Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Storms Could Snarl Holiday Travel; Trump Picks Face Confirmation Battle; Menendez Brothers Appear for Status Hearing; YouTube CEO Shares Message After Her Death. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 25, 2024 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: What -- what do you think you can do with this? What can you -- how can you bring this to the work now?

EMILY CALANDRELLI, HOST & EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "EMILY'S WONDER LAB": Well, what's wonderful is that I am trained as a professional speaker, so I am already going into classrooms and doing assemblies and going to universities. And I already have all of that set up as part of my career. And so now I have this aspect of my story that I can share it with.

One of the reasons I was able to go into space was because of this partnership with Marshall University in West Virginia. And through them, I will be able to bring this experience to a bunch of kids in Appalachia, kids who see themselves in me. And I just cannot wait to bring this to them.

BOLDUAN: Oh, I can't wait to hear about that. Thank you so much. And thanks for the joy you bring to science and work as, you know, as a mom of two girls, I'm eternally thankful. So, thank you.

CALANDRELLI: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts now.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The holiday travel season is here. Millions of people are gearing up for what's expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving period on record. I know you've heard that before. The weather and staffing shortages this time could hinder some of those travel plans.

Plus, President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks are almost complete. The next test, a confirmation battle with some of his more controversial picks, may be facing a tougher uphill climb than others. We've got new reporting of how the Trump team - on how the Trump team, excuse me, is preparing.

And for the first time in nearly 30 years, Lyle and Erik Menendez will appear in court for a hearing as defense lawyers make a plea for their release.

I'm Omar Jimenez, with Kate Bolduan. John and Sara are out today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: Today is the first day of what is considered, and we know it is, the busy Thanksgiving travel period leading up to this big holiday and beyond. AAA estimates nearly 80 million people will hit the roads or the skies in what's expected to be the busiest Thanksgiving period ever on record. One major factor in how easy or not this travel is going to be for all of us, the weather, of course. And we all may have two major storms to contend with. Rain and snow could be in the forecast, and that could complicate travel for millions.

Derek Van Dam tracking it all for us and sending good vibes out there into the ethers.

What are you seeing? What are you tracking, Derek?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Positivity, right? We are going to have to pack our patience this week. That's just the reality here, Kate. We've got a wild week of weather right now coinciding with the busiest travel week of the year. If we're breaking it down in terms of the airlines and potential delays because of the weather, today, not so bad, along the eastern seaboard, even though there is a cold front moving through, could bring a couple of delays to Detroit, Chicago, northward into Minneapolis. Along the West Coast, moderate, weather related delays.

But notice how things change as we work our way through the workweek. This moisture is going to move its way inland, bring some serious impacts to Salt Lake City. Places like Denver And then the departing cold front will bring some potential weather delays to the airports in New York, as well as D.C. And perhaps into Boston as well.

This is a accumulation map that takes us right through this holiday week. And you can see, a lot of white, a lot of blue on this map. So, there is several different weather events that we're monitoring. This is the initial cold front pressing through the Midwest now, eventually reaching the East Coast by early tomorrow morning. That I-95 corridor will be wet on Tuesday if you're hitting the roads.

And then this is the major storm that we're monitoring for Thanksgiving Day. As you head to family and friends, pack your patience because this could bring not only some wintry weather to northern New England, rain along the coast, but also a dramatic drop in our temperatures. So, you leave your house and head to family and friends with warm, mild weather, and then you come home to more winter like temperatures. I hope you pack the coat.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: We will not forget. Derek, thank you so much. We're going to be keeping very close to Derek Van Dam. It's all on your shoulders, Derek, how this is all going to go this week.

VAN DAM: Don't hate the messenger.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, buddy. We'll get back to you. Also this morning, the Trump transition team is shifting focus,

focusing now on how to get Donald Trump's major cabinet picks over the finish line. And this is after a weekend job announcement frenzy naming ten more people to top posts. Some, though, facing a much more uncertain future than others. Some very clearly facing a tougher road is like - like these three picks, like for Defense, for Director of National Intelligence and also who is - who Donald Trump would like to see head up the nation's public health department.

The process typically includes FBI background checks. But the Trump team has yet to file necessary paperwork to get the FBI to conduct those standard reviews. And the Trump transition has so far bypassed the step. Instead, using private companies to conduct vetting before announcing some candidates.

[09:05:03]

And one Democratic senator who sits on the important Judiciary Committee says that is a major problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): I want to have the hearings. I want to make a decision on each one of them on the merits, as I've done in the past. And I can't do that without the background checks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Alayna Treene back with us this hour.

Alayna, you're getting new reporting on where the focus and how that focus is shifting amongst Trump's team. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Kate. And I do want to talk a little bit about the vetting process and these background checks because as you heard there from Senator Amy Klobuchar, but we also heard a lot of other senators this weekend address that issue. Part of this is that Donald Trump's team has not filled out some of the necessary paperwork and missed some of the deadlines that really allow them to get into the nitty gritty of taking over the reins of government. It's been nearly three weeks now since the election, and we've seen Donald Trump's team miss at least three - or have three key deadlines for different paperwork. They're known as memoranda of understanding, what the Biden administration also referred to as MOUs.

Now, a big part of that, and you heard Klobuchar address this, is that that means that they are not having these FBI background checks that are typically required from senators for that confirmation process on some of these top candidates. And that's a big issue when it comes to the vetting.

Now, we've heard a wide range of opinions about how much that matters. We did hear Senator Bill Hagerty - he is a fierce Trump defender, he's also someone who has been considered for top roles in a second Trump term - try to defend the Trump transition team over this. He argued that a lot of American people don't actually care about these background checks.

I want you to take a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): I don't think the American public cares who does the background checks. What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon. We need to get to work. Again, making our military stronger is absolutely critical. And I think we're - we're looking at a chance to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, Kate, we have also heard, though, other Republican senators argue that they do think it is an issue. And as you mentioned, we do know that the Trump team has so far been vetting these different appointees with a private firm. One senator, Mike Rounds, said that he would like to know if that's how this continues, if they don't end up doing FBI background checks on these different candidates, who - what are the qualifications of these vetting firms, making sure that they are ticking off the boxes before the confirmation process starts, particularly for some of the more controversial appointees that you had mentioned.

All in all, the Trump transition so far has not weighed in on whether they are going to move forward with signing these different - filling out this different paperwork, getting these FBI background checks through. But they said that there's still time to do that. And one of the key reasons this is such an issue is, of course, as you mentioned, Donald Trump has moved incredibly quickly to fill out these top cabinet roles. And so now really the work is beginning on making sure that these people are qualified and properly vetted before they begin their confirmation process.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Great to see you, Alayna. Thank you so much.

Omar.

JIMENEZ: Well, Kate, with me now to discuss, CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton, and Brian Brokaw, former campaign manager for Kamala Harris' campaign for attorney general in California.

Good to see you both.

Brian, I want to start with you because we heard some of, for example, Senator Amy Klobuchar's concerned over FBI background checks here. And, yes, they're in the minority in the Senate, but what do you see as Democrats' role in a potential confirmation fight here?

BRIAN BROKAW, FORMER CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR KAMALA HARRIS AG CAMPAIGN: Well, first of all, I cannot begin to imagine the screaming that we would be hearing from Republicans if a newly elected Democratic administration were suggesting putting through cabinet appointees without simple background checks. The same background checks that White House staff were subject to. Don't we want the people running a government just to have their records looked into a little bit, especially with some of the appointments that the president-elect has made.

Now, the role for the Democrats is actually interesting here. If the - if it weren't so serious, it might be the kind of thing where we could just sit back and eat popcorn and watch, because the Republicans in the Senate are having to contort themselves into pretzel twists trying to explain why some of these people who have never run anything in their lives are qualified to be the most powerful people in our government.

But, for right now, the Democrats don't have the power. They can't do much aside from, you know, use their role in the Senate on advise and consent. So, right now we have to sit back and watch, let the Republicans handle this problem themselves.

JIMENEZ: And, Shermichael, on one of those points, I mean, you know, you look at someone like - like Pete Hegseth, one of the - one of the criticisms, he hasn't run any - he hasn't been in a leadership role and, obviously, now appointed or nominated to run the largest bureaucracy in the U.S. government. Even with someone like RFK Jr., some of his more pro-abortion thinkings have come at odds with what we've seen from some Republicans as well.

And I guess the question is, how do you see Republicans in the Senate grappling with - with their loyalty to Trump and - and party, with maybe some of their opinions on his picks?

[09:10:01]

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look, you - they have advise and consent as a role. And it's in - it's within their duties and their obligations as elected members of the Senate who represent multiple states to ask very targeted and pointed questions to each of these nominees. And my expectation is that each of these nominees, being a part of the 2016 transition process, will be well prepared to answer each of those questions.

On the issue of background checks, it's interesting. Look, I was a presidential appointee. I had to go through the FBI background check. It's a freaking long process, Omar. I mean some of the questions I had to call my parents to figure out where I was living because I was so young at the time. So, it's a process that I certainly respect. I'm not against the process existing. Obviously, from Trump's position, being notoriously distrustful of the intelligence community and the FBI, I understand why he's skeptical. And, allegedly, they're using an outside firm. So, I get the position there.

But I think, for the most part, senators are going to try their best to confirm all of these nominees because they typically do want to confirm the nominees of the president of their party.

JIMENEZ: And, look, along those lines, both "Axios" and "New York Times" have talked about this being the most ideologically diverse cabinet that we've seen. And, Brian, for you, as you look at it, because even there are some positions that - that Democrats have supported in the past, I mean, how - how do you see that playing out when it comes to policy?

BROKAW: Well, it's going to be fascinating to watch and see how this team of rivals will unfold and work together. The first few picks actually seemed very boring and traditional. And then the last few have seemed like a Twitter troll clown car.

And it's clear that the president elect is prioritizing two things, loyalty, which, of course, I understand and respect that. Secondly, he's prioritizing people who are communicators and people - you know, he obviously isn't placing an importance on having any expertise running government agencies. He wants people who can go on to TV or podcasts and echo his talking points.

And I understand where he's coming from. But the problem is, when you put people in charge who don't have that expertise, all that does is empower the people below them. So, it makes those deputy secretary positions very important. But also, it really empowers these so-called deep state that, you know, the president-elect has decried for so many years. The people who are going to be running government are the same people that he's been trying to, you know, get rid of from the government because he despises them so. So, it's - it's going to be really interesting to see how this all actually plays out in time.

JIMENEZ: And, Shermichael, do - do you see it that way? I mean how do you see this - the - the so-called ideological diversity maybe affecting implementation of policy?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, there are certainly people there that I do not agree with who aren't traditionally conservative on a whole host of issues. But again, politics is politics. Republicans are going to do what Democrats would do in this scenario, even if they disagree with some of these nominees, and that is to confirm them if they, if they can, right?

But I want to touch on some of the positions. The deputy secretaries of every single one of these agencies are really going to be the ones tasked with running these agencies from a managerial perspective. They're going to be advising the cabinet secretaries. The cabinet secretaries are going to be surrounded by a litany of other political appointees, presidential appointees, who will also advise them in terms of making the best decisions to run the agencies at the most opportune level. So, I'm not necessarily worried, Omar, about the agencies not running and fulfilling their duties for the American people. I think they're going to run just fine.

The question for me, though, becomes, who will the president-elect appoint to be the deputies? That's really more important than some of the folks that we sort of familiarize ourselves with in the media.

JIMENEZ: Look, not always you have people calling attention, let's see who the deputies are in the - but in this case, it seems like the point - the point is fair.

Shermichael, Brian, good to see you both. Thanks for being here.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So today, the Menendez brothers will appear in court for the first time in nearly 30 years. What a judge is about to consider, and how it could lead to them getting out of prison despite being sentenced to life without parole.

And breaking overnight, one person is dead after a cargo plane crashed into a house and goes up in flames. How three others on board managed to survive, though.

And a posthumous message from the former CEO of YouTube, three months after she died from lung cancer. Her message to women and people who don't even smoke.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:19:15]

BOLDUAN: Hours from now the Menendez brothers are set to make their first public court appearance in nearly 30 years. Erik and Lyle Menendez are expected to appear virtually for what is a status hearing, but it really seems to represent so much more than that at this point. The hearing involves a habeas corpus petition filed by their lawyers last year asking for a review of new evidence not presented at their original trial. They're both serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murder of their parents back in the 1980s. A case that was a public sensation is now spawned, what, many Netflix and other kind of docu series as well.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following all of this for us, and she's here now.

What could come from this hearing, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, normally, a status hearing just means, we're getting everything in order.

[09:20:01]

BOLDUAN: Right.

CASAREZ: Where are we now? Where are we going? But you never know what's going to happen.

You know, you just touched on this. I think it's important. There's two pathways that George Gascon has been so, so strong in wanting to get this result. First of all, there is the habeas petition, which is really relying on, they say, new evidence. And that would be a letter that Erik wrote to his cousin months before the murders, saying, talking about, I'm scared my father's going to come into my bedroom. The other one is the former member of Menudo, who has alleged that he was a victim of sexual abuse by Jose Menendez.

But what I really see the district attorney focusing on - this is Gascon, who's leaving office, that's another issue we can talk about. He's going to be gone in a week. But he's focusing on rehabilitation because there's a law in California that gives leniency when its - a court believes that you have been rehabilitated. And we want to show everybody here.

What Gascon has written in legal documents is, first of all, Lyle Menendez, he's gotten his college degree, a bachelor's degree from UC- Irvine. He also has begun and instituted programs in prison for the other inmates, beautification programs, adverse childhood experience programs, life without parole applies for those that are younger, that are getting life parole.

Now, when you're talking about Eric Menendez, he actually has his associates degree. He has begun a program of sign language in the prison for those that are profoundly deaf, that need this to be able to communicate. His other programs include hospice program, a victim empathy program and then a 12-step program. So, they're going to focus in on that I think when we get to the actual hearing, which is December 11th.

But the brand new DNA, Nathan Hochman says, I've got thousands of pages to go through. I'm not just going to throw this out there. I've got to study this and make a very educated, legal determination of what I believe is right.

BOLDUAN: Yes, so there - and that's the new DA that - that - that will be coming in to replace the man who's done so much work in this - in this area.

There has been some argument, some conversation for clemency here. What - what does - where does that stand?

CASAREZ: Well, I think the - Gascon was so, so just emotionally based to get them out that he applied for clemency with the governor. And Newsom said, you know, there's a new DA. I'm going to step back. I'm not going to offer a decision on this because I believe a new district attorney should determine this.

But here's what's interesting. Los Angeles County, and the people of Los Angeles County, because you take that into consideration, too, they wanted change. That's why Gascon was voted out. And that's why Hochman was voted in. He's law and order, based on the law, smart sentencing, but tougher sentencing. So now this is something that's going to really be a symbol of the beginning of his administration. And that could be significant too. He's got a lot of weight on - on his shoulders.

BOLDUAN: That is interesting. All right, first and foremost, let's see what comes today.

CASAREZ: Yes.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Jean. Thank you so much.

CASAREZ: Thank you. BOLDUAN: So, an American dream deferred. How long economists now say you will be waiting if you're looking to lock in a mortgage rate lower than 6 percent.

And how many push-ups can you do in a minute? How about an hour? Whatever you were thinking, it is more than likely not as many as this woman has done and pulled off. Fifty-nine years old, grandmother of 12, locking in her second world record.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:08]

JIMENEZ: Welcome back.

YouTube is sharing a message from their late CEO this morning. A message composed just weeks before she lost her battle with lung cancer. Susan Wojcicki died in August at age 56. But this morning, YouTube is sharing her message to the world. She shared that she was surprised by the diagnosis. That she was a non-smoker and ran several miles a day. And she had something more she really wanted other people living with the disease to know.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard is here.

So, Jacqueline, I mean, what did she say here

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, outside of saying that she was shocked with this diagnosis, she did say that we need to do more research looking into why this trend is happening. A trend where we're seeing more lung cancer diagnoses among people without a history of smoking. And many of these people are women.

And just to quote her blog post, she wrote, quote, "after my diagnosis, we stepped up our efforts as we quickly learned lung cancer was under-researched and misunderstood. Lung cancer among people who have never smoked has been rising significantly, and two-thirds of people diagnosed with lung cancer with no smoking history are women."

So, this is a trend that we're seeing play out. We also have this data point, Omar. In the past 42 years, lung cancer diagnoses have risen 84 percent among women over that time period, while dropping 36 percent among men in that same time period.

And, of course, we know we have seen declines in lung cancer because we've seen declines in people smoking. But again, these are cases in women who have never smoked. And we know women who have never smoked are more than twice as likely as men, never smokers, to get lung cancer.

Omar, these are shocking numbers.

JIMENEZ: Yes, I mean, those numbers are, I mean, so stark when you lay them out like that. I mean do - do we not know what's - what's causing these trends?

[09:30:01]

I mean where does the research even start?

HOWARD: Right, it's still - still unclear what's causing this. Some researchers point to environmental causes.