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Special Counsel Ending Election Subversion Case Against Trump; Lebanese Official: Ceasefire Announcement Expected "Within 24 Hours"; Trump Fills Out Cabinet, Turns Attention To Confirmation Battles; Gabbard. Hegseth, RFK Jr. Expected To Face Bumpy Confirmations; Palestinians Fear More Evictions In West Bank Under Trump; Menendez Brothers Back in Court For First Time In 28 Years. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 25, 2024 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:49]

ISA SOARES, CNN HOST: I'm Isa Soares in London. Thanks so much for joining me today on CNN NEWSROOM.

I want to go straight to the news and we'll begin this hour with major breaking legal news. Special counsel Jack Smith has dropped both federal cases against President-elect Donald Trump, ending the election subversion case. That's related, of course, to Trump's actions to overturn the legitimate 2020 results in the lead up to January 6th of 2021, and also the prosecution over his refusal to hand over classified documents after leaving office.

Now, Smith said the decisions are rooted in Justice Department policy against prosecuting a sitting president not. This is important, not a reflection of the merits of the cases themselves.

CNN national security reporter Zach Cohen is standing by for us.

And, Zach, you and I were talking in the last hour or so, not a surprising moment, but enormous. One given, of course, the historic nature of these cases. Tell us about smith's conclusions and what he said here.

ZACH COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Isa, this really marks the end of a two-year criminal pursuit of Donald Trump by Jack Smith. He's moving to dismiss both cases. Federal cases against Donald Trump, of course, the one that he charged here in Washington, D.C. related to Donald Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. And, of course, the other one in Florida related to Trump's mishandling of classified documents.

And look, Jack Smith, and his team have tried to bring this case to trial again for years now. And we -- we've known for a while that that was not going to happen. That Donald Trump was not going to stand trial in either case before the 2024 election.

But, Jack Smith, laying out in these court documents today and making very clear that Donald Trump's election victory just earlier this month requires him to end both of those criminal cases under the Constitution, and as you mentioned, under longstanding Justice Department prosecutors cannot prosecute a sitting president. And, look, he makes very clear that he consulted the Justice Department attorneys on this and that, ultimately, they came to the same conclusion that these cases had to end.

He writes in one part of a motion in the January 6th case, he says: After careful consideration, the department has determined that OLC's prior opinions concerning the constitution's prohibition on federal indictment, and prosecution of a sitting president apply to this situation and that as a result, this prosecution must be dismissed before the defendant is inaugurated. That prohibition is categorical and does not turn on the gravity of the crimes charged, the strength of the government's proof or the merits of the prosecution which the government stands fully behind.

And that last part, Isa, as you mentioned, is really important. Jack Smith making clear that this decision solely lies in the fact that Donald Trump will be inaugurated president on January 20th of next year. And not based on the merits or the strength of the case that he and his team have built in either case, the classified documents or the election subversion case, standing by his findings and saying that, look, we've put together a lot of proof that we believe shows Donald Trump committed crimes and he is essentially being let off the hook because he was elected president in 2024.

SOARES: And, Zach, Jack Smith also says he will continue the classified documents prosecution of Trump's co-defendants. I mean, is that even possible if Trump, of course, fires Jack Smith, as he says he would?

COHEN: Yeah. It's going to be really interesting to see how Donald Trump's legal team handles that classified documents case as you mentioned, two of his fellow co-defendants, two former employees of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, also criminally charged as part of that case, and Jack Smith saying that they will continue with their appeal in that case.

You might remember Aileen Cannon, the judge that was overseeing the classified documents case, had thrown the entire thing out and saying that Jack Smith was illegally appointed as special counsel and therefore the case could not continue. Jack Smith's team has appealed that, and now says that they will continue to fight that ruling as it relates to the two co-defendants.

So we'll have to see. These are two allies of Donald Trump. These are two people who effectively are charged with helping obstruct a federal investigation into Donald Trump. Donald Trump's legal team has a lot of, you know, reason to want to bolster their defense. But ultimately, were going to have to see if Donald Trump's control of the Justice Department, he just installed some of his former lawyers at the Justice Department, how all that will trickle down and impact this case going forward.

[[15:05:04]

But I just want to point out, too, both of these opinions and these motions by Jack Smith also request that they be dismissed without prejudice, which does leave the door open technically for charges to be filed in the future related to both these cases against Donald Trump. So again well have to see. But ultimately, this does mean the end of the line for Jack Smith as it relates to his case against Donald Trump.

SOARES: And speaking of Donald Trump, what has been the reaction to from the Trump camp?

COHEN: It's effectively been the opposite of what we saw in Jack Smith's filing. Unlike Jack Smith, who stands fully behind his case and or his cases and his findings, Trump's team is claiming victory. They're calling this a major victory for the rule of law. And J.D. Vance, Donald Trump's vice president-elect, tweeting just a few minutes ago that this shows that these prosecutions against Donald Trump were always politically motivated.

And so this feeds into that narrative that we've heard from Donald Trump and his allies on the campaign trail. And since he was elected to be the next president of the United States that the Justice Department under the Biden administration was weaponized against him, sort of trying to cast all these criminal cases against him as essentially a political targeting operation against him. So, we'll have to see again how that plays out, but Donald Trump clearly using this as part of his bigger messaging strategy.

SOARES: Yeah, talking about political -- ending political weaponization of the justice system, no doubt, rubbing their hands with glee with this news.

Thanks very much, Zach Cohen. And appreciate it.

Well, let's bring in Harry Litman. He's a former deputy assistant attorney general and host of the "Talking Feds" podcast.

Great to have you on the show.

Just your reaction, first of all. I mean, probably not surprising that Jack Smith is ending both cases given. Of course, Trump's election win, which of course, jack smith has been doggedly fighting. Just your reaction to the news.

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yeah, I think in one sense it was anticipated if he didn't do something like it, it surely would have been done on the first hour Trump were in office. But I think Zach got the headline maybe at the end when he this without prejudice because what that technically says is the case could be revived in 2029. It sits in some sort of ill-defined ether and I don't think that's going to please Donald Trump. And the question is whether he can order his Department of Justice to somehow revive the case and then dismiss it with prejudice.

But you're going to have an opinion here its going to come from Tanya Chutkan and she's going to I think, rehearse the things that smith has said about the righteousness of the prosecution, about the DOJ still believing in it, about the override based on the OLC memo but nothing to do with the merits or gravity of the case. So that is a very small kind of, you know, final pyrrhic, I wouldn't even say victory, but little -- little thing, little footnote that Smith has now added to what was going to be a demolished prosecution.

SOARES: Harry, I wonder -- I mean, will any of this evidence be released or published, do you think? Will they ever see the light of day?

LITMAN: It's really the big question now, and so important. Think about 9/11 or other historical episodes. My best guess is yes, Smith is required to give a report to the attorney general, Merrick Garland. It could be bare bones or it could be full-bodied. I expect the latter, and I expect then Merrick Garland to release the report the same way the DOJ released the Robert Hur report having to do with President Biden.

So I think this is our last shot. I think once Trump comes in, you could expect him to try to scrub these pages in support of his narrative that he was innocent all along. So it will come down that report will have important contemporary and historical value and my best guess is, yes, it'll be full and it will be not just about the case he brought, but under the regulations, the cases he didn't bring. And why not?

SOARES: Harry, let me pick your brain here, because Smith said the prosecutors are going to continue the classified documents prosecution of the co-defendants, right. Those two, Walt Nauta and Carlos de Oliveira. And they are, of course, Trump employees helping to obstruct the federal investigation into documents.

I mean, is it possible how do you see that? Speak to the challenges of how you're going to -- how they go about doing this?

LITMAN: Yeah.

SOARES: Given, of course, that Trump is in the decider of the Justice Department here, right?

LITMAN: That's right. So it's so strange right? The kind of complete reversal that will come January 20th.

I think we can assume that he wants to pardon his two co-defendants and that he will. But DOJ is a little tricky point because Aileen Cannon has made a decision that undercuts other courts, including the authority of the DOJ in the Hunter Biden case and in the President Biden case.

[15:10:05]

They may first want to let the 11th Circuit decide that legal issue that Cannon has decided. But I think after that and maybe before, we can expect that remain -- vestiges of the case to end, because Trump will pardon his two coconspirators here.

SOARES: Yeah, the writing probably on the wall. But, you know, as we look at this, and this is something that as the news was breaking as we were covering all the legal cases and we saw every time it hit a wall, it does seem, Harry. And I'll get your insight in, is that Trump basically ran the clock out rather successfully here.

I mean, how do you -- you were looking back. Do you think the Justice Department just simply moved too slowly in terms of charging him?

LITMAN: So I don't. A lot of people do. I'll just put that to the side.

SOARES: Yeah.

LITMAN: But if you do the calendar with what was out there, and they had already been doing more behind the scenes than we knew and even had they brought it sooner, I don't think were in a different place now assuming he wins, is that you're right, it's a fabulous success on his part, but its this complete concatenation of improbabilities that gives him the one thing that would vaporize all these criminal cases, a return to the presidency.

You know, who -- who could possibly -- well, it might have been predicted, but that's something that just absolutely overhauls the legal system rather than being a part of it. He made a long -- long shot bet and he won.

SOARES: Yeah.

Harry Litman, important insight here on the show for our breaking news -- thanks, Harry. Appreciate it.

LITMAN: Thank you.

I want to turn now to the Middle East -- very welcome -- where there is a hope, new hope. I should say, of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah. A Lebanese official has just told CNN an announcement about the ceasefire is expected within 24 hours. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to the plan, at least in principle, and his cabinet will vote on the proposal that is expected, excuse me, tomorrow.

While it is expected to pass, far right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has long opposed the deal, is calling the opportunity, quote, a big mistake. The talk of a ceasefire has only escalated the fighting. Today, Israel launched a powerful airstrike on southern Beirut, sending smoke over the city and this after it strikes over the weekend, of course, leveled an apartment building and killed dozens in the capital, according to Lebanese health ministry, over 3,000 people have been killed since September.

The Israeli military says Hezbollah fired at least 250 projectiles into Israel on Sunday.

Our CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, is in Jerusalem.

So, Nic, just talk us through what we know whats in this deal and if there are any still big question marks from Netanyahu's side or Lebanon side here. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, I think the question at the moment on the Israeli side has been the degree to which they have the freedom of action to strike back at Hezbollah if they break the terms of the ceasefire deal.

Now, the deal is a 60-day ceasefire. The deal, the ceasefire, the deal is that Hezbollah pulls back 30 miles, 45 kilometers north of the Israeli border. They've been literally in buildings right at the border and that's Israel. That's been Israel's problem.

So they now pull back. So they have no military presence there. But that's part of the deal. Israel pulls back inside of Israel.

You know where does it go after a 60 day ceasefire? We heard from the foreign minister here earlier on today saying, not only does Hezbollah have to pull back that far, but they have to not be allowed to reconstitute as a military force and continue to be a threat. And I was talking to somebody who lives right up along the border. I mean, his house looks literally you can see the border wall from his house, and he sees the houses that have been hit by Hezbollah anti-tank rockets.

You know, they go sort of whizzing past this big front window and hit neighboring buildings. And he's saying to me tonight, look, we've really we the community, the 60,000 people he said, is speaking for along the border. They're just feel totally let down by the government.

They feel that they're going back to square one, that the parameters of the security that they'll have will come from the Lebanese army and the U.N., and the French will be involved. Apparently, and he said, that's what we had before. And ultimately yes, there won't be Hezbollah fire now. But he said back late 2006, they'll regroup and it'll happen again.

So I think when you when you try to examine what's happening, this is a political move. It's the right political moment for the prime minister to do it. The war has got to that point.

[15:15:03]

Even if he hasn't convinced ministers like Itamar Ben-Gvir yet, the thinking is, as you say, he's going to sway them.

SOARES: And I was speaking to someone you know well, Alon Pinkas, of course. And he was saying that this agreement is tenuous. It's circumstantial.

I mean, is this likely to get them in light? Of course, we mentioned Ben-Gvir, the far right minister. There's also other voices Bezalel Smotrich I assume as well.

But speak to those concerns -- the domestic policies, the domestic challenges for him.

ROBERTSON: You know, there -- there would be something of a win if the northern community said, hey, well done, great job.

But at the moment, that doesn't seem to be what we're hearing. But there's still a potential of how that will play for the rest of the country because it's something he said he was going to do. It's done later rather than sooner.

But I think, look, if we take a real look at the real big picture here, President Trump's coming into office and he's been pretty clear he doesn't want these wars in the Middle East when he gets into office. He doesn't want the war in Lebanon. He doesn't want the war in Gaza so.

So Trump is a -- Netanyahu is sort of clearing the decks in a way. But there's another piece of the equation here. And I know we've been doing some reporting about this today, about the way the West Bank, the occupied West Bank and the plans for the hard right to annex it. Well, we heard from the defense minister today lay out something that we've been just beginning to hear more of recently from -- from the defense minister saying, we're seeing a big Iranian threat in the West Bank.

They're funneling weapons. They're funneling money. They're trying to recruit people there.

And this is a growing narrative. And he said for that reason, were going to accelerate the building of security fences there.

Well, this is an area that that undoubtedly Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to look to. Donald Trump for support for. So, he wraps up the war in the north so he can concentrate on getting support somewhere else. This is the balancing game that Benjamin Netanyahu executes so well so often. Many people say not forever, but for right now, that's maybe what we're watching.

SOARES: And very quickly on this balancing game, if it does, if the ceasefire does go ahead and its signed tomorrow, nick, how quickly will it take to be put into force?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, I think it's a whale. Look, right, the Hezbollah has got to pull back, proven to be pulled back.

SOARES: Yeah.

ROBERTSON: How has that proven? We don't know. Then the IDF have to pull back, then they have to pause and say, hey, is it safe yet to say the civilians can go back? Have we taken out all the -- all the sort of dud munitions that are lying around the border area?

So I think its going to be a relatively slow process, but obviously, a lot of people are desperate to get back and see what their homes are like and try to, you know, try to put them back in order.

SOARES: Yeah and on the other side, not many homes, of course, to go to as well. So much destruction.

Nic, appreciate it. Thanks very much. And Nic Robertson will have, of course, much more on his reporting

from the West Bank later in the program. Thank you, Nic.

I want to go to the State Department where CNN's Jennifer Hansler is standing by.

And so, Jen, just -- just -- let's flesh out what Nic and I were. We have Jen?

JENNIFER HANSLER, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: Uh-huh.

SOARES: Yes, we do have her.

Jen, let's just flesh out then what nick and I were just talking about. How -- what is your understanding in terms of how the Biden administration is kind of crafting this deal that we are expecting potentially in the next 24 hours alongside, I believe France?

HANSLER: Isa, the U.S. has been intimately involved in all of these negotiations to try to get this ceasefire, this diplomatic resolution in place. But it has been a frustrating process for them. And they are taking a very cautiously optimistic note at this point.

U.S. officials are very quick to say we don't have an agreement yet. We're close, but we're not there. And nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. Because you'll recall, we have been here before. We have seen in the past you'll recall about two months ago, at the end of September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, the U.S. and its partners came out with this plan for a ceasefire across the blue line they said they were almost there.

And then a matter of days later, Israel, an Israeli strike took out the leader of Hezbollah Nasrallah. And there was just this flashpoint of escalation in that conflict. And things sort of went back to square one in a way.

So they are taking a very cautious tone here because they don't want to get burned again. It seems. And this is also the case on Gaza.

The State Department spokesperson had this to say about those negotiations that have just taken months and months of this Biden administration's time. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW MILLER, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: There have been many times when we thought we were going to be getting to yes, in both cases, and for various reasons, the parties didn't get there. That said, we believe we are close here, but that's why you heard me come out and say nothings final until everything is final because, , we know we don't have a deal until there's one that has been fully agreed to by both sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANSLER: And the key negotiator for the U.S. side, Amos Hochstein, was in the region last week.

[15:20:04]

He went to Beirut first for discussions and negotiations and then went to Israel to try to continue to press this agreement over the finish line. Now it seems that they are almost there but as they said, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. And we'll have to see whether all of the key players here actually accept the agreement on the table here, Isa.

SOARES: It seems everyone cautiously optimistic. Let's see what happens in the next 24 hours.

Jennifer Hansler, appreciate it. Thank you.

Joining me now to discuss is Ronnie Chatah, host of "The Beirut Banyan" podcast and son of assassinated Lebanese diplomat Mohamad Chatah.

Great to have you on the show.

Your reaction, first of all, to the mutterings were hearing regarding a possible ceasefire.

RONNIE CHATAH, HOST, "THE BEIRUT BANYAN": I think there's two feelings that come to mind, and one is familiarity. When the July and August 2006 war ended, eerily familiar in that there was an escalation in hostilities and then very quickly, a ceasefire signed, followed by de-escalation and Israeli withdrawal, as long -- in addition to Hezbollah fighters moving north of the Litani River.

You fast forward two decades later, the same resolution is being put into effect. This is 1701, except that there seems to be a more robust enforcement mechanism, which is different than two decades ago, and that the Americans are more involved and it seems like the Israelis along with Hezbollah fighters, this will be a very slow move south and north. It will take 60 days, meaning that there's room for error. And you could see hostilities reemerge. You could also see this not work out and add to that and your correspondent mentioned earlier, we have to see how the Israelis officially respond to the ceasefire deal tomorrow.

But on the other end of the feeling is that it seems like, for better or worse, this is a ceasefire between Israel and Iran and that Lebanon is not really at the table. Lebanese interests are not being represented effectively and add to that, the story of how we got here following 2006. Why there was war again the last year has not been resolved and that really has to do with how Iran operates in Lebanon.

SOARES: Ronnie, just flesh that out for our viewers right around the world because, you know, Iran, of course, is the main player here. Why do you think this -- why do you say that this is a deal between Israel and Iran and not Hezbollah?

CHATAH: In the last two decades, it became apparent that Hezbollah vis-a-vis Iran's interests in Lebanon, were growing the enforcement mechanism for 1701 was not Chapter 7 resolution. It was Chapter 6.

It's the former U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman who's quoted as saying, it's 6.5, meaning the Lebanese state was given access to request international support and UNIFIL support, in other words, mechanism in place to ask for robust border patrol, not just along the Lebanese-Israeli border but along the Lebanese-Syrian border as well.

This is meant to prevent weapons, sub-state weaponry from flowing into the country. This is meant to give the Lebanese state something they had lost decades ago, which is enforcement, meaning the Lebanese army can do its job in the south. It's easy to forget the Lebanese army was not in southern Lebanon before the July and August 2006 war. It had been absent since the 1970s.

Today, you have the Lebanese army. You have UNIFIL, you have one of the most militarized regions in the world, in addition to Hezbollah fighters and now Israeli fighters, as well.

But the difference between Iran to 20 years ago and Iran today is that Iran effectively built its crown jewel in the Middle East. It expanded it. It turned Hezbollah not into a Lebanese resistance force against Israel, not a Lebanese deterrence group. It turned Hezbollah into a regional army.

And Hezbollah has been active in the region the last 20 years. And it's important to note, for the most part in the last 20 years, the Lebanese-Israeli border was quiet. The last two decades, it was a very quiet border and that means the status quo that Lebanon finds itself in doesn't mean Lebanese Israeli war or Hezbollah-Israel fighting. It means paralysis on Israel's -- on Iran's terms, excuse me.

SOARES: Let's -- let's -- let's continue then on that point, Ronnie, because, of course, I think its fair to say, and I wonder if you agree with me here that, you know, that Hezbollah is significantly weaker, of course, and leadership has been decapitated. We've also heard that Iran has said that it will retaliate against Israel, right?

What do you expect to see here? Because do we expect to see Iran continuing to replenish Hezbollah's stockpiles? Just talk to the days after. Of course, not just a reconstruction of Lebanon, but what happens afterwards, once a deal is signed?

[15:25:04]

CHATAH: That's the right question. And I appreciate that you're asking this.

We don't know right now what deterrence looks like from repeating the status quo. We don't know what Iran is actually saving at this point from its strategic leverage in Lebanon.

We also don't know how the Israelis are going to treat this scenario long term. It seems like this round, not like 2006, it seems like this round, diplomacy is not the story Israel set the security terms. Israel has dictated those terms and its Israel that's agreeing right now to a cease fire resolution on its terms.

How Iran behaves long term from the region, how Iran handles Lebanon, I think is premature, but I'll add to that.

SOARES: Yeah.

CHATAH: There is no discussion at this stage at least on how to deter Iran diplomatically from trying to reconstruct a Hezbollah that existed over a year ago.

I don't know if there's any effective mechanism to prevent that. I don't think Hezbollah and Israel will go back to war anytime soon. But that's not good enough. It took us two decades to fight a war that has destroyed Lebanon, and as you said, right, crippled and disfigured Hezbollah.

But that doesn't mean it's over. Even at this stage, it is one of the largest paramilitary forces on the planet. It is still an effective militia.

The other Security Council resolutions meant to deal with that are not being discussed in particular, 1559.

SOARES: Ronnie, you don't sound -- very quickly. You don't sound very optimistic about the ceasefire deal and what comes after, if I can be completely honest with you here.

CHATAH: I am -- it would be ill -- I'm happy that the battle is ending because --

SOARES: Of course.

CHATAH: -- civilians are dying. Thousands of -- there are too many casualties in this country's modern history. Lebanon has been through too many wars since its civil war in the last 34 years.

It is. It is a relief. It is respite to see this round ending. But I am not optimism -- I'm not optimistic about diplomacy.

What I see is something which is far more dangerous. And I'll use the word carefully. I see stability and stability is not good for Lebanon. Stabilization brings things back to the status quo that Lebanon inherited after the civil war ended which is the Lebanese state is unable to reclaim full control and full authority and a monopoly of violence that Lebanon has not seen since the 1960s.

That's not there. And I don't know. I don't know what the Lebanese army or for that matter, the Lebanese state can do without that type of political resolution.

SOARES: Yeah, that's actually an important point.

CHATAH: Short of a regional deal and a -- and a re-understanding of Lebanon as a battlefield, I can't see Lebanon moving on.

SOARES: Three thousand five hundred Lebanese killed and million, of course, displaced. We'll continue on this story, of course, across the story for hope of some good news at least for so many of the Lebanese, and, of course, the Israelis on the other side who have been pushed away from their homes.

Ronnie Chatah, I really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us. Thank you, Ronnie.

CHATAH: Thank you.

SOARES: And still to come, President-elect Trump's cabinet picks are in. Now, Senate Republicans are bracing for how they'll handle the confirmation process with some of his more controversial selections. We'll break that down for you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:26]

SOARES: Welcome back, everyone.

In less than three weeks since his election win, President-elect Donald Trump has announced picks for every cabinet secretary role as well as a number of senior positions. Among them are a handful of individuals tasked with writing Project 2025. And that is a conservative governing blueprint that Trump disavowed, if you remember, and distanced himself from during the campaign.

And that includes, you can see there, Russell Vought. A key author of the Project 2025 who will return to lead the same office he ran in the first administration, Office of Management and Budget.

Joining me now for more with CNN political reporter Alayna Treene who covers, of course, Trump. She is in West Palm Beach, in Mar-a-Lago.

And, Alayna, I want to get to Trump's cabinet selection in just a moment. First, I mean, let's speak to the major breaking news that we've been following here on CNN for the last two hours. And that is Jack Smith's dismissal of both federal cases against Trump.

Just give us a sense of what the reaction, if any, has been so far from the Trump camp.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Well, Isa, I think there's no surprise that Donald Trump and his team are celebrating right now at Mar-a- Lago.

However, when I talk to some of his advisers, they argue that this wasn't a total surprise. They knew that if Donald Trump had won the election, that this was likely to happen. Now we did just moments ago hear from the president-elect himself responding to these cases being dismissed by the special counsel Jack Smith.

I want to read you just some of what he had posted on his social media website, Truth Social. He said, quote: These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless and should never have been brought. In a second post, he said: It was a political hijacking and a low

point in the history of our country that such a thing could have happened. And yet I persevered against all odds and won. Make America Great Again.

So, look, this is pretty typical of what we have seen from Donald Trump. Whenever he had a perceived win in this case, very much a win with regard to his legal cases. And we've heard similar things from other people from his incoming White House communications director, from his running mate, J.D. Vance.

All to say, though, I do think, you know, pointing out the significance of some of this is so important because I would remind you that this these cases have consumed Donald Trump for several months, it's not even more than a year now particularly at a time when his campaign really had to be focusing on the race ahead of him. They were really embroiled in all of this, even having Donald Trump have to sit in and trial for weeks at a time during his New York hush money case.

So I think there's a lot a big sense of relief that this is kind of gone for now. I mean, we'll see if its for now or forever. I mean, it's not going to continue while Donald Trump is in office, but definitely a relief is what I'm picking up from the transition team.

SOARES: And we are starting to see, Alayna, see the administration starting to take shape. But just talk us through how the major players overlay and we mentioned there briefly, a Project 2025

TREENE: Right. Well, we've really seen Donald Trump despite him and his campaign throughout the time on the trail in the lead up to November 5th, really trying to distance themselves from Project 2025.

We've seen Trump now ever since election day, really start to elevate people in his future administration who have ties to Project 2025 or are key architects themselves, and that is one key architect, Russell Vought, his as you mentioned, his pick to lead the White House budget office. He is someone who has really spent a lot of time working on that conservative blueprint.

Really what Vought in particular has wanted to do is see the executive branch and really the power under Donald Trump specifically have them have more power, to bring some of the agencies that we've seen operate more independently really fall under Donald Trump's control.

[15:35:09]

We know that that is something that both vote and Donald Trump align on. Some of the other things as well that he's really pushed for is to completely upend traditional norms as it relates to government and particularly as it relates to career officials. He's been a big proponent of what we've known of as Schedule F. It's really a way for Donald Trump to fire career employees, people who have been there, who are apolitical for several years working in government and replace them with loyalists. There's several other things about wanting him to bring more power

into the White House and under Donald Trump's control, and I think you'll see some of that, particularly as it relates to the budget specifically from Russell Vought, should he get confirmed -- Isa.

SOARES: Alayna Treene -- thank you, Alayna. Appreciate it. Good to see you.

Well, Trump's rapid flurry, of course, of cabinet announcement does not mean that every pick will be swiftly confirmed -- confirmed. With that in mind, the transition team has turned its focus to those confirmation fights in the Senate particularly when it comes to his choices for intelligence, defense secretary and secretary of health, as well as human resources.

CNN congressional correspondent Lauren Fox joins me now from -- for the view from the Senate.

Lauren, it does seem that there are the three -- three that face really the toughest challenge and path. Where are the senators now? What are you hearing?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's important to point out that we are still months from a potential and explosive confirmation hearing process for many of these nominees. We saw what happened last week with Representative Matt Gaetz, who had been nominated to be the attorney general, and then quickly decided to withdraw his name. He has now since been replaced with Pam Bondi as the nominee for the attorney general slot.

But that just goes to show you how much can change and how quickly things can evolve on Capitol Hill. With that said, you know, a lot of staffers and aides that I'm talking to are really in the infancy of this process. Phone calls are beginning with some of these nominees. You saw Pete Hegseth, head to Capitol Hill last week with the incoming vice president, J.D. Vance, as he tried to help introduce the nominee to some of the senators on Capitol Hill. But many of the members that he met with were really friendly pro-Trump members of the United States Senate who are likely to vote for Hegseth anyway.

His really big battle in the days and weeks ahead is going to be trying to convince some of those members on the Senate Armed Services Committee to support his nomination because as part of this vote process in the Senate, you have to first move through each committee. Then they will have a vote. They will decide whether or not to advance someone to the floor of the Senate.

It's important to point out that Republicans can lose three members on each of these nominations. They can lose no more than that, assuming that everyone is attending the votes. But that is a really important thing to keep in mind here because each one of these nominees has a lot of obstacles to overcome when they are trying to convince senators.

Yes, a lot of Republicans believe Donald Trump should get to choose who he wants in his cabinet, but that doesn't mean that it's a rubber stamp necessarily, to advance these nominees -- Isa.

SOARES: And I know you'll stay right across it for us. No doubt it will be explosive.

Lauren Fox, thank you.

And still to come right here, the moment a cargo plane crashes into a house near Lithuania's capital. One person was killed. Investigators are now searching for answers. We'll bring you that story after this short break.

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[15:41:43]

SOARES: Well, investigators are trying to find out why a cargo plane crashed near Lithuania's capital this morning.

The DHL plane skidded into a home and burst into flames as it was arriving at Vilnius airport. You can see that moment, of course, caught on video. One person was killed but remarkably, three others on board survived, along with a dozen people inside the house.

Well, Donald Trump's pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is creating fear among Palestinians that he could accelerate their loss of land. In the past year alone, 227 Palestinian families have been evicted from their homes in the West Bank. And that is according to the activist group Peace Now.

Now, Palestinians fear those evictions in the West Bank could increase under the Trump administration.

Our Nic Robertson is back with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE HUCKABEE, FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: There is no such thing as a West Bank. It's Judea and Samaria.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Mike Huckabee and at times controversial visitor to Israel, looks set to return as President-elect Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador. If he does, he'll have plenty of friends.

Yishai Fleisher, an activist and settler, has met with Huckabee many times.

YISHAI FLEISHER, SETTLER LEADER: He happens to be a great friend of Israel and of the kind of Israel that I represent, that lives in its ancestral heartland, which is Judea and Samaria, what on CNN may be called the West Bank.

ROBERTSON: Even the occupied West Bank.

FLEISHER: Right.

ROBERTSON: Even occupied West Bank.

FLEISHER: But we don't see it that way.

ROBERTSON: But the history of the West Bank is complex, and deeply disputed.

Under international law, Israel is deemed to be occupying the land.

Huckabee will be arriving when settler violence against Palestinians is significantly up over Trump's last administration. And the Israeli government's claim to the land is at its most politically charged in years. Powerful right wing nationalists in the government want to annex the entire occupied West Bank, so too does Fleisher.

FLEISHER: We're still fighting a war of liberation for that piece of land.

ROBERTSON: And is Huckabee going to be helpful in that liberation?

FLEISHER: I think he will be.

ROBERTSON: Fifty miles north on the fringes of the West Bank Palestinian village Bardala, Israeli diggers are gouging out a new barrier through the middle of Palestinian farms on land they say is a security risk.

The Israeli government is in the process of taking more land, the head of the council tells me, claiming no security threats here.

hat the media is talking about with Huckabee is already happening, he says. These actions are part of Israel's systematic policies to occupy an annex all of this land. Their goal is to drive us out of this area. He shows me documents he says prove Palestinian families have owned this land for more than a century.

As we talk, Israeli troops show up to serve an eviction notice on the farmer below. He's been told his buildings are unlicensed.

What he's saying is this document is the official document informing him that he has to be off this land by 9:00 a.m. on the 4th of December.

[15:45:07]

Otherwise, all of this, he loses it.

Khaled is 60 years old heartbroken. I don't know how to describe my feeling to you, he says. This is my livelihood. My children rely on it. Then someone comes along and takes it away.

You can't argue with them. We have no power. They have the power.

In the villages around here, they call this silent annexation. Little by little, the Palestinians losing their land to Israeli settlement expansion. ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI DIPLOMAT: If Israel unilaterally annexes

large parts, large swathes of the West Bank, this is not going to fly well in the Arab world.

ROBERTSON: Pinkas is a former Israeli diplomat believes Huckabee's settler friends could harm Trump's bigger objectives, Saudi-Israel normalization.

PINKAS: He's going to be pressured by the Saudis, the Qataris and the Emiratis to strike a bigger deal. He's going to want to build on the Abraham Accords.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Saudi Arabia very soon.

ROBERTSON: The price of which Trump's biggest regional friend, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, says is a Palestinian state.

MOHAMMAD SHTAYYEH, FORMER PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRIME MINISTER: Maybe there is an opportunity with Saudi Arabia for us. And that is why were closely coordinating with Saudi Arabia.

ROBERTSON: The Palestinian Authority's former prime minister believes it's Trump's friends who will triumph in influencing the Israeli government, not Huckabee's.

SHTAYYEH: This man is not the one who will be dictating the shots. He is a player. He's an important player but he is not the player, he is not the president.

ROBERTSON: By the time Huckabee arrives, more land like farmer Khalid's will have been seized.

"What will the future hold?" he says. It's a question everyone here is asking.

Nic Robertson, Bardala, the occupied West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SOARES: And our thanks to Nic Robertson for that report.

And still to come right here on the show the path to possible freedom for two brothers convicted of killing their parents, Erik and Lyle Menendez. Today marks a major hearing in their case. We are live in Los Angeles with the very latest. That is next for you.

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[15:50:36]

SOARES: We'll have news in the possible resentencing and release of Erik and Lyle Menendez. In short, the brothers convicted in 1989 of killing their parents, sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

They will not be free by Christmas. That is the result of a hearing today marking the Menendez brothers in decades.

Our Nick Watts is there in Los Angeles for us and he'll bring us the very latest.

So, Nick, just talk us through what exactly happened or didn't happen in court today.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Isa, we were expecting the brothers Erik and Lyle together in court, their first public appearance in nearly 30 years. They were supposed to be appearing via video link from the jail where they're being held, the prison they're being held down in San Diego, up here to the courtroom in L.A.

There was a technical snafu. The brothers could hear and see what was happening in the court, but we could not see them. At one point, we just heard one of the brothers saying, yeah, we've been able to see video the whole time. That drew a bit of a laugh from the crowd that had been watching technicians trying to set up this video link.

But what did happen in court is we heard from the sister of Jose Menendez. He is the wealthy businessman executive who was shot to death by his sons, Eric and Lyle. The mother, Kitty, was also shot to death.

Now, Jose's sister in court was very emotional and she said, yes, I loved my little brother. I knew him very well. We were exceptionally close, but these boys have done enough time in jail, 35 years is enough.

Then Kitty's sister. So the mother's sister, she also got up and she also said, we want the boys home. She also spoke about the abuse that the boys say that they suffered at the hands of their father, years of emotional, physical and sexual abuse that they say led them to murder their fathers because they were fearing for -- murder their father because they were fearing for their own lives.

They were, of course, sentenced back in the '90s. This has really all come back to a head because of a few documentaries, one which claims that a boy band member was also sexually abused by Jose Menendez. That led the Erik and Lyle Menendez legal team to file for a retrial or a seeing a resentencing. So, we were supposed to be seeing a resentencing December 11th for various reasons. That is now going to be at the end of January because everybody needs to get up to speed. And also, we've had a new district attorney elected here in Los Angeles, which has also slowed things down a little bit -- Isa.

SOARES: Nick Watt, for us there in Los Angeles, thanks, Nick. Good to see you.

We're going to take a short break and we'll be back on the other side.

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[15:55:50]

SOARES: And with American Thanksgiving tradition just days away, President Joe Biden has made it far more exciting for a couple of turkeys. You are looking at Peach and Blossom. They received the White House turkey pardon allowing them to avoid the oven and of course the dinner table and make it past Thanksgiving.

The turkey -- the first turkey pardon, of course, happened during President JFK's presidency in 1963. And it's huge tradition, of course. I'm sure Peach and Blossom are ecstatic with the news.

That does it for me today. I'm Isa Soares in London.

"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is up next. Have a wonderful day and I shall see you tomorrow.