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TSA Braces for Busiest Thanksgiving on Record; Trump Names Picks for Key Health and Economic Roles; Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire Deal Now in Effect. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 27, 2024 - 10:00   ET

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

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JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: Right now, millions of travelers are heading to the airports and highways for a record Thanksgiving travel week. How much will the weather get in the way? We'll talk about that.

Plus, President elect Donald Trump makes his picks for key roles on trade and public health. We'll get reaction from Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee.

And a shocking twist in an alleged murder case, prosecutors say a Colorado dentist accused of fatally poisoning his wife was also plotting to kill a detective assigned to the investigation.

Good morning. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington. You are live in the CNN Newsroom.

All right, good morning. This morning, the journey begins for an estimated 80 million people who will be on the move over the holiday, according to AAA. And the TSA says this will be the busiest Thanksgiving for air travel ever, with more than 18 million people expected to fly.

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ERIC AGNEW, AIR TRAVELER: We're flying today because, I don't know, like the chaos, I guess? Why are we flying today?

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ACOSTA: Good question. Fellow travelers might be asking the same question as a sprawling storm threatens to cause some disruptions through the weekend.

CNN's Whitney Wild joins us from Chicago O'Hare Airport. Derek Van Dam is tracking the storm for us at the CNN Weather Center.

Whitney, it doesn't look too bad behind you right now, but the day is young. How are things looking in Chicago?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They look absolutely perfect here, Jim. Today is the day to fly. I know this guy is saying he likes the chaos. Tomorrow could be even more chaotic because that's when a weather system could descend on some of the busier airports. So, right now, though, it's looking very clear.

Let me show you the big board here, Jim. This is exactly what you want to see on Thanksgiving. Look at this, on time, on time, on time. Those are the only two words you want to see when you're traveling over at Thanksgiving, especially when there are this many people taking to the air.

As you said, 18 million people total probably going to fly over this weekend. Here at O'Hare, it's going to be and -- O'Hare and Midway, which is the other Chicago area airport, they're thinking it's going to be at least 1.5 million people who travel between yesterday and next Monday. The busiest day is going to be Sunday, Jim. They're thinking 254,000 people are going to roll through O'Hare on Sunday alone.

So, that just gives you a sense of how big this travel weekend is. And then compared with last year, it's about an 11 percent increase. So, when you look across the board, things could not be more perfect. The weather is holding for today. The cancelations are low, 25 cancelations throughout the country.

You know, a few hundreds of delays, but delays don't mean cancelation, Jim. So, this is a -- we're in very, very good shape. Let me show you the clear security line here at O'Hare. Look at this, very, very smooth. They're and that's also TSA pre-check down the way there. But this is clear, very smooth.

Let me give you the economy look here, Jim. It's bustling, but it is quick. Right now, the numbers at O'Hare 15 minutes through economy, 15 minutes through TSA pre, 5 minutes if you're flying first class. It can't get any better than that on a holiday weekend, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, don't jinx it though. This is going well so far, but the day is young. You never know what could happen in an hour or two from now. But in the meantime, that's great, great stuff. Whitney, thank you so much.

And, Derek, when are we going to see some impacts from weather? I mean, today it looks decent across much of the country, but that is not going to hold out.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right, Jim. We've hit the weather jackpot, if you're traveling today at the airport, looking fantastic. I snapped this picture earlier outside the CNN studios of just how busy the air travel is over the busiest airport hub in America, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Look all the contrails in the sky. The skies are packed with planes right now and we've got green across the board from the West Coast to the East Coast. Of course, green means go. No major travel delays.

However, there is a storm system brewing across Colorado and possibly light flakes to fall from the sky.

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This is coming out of Steamboat Springs, where up to two feet of snow has blanketed the slopes, created some tricky travel conditions along I-70, but that energy from that particular storm system is going to move eastward and this is going to be the game changer. Prepare yourself for the long haul. If you're heading to grandma or grandpa's house on the East Coast, things are going to get very interesting on Thanksgiving days.

Again, today, you're in the clear. No problems. But tomorrow, 24 hours later, this will be a completely different story. Look at this low pressure rain for the coastal cities, that I-95 corridor, snow the further north you travel into Northern New England. And then that trailing cold front, that could spin up a few powerful thunderstorms across the southeast today. Threats remain across Birmingham and into parts of Mississippi tomorrow. We've got our eyes set on Atlanta. So, keep an eye to the sky as you set down for that dinner table with friends and family.

Look at how much snow we can expect outside of the major cities, four to eight inches of slushy, wet snow. Lots of fun to drive on as you head home from grandma and grandpa's. Jim?

ACOSTA: Yes, you got to be careful out there.

All right, Derek and Whitney, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Just three weeks after winning the White House, Donald Trump is quickly assembling his team for a second term. Overnight, the president-elect added a new round of names filling major roles in public health and economic advisers. Notably, he selected businessman John Phelan for secretary of the Navy. He does not have military experience, we should note. And one of the first people to concoct the 2020 fake electorate strategy, Vince Haley, has been tapped to lead the Domestic Policy Council.

Another new development to tell you about after weeks of delays, the Trump team has also signed an agreement with the Biden White House that does unlock key transition briefings and cooperation.

Joining me now is Republican Congressman Tim Burchett of Tennessee. Congressman, good to be with you, thanks for being with us once again.

Let's talk about these cabinet choices. What's your sense of how things are going so far? What's your priority in terms of getting some of these nominees through confirmation hearings in the coming weeks?

REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): Well, I'm delighted with them, Jim. This is what America voted for. They voted for change. We were going off a cliff economically every other way. Our borders were awash. 14 million people come over in the last four years, the fentanyl crisis, and already with the talks of tariffs, you're seeing the president of Mexico backing off and telling we're going to work on shutting the border down. So, I think it's working very well. ACOSTA: I do want to ask you about that. I mean, you know, the poll showed America's primarily voted for Trump to fix inflation and the economy. Did the American people vote for people like Matt Gaetz to be the attorney general or a vaccine conspiracy theorists, like RFK Jr., to be in public health roles? Isn't that overreach?

BURCHETT: No. Nobody would take the fight. The corrupted Justice Department has been weaponized against Americans, like Matt Gaetz. Everybody knows that. And if the Justice Department had anything on Matt Gaetz, they would have brought charges, but instead they chose to throw them out. So, I think (INAUDIBLE) that question.

ACOSTA: It's a holiday week. I don't want to, you know, I don't want to get too testy before we all eat some turkey. But Matt Gaetz for attorney general, you were in favor of that?

BURCHETT: Absolutely. I thought he would have been an excellent choice. Nobody is hated by our Justice Department more than Matt Gaetz and for good reason. He understands that it's not just the head person there. It's the second, third tier level people. You know, these are the people that weaponized against Americans that were -- you know, if a mom and dad went to a school board meeting, they were labeled as domestic terrorists by our current Justice Department.

ACOSTA: Congressman, come on. The Justice Department --

BURCHETT: That was documented, Jim. Look, Jim, that was documented. You all have made your case for Kamala Harris and America did not buy it. America firmly, overwhelmingly endorsed Donald Trump in these changes that he's going to make.

Matt Gaetz didn't make the cut, unfortunately, and we have an excellent lady in that's going to be in that position. So, once again, I think Trump won and Matt Gaetz is probably going to go off and make millions of dollars.

ACOSTA: All right, let's talk about tariffs. Trump has proposed a 25 percent tariff on all products coming from Canada and Mexico. He's framed it as a consequence for drugs and migrants coming across the border. I do want to I'm going to ask you a question mention this to you, Mexico, who you mentioned it has been working with the bite administration to crack down on the border in recent months. Last month, Customs and Border Patrol arrested about 56,000 people along the southern border. That is almost 15,000 less or fewer than October of 2020 when Trump was finishing his first term.

As you know, Congressman, arrests on the southern border are down. Is this really the best way to get cooperation at the border, slapping tariffs on products coming in from these countries?

BURCHETT: Absolutely. President Trump is a businessman. He understands. Look, Jim, when I only thing I could really compare it to when I was in the state senate back in Tennessee -- or in statehouse, excuse me, I raised the speed limit.

[10:10:02] I asked for 85 and I took 70. I'd actually brought Peyton Manning to the house for the week prior. I probably could have gotten 100 miles an hour and passed communism the next week. You know how popular Peyton is. But the reality was he asked for a lot. You know what you can live with, and that is the art of the deal. That is negotiating with a businessman, and that's something that this country needs. We need to be negotiating.

ACOSTA: Yes. But there's already talk of retaliatory measures coming from countries like Mexico if Trump moves ahead with these tariffs. As you know, that could cause prices to spike in a variety of areas of the economy. It happened the last time around when Trump was in office. There were tariffs that caused prices to spike in this country. Are Republicans willing to take responsibility if inflation makes a comeback? Will you own this if inflation makes a comeback because there's a trade war in this country and around the world?

BURCHETT: Absolutely. Because tariffs -- what would happen if tariffs -- if we were to get Trump's complete plan? Somebody making $100,000 would take home $100,000. The IRS would have to go out and get a real job somewhere. An American -- our economy would flourish because jobs would be created in this country. And Mexico kills over 200 people a day with fentanyl.

You know, it's time we start calling them on the table. 300,000 children have been --

ACOSTA: You and I have talked about this before. The fact check on this, though, is that the majority of the fentanyl that comes into this country comes in through legal ports of entry. I mean, all of our viewers at home can go look this stuff up. It comes across legal ports of entry. A vast majority of the people who are arrested for bringing fentanyl across the border are U.S. citizens.

BURCHETT: What? Well, does it matter? It flows through -- we know it flows from China to Mexico into our border. The border is porous. 14 million people are coming over. So, you're telling me you know what each and every one of those is carrying in those backpacks? Come on, Jim, you know it and I know it. It was coming over our Mexican border. That's why the Mexican president right now spoke yesterday about the need for border security. And they're going to bring the fentanyl thing under control, I suspect, very soon. It's just like --

ACOSTA: The president of Mexico has also said -- has also talked about there's very much going to be the possibility that there are going to be retaliatory tariffs coming in from Mexico. You may see that happening from Canada. We talked to an economic expert yesterday who said this could result in higher fuel prices. You were just saying earlier that you're willing to take ownership of this if this results in a trade war that causes inflation to spike. Aren't you worried about what's going to happen in the upcoming midterm elections if that happens? I mean, inflation is what helped Donald Trump get back into the White House.

BURCHETT: That will be very short-term, Jim. You know that as good as well as I do. We will start producing it in this country. We will start drilling in this country. And then we will have economic impact that will be an unbelievable. Because that's why the Teamsters and the rest of these unions either went neutral on this election or supported Trump because they realized we can put it on these foreign entities, and then we'll start doing it in this country, and Americans will be back to work. I think that's a great plan. I think we should all embrace it.

ACOSTA: We have you on the record as you're in favor of a trade war?

BURCHETT: If it comes down to it, if it saves American lives, 200 Americans a day, Jim, we've lost more people to fentanyl than we did the Vietnam War and we and in Washington's allowed it. 14 million people, 300,000 children sold into who knows what horrible hell they're enduring right now. That's on me and you. That's on this White House. Trump's going to clean it up. You know it. I know it. The American people know it. That's why he won this election.

ACOSTA: Right. But, I mean, I'm just saying the data does show again the vast majority of the fentanyl that comes into this country comes through legal ports of entry. That is something you could look up, and it comes via U.S. citizens bring it across. So, you're just saying you don't believe that data?

BURCHETT: No, I don't believe that data. You don't know what those 14 million people that came over our border. We don't know where they were. We don't even know how they got here except on our southern border. They're carrying the drugs in there, muling it in. You know it. I know it. That's a bogus statistic that you all keep putting out and nobody is buying it, because if they bought it, you'd be talking about President-elect Kamala Harris right now and not Donald Trump.

ACOSTA: All right. Congressman Tim Burchett, we always appreciate your time. Thanks very much.

BURCHETT: Have a great Thanksgiving, Jim. It's always a pleasure, brother.

ACOSTA: All right, Happy Thanksgiving.

Coming up, more than 12 hours in and the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah seems to be holding. Now, the U.S. is hoping this deal could be a potential game changer in a renewed push for a deal in Gaza. That's coming up.

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ACOSTA: This morning, the new ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appears to be holding residents in Southern Lebanon have begun to return home after 13 months of conflict despite the Israeli military warning its troops are still operating in some of these areas. An Israeli security official said residents of Northern Israel can decide for themselves when to return to their communities.

Joining me now is CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. He's also the White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times. David, great to see you again, happy holidays. I appreciate you coming on this day before Thanksgiving.

What do you think? How much confidence is there that this is going to lead to a lasting peace, this ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and maybe have some spillover effect in Gaza? What do you think?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Happy Thanksgiving, Jim.

First of all, I have to say it's fairly remarkable that this has happened at all. I didn't think it would come together until President Trump took office because I thought that Prime Minister Netanyahu would want to give it to President Trump as a sort of early gift.

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And so the fact that they were able to go do this, that the prime minister showed the flexibility of doing it during the Biden time, given the conflicts they've had together, I think that is all somewhat remarkable.

I think it probably does have a decent chance of holding. The problem comes if you have a sort of rogue member of Hezbollah who starts firing missiles into Israel, and that could start everything up again. So, these were always pretty fragile. I think the big sign will be if the Israeli population begins going back into those small towns that are right along the Lebanon border that have been evacuated.

The, really, large question is your last one, will this spread to Hamas? And that's a fascinating issue. I think Hamas will be reluctant to do so, but, boy, they're more isolated than ever because Hezbollah, you know, basically went to war with Israel on October 8th in sympathy with Hamas, and now they are pretty well isolated and, of course, leaderless. And I think the big question is, is there anyone inside Hamas who's capable of making this decision?

ACOSTA: And David, I'm sure you saw this. Republican Congressman Mike Waltz, Trump's pick for national security adviser, says credit goes to the president-elect for the ceasefire, even though he's not in office yet, saying, quote, his resounding victory sent a clear message to the rest of the world that chaos won't be tolerated. And perhaps you saw this as well this morning on CNN, national security adviser for President Biden, Jake Sullivan, brushed that aside. Let's listen.

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JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This peace deal was reached because Israel achieved its military objectives because the stakeholders in Lebanon decided they didn't want war anymore and because of relentless American diplomacy led by President Biden.

I would just point out that you know you've done a really good thing when other people take credit for it. We are very proud of what we have done and we look forward to passing off a better situation to the incoming team. (END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Yes, David, what do you think?

SANGER: Yes. I think I would lean with Mr. Sullivan on this one. I mean, at this point, I think more of this had to do with dynamics on the ground. The Israelis did a much better job of wiping out both the tunnels and the arms for Hezbollah than we thought was possible. Obviously, they targeted and killed Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah.

And so I think you could argue that those were the dynamics that were driving this. I'm not sure that there was any particular role for the incoming Trump administration, nor should there be under the theory that we have one president at a time.

Now, whether or not this holds and whether or not President Trump then has a team in place to pick this up, that will be the interesting test.

ACOSTA: Yes. And there seems to be some urgency on the part of the Biden team to perhaps craft some sort of deal that ends the hostilities in Gaza as well. I mean, that might be a lot of wishful thinking, but it seems to be -- that seems to be where they're driving.

SANGER: It is. And you heard the president say that right off. It's also a lot harder because you have there the question of prisoner release that did not complicate the Hezbollah case. You have the question of whether or not Israel will completely withdraw from Gaza, which has been a continuing source of contention between Washington and Prime Minister Netanyahu. So, you know, the Hamas case is more complicated.

ACOSTA: All right. David Sanger, we'll be watching. Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.

SANGER: Thanks. Great to be with you, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Good to see you.

Coming up courtroom outburst, Rudy Giuliani described as, quote, losing it in court. We'll explain.

And accused of killing his wife, a Colorado dentist is facing new charges, this time in a possible plot to have a detective on that case killed. That's next.

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ACOSTA: A dentist in Colorado accused of murdering his wife by poisoning her protein shake is now facing new felony charges. Prosecutors say James Craig tried to convince a fellow inmate to kill an Aurora Police detective who investigated his case, according to their amended complaints.

CNN's Jean Casarez has the details. Jean, what a wild story. What more are you learning?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And this is real life. This is like a person that could live down the street from you. This was a dentist in the Denver area, very successful practice. His wife, Angela Craig, they've been married for 23 years, six children, and she should be alive.

Well, what just happened was the trial was supposed to begin. And all of a sudden, the defense attorneys quit. They resigned as being his counsel, based on the rules of professional responsibility, as attorneys saying that if there is fraudulent or they believe illegal activity going on, they have a right to leave the case. They did.

Well, shortly after that, a brand new charge, an amended complaint came out of solicitation to commit first-degree murder. And what we are understanding is that this involved his intent to have another inmate in that jail when he got out to commit the murder of one of the detectives on the investigation.

So, now there is an additional charge, a couple of charges actually, but this all began just last year when Angela Craig, who was trying to take care of herself, would have her husband make her a protein shake every morning.

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