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NFL and NBA Warns Athletes After Burglaries; Judge Delays Trump's Hush Money Sentencing; Missing Kayaker Accused of Faking Death; Trump Taps Pam Bondi as Attorney General; Businesses Work to Rebuild after Helene. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 22, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this morning, pro athletes are being put on alert following this disturbing trend. Both the NFL and NBA are warning players that their homes could be targeted for break ins by well organized groups. This follows a string of high-profile burglaries at some athletes' homes over the past few months, including Kansas City Chiefs superstars Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes, and multiple NBA players as well. Some are even turning to the public for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOBBY PORTIS JR. NBA PLAYER WHOSE HOME WAS BURGLARIZED: While I was at my game yesterday, I had a home invasion and they took most of my prized possessions. Any info that leads to the return of any of my belongings will be rewarded handsomely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: CNN Security Correspondent Josh Campbell is following this developing story for us. So, Josh, you're learning that these burglaries may be linked to transnational criminals.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We're hearing from sources, you know, first it was a warning from the NFL, now, overnight, a warning from the NBA to its players as well. And what they indicate is that they were briefed on the FBI -- by the FBI saying that some of these burglaries are believed to have been the work of transnational criminal groups.

We've covered these groups, so-called burglary tourism that will come in often from South America to conduct these high-end robberies. And what authorities have noticed is that so many of these have similar attributes. So, let's take a look at some of them that they're seeing with these robberies. Oftentimes, burglars are exploiting team schedules. These are people who are often away from home for extended periods of time. They're also conducting extensive surveillance at some of these residences and they go so far as to actually pose as delivery drivers or groundskeepers in order to get a sense of the coming and going of residents. They also will sometimes scale buildings to get to the top floors, often targeting the master bedroom and closets to try to steal money, to try to steal things like jewelry.

Now, as I mentioned, these groups, you know, we've heard from law enforcement from coast to coast that this is a growing of concern, these so-called burglary tourists. I'll let you listen to one D.A. that we spoke with who said that, you know, these aren't keystone crooks. This is a professional operation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD SPITZER, ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: They're very sophisticated. They lie and wait for days at a time in people's backyards. They have Wi-Fi jammers to stop the alarm company from being notified because a lot of people have Wi-Fi systems and then they have police jammers to jam the signal of the police departments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:35:00]

CAMPBELL: And one thing that the leagues are warning players is be careful what you're doing on social media, and that is something that not only impacts professional athletes, but all of us. You know, if you're going to go on the holidays, you might want to post a picture of you out on the beach in Cabo because criminals are actually going online to research where people are knowing that they're away before they actually go and try to stage these burglaries, Pam.

BROWN: All right. That's good advice. Josh Campbell, thank you so much.

CAMPBELL: You bet.

BROWN: Well, coming up, fear dead. A missing kayaker is actually alive and well living in Europe, but investigators still could not track him down. The lingering question, why did he do it? We're looking at all of that later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BROWN: Breaking news just in a CNN. We have an update on the criminal hush money case against Donald Trump. CNN's Paula Reid joins us now. What are we hearing, Paula?

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, as you know, President-Elect Trump was scheduled to be sentenced next week after being convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records in New York earlier this year, but the judge has now officially adjourned that sentencing.

We knew this was coming because there have been a lot of developments in the case in recent weeks, including Trump's defense team making it clear that they were going to make a move to try to dismiss this case. They were successful in getting the district attorney's office to agree to delay sentencing as long -- as far out as, you know, when Trump leaves the White House for the second time. But the district attorney's office said they would try to fight any effort to dismiss this case.

But a couple days ago, Trump's lawyer said they are going to argue that as president-elect, Trump is entitled to the same protections as a sitting president, and under Department of Justice guidance, sitting presidents are immune from prosecution. They argue that this extends to things like sentencing, and they're going to use this argument, Pamela, to try to get the entire case dismissed.

Now, they had asked the judge to give them until December 20th to make these arguments. Instead, the judge gave them until December 2nd, and then the prosecutors will respond by December 9th. So, it looks like the judge is going to try to possibly get an answer before the Christmas and New Year's holidays. But again, there's other outstanding issues. The judge is also weighing whether the Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity would mean that this case would need to be dismissed.

But as of right now, the only answer that we have from Judge Juan Merchan is that sentencing is definitely not happening next week. And we can expect more arguments from both sides over the next several weeks.

BROWN: All right. keeping you very busy. Paula Reid, thank you so much. Well, this morning, Republicans on Capitol Hill are breathing a sigh of relief, frankly, after former GOP Congressman Matt Gaetz withdrew from his bid to serve as attorney general. President-Elect Trump's new pick for the top job at the Justice Department is former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, and she is already winning praise from some in the party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MIKE ROUNDS (R-SD): My first impression was that it was a good pick. I do not believe that she is problematic. I did express earlier that I thought his previous choice would be problematic. And so, I don't think she has near the challenges that he would have had. So, yes, I think this is the right thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Here with us now to discuss a CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and former spokesperson for Republican Governor Doug Burgum's presidential campaign Lance Trover.

All right. I mean, it's just like I have whiplash from yesterday. I anchored the show and then right after Gaetz withdrew and then Trump, our reporting, was didn't know who he was going to replace Gaetz with and then he announces Pam Bondi last night and she is receiving some praise already from Republican senators. But it is interesting, Lance, because Donald Trump, since he won the election, has been projecting this sort of invincibility, right? Does the Gaetz withdrawal sort of pierce that?

LANCE TROVER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, GOV. BURGUM'S 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: No, no, no. I mean, there's -- look, this is part of a process that happens and I think, obviously, she's going to get a much warmer reception in the United States Senate than the previous nominee, to say the least.

My sense is she's probably a slam dunk for this thing based on what we see right now. She is eminently qualified. You see senators like that coming out right now. Elie Honig was on with Kaitlan Collins last night talking about her qualifications and how she is qualified for this job. I suspect we will see more legal analysts like that come forward. More senators are going to come out of the woodwork.

And look, she's going to have to go in front of the Judiciary Committee like everybody else and answer the tough questions. But that's all part of the process. But I don't see a situation here at this juncture where she doesn't get through the Senate.

BROWN: A source I was speaking with yesterday after Gaetz dropped out said, look, this was a math problem, right? They just didn't have enough GOP senators that they thought would confirm him. So, then are you confident that Republicans in Congress will continue to serve as that check and balance?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think that's the big question, Pam, right? Because right now, I think the biggest thing going for Pam Bondi is that she's not Matt Gaetz. But what does that say about this process? What does that say about the people that Trump is putting forward?

I mean, right now, if you look at the totality of it, for the most part, it's a clown car of chaos when it should be sort of the best luminaries, except for your former boss. And Marco Rubio.

TROVER: You beat me to it.

CARDONA: I do like Marco Rubio, right. But this should be a period where Donald Trump or whoever the president-elect is, in any normal time, they would be picking the most experienced, the best luminaries, the ones that actually know the issue, the experts on what it is that they're going to be running, people who preferably would have had experience in running large public institutions. And you're seeing pretty much none of that. Again, some exceptions, but --

TROVER: I do disagree a little bit.

[10:45:00]

CARDONA: But hang on one second. And so, I think as he puts forward his nominees, it's also a point where you're going to see what kind of judgment Trump has. And we know Trump, right? And you know, a lot of people who don't like Trump also understand that he doesn't have good judgment in this, but I don't think that matters to him.

And this is where, I think, it is a point of contention and a point where Republican senators are going to be put on the spot as to whether they're going to be a stamp of approval for Donald Trump, and we know that this is the challenge because we know that Donald Trump, more than anything, values fealty, or whether they're going to look at this and say, what is best for the country?

BROWN: Yes.

TROVER: I do disagree a little bit here. I think that's being a little overly harsh. This process has actually been -- I'm not suggesting that the media shouldn't focus. They're -- we have -- they focus on some of these other controversial aspects of some of these nominees, I'm not suggesting that's wrong, but I do think they're not getting enough credit for the smoothness of this process.

We're only like 15, 16 days past the election. We have 15 or 16 nominees put out there. Yes, I agree. You're not going to like a lot of them except for Doug Burgum, maybe, maybe.

CARDONA: I'm good with Marco Rubio.

TROVER: But I would argue -- Marco Rubio. OK. There we go. So, I do think a lot of these folks are qualified and I don't think they've gotten enough credit for the smoothness of their operation. They had a very smooth campaign. They've had a very smooth transition/

And I would argue yesterday, to me, showed a difference, a shift from the Trump of eight years ago and the organization of now. They recognize that, look, they have a lot to do on January 20th. They want to hit the ground running and they don't have a lot of time for this drama to play out. And so, they moved on. And I think that is the big difference from what you see now versus eight years ago.

CARDONA: But you don't -- but you have the -- a lot of the other nominees have similar problems to Matt Gaetz.

TROVER: Yes, we have a process. They're going to go through the process like everybody else.

BROWN: I just want to point out that the Fox News part of all of this though, because, I mean, there's so many Fox News hosts or former hosts, right? I mean. We're reporting that Dan Bongino is very much in the running to run Secret Service. Mike Huckabee, ambassador to Israel. Tulsi Gabbard, the pick for director of national intelligence. Sean Duffy, pick for secretary of transportation. Pete Hegseth, secretary of defense. What do you make of that?

TROVER: Look, does Donald Trump like people who are on TV? Yes, of course he does. There's no question. That's not news here. Each one of those individuals have backgrounds and qualifications in their own right. Dan Bongino served in the Secret Service. That's not -- you know, Dr. Oz was a respected physician before he was on television and went forward. All of these folks do have their own qualifications that they come forward.

But again, I go through -- this is a process. They're going to have to go before their respective committees and address the Senate. I think the Senate will have tough questions for each one of these individuals, but my sense is that they will get through and pass like everyone else. CARDONA: But I think, you look at the list that you put forward and that spans people that, right now, I think, you look at what they have done in the past, what the allegations a lot of them bring to the table are, and it spans from completely unserious picks to dangerous picks. And so, yes, I agree, the process is --

BROWN: These are dangerous pick, what do you mean?

CARDONA: Dangerous. I think Tulsi Gabbard is a dangerous pick to be the director of national intelligence. I mean, there is a lot of people out there, including Nikki Haley, who say she is too close to Russia, that she has said things that are against the United States. She is cozy with dictators and with people who are not our friends, and that is a dangerous position to be putting someone who can't be trusted with our national secrets.

And so -- and also people like Pete Hegseth, the allegations that he has against him, that is dangerous to be putting somebody like that in that position.

BROWN: To be clear though, he has denied the allegations and he was not charged. I just want to --

CARDONA: But here's the point, and this -- I'd love to get your thoughts on this.

BROWN: Yes.

CARDONA: What -- do -- does the Republican Party have no other choices than to pick people who have those kinds of allegations in the past?

TROVER: I think the president is due some deference and latitude in the people that he wants to pick. To you, note, he has denied those allegations. The police did not charge him. He is also a decorated veteran who honorably served this country. I mean, and he has Ivy League degrees. I mean, usually for the people in your party, that's like a shoo in for a job here in Washington, D.C.

CARDONA: Except for the allegations that he has against.

BROWN: All right. You guys are always great to have on. I really appreciate this.

CARDONA: Thanks, Pam.

BROWN: The civil discussion. And you know, it is fun. It's good to have some laughs in there.

CARDONA: Yes, absolutely.

BROWN: I know you guys have a great rapport. Thank you. Come back anytime. All right. Our Elisa Raffa is live in North Carolina for us as businesses work to rebuild from Helene's devastation. Elisa?

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Their first snow of the season here is bringing some Christmas cheer to these Christmas tree farmers, some of which who suffered severe damage. We'll show you some of those images and talk with one of those farmers. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

BROWN: It is the time of year when communities and businesses start preparing for the holiday season. But those in Western North Carolina are struggling after Helene, especially those in the Christmas tree industry. They rely on a few key weeks to keep their business going for an entire year. This right here is a tree farm in Avery County that was heavily damaged.

Meteorologist Elisa Raffa joins us now from Jefferson, North Carolina. And you spoke to several farmers who have suffered this loss. What are they telling you?

RAFFA: Yes, we were at a farm yesterday that lost 60,000 trees at that Christmas tree farm. They're trying to salvage some of the pieces to make wreaths and smaller trees for this year. There are many farmers that have really felt some of this impact of Helene at their business and at home.

And I want to introduce you to Rusty Barr. He's a Christmas tree farmer here near Jefferson, North Carolina. You had some damage to some seedlings. Tell me what happened when the floods came in.

RUSTY BARR, CHRISTMAS TREE FARMER: Yes, the floodwaters came and washed these Styrofoam trays, just basically washed them to three miles down the road. All -- there's probably like 14,000 trays, 270,000 plants that were for our production for 2025.

[10:55:00]

RAFFA: What kind of impact does that have going forward and for other farmers in the industry?

BARR: Well, just hoping we can supply something to them to -- they'll have some trees to plant. We have a few in backup, but not enough to cover all of these. So, it's devastating to the -- to our nursery operation.

RAFFA: Talk to me about how resilient Christmas tree farmers are. You were telling me that some of these trees are genetically resilient for the future.

BARR: Yes, Dr. Whitehill's Lab at NC State, you know, they've been working on this stuff for like 30 plus years. And these trees are all from genetically improved seed. And so, hopefully, it'll cut a year off the rotation. So, saving valuable time and a lot of trips around each tree to care and maintain it.

RAFFA: Yes, I mean, because people don't realize it takes more than seven years for these trees to grow. And North Carolina is the second in the country that are producing these trees. Pamela. BROWN: All right. Elisa, thank you so much. And in Chicago, the animals over at the Brookfield Zoo were enjoying the first snowfall of the season. This is what we all need to see on this Friday, right? I mean, look at this. This is prime polar bear weather, and Hudson is taking full advantage of it. Brown bears. Tim and Jess also enjoyed a little rough housing as you see in the snow. While the wolves rolled around in the fresh powder.

And it's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is less than a week away. So, plan to start your Thanksgiving morning with CNN. We're going to have parades from across the country, music, and celebrity appearances. Thanksgiving in America kicks off at 8:00 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

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