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Haley Slam Gabbard As Trump's Pick For Intelligence Chief; Ukraine Says Russia Launched ICBM Attack On Dnipro; Target Sounds Alarm On Holiday Shopping, Warns Of Weak Sales. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 21, 2024 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, former presidential candidate Nikki Haley becoming the latest voice slamming former congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, President-elect Donald Trump's pick for director of national intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, (R) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: DNI -- Department of National Intelligence -- this is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer. After Russia invaded Ukraine Tulsi Gabbard literally blamed NATO. Our Western alliance is responsible for countering Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: CNN's Katie Bo Lillis joining me now. Katie Bo, you've got some new reporting for us on Gabbard's history of really being at odds with the agencies that she could soon lead. What are you learning?

KATIE BO LILLIS, CNN REPORTER: Yeah. Sara, what's really fascinating about Gabbard is that if confirmed, she will be perhaps the most markedly or most publicly anti-surveillance official to ever lead the part of the U.S. government that is tasked with doing surveillance on foreign entities.

In 2020, back when she was still a Democrat and she was in Congress, she introduced a series of bills that would have been pretty profoundly antithetical to how the intelligence community thinks.

Two of them were aimed at persuading the government to drop its prosecution of Edward Snowden, the former national security agency contractor who revealed the existence of bulk NSA collection of Americans' data back in 2013, as well as Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Both of these men are seen really as almost enemies of the state within the intelligence community even as they've attracted some support from kind of the sort of libertarian wing of the Republican Party as well as some progressives in the Democratic Party.

Gabbard also, in 2020, introduced this piece of legislation that would have wholesale repealed one of the most powerful surveillance authorities that the U.S. government has to spy on foreigners overseas -- something called Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Now, that is legislation that has drawn some criticism from civil liberties advocates who say that it impinges on Americans' data privacy as well, but to wholesale repeal it without replacing it would be tantamount, according to some former U.S. intelligence officials to effectively blinding the commander in chief. This is an authority under which as much as half of what's known as the president's daily brief is drawn from every day.

So whether or not Gabbard as DNI would be able to actually kind of dismantle this program unilaterally probably a really logistical task -- a really logistically difficult task that would face a lot of pushback.

But it really speaks to this kind of profound distrust that she has in the intelligence community and the people that collect intelligence on foreign entities, and in ways that could potentially reshape the way the intelligence community gathers and spies -- gathers information and spies on American adversaries, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Katie Bo Lillis. Thank you for that reporting -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now, Christine Quinn, executive committee chair of the New York State Democratic Committee and president and CEO of WIN. And Shermichael Singleton, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist.

I want to go back to the news that broke overnight about Pete Hegseth -- the details inside this police report of this incident -- this alleged sexual assault that happened a few years ago, the details of which he denies.

But I want to read a Wall Street Journal editorial. This is from the editorial board of The Wall Street Journal -- the Rupert Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal. And this was yesterday, before the details of the police report came out.

It said, "Mr. Hegseth denies wrongdoing. But the senators holding confirmation hearings next year also might inquire about what, if anything, he told Mr. Trump's transition team regarding the woman's claim and the legal settlement. Whoever leads the Pentagon needs to have the president's trust. If Mr. Trump wasn't informed about this political liability before announcing the nomination, he might reasonably wonder what else Mr. Hegseth hasn't told him."

Shermichael, what about that?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST (via Webex by Cisco): Well look, The Wall Street Journal is owned by Rupert Murdoch. I mean, this is certainly not a small editorial from the editorial board, and I would imagine the president- elect is probably aware of it.

I mean, it is important if you're advising the president-elect and you're on the transitions team. Part of the process is to vet some of the individuals that he would like to consider. And it is important this early on to try to protect the principal as much as possible. He just had a great election -- a great election victory. Republicans won across the board.

And objectively speaking, John, you want to be able to hit the ground running hard with that significant amount of report and the mandate that many Republicans argue that the president-elect has, particularly for the first 90 days, to try to move the needle on some consequential issues.

And so the question becomes if you're an adviser how much political capital would you like for the president-elect to expend on some controversial picks? He's not the first person to nominate individuals that have had some controversy in their past.

And so I think the question is when you're doing that negotiation with some of those Republican senators you have to give them the opportunity to question these individuals. And the individuals obviously have the right, I would argue to defend themselves against some of the claims and allegations out there.

But again, this early on, is this what you want the focus to be? And ultimately, the president-elect is going to have to make that decision.

BERMAN: Christine?

CHRISTINE QUINN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, WIN, FORMER NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER: I mean, it shows a number of things.

One, that the vetting has been terrible because as I understand it, there are police reports out there. That this wasn't deeply hidden information.

[07:35:00]

Two, it shows that the candidate is not being honest with the Trump transition team. And if he's not being honest about something like this, what else is he lying about?

Now, we aren't just talking about controversy here; we are potentially talking about a crime -- a crime that has a victim associated with it who allegedly has been deeply traumatized and hurt by this terrible criminal act.

So how can you put someone like -- who may have done that in charge of such an important agency and such a huge part of our government?

And again, it's about did this happen? Why was it hidden? If it wasn't true and you want to defend yourself, as Shermichael said, then tell people about it. Stand up and say I was wrongly accused. When you're hiding it, it really makes it look like you committed the crime.

BERMAN: And again, we should note that The New York Times and at the time Pete Hegseth denied these allegations, but they're out there and we didn't even get to the content of them.

That's Pete Hegseth, then there's Matt Gaetz --

QUINN: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- right?

And CNN, The New York Times, and others overnight talked about the federal investigation -- some of what they had found before they decided not to press charges against Matt Gaetz but including this incredible web of payments the Times and others report that Gaetz made to a couple of young women -- allegedly -- or there are those who say it was for sex.

QUINN: Yep. I mean, it's horrible -- kind of like the horrible hits that keep coming out of the transition team and the appointments.

I mean, the report should be fully released. What's going to happen now is we're going to get dribs and dribs leaked out. The Republicans are going to focus on the fact they were leaked versus the content of them.

But what we see and what we know now: 1) the Republicans are aiding in a coverup, and 2) Gaetz has clearly engaged himself in illegal activity, and more and more it points to illegal activity with minors.

BERMAN: Again, he was not charged for any illegal activity. The Justice Department decided not to charge him for that.

There is an Ethics Committee report that we may not see, Shermichael. And is there an argument at this point that there is information that senators who will decide whether he should be attorney general -- information they shouldn't have.

SINGLETON: Look, I think Republicans senators are probably going to figure out a way to work with their Republican counterparts in the House, John, to get some type of access to their final report. But they can do so in a skiff room -- a very secure room where they have access to read over the documents to help ultimately make their decision whether or not they want to vote for the former congressman. That's a part of that due diligence.

Should it be released to the public writ large? I would probably say no. It's going to be politicized. But should the senators who are instructed with voting for him have access to it? A lot of Republican senators have said they want to see it before they make their final conclusion. I don't think that's unreasonable.

BERMAN: Hey, Shermichael, let me -- let me just ask. You know, Pete Hegseth, Matt Gaetz -- you talk about the political capital -- is it worth the political capital to get these nominees or even to try to push them through.

Do you think it is?

SINGLETON: That's ultimately up to the president-elect to be honest with you. Now look, John, I've worked for a lot of political candidates and sometimes you advise a political candidate -- hey, I think based on X, Y, and Z things we probably should move in this direction based on all of the stats, based on all of the data, based on the mandate. And sometimes elected officials will listen to advisers like myself and say OK, this makes sense.

And sometimes they will say but I really, really want this particular person. And if that is who they want, your job as an aide, as an adviser is to do what you can to attempt to move the needle forward. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be successful though.

And I'm almost certain the advisers to the president-elect are probably saying sir, if this is what you want, we're going to try, but we can't guarantee our success. And I think that's what they should do. Be honest with the principal, do your job, and if you're not successful let the chips fall where they may.

BERMAN: There is another type of advice one can give, which is to say this isn't the right person, or there are thousands of other attorneys out there who may support the same things that you could nominate elsewhere. But I get what you're saying.

Shermichael Singleton, Christine Quinn, thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Breaking overnight, Russia launched an attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro sparking claims that the Kremlin used an intercontinental ballistic missile or what's known as an ICBM. That type has significantly longer ranges than others. Now a Western official says the weapon was a ballistic missile but not an ICM. Still, this is like the first missile of its kind to be fired in this war that has, so far, lasted more than 1,000 days.

Joining us now with more insight, CNN military analyst Gen. Mark Hertling. There is obviously conflicting information here. Ukraine saying it's an ICBM. The Western nations saying they don't think that's what it is.

[07:40:05]

If Russia did launch an ICBM what is the significance of using this particular weapon? Is it that it is designed to deliver a nuclear warhead?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER COMMANDING GENERAL, U.S. ARMY EUROPE AND SEVENTH ARMY (via Webex by Cisco): Well, ICBMs are designed to deliver all kinds of warheads, Sara, both nuclear, chemical, high explosive. And what the most important thing is it has a range exceeding 5,000 kilometers.

So with the most -- with the most recent advances of providing Ukraine with things like the Storm Shadow from the U.K. and ATACMs from the United States hitting bases within Russia, what Russia has just said is we want a longer range. We want standoff weaponry.

But in seeing the films this morning, if it was an ICBM, Sara, it also has the potential for what's called a MIRV warhead -- M.I.R.V. -- multiple independently released vehicle -- retargetable vehicles, excuse me. That means that one missile can launch a bunch of different missiles. And by my count watching the film that you just showed there were six launches at six different locations from that one film.

So if that was an ICBM, they were using a MIRV warhead. Multiple explosive devices coming out of the warhead, which is what a nuclear weapon does but over a much larger period.

So both of those things are concerning to me -- the distance as well as the potential for multiple vehicles. And it just shows that every time the United States is helping Ukraine to up the ante with ability to strike inside of Russia, Russia is just moving their forces and their capabilities back further from the front line.

SIDNER: What is the big worry here? Because after President Biden allowed the use of long-range missiles from Ukraine into Russia, Russian then in turn changed its policy, which now lowers the bar for when nuclear weapons can be used.

What do you think we are seeing here? Is this the escalation that the Biden administration feared?

HERTLING: It could be, but it also is the potential. And I've said this all along, as you know -- there's always the fear of Russia using tactical nuclear weapons. And that was most recently pointed out in Bob Woodward's book where an ambassador -- or where CIA director Burns stated openly that they had evidence and spies that were saying they were thinking about using them.

It's been all along the capability of Russia to use nuclear weapons -- small yield and tactical nuclear -- but a tactical nuke is still a nuke, and it still causes a spiral of development in nuclear warfare. And that's something the Biden administration has been attempting and been very careful to mitigate the risk about.

So, yeah, those are all things that are part of this. But the other thing is the fact that Russia keeps threatening new things in a war that's continuing on, and you've got to either call the bluff or make sure you do something about it.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about some announcements. We've been talking a lot about the different announcements for Trump nominees. And one of those now if Matthew Whitaker who he has picked to be U.S. ambassador to NATO.

What do you make of this pick, and do you feel like it's one of those ones that's sort of flying under the radar?

HERTLING: Yeah, I was going to use under the cover, but you're right -- it is flying under the radar.

Because Matt Whitaker, who has been on CNN multiple times. He's a lawyer. He served in the -- in Congress. He was a former football player at a division one school. I think it was Iowa -- I'm not sure. He's a somewhat normal guy. But the fact of the matter is he's being

appointed to what, in my opinion, is probably the most important ambassadorship, NATO. Because an ambassador in a normal country talks with the president of that country. He does some messaging for the United States. But the ambassador to NATO takes votes as part of the 32-member NATO Council.

So this is an individual who would be basically sharing information with 32 other countries in Europe. And with the turmoil in Europe right now, not just in Ukraine but in other countries, that NATO ambassador becomes very important. And they have to know detailed military assessments, military operation, and that's not something you learn off the cuff if you've never been in the military -- and Matthew has not.

So that appointment concerns me as well given the fact that President- elect Trump said he wants to pull out of NATO. So he's putting an individual in charge over there who has no familiarity with the organization and very little understanding of the military.

SIDNER: And perhaps that is the point.

Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, it is always a pleasure. Thank you for running through all those questions with me. I appreciate it -- Kate.

[07:45:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Target's stock is taking a major hit after the company's latest forecast. What that could mean and what that says about the holiday shopping season ahead.

And $6 million for a banana. That's it. That's the tease.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:50:15]

BERMAN: All right. This morning a new warning from a major retailer about the upcoming holiday shopping season. Actually, we're kind of in it already. Target says it expects flat sales and low profits for the final quarter of the year. The market didn't like this one bit or some other information from Target, too. The stock price nosedived 22 percent.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich is with us now. Like, ho, ho, ho.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, no, no, no.

BERMAN: Yeah.

YURKEVICH: People did not like this news from Target. They reported really weak sales in the third quarter, and they said that they expect their fourth quarter sales to be flat. This is the holiday shopping season and this is usually when retailers are raking in the cash.

And as you mentioned, investors absolutely did not like this. The stock really took a nosedive, down 20 percent for most of the day.

And this is really because of two reasons. The first reason is Target is saying that their consumer is being -- and you see that nosedive -- wow -- right there.

BERMAN: Whoo.

YURKEVICH: Just right off the cliff.

You see the consumer is essentially being more discretionary with their spending so they're not buying things like furniture and candles and pillows. They're really focusing on everyday essentials -- groceries -- and they're looking for these items at lower costs.

The second thing is that they -- Target is seeing their consumer base shift. I want you to listen to an analyst I spoke to yesterday, Joseph Feldman, who talked about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH FELDMAN, SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST, TELSEY ADVISORY GROUP: Target historically has been a very strong bellwether for the consumer, especially that middle to upper income consumer. And with the flattish type sales that kind of fits in with the narrative that we're hearing.

Now, the consumer has been resilient. The consumer is focused on newness and innovation, and when there's differentiation with a product, they're spending. Target saw all of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YURKEVICH: Right. So where are these shoppers going if not to Target? They're going to Walmart, they're going to TJ Maxx, they're going to Marshall's, who all reported really strong third quarters.

And Walmart, in particular, offers the lowest prices of any retailer, according to our friend Joseph Feldman there. And it's interesting that about 75 percent of the gains that Walmart say were from households making $100,000 or more. That is the target customer.

BERMAN: Hmm.

YURKEVICH: So over the holiday season Target is going to be running a ton of promotions -- sales -- trying to bring those customers back in.

BERMAN: What are projections overall for the holiday season, which I guess is shorter this year --

YURKEVICH: It is.

BERMAN: -- which retailers actually don't tend to like.

YURKEVICH: They don't love that. It's shorter by a whole week, so a week shorter in terms of how much time we have to shop. But they still are -- the retailer -- the National Retail Association is still projecting record number of shoppers -- 183 million over Thanksgiving. However, sales are going to be modest, up 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 percent.

So we'll have to see. People still shopping but potentially tightening their purse strings a little bit.

BERMAN: Have you bought anything yet?

YURKEVICH: Nope, not a thing.

BERMAN: Yeah, me neither. I'm going to make all my gifts this year.

YURKEVICH: I'm waiting for Black Friday.

BERMAN: Yeah, there you go.

Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you --

YURKEVICH: Yes.

BERMAN: -- very much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Not a thing.

All right, file this one under oh my God. A 28-year-old South Korean national was stopped at a Peruvian airport. Officials noticed that his stomach area looked "bulky." One search later and authorities found an exotic zoo basically strapped to his body. Please roll the pictures.

Three hundred twenty tarantulas, 110 centipedes, and nine bullet ants to boot, all suspected of being taken from the Amazon. And the man suspected of being involved in illegal wildlife trafficking, an industry worth between $7.8 billion and $10 billion per year.

All of the insects, in case you were wondering, are now in the care of authorities.

We have seen these incidents like this before. Back in July, you remember the man caught trying to smuggle more than 100 live snakes into China by stuffing them into his pants. And then you have the giant African land snails that customs agents confiscated in Detroit last summer. Officials said that they found 90 of them inside the suitcase of a passenger arriving from Ghana.

Bullet ants, in case you didn't know -- because I didn't. Look it up and just pray you are not stung by them.

SIDNER: I have seen the result of bullet ants.

BOLDUAN: You have?

SIDNER: I have seen the result. It is terrifying.

Just -- you know, as a mom, I know you tell your kids don't touch that. Do adults need to be told just leave it alone?

BOLDUAN: Clear -- I mean, we know what he was doing, but my thing is like just thank God they stopped him before he got on a plane. Can you imagine the person sitting next to him and, like, I don't know, just one --

SIDNER: All of a sudden --

BOLDUAN: -- tarantula or 300 of them just --

SIDNER: Centipedes.

BOLDUAN: -- get loose.

SIDNER: Oh.

BOLDUAN: Oh my God. Can you imagine the centipedes?

SIDNER: No, the centipedes. The creepy crawl up your neck. Like, it makes me want to run away and start screaming.

BOLDUAN: Oh, yeah.

SIDNER: But I won't --

BOLDUAN: Lots of things.

SIDNER: -- because I'm here with you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Well, that's something.

SIDNER: All right.

[07:55:00]

OK, I need you to listen to this next story. You know why.

BOLDUAN: I always listen to your reporting.

SIDNER: Uh-huh.

If you are one of -- Kate, this is for you -- of the millions of Americans flying this holiday season you might want to avoid trying to board before your assigned group.

BOLDUAN: Wah, wah.

SIDNER: It's called -- American Airlines is cracking down on line cutters by expanding its new boarding technology that stops passengers from boarding early.

CNN's Pete Muntean --

BOLDUAN: It's a harmless form of rebellion.

SIDNER: Um-hum.

BOLDUAN: It's a harmless form of rebellion.

SIDNER: Pete Muntean --

BOLDUAN: OK, I'll let you go.

SIDNER: -- I need you to weigh in here because Kate -- she's a line jumper. What is this new technology going to do to stop it?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I -- you know, I think of Kate Bolduan as such a rule follower. She would never do something like that.

BOLDUAN: It's a harmless form of rebellion. It's harmless. No one's injured. And sometimes it's like --

SIDNER: I am (INAUDIBLE) on you.

BOLDUAN: -- will I get caught? Won't I get caught? It's kind of fun.

SIDNER: Is it, though? Because I'm the person behind you going really?

MUNTEAN: (INAUDIBLE).

BOLDUAN: What is it?

SIDNER: What is it?

MUNTEAN: I -- well, let me get to it in a second because it's pretty good. A deep tease is what they call it.

SIDNER: How is this new technology going to stop Kate Bolduan from skipping the line? That's what I want to know.

MUNTEAN: This really might be more necessary at American than any other airline because it's the largest airline in the U.S. and it has nine -- count 'em, nine boarding groups -- really, 10 when you consider pre-boarding.

Group one boards first if you're unfamiliar with this. Those are those with first-class tickets. Group nine boards last. Those are those with the cheapest basic economy tickets. There are a few ways to get status in between group five if you have an American credit card, group six if you have frequent flyer account. I'm kind of oversimplifying here but you can see why people might get confused or simply try to cut the boarding sequence.

This is the name for somebody who cuts in line when the boarding priority group is not yours. They're called gate lice.

SIDNER: Oh!

MUNTEAN: And now when a gate agent scans your boarding pass -- I know, it's very colorful -- this audible alert goes off that American Airlines --

SIDNER: Brutal.

MUNTEAN: -- is trying, and that passenger is essentially sent back to the penalty box. Has to rejoin the line when your group is called. It's a pretty simple piece of tech. This is on the gate agent's

smartphone. And American has been trying this out at a few different places -- some smaller airports, like Albuquerque and Tucson, but also one of its bigger hubs just outside of D.C. here at Reagan National Airport. And it says they'll be rolling this out at Austin-Bergstrom, which is a really big destination, and Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International, which is the busiest airport in the U.S. for the holidays, and then about 100 additional airports behind that.

This is pretty critical, the timing here, because American is expecting about 8.3 million passengers over the Thanksgiving rush, 77,000 flights.

You might ask what if I'm flying with somebody in an earlier group, like a companion or something? And American says they've actually thought of that. The gate agent has a button that they can press to override and accept that boarding pass.

Boarding is a really big pain point for airlines. They're trying to figure this out all the time and trying to get people to board faster.

SIDNER: I think the name gate lice might just be enough to stop our Kate Bolduan from trying to (INAUDIBLE) system.

BOLDUAN: Why me?

SIDNER: She's upset.

Pete Muntean, thank you so much -- appreciate it.

MUNTEAN: Anytime.

SIDNER: John.

BERMAN: Gate lice, I like it. Kate Bolduan boarding in group 12.

SIDNER: Oh, there you are.

BERMAN: All right. The world premiere of the Alec Baldwin film "Rust" opened in Poland with a moment of silence for cinematographer Halayna Hutchins. She was killed on set when a gun went off from Baldwin's hand. A judge dismissed an involuntary manslaughter case against Baldwin. The film's armorer was sentenced to 18 months on a similar charge. Baldwin did not attend the film premiere.

This morning an answer to the age old question how much is a banana duct-taped to a wall actually worth -- $6.2 million. That is now my crypto mogul Justin Sun paid for Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian" art piece. Sun called the work a cultural phenomenon and he added that in the next few days he will eat it -- Sara.

SIDNER: Honestly, the joke is on all of us but mostly him for six million bucks.

All right. The Biden administration is racing against the clock to decide the future of the biggest single water source in the West. It is pushing these seven states for an agreement on how to divvy up the Colorado River's water. You see the states there. Sources telling CNN they want the plan in place before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

Joining us now is CNN's chief climate change correspondent Bill Weir. What is the status of the Colorado River right now? Water wars are -- have been ongoing in the West for as long --

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Forever.

SIDNER: -- as we can remember.

WEIR: Right, yes. So whiskey's for drinking and water's for fighting is the saying out there. It is better than it was a couple of years ago when the reservoirs, Powell and Mead, were at historic lows.

SIDNER: Yeah.

WEIR: A lot of snow. A lot of conservation in the big cities that saved billions of gallons. But it's still not great. It's much lower than it needs to be for the 40 million people who depend on it.

The tensions are the upper basin states - the mountain states like Colorado and Utah. Because the lower basin states, Arizona and California, use most of the water.

SIDNER: Right.

WEIR: And do you know where most of the Colorado River goes to? Over half goes to cow food -- hay.