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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Matt Gaetz Withdraws As Trump's Attorney General Pick; Police Report Details Sex Assault Claim Against Pete Hegseth; Linda McMahon Denies Allegations Filed In Recent Lawsuit; Russia Tries To Rattle West By Testing New Weapon On Ukraine; Possible Impact Of Air Traffic Controller Shortage. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 21, 2024 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The auction house says the buyer is Chinese cryptocurrency investor Justin Sun, and he says he plans to eat the art as well. Quite an expensive snack.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Twenty-two cents and that's like a cent worth of duct tape.

SANCHEZ: I guess, like my question is --

KEILAR: I might do that at home and see what my kids think.

SANCHEZ: Why? It's such a weird flex.

KEILAR: That's art. Why?

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts now.

SANCHEZ: It is provocative. It is.

Jake Tapper --

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

The Gaetz have fallen. Former Congressman Matt Gaetz will not be the next United States attorney general, amidst serious questions about statutory rape and other sexual misconduct allegations, ones Gaetz denies.

The former congressman this afternoon abruptly withdrew his name from President-elect Trump's nomination process. Gaetz, tweeting, quote, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump-Vance transition, unquote. Trump reacted on Truth Social, saying in part, quote, Matt has a wonderful future. And I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do, unquote.

But here are some signs that the return process for Gaetz's nomination unfolded rather quickly. Trump, first of all, reportedly does not have a backup attorney general in mind. He's going to go back to the drawing board and Gaetz withdrew from the nomination 45 minutes after a CNN reporter called to say that CNN was going to report that the House Ethics Committee had told the reporter that there was, in fact, a second alleged sexual encounter between Gaetz and that 17-year-old girl back in 2017. That's called statutory rape.

Gaetz again has denied all allegations of misconduct. Many Republican senators, upon hearing that Gaetz was no longer trying to be attorney general, were clearly, clearly devastated. Senator Roger Wicker said, I think it's a positive development. Senator Susan Collins said she was pleased with his decision. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed his grief this way, it's a good thing.

So the Gaetz withdrawal solves one problem for many Republicans and Democrats. But Gaetz was far from the only Trump administration pick facing serious allegations involving sexual misconduct. There is quite a list.

Let's start with defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth. A police report just obtained by CNN gives new details on the allegation that Hegseth sexually assaulted a woman in 2017. Then he paid her off to stay quiet. Hegseth denies that he assaulted the woman. He did confirm the payment.

Then there is education secretary pick Linda McMahon, a recent lawsuit claims that McMahon allegedly enabled the sexual abuse of children by a world wrestling entertainment employee. McMahon denies that.

And then, of course, there's health and human services secretary pick Robert F. Kennedy Jr. You might recall his former nanny, who accused him of groping her. She just spoke about the encounter with "USA Today". Kennedy when asked about this in a podcast, did not explicitly deny it. He said he had warned everyone up front he wasn't a church boy. And then he said he wouldn't comment any further.

That's a lot. We're going to cover these Trump transition troubles and more this hour.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is in West Palm Beach, Florida, CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill.

Let's start with CNN's Paula Reid.

And, Paula, you were the CNN reporter I was referring to. You had exclusive reporting on the House Ethics Committee's investigation of Gaetz. And right as you were breaking that news, Gaetz withdrew his name. Tell us about the timing of that and what you learned in your exclusive reporting.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this new reporting that I did with our colleague Sarah Ferris reveals that a woman who was just 17 years old when she says that she had sex with Gaetz, told the House Ethics Committee that there was a second sexual encounter with Gaetz that also involved an adult woman. So, a threesome. Now the alleged underage victim testified that this occurred at the

same Florida party in 2017 where she had sex with just Gaetz on an air hockey table. Now, DOJ investigated allegations that Gaetz had sex with a minor, as well as possible other crimes, and did not charge him. The adult woman here has also denied that she had sex with a minor.

But the reason this is so significant, Jake, is because this is an example of the kind of evidence that the House Ethics Committee has gathered that is not yet public. Just the other day one of the lawmakers on Capitol Hill waved away one of our colleagues pressing about the ethics report, saying, you already know what's in it. You've already reported all of it.

Let me tell you, Jake, I have covered these allegations for four years, and this is the first that I am learning that the underage victim, the alleged victim that she has said that they had sex twice, and this is an example of what could potentially be in that ethics report. Earlier today around 11:30, we reached out to Gaetz's team. I spoke with him around 11'45, revealed the reporting that we were going to do at 12:30. We were waiting for a statement for a reaction, and instead, about a minute before we went live, it was revealed that he was withdrawing his nomination for attorney general -- Jake.

[16:05:05]

TAPPER: All right.

And, Kristen, Republican Senator Mike Rounds claimed that there might have been some information Trump did not have on Gaetz when he picked him to be his attorney general nominee. How true is that?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly true that Trump allies were having conversations about this ethics report. And what was actually in it. There were concerns that there was going to be more information coming out than they previously thought, and that it was only going to hurt Gaetz chances. They were told essentially, after he left his meetings on Capitol Hill yesterday that there were a lot of hard nos.

Now, that, combined with the fact that they believe there was more information in this ethics report, led them to believe that it was unlikely that Gaetz could get confirmed. I was also told by sources close to Gaetz, as well as Trump, that there were concerns that there were witnesses who spoke to the committee that they didn't previously know about, which would lead to additional information.

Now, Jake, just a reminder of how Matt Gaetz ended up with this nomination. He was not part of the traditional vetting. The rest of the team was. And by team, I mean the short list of people who were up for attorney general.

Donald Trump had met with a series of people essentially deciding that they were all kind of boring. He was unimpressed by them. He didn't like the way they presented information, and he was telling people around him he wanted a bomb thrower. In between leaving West Palm Beach and flying to Washington, D.C., to meet with Joe Biden and landing back in West Palm Beach. They hatched a plan on the plane to essentially nominate Matt Gaetz, and that's what he did when he landed back in West Palm Beach. It was clearly a surprise to a number of people around Donald Trump, and in the Senate.

Now, I was told that in recent days, Donald Trump has acknowledged that he did not think it was likely that Matt Gaetz currently had the votes to get confirmed. However, had continued to say he was going to stand by him. Obviously, we saw what happened today.

TAPPER: Well, it's certainly true that Matt Gaetz is not boring. I mean, I think that that part Donald Trump got right.

Manu, you're getting reaction from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Is it more of a sigh or a sigh of relief, or is it disappointment? Is it anger? What are you hearing?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's definitely a relief, Jake. There was a dread among Republican senators about having to cast a vote. Really making a choice between someone they believe a lot of them believe was simply not qualified to be the attorney general of the United States or voting against it.

An enduring the wrath of Donald Trump and all of his allies, and many of them simply did not want to go down that road, not just on the allegations of the House ethics report, but also Matt Gaetz, slash and burn politics, his battles with Republicans over the years, his lead, his effort to push out, Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the house last year, something that enraged many Republicans, including on the Senate side of the Capitol, which really made many reach the conclusion that he really had no path to be confirmed.

One senator, Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, indicated to me it was not worth the political capital to vote for Gaetz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: If you have concerns about political capital being expended here?

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): I did, and I think -- I think that was the case that was made to be honest. I mean, simple math. I think it was made clear that there's not a path and if there's not a path, you just -- you're going to spend a lot of political capital for a losing cause and it wouldn't have been worth it.

I know enough people that were "hell no" in the -- in the conference to know that the path would have been very, very difficult if possible. Even then, I doubt it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And, Jake, tonight, Republicans and Democrats are raising real questions about the vetting or lack thereof for Donald Trump and his team of some of these key cabinet picks, whether its for Matt Gaetz or his defense secretary pick or down the line and raising questions about what it may mean come early next year when its time for the Senate committees to actually hold those confirmation hearings, and whether those -- some of those key nominees can actually get the simple majority of senators to get the job.

TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju, Kristen Holmes, Paula Reid, thanks to all.

Let's bring in the panel.

And, Shermichael, let me just start by saying I find it so Washington that the response from a senator is like well, there's no path for him. There's just no path.

And it's not about, oh, my god these are the most horrific charges I've heard, you know, about an attorney general nominee ever in the history of this republic. Statutory rape, orgies, drugs -- I mean, again, allegations are not convictions, but where is the sense of this is more about -- more about -- this is about more than just whether or not he can get confirmed?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think he can't get confirmed for two reasons. He doesn't have the rapport with his colleagues in the house. Senators aren't very fond of the former congressman and also the allegations are indeed troubling, Jake.

I've spoken with a number of my friends who work for senators, work for various committees on the Republican side, and they've all made clear to me that a lot of the Republican senators are concerned about those allegations, which is why you saw a number of senators slowly coming out saying, hey, I want to see the ethics report in order for me to make a decision on whether or not I would support the former congressman's nomination.

[16:10:05]

So I think that's --

TAPPER: Yeah, right.

SINGLETON: Absolutely. So I think that's why we've seen this sort of fall where -- the way it has. The president elect has an opportunity to select someone else. I think the premise of his argument for wanting to change DOJ could be executed by someone who has institutional knowledge of the place, someone who knows where to start, what agents or what departments within the agency. You could potentially downsize, or what powers you may want to limit. And I would imagine his staff is probably going to advise him to do that.

TAPPER: So, now, there's this question about what is the status of Matt Gaetz as a member of Congress. He resigned as a congressman last week or whenever it was. He was also reelected. He had told the clerk that it was his intention to not serve. That doesn't mean he wont come back and say, he could say, well, I changed my intention and I was just elected. So I want to serve.

But the wrinkle is then that House Ethics Committee report gets released.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Right. And so, let's see what type of appetite he has for that. He could return but I think it's unlikely. What is more likely and what we have seen in the recent past from nominees that don't make it through the process is they serve in the White House in some sort of capacity as a special advisor. I could see the Trump White House, you know, carving that path for him.

But I think what's really important about this entire episode is that many people were worried that when Trump was reelected, that there would be no checks and balances, no guardrails. What we are starting to see from Senate Republicans is they aren't willing to take just anything. We are going to see them flex a little bit here and offer some pushback that Congressman Gaetz was just a bridge, too far.

So if there is going to be any accountability for the former president at all, I think this is the space to watch.

TAPPER: What do you think?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think it is interesting that Republicans are in control of this process. This ain't Democrats. It's easy for us to sit back and say, look at all of this crazy and look at crazy and crazy, but this is their own party coming at them in the senate. That's a B.

We just lost an election because of gas prices, the cost of eggs and things that I have admitted to on air that Democrats need to improve on. None of this as the American people are watching has anything to do with this.

They're sitting back saying, we just voted for change. And what we're getting is a clown circus. So I think that's really the big deal here.

SINGLETON: Well, wait, wait a minute. We haven't won. I mean, we're not there yet. We still have a couple weeks before the president elect is sworn in. So I think once that happens, then Donald Trump will clearly have the mandate to move forward.

ROCHA: But you got a mandate from the American people based off of what we all know, even Democrat, this Democrat admitting that then as soon as you get there, you go. Here's the plan that I have to reduce these prices. Here's the plan that I have to do this.

Let's do something different. Let's shake it up. I know that's what he wants to do. That's my only pushback.

TAPPER: So, J.D. Vance, the vice president-elect, tweeted and he's been out there. He took -- he took Matt Gaetz to the Hill with him yesterday introducing the Republican senators.

He just tweeted: I'm extremely grateful for the work Matt Gaetz put into the nomination process he made his decision to withdraw entirely out of respect for president Trump's administration. Matt is a patriot, and I look forward to seeing what he does next. It is interesting that both he and President-elect Trump have said

they look forward to seeing what he does next, not what the suggestion of like bringing him into the White House in a capacity to still, you know, seeing what he does next does suggest something like from afar.

SINGLETON: Well, look, I mean, they're being civil. If I'm advising the president-elect, you have a mandate. You performed better this time around than you did close to four years ago.

Do you really want to be distracted by this within the first 100 days? Well, to Chuck's point, you know, the Republicans -- the Republicans have a mandate writ large. I would argue Congress and the president elect to move forward on the economy, cost of living, immigration.

If I'm an advisor, going into the incoming White House, that's my main focus, Jake. And I'm telling the principal, Mr. President, we have to prove something to the American people within the first three months.

We don't want to be distracted by anything. People have rallied around you. They voted for you. You've seen increases in numbers with groups that no Republicans have seen in 50 years. That should be the focus.

TAPPER: But my only point is that, these allegations about Matt Gaetz aren't new.

SINGLETON: They aren't.

TAPPER: They didn't -- they didn't explode last week. I mean, like, we've known about these charges for literally for years.

SINGLETON: But, Jake --

MCKEND: Well, he thought Senate Republicans would just go along to get along with this --

ROCHA: Because they're scared of Trump, that's what he thought.

MCKEND: Because they were too scared of him. But evidently, they won't --

ROCHA: Because y'all have to remember that --

SINGLETON: And they should to that point. They should be critical of the nominations. They should go through the background checks. They should ask very tedious questions.

But I will say this: it's also important for the president elect to have as much information as he possibly can on these potential nominees, and that's when staff and advisers come into play to do their due diligence to make sure that he has as much information before him as possible.

ROCHA: People need to remember that these senators, all 100 of them, think they would make a better president than Donald Trump, and they all get elected every six years, so they're not really worried about their next reelection. And many of them, after the next six years, aren't running for the Senate anyway.

TAPPER: All right. Panel, stick around. We got a lot more to talk about.

Gaetz, of course not. The only controversial pick to face allegations of sexual misconduct of this current crop.

[16:15:03]

Up next, Pete Hegseth, Trump's pick for secretary of defense, what a new police report reveals about the alleged sexual assault he completely denies happened.

Then there's Linda McMahon. She is Trump's pick to be secretary of education. She's denying allegations in a lawsuit that accused her of enabling the sexual abuse of children. The claims against her, also ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Back with more in our politics lead. CNN is learning new assault allegation against Donald Trump's pick for secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. The Monterey, California, city attorney's office has just released a 22-page police report laying out the alleged assault.

A woman told police that Hegseth had physically blocked her from leaving a hotel room. He took her phone and then he sexually assaulted her, even though the woman says she, quote, remembered saying "no" a lot. The alleged assault happened in October 2017.

We should note, Hegseth was never charged in this case, and he later entered into a settlement with the accuser, one that included an undisclosed amount of money and a confidentiality clause. Hegseth told police that the sex was consensual.

[16:20:02]

An associate of Hegseth says the alleged incident happened two months after the birth of one of Hegseth's children.

CNN's Kyung Lah now has a closer look at what is revealed in the police report. We want to warn you some of the details in these allegations are disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S PICK FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: -- often the opportunity to talk to any senator that wants to talk to us.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President-elect Donald Trump's pick for defense secretary met with senators and the vice president-elect on Capitol Hill and paused to make his first on camera defense against a sexual assault allegation.

HEGSETH: I think it's very simple. The matter was fully investigated and I was completely cleared, and that's where I'm going to leave it.

LAH: A newly released 22-page police report from Monterey, California, doesn't clear Pete Hegseth, though prosecutors did not file charges. But it does add much more detail to the allegations that surfaced last week, and threatens to jeopardize Hegseth's nomination. The report lays out very different stories of what happened at this Hyatt Hotel in the early morning hours of October 8th, 2017.

Hegseth was the keynote speaker at a California Federation of Republican Women event. After it ended, the woman called Jane Doe in the police report texted someone, I'm headed to the bar with other women from the group. One of the conference attendees told police. Hegseth touched her knee. The woman asked Jane Doe to help her to be a crotch blocker, trying to stop Hegseth.

From there, Jane Doe's memory, she told police, becomes hazy. The police report states she believes that something may have been slipped into her drink, though the report doesn't have medical evidence for the claim. After the bar closed, surveillance video captured Hegseth and Jane Doe heading towards the pool, walking together arms locked together.

Guests complained to the hotel that they were being loud. A hotel worker described Hegseth as very intoxicated, but Jane Doe appeared very coherent. She told police she didn't know how she got into Hegseth room, but that he took her phone and blocked the door with his body when she tried to leave. She recalls saying "no" a lot.

Jane then remembers Hegseth over her. His dog tags hovering over her face. He ejaculated on her stomach, threw a towel at her, and asked, are you okay?

Jane Does memory started to return in the days after. She went to the hospital, where she requested a sexual assault exam and then spoke with police.

Hegseth told police what happened at the Hyatt was consensual. Hegseth says Jane Doe didn't want to leave his room, saying there was always conversation and always consensual contact. Hegseth told police Jane Doe showed early signs of regret.

Hegseth's lawyer tells CNN this police report confirms what I've said all along, that this incident was fully investigated. No charges were filed on Capitol Hill senators, at least on camera flocked to their partisan corners on Hegseth's nomination process.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think this nomination is doomed. It should never have been made.

SEN. MARSHA BLACKBURN (R-TN): It was a great meeting. Pete Hegseth is a Tennessean. We look forward to supporting him.

(END VIDEOTAE)

LAH (on camera): Hegseth's attorney also tells CNN that the woman was indeed paid as part of a settlement account, and that there is a confidentiality clause. I did meet and speak briefly with the victim last week, and CNN is not identifying her because she is the alleged victim of an attempted sexual assault of an alleged sexual assault but the very mention of Hegseth's name, the woman became visibly distraught. She said that she needed to contact her attorney. She didn't know what she was allowed to say, and she has not replied to subsequent requests for an interview -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Kyung Lah, thanks so much.

Joining us now is a former secretary of defense, William Cohen. He served as a Republican congressman and senator from Maine before he went to the Pentagon under Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Secretary Cohen, what's your reaction to this latest reporting about what's in the police report concerning a possible successor to you as secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth?

WILLIAM COHEN, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY, CLINTON ADMINISTRATION: Well, it's really disturbing to see what has happened to our entire process. Something like this, the allegations during the time that I was serving would have been made behind closed doors with a chance of the nominee to rebut the allegations and if not rebuttable, then to consider resigning. But this is now really escalated or accelerated the process. He hasn't even gone before the number of senators to make his courtesy calls yet.

So I think it's not helpful. But I think most of the members are still going to wait to say we want to have a private meeting with him. We want to discuss this further. We also have other issues in addition to this because nominee's position on women in combat, will that become relevant?

[16:25:06]

Other issues have to be taken into account. So I'd say if there's any fault here, it is not having been vetted by the Trump people who have been planning on taking over the administration for some time and going into these types of backgrounds to make sure they don't prejudice the nominee before he even gets a chance to make his case.

TAPPER: I want to ask you, Hegseth's attorney Mr. Parlatore, he acknowledges that Hegseth paid a settlement to his accuser, to the woman who alleges that that he sexually assaulted her. The attorney also said to the Washington Post that Hegseth did this because this was during, quote, the height of the #metoo movement, unquote, and that Hegseth, quote, ultimately decided into -- decided to enter into a settlement with the accuser given that and I've read of concerns that he might be fired or that sort of thing.

And I just wonder its very important that people in positions of power not be susceptible to blackmail. And I'm wondering if his willingness to enter into this agreement raises any alarms for you.

COHEN: I don't think so. It's not a situation -- I don't believe that his accuser would seek to blackmail him, to get some sort of additional compensation. I think that would be really risky and unfortunate if she were to do something like that. There may be other allegations. We don't know.

This is one of the reasons why we have a confirmation process, so that the individual senators who have an advice and consent responsibility can look at the entire background. Who is this individual? Is he competent? He's highly educated. We know that, he has served his country well. We know that.

Is he capable of managing the large department? What's his background? All of these questions have to be taken into account.

But certainly this one here will cast something of a cloud until he's able to remove it if he can, if he can substantiate his claim versus that of the person who's alleging it. I think it's too early to say that the nomination is dead or should be dead. I think the question is, is he competent? Is he qualified? Does he have the character necessary to carry out the responsibilities?

TAPPER: Now just to be clear, I'm not suggesting that the -- that this victim would blackmail him. What I'm suggesting is if he's willing to pay off somebody who is accusing him of something that he insists he didn't do, does that not suggest that he is vulnerable to doing all sorts of things in order to keep dirty laundry out of the public square?

COHEN: I'm trying not to be political here, but didn't we just have a president become elected -- a former president be elected with similar allegations made and compensation being paid and the American people voted to confirm him for president or vote for him for president? So I'm not saying there should be only one standard, but this is something I think that the American people have to take into account. And the elected officials saying, is this something this type of conduct, something we want to, quote, normalize? Is it something we want to accept as being acceptable for the leader of the largest department in the U.S. government?

Each member of the -- of the Senate will have to make that determination. But I don't think we should out of the box saying you're disqualified. We cannot support you under any circumstances. I think that is premature. I think he has to go through the process and I'm trying to be nonpolitical here.

I saw one friend of mine, John Tower, destroyed by virtue of allegations coming out that proved to be false at a later time. So I'm trying to be as balanced on this as I possibly can.

TAPPER: Fair enough. That's why we asked you to come on the show. We appreciate it.

Former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, thank you so much, sir.

COHEN: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: The decades-long allegations against Linda McMahon now. That's Trump's pick to be secretary of education. These allegations date back to the 1980s. Why are the claims coming out now?

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:33:50]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for education secretary, Linda McMahon, is being sued for allegedly enabling the sexual abuse of children. A scathing lawsuit filed last month alleges that McMahon and her husband, Vince, of World Wrestling Entertainment, knowing -- knowingly enabled the sexual exploitation of children by a WWE employee as early as the 1980s.

A lawsuit alleges that Linda McMahon was, quote, the leader in trying to conceal the sordid underbelly of WWE sexual abuse culture unquote. McMahon denies the allegations.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is tracking this story for us.

Katelyn, tell us more about the lawsuit.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Yeah, this lawsuit just popped up in Maryland a couple of months ago, and its about things that happened in the '80s where they're saying that Linda McMahon, her husband, Vince McMahon leading the WWE, the WWF previously, and this company was allowing a pedophile to exist there as an announcer ringside for -- for years.

And the lawsuit is brought by a series of boys at the time, now men who are anonymous and say that they were abused by this announcer who was using them as ring boys.

[16:35:06]

A man named Mel Phillips (ph) who is now deceased, and that he was the. But the big question here is what did Linda McMahon know? And when?

So they're saying in the 1980s, Mel Phillips was perpetrating this abuse and then in 1988, Vince and Linda McMahon, running the company, fired him and then rehired him about six months later. The lawsuit says WWE and the McMahons actively created an environment that allowed Phillips and others to bring minors into the WWE, including to work as part of the ring crew, where there was a high risk and probability that they would be sexually harassed and abused.

The McMahons allowed Phillips to use the WWE and its assets to events for defendants benefit in growing their audience and prominence in the world of wrestling entertainment, and they failed to take action to prevent injury to the Ring Boys or report it on suspicion of injury.

TAPPER: Does this lay the wrongdoing on Linda McMahon specifically?

POLANTZ: It certainly tries to. The allegation here is one of negligence and there is a lot of questions still about exactly what happened. There's been several investigations around the WWE at this time. And all of this has been public before. Back in the early '90s, the FBI was investigating that was made public. And then there were people in that company who came out to talk about this situation. One of them was professional wrestler Bruno Sammartino who spoke to Larry King on "Larry King Live" back in 1992.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO SAMMARTINO, FORMER PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER: One of these people, this Mel Phillips, was when -- we're doing a taping in Allentown and Hamburg, we're in a parking lot. There have been people who have come forward who caught him with an 11 year old boy having sex in a car and this fella has had a reputation for many years and not only has he remained with the organization even though this was brought to the attention of the McMahons, but this guy has flourished because he's been with the organization for a lot of years until now.

LARRY KING, THEN-CNN HOST: He was an executive with WWF?

SAMMARTINO: Well, no, he was with I guess they promoted him to a ring in charge of ring crew. Plus, he became an announcer -- ring announcer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, Jake, this lawsuit is now able to be brought because Maryland changed its laws, lifting the statute of limitations on these sort of child sex crimes for lawsuits and so it got into court in October.

We haven't had any formal litigation with the response of Linda McMahon or Vince McMahon, but both of theirs both of their attorneys are denying the allegation, and specifically Linda McMahons lawyer says this civil lawsuit, based upon 30 plus year old allegations, is filled with scurrilous lies, exaggerations and misrepresentations regarding Linda McMahon.

Ms. McMahon will vigorously defend against the baseless lawsuit and without doubt, ultimately succeed.

But this is something real in court now, these accusations at a time when Linda McMahon is being nominated by Donald Trump to lead the Department of Education, a department to protect and take care of children in the United States.

TAPPER: Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Outside the lawsuits and all the drama here in Washington, D.C., there was a dangerous move earlier today by Vladimir Putin. His latest scare tactic that got the world's attention, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:51]

TAPPER: Topping our world lead, a never before used new Russian missile carrying multiple warheads was fired at Ukraine today, and it was not just a weapons test, rather a blaring signal to the West and to Ukraine that while this one was not strapped with nuclear warheads, the next one, well, could be.

Russian President Putin emphasized this point by celebrating the new missile's, quote, successful launch.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports now for us from Ukraine's capital of Kyiv, as Putin tests the worlds limits.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A familiar horror but a quite different sight on Ukraine's skyline multiple projectiles at 5:00 a.m., apparently from one missile hitting an industrial site in the Dnipro City, suggesting as Ukraine reported, Russia had launched a new type of ballistic missile, perhaps intercontinental, a stark escalation.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Today, our crazy neighbor has once again shown who he really is, and how he despises dignity, freedom and human life in general, and how afraid he is. He's also so afraid that he is already using new missiles.

WALSH: CNN obtained these exclusive images of the missile debris, Ukrainian experts poring over the pieces to determine what this new threat is. Little dispute it was something new.

The Kremlin kept silent during the day bar this bizarre episode at a foreign ministry briefing that spoke volumes.

MASHA ZAKHAROVA: Hello.

CALLER: Masha?

ZAKHAROVA: Yes, I'm having a briefing.

CALLER: On Yuzhmash, the ballistic missile strike, which the Westerners started talking about, we are not commenting at all.

ZAKHAROVA: Yes, OK, thank you.

WALSH: Perhaps a trailer for Russian President Vladimir Putin's big reveal.

He said the missile was a new, hypersonic, non-nuclear device called the hazelnut.

There are no means to count to such weapons today, he said. The missiles strike targets at speeds to 10 mark. That's 2.5 to 3 kilometers per second. The modern air defense system available worldwide and the U.S., developed missile defense systems in Europe cannot intercept such missiles.

[16:45:01]

This is impossible.

He framed the strike as a response to American and British supplied missiles, ATACMS and Storm Shadows slamming into Russia proper over the last 72 hours.

We consider ourselves entitled to use our weapons against the military objects of those countries that allow their weapons to be used against our objects, and in the event of an escalation of aggressive actions, we will respond just as decisively and in kind.

Yet, Kyiv was yet more on edge when the sirens sounded Thursday afternoon, a U.S. official insisted Russia had few of these new experimental missiles, and it had warned allies about the strike. It's unclear if that led to its embassy shutting suddenly a day earlier, citing fears of an aerial assault.

Russia sending a clear signal but now not with a test like this. In 48 hours, it's made a nuanced change to its nuclear doctrine and launched a new missile. Total silence, so far from western leaders. But the blast was heard across Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (on camera): Now, Jake, you know, I think some of the uncertainty about exactly what this missile was that's echoed throughout the day has contributed to the anxiety felt certainly here in the capital and across Ukraine, the Russians, the Kremlin had, Vladimir Putin keen to project technological prowess, to suggest that there's still a military superpower that has tools in their arsenal.

They haven't yet even a war reached for, and that the recent escalation they say, by the Biden administration has made them do something extra. Their assessment to that, they think they can get through all the air defenses of the capital, is going to leave many Ukrainians concerned tonight. And also, I think Western officials perhaps are thinking when they saw this, that they knew partially what it was able to say. Some things, not wanting to say other things, and perhaps not knowing other elements about indeed what this missile may be capable of. The fact were talking about new technology now, this far into the war, certainly suggests that the last 4 or 5 days have begun a new chapter, really, I think in the standoff between the west and Russia here and also for the misery of Ukrainians dealing with nighttime barrages almost daily -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Ukraine for us, thank you so much. Stay safe.

The Gaetz withdrawal from consideration for U.S. attorney general leaves the president-elect with another big decision to make. Who else to nominate for this critical position at the justice department?

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is in touch with her sources. We're going to bring you what she's hearing, coming up.

Plus, an incredibly big week ahead for the travel industry and the staffing issue that should be on your radar that could slow down your trip if you are flying home.

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[16:52:11]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: We are a week after Thanksgiving and TSA is expecting a potentially record breaking holiday travel season.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg earlier today with the Thanksgiving refrain. Every year, people take to the roads and the rails and the skies to spend holidays with loved ones.

Also, every year, delays and issues at airports that often point toward not enough air traffic controllers.

CNN's aviation correspondent Pete Muntean joins us now. And we just heard Secretary Buttigieg, his FAA chief, was also there.

How did he address the serious bottleneck that could delay people traveling to Thanksgiving especially with respect to safety?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Not many outs for the FAA when it comes to the shortage. And the FAA has been short of air traffic controllers for a long time now really, they're working overtime and mandatory six day weeks. And the FAA says it's been scrambling to hire more controllers just met its goal this year. It's hired 1,800 new air traffic controllers so far. The goal is hiring another 2,000 controllers next year but the rub really comes in during a big travel rush like Thanksgiving.

The FAA says the number of flights will peak on Tuesday. That is when 50,000 flights will be handled by controllers nationwide.

FAA chief Mike Whitaker says, do not be surprised if the FAA slows the pace of flights. Simply put, that means delays. He said this during a press conference earlier today. He says that delays will be necessary to keep the travel system safe. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL WHITAKER, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: These initiatives keep the system safe and people should know that safety is never at risk. If we are short on staff, we will slow traffic as needed to keep the system safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: Here's what the FAA is doing in the long term. It's allowing graduates of certain college programs to bypass the backlog FAA Academy. Just this week, the FAA added Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to its list of accredited schools. New grads who were hired by the FAA can go straight to an air traffic control facility to finish their training.

One more important point here the depth of this shortage is not totally known. FAA hiring goals do not detail retirements or attrition or new hires who simply wash out of training. I got to try the simulator at Embry-Riddle a few years ago, Jake. It's pretty difficult even for someone who understands aviation like me. It's not easy.

TAPPER: Yeah, people might not know that you're a flier. You're a pilot.

MUNTEAN: Thanks for the chat. I appreciate it.

TAPPER: You're a pilot. Well, it's very impressive that you're a pilot.

So for folks who fly, who aren't pilots like myself, you deal with boarding groups and they, you know, these people get to board these people. You're next, you know, whatever, all that. And American airlines is obviously concerned about enough people trying to board the flight before its their turn that they're -- they're employing new technology?

It's essentially a buzzer that they're employing. This is especially important at American airlines because it's the biggest airline in the U.S.

[16:55:03]

They have nine different boarding groups which makes it sort of especially confusing for folks.

The problem is people who are jumping the line, its known as gate lice. That is the --

TAPPER: They're called gate lice?

That is the term that the airline uses in some cases. It's primarily something that bloggers have come up with, people who hang around the front of --

TAPPER: Very dehumanizing.

MUNTEAN: It is kind of, yes, I don't want to be a louse either.

But the big thing here is that if you scan your boarding pass at American is trying this new technology on, it will sound an alarm and make it so that you go to the back of the line and then come back in when your group is called. If you scan your pass, when it's the improper group, this new system is at about three airports nationwide. They're rolling out to about three more by the holidays, 100 more beyond that.

You know, boarding is a huge, huge pain point for airlines and they're really trying to make this smoother. But they essentially don't want people cutting in line and there are a lot of people who try to get status to make it so that they're in the fourth and fifth group. You know, if you're a group four means you have a credit card. If you're in the fifth group means you have a frequent flier miles.

So it's really something that people sort of claw after and pine after, and this is something to try and combat it from people jumping the line.

TAPPER: There are a lot of things I can think of that annoy me at planes about flying before people cutting in line, but maybe that's just me. I don't know, I'm a different breed of cat.

Thanks, Pete Muntean. Appreciate it.

Just in to CNN, some brand new details about Matt Gaetz and what was told to him behind closed doors when he met with senators on Capitol Hill.

Stay with us.

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