GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.
On the "News Hour" tonight: DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current President-Elect: This is a magnificent victory for the American people that will allow us to make America great again.
AMNA NAWAZ: Former President Donald Trump decisively wins the election and prepares to return to the White House with an agenda of sweeping change.
GEOFF BENNETT: Plus, Vice President Kamala Harris concedes defeat after failing to drive turnout across the battleground states.
KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.
(CHEERING) AMNA NAWAZ: And Republicans take control of this Senate and possibly the House.
We break down the election results and what they will mean for the government and the party's agendas.
AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."
Former President Donald Trump will return to the Oval Office as the 47th president of the United States after his win over Vice President Kamala Harris.
GEOFF BENNETT: Republicans could enjoy unchecked control over Washington with a Senate majority secured, but the House is still too close to call.
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current President-Elect: Look what happened.
Is this crazy?
(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: Donald Trump addressed his supporters early Wednesday after being elected the 47th president in a decisive and historic victory.
DONALD TRUMP: I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected your 47th president and your 45th president.
(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: Mr. Trump is the second president in U.S. history to serve nonconsecutive terms, but his victory also marks a series of firsts.
AUDIENCE: USA!
USA!
GEOFF BENNETT: He's the first Republican in two decades to win the popular vote, the oldest person to be elected commander in chief, the first president with a felony conviction, and the first who tried to overthrow an election he lost.
DONALD TRUMP: We will make America safe, strong, prosperous, powerful and free again, and I'm asking every citizen all across our land to join me in this noble and righteous endeavor.
That's what it is.
It's time to put the divisions of the past four years behind us.
It's time to unite.
GEOFF BENNETT: His running mate, J.D.
Vance, will be one of the youngest vice presidents in history with some of the least governing experience, serving two years in the Senate.
SEN. J.D.
VANCE (R-OH), Vice President-Elect: And I think that we just witnessed the greatest political comeback in the history of the United States of America.
(CHEERING) SEN. J.D.
VANCE: After the greatest political comeback in American history, we're going to leave the greatest economic comeback in American history under Donald Trump's leadership.
(CHEERING) GEOFF BENNETT: Vice President Kamala Harris addressed her supporters this afternoon at Howard University, her first public remarks after Mr. Trump's win.
KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: While I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.
(CHEERING) DONALD TRUMP: America has given us an unprecedented and powerful mandate.
GEOFF BENNETT: As a candidate, Mr. Trump vowed a campaign of vengeance aimed at his political enemies, promised the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in U.S. history and huge tariffs on foreign imports, which could raise prices in the U.S.
He's also pledged to bring new voices into his government.
DONALD TRUMP: We have a new star.
A star is born, Elon.
GEOFF BENNETT: Including billionaire Elon Musk, whose massive net worth can be traced to government contracts with his companies such as Tesla and SpaceX.
And Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist and former independent candidate who dropped out and endorsed Mr. Trump, is expected to have a significant public health role.
DONALD TRUMP: He's a great guy and he really means it.
He wants to do some things, and we're going to let him go to it.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Well, good morning, everyone.
GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, for Senate Republicans... SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: It was a hell of a good day.
GEOFF BENNETT: ... they beat back Democratic challengers and flipped enough seats to secure a majority in the Upper Chamber.
Outgoing Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said GOP control would provide guardrails for the Senate.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: I think one of the most gratifying results of the Senate becoming Republican, the filibuster will stand.
There won't be any new states admitted that give a partisan advantage to the other side and we will quit beating up the Supreme Court every time we don't like a decision they make.
GEOFF BENNETT: But there were some big congressional wins for Democrats.
For the first time in history, two Black women will serve in the Senate at the same time.
Lisa Blunt Rochester from Delaware and Angela Alsobrooks from Maryland both won their races.
ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D), Maryland Senator-Elect: Now, it's remarkable to think that in two years America will celebrate its 250th birthday.
And in all those years, there have been more than 2,000 people who have served in the United States Senate.
And only three have looked like me.
GEOFF BENNETT: The Senate will also have its first Korean American with New Jersey's Andy Kim.
And the House of Representatives will have an openly transgender member for the first time in Sarah McBride from Delaware.
Many races are still being counted in the closely watched battle for control of the House.
But at an election watch party last night, Speaker Mike Johnson was optimistic.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We're going to have the most aggressive first 100 days agenda that anybody's seen in a modern era.
And we got to fix everything, everything.
GEOFF BENNETT: That's as Democrats are reeling from their loss.
LESLIE GREEVE, Utah Resident: Sad.
Sad.
I wanted a kinder nation.
I'm raising kids.
And it's a hard pill to swallow.
GEOFF BENNETT: Harris pulled together a campaign in roughly 100 days once President Joe Biden dropped out of the race this past summer, smashing fund-raising records and riding a wave of enthusiasm, but it wasn't enough to win the White House.
GARETTE VAN SMITH, Georgia Resident: A lot of our liberties are going to be taken away, and a lot of our rights, especially for women.
And I think we're acting like drunk people.
We take one step forward and 10 steps back.
JAMES DAY, Georgia Resident: As an African American in this country, it just sort of made me realize just how racist and sexist this country is, unfortunately.
GEOFF BENNETT: But others were ready for four more years of Trump.
JAMES MCCOY-TAYLOR, Texas Resident: I'm excited.
I want to just rip the spike up and throw it in the air and celebrate.
Everyone's so happy.
He's going to make everyone happy.
And even if they didn't want him as president, they're going to be wealthier, safer, healthier, everything.
So I'm excited.
KELLY GALLAGHER, Florida Resident: So many things were on the line, from our security, our border, our economy.
Everything was in jeopardy.
And President Trump is back again to make America great again.
AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Vice President Harris' concession speech today reflected on her whirlwind campaign and left her voters with a message of hope and faith in democracy.
KAMALA HARRIS: Earlier today, I spoke with president-elect Trump and congratulated him on his victory.
I also told him that we will help him and his team with their transition and that we will engage in a peaceful transfer of power.
A fundamental principle of American democracy is that, when we lose an election, we accept the results.
That principle, as much as any other, distinguishes democracy from monarchy or tyranny.
And anyone who seeks the public trust must honor it.
At the same time, in our nation, we owe loyalty not to a president or a party, but to the Constitution of the United States.
(CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS: And loyalty to our conscience and to our God.
My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign.
(CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS: The fight, the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people, a fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best, that is a fight I will never give up.
AMNA NAWAZ: Our Laura Barron-Lopez was at Harris' watch party last night.
She's been following the Democratic reaction since the party's decisive loss in this election.
She joins me now.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Good to see you here.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, tell us more about that concession speech.
What was Harris' message directly to the Americans who voted for her?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Vice President Harris returned to Howard, where her watch party was last night.
And she nodded to the fear and the anxiety that many Americans who voted for her are feeling, but also warned against apathy.
KAMALA HARRIS: To the young people who are watching, it is OK to feel sad and disappointed, but please know it's going to be OK.
The important thing is, don't ever give up.
Don't ever give up.
Don't ever stop trying to make the world a better place.
You have power.
You have power.
And don't you ever listen when anyone tells you something is impossible because it has never been done before.
(CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS: And so, to everyone who is watching, do not despair.
This is not a time to throw up our hands.
This is a time to roll up our sleeves.
(CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS: This is a time to organize, to mobilize, and to stay engaged for the sake of freedom and justice and the future that we all know we can build together.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That line where she talked about Democrats needing to organize and Americans who supported her needing to organize and mobilize was one that drew a lot of cheers from the crowd there today, Amna.
And, ultimately, it was a lack of enthusiasm that the vice president was facing.
She was facing headwinds of a lack of interest and a lack of -- and disillusionment among some voters with her and with her party.
And yet today she was trying to speak directly to them again to say that that is -- that those are voters that ultimately her party is going to continue to fight for.
AMNA NAWAZ: Yes, we heard some optimism there, kind of some calls to action, but you also mentioned she spoke to this uncertainty, the apprehension that some American voters are feeling right now.
Tell us more about that.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: A lot of Democrats, including those who repeatedly said that they thought Donald Trump could win, were shocked today.
And Harris was trying to address that shock, that fear.
And -- but she was also trying to project today hope and resilience.
KAMALA HARRIS: I know many people feel like we are entering a dark time.
But for the benefit of us all, I hope that is not the case.
But here's the thing.
America, if it is, let us fill the sky with the light of a brilliant, brilliant billion of stars... (CHEERING) KAMALA HARRIS: ... the light, the light of optimism, of faith, of truth and service.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That feeling of entering a dark time is one that I heard from many Democrats today, especially Democrats of color.
I spoke to one Black Democratic campaign veteran who said that the country was confronted with nationalistic, xenophobic, racist and sexist messaging from Trump and his campaign, and yet still said yes to a second term, and that Democrats are going to have to figure out how to battle that next go-around, the next presidential race.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, in speaking with those Democratic officials and sources, did any of them reflect on the election results itself and how this happened?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Many of them did reflect on it.
But first, Amna, I want to note that President Biden spoke to both Vice President Harris today, congratulating her on her run, on her historic campaign.
And he also called president-elect Donald Trump, congratulating him.
And Donald Trump's campaign said that the president-elect plans to go to the White House to speak with Biden and ensure a peaceful transfer of power.
But there was some finger-pointing today, Amna, amongst Democrats.
Some lawmakers and sources that I spoke to said that they thought that President Biden should never have attempted a run for reelection, that if he had stepped out sooner, that could have maybe solved this.
Few felt that Harris could have done anything differently, that she was battling incumbency headwinds.
One Black Democratic organizer I spoke to in Michigan said that there was a lot of talk about protecting democracy, but then ultimately when they went door to door to talk to voters in their communities in Detroit, that democracy just fell on deaf ears because people were concerned about their livelihoods.
AMNA NAWAZ: What did you hear on the ground?
I mean, you were at that watch party talking to voters.
What did you hear from them last night?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Last night, they were upset.
They were surprised.
And today, our producer Layla Quran was on the ground and she spoke to a voter from Minnesota who said that they feel immense fear, disappointment.
A Latina young voter, 22, from North Carolina said that she is now scared for the safety of her family because she lives in a mixed-status family and is concerned about deportations.
AMNA NAWAZ: Big picture -- we may not be able to answer this now, but what's next for the Democratic Party?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The two biggest takeaways, Amna, is that I heard across the board from Democrats is that they feel as though they need to have a reckoning with how they reach Latinos, working-class voters, and men.
And the second thing was that Democrats need to rethink how they talk to those voters, how they communicate with them, and that the traditional sources that they use and the traditional campaigning that they have employed may not work anymore.
AMNA NAWAZ: All right.
That's our Laura Barron-Lopez.
Laura, thank you.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: All right, let's delve more into some of the election results data.
GEOFF BENNETT: For a look at where the president-elect won big, where Vice President Harris struggled and some of the downballot races that we're watching, let's turn to Lisa Desjardins at the PBS News super screen.
Hey, Lisa.
So bring us up to speed on the race for the presidency.
What is left to count?
LISA DESJARDINS: All right, where are we after all of that?
First of all, Donald Trump has won the entirety of the blue wall.
What's left?
Well, he has 295 electoral votes right now.
That includes a call today.
Alaska, he picked up the three electoral votes there, as expected.
So let's talk about what is still out there.
Arizona, let's imagine that that goes red.
It's leaning that way.
We're waiting for some votes there.
Nevada, also Trump ahead there, also waiting for votes.
But if he picks up those two states, then Trump, his top margin here, his top electoral vote count could be 312.
Should he get that amount, that will be the largest total he has ever had when running for president, and it would be the largest since Barack Obama was on the presidential ballot.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, Lisa, those blue wall states, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, those were a core part of the Harris strategy.
What happened there that flipped those to former President Trump?
LISA DESJARDINS: A lot of folks want to understand, especially the Keystone State, with its 19 electoral votes.
Let's look at what President Trump was able to do here in terms of his own history in the state.
He won the state with 51 percent.
Look at this.
That is clearly his best total.
He outperformed himself even in 2016, the number of votes he got also consistently going up, Kamala Harris fewer votes than Joe Biden received in 2020.
Let's talk about where this happened and where we see especially problems for Harris.
Look at this, Bucks County, one of these suburban counties around Philadelphia.
This flipped.
Trump turned it from a Biden county into one of his.
This is suburban, highly educated white voters.
But look at the other corner of the state, another flip for the Trump campaign from Biden.
This is more white working class, two areas where Trump was able to galvanize.
Look specifically at what happened here in Erie County.
Trump was able to gain a point.
But look at this.
Harris is just between what Clinton did and what Biden did, not enough to win, not by far.
And you can see in Allegheny County, where Harris did win.
The problem for her was the turnout there was not as high.
Quickly, let's look at Michigan as well.
Wayne County here, a big place for votes for Harris.
But look at how she performed there.
Again, she here did not do as well as Hillary Clinton in 2016.
She was below that total.
Wayne County also important because it is where Dearborn is, a heavy Muslim population there.
And the uncommitted national movement sent out a statement saying the vote from them was not about a vote against Trump, but instead a sign that Democrats have ignored them repeatedly.
Washtenaw County, another place, Ann Arbor, where we saw some of that protest vote.
And you can also see Kamala Harris underperforming there.
Jill Stein.
The Green Party candidate, Washington, just 1 percent.
Their place, Ann Arbor, where we saw some of that protest vote.
And you can also see Kamala Harris underperforming there.
Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, Washtenaw, just 1 percent.
So she wasn't a spoiler here for Harris.
It was Harris who underperformed.
GEOFF BENNETT: So, Lisa, looking beyond the battlegrounds, do you see something more broadly happening in this race?
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.
There were very important political trends here last night in blue states like New York.
Now, last night, Kamala Harris, 56 percent is what she won in New York.
That's something most people would like to see, but not if you're a Democrat, not in a state like New York, where, in the past, Hillary Clinton got 60 percent, Joe Biden 61 percent.
That's a drop of five points in a traditionally blue state.
What about California, Kamala Harris' home state?
Let's take a look at that historically, how she did, 57 percent last night.
That is seven points down from Joe Biden and below Hillary Clinton.
Reminder, Kamala Harris was a senator from this state.
But what happened here is, we see these blue states becoming less blue, red states becoming more red.
And this is one reason that Donald Trump was able to not win just the electoral vote, but also the popular vote.
AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, this wasn't just about the race for the White House.
It's also about control of Congress.
Bring us up to speed.
LISA DESJARDINS: Yes.
The Senate right now, 52 Republican seats.
We are still waiting for results in a couple of places.
Pennsylvania could well go to the Republicans.
They could add a seat there.
Nevada is virtually a tie at this moment.
Arizona looks like it's leaning to the Dems.
We will have to watch it.
But, for sure, Republicans could pick up a seat there.
In the House of Representatives, we are still waiting for a number of races.
But when I do all my math, here's where we are.
When I see the outstanding races in the House, I see that Democrats basically are poised, if they keep the leads they have now, to pick up six seats.
Remember, they want to switch four to pick up the House.
But Republicans are poised to flip seven seats.
Yes, that's not too hard math.
That equals Republicans plus one right now, retaining the majority and possibly picking up one more.
GEOFF BENNETT: So what paths do Democrats have available to them since the House hasn't been called yet?
LISA DESJARDINS: This is the question.
If we're going to have a balance of power between two different parties, divided government, Democrats need to pick up the House.
It's a narrow path, but it goes through California, where there are six Republicans who are vulnerable, still races uncalled right now.
The problem for Democrats is all of these Republicans have been winning throughout the day.
They do think that provisional ballots, which could include first-time registered voters, same-day registrations, could help them.
Overall, guys, let me just give you a summary where we're at.
We know the White House Republican, Senate Republican, plus three or four they may have gained there.
In the House is a big question mark, but at this moment, Republicans feel better about it than Democrats.
GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins, thanks so much for that update.
We appreciate it.
LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.
GEOFF BENNETT: We are continuing to learn new information about how president-elect Trump built a new coalition to send him back to the White House that he lost four years ago.
Here to help us understand the dynamics behind Trump's comeback is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter.
Amy, it's great to have you back here at the desk.
AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Yes, it's like we never left.
(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: Right.
So we are learning more about what motivated voters last night.
And it's clear that the economy was by far the top issue.
And voters broke strongly in Trump's favor as a result.
Forty percent of voters say it was their biggest concern.
And of those who did, 60 percent voted for the former president, while 38 percent backed Vice President Kamala Harris.
What more can you tell us about how Trump managed to make this his issue?
AMY WALTER: Yes, it is the issue that we always knew was in the minds of voters.
Any time you talk to a voter about the election, the first thing they would bring up is the cost of stuff.
Now, the Harris campaign was hopeful that because inflation was going down, because economic optimism was ticking up a bit, that maybe it would lessen some of this frustration about the state of the economy.
It really didn't work out so -- in that direction.
And so she, as the incumbent party, is punished by voters who say, we really didn't -- we really didn't like this inflation.
And what we also remember is, when Donald Trump was in office, I had more money in my pocket.
And that was the other thing that was notable about some of these AP vote cast surveys is what we saw in other data coming into the election.
The retrospective opinion about Donald's Trump presidency was much more positive than it was even when he was president.
And I think that is largely because of the economy.
GEOFF BENNETT: There's some interesting demographic breakdowns too.
Black voters broke for Kamala Harris 83 to 16 percent.
Harris also won the Latino vote 56 percent to 42 percent.
But Trump managed to cut into those margins.
And we should also say that Donald Trump has won the majority of white women voters for the third straight time.
AMY WALTER: That's right.
GEOFF BENNETT: What's behind these numbers?
AMY WALTER: And I do.
I think that's really important to appreciate all of that.
Since 2008, Democrats have basically run on a version of the Obama coalition, thinking that the way -- and it's been working -- that the way to win an election is by turning out a lot of young people, who will break overwhelmingly for Democrats and, running up good margins with Black voters and Latino voters.
And that did not work in this election.
I think the other really notable thing about younger voters isn't just that the margin is much smaller, something like eight points that Harris won them by, as opposed to 23 points that Biden carried those younger voters.
But the difference -- we talked about this a lot the other night, or... GEOFF BENNETT: Last night, in fact, or this morning.
AMY WALTER: It was today or whenever it was that we've been talking.
GEOFF BENNETT: That's right.
It was this morning.
AMY WALTER: But just that younger men and younger women, the gap between them, and with younger men supporting Trump by 14 points and younger women supporting Harris by 18 points, there is no other generation that has a gap as wide as this Generation Z. GEOFF BENNETT: And to your point, the vice president struggled with a voting bloc that typically breaks for Democrats.
That's younger voters.
AMY WALTER: Right.
GEOFF BENNETT: She won them by six points.
Within that group, Trump won young men 56 to 42, as you say.
So how should we understand how age and gender divides are shifting?
AMY WALTER: Yes, I think this is going to be a fascinating topic for all of us, not just who cover politics, but who want to understand our culture, how much differently young men and young women see the world and what they're -- what they're viewing, the kind of people that speak to them in terms of really connecting with them.
And Donald Trump made a concerted effort to go after these young men where they are.
He didn't reach them just by TV ads.
He went on their podcasts.
He went on YouTube channels.
He was endorsed by many of the folks that are considered sort of heroes of that younger male generation.
Now, Harris had hoped that getting younger women out -- remember, she has the endorsement of Taylor Swift, Beyonce, many other high-profile figures, and she leaned very much into the issue of women's reproductive freedom.
Now, that did give her a significant advantage with those younger voters.
But, overall, she didn't do any better with women -- and we will have to wait until the final numbers come in.
But it may be that she does not have as big of a margin with women as Biden did or even Hillary Clinton did.
And your point about white voters is also really important.
She basically hit the same metrics as Biden did among white women, white men, white -- white college voters, white non-college voters didn't improve or really lose much ground.
But I think it is important to remember that those voters, they make up the majority of the vote.
So, again, what Harris had been banking on was losing some of those Obama coalition voters, but making it up with either white women overall or this sort of college-educated suburban voter.
And that just didn't come to pass.
GEOFF BENNETT: Amy Walter, thanks so much for being here.
We appreciate it.
AMY WALTER: Glad to be here.
AMNA NAWAZ: As you just heard, president-elect Donald Trump made important and surprising inroads with some key voting groups, chief among them Hispanic voters.
Representative Maria Salazar is a Republican from Florida, and she joins us now.
Congresswoman, welcome back to the "News Hour."
Let's just begin with your reaction to president-elect Trump's win, not just that he won, but how he won, making larger inroads with Latino voters, winning a larger percentage than previous Republican candidates, also being the first Republican candidate to win your district, Miami-Dade, since 1988.
REP. MARIA SALAZAR (R-FL): Yes.
AMNA NAWAZ: What part of his message do you think resonated most strongly with those voters?
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: Well, thank you for the opportunity.
I agree with you.
This is a realignment.
It's a realization by the Hispanics that the new home is the Republican Party.
We're talking about that, I'm sure, that -- we don't have the final numbers, but everything indicates that we, the Hispanic community in this -- in the United States, may put have -- put him over the top when it comes to, for instance, Pennsylvania, Allentown, Hazleton, more than 50 percent of Hispanics voted for Trump.
Michigan, 60 percent of Hispanics went for Trump.
Texas, the most Hispanic county called Starr County that has voted Democrat for the last 130 years, went 20 percent for Trump.
And where I'm sitting, as you mentioned, Miami-Dade County, that has been a blue county for the last 30 years, where District 27 is at that I represent in Congress, more than 10 points went for Trump.
It's a big story.
It's a realization that the Dems left us.
It's not that we left the Democratic Party.
AMNA NAWAZ: And, Congresswoman, what is it about the message that you think resonates most strongly with those voters?
Because it surprises many, the fact that President -- former President Trump has said insulting things about Latinos before, that he hosted a comic who made a racist joke about Puerto Ricans, that that hasn't turned away more Latino voters.
What do you make of that?
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: Well, I think that's a great question.
I think it indicates to you that we are all Americans and that when you are Hispanic and you make all those horrible sacrifices, you leave your country of origin, you leave your family, and you come to the United States, what you want to do is that you want to find the American exceptionality.
You want to stand on the fact that you have institutions that protect you, that you have the opportunity to be not Jeff Bezos, but work for him and be able to give a better future to your children.
And when you hear all those gender-affirming conversations, those are alien topics for most of my community, and that's why they went with Trump.
I understand everything you are saying, and we are surprised, but we're all the same.
We want the same thing, prosperity and happiness.
AMNA NAWAZ: Congresswoman, we should also note that he has proposed mass deportations of undocumented people starting on day one of his presidency.
There's an estimated 198,000 undocumented people in Miami-Dade County in your district.
What would the sudden arrest and deportation of nearly 200,000 people mean for your community?
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: And I love what you're asking me.
I wrote the Dignity Act, which is one of them only with the only comprehensive or complete immigration reform law.
So I understand exactly what you're telling me about immigration.
But the problem -- and I need to put this into context -- when you have a Biden administration that opens the southern border for four years and allows 10 million people to come in, and out of those 10 million, two are got-aways, and out of those 10 million you have this group called Tren de Aragua from Venezuela, which is a transnational criminal organization... AMNA NAWAZ: Congresswoman, if I may.
I know our time here is limited.
I'm asking about the potential deportation of hundreds of thousands of people in your community.
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: Well, hey, the deportation is going to be among those criminals who are the gang members, the got-aways, the Tren de Aragua.
I am sure, and I'm going to be the number one... AMNA NAWAZ: Not all 200,000 documented in your community; is that what you're saying?
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: I am sure that we're not -- that the Trump administration is not going to be targeting those people who have been here for more than five years that have American kids, that don't have criminal records, that have been working in the economy and paying taxes.
I am sure that they're going to hone in on the criminals who arrived less than four years ago, because I wrote the Dignity Act.
And I am the first one who understands that you have to give some type of dignity to those who have been here for more than five years, people who have roots in the country, not people who are coming to commit crimes.
AMNA NAWAZ: If I can just clarify from you, have you received those kinds of details from anyone in a potential Trump administration?
Because so far, what we have heard is proposal for mass deportations.
You have about 30 seconds left.
Have you gotten those assurances?
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: Mass deportation to those who are committing crimes who have been here for less than five years.
You understand that you have that millions of undocumented who are contributing with the economy and are helping our country to be a better one.
So there's going to be a distinction.
And I'm going to be one of those voices making sure within the GOP to make that distinction.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is Florida Congresswoman Maria Salazar joining us tonight.
Congresswoman, thank you for your time.
REP. MARIA SALAZAR: To you.
GEOFF BENNETT: All right, we're going to take a closer look now at Donald Trump's decisive victory in this deeply divided nation.
Republican strategist Kevin Madden is back with us, as is Democratic strategist Faiz Shakir.
Thanks for coming back.
KEVIN MADDEN, Republican Strategist: Good to be with you.
(CROSSTALK) GEOFF BENNETT: So, Kevin, help us understand the key factors behind Donald Trump's election victory, especially the fact that he was able to expand the GOP from a mostly white working-class party to a party that draws working-class voters from all races.
KEVIN MADDEN: Well, I think, first and foremost, it was the economy.
I think if you look at so many of the concerns that were that were driving sort of swing voter attitudes during this election, it was very focused on the economy.
And worries about inflation, worries about housing prices things like that.
And I think Trump talking about those issues resonated with a lot of those voters.
And I also think that he also was lucky in that he -- or not lucky, but he was fortunate in that there was a nostalgia for the Trump economy of his administration versus some of the challenges that the Biden administration has had with all of these same prices, rising housing costs, rising prices, rising inflation.
And I think the contrast really worked in their favor as well, because for so long the Biden administration said inflation is transitory or inflation is not necessarily a problem.
That's a very tough message to have.
And Kamala Harris having to carry that message all the way through the 100 days of her campaign just created a huge opportunity not only for Trump, but all of those Republicans downballot.
And that's why I think you saw such a decisive victory yesterday.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Faiz, among Democrats, the recriminations have already started, that Biden dropped out too late, costing Harris precious time to establish herself and define herself, that she didn't distance herself enough from Joe Biden.
Are those legitimate critiques or is there something more fundamental here about the way the Democratic Party is perceived?
FAIZ SHAKIR, Democratic Strategist: Yes, the Democratic Party brands, in terms of speaking to working-class people, is suffering.
And there needs to be a serious repair and reconstruction of that brand.
When you think of how much the working class left the Democratic Party last night, it suggests to you that the contrast on an economic message was not clear to them.
And I get that the deck is a difficult debt, that you're dealt with inflation.
But I do believe that people are looking for hunger in an explanation.
Help me understand.
What we learned through polling is people felt corporate greed was at play.
People felt when labor -- when workers were going on strike, whether they're a Boeing or port workers, that they supported those efforts.
There was opportunities to tap that populism that exists to associate yourself with workers, associate yourself with fights against corporate greed.
Those are paths not taken.
And as a result of, I think a working class that feels uncertain in an environment is often looking for somebody who offers them certainty.
Do you know what you're doing and what's your plan to do it?
And in that environment, Donald Trump comes along and says, I know what I'm doing and I got a plan for you.
We're going to drill.
We're going to do this immigration raid.
We're going to do some tariffs and I'm confident it'll work and it'll work quickly.
It's an appealing message to working-class people searching for answers.
GEOFF BENNETT: In his victory speech last night, Donald Trump said that voters gave him an unprecedented and powerful mandate.
How might he use it, especially with the Republican Senate?
And the House hasn't been called yet, but if he has a Republican House, his supporters are going to expect him to him to deliver.
KEVIN MADDEN: Yes, and I think that's one of the things I -- when you talk to a lot of Republicans today, there's a certain level of euphoria that they have in that many, many quarters, they were counted out.
And the fact that they had such a decisive victory around the country, that's really emboldened them.
So I think not only with President Trump, president-elect Trump, but congressional Republicans they feel like they have just accumulated an enormous amount of political capital.
And with that political capital they're going to focus on the core issues that I think registered with voters, I think, namely, the economy.
They want to unleash a greater level of prosperity and offer a straight contrast with the Trump administration, but I also think they want to want to address some of these other issues, subissues that are important to the American public underneath the economic umbrella.
So they're going to tackle the issue of trade.
They're going to tackle the issue of border security.
So many of those concerns I think are sort of wrapped up in a lot of the anxieties that American people have.
And so with this mandate comes in that comes an opportunity to address very directly those concerns.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, Faiz, there's this aspect of Kamala Harris' loss that is unquantifiable, but still unnerving for her supporters.
And this -- that's this perceived racial and gender bias, because, as some Democrats see it, that while Donald Trump was pushing his unique brand of economic populism, there was also the nativism the sexist and racist rhetoric espoused by him and his campaign, and yet there were 72 million Americans who either voted for that or did not see that as disqualifying.
And that's disheartening for some folks.
How do you see it?
FAIZ SHAKIR: We got to learn from it.
And I hope that this occurs, Geoff, that there should be an autopsy or self-examination of the Democratic Party.
If you're running the DNC or whatever powers that be right now, I would urge that you begin a process that not only convenes the elites of a Democratic Party to assess, what did we do and how do we do it, but that opens the door and says I want critiques and I want opinions.
I want to hear, what do you think of the Democratic brand?
I want to find these voters in New York, Texas wherever -- Philadelphia, wherever they may have been, Detroit, of people of color who for whatever reason went with Donald Trump, away from the Democratic band, was in some sense not only affirming that vote, but felt like they were condemning the Democratic Party.
What do we have to learn from that?
There can and should be an open process to allow for that criticism to take place.
And I hope it's not just criticism within a closed-door circuit, but allowed people to come into this party to criticize and offer thoughts, so we can learn from it.
GEOFF BENNETT: Faiz Shakir, Kevin Madden, thank you both.
KEVIN MADDEN: Great to be with you.
FAIZ SHAKIR: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: Donald Trump's victory is Headline News across the world.
The president-elect and his team are vowing to dramatically change U.S. foreign policy.
Nick Schifrin's here now.
He's been tracking international reaction to the election.
Good to see you, Nick.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Thanks, Amna.
AMNA NAWAZ: We knew the world would be watching, so let's start in Europe.
What's been the reaction there, and what could be the impact on Ukraine?
NICK SCHIFRIN: European officials in public put a brave face, but multiple European officials to me admitted today that they feared Trump will treat them as an economic foe, will undermine NATO, and will abandon Ukraine.
Trump has promised to end the war in Ukraine before inauguration, actually, and he's given no details.
But the vice president-elect has suggested that the plan could be Russia keeps territory occupied, create a demilitarized zone, and Ukraine gives up on its NATO aspirations.
That is a nonstarter, of course, for Ukraine.
But President Trump will have enormous leverage over Ukraine.
The U.S. by far is the largest military donor to Ukraine, and U.S. officials are telling Europe, essentially, today, hey, look, this is going to be your problem.
You have to help Ukraine.
But there is no replacement for U.S. weapons on the battlefield, and Ukraine will really struggle without them.
Now, in public, as I said, everybody's saying nice things.
Zelenskyy spoke to President Trump and said -- quote -- "congratulated him on his historic landslide victory.
His tremendous campaign made this result possible."
French President Emmanuel Macron X wrote: "Congratulations, President Donald Trump.
Ready to work together as we did for four years with your convictions and mine, with respect and ambition for more peace and prosperity."
But, Amna, as I said, the European concern goes beyond Ukraine.
Trump has said he will not defend members of NATO that do not spend 2 percent of GDP on defense.
And Trump has also vowed to put tariffs on European goods, and analysts say that Europe will actually reply to those tariffs and start a trade war.
AMNA NAWAZ: Take us over to the Middle East now.
You have been reporting on the conflicts there.
What's been the response in the Middle East?
NICK SCHIFRIN: Arab and Israeli officials tell me they're actually optimistic, although they acknowledge that Trump is unpredictable.
There were no buts, however.
In Netanyahu's statement earlier today, he said -- quote -- "Congratulations on history's greatest comeback.
Your historic return to the White House offers a new beginning for America and a powerful recommitment to the great alliance between Israel and America."
Now, like Ukraine, Trump has promised to end the war in Gaza before inauguration, even though he's actually been publicly critical of the -- quote - - "very bad picture" of the destruction that Israel has caused.
The Biden administration, as you know, Amna, has been working on a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but both sides so far have been unwilling to do that.
But, today, an Israeli official told me this, that Benjamin Netanyahu knows that Trump wants to win the Nobel Prize, and that Netanyahu will try to help Trump win that by offering a -- quote -- "gesture" to Trump on Inauguration Day.
Now, what could that mean?
If they try and do some kind of cease-fire in Gaza, or perhaps a little easier, a cease-fire in Lebanon, where, by the way, Trump's son-in-law is from, U.S. officials tell me that the Biden administration has largely completed a cease-fire text from Lebanon, but Israel hasn't agreed.
So there is a scenario, in fact, where all of the work that the Biden administration has done to try and get, at the very least, a cease-fire in Lebanon could actually be executed under a Trump administration.
AMNA NAWAZ: So there's willingness there of Arab and Israeli leaders to work with a president-elect Trump.
Where does that trust come from?
NICK SCHIFRIN: It comes from their experience in the first Trump administration.
They were very close to Israeli officials, very close to Saudi Arabia especially, and they were more focused on normalization deals than on Israeli and Palestinian peace.
For Israel, you will remember, Trump gave Netanyahu almost everything he wanted.
Of course, Trump moved the embassy, the U.S. Embassy, from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
You see the exterior of the embassy there.
Trump's first foreign policy trip was to Riyadh, and he highlighted, including in that event right there, Saudi Arabia's role across the region.
And he was very close to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
You see, MBS, as he's known, in the Oval Office.
Now, a regional official tells me that Saudi Arabia is ready to normalize with Israel today, but Israel must agree to a day-after a plan in Gaza, announce intention to create a Palestinian state.
So far, those are steps Netanyahu has refused.
In the meantime, of course, Amna, the war in Gaza, the war in Lebanon continues.
We had a producer, Shams Odeh, out in Gaza, talking to Gazans about Trump today.
Some were very skeptical, but at least one was optimistic.
NAYF ABU MUTER, Displaced Gazan (through translator): Trump could change things since he has different politics than Biden.
He could end the war, and it could be to make himself look better, not because he likes us or wants to support us.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But cease-fires in the Middle East, Amna, are easier said than done.
AMNA NAWAZ: Nick Schifrin, thank you very much.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: The next president and control of Congress weren't the only things voters were deciding in Tuesday's election.
John Yang has more on the results of numerous state ballot measures focused on reproductive rights two years after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
JOHN YANG: Geoff, voters in 10 states were asked whether to amend their state constitutions to protect reproductive rights.
The ballot measures passed in seven states.
In three states, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Florida, abortion bans will remain in place; 57 percent of Florida voters supported the amendment, but because 60 percent was required for passage, the state's six-week ban remains.
In addition, the return of Donald Trump to the White House could bring changes at the national level.
Mary Ziegler is a law professor at U.C.
Davis.
She's an expert on the law, history, and politics of reproductive rights.
Mary, in some of these states, the amendments really just reinforce current law.
But in other places, the voters repudiated current law.
Where are some of the biggest changes going to be or biggest effects going to be?
MARY ZIEGLER, University of California, Davis: Probably, the most significant effects are going to be in Missouri.
Missouri had had one of and still has one of the nation's most stringent abortion bans.
And by a pretty slim margin, voters in that state chose to institute state protection for reproductive rights.
So we expect to see a court challenge to the state ban in short order.
And likely we will see that state ban struck down by the courts of the state.
There was also a pretty significant shift in Arizona, which had a ban at 15 weeks and potentially with a Republican majority legislature in the future, the prospect for more stringent laws in the future.
So, there, I think we're going to see significant challenges to the status quo that are likely to succeed in the near term.
JOHN YANG: And I want to follow up on that because you say that these take court challenges.
These amendments don't wipe out these laws automatically.
MARY ZIEGLER: Right.
So, if people remember back to when Roe v. Wade was the law, if a state passed an unconstitutional law, it didn't just disappear because Roe v. Wade was on the books.
Someone needed to go to court and raise a challenge.
A court would then need to adjudicate that challenge.
And that's what we would expect to see with these ballot measures and what we have seen to date, for example, in Ohio, where the state Supreme Court just invalidated that state's six-week ban.
JOHN YANG: South Dakota yesterday was the first state since the end of Roe to turn down, to reject a state constitutional amendment.
And in Nebraska, you actually had voters approve a constitutional amendment enshrining restrictions.
What do you make of that?
MARY ZIEGLER: Well, I think there are different lessons that can be learned.
Nebraska's measure essentially enshrined into the state constitution the status quo, which was access until 12 weeks of abortion, but not thereafter.
So we may see abortion opponents try to replicate that strategy by defending what look like more incremental bans, rather than bans at fertilization.
That's not inevitably going to work.
Arizona had a 15-week ban, and that didn't help abortion opponents in that state.
Abortion opponents don't want to defend incremental bans.
They want to ban abortion from fertilization.
But that's one lesson we might draw there.
South Dakota is a very conservative state that has a majority of voters that seem to oppose abortion.
So this was kind of the most clear-cut victory for abortion opponents in a ballot initiative fight since Dobbs.
And you may, I think, see abortion opponents taking more heart from that they can fight similar battles and win in states that we may see in the future, for example, Arkansas or Oklahoma.
JOHN YANG: Donald Trump, of course, going back to the White House, retaking the reins of control of the federal government.
What are the potential consequences for reproductive rights of that?
MARY ZIEGLER: Conservatives have outlined plans for Trump to restrict access to abortion, even if Congress isn't willing to go along, for example, using the 19th century Comstock Act, which is an obscenity law, and interpreting it to prohibit the mailing or receipt of any item or information or drug related to abortion.
It's possible that a Trump Department of Justice could use that law to prosecute doctors, not just in red states, but in blue states or states with ballot initiatives.
That would trigger a court challenge, but it's something that could lead to much more onerous restrictions in large swathes of the country than we see today.
There are steps that a Trump FDA or a Trump secretary of Health and Human Services could take to try to limit access to mifepristone, which is a drug that's used in more than half of all abortions across the United States.
It's likely that Trump will have a major impact on the courts, both in not defending certain challenges that are currently before judges, like access to abortion and medical emergencies, and in nominating more federal judges to the court and kind of shifting the Overton window as to what conservative judges are willing to do when it comes to questions of reproduction.
JOHN YANG: Trump said during the campaign that he opposed a nationwide ban, but wouldn't enforcing the Comstock Act essentially do that, because nothing, no material dealing with abortion could go through the U.S. mails anywhere in the country?
MARY ZIEGLER: Absolutely.
I think that that would essentially be a de facto ban on abortion if Trump were to interpret the Comstock Act in that light.
And so I think this will be kind of where the rubber meets the road, because Trump on the campaign trail was kind of giving signals to base voters that he still was in their corner and would try to advance something that looked like national restrictions on abortion.
He was also sending signals to swing voters that he truly viewed this as a states' rights issue and would not put a thumb on the scale as far as the federal government was concerned.
Both of those stories can't be true, right?
So now someone is going to call the question.
We're going to see where Trump actually stands as far as the Comstock Act is concerned.
JOHN YANG: Mary Ziegler, thank you very much.
MARY ZIEGLER: Thanks for having me.
AMNA NAWAZ: We do have other headlines to bring you tonight, starting overseas in the Middle East.
The Civil Defense Service in Lebanon says it pulled 30 bodies from the rubble of a residential building in the town of Barja today.
That's just south of Beirut.
It was struck by Israel last night.
The intended target was unclear.
Hezbollah's leader said the assaults must end before any cease-fire negotiations begin and vowed to keep fighting.
NAIM KASSEM, Hezbollah Secretary General (through translator): We do not expect the end of aggression to be based on a political movement, and we will not beg for the aggression to stop.
We will make the enemy be the one demanding an end to the aggression.
AMNA NAWAZ: Also today, Lebanon's labor minister filed a complaint to the U.N. about a wave of explosions involving handheld pagers and walkie-talkies carried by Hezbollah members in September.
The complaint says that civilian workers were among the victims.
The blast killed at least 37 people and injured some 3,000 others.
Israel has neither confirmed nor denied involvement.
In Pakistan, authorities in Lahore are considering a citywide lockdown as record high pollution sickened thousands of residents.
The air quality index topped a staggering 1,100 today.
Anything over 300 is considered hazardous.
A thick smog has blanketed Lahore since last month.
Despite warnings, many of the city's 14 million residents are venturing outside without protective masks.
Doctors and clinics say they're treating patients with respiratory issues and burning eyes.
Regional authorities have set up a so-called smog war room to address the issue.
Turning closer to home, Rafael has made landfall in Western Cuba as a Category 3 hurricane.
As the storm approached, thousands were evacuated, as others secured their homes and businesses ahead of the storm's arrival.
Cubans are still reeling from Hurricane Oscar, which killed six people just a few weeks ago.
They have also been coping with widespread blackouts.
Rafael is expected to pass over Cuba by the end of the week, then head towards the center of the Gulf of Mexico.
From there, it's uncertain whether Rafael will hit the U.S.
In California, a pair of dangerous and fast-moving wildfires are threatening communities and forcing hundreds to flee their homes.
The larger Mountain Fire northwest of Los Angeles has scorched at least two square miles and is spreading rapidly, fueled by powerful winds.
To the south, the 40-acre Broad Fire forced a closure of the famous Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, as the flames threatened several multimillion-dollar homes.
Weather officials say dry conditions mean extreme and life-threatening fires remain possible heading into tomorrow.
Drivers for ride-sharing apps like Uber and Lyft have won the right to unionize in Massachusetts through a statewide ballot initiative.
The first-of-its-kind victory passed 54 percent to 46 percent and is seen as a potential precedent for gig workers across the country.
Under the measure, drivers can organize and bargain collectively, even though they're considered independent contractors under federal law.
Critics claim that the new law will raise prices.
On Wall Street today, stocks spiked on the hopes that a Trump presidency would be good for corporate America.
The Dow Jones industrial average soared 1,500 points, or more than 3.5 percent.
The Nasdaq jumped more than 500 points on the day.
The S&P 500 had its best day in nearly two years.
GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.
On behalf of the entire team, thank you for joining us.
