Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

President Biden Pardons Hunter Biden; Trump Nominates Two Family Members in Key Post; Bashar al-Assad to Fight Terrorist Organizations; Israeli Strikes Kills 200 in Gaza; U.S. President Biden Pardons Son Hunter n Criminal Cases; Protests Spread Amid Plans To Suspend E.U. Talks; Why Trump Tapped Firebrand Kash Patel For FBI Director. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired December 02, 2024 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States, around the world and streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead, U.S. President Joe Biden issues an official pardon for his son Hunter, despite earlier pledging not to do so. And the move is already sparking backlash from both sides of the aisle.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad taps his allies to send in reinforcements as rebel forces advance in Aleppo and beyond.

And another night of unrest in Georgia as anger boils over at the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union.

Good to have you with us. Well, with his term in office winding down, U.S. President Joe Biden has delivered a bombshell announcement, doing something he vowed he would never do. He has issued a full and unconditional pardon for his son, Hunter. And now Republicans and Democrats are weighing in on both the immediate and long-term ramifications of the president's broken promise.

A senior administration official says President Biden reached the decision just this weekend as he and his family were wrapping up their Thanksgiving holiday together in Massachusetts. The White House had still denied a pardon was a possibility as recently as last month. The president issued a statement explaining his reasoning, saying in part, quote, "no reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son and that is wrong."

Hunter Biden was convicted on three federal felony gun charges in June in a trial that exposed details of his drug abuse. He faced up to 25 years in prison for those crimes. He also pleaded guilty to nine charges and a federal tax case in September. He was due for sentencing in both cases later this month. He is the first immediate family member of a sitting U.S. president to be found guilty of a crime. Hunter Biden released his own statement on the pardon saying, in part,

"I have admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction. I will never take the clemency I have been given today for and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering." CNN's Evan Perez has more details on how the president reached his decision.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, saying that there were signs that his son was being selectively and unfairly prosecuted. Now, Hunter Biden was facing the prospect of spending several years in prison after being convicted on gun charges in Delaware and on tax charges in Los Angeles. Now, the president has repeatedly said that he would not pardon his son. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS HOST: Let me ask you, will you accept the jury's outcome, their verdict, no matter what it is?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Yes.

MUIR: And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?

BIDEN: Yes.

MUIR: You have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: In a statement on Sunday night, the president said, the charges in this case came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigating them to attack me and oppose my election. He also goes on to say that for my entire career I have followed a simple principle. Just tell the American people the truth, they'll be fair-minded and here's the truth, I believe in the justice system. But as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it has led to a miscarriage of justice."

Now, Joe Biden took office in 2021 promising to restore faith in the justice system and this statement on Sunday night indicates that he believes the justice system has failed to treat his son fairly. Now, Hunter Biden will be covered under this pardon for anything that happened between 2014 and 2024. So the question remains whether Republicans in Congress and whether the incoming Trump administration will find new reasons to investigate Hunter Biden and the Biden family, as they have said they repeatedly would do. Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

CHURCH: President Biden's decision to pardon his son is drawing reactions from Washington and beyond.

[02:05:00]

That includes President-elect Donald Trump, who calls the move an abuse and miscarriage of justice. That's despite the fact Trump pardoned a member of his own extended family for federal crimes during his first term. Trump has even picked that man, Charles Kushner, to serve as U.S. Ambassador to France.

Meantime, House Republican Andy Biggs claims Biden will go down as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history. Senate Republican Josh Hawley weighing in as well, calling the president's move an outrageous abuse of the rule of law. Outside of Washington, Colorado's Democratic Governor Jared Polis added his thoughts on the president, saying, quote, "I am disappointed that he put his family ahead of the country. This is a bad precedent that could be abused by later presidents and will sadly tarnish his reputation."

Jessica Levinson is Professor of Law at Loyola Law School and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast. She joins us now from Los Angeles. Good to have you with us.

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Good to be here.

CHURCH: So what are the legal ramifications of President Joe Biden giving his son, Hunter, a full and unconditional presidential pardon after consistently saying he would not pardon his son? And what does this mean exactly?

LEVINSON: Well, it means that Hunter Biden gets a get out of jail free card for his conviction for buying a gun when he wasn't allowed to buy a gun and for his guilty pleas for tax evasion. So for Hunter Biden, the legal implications are pretty clear that he will not face time in federal prison as a result of either one of these cases. For President Biden offering a pardon, I think the legal implications are zero.

Presidents have very broad pardon power under the constitution. The political implications might be somewhat different, but Rosemary, you know, as a student of history, that we have had presidents on their way out the door who pardon family members, friends, donors. So this is not unprecedented.

CHURCH: And Jessica, in his statement, President Biden cast doubts on the fairness of the U.S. justice system. What is your response to that?

LEVINSON: So I think it's important to look at the two cases separately. There was the case where Hunter Biden was convicted by a jury and that deals with lying on a federal form to buy a gun. And then separately, there is a tax evasion case where Hunter Biden was pleading guilty. And I think when it comes to the gun case, that really is not typically brought as a standalone charge.

And so I think we can say with a straight face that it's quite unusual to see that case brought against an individual, again, without other charges. Now, just because something is typically not done doesn't mean it's illegitimate. But when it comes to the tax evasion case, I think the claims of selective prosecution are not quite as strong here. So, you know, is it the case that if Hunter Biden were a Hunter Smith, then these cases would not have been brought? I think that is possible. But again, I think big differences here between the gun possession case and the tax evasion case.

CHURCH: And why do you think President Biden suddenly changed his mind about pardoning his son?

LEVINSON: I think because this is a father with presidential pardon power and, uh, you know, we can have a discussion about whether or not President Biden's statements that he would not pardon Hunter Biden were truthful or not, whether or not he meant it at the time, but clearly, he changed his tune. And again, this is not entirely unprecedented. He's never going to run for another election.

Um, I don't think that this will be the thing we talk about when it comes to his legacy. I think it will be a footnote the same way that we talk about President Bill Clinton who pardoned his brother in the final weeks of his administration. President Trump has pardoned a number of people including his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, who he now apparently will appoint to be ambassador to France. That was a clemency grant, not a pardon, but there's precedent for this.

CHURCH: And it is worth mentioning that Hunter Biden was scheduled to be sentenced later this month. President Biden could have pardoned him after the whole process had played out. What benefit would he have seen to granting the pardon now before that sentencing do you think?

LEVINSON: Well, I think there's something to be said for the earlier in the process that you can grant the pardon. I also think that he probably didn't want to leave anything to chance. He made his decision. It might be, frankly, we don't know. It could be time more to news cycle than to sentencing. It could be that he felt once the sentence was given, then it would look like sour grapes with respect to the sentence.

[02:10:03]

I think it could be all of those things together. We really don't know except to say that it is predictable that it would come now. That it would be December or January and not earlier. And you know, there's some question about whether or not he would have granted the pardon if Kamala Harris had won. I suspect that he still would have.

CHURCH: And are there any legal avenues available to the Trump administration should they try to go after Hunter Biden or could they instead go after his father, President Biden?

LEVINSON: Well, I mean, if the Trump administration uncovers wrongdoing by Hunter Biden that isn't covered by these pardons, then potentially, but there are statute of limitations issues that you would need to look at. When it comes to President Biden, I do not think that you could prosecute him for anything related to the granting of the pardon again. But if there's uncovering of new information that the members of Congress who have investigated the Biden family were unable to find, then certainly you could move forward. But I don't see that at this point.

CHURCH: Jessica Levinson, appreciate your analysis. Thanks for joining us. LEVISON: Thank you.

CHURCH: Those closest to the president say his 11th hour decision to pardon Hunter Biden comes as no surprise. CNN Chief National Affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, assesses the impact of Sunday's announcement on Biden's half-century political legacy.

(BEGIN AUDIOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a part of his legacy now. There is no doubt about it. As we really think across an extraordinary five decades of public life, his long rise from the Senate, of course the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, to the vice presidency to the presidency, he's really acknowledging in his statement that Washington has changed. He believes politics has changed. And he believes that Hunter Biden has been unfairly treated.

Of course, others will have a different view of that, but clearly in his fleeting moments of executive authority, he has it until, you know, January 20th at noon. This is clearly something that he had to do. If he was going to do it, had to act now. December 12th is the first sentencing and clearly chose family over any concerns of his political legacy here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: That analysis from CNN's Jeff Zeleny. Well, turning to the Trump transition now as Donald Trump's next term as president is becoming more and more of a family affair. As mentioned, has now nominated real estate executive Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to serve as U.S. ambassador to France. And on Sunday the president-elect chose billionaire Massad Boulos to serve as his senior advisor on Arab and Middle Eastern affairs.

Boulos, who was heavily involved in Trump's campaign and Muslim- American communities in battleground states, is the father-in-law of Trump's daughter, Tiffany.

Syrian rebels say they are gaining ground in Aleppo and beyond as President Bashar al-Assad's allies in Moscow send reinforcements. Coming up, the latest on the fighting in the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:15:00]

CHURCH: Rebel forces are expanding their control in Syria after launching a surprise offensive last week.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

They claim to have made significant gains in the northern countryside of Aleppo, capturing several towns and villages. Syrian state media reports that President Bashar al-Assad says he intends to fight what he calls terrorist organizations with, quote, "force and determination," as the Iranian foreign minister arrived in Damascus on Sunday in a show of support for a key ally.

Russia is also stepping in to help Syria continuing to strike rebel targets in Aleppo, Hama and Idlib. Russian state media reports that more than 300 rebel fighters were killed over the past 24 hours. CNN cannot independently verify those numbers. Meantime, the U.N. special envoy for Syria is pushing for de-escalation, warning, quote, "Syria is in danger of further division, deterioration and destruction." CNN's Nic Robertson is following the latest developments from London.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: All the indications are that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, backed by Russia, will try to fight, regroup and take back control of Aleppo. It was a lightning advance by that group, that rebel alliance to get into the city almost fully under their control now and it does appear that they will take the last neighborhoods in the coming days.

The situation right now for Bashar al-Assad, he has said that he will take on these terrorists, will regroup his forces. He met Sunday with the Iranian foreign minister who flew into Syria for conversations. The Iranian foreign minister saying that this was an indication of how much support Iran is giving to its neighbors at this time. But it's Assad's air force along with the Russian air force that have been perpetrating the bombing raids in Aleppo and some of the other areas in the north of Syria trying to hit rebel targets.

A couple of locations where at least a handful of people have been killed. The real picture of what's going on is still emerging at the moment, but the rebel groups seem to be having surprising success. The concern here for the United States is that this is a complicated situation, that the principal rebel group at the head of this rapid advance is a prescribed terrorist organization that the United States has been watching closely for a long time.

[02:19:57]

And it's allied here as well with another rebel group that's not a fundamentalist Sunni group. It's a group that's backed by Turkey. But the picture that emerges is Bashar al-Assad weaker, his allies Russia and Iran weaker, and for the United States, a complicated picture.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: It's a complicated question because the group at the vanguard of this rebel advance, HTS, is actually a terrorist organization designated by the United States. So we have real concerns about the designs and objectives of that organization. At the same time, of course, we don't cry over the fact that the Assad government, backed by Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah, are facing certain kinds of pressures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And the reasons to think that this offensive can continue, the rebels appear to want to push further south towards the Syrian cities of Hama, perhaps Homs further south of that. Assad threatening to fight back. But if you look back, back to 2016 when Bashar al-Assad took control over Aleppo. That was a very long, a very bloody and very destructive fight with a huge number of casualties. At this time it's hard to see that we're not looking at the potential for that again. Nic Robertson, CNN, London.

CHURCH: Jerome Drevon is a senior analyst on jihad and modern conflict with the International Crisis Group. He joins us now from Geneva in Switzerland. Appreciate you being with us.

JEROME DREVON, SENIOR ANALYST ON JIHAD AND MODERN CONFLICT, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Good morning.

CHURCH: So who are these various Syrian rebel groups? How have they been able to unite and gain ground so quickly? And what are they ultimately trying to achieve here?

DREVON: So it's really an alliance of armed groups that has formed throughout the civil war for the past 15 years. But what we've seen is for the past four or five years, they've really tried to restructure themselves, reorganize, professionalize their military force, get new training, and behave more like an army, which largely explains the type of success that they've achieved.

Now their immediate objective is to consolidate their control over the city of Aleppo in the north, maybe try to push toward the south, but that would be much more difficult because the regime and its allies are preparing a counteroffensive there.

CHURCH: And as the Assad regime struggles to secure its territory with a diminished level of support from both Russia and Iran due to their own wars in Ukraine across the Middle East, how serious a threat is this to Bashar al-Assad's rule, do you think?

DREVON: It's not directly a threat to his rule in the immediate term, in the sense that there are many other cities that the regime of Bashar al-Assad is controlling at the moment. But it's a threat for the long run because it shows that the opposition potentially can create some type of viable alternative, political alternative in Aleppo, the second city of the country, the economic hurt of Syria.

And that's a very threatening long-term threat because it can convince other people who are still living under the regime that there might be an alternative in the long run.

CHURCH: Yeah, I wanted to ask you that. I mean, does this mean that the Assad regime has lost Aleppo? And if so, what are the possible consequences of that?

DREVON: I think it will be much more difficult for Assad to retake Aleppo the way it took it before because this is the first time that the opposition is controlling all of Aleppo, not only a part of it, but also all the countryside of Aleppo. So it means now the opposition is probably actively building up front lines, new defense lines to defend itself. So I think it will be unlikely for it to retake Aleppo the way it did in the past, also because its allies are not as strong as they used to be. CHURCH: And what's Turkey's role in all of this? What's its end game

here?

DREVON: So Turkey has an indirect role. Turkey has supported some of the armed groups that are involved in this operation. But the smaller armed groups, HTS, the main one, is merely coordinating with Turkey, but without having full support from this country. But for Turkey, there are two main objectives. First, to secure an area in the north of the country that can be more or less stable. And in the midterm as well, potentially have some of the refugees who are currently living in Turkey go back to their home areas because most of the refugees in Turkey are coming from the north of the country, especially Aleppo.

CHURCH: Jerome Drevon, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your analysis and perspective on this matter. Appreciate it.

DREVON: Thank you.

CHURCH: We are following a developing story out of Guinea where the Prime Minister has confirmed that there have been multiple casualties following a crowd crush at a football match.

[02:24:56]

One video from social media showed fans scrambling to flee the packed stadium, some even scaling a wall. A local outlet says clashes between fans and security began over a series of decisions by the referee, which was then followed by a crush as crowds tried to leave the stadium. CNN has not been able to verify this report. We will, of course, continue to follow this story and bring you the latest developments as they come into us.

Health officials in northern Gaza say Israeli airstrikes killed at least 200 people over the weekend. The director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital says five buildings in two different areas in the north were hit during attacks on Saturday, leaving many buried under the rubble. Gaza's civil defense says 40 people in the same family were killed in one strike. The daily airstrikes are adding to the worsening humanitarian crisis.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says it has halted aid deliveries through the main crossing point between Israel and Gaza after more aid trucks were stolen. The UNRWA chief says, quote, "the difficult decision to stop deliveries through Kerem Shalom comes at a time when hunger is rapidly deepening."

Still to come this hour and much more on our breaking news, we'll look at reaction to U.S. President Biden issuing an unconditional pardon for his son Hunter on gun and tax charges. Back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back everyone. Updating you on the breaking news. Reaction is pouring in from both parties after U.S. President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter on federal gun and tax charges.

[02:30:04]

CNN political commentator Bakari Sellers took to social media to push back on the Republican outcry over Biden's decision. The former Democratic office holder saying, quote, y'all ran and won on pardoning actual insurrectionists. Chill on a man pardoning his son.

Sellers, of course, referring to President-elect Trump and his role in the January 6th insurrection. President Biden made the announcement on Sunday saying the charges against his son were politically motivated. Hunter Biden was facing sentencing this month for the tax and gun charges.

President Biden released a statement on his decision, saying in part no reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son and that is wrong. Enough is enough.

Well, earlier I spoke with Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for politics, on the political implications of Biden's decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA-CENTER FOR POLITICS: Well, for Joe Biden, he's 82 and I don't think he's going to be running for anything else. That's just my guess. So for him, the political implications are zero.

For the Democratic Party, though, it's not very helpful. Now, I think we can all see the reasons why this father would pardon this son.

Having said that, though, he's created a situation where he and also his wife said repeatedly that a pardon would not be issued for Hunter, and yet that's precisely what's happened. No one's shocked, but it does contradict what he said. It would have been politically unwise for him to indicate prior to the election that such a pardon would be forthcoming.

For Democrats, it makes it easier for Trump to explain away any of probably the many pardons that he has in mind when he takes office January 20, including many of the insurrectionists from January 6, 2021.

CHURCH: And so Republicans are, of course, already responding to this. And Tom Cotton is saying, spare us the lectures about the rule of law. How might this presidential pardon of Hunter Biden impact the legacy of his father?

SABATO: I suspect it'll probably end up being a footnote because so much has happened. And this is not surprising to very many people. I suppose if you're naive, it's surprising, but most people aren't naive about politics anymore.

You know, in terms of the overall picture, it's certainly not a positive for Joe Biden. It's a blemish on his record to a certain degree, and it's a full and unconditional pardon that includes any offenses that Hunter Biden might have committed over the last 11 years. I think all of us would love to have a pardon like that.

But, you know, I don't think it's going to make a major difference. For the party, though it will. And it's going to give cover to Donald Trump for many of the things that he does. Democrats can say correctly in return to Republicans, well, that's very hypocritical of you because you've just elected a convicted felon as president. But we all know in politics, partisans excuse anything that their side does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And you can watch my full interview with Larry Sabato ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

President Biden is now on his way to Angola on a trip postponed since October. It will be his first time in Africa as president, and he will highlight several U.S. initiatives, in particular an 800 mile railway project to help transport critical minerals from the interior of Africa to Angola's western port. President Biden also hopes to shore up relations with a key U.S. partner and to blunt Chinas growing influence on the continent.

Beijing has poured billions of dollars into African infrastructure projects as part of its belt and road initiative. Mr. Biden aims to offer an investment alternative, one he hopes Donald Trump will continue as president.

Well, protests in Georgia are spreading as people in the country react to the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union. The latest on that story and more, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:37:53]

CHURCH: Protesters and police clashed in Georgia's capital Tbilisi in the early hours of Monday morning in a sign that opposition is spreading to the government's decision to suspend talks on joining the European Union.

CNN's Lynda Kinkade has this report on the ongoing unrest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Facing down a row of riot police, a protester in Georgia defiantly waves a European Union flag. A powerful symbol of what's galvanized thousands of protesters in Tbilisi to rally nightly since Thursday, when the government said it was suspending talks to join the E.U. for four years.

Night after night, demonstrators have set off fireworks near Parliament, clashing with police, who've responded with tear gas and water cannons. Protesters say the future of the country is at stake. Polls show more than 80 percent of Georgians support joining the E.U., a longtime goal of the country that's enshrined in its constitution.

MARIAM TSKITISHVILI, PROTESTOR: Just the fact that my country deserves to be free from the Russian regime that has haunted us for many centuries, and I believe that we need to get into Europe. It's truly what we've wanted for many, many centuries.

KINKADE: But that path has become less clear lately. Critics say the country's ruling Georgian Dream Party has become increasingly authoritarian and, in recent years, has moved away from the West, deepening ties with Russia, which the party denies.

In parliamentary elections in October, which were widely seen as a referendum on whether to align with Russia or the West, the Georgian Dream Party claimed victory, in a vote the opposition says was rigged.

The European Parliament called it neither free nor fair.

Opposition M.P.'s are boycotting the new Parliament. The country's outgoing president, who supports joining the E.U., says she won't step down until new elections are held.

SALOME ZOURABICHVILI, GEORGIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): There is no legitimate parliament, and therefore, an illegitimate parliament cannot elect a new president.

[02:40:03]

Thus, no inauguration can take place, and my mandate continues until a legitimately elected Parliament is formed.

KINKADE: Georgia's prime minister says there will be no new elections. He accuses the opposition of plotting a revolution and says Georgia is committed to E.U. membership, despite the delay.

IRAKIL KOBAKHIDZE, GEORGIAN PRIME MINISTER: The response is very clear, so we have not suspended anything related to the European integration. It's just a lie.

KINKADE: But the protests are not only continuing but spreading to more cities. So, too, concerns over the treatment of the protesters.

The U.S. and E.U. have condemned the use of excessive force against them. On Saturday, the U.S. suspended its strategic partnership with Georgia, something the Georgian prime minister says he will revisit with the new administration in January.

Lynda Kinkade, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And thanks for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church for our international viewers.

"WORLD SPORT" is coming up next.

And for those of you here in the United States and in Canada, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after a short break.

Stick around. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:37]

CHURCH: Welcome back to our viewers here in North America. I'm Rosemary Church.

We are learning more about Donald Trumps controversial decision to pick firebrand loyalist Kash Patel to lead the FBI. Patel, a self- styled enemy of the deep state, is among several eyebrow raising cabinet picks. Sources say the staunch FBI critic was one of two candidates the president elect was considering in recent days.

CNN's Alayna Treene has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: We're learning that President-elect Donald Trump had been wavering in recent days between two different people that he thought he would want to serve as his new FBI director. That includes Kash Patel, but also Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey.

Now, according to my conversations with those working on the transition team, I'm told that Trump had long knew that he wanted to have Kash Patel in a big role in his second term, including some sort of role in national intelligence, or at the Department of Justice. But when it became clear that he was going to be a top contender for the FBI director, some people close to Donald Trump had some skepticism about that. They're worried that there would be too much controversy surrounding Patel particularly as it related to an upcoming and likely contentious Senate confirmation battle.

However, behind the scenes, I'm told that others and those closest to Donald Trump, including his sons Eric Trump, as well as Donald Trump Jr. as well as his incoming deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, had really pushed Donald Trump to end up choosing Patel. They argue that he was likely the only person in their minds that they believed could really disrupt the Federal Bureau of Investigations as much as they believed Patel could, as well as root out the bias that Donald Trump believes has really permeated the bureau over recent years.

Now, Donald Trump, I'm told, had interviewed both Andrew Bailey and Kash Patel at Mar-a-Lago in person earlier this month. However, I was also told that Donald Trump was not that impressed by Bailey. He thought that he lacked the personality traits to really be the type of legal pit bull that Donald Trump wants his FBI director to be.

I'm going to read for you one quote from a Trump adviser who has been involved in some of these conversations. They said, quote, it came down to a matter of what Trump wants and what he was looking for in terms of an FBI director and Bailey didn't fit that mold. He didn't have the personality.

Now, in addition, we've also heard many of Donald Trump's incoming cabinet picks but also top allies trying to defend Patel online as well as on television over the weekend. They argued that again, they believed that Patel was the only person that could reform the FBI and try and restore trust in the agency.

Take a listen to what some senators said Sunday morning.

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Donald Trump campaigned on reforming the FBI and the Department of Justice, so I don't know why any of this is frankly surprising to people.

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): There are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change. And Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I got to say, all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI and clean out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the FBI. I think Kash Patel is going to be confirmed by the Senate.

TREENE: Now, despite that praise from those -- I should add those are some very loyal defenders to Donald Trump -- there is still some skepticism from many Republicans on Capitol Hill. I'm told that, like many of the other controversial picks that Donald Trump has announced in recent weeks, they will likely have Patel go to the hill at some point to meet with senators one on one before this confirmation battle plays out in public.

Alayna Treene, CNN, West Palm Beach, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The U.S. Congressional Task Force investigating the assassination attempts on President-elect Donald Trump will hold its final hearing on Thursday. A spokesperson tells CNN the bipartisan group will also vote on its final report. That same day, and it will likely then be made public. An interim report on the first assassination attempt against Trump at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, was released in October and concluded that, quote the tragic and shocking events of July 13th were preventable and should not have happened.

Post-thanksgiving travel has been treacherous in parts of the Great Lakes region due to several feet of snow as cold temperatures sweep across the United States.

[02:50:08]

More than 2 million people downwind of the great lakes have been under winter weather warnings, with parts of New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania on alert until Tuesday morning. Heavy snow was reported this weekend across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York state. The cold will persist as nearly 70 percent of the U.S. will experience temperatures below 32 degrees over the next few days.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more on the treacherous travel conditions over the Thanksgiving holiday.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Record setting snowfall is complicating the post-Thanksgiving ride home for travelers in the Great Lakes region.

TOM LAIRD, GOING HOME POST-THANKSGIVING: This could be a 24 to 35 inch snow for sure.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Daily snowfall totals have paralyzed stretches of the highly trafficked I-90 corridor this holiday weekend.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a car underneath that. Yep.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Here in Erie, Pennsylvania, nearly 23 inches fell on Friday alone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yesterday I shoveled for four hours. Wow.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Shattering a 1979 record, burying cars and interrupting flight operations at Erie International.

In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, over two feet of snow fell on Friday, eclipsing a daily record set in 1942.

And the list of cities impacted by the locally heavy lake effect snow goes on. In Buffalo, New York, Bills fans are once again being hired as shovelers to clear out the stadium ahead of a snowy Sunday night game against San Francisco.

And there's more to come, warn meteorologists, with nearly two million people still under lake effect snow warnings come Monday.

ELISA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The biggest concern right here along that eastern flank of Lake Erie, as well as portions of Lake Ontario. Now the reason you're getting that lake effect, you've got the slightly warmer lakes, that very cold air rushing over it.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Then there's the cold, some of the chilliest temperatures since last winter, which are expected to linger into the week ahead. They've been felt as far south as Florida, where many residents endured freeze warnings this weekend.

Some are making the best of these snowy scenes.

(SINGING)

SANDOVAL (voice-over): But they may also be foretelling a wicked winter ahead.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: More than five years after a devastating fire, Notre Dame Cathedral is set to officially reopen to the public on Sunday. But French President Emmanuel Macron is already giving the world a look at the glorious restoration.

CNN's Melissa Bell reports from Paris.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR PARIS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new dawn for Notre Dame Cathedral, more than five and a half years after a fire tore through parts of the gothic structure in the heart of Paris, sparkling stonework highlighting the stunning results of the estimated $737 million restoration as it was unveiled to France's President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.

After the 2019 blaze, the president had vowed to rebuild Notre Dame even more beautiful than it was. Entering the cathedral with his wife Brigitte on Friday, it was clear that France had achieved just that.

It was at the same time repaired, restored and re-baptized, Macron said.

Millions had watched in shock and horror as Notre Dame's 96-meter spire tumbled into the church during the 2019 blaze. Now its renaissance is complete. Touring the epicenter of the blaze, the medieval roof structure known as the forest, Macron saw the beams rebuilt by hand from 1,200 oak trees from across France.

Among the highlights of Macron's tour, a mural in the north enclosure of the choir that was badly damaged in the fire, and the Virgin of Paris, a 14th century statue that became a symbol of resistance when it was found standing resolute surrounded by burnt wood and collapsed stone.

And the beautiful Saint Marcel's Chapel, one of 29 chapels that have been lovingly restored. Viewing the 12-meter wide grand organ, Macron described it as sublime.

More than 1,300 people involved in the restoration were invited inside, as the French president wrapped up his final visit to the site before its formal reopening.

You have transformed ashes into art, he told them. The whole planet was upset that day in April, the shock of the reopening will be as big as that of the fire, he said, thanking the crowds.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BELL (on camera): The delicacy of the restoration is really quite extraordinary.

[02:55:03]

Not only have they sought to renovate Notre Dame as it was before the fire, but they've taken the opportunity to clean it, to make it brighter, to restore the paintwork, the gold work. And so the overall impression is really quite different to what it was. Many centuries of crowds and worship and candles and smoke had meant that it was fairly dark inside, no longer.

Now there is really a sense of light and an ability, therefore, to appreciate the majesty of Notre Dame in a way that really wasn't possible before.

CHURCH: Well, now to a mystery for all the aspiring treasure hunters out there. A man has hidden more than $2 million worth of loot in chests scattered throughout the United States. Now, all the clues needed to find the five chests are in this book titled "There's Treasure Inside", written by the man behind the hunt, Jon Collins- Black. The treasures include everything from gold to Pokemon cards, sports memorabilia, and even a brooch once owned by Jackie Kennedy Onassis.

And finally, this hour, if mindless memes and silly online videos are taking up too much of your time, you may be suffering from brain rot, a term that's become so widely used its now the word of the year, according to the Oxford University Press. Brain rot encapsulates the digital age of doomscrolling, the word describing a deterioration of a person's mental state due to the overconsumption of trivial content.

Other contenders include demure which was named dictionary.com's word of the year last week. Romantasy, that's fiction that blends romance and fantasy. And slop, a demeaning term for A.I. generated content. There's some trivia for you.

Thank you so much for your company this hour. I'm Rosemary Church. I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in just a moment. Do stick around.