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Moore Attacks Accusers; Moore Attacks GOP Establishment; Conway Accused of Breaking Law; Clinton White House Doubled Down on Abusive Behavior; Trump To Troops: They Weren't Letting You Win Before Me; "Explosion" Heard Near Missing Sub's Last Known Location. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired November 23, 2017 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[13:00:23] BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Hello. I'm Boris Sanchez, filling in for Wolf Blitzer. It is 1:00 p.m. here in New York. Wherever you're watching from around the world, we thank you so much. We're hoping you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and we're thankful that you're here with us.

We start with President Trump and his message for America today. Happy Thanksgiving and you're welcome.

First, here's the tweet. Happy Thanksgiving. Your country is starting to do really well. Jobs coming back, highest stock market rally ever, military getting really strong. We will build the wall. V.A. taking care of our vets. Great Supreme Court justice, record cuts and regulations. Lowest unemployment in 17 years.

Then, the president spoke to troops in a teleconference from his office in Mar-a-Lago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're being talked about again as an armed forces. We're really winning. We know how to win.

But we have to let you win. They weren't letting you win before. They were letting you play even. We're letting you win.

We're doing well at home. The economy is doing really great. When you come back you're going to see with the jobs and companies coming back into our country, and the stock market just hit a record high. Unemployment's the lowest it's been in 17 years.

So, you're fighting for something real. You're fighting for something good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny is in Sunny Palm Beach, Florida.

Jeff, the president and the first lady also paid a visit to the Coast Guard. What was the message there?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Boris, they did indeed. They traveled to a Coast Guard station not from his resort in Mar-a-Lago. And he was thanking the Coast Guard. It's actually one of the branches of the military service not thought about as much as the Marines perhaps, or the Army, or the Navy. But particularly in the wake of the hurricanes that happened, of course, throughout the summer, and the fall season, the president was thanking the members of the Coast Guard directly for all their help.

And after he did that, he went onto talk about how well he believes the country is doing during his almost first year in office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The stock market on Friday hit the all-time high, the highest it's ever been, ever. Your whole long life, the stock market is higher than it's ever been. And that means your 401(k)s and all of the things you have, you know, whether it's -- even if you're in the military, you have a country that's really starting to turn. We want to have a strong country. We want to have a country where I can buy new Coast Guard cutters and not have to worry about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the president certainly talking about that record high stock market. Left out of the message there perhaps should be on his list of thankfulness is the state of the economy when he arrived in office, of course. Janet Yellen, the outgoing Fed chair was, you know, responsible for keeping interest rates low. President Obama, of course, left the economy in far better shape than he inherited it.

But President Trump again making the case that he is responsible for this -- and in some degree, he is with the confidence he's injected into the markets.

But, Boris, one last thing here. We just got word a short time ago what the Trumps will be having for dinner at Mar-a-Lago. It's a traditional Thanksgiving fair with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, a turkey with Florida specials thrown in there, like Florida stone crabs and red snapper as well.

He's on the golf course right now in this 80 degree weather here in Florida, he'll be having dinner later tonight in Mar-a-Lago -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Shorts, flip-flops and stone crab, doesn't get much better than that.

Jeff Zeleny, happy Thanksgiving and thank you.

ZELENY: Happy Thanksgiving, buddy.

SANCHEZ: Let's get some thoughts on the president's messages to troops from CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. He joins us via Skype from Huntington, Pennsylvania.

Colonel Leighton, first of all, happy Thanksgiving to you, sir. We thank you for taking time off on this holiday to chat with us.

We have to ask, what did you like about the president's message to service members?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Boris, happy Thanksgiving to you and everyone at CNN.

And I just want to think that when it comes to the president's message, it was really good that he included the Coast Guard. That was superb. It was very important to recognize that fifth branch of the armed forces. I also like the fact that he had a winning philosophy in -- when it came to his discussion about Afghanistan.

And then I also liked the idea he included military families. That is exceedingly important because every time we talk about the sacrifices that military members make, you look at the sacrifices that are also made by military families and those considerable sacrifices are ones that are not always recognized, and it's about time that they are.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we can't say enough about the sacrifices that, not only do these service members make, but also their families, especially being away from their loved ones during holidays like this one.

The president also, though, talked about tax reform and the stock market. How do you think the service members received that?

LEIGHTON: Well, they work under a different set of incentives compare to the private sector, Boris. And to -- you know, to someone who has served, to me, it looks as if that is something that is not really pertinent to a service member or to the people that are supporting that service member. Yes, it is true that they are defending the country, and when they defend the country, they defend the nation's economy.

But talking about 401(k)s and the stock market, that is becomes something that is important but ancillary to what they do. No matter how high the stock market is, they are going to be serving our country and they're going to be defending our country as well.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Colonel, the president also thanked the troops for progress being made in the fight against ISIS. But he also took a swipe at the Obama administration. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The fight against ISIS, it's coming our way. It's coming our way. Big, big difference. Lot of things have happened. They say we've made more progress against ISIS than they did in years of the previous administration. And that's because I'm letting you do your job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: What's the biggest difference between this administration and the last one in terms of fighting ISIS, and how much credit does the president deserve for that progress that we've seen? LEIGHTON: Well, Boris, the biggest difference is that right now we're

on that winning stretch that the president talked about. But the difference is this. That winning stretch really took place before President Trump's election. And it was true that the Obama administration was a bit slow to recognize the danger that ISIS posed, and there was a real danger that Iraq would fall. ISIS came very close to Baghdad. People will recall.

But the issue is this, he is taking credit for a victory that is really the credit of both administrations. And he's also taking credit for something that the troops came in and helped the Iraqi's achieve.

So this is more of an Iraqi victory, more of a Kurdish victory than it is a U.S. victory. Although we did absolutely help and we helped in very difficult conditions.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, we have to leave it there. Once again, thank you for your time on Thanksgiving, sir.

LEIGHTON: You bet. Happy Thanksgiving, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Two searches in a race against time. First, the missing submarine off the coast of Argentina. Today, the Argentine navy revealing that a noise near the sub's last known location is, quote, consistent with an explosion. The submarine disappeared last week with 44 crew members aboard.

And in Asia, a frantic search for three missing sailors expanding after a Navy plane crashed off the coast of Japan. American ships and planes are patrolling hundreds of miles across the Philippine Sea.

I want to bring in Admiral John Kirby. He's a CNN military and diplomatic analyst.

Admiral, you've spent almost three decades in the Navy. Let's start with the submarine off the coast of Argentina. What do you make of this new information that there was apparently a sound heard, a sound recorded that was consistent with an explosion?

JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Yes, this is based off hydrocaustic sensors in the bottom of the ocean that determined -- used to determine whether or not there's nuclear testing going on undersea or underground. And they picked up this violent, sort of non-natural sound around the time that the submarine was lost contact with.

So, it's ominous, Boris. It certainly doesn't bode well. But I think we need to be real careful right now to try to change the character of discussion that's going on right now, which is still a rescue operation. That's the why the U.S. Navy and that's the way the Argentina navy are treating this thing. Obviously, it's not comforting news for those families that are waiting for word in their loved ones. But we got to let -- we got to let the searches do their jobs and the continued use -- all information available to try and locate the submarine in the ocean. SANCHEZ: Now, Admiral, an international effort is underway right now

to try and find the submarine. Every hour is becoming precious.

KIRBY: Yes.

SANCHEZ: How much more time do you think rescuers have left?

KIRBY: Well, it's hard to say. When the submarine -- when they lost contact with the submarine, the estimate was they had about seven or eight days of provisions onboard. Maybe a few days less time than that in terms of oxygen, assuming they couldn't make oxygen for themselves.

So, clearly, we are on the outer limits of that window right now. It's been about a week. And that's not good. It's not good we haven't had in contact with that submarine in that time.

[13:10:03] So, I think, definitely, you said it right at the top. It's a race against the clock. I think everybody is treating it that way, which is why, now you have the Russians coming on board with some deep sea submersible assets. Everybody is pitching in, trying to do the best they can.

SANCHEZ: Admiral, we have to turn to that downed Navy plane and the search for three missing American sailors. Eight people were rescued and apparently in good condition, which is good great news. But do you think everyone involved in the crash is going to be concentrated in that same area or do they have to look further out?

KIRBY: So, what's happening now as you would expect after a day or so, they're expanding the area they're looking at, that's because they knew where the plane went it down, and when they didn't find anything more in that area, it just makes sense you'd want to expand it, particular given winds, current, sea state, that kind of thing. So, this is the natural cause of events, this is what they will do.

I can tell you that the Navy is still hopeful that they can find somebody, that they're still considering this a rescue. And that's the right approach for now. And they're devoting -- it is also an international effort. They're devoting a lot of resources to this, not just from the U.S. Navy side but the Japanese navy as well.

SANCHEZ: It's got to be disconcerting to have so many accidents taking place in those waters, so closely together. A lot more to discuss, but Admiral John Kirby, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much again for the time, sir, and happy Thanksgiving.

KIRBY: Thank you, Boris, and to you.

SANCHEZ: One of the president's top advisers accused of breaking an ethics law again. This time for her comments said in front of the White House. Details on that next.

Plus, is the president taking hits with him in his office. The organization walking away from another struggling project. We'll explain. And a high profile Democrat and one of the architects of Obamacare

slamming the Clinton White House, saying that Bill and Hillary Clinton doubled down on abusive behavior. Hear her reasoning and why she says that Hillary shares the blame.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:16] SANCHEZ: Embattled Senate candidate Roy Moore is now going on the offensive against his accusers. In his tweet the controversial Senate candidate says: Good morning, Alabama, day eight of Attorney Gloria Allred's refusal to turn over the yearbook for third party examination.

Allred is the attorney for a woman named Beverly Young Nelson, who says that Moore signed her yearbook and then tried to push her head into his lap when the 16-year-old.

During an interview on conservative radio, Moore said this about his two main accusers, including one who says she was just 14 years old at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY MOORE (R), ALABAMA SENATE CANDIDATE: I did not know these two women. I did not --

HOST: So you definitely didn't know Beverly Nelson?

MOORE: I didn't know Beverly Nelson, and I didn't know --

HOST: Leigh Corfman.

MOORE: Leigh Corfman. And I never dated underage women and I never engaged with sexual misconduct with anybody.

I mean, you have to understand, I was deputy district attorney and then circuit judge. I go by the law. You don't -- it's very hypocritical. You know, there's law and you enforce it and then you go and violate it.

You just don't do that, and I didn't do that. And that's what is being alleged. It's very hurtful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is in Washington.

Sunlen, Roy Moore is not backing down. In fact, he's getting more aggressive against his accusers at the days go on. He says he's considering legal action.

What do you we know about that?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Well, he's very, very vague on this point, Boris. We only know what he said on that radio show, which frankly wasn't backed up by much of anything at all. He just said that he and his advisers are essentially gathering information right now. They're looking for any evidence to potentially take legal action against the accusers.

And, of course, we also know he's threatened to take legal action against "The Washington Post" who first broke this story. But he wouldn't address any specifics at all, and frankly, not sure exactly how serious that claim is -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now, Sunlen, on that conservative radio show, Moore alluded to a conspiracy. What exactly did he say?

SERFATY: That's right. This is one of the eyebrow-raising moments of the interview. Judge Moore saying that the bombshell allegations were dropped when he was ahead in the polls. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOORE: This was a complete shock out of left field. And it came the day after they said I was 11 points ahead.

HOST: Ahead, ahead.

MOORE: And this is shock to the Democrats. They saw a seat in Alabama that they could take, and they had the support of someone in the Washington establishment that doesn't really care. They want who they can handle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And keep in mind, this was a comfort zone of force for Judge Moore, exactly where he likes to be arguing about the establishment and really attempting to refrain these allegations as something that was cooked up by his political enemies here against him. So, no doubt, Boris, intended to fire up his base.

SANCHEZ: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much for the reporting and happy Thanksgiving as well.

Once again Kellyanne Conway is in trouble over endorsements. She's being accused of breaking the law that says that members of administration can't advocate for or against a specific candidate, the Hatch Act.

Here's the interview from Fox News that's in question. You be the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: Doug Jones in Alabama -- folks, don't be fooled. He'll be a vote against tax cuts. He's weak on crime, weak on borders. He's strong on raising your taxes. He's terrible for property owners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, vote Roy Moore?

CONWAY: I'm telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax -- this tax bill through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's the White House response to the allegation that she violated the Hatch Act.

[13:20:01] Quote: Ms. Conway did not advocate for or against the election of a candidate and specifically declined to encourage Alabamans to vote a certain way.

Joining me now from Washington, CNN justice reporter Laura Jarrett.

Laura, happy Thanksgiving. Please help us understand how this came up and take us through both sides of the argument.

LAURA JARRETT, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, happy Thanksgiving, Boris.

So, the former head of the Office of Government Ethics Walter Shaub, filed a complaint against Kellyanne Conway yesterday, essentially saying she has violated a federal law by endorsing a candidate for office. Now, you notice she stopped short of actually endorsing Moore, but she did lay out all the reasons why one would want to vote for Moore because she's against, of course, the Democratic candidate Doug Jones.

But the White House is pushing back here and saying she didn't do anything wrong, she didn't formally endorse Moore and so she should not be sanctioned.

SANCHEZ: Now, Kellyanne Conway was under fire for the same kind of thing in February, but talking about a clothing. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONWAY: Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell you. I'm going to get -- I hate shopping, I'm going to go get some myself today.

It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully -- I'm going to give a free commercial here, go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She's talking about Ivanka Trump's fashion line. What was the decision then, and are these cases any different?

JARRETT: Right, so two different federal laws, but they both sort of go to the same thing. The Hatch Act violation here has to do with endorsing a candidate. In that situation, it was that she was endorsing a product. And the federal ethic laws on the books explicitly say that public employees are not allowed to do that.

So -- but they're both related to the scope of what a public employee can do in their capacity as an executive branch official. And in the ethics case, you'll remember the White House said they'd counsel her. Sean Spicer came out and said that she had been dealt with, but she did not face any discipline. And we'll have to wait and see whether she faces any in this case, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we should point out that in terms of enforcing the discipline, if the Hatch Act is violated, that has to come from the president himself. So, we'll see if Donald Trump weighs in on this.

Laura Jarrett, we have to leave it there. Thank you.

JARRETT: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Facebook now making a big announcement about your accounts and whether you interacted with Russian trolls during the election.

Plus, the war of words escalating between the president and the father of one of those UCLA players that was imprisoned in China. Why can't either of them just let it go?

And new today, tens of thousands of names purged from the FBI's background check system when it comes to buying guns. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:10] SANCHEZ: A high profile Democrat says the Clinton administration doubled down on abusive behavior in response to sexual misconduct allegations. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius criticizes both Clintons for attacking the victims instead of confronting the issue.

Here's what she said on "The Axe Files" podcast hosted by David Axelrod.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, FORMER HHS SECRETARY: Not only did people look the other way, but they went after the women who came forward and accused him. And so, it doubled down on not only bad behavior but abusive behavior and then people attacked the victims. And you can watch that same pattern repeat. And it -- it needs to end. It needs to be over.

DAVID AXELROD, PODCAST HOST: Let me ask you a delicate question. Is that -- was that fair criticism of Hillary, that she participated in that effort?

SEBELIUS: Absolutely. I think it's very fair.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN political commentators Doug Heye and Maria Cardona.

Thank you both for joining us on Thanksgiving. I know you want to get to that cranberry sauce, Doug, so we'll try to get this done as efficiently as possible.

Maria, to you first. How do you respond to the criticism of the Clinton White House by Kathleen Sebelius, especially the idea that Hillary Clinton is also to blame?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I'll say this. Look, it's clearly an issue Democrats are going through now, sort of a reckoning of what happened during the Bill Clinton days, especially since more women are coming out as they should and are being believed and are being very aggressive about what happened to them. I mean, this is certainly a cultural tipping point, if you will, or at least hoping going towards that tipping point where things will definitely have a change.

But I'll say this. I mean, let's remember back in the 1990s, what Kathleen Sebelius says sort of doesn't take into consideration that many Democrats, in fact a vast majority of Democrats brutally condemned what Bill Clinton did. They were not happy with what was going on. They understood that he was putting the progressive agenda at risk and said so prominently every single day while this whole thing was going on. I think that is something that people do forget.

And the second thing I'll say is that if this happened now and the whole scenario happened again with what we are going through, Bill Clinton probably would not survive. So, it is certainly a difference of times that we are going through right now.

But the same way that Democrats are going through a reckoning of Bill Clinton, I think it's also important to realize that Republicans need to be going through the same thing because they actually look the other way maybe not even as much as a year ago when they put a sexual predator in office who is in office right now.

SANCHEZ: Doug, Kathleen Sebelius not the only Democrat talking about this reckoning and how it applies to the Clintons. Last week, you had Senator Kirsten Gillibrand who replaced Hillary Clinton in the Senate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:16] SANCHEZ: Embattled Senate Candidate Roy Moore is now going on the offensive against his accusers. In this tweet, the controversial Senate candidate says, "good morning, Alabama, day eight of Attorney Gloria Allred's refusal to turn over her fake yearbook for third party examination." Allred is the attorney for a woman named Beverly Young Nelson, who says that Moore signed her yearbook and then tried to push her head into his lap when she was just 16 years old. During an interview on conservative radio, Moore said this about his two main accusers, including one who says she was just 14 years old at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY MOORE (R), ALABAMA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: I did not know these two women. I did not --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you definitely didn't know Beverly Nelson?

MOORE: I didn't know Beverly Nelson. And I didn't know --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leigh Corfman. MOORE: Leigh Corfman. And I never dated underage women. And I never

engaged in sexual misconduct with anybody. I mean you have to understand, I was deputy district attorney, then the circuit judge. I go by the law. You don't -- it's very hypocritical to go by -- you know, there's this law and you enforce it and then you go and violate it. You just don't do that. And I didn't do that. And that's what is being alleged. It's very hurtful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Congressional correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is in Washington.

Sunlen, Roy Moore is not backing down. In fact, he's getting more aggressive against his accusers as the days go on. He says he's considering legal action. What do you we know about that?

SERFATY: Well, he's very, very vague on this point, Boris. We only know what he said in that radio show, which, frankly, wasn't backed up by much of anything at all. He just said that he and his advisers are essentially gathering information right now. They're looking for any evidence to potentially take legal action against the accusers.

And, of course, we also know he's threatened to take legal action against "The Washington Post," who first broke this story. But he wouldn't address any specifics at all. And, frankly, not sure exactly how serious that claim is.

Boris.

SANCHEZ: Now, Sunlen, on that conservative radio show, Moore alluded to a conspiracy. What exactly did he say?

SERFATY: That's right. This was another one of those eyebrow-raising moments of the interview. Judge Moore saying that the bombshell allegations were dropped when he was ahead in the polls. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOORE: This was a complete shock out of left field. And it came the day after they said I was 11 points ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ahead. Ahead.

MOORE: And this is a shock to the Democrats. They saw a seat in Alabama that they could take, and they had the support of someone in the Washington establishment that didn't -- doesn't really care. They want who they can handle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And, keep in mind, this is a comfort zone, of course, for Judge Moore, exactly where he likes to be, arguing about the establishment and really attempting to reframe these allegations as something that was cooked up by his political enemies here against him. So no doubt, Boris, intended to fire up his base. SANCHEZ: All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much for the

reporting and happy Thanksgiving as well.

Once again, Kellyanne Conway is in trouble over endorsements. She's being accused of breaking the law that says that members of the administration can't advocate for or against a specific candidate. The Hatch Act. Here's the interview with Fox News that's in question. You be the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: Doug Jones in Alabama, folks, don't be fooled. He'll be a vote against tax cuts. He's weak on crime, weak on borders. He's strong on raising your taxes. He's terrible for property owners.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So vote Roy Moore?

CONWAY: I'm telling you that we want the votes in the Senate to get this tax bill through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Here's the White House response to the allegation that she violated The Hatch Act. Quote, Ms. Conway did not advocate for or against the election of a candidate and specifically declined to encourage Alabamians to vote a certain way.

[13:20:10] Joining me from Washington is CNN justice reporter Laura Jarrett.

Laura, happy Thanksgiving.

Please help us understand how this came up and take us through both sides of the argument.

JARRETT: Well, happy Thanksgiving, Boris.

So the former head of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, filed a complaint against Kellyanne Conway yesterday essentially saying she has violated a federal law by endorsing a candidate for office. Now, you notice she stopped short of actually endorsing Moore, but she did lay out all the reasons why one might want to vote for Moore because she's against, of course, the Democratic candidate Doug Jones.

But the White House is pushing back here and saying she didn't do anything wrong. She didn't actually formally endorse Moore. And so she should not be sanctioned.

SANCHEZ: Now, Kellyanne Conway was under fire for the same kind of thing in February, but talking about clothing. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three seconds. CONWAY: Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell (INAUDIBLE). I'm going to -- I'm going to --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, and there -- there is that --

CONWAY: I hate shopping -- I'm going to go get some myself today.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There --

CONWAY: It's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully -- I'm going to just give a -- I'm going to give a free commercial here --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

CONWAY: Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: She's talking about Ivanka Trump's fashion line. What was the decision then, and are these cases any different?

JARRETT: Right, so two different federal laws, but they both sort of go to the same thing. The Hatch Act violation here has to do with endorsing a candidate. In that situation, it was that she was endorsing a product. And the federal ethic laws on the books explicitly say that public employees are not allowed to do that. So -- but they're both related to the scope of what a public employee can do in their capacity as an executive branch official.

And in the ethics case, you'll remember the White House said that it has counseled her. Sean Spicer came out and said that she had been dealt with, but she did not face any discipline. And we'll have to wait and see whether she faces any in this case, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we should point out that in terms of enforcing the discipline, if The Hatch Act is violated, that has to come from the president himself. So we'll see if Donald Trump weighs in on this.

Laura Jarrett, we have to leave it there. Thank you.

JARRETT: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: FaceBook now making a big announcement about your accounts and whether you interacted with Russian trolls during the election.

Plus, the war of words escalating between the president and the father of one of those UCLA players that was imprisoned in China. Why can't either of them just let it go?

And new today, tens of thousands of names purged from the FBI's background check system when it comes to buying guns. We'll explain why.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:10] SANCHEZ: A high profile Democrat says the Clinton administration doubled down on abusive behavior in response to sexual misconduct allegations. Former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius criticizes both Clintons for attacking the victims instead of confronting the issue. Here's what she said on the "Axe Files" podcast hosted by David Axelrod.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, FORMER HHS SECRETARY: Not only did people look the other way, but they went after the women who came forward and accused him. And so it doubled down on not only bad behavior, but abusive behavior. And then people attacked the victims. And you can watch that same pattern repeat. And it -- it needs to end. It needs to be over.

DAVID AXELROD, HOST, "THE AXE FILES": Let me ask you a delicate question. Is that -- was that fair criticism of Hillary, that she participated in that effort?

SEBELIUS: Absolutely. I think it's very fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's bring in CNN political commentators Doug High and Maria Cardona.

Thank you both for joining us on Thanksgiving. I know you want to get to that cranberry sauce, Doug, so we'll try to get this done as efficiently as possible.

CARDONA: Thanks, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Maria, to you first. How do you respond to the criticism of the Clinton White House by Kathleen Sebelius, especially the idea that Hillary Clinton is also to blame?

CARDONA: I'll say this. Look, it's clearly an issue that Democrats are going through now, sort of a reckoning of what happened during the Bill Clinton days, especially since more women are coming out, as they should, and are being believed and are being very aggressive about what happened to them. I mean this is certainly, I think, a cultural tipping point, if will, or at least we're hoping towards going to that tipping point where things will definitely have a change.

But I'll say this. I mean let's remember back in the 1990s. What Kathleen Sebelius says sort of doesn't take into consideration that many Democrats, in fact a vast majority of Democrats, brutally condemned what Bill Clinton did. They were not happy with what was going on. They understood that he was putting the progressive agenda at risk and said so prominently every single day while this whole thing was going on. I think that is something that people do forget.

And the second thing I'll say is that, if this happened now and the whole scenario happened again with what we are going through, Bill Clinton probably would not survive. So it is certainly a difference of times that we are going through right now. But the same way that Democrats are going through a reckoning of Bill Clinton, I think it's also important to realize that Republicans need to be going through the same thing because they actually looked the other way maybe not even as much as a year ago when they put a sexual predator in office who is in office right now.