and mark preston i mean, really striking to, of course watch what tucker carlson did there again as wenald trump, you know, going to the oval office. go ahead. >> no no, i mean, please, i mean it does bring us back to the time when, when tucker carlson went over there and we all kind of watched in just amazement that, you know, tucker carlson, this, this american journalist, i guess, american commentator goes over there and really bowed to putin. it was just a strange. >> well, and we you know, since then have seen him campaign repeatedly with donald trump and jeff. there's also, of course, elon musk has been on phone calls with president elect trump and the ukrainian president vladimir zelenskyy. i mean, it's a really a remarkable situation, remarkable and not surprising. >> look, all of this was out in the open when donald trump was campaigning. and the american people elected him. i think the big question here is, what is elon musk's role going to be? and a bigger question is we were talking earlier about all the things that the president will do on day one. i think ukraine is proba

this is what a senior trump advisor just told mark preston today. trump is going to bring in somebody who is going to burn down the department of justice from the inside, and matt is going to do that . conservatives believe the doj is in chaos. if that is the marching orders , what is that going to do and what is that going to look like, eddie? >> i have no doubt that that is the marching orders . let's face the obvious fact here, matt gaetz is profoundly unqualified for this job in any of the traditional, normal kind of requirements sense of what the attorney general does day to day. this is the first step , likely, in trump's revenge tore against the department of justice, a department he bears such animosity, and a grudge against that he believes he was mistreated by the multiple investigations targeting him over the last couple of years. matt gaetz sent into the department of justice to cause chaos, to fire people from critical positions , to leave positions empty , to vacate long-standing guidance and policy positions , and replace them with no

. >> joining us now to discuss all of this stephen collinson, cnn senior politics reporter mark preston, cnn senior political analyst meghan hayes, former director of message planning at the biden white house brad todd, cnn political commentator and republican strategist. welcome to all of you. thank you for being here. stephen, i was actually reading your your column this morning with elon musk to watch this rocket the degree to which the world that we're leaving, the world that we're entering contrast with one another. right. >> and this relationship between donald trump and elon musk is fascinating. you know, the the most interesting orbit was not the one that rockets were blasting off to from texas. it's the one between trump and musk and everything that brings you know, the potential of someone, a genius in the middle of government. but all the conflicts of interests that that brings. but i think what we're seeing is you're right. this move trump is already exerting power two months before he actually becomes the president. you're seeing it domestically. you're seeing it internatio

mark preston, appreciate the analysis, as always. brianna? >>> all right, donald trump's election victory is already having an impact on another one of his criminal cases. today, judge juan marchon hit the pause button in the president-elect's hush money trial, giving the d.a. 's office and trump's lawyers at least another week to make new arguments on how his election win impacts the case. judge marchon is now expected to decide the next steps in the case by next tuesday. we have cnn chief legal analyst, laura coates, our legal czar, if you will, joining us now. what does this delay tell you more broadly, ultimately, about where you think this case will go? >> it's probably going to go nowhere towards sentencing anytime soon, let alone perhaps at all. many people may be wondering, why would a supreme court ruling on immunity, based on actions in office, have any impact on what was done during a hush money case involving the campaign? well, it's because some of the testimony that came in, the lawyers for trump are arguing, had to do with the

joining us now is cnn's senior political analyst mark preston. good to see you york times are reporting that this will be one of, if not the most ideologically diverse cabinets. i just i wonder how do you see that actually playing out realistically? >> well, i think it plays out differently for for different paths. >> for instance robert robert f. kennedy's nomination to, you know, lead health care at hhs is going to have opposition from some republicans, perhaps. right. we talk about his views on abortion and really, the those on the hard right are certainly concerned about that. and you look at someone like tulsi gabbard again a democrat, i was i remember being with her backstage during the democratic debates and now she has embraced maga and, you know, concerns about whether or not she's been compromised as we heard, senator duckworth tell dana bash yesterday on cnn and then of course, you know, you got someone like lori chavez-deremer she's considered to be a pro, a pro-labor republican. you know she has co-sponsored very favorable labor legi

cnn senior political analyst mark preston is with us this morning. we are happy to see you, mark. you have a brand- new reporting on the stefanick pick and the sort of strategy inside mar-a-lago right now, which seems like a wild world that's happening there. what are you hearing? >> it certainly is, sara. last night, kaitlan collins reported that donald trump planned on picking elise stefanick, a loyal ally of his for so many years to be his spokesperson for the united states at the u.n. this morning, they have put a statement out, they have said that, in fact, that is going to happen. this is now the third person we have seen named by donald trump since he's been elected into key positions. we saw tom homan late last night. he has been named as the border czar. what does that mean? he's going to be in charge of rounding up all of the immigrants that are here in the country illegally, that donald trump wants to send back. elise stefanick, on the other hand, she will be someone who will be carrying donald trump's foreign policy message, certainly within the united nations. and the

mark preston still sporting the playoff beard joins us this morning with the latest. let's talk first about president biden. we have not yet heard from him. >> we haven't heard from him. we expect to hear from him in a couple of hours. an interestiition he being put in. he had to step aside to allow kamala harris to run, because he wasn't going to have any chance of winning and of course, she lost. so he'll address the nation in a couple of hours, and we expect him to talk about the peaceful transfer of power, how he'll work with donald trump. i wouldn't expect any inflammatory music out of him -- music, listen to me, any inflammatory language out of him, but however, i would expect him to be stern and probably try to lay a marker down for the incoming trump administration to try to do the right thing. >> and look, i think it needs to be said, vice president harris conceding yesterday is something that donald trump has still never done from the 2020 election. the outgoing president, you know, biden, extending an olive branch, inviting donald trump in. something that t

and let's bring in cnn's senior political analyst, mark preston. all right mark. so now pam bondi pam bondi for attorney general. it happened very quickly, i think, as kristen laid out, there's a lot of relieved republican senators. and frankly, trump allies that, okay, they really believe pam bondi could get through. but bottom line here, i mean, whoever is the attorney general under trump, it's really going to be trump. i mean, he's made it clear he wants to drive the show. >> that's for every one of these cabinet picks that we've been talking about. you know, we've spent the last couple of weeks as we have for every previous administration where we talk through the qualifications for some of these folks that would be going into these positions the reality is where we are right now is that you don't necessarily need to be qualified. i'm not saying that, pam, but like pam bondi is qualified, right? there are certainly people that are qualified and you know, marco rubio as well as somebody else. however you are still putting people into positions that are just goi

cnn senior political analyst mark preston is with us now who? mark. all right. we will get to gates in just a bit. but first, on this latest pick for transportation secretary, what are you learning about this? >> well sarah, let's channel john berman here. >> a little bit. >> it is getting real here in washington. donald trump's pick to lead the department of transportation is a former congressman served four terms in congress, representing wisconsin. but more importantly he really came of age during this new era of celebrity, right in the late 90s, early 2000. sean duffy many people probably remember him from the real world. i believe he was on season six, actually met his wife in one of the spin off series rachel campos-duffy she herself is on fox as well. what's interesting about them is that they have nine children in sean duffy is an incredibly conservative person. uh, his pick, though certainly does seem to fit the mold of what donald trump is trying to do trying to infuse young new life into washington and not just young new life, but people who are reall

with me now to discuss cnn's senior political analyst, mark preston. i want to go back to some of those extraordinary scenes that we saw of donald trump standing beside elon musk, watching his latest spacex rocket take off what does this growing relationship between trump and musk, who is the richest man in the world, mean for americans and the world? >> well, you know i was talking to a republican consultant, the other day, and we really were really going in depth on this, this whole relationship, this amazing relationship, interesting relationship bizarre relationship that we see between elon musk and donald trump. and this consultant said you know, it's almost like we have entered the new era of the american oligarch. you know, we think of how these wealthy individuals run russia. of course, you know vladimir putin giving them wide latitude to do what they want. but it's not really fair to say that, i think, because overall, we have seen the wealthy been very much involved in government. but to your point built on american taxpayer money low interes

mark preston. all right. jasmine. jasmine. right. thank you to you both so donald trump has a clear path out of many of his legal troubles. >> simply winning the election as if that were actually simple. ahead, we're going to discuss where his criminal cases stand and what happens if he winds up back in the white house. >> plus, what comes after election day as trump talks about vengeance. we're going to look at the efforts to prevent potential political violence such a game changer for me sarah vital advanced increases your body's own youth hormone reduces wrinkles and promotes weight loss i see such a difference in my skin. i notice fewer wrinkles. >> my skin looks healthier. it was easier to get lean. >> i literally shed a few pounds in the first couple of weeks. it does give me that feeling of just being radiantly alive. >> sarah vital advanced the number one anti-aging therapy in america we really don't want people to think of feeding food like ours as spoiling their dogs. good real food is simple. it looks like food. it smells

. >>> let's discuss with cnn senior political analyst mark preston and gloria borger. glad to have you. first, ask you about elon musk and influence over a second trump administration. posted up at mar-a- lago since the election but not taking on an official role. what do you make of that? >> if i was him i wouldn't take on an official role. all you need is have donald trump's ear we've seen covering him in his first term. all you need the last person to get to him in his ear. that's not just a donald trump problem. a lot of politicians are that way. listen to different people and the one they listen to last persuades them. because of muskal wealth and global power, but not just musk that has his ear. likes of charlie kirk. likes of tucker carlson. bobby kennedy jr. , when it comes to, you know -- to the health system in the u.s. so clearly donald trump is hearing from a lot of people that traditionally wouldn't normally be involvedals in these transitions. >> musk is becoming, like, first buddy. you know? he's hanging around. foreign leaders call. trump puts him on th

let's talk more about this now with cnn political analyst mark preston and presidential historian, lindsey, a senior fellow at the center for presidential history. this is such an important moment. but you can't help but note that the last time we saw it was eight years ago. this is as we said, a courtesy that trump did not extend to biden when he won four years ago. what did you think about what you saw in the oval office today? >> i was struck by, of course, the historic nature of it. this has become a tradition that we expect. while it is not mandated by law or written in the constitution, it is a demonstration of the importance of peaceful transfer of power to our republic and to our democratic institutions. it made me sad that we didn't satisfy it four years ago. it is so essential to the character of our nation and i know that it is really hard sometimes when you or your party lose. so i felt for president biden. and yet i was really glad as an historian that he did extend the invitation. >> mark, it's really a striking moment. not just for the historic precedent and what it means ab

we have mark preston, democratic strategist, chuck rocha, and republican strategist for axiom strategies, erin perini. mark, first, what did you make of what we heard from president biden this morning? >> one, not surprised in his measured tone, at times. if you heard the inflection of his voice, and i will talk about that in a moment, i find that very interesting, joe biden is someone who not only speaks with his words, but with the tone of his voice and with his body language. for joe biden, it was concise, so thank god for that. but there's so much focus on this comment that he said, he said, you know, you can't love country, only when you win. and there'll be a lot of focus on that. here's another line that i think is more important in the near-term that i don't think people are focusing on. he said, now we have 74 days to finish our term. "our term. " again, the inflection of his voice when he said "our term," let's make everyday count, that's the responsibilities that we have to the american people. okay, so what are the responsibilities that joe biden has to his own political part

. >> all right cnn's lauren fox and mark preston are with me. mark. matt gaetz is out. but it sounds like now the focus is on tulsi gabbard and pete hegseth. i mean, could these nominations face some serious challenges? what do you think? >> well, there's certainly going to face challenges in the sense that they're going to have to go through the nomination process. if they don't withdraw beforehand. but i would think that that they're going to have a little bit of an easier time. had gaetz not get tossed aside. i mean, in many ways and i've been saying this for weeks, is that i think gaetz was was a sacrificial lamb. if they had gotten him through great. but the reality is jim, we all know this. he could put anybody at the department of justice as long as that person does what he wants them to do, then he wins yeah. >> lauren. i mean, what do you think about these confirmation hearings? i mean, we have not seen these kinds of controversial picks for a presidential cabinet. i mean, maybe in modern times. i mean, so, i mean obviously, what we're potentially going to see

we have cnn senior political analyst gloria borger, cnn senior political analyst mark preston, and harry litman, former u.s. attorney and former deputy assistant attorney general. harry what is the practical impact here of kicking the can four years down the road you never know what trump will manufacture between now and then, but in theory, brianna, all it does is put things on ice until january 20th, 2029. >> in other words the law that says you can't encumber a current president doesn't say anything about then bidding him hello on january 29th and 20th. and showing him to rikers island. so that would be the notion. but every single prosecutor has prefaced the submissions to the court by talking about unprecedented circumstances. would the case actually hang in there? that long? man, there's a lot of imponderables there. >> yeah, there is a lot that could change between now and four years from now. everything. everything, right? >> everything can change. and, you know, i think his attorneys are still going to try to have this dismissed. right. so they're not done with that. but everyth

he handed the champion belt to trump for the photo op after his win but mark preston the trump dance now all the rage. >> okay, so just watching it right now, i think ridley did it best. i think everyone else does it too fast. if you're going to do it you have to emotionally do this if you ever see how trump moves his hand i've studied trump. i played him many times in debates. it's like this. >> this is why you're the perfect person to talk about this. and i will say this was widely celebrated at the republican national convention. i think there were some eyebrows raised at the time, but here you go. they i guess, made it iconic. thanks to you guys for being here with us today. thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere. cnn news central starts right now >> know the president elect says he is not reconsidering his pick for attorney general. as testimony emerges that matt gaetz paid two women, $10,000 for sex, a once in a decade bomb cyclone slams the west coast, killing at least one person and leaving a trail of destruction and thousands w

i'm back with mark preston.co rubio said a lot of things there, but one of the things he used was the m- word, and that would be mandate. >> yeah. >> what do you think about that. >> the professor and i have been talking about this all morning. that is an extremely dangerous word to use. he will have a honeymoon, no doubt about that. and he will be able to get some things through. and the fact of the matter is, he has the united states senate. he may have the u.s. house of representatives. so not only will he have a honeymoon from the american people, but he'll have at least the levers of government to try get some things done. however, when you use the word mandate, that means that everything you want to get done is going to get through. and the way the founders set up our government, there's no way, unless he was able to get more than 60 votes in the senate, he's not even close to 60 right now, even though they did well in the senate. >> certainly not everything he wants to get through, but insofar as he has b

the scenic of jupiter at new york times journalist and podcast host and mark preston. see you dark and early as we like to say in this business as we look at where we stand here. these expected i would say but starkly different causing messages from trump and harris, scott i will start with you, i know you were talking to some sources earlier who said the real goal was they hoped the former president would stay on message tonight. they opened with the question of are you better off than you were four years ago and then there was a lot of weaving. over all, is it a winning closing message? >> i do not know, this is trump, he speaks for two hours, some of it is going to be the campaign once and some of it will be what he wants to do, it is no different than we have seen him throughout this campaign through the last campaign, and the campaign before that, it is his style. he is not a politician, i do not know if any of it is rehearsed, that is the real contrast between trump and harris. with the weaving method you can get everything. with harris every hand movement, head

mark preston. professor leah wright. the story here is obvious to see.ne. >> really, you know, i think back to could -- basically democrats who live in the midwest. could the democratic party come back and get them. there's been a lot of talk over the past decade or so. clearly they're gone. they are gone. i also think the idea that the democratic party is this party that is immediately going to have any kind of immigrant come and support them is kind of gone as well. we've seen that with latino voters now that are not monolithic, one. and two, they're not necessarily beholden to the democratic party. talk about just a realignment across the board. >> big picture take several steps back. we got a guy who was voted out of office four years ago who has been convicted of a crime, who is now either poised to or depending how you look at it pretty much secured the presidency once again. the first president since grover cleveland to be voted out and then back in. just from historical perspective it's stunning. >> it's stunning. it's a reminder it is a referend

out by political newcomer blommel moved start-up founder who received 42% of the vote to preston's. 47. today marks one week since election day statewide. and there's still millions of ballots to be counted. state officials says that it's going to be weeks until we learn the final results. the secretary of state's office says there are still over 4 million ballots left to count. secretary of state doctor shirley weber says people need to be patient. i nothing is official to all the votes are counted. county elections office has until december 5th to certify results and then from there, they're going to give in the final weeks to certify those results statewide says that the signature verification process slows down. vote county. >> sheens that could match it. and if the match is not guaranteed in terms of the machine itself, then we actually do a hand verification if for some reason you don't sign that ballot, we will try to find you. we will actually see that every ballot is coded. so we know your dress. we can basically go and try to find people and have them come in and sign their ballot. >> sta

5 supervisors race preston was edged out by political newcomer bill, allow mahmoud who is a startup founder who got 53% of the vote winning that seat. it's 7.20 right now. today marks one week since election day and statewide. there are still a whole bunch of ballots yet to be counted. and state officials say it could take weeks to learn the final results for those according to the secretary of state office, there are about 4 million ballots left to count. and california's elections, chief secretary of state says that people need to be patient nothing is official until all the votes are counted. the county elections offices have until december 5th to certify the results. and from there they have an additional week to issue a final certification statewide. the signature verification process is what does take a while for those votes to be counted. >> sheens that could match it. and if the match is not guaranteed in terms of the machine itself, then we actually do a hand verification if for some reason you don't sign that ballot, we will try to find you. we will actually see that every ballot is coded. so we know your dress. we can basically go and try to find people