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Trump's Controversial FBI Pick Kash Patel Meets With Key GOP Senators; Syrian Dictator Flees To Russia As Rebels Seize Power; Austin Tice's Family Urges U.S. To Bring Home Missing Journalist. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired December 09, 2024 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:48]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, good morning to you. You are live in the CNN Newsroom on this Monday. I'm Pamela Brown in Washington. And happening right now, Kash Patel, President-elect Trump's controversial pick to lead the FBI, is on Capitol Hill meeting with the Republican senators whose support he needs to get the job. This is new video right here just into CNN. Among those senators, Texas Senator John Cornyn, he'll be meeting with Patel just about now. And he recently told "Politico" that Patel, quote, will be confirmed as the next FBI director. Manu Raju joins us now. So Manu, Kash Patel was once an attorney in the Obama-era Justice Department, but it's his closeness to President-elect Trump that has him on the threshold of running the FBI. Tell us more.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. He emerged as one of Donald Trump's fiercest allies on the outside and one big reason why he has gotten this nomination. Now, this is a rather unusual decision by the incoming president to name -- to essentially name a new FBI director even as the current FBI director, Christopher Wray, still has three years left on his term. Remember, this is a pretty standard practice has been that an FBI director typically serves for 10 years. That is a term that they have in order for them to present the idea that they are not being influenced by one administration or the other. They would serve out for multiple presidential terms. But in this case, Donald Trump is indicating that he's prepared to fire Christopher Wray, the current FBI director.

Someone himself was installed by Trump in the aftermath of Trump firing James Comey back in 2017. But the decision to fire Wray would set the stage for Kash Patel to get the job, assuming he is confirmed by the United States Senate. Now today begins this critical process where he's meeting -- meeting with Republican senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee. That is the first committee that would take up his nomination next year. Republicans have the majority in the Senate, meaning that if all Republicans, if 50 Republicans vote to confirm it, meaning no more than three Republicans vote no. If he was able to limit those defections, he will effectively get the job. But right now, before a lot of these senators have really gotten to know Kash Patel, Pamela, a lot of them are signaling optimism that he would get the job like Senator John Cornyn, who is an influential member of that key committee. Senator Chuck Grassley, who's the incoming Republican chairman of the committee, will also meet with Patel this afternoon. He has sounded positive as well. So we'll see how this confirmation process plays out. But at the moment, Republicans are in line with Trump's decision to get rid of the sitting FBI director and replace him with Kash Patel.

[11:05:00]

BROWN: All right, thanks so much Manu Raju.

Let's get some more insight now from Jason Miller. He is a senior adviser to the Trump/Vance transition and also is helping with this confirmation process.

So, let's kick it off here with Kash Patel, Jason. Great to have you on.

This is Kash Patel's first time on Capitol Hill meeting with senators. We know that he's meeting with Senator Cornyn. Tell us more about what else he's doing today on the Hill, who else he's meeting with.

JASON MILLER, TRUMP SENIOR ADVISER: Yes.

And I'm very excited about the Kash Patel nomination. This is someone who was the deputy director of national intelligence, former chief of staff in the Department of Defense. He's been a prosecutor. He's been a public defender. So he really brings an outside-in approach to reforming the FBI.

And it's important to point out, Pamela, that the public really voted for President Trump's reform agenda. They're tired of seeing the politics that's at the FBI level, that's at the DOJ, where I think Pam Bondi is going to do a great job of cleaning up that agency, that we need a breath of fresh air.

That's what I think Kash Patel is going to bring. And you notice, as Manu set up in the introduction, Republicans are very bullish about Kash Patel. And they're very optimistic about him getting through this process.

BROWN: Who's he meeting with today?

MILLER: So he has a whole range of folks today, as Manu said, Senator Cornyn. But he has some other meetings. He will be on the Hill most of the week.

And we have a number of the different nominees who are actually on the Hill this week continuing meetings. In the case of Pete Hegseth, they are starting meetings themselves, including Tulsi Gabbard.

BROWN: Yes. We're going to talk about all of that. I want to just focus a little bit more on Kash Patel. As you know, he has made some controversial comments. He's laid out a list of 60 political enemies in his book who he calls -- quote -- "members of the executive branch deep state."

Trump made it clear in his NBC interview that he wants to give wide latitude to his picks, like Patel, if he's confirmed, to lead the FBI. Does Patel plan to act on that list if he's confirmed?

MILLER: Well, Kash Patel is going to go and uphold justice the same to everybody. It doesn't matter what your political affiliation is, if you have supported President Trump, if you have opposed President Trump.

And that's what I think people have been so upset by, the fact that there has been this politics, dynamics that have been going on with our justice system over the past few years. And, quite frankly, people are tired of it. Kash Patel is going to go in, he's going to get rid of anyone who thinks that they're going to use political ideology to go and attack people, regardless of what side of the aisle.

BROWN: When you say he's going to get rid of them, what do you mean? What -- how's he going to do that? Bring us inside.

MILLER: Well, the upper ranks of leadership within the FBI should be people, should be law enforcement officers who are strictly focused on upholding the law and protecting the American public.

And as we have seen in years past, whether it be with the Russia, Russia, Russia nonsense, or even some of the things such as the illegal and unconstitutional raid on Mar-a-Lago, politics has become infused with too many at the top.

And I will tell you, Pamela, I have even heard from folks inside the building. So, yes, FBI, the call is coming from inside the building. See, there are so many good FBI agents that are working at the FBI, so many people who are dedicated about keeping the American public safe, and they're sick and tired of what they have seen at the upper ranks of the FBI, of this politics influencing decisions.

American -- the American public's tired of that. They want that out. They want a clean slate. They want people to focus on keeping American safe, including as we talk about the growing threat from China, as we talk about the growing threat, obviously, with Russians, we talk about a number of different foreign actors, and especially as we talk about these transnational gangs, such as TDA, that have taken over way too many communities in the United States.

BROWN: And I just want to note on the FBI, the DOJ inspector general did look at the FBI's conduct with the Russia investigation, for example. It did find some problems with its surveillance program, but found that it wasn't politically motivated, there weren't political motivations as it comes to that investigation, although there are people who certainly feel like they're not happy with the leadership and that kind of thing. And that is certain -- I used to cover the FBI. I also hear from agents as well. But I think there's a real question about what Kash Patel would do leading that agency. You mentioned that he wants to get rid of certain people at the agency.

MILLER: Well...

BROWN: He has said he wants to get rid of the FBI headquarters too. Is that something that he still wants to do?

MILLER: To be clear...

BROWN: Yes.

MILLER: ... wanting to get rid of anyone who's trying to infuse politics into decision-making, so not talking about specific names, not talking about specific positions.

If you're going to be at the FBI, if you're going to be serving the American people, you should not have any aspect of political ideology that's impacting your decision. We want law-abiding agents that are going to uphold the law equally for everybody. I think that's something that we should all be able to agree on.

BROWN: OK. And just to be clear, though, this list isn't going to be a road map for him? Because this list is inherently political. These are people who have spoken out against Trump. So I just want to be clear on that.

One of the people on the names on that list also came out in that interview with Trump had with NBC, and that was with -- about former Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney, who was a co-chair of the committee that investigated January 6. Let's take a listen to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES (R) AND CURRENT U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: And Cheney was behind it.

KRISTEN WELKER, MODERATOR, "MEET THE PRESS": Well...

TRUMP: And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee.

For what they did...

WELKER: Yes.

TRUMP: ... honestly, they should go to jail.

WELKER: So you think Liz Cheney should go to jail?

TRUMP: For what they did.

WELKER: Everyone on the committee, you think should go to jail?

TRUMP: I think everybody on the -- anybody that voted in favor. WELKER: Are you going to direct your FBI director and your attorney general to send them to jail?

TRUMP: No, no, no, not at all. I think that they will have to look at that, but I'm not going to -- I'm going to focus on drill, baby, drill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, we should be clear. Trump's claims about the House Select Committee destroying records is unfounded.

But Cheney responded to the president-elect's threats. And we have to put this out there. She said in this statement, she called them a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic.

Will Kash Patel go after members of this committee, and, if so, on what specific criminal grounds?

MILLER: Yes, so I do have to take issue with saying that the Select Committee didn't go and destroy records.

They have wiped everything out.

BROWN: What evidence do you have for that? They're online. We just checked this morning. There's a more-than-800-page report with underlying evidence.

It's -- other agencies did weigh in, because they wanted to protect security. Bennie Thompson, for his part, has come out and said this is absolutely false. What evidence do you have?

MILLER: Other committees have looked through and said that those records are gone, that they don't exist, that they're not there.

Even Republicans who are now in charge have said that those records are gone, that they're not there.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: So I would completely take issue with that. We're going to have to agree to disagree, but they got rid of it.

Look, Liz Cheney is someone who lost her primary, who got bounced out by a very good Republican who's been bitter in attacking President Trump ever since. I think Liz Cheney, quite frankly, for what she did -- I have my own personal opinions about Liz Cheney.

But what President Trump said, if you listen to the entire "Meet the Press" interview, is, he wants everyone who he puts into key positions of leadership, again, whether that's Pam Bondi as the A.G., Kash Patel, the FBI, or anybody else, to apply the law equally to everybody.

[11:10:00] Now, that means, if you're somebody who's committed some very serious crimes, who's committed very serious felonies, who's, for example, leaked confidential information, in direct violation of laws that are in place, well, then, obviously, that sets you up for different things.

BROWN: OK.

MILLER: But as far as the politics aspect, if you listen to the entire interview with President Trump, he said he's going to leave that up to the law enforcement agents in charge, including Pam Bondi and Kash Patel.

BROWN: But the things you mentioned so far, there has been no evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

I want to talk about Pete Hegseth. He is also on the Hill today. He is Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Defense. He is embroiled in some controversy, as you know, you have spoken about. There are some Republicans who are still hesitant to throw their support behind him, given these allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual assault, and excessive drinking.

Hegseth is meeting with Iowa Senator Joni Ernst again on the Hill today. She hasn't endorsed him. She says she wants to hear from him about the role of women in military and his views, because he has said women should not be in combat at all.

What does he plan to tell Senator Ernst about why he thinks women shouldn't be in combat roles, or has he changed his position at all?

MILLER: Well, as -- Pete Hegseth is somebody who has received two Bronze Stars, who's been in combat, who's been shot at, who very much, I think, is someone who brings a new perspective to the DOD, knowing when we should and should not be sending our young men and women in this country into harm's way.

And I think this is a very important conversation, a very aspect -- important aspect of reform that we need to have. Now, this will again be Pete Hegseth's follow-up meeting with Senator Ernst. He's going to have the opportunity to sit down and talk with her and answer just those exact questions.

Here's where he thinks the appropriate roles are as far as entering into combat. This is also his chance to continue to clear the air on some of what he says are the misleading and blatant falsehoods that have been levied against him.

And I would note, I think this is a very important point, especially with regard to Pete Hegseth, that nobody has come forward and put their name on these attacks against Pete Hegseth. Right now, everything is...

BROWN: But there could be a hearing, and that could happen, right?

MILLER: But they're -- but they're -- but, again, to this point, for all of the breathless speculation, for all of the attacks on Pete, nobody has come forward and put their name on anything.

I think, in this country...

BROWN: You call it breathless speculation, but, for example, with the veterans organization, this was a memo from several people associated with that organization that brought it up to leadership, and he was pushed out there in the other one.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: But that was...

BROWN: I just want to follow up, though, because he didn't answer my question on women in combat. And I want to let you say what you want to say.

But when it comes to women in combat -- because Joni Ernst, for her part, has a daughter who is in the U.S. Army. She was her -- Ernst herself was a female combat -- in a female combat role. So what is Pete Hegseth going to say to her about this very important issue that she has made clear it's very important to her?

MILLER: So I'm going to let Pete Hegseth have that conversation with Senator Ernst, and they can both address the public afterwards. That wouldn't..

BROWN: But has he changed his views at all?

MILLER: Again, I'm going to let Pete have that conversation with the senator, and then they can talk about that afterwards. It wouldn't be my place to go and put words in his mouth.

I think President Trump, when he was -- during his first term had a very strong military, was able to rebuild it. We had people, both men and women, who served nobly in conflict. And this is something that Pete will come out and address. I imagine it will come up during his hearing.

But I want to go back to another point with regard to both Pete and Kash and even with Senator -- or -- excuse me -- with Tulsi Gabbard...

BROWN: Tulsi Gabbard, right.

MILLER: ... former congressman -- Congresswoman Gabbard.

Right now, there are zero no's against any of their nominations. There are folks who said that they want to hear more. And that's exactly why this confirmation process is so important, to have those individual meetings and then also to go to the full hearing.

But for -- when I hear words such as embattled or controversial or things like that, there are zero no's from any Republicans on a few of those.

BROWN: Well, there were certainly several, including for Hegseth especially, that are hesitant. Now, we didn't say that for some of the other picks. Pam Bondi, we talked about. Kash Patel, it looks positive.

But, certainly, for Hegseth, there are several who have conveyed their hesitancy as it pertains to him, including Joni Ernst. And, of course, as you well know, he can only lose three. So, I think that that is certainly a fair portrayal.

MILLER: But...

BROWN: But you are welcome to contest that, as you did.

Jason Miller, thank you so much. I appreciate you giving us your time. I know how busy it is on the Hill for you all today.

MILLER: Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

[11:14:03]

And still ahead this hour, an astonishingly swift rebel offensive in Syria leads to the end of a 50-year dictatorship. And while President Biden welcomes the fall of the Assad regime, it complicates the case of Austin Tice, an American freelance journalist held in Syria since 2012. His family joins us next, why they say the White House isn't doing enough to get him home.

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BROWN: A stunning change in Syria. The brutal 50-year reign of the Assad regime is over. Rebels taking control of the country's capital over the weekend and the president fled to Russia. Syrians who lived under the fist of the Assad family's power and corruption for 50 years could be seen plundering the presidential office after it was abandoned.

The obscene trappings of power were on display as people uncovered the Assad car collection full of Ferraris and Rolls Royces as so many Syrians have been suffering. Thousands of Syrians, many who had spent their entire lives under Assad's violent rule, poured into the streets to celebrate. But the overthrow of the Assad regime in Syria could create a new opportunity to bring home Austin Tice. That is certainly the hope. He is the American journalist who has been held captive in Syria since 2012.

[11:20:03]

He is one of the most -- the longest held American hostage, I believe, in U.S. History. I want to bring in Naomi and Jonathan Tice, Austin's sister and brother. We should say one of them. Naomi, I want to start with you. I mean, we were just talking in the break about how much emotion all of this must be bringing to the surface. As you're sitting here right now, do you think this change in power in Syria makes it easier to bring Austin home, or does it complicate things?

NAOMI TICE, BROTHER MISSING IN SYRIA SINCE 2012: I think it absolutely creates an opportunity to bring Austin home. This is something so different than anything that's happened over the last 12 years, and we have a lot of hope and-- and truly believe that this is -- this is the moment.

BROWN: Here is what President Biden said yesterday about this, and I want to talk on the other end of this bite.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are mindful. We are mindful that there are Americans in Syria, including those who reside there, as well as Austin Tice, who was taken captain more than 12 years ago. We remain committed to returning him to his family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Jonathan, do you think the U.S. Government is doing enough to bring him home?

JONATHAN TICE, BROTHER MISSING IN SYRIA SINCE 2012: Well, in -- in a very brief way, he's not home yet. The thing is, we are employing not only the U.S. government, but anybody on the ground, any organizations that could possibly work with us and help to bring Austin home. That is our goal, is to get as -- as much awareness out and as much as possible to bring, to have anybody be able to help bring him home.

BROWN: And what is your sense now about, you know, it's believe, I know your relatives have spoken out. They -- you believe he's alive, right? What -- what can you tell us about that?

N. TICE: Yes, absolutely. So President Biden has, you know, repeatedly stated that Austin is alive. And now we do have another independently verified source that is saying the same thing. So we know that he is alive. We just need him home.

BROWN: So you're hearing it not just from the U.S. Government, but outside sources as well?

J. TICE: Absolutely. We do have independently verified sources that do say he is alive, he is well, and now it's just a matter of bringing him back here and getting him back on American soil.

BROWN: So it was it believed he was still being held under the Assad regime. And what does that mean, I mean?

N. TICE: So what we do know is that he's obviously in -- in Syria. We know that he's in Damascus. And for us, the -- the most important thing right now is identifying how to get him home and -- and using every resource possible to do that.

BROWN: President-elect Trump posted on social media over the weekend that Syria was not America's fight, and the U.S. should stay out. I'm wondering, does that signal anything to you, and have you been in touch with -- with the Trump transition, anyone who could be in his administration about this?

J. TICE: We are working with the Biden administration. We're also working with President-elect Trump's administration to do anything possible to bring him home. We do know that both have said explicitly that they are concerned about the case and that they do want to do everything they can to bring him home. And so the combination of any -- any potential opportunity from any potential organization, be it the current administration or the incoming administration, is something that we're hoping for and asking for.

BROWN: What is this moment like for you? I mean, it's been more than 12 years of a fight for you to bring him home. Now, in many ways, you see this as an opening, right? What is it like for you? Like, I'm sure every minute of every day right now is just for this effort as it has been, but in a -- in a different way now, right?

N. TICE: Yes.

J. TICE: We're very much so. We actually planned a trip by our entire family had -- had planned to come here to D.C. starting back in June of this year. And it's just fortuitous that at this moment, while we are all here converged in D.C. powerfully and advocating for his -- for help with his return, that there'd be so many changes, that it'd be such a fluid moment, that we're -- we're really looking forward to all the changes that could bring and all of -- all of the potential. There is -- in chaos, there's opportunity. And so we really want to lean into that possibility.

BROWN: I like that. In chaos, there is opportunity. We've been showing some photos of Austin. I think we have some more that your brother actually took while on assignment. You know, looking back on that, that was more than 12 years ago. He's a journalist. And I'm just wondering, you believe he is alive? What is your message to him right now? Just -- if he could see you right now, what you're saying? What -- what do you want to tell Austin?

N. TICE: Yes, I think what we want to say to Austin is we are so ready for you to be home. We have been waiting for this moment. We know that you are alive. We know that you are well, and we are -- we are waiting to welcome you back.

BROWN: Jonathan?

J. TICE: We miss you. We miss you. We love you. We want you home. We want you home with us. We want you here. There's been too many Christmases, marriages, birthdays, children born. It's -- it's time, and we want him home, and we miss him.

BROWN: I have chills. Thank you so much Naomi Tice and Jonathan Tice. We are -- we are rooting for you. We are rooting for him to come home. And we hope that, as you said, in this chaos, that there will be the opportunity to do so.

J. TICE: Thank you so much, Pamela.

N. TICE: Thank you so much.

J. TICE: We appreciate you having -- having us here.

BROWN: And please, keep us posted. Stay in touch. OK?

J. TICE: Thank you.

[11:24:57]

BROWN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Just in to CNN. Police are questioning a man in the nationwide manhunt for the killer of a healthcare CEO in New York. Join us out for this breaking news is Brynn Gingras. What are you learning?

[11:29:55]

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pam, we're just getting this into our Newsroom from sources telling John Miller and myself that there is a man being questioned right now in Altoona, Pennsylvania. That person is in police custody right now undergoing that questioning by law enforcement officials in --