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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Shock Waves Over Controversial Trump Cabinet Picks; Sen. Chris Coons, (D-DE), Is Interviewed About Matt Gaetz, Trump's Cabinet Picks; Trump Picks Rep. Matt Gaetz As Attorney General; Gov. Andy Beshear (D- KY), Is Interviewed About Lessons For His Party; Trump Picks Rep. Matt Gaetz As Attorney General; KC Chiefs Mahomes, Kelce's Homes Burglarized. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 13, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:39]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to this hour of the Lead. And we begin with the breaking news on a shocker of a pick for U.S. attorney general. Fierce critic of the Justice Department, frequent target Matt Gaetz is poised to lead the Justice Department pending Senate confirmation or a recess appointment. President-elect Donald Trump picked Gaetz as the next U.S. Attorney General.

Gaetz is, of course, no stranger to controversy. He continues to face a House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations that he may have, quote, "engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, accepted improper gifts, dispensed special privileges and favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship, and sought to obstruct government investigations of his conduct," unquote. Matt Gaetz vociferously denies all of the charges.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): They lie about me because I tell the truth about them and I'm not going to stop. So when you see the leaks and the lies and the falsehoods and the smears, when you see the anonymous sources and insiders forecasting my demise, know this, they aren't really coming for me. They're coming for you. I'm just in the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was Matt Gaetz in 2021, we should note. So he was right that the reports of his demise were premature.

To note, the Gaetz had sought a preemptive presidential pardon from Trump over a Justice Department investigation. That is according to a Trump aide who testified at the January 6 hearing. The Gaetz pick comes as President-elect Trump and President Biden met for the first time today at the Oval Office as the president-elect, his cabinet is taking shape. That's the first time Biden and Trump were in the same room since June 27 at the CNN debate. And we all know how that ended up changing history.

Let's go right to CNN Anchor Kaitlan Collins.

Kaitlan, Matt Gaetz as U.S. attorney, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence, Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense. One of the things that I can discern in this is these are people who have -- who are, A, good on television, all of them, and B, have been vociferous defenders of Donald Trump's, especially on Fox.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Well, and also the way I've been talking about how this process has played out, because I think today is kind of sending shockwaves through certainly Capitol Hill as you're seeing Senate Republicans respond to these announcements from Donald Trump of who he's picking in this is that the announcement started out and people were like, OK, you know, what we're hearing from more moderate mainstream Republicans was, you know, not these fervent, you know, outrage over what was happening with Susie Wiles as the Chief of Staff, the Marco Rubio which was confirmed today as Secretary of State, Mike Waltz as the National Security Adviser, that has shifted now. And you're starting to see the reaction on Capitol Hill to the people that Trump was always inclined to pick, people who he strongly is aligned with and that are fiercely loyal to him. And really that has been the number one qualification, not necessarily experience or concerns about what that position is going to look like or even whether or not they can actually get confirmed. Which if a nominee can't get confirmed in this Senate, Jake, for a Republican president with 53 Republican senators, it's really saying something. And so that is going to be the next step here.

I will say one thing I've heard as I've been reporting on this out is that maybe this is a chess move by Donald Trump to put some of the more fiery picks out there to where the other picks can all get confirmed, maybe not all of these. Well, that's not the thinking that I --

TAPPER: There's no chess.

COLLINS: No. He actually wants these people in these positions. That is what he's going for here. And with attorney general and DoD specifically, what I have heard is with attorney general, I reported last night on my show that Trump was unhappy with all of the options that had been brought to him. He had several in person interviews with the candidates on the short list.

One of them was described as disastrous. He did not like any of them.

TAPPER: Which one was disastrous? Can you tell me?

COLLINS: No, and I'll work on that. But -- and so certainly it was essentially at a point last night where he had no attorney general pick. And so here we are. That's how quickly he made this decision.

With Pete Hegseth, it was kind of a similar situation where he was called on Monday, got down to Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday and was announced last night, obviously. And so, you're seeing just how quickly this is happening when he's not liking the people that are on the short list that has been prepared, been vetted, been thought about by this team for months now and this is how the Trump Cabinet is shaping out.

[17:05:20]

TAPPER: Some of them I would describe as MAGA warriors. They are unrepentantly to the point that they will say things that maybe five or 10 years ago they wouldn't have said, Matt Gaetz, Pete Hegseth, et cetera. They are just -- they are the fiercest defenders of Donald Trump. And that seems to be what he's looking for a lot of these picks.

COLLINS: Yes. And I think with the Justice Department investigations and what people have said about that, I mean, that's not something that Trump cares about, obviously. He himself is under --

TAPPER: Right.

COLLINS: -- investigation by the Justice Department and has made clear --

TAPPER: Right. Or if a nominee has had three marriages and cheated on his wife, whatever, like Donald Trump's not going to be bothered by that.

COLLINS: Yes. And then Donald Trump's, you know, version of Washington, he has broken all of those norms that would have stopped anyone. I mean, I was thinking today, remember in Trump's first term in office, when he nominated John Ratcliffe, Congressman from Texas, who had served several terms, brief Stint as a U.S. attorney, he nominated him as the Director of National Intelligence, and it became this massive fight on Capitol Hill. Even Senate Republicans weren't willing to confirm him, it looked like. And so he withdrew his name. Trump then put Ric Grenell, his former ambassador to Germany, in that position in an acting basis and it essentially freaked out the Senate Republicans so much that by the time his acting stint was done and they put John Ratcliffe back up as the nominee, he was confirmed.

Now, it was a sharply divided partisan battle, one that you don't typically see for the DNI position. John Ratcliffe was announced the other day in what he's going to be doing in this position in the CIA and it's not even really mentioned. It's like an afterthought. That just shows how much the spectrum has changed and how different Washington is about to be in 68 days from now when Trump retakes power.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins. And you can look for Kaitlan in her reporting in just a few hours on her fantastic show. It's called "The Source with Kaitlan Collins." What a coincidence. It has your name in it, too.

COLLINS: At the time.

TAPPER: That's 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here in CN. I guess you're the only person that could have picked to do it.

Members of the Senate and House digesting that latest shock Trump Cabinet pick. Firebrand, shall we call him? Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz, who's under a House Ethics investigation, currently as U.S. attorney general. CNN's Lauren Fox is on Capitol Hill.

And Lauren, you just ran into a different new Trump Cabinet pick. Who?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. I just got done speaking with Senator Marco Rubio who has been nominated to be Trump's Secretary of State. You know, he said he was honored to be nominated. He sort of had this moment where he could kind of celebrate this official nomination. And then he was quickly peppered with questions about the other nominees that were announced today, including the nominee for attorney general. Here's what he said about Matt Gaetz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: Senator, Matt Gaetz was also nominated to be the attorney general of the United States. Would you support that nomination?

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL): Well, I'll be involved in my own. I know Matt for a long time. At one point many years ago when I was in the state legislature, he actually worked for me, and I was aspiring to be speaker of the House.

I like Matt a lot. I know him very well. And I'm confident that if the Senate confirms him, he would do a good job. And again, presidents are entitled to have the people that they want in these key positions to carry out the mandate that's been delivered to him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOX: And the key question there, of course, whether or not Matt Gaetz can actually be confirmed by the United States Senate. And Rubio was pressed on that repeatedly. He said that it would -- it's really up to every Republican senator to remember that Donald Trump should get the choices that he wants in the Cabinet slots that he selected them for. Of course, the Senate does have an advice and consent role.

We also asked Senator Kevin Cramer of North Dakota. Our colleague Morgan Rimmer caught up with him, and it was really interesting because Cramer said that he doesn't really know Gaetz well, but he does have some pause about the fact that Gaetz really orchestrated that effort to bring down Kevin McCarthy just a little over a year ago. He said he still has some questions about that.

So, yes, there is a strong majority in the United States Senate. But if you have conservatives like Kevin Cramer saying that they have some questions, I think it's still too early to know whether or not Matt Gaetz can be confirmed to be attorney general, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Lauren Fox, thanks so much.

Joining us now, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Democrat Chris Coons of Delaware.

Thank you, Senator, for being here. What's your reaction to Matt Gaetz as the attorney general? SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Well, Jake, when I was first informed that President-elect Trump had nominated Congressman Matt Gaetz to be the next attorney general, I was speechless. I've had some time to gather my thoughts. I think this is a deadly serious challenge to the Senate's constitutional advice and consent role. And as a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I'll engage in the confirmation process where we consider the qualifications, the ethics and character and the policy views of nominees.

[17:10:14]

I just heard your reporting where Senator Rubio was saying the president's entitled to his pick. And generally that's correct. But the Senate has a critical guardrail function to play, where we should look at whether someone is appropriate to serve in a role. The attorney general is the top law enforcement officer of the United States. And given an ongoing Ethics investigation in the House, given some of the allegations that have been made against Congressman Gaetz, and given some of his conduct, I think this will be a robust and thorough confirmation process.

My hope is that my colleagues in the Republican Caucus will urge the president to reconsider.

TAPPER: Do you think there are going to be five Republicans in the Senate that are willing to vote against any of the president's picks?

COONS: I don't know. But as I said, that will be the key test of whether or not the Senate plays its important constitutional role as a guardrail, as an organization, an institution that says to an executive who's just won a broad national mandate. We will confirm your nominees, but not all of them, not anyone, not without regard to their character and qualifications.

In some ways, the first couple of announcements, like Senator Marco Rubio, were reassuring folks who have relevant experience, who served on relevant committees here in the Senate for many years, and who have well informed policy views on critical roles. The contrast between Senator Rubio and Congressman Gaetz on all of those areas is fairly stark.

TAPPER: You and I have been around this town for some time now.

COONS: Yes.

TAPPER: What exactly gives you any reason to think that any Senate Republican is going to vote against any of these nominees?

COONS: Hope that they are conscious of the consequences if the Senate abandons its role. And the recollection that on the Judiciary Committee during the previous Trump administration, there were a number of judicial nominees who were rejected. Where Senate Republicans were able to persuade the Trump White House to withdraw nominees who just did not belong in a federal judgeship in a lifetime appointment, either because of their qualifications or their views. It did not happen many times, but it happened on several occasions. Frankly, I think folks are aware of what the consequences are if the Republican majority in the Senate says we will rubber stamp literally anyone you want to put up for a senior position. And the attorney general is one of the most important and most powerful positions in the whole federal government.

TAPPER: All right, I guess we'll see. I'd be interested in taking --

COONS: Yes.

TAPPER: -- on a wager. Senator Chris Coons from the small wonder State of Delaware. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

COONS: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: As CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported moments ago, as of just yesterday, Trump did not have a firm decision on his pick for U.S. attorney general. Oh, how quickly things change. What might tomorrow bring. Our CNN reporters are working their sources. More of what they are learning next.

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[17:17:37]

TAPPER: This hour's breaking news shock waves throughout Washington, D.C. over this afternoon's announcement of Donald Trump's picks for his cabinet. The biggest shocker being the selection of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz to be the next U.S. attorney general. One person who has had experience with Donald Trump's sudden, unexpected, controversial announcements is his former White House Communications Director, Anthony Scaramucci.

Anthony, good to see you. So, Matt Gaetz as a U.S. attorney general, one time Democratic congresswoman, now Republican Tulsi Gabbard, Director of National Intelligence Pete Hegseth, who is a Fox Weekend -- Fox and Friends cohost and also military veteran, to be Secretary of Defense. D.C.'s establishment reeling. What -- you know, Donald Trump and you were part of his White House for 11 days. What's your reaction?

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I think it's very simple. I mean, the whole strategy, you have to own the liberals. So, and now it's you got to own the liberals and the establishment and the ex-Republicans that have rejected Donald Trump. And so if you're sitting around thinking about how you're going to do that, let's pick some triggering people. And so those are the triggering people.

And then the real test is -- you know, Jake, honestly I went through the 53 senators, maybe Murkowski, maybe Susan from Maine, I don't know. I think that's it. You've got 51 senators that are going to approve these people. And of course, if you can get to 50, let's say McConnell is in there, you get to 50, then you have J.D. Vance as the 51st vote. So they sort of think like they've got you packed in and bunched up and so they're going to shove their people. But you got to -- hopefully -- well, you'll get Matt Gaetz on and say, so what exactly do you want to do, you know? Are you a lawfare person? Are you going to be prosecuting citizens for no reason? Are we going to have show trials around the country? These are all things that these guys have talked about.

So, if that's what they're going to do, at least inform the citizens of it. You know, Trump was very clear when he was campaigning. I'm campaigning on X, Y, Z, he's now delivering X, Y, Z. And so, my question to his supporters is, hey guys, you know, I was traveling around the country speaking at places, Jake, asking people, are you taking Trump seriously? And literally 80 percent of the people that said they were voting for him said, no, no, I'm not taking them literally.

OK, well now you're getting some literal things that he's doing. And so, you know, you tell me, are we going to have 15 million people deported? Are you going to jack up tariffs so that lower middle income people can't afford their expenses? Are we going to bring down the system that's worked so well for the last 250 years? You tell me, Jake.

[17:20:21]

I mean, I think those are questions that people want to know the answer to. Not just Chris Coons, I mean, all of us.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, I guess one question I have for you is, are you worried? Do you think that they will come up with a reason to prosecute you? I mean, you are somebody that Donald Trump was attacking on his social media site this week. Maybe, yesterday. I can't -- it all blurs together. Yesterday, I think it was --

SCARAMUCCI: Yes, there is --

TAPPER: Yes.

SCARAMUCCI: -- 48 hour. The love affair -- the love affair continues. Just remember, people that are attacking you on their Twitter sites, they're thinking about you, Jake. So the love affair between me and Donald Trump continues. So you know, listen --

TAPPER: That's a nice way to think of it. But I wonder, are you like are you getting -- are you lawyering up?

SCARAMUCCI: Listen, I'm not lawyering up. I've never lived in fear. If they want to come after me for exercising my First Amendment rights, guys, come after me. Let's go. I'll defend myself in a court if I have to, but that's a breach of the Constitution.

So if we're going that far, you know, imagine Dwight Eisenhower when he was preparing for his presidential transition, opining about the opinions of private citizens. So, if we're going that far in the country, it's very she like, you'll destabilize the economy. You'll freeze everybody in the private sector. They won't know exactly where to move and that will shrink the economy.

So, if that's the direction we're going in, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, Jake. I live in, you know, two miles from where my mom and dad raised me. And I'm an American. And I'm going to fight for the system that I believe in. And the system has made you and me and so many other Americans very, very successful.

So, if I'm on their enemies list and they're looking to prosecute me, let's go.

TAPPER: So one of the --

SCARAMUCCI: You know, I'm not someone that's going to -- I'm not someone's going to back down from these people.

TAPPER: Yes.

SCARAMUCCI: I got raised in this country and we have a Bill of Rights, and so I'm operating inside the Bill of Rights. These guys want to operate outside of it, let's go. Let's see what happens.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, they wouldn't go after you for something you said, it would be something else, I think is the idea. But one of the questions I had --

SCARAMUCCI: No, no, no. The idea is they'd have these show trials and then --

TAPPER: Right.

SCARAMUCCI: -- said something stupid in front of the Congress and you perjured yourself, then you do the Steve Bannon, you know, four month prison sentence, you know?

TAPPER: Right.

SCARAMUCCI: Look, I know their game. I know what they want to do to people. And if that's what they want to do to me, go ahead. But you will send a ripple and very chilling effect through the private sector, and you will knock yourself off of the course that you think you're on.

TAPPER: So, I want to ask you, he's obviously really surrounding himself with loyalists, people who will unquestioningly defend him. My general feeling is that one of the worst decisions a leader can do is to surround himself with people who will only tell him what he or her, what they want to hear, never tell them bad news, never tell them when they're overreacting, et cetera. And, I mean, I know that whatever was said about him in the first term, he did have John Kelly around him. He did have Bill Barr around him. He did have people who would tell him that.

And I wonder if you see anybody around him who would be willing to say to him, you can't do that.

SCARAMUCCI: Well, listen, you know, I don't know Susie Wiles super well. I've met her a few times in various things over 20 years as being a Republican.

TAPPER: He's Chief of Staff. Yes. White House Chief of Staff.

SCARAMUCCI: Yes. So she seems very reasonable and she seems like somebody that could be a truth teller. Marco Rubio seems like a very reasonable person to me. Obviously, he's had his rows and spats with Trump in the past. I would imagine that he would be one of those people.

John Ratcliffe, I sort of feel like, would be one of those people. But, you know, listen, you know, how this stuff goes, OK? If you're not going to tell a leader the truth, it always runs off the rails. There's never been a situation in sociology or in a government or in a company, even a small company like mine, you got to have people around. You have to be secure enough to have people around you that you can accept dissent and critical feedback.

You know, there was a great plaque in Reagan's office. I think he got it from Harry Truman. You can get anywhere you want in life as long as you don't care who gets the credit. In Donald Trump's world, it says, hey, man, I get all the credit and the spotlight's got to be on me. And if it might be on you temporarily, I'm going to hit you with a ray gun.

And so, these people will learn very quickly that's a very tough place to work. General Kelly can tell you that. Bill Barr could tell you that. And these people, I guess, are going in with great excitement. But look out, because there's a lot of pitfalls operating with the management style like that.

[17:25:11]

TAPPER: Anthony Scaramucci, thanks to you.

To think last week's election just eight days ago brought on all these changes, how Democrats outside Washington are digesting the aftermath of the election, including the breaking news that Congressman Matt Gaetz has been picked to be the new U.S. attorney general. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our politics lead, whither the Democrats, whither them. As Democrats grapple with what went wrong for them on Election Day, one governor is focusing on the road ahead. One Democratic governor, Andy Beshear. He was reelected by Kentucky voters last year by 5 percentage points in the commonwealth that Donald Trump won this time by 30 percentage points.

[17:30:12]

Beshear just published an essay in "The New York Times," quote, I'm the governor of Kentucky. Here's how Democrats can win again, unquote. That's the title. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky joins us now. Governor, I do want to get into some of the breaking news, but first, there's so much finger pointing going on among -- among Democrats for the election losses. Some blame Kamala Harris for her campaign decisions. Others blame Joe Biden. You wrote, quote, so while others are talking about political strategy and messaging, the way forward is really about focus and about action. The next several years of the Democratic Party's chance to show the American people that we will not just run, but also govern by addressing those core issues that can and will improve the lives of our people, unquote.

So -- so how specifically does that work on a national level? I understand that you are governing in Kentucky, but how do Democrats in the House and Senate do this? Or do you just mean in the -- in the states by -- by Democratic governors?

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): No, I mean by all of us, Jake. I mean by those Democratic officials and party members showing the American people where our true focus priorities are. And when people wake up in the morning, they're not thinking about their party, they're thinking about their job and whether they make enough to support their families. They're thinking about the next doctor's appointment for themselves or their kids. They're thinking about the roads and the bridges they're going to drive that day. They're thinking about the public school they're going to drop their kids off at. And they're thinking about public safety.

Those are those core issues where if you don't feel secure, you don't get to anything else. And for so many Americans struggling right there, what they're looking for are candidates that they feel are focused on those issues and that will make their life a little bit better. So it's -- it's -- it's governors, it's mayors, it's senators and representatives getting out in their district and -- and showing that priority and the tangible results.

That new manufacturing facility that's coming, offering a -- a better life, the new clinic that's opening up, what we talk about but also what we do and -- and -- and the efforts that we take and the results that we get, just need to be focused on those core issues that people think about when they wake up and worry about as they go to bed.

TAPPER: So what -- when you made -- when you try to convey this message to Democrats in Washington, either with the Biden campaign or then with the Harris campaign or with other Democrats, I'm -- I'm sure they said we're doing that. We're -- we're, you know, we're proposing 100 million Americans get a tax cut or he -- help for them for housing. We've done all this stuff for -- for -- for people when it comes to pharmaceutical prices.

So, what was your -- what would your response be to that? Because I'm -- I'm sure you had these conversations and they said, we're doing that, Governor.

BESHEAR: Well, the first thing I want to make sure I make clear is I'm not being critical of either the Biden administration or the Vice President, who ran a -- a -- a tough race, had 107 days, worked as hard as she could and I crisscrossed this country, fully supporting her. What I'm talking about is two years ahead, where every single day we can show these things and it's got to be something that people can feel and touch and that they know is -- is real.

For instance, there's a county called Henderson in Kentucky that in 2019, I barely won. In between that time and -- and reelection, we opened the world's cleanest, greenest recycled paper mill, 350 jobs, paying nearly $40 an hour. We won the county overwhelmingly in -- in reelection. Because we were able to show people that effort. We were able to -- to talk about getting real results.

To -- to most Americans, a signing in the Rose Garden isn't real. It -- it's like that idea of announcement is exciting. It's the hope. A groundbreaking is the progress. But that ribbon cutting, which some people make fun of, is the actual reality where you walk in and you see the new jobs and the lives changed. And -- and that commitment and focus helps people to be able to disagree with you on -- on the issue of the day, but still believe that you're doing what you think is right and that you're putting their family first.

TAPPER: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris did that though, right? Didn't they go out and -- and go to ribbon cuttings of infrastructure projects that the infrastructure -- that the IRA bill put into communities. Republican, Democrat, independent communities? I mean didn't -- wouldn't they argue, yes, we did that?

BESHEAR: Well, I think there were a couple of challenges. First, President Biden had the pandemic to deal with especially in the beginning and he was making sure that he was taking the actions that -- that others can and -- and should. And then one of the other pieces is, it takes time for the president's policies to -- to get into action. But I'd just say, remember, if we as Democrats are talking about the issue of the day in Washington, D.C. If we're talking about the craziest thing that some politicians said today and then we're talking about jobs. That's only spending a third of your time talking about the thing that -- that voters and Americans care about the most.

[17:35:23]

TAPPER: So then --

BESHEAR: So this is our chance to -- to show that priority and to make sure that we spend the vast majority of our time on improving the quality of life in key core areas. And here's the thing --

TAPPER: Yes.

BESHEAR: -- they're not partisan. They're not political. I hope Republicans will do it too. Because that's where we find common ground, that's where we apply common sense, and that's where we get things done.

TAPPER: So Governor, obviously there were a lot -- one of the number one ads in terms of how often it ran, how frequently it ran was against Vice President Harris when it came to a taxpayer funded gender reassignment surgeries for prisoners. And the Harris campaign did not respond to that ad in particular, but it's being blamed to a degree by some people for her loss.

But I should note that last year, while you were up for a reelection, a reelection that you won fairly handily, you vetoed a hardline Republican driven bill that targeted trans kids and trans healthcare in -- in many ways. And I'm wondering, so -- I mean -- so it's not as though that was a -- a fatal issue for you. Tell me what you think was the key to why that didn't hurt your reelection.

BESHEAR: I -- I vetoed that bill. It was mean. It picked on kids. And my faith teaches me that all children are children of God. When you look at my race, they ran about $10 million of -- of hateful anti- trans ads to attack me. And what did I talk about? The economy and jobs. While they spent all of their time trying to -- to focus people on -- on the -- the culture war issue of the day, I was out there creating those new jobs, talking about the new jobs, reminding people of -- of what we had done.

You know when we started the campaign despite having the best year ever in economic development. The -- the -- the polling was kind of mixed about whether people had felt it yet. But we got to show them in really tangible terms. Here are the two biggest battery plants on planet earth that we're building in -- in Kentucky right behind me.

Here are the new jobs in your community that are coming. And to be able to localize that message to say, we've been focused on you, we have been focused on your worries. To -- to open the first hospital in our largest African-American community in Kentucky in 150 years, which we did at the end of last week, to open up two pediatric autism centers in Appalachia so parents don't have to drive two hours to get their kids the services that they -- they need.

When -- when -- when others are going to the extreme, if we can be at those core issues that -- that just so deeply impact people's lives, that --that hit them so hard when they feel I may not be providing for my family, that's where government can play such an important role. And that's where we can create the grace and the space to get beyond some of this division and -- and just to move forward together on issues that lift everyone up.

TAPPER: Governor Andy Beshear, the great Commonwealth of Kentucky, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

[17:38:29]

New revelations about Trump's latest surprise Cabinet, picked Congressman Matt Gaetz, tapped to be the next U.S. Attorney General. You heard me right. A reminder, the FBI investigated him in a sex trafficking case and then dropped it. The access that Gaetz would have to evidence at the Justice Department, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our Politics lead. Donald Trump's surprise, dare we say, shocking announcement late this afternoon that he would like Florida Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to be the U.S. Attorney General. Let's get right into it, my own colleagues. Let's start with you, Evan Perez. You have some breaking details you've uncovered. You have learned that if Gaetz does in that fact, get to be the U.S. Attorney General, whether through confirmation or bypassing the confirmation process through a recess appointment, he will be in control of the criminal files and evidence related to the investigation against him.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Exactly. And I mean look, there's a voluminous file there which -- which includes witness statements from these young women who were witnesses in this investigation, the sex trafficking investigation.

And one of the things that the Justice Department has done is that they've withheld this information from the House Ethics Committee, which has been investigating. And one of the reasons why is they say that this is very sensitive stuff, it has details of these young women. And they just didn't want to hand it over to the Ethics Committee.

So, one of the things that we'll be watching for, is what happens to those files, right? Gaetz would now be in charge of this and -- and could do whatever he wants. I mean, you -- you know, we've certainly -- we've FOIA'd those documents as well. And so the question is, what happens to those documents if he becomes Attorney General?

TAPPER: Audie, Gaetz has been a fierce critic of the Ju -- Justice Department, taking on the FBI even during an oversight hearing a few years ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): People trusted the FBI more when J. Edgar Hoover was running the place than when you are. And the reason is because you don't give straight answers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We are learning also that the Justice Department was shocked at the announcement. What do you make of it? Do you think that he'll be able to lead the Justice Department if he -- if he gets in there?

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST, THE ASSIGNMENT WITH AUDIE CORNISH PODCAST: We're not there yet. And one thing about a nomination like this is if you use the word shocked right away, it's hard to go any further up from there. And we're really only at the start of this administration.

The Attorney General's office often is the shield of defense against multistate legal actions. And during the Trump administration 45, there were something like 90 successful lawsuits that states -- Democratic AGs were able to file against the government.

So it's -- I'd like to know who else was on the list, given how many lawyers Donald Trump actually knows. And I'd like to know if this is something that they basically float as a lightning rod to attract all of the brutal attention.

[17:45:01]

TAPPER: Why did he pick Gaetz? What are your sources telling you? I mean I -- it -- from -- from the outside, it looks like fierce loyalist. Good on T.V., you know, and --

PEREZ: Florida man.

TAPPER: What?

PEREZ: Florida man.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Florida man.

TAPPER: Florida man. And then also just -- that he -- he has been pursued by Justice Department officials and the House Ethics Committee. And Donald Trump has, in his own way also been pursued by law enforcement.

HOLMES: Well, one thing to keep in mind is that, and we've talked about this a lot, is that for Donald Trump, this is the most important position of his administration. And he had a short list. We know that. We know that he had been going through it. He'd met with a number of people on it. But there were a lot of boxes that he wanted checked.

And clearly, no one that was on that short list, that we had been talking about, that we had been talking to sources about many people who were working with the justice transition team who were giving us those names. They were surprised by Matt Gaetz. None of the people on that short list clearly checked the boxes that Donald Trump was looking for.

And what Donald Trump was looking for is not just somebody who was going to be a fierce loyal -- loyalist and somebody who had been a fierce loyalist, which we know Matt Gaetz was, but it was going to be somebody who was going to go along with what exactly Trump wanted. And the other thing to note here is that people who know Matt Gaetz and they know the kind of lawyer that he could be and have worked with him, believe that he is competent and incredibly smart.

And the -- this role is going to need somebody smart who can go around the traditional norms and laws and different things that are in place --

CORNISH: And the lawsuits that followed.

HOLMES: -- and lawsuits, exactly, in order to navigate a Justice Department that Donald Trump wants. What Donald Trump wants is a Justice Department in which he has full control over. So he needs not someone who's just a loyalist, but someone who knows how to work the system, smart enough to work the system, and is going to be essentially a right hand to what Donald Trump wants to use --

PEREZ: He also wants to --

HOLMES: -- the Justice Department for.

PEREZ: -- he also wants to blow the place up. Let's be honest. That's really what he wants.

TAPPER: Figuratively. We should.

PEREZ: Right. I mean, he wants -- and he wants -- a -- and by the way, the -- the other one that we're waiting for is the FBI director. And that's also what he wants to do because he believes --

TAPPER: That could be somebody like Kash Patel, another --

PEREZ: It could be.

TAPPER: -- another loyalist.

PEREZ: Right. Who has been on the list.

HOLMES: If you -- when you hear Donald Trump and his allies talk about the deep state, they're talking about the Justice Department.

PEREZ: Right

HOLMES: That's what they're talking about, and they're talking about getting rid of the deep state, draining the swamp. It's all about the Justice Department. And Matt Gaetz is going to now lead that charge.

TAPPER: So Trump says that this will help restore trust in the Justice Department. You don't have to be a blind follower of Donald Trump to look at the Justice Department in general, whether it's back to the J. Edgar Hoover years that Matt Gaetz was referring to or even James Comey. You know, a -- any of the questions. There was that Peter Strzok and -- and --

PEREZ: Lisa Page.

TAPPER: -- Lisa Page. And think, you know what, maybe sometimes they, you know, they did get ahead of their skis and maybe sometimes there was some of those FOIA violations with Carter Page. You don't have to be a -- a Republican to look at that and think there's stuff that they need to clean house a -- a -- about. But my question is, will this move help them restore that trust?

CORNISH: It will smoke out the people who have questions about their goals.

TAPPER: E -- e -- e -- explain. What do you mean?

CORNISH: Well, it means that if you're feeling like you don't want to go along with this plan, if you don't meet the metrics for loyalty. Hearing a name like this will probably send you packing. I mean, there are people who may decide they don't want to go along with this version of the ad -- the administration.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to all of you. A reminder, Audie has a great podcast. It's called the Assignment with Audie Cornish. A new episode drops tomorrow. Can I tell them what it's about or no.

CORNISH: No. Let's -- TAPPER: No, I'm not going to, OK.

CORNISH: -- just download.

TAPPER: It's -- I can't wait to -- I can't wait to listen to it. Let me just tell you. Let me just put it that way. I can't wait to listen to it. But I -- she won't let me. She won't let me tell you what it's about.

CORNISH: No spoilers.

TAPPER: No spoilers. OK. Rosebud was the -- was the sled.

[17:48:47]

Let's go well outside of Washington, D.C. right now. Next, the first public comments from NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes since word of break-ins at his home and at the home of his teammate Travis Kelce. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Sports Lead, Kansas City Chiefs' star quarterback Patrick Mahomes speaking out today about his home getting broken into and not just his home, also the home of chief star tight end, Travis Kelce. Details of those break-ins last month now just coming to light. CNN's Whitney Wild joining us with more. Whitney, what do we know as of this hour?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well not very much, Jake. But what I can tell you is that this all happened about a month ago. The first scene, the deputies were called to what we believe, according to CNN affiliates, was Patrick Mahomes home around midnight on October 6th. What deputies found there was that there were no signs of forced entry. They took a report. It is not clear what, if anything was taken location.

A day and a half later, it is believed at around 7:30 on October 7th, there was another burglary at Travis Kelce's home. That report, according to the report that we've reviewed, was filed on October 8th. It shows that there was around $20,000 in cash taken. There was damage to the -- the rear panel or rear passenger door rather of a vehicle that was there. Jake, other than that, there's very little information.

And I -- I think it's important to, you know, consider that these houses aren't like right next to each other. I mean, one was in a town called Loch Lloyd, Missouri. Another is in Leawood, Kansas. These are about nine miles apart, again about a day and a half apart. So law enforcement continuing to investigate there. Obviously, this is incredibly invasive. Here's what Patrick Mahomes had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK MAHOMES, KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK: Obviously it's a -- it's frustrating, it's disappointing. But I mean, I can't get into too many of the details because the investigation is still ongoing. But obviously something that you don't want to happen to -- to really anybody but obviously yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Yes absolutely, Jake. So again, law enforcement continuing to investigate. We don't have any, you know, information on a potential suspect, person of interest, that kind of thing. But as soon as we do, we'll bring it straight to you. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Whitney Wild, thanks so much.

[17:54:49]

Up next, how you can get in on a special event featuring Jimmy Kimmel or Dave Chappelle or Seth Meyers and much more. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: I want to tell you about a special fundraiser. This week we kicked off the 8th Annual Homes for Our Troops Auction. You can bid on items and the money will go to building specially adapted mortgage free homes for wounded veterans through the top-rated charity Homes for Our Troops. This is a charity auction on eBay.

There's some really cool items up for auction this year. You can get tickets with backstage meet and greets to comedy shows, feature -- and late night shows such as -- with Jimmy Kimmel or Stephen Colbert or Jimmy Fallon or Bill Maher or Seth Meyers. Those are just some. You can bid on four tickets to Dave Chappelle's stand up show. And afterwards you get to meet and greet. There's an autographed Valentino black leather turquoise rock stud bag from Jennifer Aniston. How about lunch for two in Manhattan with Paul Rudd? And I'll be there too. I don't have to sit at the table if you don't want me there. There is a lot more than 100 items. Check them out at eBay.com/ AH -- I'm sorry, HFOT. That's Homes for Our Troops, HFOT. The auction is open right now. It's going to close next Thursday, November 21st.

[18:00:18]

If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcasts. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer right next door in a place I like to call The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.