and tonight, he will tell you what he has learned from the campaign trail where he spent every day and why he is full of hope. let's go out front. good evening , i am erin burnett . out front tonight, breaking news, rewarding loyalty. donald trump wasting no time paying back his supporters tonight. moments

ago, congressman mike walt to be his security advisor. he is a long time, and vocal trump supporter retired national guard, or green beret. also, stephen miller, immigration hardliner returning as deputy chief of staff of policy. even more power than he had in the first trump administration when he had quite a huge influence. devotion to trump, though, ever since has been extremely loud and very clear. >> president trump is the most gifted politician of our time. segment the president is a political genius. >> they say that the eyes are the window into the human soul, that blazing set of eyes that we saw in that photograph revealed a soul that is literally burning with a righteous flame on the half of 300 million americans. >> i mean, trump's blazing eyes, his burning soul , it does not get better than that.

that is a small tidbit that miller has said about trump's . what is most important is that he has stayed close, without wavering, since trump got in office, and throughout the entire campaign, front and center. here he is at the madison square garden rally. >> america is for americans and americans only. >> in fact, miller was a key architect behind the separation policy at the border come and shaped the administration's muslim met. he is credited with placing some of trump's most incendiary speeches here do you remember this one? >> this american carnage stops right here and stop right now. >> american carnage, remember, that of course was inauguration day. now, miller will be joined by a number of other loyalist, including tom holman, trump's new borders are, who will be tasked with carrying out trump's mass deportation promises. >> we have a president, the

greatest president in my lifetime. >> i've said it 1000 times, i will say it until the day i die. >> also on the list, congressman elise sefanik, who trump wants to be his u.n. ambassador. >> i was the only elected republican woman from the northeast who voted for president trump. i was smeared by democrats for doing so, and turned out to be one of his top allies. >> and then of course, the world's richest man, who has been weighing in on the staffing decisions, someone who has close to trump the past several months. most importantly, truly has trump's. >> not just maga , drop maga, president trump must win to preserve the constitution. he must win to preserve democracy in america. >> finch since election day, musk has been everyday in mar-a-lago. thinking keep in mind, the space station, tesla,

all of that, but he is at mar-a-lago everyday. he is appearing in trump family photos over the weekend. trump's oldest granddaughter posted an image of herself with elon musk with the caption, achieving uncle status. this loyalty has earned them a spot in trump's inner circle with a very quick rapidfire naming of an inner circle and new administration. former administration, nikki haley and mike pompeo are completely on the outs because of things like this. >> chaos follows him , and we can't have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos . we want to survive it appears >> i was talking about the time to elect serious leaders who are thoughtful and speak about america is the most exceptional nation in the history of civilization here they are not denigrating it, throwing out whoppers, spending all their time thinking about twitter. >> i mean, that they/them there was a he, trump. what matters here is that trump took the time when it came to pay up to post on twitter that he will not name them to his

administration. he did not just leave them out, i am not going to mention names and leave them out. no, he had to come out with an announcement that he was going to reject them. that is the point, loyalty to trump, let's be clear. as the cast of "saturday night live" put it this weekend in this rather dark skinned-- >> next to the supreme court, there are no guardrails. >> nothing to protect the people that speak out against him. >> that is why we at snl would like to say to donald trump, we have been with you all along. >> alayna treene is out front live in west palm beach, where trump administration hopefuls, and those hoping to persuade his pigs, are liking to mar-a-lago . the déjà vu of it all. what is the latest you are hearing about there and what is happening? behind me, where mar-a-lago is, also the hotels , the different potential rental properties

that is really the epicenter of what is going on. we are told, many people are booking hotels, looking these rental properties, trying to maneuver their way in with members already of mar-a-lago to get their way in to appear in front of donald trump, one, to try to get their names in front of him for these potential roles, also to try and influence him as well . i think your point of loyalty is so crucial, from every single pick we have seen donald trump announcing the last 48 hours or so, they have all been people loyal to donald trump . and i think the timing of their loyalty is crucial. that is what i am told in my conversations with trump advisors. it is the people who did not abandon him after he left the white house in january 2021, after many had distanced themselves from the former president, following the january 6 capitol attack. these people, susie wiles, elise sefanik, all of them stayed loyal to donald trump and we are seeing them the reported right now. i want to talk a little about mike walter waltz

, him being the national security advisor is a big deal. i think he will have a very big portfolio and a lot to dig in on, especially the war in the middle east and ukraine. he will be the first green beret to this role. he served in the middle east, afghanistan, africa. he will have a lot of experience from the war side itself. again, he has also been one of donald trump's biggest defenders . you have seen him on television over the entire campaign, coming out in particular with all of the drama around donald trump visiting arlington cemetery, people saying that he was in the wrong for appearing at certain gravesites. mike walz was out there defending donald trump. he has also been seen at mar-a-lago. another person we have seen at mar-a-lago is elon musk. you are absolutely right that his influence is incredibly great right now with donald trump. i am told from my discussions with people familiar with this is that, many lawmakers are calling up

elon musk , and he is also calling up lawmakers right now jockeying continues, particularly as we are looking at the senate leadership fight, and musk putting his finger on the scale for rick scott. >> you very much, elena. for any reason, whether linked to trump or not, will it be like, holy cow, i am getting a call from elon musk? that is the reality, it is the celebrity of it too that aspect that is a part of the trump ethos that he likes to cultivate. you know a lot of these people . you have worked with a lot of these people. mike waltz, not, but some of these other people in the inner circle have remained, you know that. what is your reaction to this team and how quickly that has come ? >> i know all of them and none of them raise major alarm bells in the sense that they are not a major departure from the former trump administration. these are people that have the credentials to be there and you have a sense of what they will do. stephen miller has already

had an incredible hand at trump's policymaking, to the thing that he is already an ideal low. a lot of his ideas originate from stephen miller. always expected to have a senior role. mike waltz, a diehard loyalists to donald trump, through congress on the outside. his wife actually served in the national security council on the previous administration. tom homan was either going to get his or department of homeland security. he knows how to work within the inner agency and the government. elise sefanik , beloved by trump and loves him. what donald trump has done this time that is a remarkably different than last time is how rapidly he announced these people. he had a government waiting and ready to go, which is so different than the scramble of last-minute people who did not know how government works. this is a team ready to go on day one. >> it is. no question about it. the fact that yes, there is jockeying going on, but there was some sort of a plan. you don't move this quickly with

just rapid firing jockeying, and elon musk playing phone tag. what do democrats do here? he has won, it appears he will end up being the popular vote and the electoral and senate, possibly likely house . and he is moving fast. >> the one thing democrats have to stop doing is stop underestimating donald trump. this guy has gotten elected two times, almost a third time with joe biden, because he did not beat him that much when it came to the electoral college. they have to start paying attention to the fact that there are a lot of americans in this country, majority of americans do still feel like that on the outside. the one thing trump did well, kind of vastly from the democratic perspective, he put himself on the side of the people who were outside, going against institutions. democrats have to not defend institutions that people don't think are taking care of them. it is time for them to figure out how to get on the right side of those

institutions. what i am worried about with those administrations, in the clinton administration, where i started as a kid, we believe in the economic power, the obama administration similarly, bush administration, it was a hard power, the military was leading. this is puzzle power. nobody knows what donald trump might do. he tried to use this to his benefit, but also creates error. because we don't know, it is right to have mistakes occur on the international scene, and that could be deadly. >> the stuff that nikki haley warned of. >> it comes down to it, it is loyalty, right? we know loyalty to trump . that is what matters. team of loyalists. if you are a public face, he wants to publicly have everybody know. it will not be quiet. he wanted public . all the way back in 1992, he has talked about loyalty. i will just play it. >> how do you define disloyalty? >> they did not come to my aid. >> what did they do? they

turned their back on you? >> no, they did not do small things that would help. i am loyal to a fault, when someone is slightly disloyalty me, i look at it as a great act of horror. >> the loyalty is a one-way street here, david. that is not the point here. are these picks all based on loyalty? we look at this as a list of layout, congers meant waltz, obviously an incredible resume as well . >> listen , i love the fact that alyssa and jamaal are both praising donald trump in the picks. jamaal is saying, don't underestimate donald trump, don't sleep on him. >> i picked my legs licks , okay. >> i may yield my time to both of them and let them keep talking about how great trump is, i am thoroughly enjoying it. i know all the people have been selected so far. i think not just loyalty , these people are incredibly competent . i think competence is the watch

here tonight. mike waltz has been a friend for quite some time, graduate of the virginia military institute , not west point, unfortunately. he is a hardened combat veteran, first green beret in congress . he has been on this network a ton. very fair, smart guy . he is going to do incredible things. elise sefanik , i was with her before she was a congresswoman . incredibly capable. tom homan, knows the immigration system inside and out. if you doubt that, go back to youtube and watch exchanges when he is testifying before the hill . >> i was watching them today. yep, i was watching. >> these people, i think the word is competent above loyalty. these people are incredibly competent , and they will make this administration run very smoothly from jump street. i am excited about them . i am excited about my friend, mike walls. he deserves it. tom homan deserves it. these folks will take care of the american

people . you said, there will be -- i don't know what we are up to now, 79 million votes, maybe? the american people clearly sent a signal to washington, right track, wrong track, 75% of people think the country is going in the wrong track, these people will help put it back on the right track. >> the thing about moving slowly, who knows? you have got resumes, you've got experience, he is moving quickly, competent, all of that. but it is chaos, backbiting, and leaking the defiance he of the last trumpet administration. for this to be different, that would be different. you do have elon musk playing a role here too, having all of these conversations with people. is that something that plays as a positive thing overtime? >> listen, i am hesitant to make predictions . something i was struck by in the west wing is how much personal agendas and vendettas ended up eclipsing some of the work that should have been done. i don't

personally know susie wiles, but by reputation think she will be a competent manager. there was also a four-star general who wants held that role and could not get some of the fighting in the trump administration under control. then, you introduced this outsized influence of one of the most powerful, wealthiest man on the planet, elon musk here that could get complicated. i also have never known donald trump to share a stage or equal spotlight with what appeared today, elon musk may be more powerful than the day he swears in the oath of office, he is more powerful than elon musk. i will see how long this relationship last and what it looks like, but it could get complicated. >> i like that. it could get complicated. >> i was eating my words. [ laughter ] >> harris and biden were together today for the first time since the election. i saw something he wrote on social media and i will share it and give you a chance to comment. joe biden should get one last chance to be transitional. biden should without mak matt harris the first woman president, turntables on trump,

keep kamala from presiding over january 6th, make it easier for the next woman to run. >> super popular for biden right now. let me just -- let me say, i think this is right. democrats have to stop paying attention to the rules so much. nobody cares as much about the rules as much as we seem to. when republicans want things, they go and make it happen. chris wanted to make kamala harris president of the united states, joe biden can be the transitional figure and do that. i don't know if the vice president takes i am in the right. if you ask her the question, she would say, no. the reality is, democrats want this to happen. we have got to stop being worried about what everyone thinks or what the norm says . we got to go for what we want and let the chips fall. that is what the americans, i think what they are expecting about this guy. they respected it about bill clinton and george bush. they will respect democrats when they start going for what they want and not paying attention to the etiquette. met you may be shocked, but i believe david irvin agrees with you. in a

slightly different way, david? >> listen , i think jamaal is exactly right. joe biden got elected to be a transitional president. when he ran, he said, i will be a moderate, ring the country together, bridge the future. once he got in there, you would need the jaws of life to get him out of the oval office. he should have honored his pledge that he ran on and instead of knocking around free election, and had a process. had a process and kamala harris may have come out of that process early on and been the nominee, and been a stronger nominee. i don't disagree with jamaal, president biden should step down, i think he should have stepped down a year ago. >> for the record, donald trump still does not have as many votes as joe biden got in the large last election. >> listen , i think a lot of people in america might dispute that, jamaal. >> 81 million votes, remember that. >> i will leave it that david herman says, she should have been president a year ago. you

say, president now. >> i said, joe biden should have stepped down a year ago. >> i know, not quite right on the framing. next, trump and aoc come in they could not be more different when you look at them. guess what, there are voters who voted trump on the top of the ticket and aoc for congress . they are out there and guess what, we found them. trump said, he would end the conflict in ukraine what they want. what do russians think you mark a special report from inside moscow. tracking down on 100,000 chinese students riding their bikes for the mouse together at night in search of dumplings , but the chinese government is convinced it is something very different.

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tonight, though trump and aoc voter . not only do these voters exist, several of them are speaking out tonight to explain why. she asked, why did you do this? and one of them said quote, you are focused on the real issues people care about, similar to trump popular is them in some ways. others say, it is real simple, trump and you care for the working class. a third saying quote, i feel like you and trump are real. congressman dean phillips of minnesota, challenged president biden for the 2024 nominations said, president biden should step aside, had a primary there, and here we are. congressman, can i start with the trump aoc voter, when i heard that and others watching they said, what? who are these individuals, what do they care about? aoc reached out and i

shared a few of their responses. you and i have been hearing a similar theme about, maybe the venn diagram overlapped between people who seem so opposite like trump and aoc. what do you see their? >> erin, i have to say, as someone who has traveled the country, and kept my eyes, ears, and heart open, there is a mobile, massive disaffection in the country. here, you have donald trump and aoc , that may have very different lyrical perspectives and backgrounds, but they are both disruptors. there is a massive appetite right now in our country to disrupt a political system that increasing numbers of americans are really disgusted by . i think it is not that surprising . people are more focused on disruption that even policy. i think it is probably time for my side of the aisle , in particularly, to wake up to that reality. the status quo is not appealing to most americans. not surprising at all. you are right, they are both looking out for the

working class, at least that his perception . that is very powerful right now, as bernie sanders noted in his note to the country a couple of days ago. >> actually, i will play something bernie sanders said in a moment, but first i want to ask you, the democrats that did outperform kamala harris, some of them did win those. who are they and why? most of them had something in common. i was speaking to one of them on long island. she was saying, the border really mattered. acknowledging that two people mattered. she put it in campaign ads . a lot of those campaign ads from those winners spoke to voters about the border crisis. >> in the marines and we always said, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. arizona hands no, on the border, there is no plan. >> the far left ignoring millions illegally crossing the border. i am fighting for what matters to us by stopping illegal immigration. >> carrie is working with law

enforcement to stop the flow of sentinel. kami voted 32 times to strengthen the border. straight >> it is tammy baldwin i trust to keep wisconsin safe. >> i am tammy baldwin and i approve this message. >> so different from what was on the national stage . some people watching maybe like, what, those were democrats? and they were here those were the successful ones. >> it is so true . so many of us were trying to call attention to this so long ago. yes . by the way, just about every democratic senate candidate, many of our congressional candidates they all outperformed vice president kamala harris , particularly those like jared goldman in maine, lucy perez . they represent their districts by keeping their ears to the ground, listening to people in understanding what is important to them. right now, the democratic party does not have a very efficient mechanism by which that information can be delivered and acted upon. by

the way, i will make this really quick, no surprise when donald trump sent checks directly to americans at a time when very few could spend them because the economy was shutdown, tens of millions of americans had more money in their bank accounts at any time in their adult lives. let's say it was $5000. now they look at their bank account, they have $1000 me prices are higher. democrats had a year, two years to simply acknowledge that, explain it, and create a proposition to overcome it. sing with the border. it has become a disaster for decades, it is not new. it is keeping ears to the ground and finally waking up to the reality and using invitation to me not confrontational condemnation to win elections. it does not work. >> pointedly said. you mentioned bernie sanders. i want to ask something about him, because he was talking to kristen welker at nbc who did a great interview, she asked him about these calls on the far left now for sonia sotomayor ,

supreme court justice, to step down, basically so president biden can nominate her replacement and not president-elect trump. she's only 70 years old. this has been out in the ether . senator bernie sanders was asked about it, here is what he said. >> should justin soto mayor step down to allow president biden to appoint someone who is younger? she is only 70 years old. is that something you would support? do you think she should down? >> no, i don't. >> have you heard any talk of this? >> a little bit , yes. i don't think it is the sensible approach. >> i thought it was interesting how he answered it. there was sort of a resignation , and an upset that the thought is even out there, but he acknowledged it was. did you agree with him, or not? >> look, i think judge

stoudemire is a wonderful jurist. age 70 is not that old in this day and age, but she is also a type i diabetic, and we also what ruth bader ginsburg did to build her extraordinary career, create an amazing legacy, to help have it all essentially washed away by sticking around too long, and as someone who believes so deeply in term limits, creating a space for other americans to participate and recognizing the consequences of sticking around too long. if supreme court justice sotomayor, her health situation is different than some may recognize, i would hope that she would proactively step aside so that yes, joe biden could appoint -- at least try to, appoint somebody else, because we have fallen short way too many times, we democrats , but frankly sticking around too long, as evidenced by joe biden himself. yes, we have an issue if her circumstance makes the next four years, get it from a health perspective, i hope she

would consider doing that. i don't think it is bernie sanders, me, or joe biden's decision, it is hers . i just wish more people in positions of power would ultimately put the country head of their health interest. if we did, we would be a lot of better off on both sides of the aisle. >> i appreciate you taking the time, as always me telling it like you see it. next, for the first time since trump's win, we take you inside russia me so you will see how putin's allies are reacting to trump's victory. what do we think this means? john avlon outfront, their everything day on the campaign trail for 9 months straight face to face with voters. what did he learn, and if he still hopeful?

breaking news, kim jong-un and vladimir putin signing into law a major defense agreement, coming as it now 11,000 north korean troops are underground in north korea's kursk region , fighting ukraine. as trump prepares to return to the white house, he is promising to end

that war. what does it mean in russia? fred planck is outfront in moscow. >> reporter: russian state tv feasting on donald trump's election victory, the main talk program showcasing a social media post by donald trump's son, donald trump jr., mocking ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy, saying, his so-called allowance from the u.s. will run out here the message from russian media, ukraine is concerned usaid could dry up and russia will end the war. on moscow streets, optimism about the incoming administration in washington . since the war in ukraine, relations between moscow and washington have continued to plummet to new lows, but now, many people here hope and believe that a new trump presidency could bring those relations back on track. [

speaking non-english ] [ speaking non-english ] [ speaking non-english ] >> reporter: but what could a so-called mutual understanding look like? this video from ukraine's military reportedly showing keith's hitting russian troops , where ukrainian say, they are now facing off against 50,000 russians and also north korean

troops. the ukrainians acknowledge , they probably wouldn't be able to sustain their operations without u.s. military aid, aid donald trump has in the past insinuated he might cut altogether in an effort he claims to end the war. >> they are dying, russians and ukraine's . and i will have that done in 24 hours. >> ukrainian source now thing, trump was joined by billionaire elon musk on a recent phone call with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy. musk, who while helping ukraine by providing starling satellite internet, has in the past criticized military aid for ukraine, ridiculing zielinski in post on his platform, x. denied the washington post platform, claiming the phone call has not happened. still,

vladimir putin openly praising the president's stance on ukraine and russia. concerning the desire to restore relations with russia to help end the ukrainian crisis, in my opinion, seems to be at least worthy of attention, putin said . the incoming trump administration certainly has the attention of many in russia hoping for improved relations with many in the u.s. and even possible sanctions relief . the vibe we are getting as we are on the ground here in moscow , for many russians, there still a lot of uncertainty about what a trump residency could bring, but there is also a lot of hope among russians that the war in ukraine could end in the not too distant future and could end on terms very favorable for russia. >> fred, and you very much. of course , context here, you have more questions dying per day now than perhaps any time during the ukrainian war. for now, ian brennan, renowned founder of the eurasian group, g0 media. so glad we have a chance to talk to you . i hope

everyone will reach your x feed on your thoughts on all of these. you just heard putin praising trump's views on the war . i guess there is a basic question here, does putin think he will get everything he wants in ukraine with trump as president? >> everything sounds like an overstatement. he certainly thinks he is in a far better position than he was with biden , or that he would have been with harris, for a couple of reasons. first, trump and j.d. vance have consistently campaigned on wanting to end the war . putin is in a position to deliver that , which means, he can drive a harder bargain , especially because the ukrainians are on the back foot . also, we now have members of the european union that are coming out more strongly , saying, we've got to stop providing aid. we had that from viktor orban, you have just seen that from slovakia in the last couple of hours. you would not have seen that before trump won the presidency. right now, putin

understands that he has the ability, maybe, to drive a wedge in europe and start to get some normalization for relations from countries that consider him a pariah . keep in mind this is only a g7 policy. only a couple of weeks ago, you will remember, erin, in russia and goes on, putin was hosting much every major head of state from the non-advanced industrial democracies come of the leaders of the bricks. not like it is isolated globally. now, with trump, he is not even isolated in the united states, a very big change from the kremlin. >> that is nothing . you have got him having this meeting for the brits, china, many other country a part of that now . he's talking about a multipolar world. his entire premise is that, he wants the decline of the west . he says it, the decline of the west, the decline of the united

states. that is putin's goal. is that something that you think trump is actually going to continue to go along with? >> i don't think trump sees it that way. >> he says it, i wanted to go on to the west and the polar world. >> let's keep in mind, the united states is certainly the most powerful country in the world today. but its relationship with its allies , in many cases, much more strained, also, more asymmetrical in favor of the u.s. the u.s. economy is a much larger share of the g7 then it has been over the past decade. if you are trump, you're thinking to yourself, i don't need my allies the way i used to . what i want is to get things that i want individually with all countries around the world , and bilateral relations. i will do that with the russians. i will do that with north korea. i will do it with the iranians, the hard way. in other words, the idea

that trump is going to maintain a u.s. led order that is based on common values and multilateral alliances , that is not trump's interest, and it happens to align nicely with putin saying, this is a more multipolar world. >> ian, thank you very much. a lot to think about. thank you. next, john at one is back . he is back out front after his tough race for congress . he will tell you why he was wrong about trump , and something he thought on the campaign trail that we feel is really important for everyone to hear. plus, china targeting bicyclists claim, they are on an evening ride to get dumplings. beijing and the government inc. it is something more sinister. wait until you see what they are doing.

tonight, the joe rogan election. bernie sanders, was endorsed by joe rogan in 2020, yes, you heard me correctly, rogan endorsed but bernie sanders in 2020, and then trump this time, criticizing kamala harris and others for not going on rogan 's show. >> look, you can have an argument with rogan, disagree with him or agree with him, what is the problem with going on the show? it is hard for me to understand that. >> this, as rogan reveals what went on behind the scenes that led to vice president kamala harris turning down an interview that would have reached 50 million people. >> i bet there is a person in there. i bet i can get to that person. i want to find that person. i don't want to hear the speeches, i don't want to hear i was raised class. >> she was a roller skater, did you know that? >> no, i would love to find out about all kinds of light. i literally said, because there were a few restrictions and things they did not want to

talk about, i said, i don't give a >>. and they wanted to know if i would edit, there is no editing. we are not going to edit. >> back out front tonight, cnn political analyst john avalon lost his race tuesday for new york's first congressional district on eastern long island. he also did not think donald trump would win again, and he is not alone. i did want to talk about rogan and influencers . i want to start first with your campaign . you are out there every single day. you left it all on the table, all of it, day in and day out. you just wrote what you saw on the blog, i hope everyone will read it. one of the things you wrote about, i hope people will read, that really stood out to me when you and i talked today, the enthusiasm voters had in the conservative district for the american flag . >> absolutely. this is the kind of thing that gives you hope

that reminds you, we are not as deeply divided as our politics make it seem. democrats were thirsty for this idea of, we need to reclaim the american flag, because it belongs to all of us. we need to reclaim patriotism. some folks think that patriotism is something you should hold at arms length, and america is fundamentally flawed. i think democrats want to reclaim the flag . the fact that it has become a partisan signifier is a problem in our politics. that is one of the points i made repeatedly in our campaign . we need to be patriotic to build a broad patriotic coalition to defend democracy. >> but the flag had become something that was sort of thing as something more maga. that was a sign of a problem, something that you saw. joe rogan , donald trump goes on his podcast before the election, 50 million views for that interview. 80% of those listening were men. harris turned it down, you just heard joe rogan talking about why . do you think that-- and i know

joe rogan , this is a very, the penultimate day of the whole election. joe rogan was not going to win it for her, but the role of influencers, the decision that matter, did it? >> i think it did. first of all, democrats need to get off the defense. i think there is a tiptoeing around for fear of defending the money or the danger of going into a difficult environment, which rogan may have been, but the authenticity to have an open debate and agreement, which i think people will reward. another thing this election showed, frankly, the role of influencers and this decentralized right-wing media influencing has a lot more power than even ground gaming , in terms of getting in people's heads. that is something i saw on the campaign trail as well . the entire media environment is different. sometimes, journalistic outfits that care about fairness find themselves getting played by the ref. they have this sort of fake fairness i think can be a

problem to honest conversations about the real estate in the race. >> it is fascinating you say that. in the final days, such confidence in harris, the ground game, to the extent there was lack of confidence on the trump side, because they were worried that outsourcing it-- and suddenly, you see the power of those influencers and how much that actually made. when you are out there every single day, you have written so eloquently, and you have been in politics as a republican, as an independent, as a democrat now, all of it , what did you see day in and day out that you look at this election day that stands out? the flag was one thing, there were other things. >> fundamentally, the fact that the middle class squeeze that has been going on for decades that has been driving division and anger in our file politics, folks feel like they can work hard, play by the rules and still not get ahead. that is the core theme of our campaign, we need to rebuild the middle , the middle of our economy and politics, those two things are

connected. it is not a coincidence we haul out the middle of our politics the same way we haul out the middle of our economy. i don't know that we will have the balance to withstand these sort of swings. that needs to be job number one, it seems to me. if people don't feel economically secure or personally saved, everything else is secondary. >> yet, you leave this with all the exhaustion you went through with hope. >> yes. look , first of all, it is like abraham lincoln a properly said, i am an optimist because i don't see the point in being anything else. this process of listening to people, learning , meeting people where they are, doesn't give you the sense that even when you talk to trump voters, we may disagree about the source of division, but even they want to see the country unite. we may be heading for a dark time where people did not get necessarily what they expect my belief in the durability is intact . we just need to lean into that patriotism . >> we believe on that message of hope. we are thrilled to have you back . i know you hoped under different circumstances, but it is great

to have my friend back. next, why china is trying to stop this tens of thousands of young people from riding their bikes. will

it's our son, he is always up in our business. it's the verizon 5g home internet i got us. oh... he used to be a competitive gamer but with the higher lag, he can't keep up with his squad. so now we're his “squad”. what are kevin's plans for the fall? he's going to college. out of state, yeah. -yeah in the fall. change of plans, i've decided to stay local. oh excellent! oh that's great! why would i ever leave this? -aw! we will do anything to get him gaming again. you and kevin need to fix this internet situation. heard my name! i swear to god, kevin! -we told you to wait in the car. everyone in my old squad has xfinity. less lag, better gaming! i'm gonna need to charge you for three people. tonight, china cracking down on bike riders, calling in police, shutting down bike lanes, even locking down college campuses. this is because of a viral trend among college students, up to 100,000

of them at a time, imagine something like this, the scale, biking dozens of miles to get souped up lanes. the government thinks something else is going on and will ripley is out front. >> reporter: pedaling under the glow of streetlights, tens of thousands of chinese students on a 40 mile impromptu adventure to the ancient city of kaifeng. students have been biking here for months , most joining for the thrill, some for the popular and juicy jumbo soup dumplings. others , just letting off steam , under the intense pressure of finding a job. china's economy is spiraling. youth unemployment is skyrocketing. >> translator: we wanted to take the challenge of riding a shared bike to kaifeng city . we are only young once. >> reporter: some riders carry chinese flags , others sing the national anthem. state media

even released this viral video, students chanting about their passion. then, came the crackdown . authorities closed key bike lanes this weekend , citing safety and traffic concerns . bike-sharing companies issued warnings . some colleges restricted students from leaving campus, all temporary measures, police say. authorities insist the situation became unmanageable . traffic disruptions from abandoned shared hikes , massive youth gatherings , all of it happening in china , an authoritarian state led by a party that itself came to power with the help of mass movements, often led by students. from cinnamon square in 1989, to the covid lockdown protests of 2022, large, organized student gatherings rattled the ruling party's nerves, even if participants insist they are not clinical.

it also happened in shanghai, the site of huge halloween celebrations last year. this year, heavy crowd control. police escorting away plenty of people in halloween costumes one of the most conspicuous, president donald trump. so, they are censoring us again, erin, as you can see from a live picture in beijing . it is not surprising, the imagery in this piece, particularly the students on bicycles, it is reminiscent perhaps of the spring of 1989, when university students in beijing wrote their bikes through cinnamon square. we know how that ended, a massive crackdown by the military. it is shocking because the government initially rushed to promote this trend . they were excited to see students having fun, going to get those delicious soup dumplings. yet, when he got too big, too popular, we

now have this. >> absolutely fascinating. th