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Trump Picks Rep. Matt Gaetz as Attorney General; Interview with Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-FL): Trump's Cabinet Picks. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 13, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Some major breaking news into CNN. Just moments ago, posted to social media, President-elect Donald Trump has nominated his pick for Attorney General, and that is Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Republican firebrand, a lightning rod for controversy. These confirmation hearings are going to be intense, to say the least.

Let's go to CNN's Paula Reid, who has the latest on this. Paula, wow.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is certainly a surprise. I've been speaking with sources today about the potential options for Attorney General, and Congressman Gaetz's name has not surfaced. Now, one of the many reasons that this is surprising is that Congressman Gaetz has been under investigation previously.

That investigation was closed, but he was under investigation for possible sex trafficking and possible obstruction of justice, and this was an investigation that was open during the Trump administration. It was overseen by then-Trump Attorney General Bill Barr. It went on for several years. It was eventually closed. The congressman was not charged, but that is certainly something that is likely to come up during any potential confirmation hearing. He is also currently facing an ethics probe in Congress over similar conduct.

Now, I want to look at the Truth Social post that President-elect Trump posted. He described Congressman Gaetz as a deeply gifted and tenacious attorney, trained at the College of William & Mary's Law School, who also distinguished himself in Congress through his focus on achieving desperately needed reform at the Department of Justice.

Now, we know that the president-elect has been frustrated with the fact that he has been the subject of multiple criminal cases. Congressman Gaetz likely has empathy in that regard because he too has been under investigation at the Justice Department, but this is certainly a surprise. He has not been among the names that have been floated by people familiar with these talks, and it's unclear if this will be a successful nomination because, again, this would be an attorney general who had, within the past few years, been under criminal investigation. An investigation that was started not by his political adversaries, but by the Trump-appointed attorney general, Bill Barr.

So, as you said when you tossed to me, this will certainly be an interesting confirmation hearing. It comes as quite a surprise, even to those of us who have been talking to sources, about who Trump could select for this key position.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: So, you're saying, Paula, that as you have been working your sources and reporting this out, this is a name that hadn't surfaced before now?

REID: That's exactly right. I've been talking to people about who Trump would potentially select as an attorney general for three months, long before he was elected president again, and Matt Whitaker was certainly a name that came up again and again. Ratcliffe's name came up again and again, and even in recent days, talking to people, the Texas Attorney General, Attorney General Paxton, his name has come up repeatedly, but Matt Gaetz's name has not come up in any of the conversations that I have had with sources. So, this is a surprise.

Now, we did know that the president-elect was a little frustrated with some of the people that he interviewed, because we know that he is looking for someone who's going to go into the Justice Department and likely do his bidding, go after his political adversaries, do what he wants done. It appears that in Congressman Gaetz, he believes he has found that person.

[15:35:00]

He says, quote, Gaetz will be a champion for the Constitution and the rule of law.

SANCHEZ: So many fascinating angles to this, not the least of that Republicans are currently holding on to a very slim majority in Congress, and this is one less Republican that will be there, at least until a special election is held, to vote for the president-elect's priorities. Paula Reid, thank you so much for that update.

Let's talk about this with our panel. Meghan Hays is a Democratic strategist and served as director of message planning for the Biden White House. Also with us, CNN senior political commentator and former assistant to President George W. Bush, Scott Jennings.

Scott, I don't think I'm divulging or betraying any confidences to say that when we told you the news, you were in disbelief.

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Are you not entertained? I mean, this is the most entertaining transition I've ever seen. No, I was as surprised as Paula, because it's not a name that we had seen.

You know, we'd seen some reporting, a lot of different names, frankly, a lot of really sort of well-heeled Washington legal types that were on the list. So I'm as surprised as anyone.

But what I take away from this is that this is a president-elect who is feeling his power. I mean, this is someone who is appointing people to things, whether it's Gaetz or anything else we've seen today, who is feeling his power, feeling his influence, doesn't feel like he's in a mood to negotiate with the people in Washington, D.C. He's here to do what he wants to do, and he's going to expect the Republicans to fall in line.

Now, all these people, whether it's Gaetz or Hegseth or anyone else, have to go to confirmation and go through these committee hearings and prove themselves like anyone else. But it is apparent to me that Trump is in a decisive mood and is not someone who's interested in picking things that he would consider to be watered down. So that's my initial reaction to this. I mean, we truly learned about it two seconds before we came on here. So, pretty wild day.

KEILAR: Yes, we had to say it is on Trump's Truth Social account. It is coming from his mouth, right? It's coming from his account.

Megan, your reaction?

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: I mean, yesterday, we had a bunch of conventional picks. I think people felt good about where we were going and maybe thought that he was going to be a little bit more moderated than we were expecting, and then today brought a whole new set of people to confirm. So I think it's a little bit shocking with this and with Tulsi Gabbard, with DNI.

So I just, you know, I think it'll be interesting to see what tomorrow brings, but I do agree. Who knows if this is going to -- how many of these people are going to actually get confirmed. I think there are a lot of people.

KEILAR: Who do you think -- do you think -- who do you think will have the most trouble being confirmed? And do you expect that there will be some who are not?

JENNINGS: Well, look, I think that, for the most part, these people, I mean, they do have qualifications. I mean, Matt Gaetz is a lawyer and he has been in Congress and obviously is a supporter of the president's agenda and he'll have supporters in the Senate. They all get a chance to go and compete and go improve themselves.

KEILAR: He's been on both sides of the legal system, as it were.

JENNINGS: So, you know, but he, like everyone else, they have to go up there and prove themselves. But you can't underestimate Donald Trump's influence over the Republicans in the Senate on this. And he's going to be insistent that he get his government and his administration.

And look, here's the thing, he won. And he won the popular vote and he believes he has a mandate. And honestly, I think he does too.

And these, some of these picks are conventional. Marco Rubio, for instance, you know, well-known name. But some of them are designed to shake up Washington.

And I am assuming that's what Donald Trump believes he's doing here with a few of these folks, is I'm not here to pick the Washington people. I'm here to pick the people who will shake up Washington. That's going to be one of them.

HAYS: But I also think some of these picks are a little bit irresponsible. And I think that the Senate might be looking toward the midterms and towards the next presidential and realize that maybe we can't always be with Donald Trump on some of these confirmation hearings. I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people don't make it through.

JENNINGS: Well, the senators that you'd be looking for here, people who may not be running for re-election, people who aren't up for several, you know, a couple of more cycles. I mean, you know, the people who've been around for a long time, maybe who predate Donald Trump. So when you get into a controversial confirmation, those are the people you would start looking at is, are they going to be influenced by Trump or are they going to, you know, not really care about that as much?

HAYS: And if they have political aspirations of their own, if they want to run in 2028, those might be some people you'll see.

SANCHEZ: It'll be interesting to see how Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, who've broken with Trump in the past, shake out. I just want to give our viewers a heads up. That was actually Trump's plane, Trump Force One, landing at Palm Beach International Airport.

This is after he spent the day here in the nation's capital, not only meeting with President Biden, but also with House Republicans as they vote on a new speaker.

We're going to take a quick break. We're going to give you a few minutes to regroup. We're going to regroup ourselves and we'll be right back with the breaking news that Donald Trump is nominating Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his attorney general.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Just some huge breaking news as the Trump cabinet is taking shape, at least the one that he would like to be coming in with him in this new term. He is picking, he has said, Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. This is perhaps his most controversial pick of all of those that we have seen announced or reported so far.

And joining us now is a Democratic colleague of Matt Gaetz's, Congressman Jared Moskowitz from Florida, as is Matt Gaetz. Just your reaction to this? I mean, this news just broke. It's out on Trump's Truth Social. Is the Hill abuzz with the news? Is your phone blowing up over this? Give us a sense of what's going on.

REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): Well, yes, I mean, look, this is what the American people voted for, right?

[15:45:00]

I mean, you know, Trump was not, he was not shy about what he wanted to do in this country. And, you know, in Matt Gaetz, he's not only going to get someone who's fiercely loyal, but fiercely competent. Matt Gaetz knows exactly what to do with the Attorney General's office. He will turn that into being the most powerful Attorney General in American history.

I know Matt well. We served together in the legislature in Florida. In fact, Matt was the one who was part of the transition team of Ron DeSantis, who helped get me appointed as the Director of Emergency Management in the state of Florida. And so, you know, Trump was very clear on what he wanted to do with government. And in Matt Gaetz, he is going to get a very competent, very powerful Attorney General.

KEILAR: So what do you think he is going to do as AG, if confirmed?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, obviously, he's got a boss in Donald Trump. But anyone thinking that Donald Trump was just ready to move forward, that is clearly, clearly not the case. And so, you know, at the end of the day, this is what happens. Elections have consequences.

You know, we talked about this during the election. But, you know, at the end of the day, Matt, Matt was a former prosecutor, or sorry, former attorney in in private practice. He is a fierce Donald Trump loyalist. Matt has prosecuted the case in Congress for Donald Trump for years. And now he's going to get to do that on behalf of the American people if it gets confirmed.

KEILAR: I've heard from some of your Democratic colleagues in the House who are concerned. This was before Matt Gaetz was the pick, that a Trump DOJ might target them, that they could be investigated. Do you think that that is going to be part of Gaetz's repertoire? Is he going to be settling scores?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, I don't know. I don't want to speak for Matt or speak for the Trump administration.

KEILAR: Do you have a concern that would happen?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, I mean, I'm pretty sure with this pick, they're not just going to go around and shut down puppy mills. All right, this is this is a very serious pick. And Donald Trump is obviously telegraphing that he means business.

Matt Gaetz is one of his best weapons in Congress. He's taking him out of Congress, and he's giving him the Attorney General's office. And so again, I've known Matt for 10 years. You know, Matt is very good at what Matt does in Congress, and now he's going to bring that to the Attorney General's office.

And so I don't want to get ahead of what their plans are. But Donald Trump is very clear on what he plans to do with DOJ by giving it to Matt Gaetz.

KEILAR: You are on the Foreign Affairs Committee, and you obviously have an eye on those issues. When you look at some of the picks, we now also another controversial pick is Pete Hegseth, who does not have government experience, former Fox News host and a veteran, who is the pick for DOD, Tulsi Gabbard for Department -- or pardon me -- for Director of National Intelligence. What is the most concerning? What are the most comforting picks for

you when it comes to the issue of national security or foreign relations?

MOSKOWITZ: Well, look, I think the meeting of all these people is going to be fascinating and problematic. I mean, you got Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz. Those folks are very serious about policy and protecting America, are tough on Iran, tough on China, tough on Russia.

And then in the DOD picks and in intelligence, you have folks kind of on the opposite side of that. And so, you know, I think it's me fascinating to watch the power struggle, the power balance between all of these folks. But we're also acting like everyone's going to get through Senate confirmation and we'll have to see which ones do and which ones don't.

Some of these folks are clearly more qualified. Mike Waltz, Marco Rubio, clearly more qualified for these positions than the other folks. But again, Donald Trump told everybody what he wanted to do. This is not a secret. And so the fact that this is now playing out in real time, elections have consequences.

KEILAR: Congressman Jared Moskowitz, thank you so much for your time. We do appreciate it.

MOSKOWITZ: Appreciate it.

KEILAR: We have much more on our breaking news ahead. Congressman Matt Gaetz chosen by President-elect Trump to serve as his attorney general. Stay with us.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Some breaking news to CNN, a flurry of picks. Donald Trump making some critical announcements to fill out important cabinet roles, including Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. We are beginning to hear from some of his colleagues in the House and their reactions.

Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, who was narrowly recently re- elected, telling CNN, I got really no good comments. So take that for what it's worth.

KEILAR: I think he probably speaks for many people on the Hill. And our panel with us again, Meghan Hays and Scott Jennings. I just want to play a soundbite from Kevin McCarthy in May of 2024, and then we'll talk about it as we look at some live pictures of Trump's plane in Florida.

This is Kevin McCarthy in May of 2024 about why he lost his speakership.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KEVIN MCCARTHY, FORMER REPUBLICAN HOUSE SPEAKER: And I'll give you the truth why I'm not speaker. It's because one person, a member of Congress, wanted me to stop an ethics complaint because he slept with a 17-year-old. An ethics complaint that started before I ever became speaker. And that's illegal. And I'm not going to get in the middle. Did he do it or not? I don't know. But ethics is looking at it. There's other people in jail because of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: He's talking about the AG pick of Trump.

JENNINGS: Yes. Well, I think it's safe to say that opinions vary. And Kevin McCarthy will probably not be coming around. I mean, he's been a strong supporter of Trump and obviously has been, I think, maybe even offering some advice on the transition. Probably didn't advise on this one so much.

[15:55:00]

You know, something that Moskowitz said that sticks out to me, truthfully, is, you know, Gaetz is a, he is a smart person. And he thinks through ways to make people's heads explode here in Washington, D.C., which is probably something that Trump is drawn to in this case. So, you know, this, this is not, this is not a bumbler. You know, this is somebody that's going to show up with a plan if he makes it through confirmation. So I think what Moskowitz said is absolutely 100 percent true.

HAYS: And this is making everyone's head explode right now, and we're all watching it unfold in real time. And I'm sure we'll have a lot more opinions on that.

SANCHEZ: Do you imagine that Democrats will approach some of those Republicans in the Senate who have previously broken with Trump to try to talk them out of a vote for Gaetz?

HAYS: Yes, and I think there'll be some other folks like Tulsi Gabbard and some other of the intelligence folks that are out there that I think that Democrats will try to get not confirmed.

JENNINGS: I generally think Trump deserves a chance to build his government, though. I mean, some of these people are what you would consider conventional. Some are less conventional. He did win. And I do think he deserves a chance to build his government. And, and I think the Senate is going to give him some latitude on these picks.

He is the president. And, and these people are, I mean, you know.

HAYS: I have a confirmation process. I don't need it. But you got to nominate people. That's the Senate's responsibility to confirm them. So he's having a chance to build his government. These folks now need to go make their case, but it's up to the senators to confirm them. And I would assume some of these are not going to get confirmed.

KEILAR: Well, it is going to be a wild ride. JENNINGS: Oh, yes.

KEILAR: Nonetheless, Meghan and Scott, thank you so much.

"THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts after this short break.

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