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CNN International: Trump Places High Price on Loyalty in Cabinet Picks; China Launching Charm Offensive During APEC Summit; HRW: Israel's Mass Displacement in Gaza Amounts to War Crime; House Ethics Committee was due to Meet This Week to Vote on Releasing its Report about Matt Gaetz; Users Quit X Criticizing Musk's Role in U.S. Election; Couple Returns Home to Find Koala in Bedroom. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired November 14, 2024 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Max Foster. This is CNN "Newsroom". Just ahead, Donald Trump shocks Capitol Hill with his pick for attorney general. Find out why some Republicans are just as surprised by their choice as Democrats.
Joe Biden prepares to meet with China's President for the last time ahead of a new Trump era, as world leaders gather in Peru for the APEC summit. And the human rights group accuses Israel of carrying out war crimes in Gaza, accusations that Israel denies.
Well as Donald Trump's Administration takes shape, some of his picks have raised some eyebrows say the least, but one has sent pretty much shock waves through Washington, even among some Republicans, Trump has selected Former House Republican Matt Gaetz to be the next attorney general.
If confirmed, he would lead the same department that pursued a years' long sex crimes investigation against him. The Justice Department ultimately decided not to pursue charges, but the House Ethics Committee has been investigating Gaetz of allegations of sexual misconduct and illicit drug use, amongst other things.
Gaetz resigned his House seat on Wednesday. He has long denied any wrongdoing and has been a strong critic of the Justice Department in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT GAETZ, FORMER UNITED STATES REPRESENTATIVE: We either get this government back on our side or we defund and get rid of abolish the FBI, CDC, ATF, DOJ, every last one of them if they do not come to heal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Another controversial pick, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard is an Army National Guard Veteran, but never served in an intelligence agency. In fact, she's been skeptical of U.S. intelligence in the past. On the Democratic side, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has conceded his party failed to win back the House.
Earlier, CNN projected Republicans will maintain control of the House, though the size of a majority isn't clear just yet. Steve Contorno joins us from St Petersburg, Florida, with the details of this. Just go through the atmosphere within the Democrats, but also in parts of the Republican Party to some of these choices.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Well, Democrats are beside themselves, and this is a reaction that is many ways they see as a result of their own failings to stop Trump this election cycle and not only hold on to the Senate, but lose the House, and this is what happens when you have one party control and dominate an election like we've seen -- like we saw earlier this month.
And for Republicans, look, there has been an interesting reaction to Donald Trump's picks. On the one hand, he has, early on, chosen from a very traditional well of candidates, and that quickly changed in the past 36 hours, when he chose Pete Hegseth, the Fox News personality, to lead the Department of Defense.
And then the pics that you just described, Tulsi Gabbard being in charge of the National Intelligence, and Matt Gaetz as Attorney General. The latter of which has been especially poorly received in Congress, even among Trump's own party. Let me walk you through exactly who Matt Gaetz is, for our viewers who might not be familiar with them.
He is a Trump loyalist, first elected to Congress in 2016 that same election that Donald Trump won, and he is from a very conservative part of Florida. He is -- he resigned his seat from Congress immediately yesterday, almost immediately after Trump made the nomination.
And as you said, he is under a House ethics probe related to allegations of sexual misconduct. And as far as a legal background, look, he has a very limited experience practicing law. He did attend law school and is part of the Florida Bar Association, but he does not have extensive experience in a courtroom or on the justice side or on the defense side.
So, it's certainly a pick that has raised some concerns, although Donald Trump is very much testing to see what he can get away with, with his new mandate and with his new control over his own party, and we will have to see if four senators are not willing to go along with it in the Republican Party.
FOSTER: A lot of these people are disruptors, aren't they?
[08:05:00]
They are also, you know, inexperienced in some of those roles as well. What do you think Donald Trump is trying to do here? Is this about making sure he is in more control of those departments himself?
CONTORNO: Yeah, disruptive, but also fiercely loyal to Donald Trump, and that is his number one priority. Kaitlan Collins reported yesterday that Trump was not happy with some of the individuals that he was interviewing for defense secretary and attorney general, that he wasn't blown away by what he heard from them.
And he heard what he wanted to hear from Matt Gaetz, which is that he will do whatever it takes and whatever he thinks is needed to force the reckoning that Donald Trump has promised within the Justice Department. That means a total overhaul of the FBI. That means potentially targeting Trump's political enemies.
And we will have to see just how far Matt Gaetz is willing to go to follow Donald Trump down that line, and whether there's any resistance in the Republican Party. And so far, that is the one through line among all Donald Trump's picks, whether they have been more traditional, unconventional or this third box of sort of fire brands and head scratchers, is that they are all people who are very, very loyal to Donald Trump, and that is what he values most.
FOSTER: OK. Steve, thank you so much for that. Well, choosing Matt Gaetz is one thing, but getting him confirmed by the senate quite another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I was shocked that he has been nominated. If the nomination proceeds, I'm sure that there will be an expensive background check by the FBI and public hearings, and a lot of questions asked.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): Well, I was walking off the senate floor just moments ago when the news was announced, you could literally hear the jaws dropping to the floor of Republican Senators who are now going to be in a position to stand up to Donald Trump in a way that they have been unwilling to listen. Matt Gaetz is dangerously unqualified. This is going to be a red alert moment for American democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well within the Justice Department, many are concerned about their potential new boss. There was a quote audible reaction inside the department's headquarters, and that's according to a department employee who adds the shock is intense. Katelyn Polantz joins us now live with more reaction.
I mean, you know, the Republicans do have the majority here, but it's not a huge majority, but at the same time, you can't really imagine a Republican going directly against a Trump choice at this point, would you?
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Max, we're just going to have to see how this nomination fight plays out once Trump actually takes office in January. But so far, you know, we were hearing from some of the senators on both sides reacting to this with shock.
I've spoken to several lawyers, including people who are well, have a lot of credentials, are very prominent in conservative lawyering in America, and its total shock there too. It's shock across the Justice Department, across Washington and across the legal community. One person could not even respond. When I asked them for a response, they said that you don't want my response.
And then another person laughed, a lawyer, a very prominent lawyer out of New York, was just laughing in response to this. Gaetz has a long history here as a politician, very little of a history as a practicing attorney, no time spent as a prosecutor, which is extremely abnormal for someone who would be leading the Justice Department, which in this country prosecutes all of the cases across the United States where people, regular citizens, are accused of breaking federal laws.
So having the chief law enforcement officer not really coming from the legal community is quite a difference than what is normally happening here. Also, Gaetz himself, unusual to say the least, that he had been under investigation from the previous Trump Administration and then into the Biden years, he ultimately was not charged.
But he was very closely looked at by the FBI, by the Justice Department in a grand jury, and would theoretically have access to those files witnesses who testified against him in those secret proceedings. Here's just one more way to put it, from Ty Cobb, quite a prominent attorney in Washington, who also worked in Donald Trump's White House, protecting the presidency as a very prominent lawyer in the previous administration.
FOSTER: He probably doesn't care, though, does he? If he's unpopular in the organization, because he's in there to turn upside down from everything that we're hearing.
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What's your concern about the actual department, because obviously it needs good people to do a lot of work. Will they want to work for someone like him?
POLANTZ: That's a great question. Now, there is sometimes a difference between what people in Washington and the Justice Department feel about their bosses versus people who work in the field, in the department offices across the country prosecuting those cases.
But at the end of the day, all of these prosecutors for the Justice Department, they're standing before judges who have to take them seriously when they are making legal arguments and bringing cases, trying cases. And so there has been an effort in recent years, especially by Attorney General Merrick Garland, to try and restore the faith that career lawyers in the Justice Department have in the work that they do and in the people that they're working for.
Gaetz would be someone who, instead, has already very publicly said he wants to tear down the department's work and even cheered on the dismissal of say the classified documents case against Donald Trump, when a judge said the Justice Department doesn't have the authority, they think they have in this case, he was cheering against the Justice Department, Max. FOSTER: Katelyn, it's going to keep you busy. Thank you. A tough, complicated relationship. That's how a Biden Administration official is describing the relationship between the U.S. and China, right now. The association between the world's two biggest economies is in the spotlight today as the APEC summit gets underway in Peru.
U.S. President Joe Biden is set to head to the gathering in a couple of hours. He's expected to meet on the sidelines with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping on Saturday. It's a year since Mr. Xi visited the U.S. and looming over all of this a second Trump Administration. Some APEC members are concerned about the president-elect's threat to raise tariffs.
China, meanwhile, is working on a charm offensive during the summit, backed up with a lot of money and investment, as Stefano Pozzebon now reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We like --
STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST (voice-over): Business speaks a new language in South America, gone are the days of Washington's backyard. China is now the top trading partner for the region. Few places represent this shift, like this brand-new mega port in Peru with a Chinese state-owned shipping giant, COSCO as its controlling shareholder.
It's expected to be inaugurated on Thursday in a joint ceremony at the presidential palace with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. The port is part of a multi-billion-dollar Chinese investment in Peru. And CNN got a sneak peek ahead of the opening. These massive cranes will run 24/7 once the port is operational in 2025 and allow COSCO's mega ships to travel to China directly, rather than stopping in Mexico and California, reducing shipping times to Shanghai by 15 days.
It's going to be a game changer, says Carlos Tejada, a spokesperson for the Chinese conglomerate. Of course, there is a geopolitical impact, because we used to have to send our goods to North America, and that's no longer the case. Competition between China and the U.S. is in full show this week, as Peru hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Both heads of state are in town, but one is clearly ahead in the game.
PARSIFAL D'SOLA, FOUNDER OF ANDRES BELLO FOUNDATION: We're going to have throughout the APEC summit, a triumphant Xi Jinping opening the port and the participation by President Biden with, to be honest, that I don't know much of an agenda, especially given the results of the election. It's a huge win for them. And this is not only happening in Peru.
POZZEBON (voice-over): 22 countries in Latin America are now part of the Belt and Road Initiative. Xi is the signature policy on global infrastructure investments, according to the Andres Bajo Foundation. An entire continent who could find itself in the crosshairs of the looming trade war between Washington and Beijing. Donald Trump is not in Lima this week, but his plans for Chinese owned companies in the region are well known.
DONALD TRUMP (R), FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT AND CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL- ELECT: They think they're going to make their cars there, and they're going to sell them across our line, and we're going to take them and we're not going to charge them tax. We're going to charge them I'm telling you right now, I'm putting a 200 percent tariff on which means they're unsellable.
POZZEBON (voice-over): What a second Trump presidency will mean for South America remains to be seen. Trump wasted no time in demanding Mexico to do more to stop migration at the border in a phone call last week, what is clear is that any retaliatory action from Washington could tilt this region even further towards Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Stefano joins us now.
[08:15:00]
It really does feel, when you look at that report that this is an opportunity, as you say, for China, but Donald Trump could create a greater opportunity for China, if he focuses less on Foreign Affairs, foreign economies, when China is literally doing the opposite.
POZZEBON (on camera): Yes, exactly. That's what the -- expert that was telling me that he believes that the more Trump pumps up the America first policies and focus inward towards inside the United States. Well, that means that there will be gaps around the world, and especially here in Latin America, that China is just keen to fill up.
However, one thing, Max, is that the possible nomination of Secretary of State Marco Rubio as Secretary of State this week, it's a game changer. It could really be a game changer for Latin America, because it shows, at least at the beginning of the Trump Administration, of the new Trump Administration, the desire to engage with this region.
The desire to speak one on one, with his leaders, with the Secretary of State, who is a Latino, who speaks Spanish as a native language. And I think it's no small coincidence the optics that just as Biden is traveling to Lima to participate in the APEC. Well, President of Argentina, Javier Milei is going personally to Mar-a-Lago today, and will probably meet Donald Trump tomorrow.
So, the first Latin Leader -- Latin American leader, to speak with the new president-elect in person. You can see how the tides are really changing in this region, and it's going to be interesting to see if the administration will still keep the focus towards Latin America.
Of course, there are a lot of fires around the world, Ukraine, the Middle East there, the competition with China, around Taiwan, elsewhere, but maybe this administration can really bring a sharper focus towards Latin America with this new Secretary of State, Max. FOSTER: OK, Stefano. Thank you for the view from the White House now. Let's go to live to Washington, D.C. CNN's Arlette Saenz is with us. I mean, this a historic meeting, isn't it, Biden meeting Xi for the last time in office? How do you think he'll use it?
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, President Biden really had been hoping to head to the summits in both Peru and Brazil under far different circumstances. He had hoped to be preparing to hand off to a Democratic President, Kamala Harris.
But now he's facing this reality where Donald Trump is set to return to the White House, as many world leaders in countries are grappling with what a Trump presidency will look like. Now this will loom large over President Biden's meeting with President Xi Jinping. The first time that they are sitting down in a year, and likely the final time they will meet face to face before Biden leaves office.
Now, senior officials have already acknowledged that there won't be a long list of deliverables coming out of this meeting compared to meetings in the past, but they said that they will touch on a number of issues, including China's moves in Taiwan, China's support for Russia as it continues its war in Ukraine, also concerns over cyber and other issues as well.
But really for Biden, this will bookend his efforts in trying to manage this relationship with one of the United States biggest competitors. You have seen the U.S. take significant steps to try to limit Chinese technology. They've watched with concern as China has engaged in these aggressive moves towards Taiwan and also the South China Sea.
But of course, it all comes as they are now, as China, at least, is now grappling with what a Trump presidency will mean for the future of these U.S.-China relationships. Trump has promised to take this hardline approach when it comes to China, promising tougher tariffs.
And also, as you guys were just discussing installing some China hawks in his administration, the potential Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, as well as the incoming National Security Adviser, Congressman Mike Waltz. But one thing that the Biden Administration has tried to argue is that they spent the last four years rebuilding and shoring up alliances in the Indo-Pacific.
That is one way that they have worked to really serve as a counter to China's growing influence in the region. President Biden will be sitting down with the Leaders of South Korea as well as Japan, while he is in Peru in the coming days. And just yesterday, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said that fostering those alliances should be something that should continue on in the Trump Administration. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE SULLIVAN, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Go with our alliances in the Indo-Pacific at a literal all-time high, Japan, Korea, Australia, the Philippines, a really remarkable record over four years, and that's what he's going to hand off to President Trump.
And he is going to be making the case to our allies and frankly to our adversaries, that America is standing with its alliances, investing in its alliances, and then asking its allies to step up and do their part, which they have done these past four years is central to American strength and capacity in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[08:20:00]
SAENZ: Now, this trip President Biden is about to embark on will really be the final end or one of the final touches that he's trying to put on his international work during his presidency. Of course, foreign policy has been a personal passion project of President Biden. He has tried to shore up alliances where he can.
What also will be interesting in these meetings is to see or hear what world leaders might be asking President Biden about. I remember being on the trip back in 2016 when Obama did his farewell tour after Trump had been elected. And many of the world leaders in those meetings were asking for his thoughts, asking for his advice about Trump. So, we will see if President Biden will offer his own perspectives to these world leaders as well.
FOSTER: Arlette, thank you so much. Still to come, stark new accusations from a new Human Rights Watch report about the mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza. Details ahead. And Paris braces for a football match between Israel and France a day after pro- Palestinian groups gather to oppose a controversial pro-Israel gala. A live report from Paris, where we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: A new report by Human Rights Watch accuses Israel of mass displacement of Palestinians in Gaza in a systematic and deliberate campaign. It says that it amounts to a war crime and a crime against humanity. The U.N. estimates 1.9 million Palestinians, that's more than 90 percent of the population have been displaced in the past year.
The report says the deliberate demolitions of buildings and civilian infrastructure in Gaza deprived Palestinians of the right to return to their homes. Israel strongly denies the accusations. It says it's committed to international law and operates accordingly. Nada joins us here. It's 154-page report, pretty detailed, but Israel denying everything.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, and we've heard these warnings before. Of course, we've heard these allegations from other human rights organizations, even from U.N. investigators, warning that Israel could be committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.
And that is certainly what is outlined in this latest report from human rights were saying that they believe the actions, the severity of the actions taken by the Israeli military on the ground in Gaza not only amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, but potentially also ethnic cleansing in Gaza.
Now, as you mentioned, the key issue that they have focused on is the mass displacement of civilians in Gaza, more than 90 percent of the 2.3 million strong population now forcibly displaced as a result of Israel's military actions, and they believe that this is both intentional and systematic.
This is part of a state policy to displace Palestinians. They have cited the illegal and deliberate demolition of homes of civilian infrastructure, of course, through Israel's military on sort and also creating these buffer zones security corridors, where Palestinians alike is not going to be able to return to what once were their homes in these areas.
[08:25:00]
But they've also focused on the evacuation orders that we've heard from the Israeli military. Oftentimes, the Israeli government cites these evacuation orders as efforts taken to mitigate civilian risk, but human rights -- has said that they have repeatedly now seen these evacuation routes struck by Israeli air strikes at the safe zones that civilians are then pushed towards, particularly the Al-Mawasi coastal area that we have reported on often has been struck on numerous occasions.
And then, of course, as the issue of aid, Israel's ongoing blockade on aid getting into the Gaza Strip, a number of issues there. Of course, in a small fraction of the aid necessary for Gaza actually getting in. Now, of course, as you mentioned, Israel has denied these allegations.
They say they are committed to international. They have denied that there is any sort of state policy or doctrine to cause maximal damage in Gaza. But this is really in stark contrast what we're hearing from these humanitarian organizations from U.N. agencies that are operating on the ground
And what Human Rights Watch is now asking for, or calling for, rather, is for world leaders to adopt targeted sanctions to pressure Israel to comply to its obligations under international law. And they're calling on the U.S., on Germany and others, to not only suspend weapons transfers, but also military assistance to Israel to pressure a change in the course of action by the Israeli military.
FOSTER: Nada, thank you. Paris is ramping up security ahead of a football match between France and Israel today. Some 4000 officers will be deployed to police the game on Wednesday, pro-Palestinian groups gathered in a city to oppose a controversial pro-Israel gala by a far-right Israeli Association.
Today's match comes after violent clashes in Amsterdam last week, following a match between Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dutch side Ajax. CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris joins us now. Ahead of the game in Amsterdam, there was a lot of tension. Are we seeing anything similar ahead of this match?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, French authorities are doing everything they can to ensure that we don't see the repeat scenes of what happened in Amsterdam last week, 4000 policemen and women who will be on the streets surrounding the Stade de France tonight for that Israel-France fixture.
The two national sides do to face each other, and what had already been billed is a relatively high potential risk match in terms of protests that might surround it. But of course, after what's happened in Amsterdam, authorities have decided to take an even closer look at their security details.
So, beyond those 4000 policemen and women, you're going to have 1500 stewards on hand and just fewer seats sold, there will be 20,000 people attending the match tonight, rather than the 80,000 that could be seated in the Stade de France, Max. So keener authorities to ensure that this goes ahead far more peacefully than what we saw in Amsterdam last week.
Still, this is France's the country in Europe with the largest Muslim population, the largest Jewish community in Europe as well. And very strong feelings amongst the general public and the political classes about what's been happening in the Middle East, and specifically since the war in Gaza began.
And so, there are fears, and as you said last night, we saw those protests that took place in Paris that this is not an issue that's likely to leave people decided to stay at home. And again, there were many people that turned out on the streets last night, even if those protests, pro-Palestinian protests.
But also, there weren't, I think it's important to mention on the streets of Paris yesterday, Jewish groups, moderate Jewish groups who were calling for the kind of change in Israel's policy towards the Gaza strip that have been at the heart of so much of what's been spoken by European leaders as well.
So, everything being done tonight that the streets of Paris can be kept safe, that Israel supporters can be kept safer than they were last week, the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans in Amsterdam, certainly. But likely again, a day of tension around events in the Middle East here in Paris, Max.
FOSTER: Yeah, absolutely! Melissa, thank you so much. Still to come, a Gonzo agent of chaos. That's how one Democratic lawmaker is describing Donald Trump's most controversial pick yet this new administration ahead. Why some conservatives are also alarmed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:30:00]
FOSTER: President-Elect Donald Trump is moving quickly to fill his new administration with staunch loyalists, and his latest pick may be the most controversial yet. Trump has tapped Matt Gaetz, an election denier for the critical attorney general post, if nominated Gaetz would lead the very department he's accused of being weaponized and recently investigated him over sex trafficking allegations before deciding not to bring charges. Critics are worried the Gaetz selection is a sign that Trump intends to make good on his vows of retribution. CNN's Brian Todd has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TRUMP: Matt Gaetz is a great man.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In tapping Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his Attorney General. President-Elect Donald Trump could be swatting at the biggest hornets' nest of his transition.
MARGARET TALEV, SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR, AXIOS: It would be like the understatement of the year to say that this is an unconventional pick. This is a provocative pick of a provocateur who has himself faced a lot of legal trouble and is highly polarizing, not just among whatever the American people or Congress, but inside the Republican Party himself.
TODD (voice-over): If confirmed, the 42-year-old from Florida would lead a Justice Department that he has criticized and been a target of.
GAETZ: I'm a march marked man in Congress. I'm a canceled man in some corners of the internet. I might be a wanted man by the deep state.
TODD (voice-over): Gaetz, a 2020 election denier has accused the Justice Department of being weaponized under President Biden against people like Trump. He's called for abolishing the department he's now been selected to lead and called for abolishing the FBI, often jousting with its director.
GAETZ: People trusted the FBI more when Director Hoover was running the place than when you locked.
TODD (voice-over): Could Gaetz now weaponize the Justice Department and help Trump go after his enemies.
REP. JARED MOSKOWITZ (D-FL): 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.
TODD (voice-over): It was Gaetz who led the charge among some far- right Republicans in Congress to oust Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker last year.
GAETZ: This House has been poorly led.
TODD (voice-over): But before that, the man who could become America's top law enforcement official had been accused of serious crimes. The Justice Department investigated Gaetz over allegations that he violated federal law by paying for sex, including sex with women who were under 18-years-old.
Gaetz repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and last year, the Justice Department announced it would not bring charges against him. One analyst says getting Gaetz confirmed could be a challenge, even in a Republican led Congress.
TALEV: This seems destined not only to be a selection that is going to test the loyalty to President-Elect Trump of Republicans in the Senate, but that is meant to provoke.
TODD (voice-over): Brian Todd CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Gaetz resigned from his House Seat on Wednesday, effectively ending an ethics investigation into allegations that he engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use.
[08:35:00]
CNN's Lauren Fox joins me now from Capitol Hill. Obviously, it's the talk of the town today there. Is there any chance that he won't be approved by Congress to actually get this position? How does it work?
LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the key question right now. If Republicans will be willing to rally around the president's choice for the attorney general, despite the fact that many Republicans in the Senate were already expressing some misgivings.
Yesterday, I talked to one of those Republicans, Senator Joni Ernst, who said briefly that he has a lot of work to do if he wants to actually get confirmed. I also talked to Shelley Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, when I asked her if he was confirmable, she said there's a process we'll see.
Senator John Cornyn saying much the same. And we heard from someone like Lisa Murkowski, who has butted heads with the former president and incoming president in the past. She said simply that this was an unserious choice. So -- what the math is right now is Republicans could lose likely four members and still get him through the United States Senate.
But it's just not clear if he's going to have the votes, and there's a long fight even before he gets to the Senate floor, he'll have to go through the Senate Judiciary Committee to get confirmed. There's an FBI background check. There's a fulsome vetting in that committee.
You know yesterday, Senator Chuck Grassley, who will be the incoming chairman of that committee, he said that he is going to be working this process, so we will just have to see whether or not he can first get through the Senate Judiciary Committee and then whether or not he has the support on the Senate floor.
FOSTER: OK, Lauren, thank you for outlining that for us. Taking a closer look at what Gaetz Justice Department might actually look like if he does get confirmed CNN Political Analyst, Julian Zelizer, joining us from New York. Thank you so much as ever for joining us.
JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
FOSTER: I mean, you wouldn't be expecting to scenario plan for Gaetz to be in this position, but I'm sure you've been doing it so far this morning. What does it look like?
ZELIZER: Well, obviously, if he's in there, the wall between the Department of Justice and the White House will totally erode. That's the fear that people have. The Watergate norm, the scandal that brought down Richard Nixon in the United States, the norm has been to keep some firewall between those two institutions, and I think that's the point of this pick.
Either he gets someone President-Elect Trump who will totally erode that wall, or he tests the loyalty of members of the Senate and can see how far he'll push it with a replacement nomination. Either scenario isn't good for the state of law and order.
FOSTER: Is it Gaetz running the Justice Department, or is it Trump? Because you couldn't -- you couldn't have picked more of a loyalist, could he?
ZELIZER: It's Trump. I mean, the President-Elect was very clear what he was going to do during the campaign. He was going to have a cabinet of loyalists, not a cabinet of rivals, and the Department of Justice was one of the most important institutions to him. And so yes, if Gaetz is running it, Trump is running it, and that's exactly the fear.
FOSTER: So, we should be looking at what Trump wants to do with it based on what he's said in the past. What do you think his plan is?
ZELIZER: Well, based on what he has said, he has threatened his adversaries, that's one of the top priorities. So, people who have caused him problems. If he follows through on what he said could be the target of investigations, he will obviously drop any kind of investigations, most are already falling apart that have been aimed at him, and he will use the Department of Justice as a political arm of the White House, rather than as a tool of law. And that is what he said. And I think we should take him at face value.
FOSTER: Which goes against everything that the people working for the Justice Department signed up for when they joined. Will they stay?
ZELIZER: I don't know. I mean, this is the kind of appointment, if it goes through, even if it doesn't go through, that can cause some of the careerists at this institution, which really prides itself on focusing on the law, on not focusing on politics, some of them might close up and say they don't want to work at the institution, which has the effect of destabilizing the Department of Justice, because you need that long term expertise. You leave -- need those norms to make it what always been.
FOSTER: We -- you know, in combination with this, we've got the likes of Elon Musk, who are going to break down these departments and get efficiencies as well. How much room is there for efficiency in the Justice Department from what you can see? Of course, they've got such huge responsibilities. They need people that they? ZELIZER: I mean, many people think the DOJ does a pretty good job, actually, and it's not an institution that needs to be dismantled, nor does it have to change course and how it's done business. There are obviously problems.
[08:40:00]
There are obviously inefficiencies, but I think there will be a lot of pushbacks. And again, that Senate majority is narrow. The new Senate Majority Leader is not someone who has been totally MAGA. And so, I do think the administration needs to be careful as it picks and chooses what agencies to go after.
That said, we have seen again and again the ability of now the president-elect to rally the party through rallying his own forces back in states and districts. So, we shouldn't underestimate how some of these people who are hesitating, who are warning they're going to keep an eye on the health of DOJ, might very well be voting to confirm Gaetz as Attorney General within a few months.
FOSTER: I just wonder finally; you get your thought on this idea that -- you know a lot of these appointments are inexperienced. They don't know anything about the departments that they're running, or very little about them, certainly at that level. Is that so bad? I was just thinking here in the UK, that's been a tradition forever. You know, people have been put in charge of large departments with no experience.
ZELIZER: I think experience is valuable. It's not everything. Obviously, experience the best and the brightest can lead us into bad situations. But given the complexities of the issues we face today, I think there are many Americans who value a person who understands the institution they're running, who has respect for the institution they're running, and who wants to follow through on policy, for the strength of the policy, rather than strength of the politics of the person in the White House.
FOSTER: OK. Julian, as ever thank you so much for your analysis. Now the battle is brewing over Pete Hegseth, the Fox News Host an Army Veteran, Donald Trump is paid to be U.S. Defense Secretary. Critics of blasting Hegseth's lack of government experience, as we've been saying, in controversial positions on diversity as well. CNN's Alex Marquardt has more on that.
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ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's among the most surprising of Donald Trump's picks so far. Pete Hegseth, a Fox News Host, set to now run the U.S. military at the Pentagon. The 44-years- old veteran a stunning choice for Defense Secretary, after Trump named several more classic, experienced national security hands to other posts.
PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm straight up just saying we should not have women in combat roles.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): He's someone who has flaunted his controversial views.
HEGSETH: Men in those positions are more capable.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): And railed against what he sees as a woke military, as he did in this interview that was posted just last week.
HEGSETH: Any general that was involved, General or Admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke shit, it's got to go.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Hegseth's crusade on the culture war in the military appears to be what he has most in common with Trump.
TRUMP: The woke generals should be fired immediately.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Trump's decision was met with shock by current and former military officials, the choice seeming to come out of left field. Hegseth has been a weekend host of Fox & Friends after serving the military for nearly two decades with tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
While in the National Guard, he claims he was barred from serving at President Joe Biden's Inauguration because of a cross tattoo that the guard unit found extremists.
HEGSETH: It is back to even the crusaders. It's long been a Christian symbol, and so they used it as an excuse to frame me as an enemy of the state effectively.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Hegseth served at Guantanamo Bay and has defended waterboarding. He also advocated for three U.S. troops accused of murder, including Former Navy SEAL Eddie Gallagher, who posed for a trophy photo with a corpse of an ISIS detainee.
HEGSETH: The murder of an ISIS dirt bag --
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Trump would go on to re-promote Gallagher and pardon the two others. Hegseth has cast doubt on the 2020 election and praised January 6th insurrectionists.
HEGSETH: These are people that understand first principles. They love freedom and they love free markets.
MARQUARDT (voice-over): Hegseth recently moved to Tennessee with his third wife and seven children, where he says he now lives on a farm. Alex Marquardt, CNN, Washington.
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FOSTER: Still to come, are we seeing an exodus from X, small, big names, acquitting Elon Musk's platform and Coastal Spain is struggling with torrential rain and severe flooding after getting nearly a month's worth of rain in just one hour would you believe.
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[08:45:00]
FOSTER: As social media users are flooding to Blue Sky. It's a competitor to Elon Musk's X. The newer platform has doubled its membership in the last 90 days, and gained a million new users in the last week alone. It comes as more big names acquitting X with many users furious at the role that Musk and his platform played in the recent presidential election.
Clare Duffy is with me. We feel like there's been a bit of a divide here. You know, people have one particular -- one political persuasion going one way and the others going the rest.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yeah, it may be that we're starting to see a sort of splintering of the social media ecosystem. Look, it's really interesting, because X actually had its best day the day after the election. By one estimate, around 46.5 million users access the platform just the website alone. But we've since seen that activity taper off.
And the day after Election Day, 115,000 U.S. users deactivated their X accounts. Many of them are really big names, UK Newspaper, "The Guardian" our Former CNN Colleague, Don Lemon, "The New York Times" Mara Gay, a lot of users are really frustrated with, as you said, how Elon Musk has used X to boost former press -- or President-Elect, I should say, Donald Trump, and to spread political content, whether users like it or not, to spread conspiracy theories.
At the same time, we've seen this huge spike in usership on Blue Sky now has around 15 million users, which is still much smaller than X, but it does feel like we're starting to see a swell, of users move to that platform. But I do think we have to question whether this will be a permanent exodus from X?
We've seen this before. Elon Musk has made controversial moves as its owner. People say they're going to leave, but then they end up sort of trickling their way back. I also think that Elon doesn't necessarily have the reason to change what he's doing on X. I mean, this platform has now gotten him a role in the Trump Administration, and he --
FOSTER: We had a communication problem there, so we've got a sense of what Clare was saying there. Now, still to come, a couple in Australia got a bit of a shock, has to be said, when they opened their door to find this furry visitor in their bedroom.
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[08:50:00]
FOSTER: Thousands of people have been evacuated in Spain's Malaga Region. Severe thunderstorms and torrential rain battered Southern Spain on Wednesday, dumping nearly a month's worth of rain in just an hour. Authorities have issued an orange weather warning, and schools will be closed on Thursday. CNN's Pau Mosquera is in Madrid. Take us through it, Pau.
PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max authorities believe that we have already seen the worst of this cold drop that is nowadays hitting Spain, but the effects are still being felt in some parts of the country. That's the case, for example, of the Southwest, where the phenomenon is nowadays, moving.
The Spain's Meteorological Agency has activated for today, some orange warnings in the regions of Seville, Cadiz, and Huelva, because there's an important risk of locally accumulating up to 30 or 40 liters of water per square meter in just one hour. So, this means potential risk of local flooding.
And that's why the authorities in these areas have suspended all school activities until further notice, and they have recommended the population to not to move around, to circulate between towns until these rains have gotten to an end. But actually, Andalusia left the worst nightmare yesterday afternoon and this last night, because, as you just said, in the space of an hour, the City of Malaga just registered the equivalent to one month of rain, 100 liters of water per square meter in just 60 minutes.
The authorities actually had to preventively evacuate around 4200 people that live in on the river banks of the Guadalete River, because there was a high risk of overflowing. And actually, from this total, just 180 will have the chance today to get back to their homes. The rest will have still to wait because it's still not safe.
And actually, Max important to highlight that many are still fixing the ice on the skies of Valencia, because for today, there's still going to be some yellow warnings in the area in the coastal side of Valencia, as they can accumulate up to 20 liters of water per square meter in one hour. This means that, yes, some flooding can happen, but it seems that it won't be as aggressive as what we saw two weeks ago Max.
FOSTER: The government hugely criticized that time round. Are they responding better this time and actually understanding the severity of the situation?
MOSQUERA: Absolutely. It's been dropped a lot of help over the last weeks. We have seen how the military emergency service has arrived to many of the towns most affected by the flooding. But it's also important to highlight that they still need help removing all the debris, all the mud that is still clogging the pipes the sewerage system of these towns.
The authorities in the area Max, they estimate that they are removing up to 10,000 tons of debris, of dirt per day. But this is not enough, and that's why they are requesting more cranes, more trucks to try to keep removing this as fast as they can, Max.
FOSTER: OK. Pau, thank you so much for joining us from Madrid on that. Now, scientists have discovered the world's largest coral, so big it could actually be seen from space. The coral found in the Southwest Pacific Ocean is more than 100 feet long. That's 30 meters. Scientists made the discovery last month while studying ocean health in the Solomon Islands. One diver said the coral was nearly the size of a Cathedral. Britain's King Charles celebrating his 76th birthday in style. The part of the 41-gun salute by the King's Royal or King's Troop Royal Artillery in London's Green Park to match the King's big day. Buckingham Palace released this new photo of Charles for the occasion, and members of the Royal Family have also been sharing their good wishes online. The King will spend his birthday working, including a visit to a food distribution center, working to tackle food waste.
Nothing like coming home to an unexpected gas. But how about if it was too had four legs and fur. A couple in Adelaide Australia came back home to find this little Koala sitting there on the bed. A sweet video posted online shows the Koala moving around the room before eventually being shooed out of the house with a jumper.
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The couple said they think the animal must have come in through the pet door and decided to stay for a while. Koalas are mostly found in the east and southeast coasts of Australia, and can normally be spotted at the top of their favorite eucalyptus trees or in a bed. And a zoo in Nebraska has announced a very special delivery, the birth of red panda triplets. These cute cubs, two male, one female, were born back in August and have yet to be named.
They'll likely be on exhibit at the Lincoln Children's Zoo next month, along with their mom Tim (ph) and the Zoo's CEO says red pandas are an endangered species whose populations have declined by 50 percent over the past 20 years. Thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster. "Connect the World" with Erica is up next.
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