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CNN This Morning

Attorney: Pete Hegseth Paid Accuser But Still Denies Sexual Assault; Trump, Supporters Mingle At UFC Event In Madison Square Garden; Gaetz Faces Uphill Battle For Attorney General Confirmation; Biden, Xi Talk Taiwan, Economy And Ukraine In Last Meeting; Discussions In Beirut Intensify Over Lebanon Ceasefire Plan; Israeli Troops Make Deepest Push Yet Into Lebanon; Michigan's Arab-American Community Reacts To Trump Appointments. Judge Delays Decision on Tossing Trump's Hush Money Conviction; Special Counsel Jack Smith Looks to Step Down, and Wind Down Trump Cases; NH Shelter Scrambling to Adopt Out Hundreds of Mice. Aired 7-8 am ET

Aired November 17, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

[07:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- having to eat more, you're going to be larger than someone else.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's why obesity is now considered a disease. Not of the intestines or your stomach, but of the brain. It's a huge shift in the way that we think, with huge implications for treatment. But these are still early days.

And remember, at one time even depression and addiction were seen as failures of willpower, instead of a brain disease. Changing the perception of obesity, that's going to take time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's definitely true that there are people out there who said time and again obesity is not really a disease. All you need to do is eat better and exercise more and you'll be OK.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports, "Is Ozempic Right For You?" airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on CNN.

Another hour of CNN This Morning starts right now.

AMARA WALKER, CNN HOST: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN This Morning. It is Sunday, November 17th. Good to be with you. I'm Amara Walker.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Thank you so much for joining us.

A new CNN report now reveals that President-elect Donald Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon paid a settlement to a woman who accused him of sexual assault. What we know about the payout. WALKER: President Biden is wrapping his trip to Peru, capping off a, quote, "candid meeting" with Chinese President Xi Jinping. What the two discussed and what Biden will say to allies about the next administration as he heads to the G20 summit.

BLACKWELL: Voters in Michigan helped send President-elect Trump back to the White House, including a majority of Arab-American voters in parts of the state. Why they say they chose Trump despite his support for Israel.

WALKER: And what does one do with 600 donated mice? A New Hampshire shelter is trying to figure out that right now after a man dropped off 150 containers full of them.

President-elect Donald Trump took a break from transition planning to watch a UFC event and mingle with some fans last night. You can see in the video where he's with Elon Musk, Kid Rock and other supporters. He also waved at the crowd.

Meanwhile, there are new revelations and concerns about his Cabinet picks. The attorney for Trump's Defense Secretary pick, Pete Hegseth, says the former Fox anchor did pay a woman who accused him of sexual assault. But he says the 2017 incident in Monterey was a, quote, "consensual sexual encounter".

BLACKWELL: And despite widespread unease on Capitol Hill, the president-elect is pushing ahead with his decision to nominate former Representative Matt Gaetz as attorney general. Lawmakers and allies warn Gaetz faces an uphill fight for confirmation.

With us now is CNN's Daniel Strauss. So let's start with the allegations involving Pete Hegseth and how this will affect his chances of confirmation.

DANIEL STRAUSS, CNN REPORTER: Yes. I mean, look, this is not ideal for the Trump team and the Trump transition team. This was, for the incoming president, one of the more knee-jerk nominations he had. And it took the Department of Defense and really the larger defense community by surprise.

In that situation, any president would want sterling credentials and a resume that could survive even an early level of scrutiny. And that doesn't seem to be the case here. So already Hegseth, who is not an obvious choice for this job, seems to have an even more steeper climb to confirmation.

WALKER: And what about Matt Gaetz? I mean, you know, he's obviously a provocative choice. There has been some skepticism expressed by some Republican senators as well. What's the likelihood of him getting the confirmation as attorney general?

STRAUSS: I mean, there is plenty of skepticism. And at this point, you have to remember that it's not just Democrats who really, really don't like Gaetz. It's Republicans as well. I mean, the last caucus leader of the Republican Party, Kevin McCarthy, reviles him and has been active in trying to counter any momentum and any leadership this guy has had -- this congressman, excuse me, has had nationwide.

And so an upcoming -- before Gaetz was announced as Trump's pick, there was a scheduled ethics report that was going to be released about him. Now there's even more scrutiny and interest in that report in light of his nomination.

WALKER: All right, Daniel Strauss, appreciate it. Thank you.

STRAUSS: Thank you.

WALKER: President Biden will travel to Brazil today on the next leg of his South American tour. Following a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, White House officials described the meeting as candid, constructive and wide ranging.

BLACKWELL: The President raised concerns about Taiwan trade and the deployment of North Korean troops in Ukraine. But the election and the incoming Trump administration really loomed large over the discussions.

[07:05:05]

CNN's Kayla Tausche is in Lima traveling with the President. So this was likely the last meeting between these two world leaders. Tell us what we know.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What was the third and final meeting between Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping, it lasted nearly two hours and they discussed a variety of issues, some of which you mentioned.

China's support of Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine, cyber espionage, as well as the economic competition between the two countries. But National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan made it clear that President Biden signaled that the next two months are a period of transition for the United States with an incoming administration.

He said that he wasn't going to front run the new administration's policies toward China, which are still in formation, but made it clear that he wanted to hand over the relationship on stable terms. Now, that was a theme of the meeting.

They wanted to focus on the stability between the two nations over the course of the last four years. President Biden has worked, he said, to try to stabilize the relationship to keep from competition spilling over, veering into conflict between these two global superpowers.

And while at times that has seemed an impossible task, that was really what they focused on. They had an expanded team of both of their bilateral officials working on some of these issues, ranging from climate, to trade, to more military focused issues.

And they tried to focus on keeping military level communication to discussing some other things they worked on. But it was very clear, Sullivan said, that this was a meeting to try to tie up the relationship, to try to bookend the discussions that they've had over the last four years.

So we will see whether that works and whether China decides to retain some of those negotiating chips for when they meet with the Trump administration once they take office in January. Guys?

BLACKWELL: All right, Kayla Tausche for us in Lima, thanks so much.

Joining me now is Zolan Kanno-Youngs, CNN Political Analyst and White House Correspondent for The New York Times. Thanks for being with me.

Let's talk -- so you're covering, obviously, the President's final foreign trips. He's in Peru, headed to Brazil, Angola next month. What's the tone? Give us more about the tone, especially in this conversation between President Biden and President Xi.

ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, that's right. I think Kayla hit it, you know, really on the nose when she said that President Biden's aides are saying that they are trying to bookend, you know, the relationship with President Xi, but also a part of sort of the president's legacy here.

Foreign policy has really been at the center of his political career through Congress as vice president and as president. But make no mistake, whether it was the meeting with President Xi of China, whether it was really just wherever he went throughout APEC meeting with various allies, as well as now going on to the G20.

What's hanging over this is the fact that President-elect Trump will soon be entering office. Even before he entered his meeting with President Xi yesterday, he was faced -- I asked them both questions about President-elect Trump soon entering office. This is a period of monumental transition for the United States and the way that it approaches the world.

President Biden, who has said that prioritizing allies and global partnerships in order to achieve foreign policy goals, he's leaving office and with him his vision for the world. Meanwhile, President- elect Trump is coming into office and bringing with him an isolationist America First Policy.

And President Biden and his aides are going to be faced with questions about that vision, both at APEC as well as the G20 in the days to come.

BLACKWELL: Yes, it's interesting if you read some of the statements from President Xi, that they're really directed toward the incoming Trump administration, toward that America First philosophy, toward that aversion really to these multinational groups.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes, that's right. They were -- President Biden and President Xi were physically talking to one another. They were across the table yesterday. But, you know, even hearing their opening remarks, it was very clear that they were both directing their message in a way at the incoming Trump administration.

President Xi at one point saying, make the wise choice. You know, focus on collaboration, you know, rather than escalating, you know, tensions. And we do know that the incoming administration has promised to move forward with more aggressive tariffs.

Whereas, President Biden was almost reflecting on his approach to foreign policy and China over recent years, trying to prevent escalation and focus on competition rather than conflict. You know, different foreign policy experts would say that that has produced mixed results.

[07:10:02]

But it was very clear that yesterday both leaders were not just speaking to one another, but the incoming administration. And that's what I'll be looking forward to trying to see if that's going to be the case at the G20 as well, and really in the weeks to come.

BLACKWELL: Is it primarily anxiety that these foreign leaders and their countries approach the incoming administration with, or is there any discernible optimism that you can see or hear?

KANNO-YOUNGS: Well, it really depends on which foreign leader you're talking about.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

KANNO-YOUNGS: Right? I mean, yesterday in the case of President Biden talking to President Xi, you know, Xi did say that he was ready to work with the incoming administration but, obviously, there's anxiety surrounding the forthcoming promised tariffs that the president elect has promised.

But, you know, look, this is a pretty sprawling region with many different governments. If you look at the case of Argentina's new leader in Malay, you know, he's visited Mar-a-Lago, right? So there's some optimism there for President Trump's vision of foreign policy.

But I would say that really, when you look at, you know, the broad range of leaders that have come, there is some anxiety. Look, a major theme of both of these summits is a commitment to combating climate change. That's why President Biden is going to the Amazon today.

He's going to sort of mark that moment as for the commitments that he's made, the money that he's issued on the global stage. And he'll talk about that at the G20. But how much credibility does that have when the president-elect is coming into office and promising to gut the Inflation Reduction Act, which is President Biden's signature climate bill?

So, of course, there's going to be anxiety when President Biden on this swan song, if you will, is going to talk about these goals of combating climate change and economic agreements. But the incoming administration, in some cases, has talked about going the complete opposite direction. There's definitely going to be anxiety at that point.

BLACKWELL: All right, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, I know your next flight is to Rio de Janeiro. I'll let you get to it. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

WALKER: Well, there is possible progress in getting an American initiative for a ceasefire deal implemented between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. We are live with the latest straight ahead.

Also, what's next as President-elect Trump's hush money conviction is in legal limbo now that he's returning to the White House? And an enor-mouse problem. Get it?

BLACKWELL: No, no.

WALKER: I read it.

BLACKWELL: No.

WALKER: For one, New Hampshire animal shelter after a man surrenders a thousand mice. We're going to talk to one of the shelter officials. What are they going to do with all the mice, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:17:27]

WALKER: New this morning, Russia has launched one of its largest air attacks on Ukraine, with strikes reported in several major cities across the country. At least five people were killed. Eight were wounded.

Ukrainian officials say the attacks targeted energy facilities using both drones and missiles. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said about 120 missiles and 90 drones were launched in the attack.

Israeli airstrikes are hitting Beirut for a sixth straight day today. At least two explosions struck the Lebanese capital earlier this morning as Israeli ground troops are advancing further into Lebanon.

BLACKWELL: A Lebanese official tells CNN that there are extensive discussions happening among Lebanese political officials about a ceasefire. U.S. officials have been pushing for one to prevent further expansion of Israel's ongoing offensive.

CNN's Nada Bashir has more from London. So what do we know about these? Give us the latest.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, according to sources and Lebanese officials, Hezbollah officials are considering the current proposal that has been drawn up and put forward by the United States, trying to secure a cessation of hostilities between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel.

According to officials, the current deal on the table, which is also being considered by Lebanese government officials in Beirut, would stipulate a 60-day cessation in hostilities in the hope that this would then lead to a lasting ceasefire.

And, of course, there had been concern that the killing and assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had essentially scuppered any hope of a ceasefire agreement. But there clearly appears to be mounting diplomatic pressure.

However, important to underscore that we have heard earlier in the week from Israeli officials, including the Israeli Defense Minister, Israel Katz, who has said that Israel will not concede, will not agree to any sort of ceasefire until Israel's conditions and military objectives are met. Namely the disarmament of Hezbollah and, crucially, the expulsion of Hezbollah above the Litani River, so that crucial southern area near the border between Lebanon and Israel.

However, we have also been hearing from officials, Lebanese officials who are familiar with the ongoing talks, who have told CNN that the current deal on the table lies within the parameters of a U.N. resolution which essentially secured the end of the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon.

And that deal crucially stipulates there should only really be the presence of the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers in this crucial southern area below the Litani River, meaning no presence of Hezbollah forces.

So it remains to be seen whether Hezbollah agrees to this deal. We've been hearing from sources saying that we could expect an official response as early as Monday night.

[07:20:02]

But it's important to underscore that as these discussions are ongoing, we have only seen an intensification of the Israeli military's bombardment of Beirut. And, as you mentioned, an expansion of that ground incursion by the Israeli military in southern Lebanon.

And just today, we've seen yet more airstrikes, this time not only targeting the southern suburbs that are known to be Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, but also in Beirut proper, more centrally as well, in Ras Al Nabaa. A real concerning development there.

So far, preliminary assessment by the Lebanese health ministry says at least one person has been killed and two others injured. It appears to have been targeting the headquarters of the pro-Hezbollah Baath party. But, again, we are still waiting for more details around that dramatic development that we have seen this morning.

BLACKWELL: Nada Bashir for us in London, thank you.

The city of Dearborn, Michigan, is home to one of the largest populations of Arab-Americans in the country. And a lot of voters there were outraged by the Biden administration's support for Israel in its war on Hamas in Gaza.

They either voted for Trump, supported a third-party candidate, or didn't vote at all. And Trump, as you probably know by now, ended up winning the state of Michigan. WALKER: Well, just this week, Trump named Mike Huckabee as his choice for ambassador to Israel. When Israeli Army Radio asked whether the Trump administration would support an Israeli move to annex the West Bank, Huckabee said, well, of course, and that he would carry out the policy of the president.

So how do residents in Dearborn feel about that? CNN's Danny Freeman went there to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Dearborn, Michigan, the campaigns and the candidates have gone, but the politics linger.

ALBERT ABBAS, VOTED FOR TRUMP: I think that the community's going to continue to be engaged and polarized.

FREEMAN (voice-over): In the final days of the race, Lebanese-American Albert Abbas welcomed former President Trump to his family's restaurant in Dearborn.

ABBAS: I, along with many others, truly appreciate that you made it a priority to visit Dearborn.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Abbas agreed to host Trump only after he pledged to bring peace to Lebanon and the Middle East.

ABBAS: We're very optimistic and hopeful, and quite frankly, I'm excited about a second term of a Trump presidency.

FREEMAN: What was your reaction to some of these Cabinet announcements? You see someone like Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel.

ABBAS: Yes.

FREEMAN: Someone like Elise Stefanik looking to go to the U.N, Marco Rubio --

ABBAS: Yes.

FREEMAN: -- all pretty hardline when it comes to the Middle East.

ABBAS: I'm not going to judge his appointees right now. We'll hold his feet to the fire once he's president.

FREEMAN (voice-over): President-elect Trump won the state of Michigan by about 80,000 votes. And the majority Arab-American city of Dearborn, Trump won with 42 percent of the vote, while Vice President Harris only received 36 percent. Jill Stein, the Green Party protest choice of many anti-war voters, got 18 percent of the vote here.

FREEMAN: What was the perception that you thought Donald Trump will be doing?

DALAL BAYDOUN, VOTED FOR THE GREEN PARTY: So, as Donald Trump told us, he will stop the war, but now he's putting people in office that are with the war, practically.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Dalal Baydoun voted for Jill Stein. She couldn't bring herself to vote for Vice President Harris because of the Biden administration's support for Israel. But she feels Trump has already squandered his goodwill in the Arab-American community.

FREEMAN: How do you feel about voting Green Party now?

BAYDOUN: I feel good that I don't have blood on my hands because, like I said, they're all with genocide. So having to be not a part of all that makes me feel good.

FREEMAN: Do you regret not voting for Harris?

BAYDOUN: No. Because she's even worse.

FREEMAN: How are you feeling now that President-elect Trump won?

LEXIS ZEIDAN, CO-FOUNDER, UNCOMMITTED NATIONAL MOVEMENT: Yes, I'd say definitely a range of emotions. Disappointed is one. Angry is another.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Lexis Zeidan is one of the leaders of the Uncommitted Movement and left the top of the ticket blank. She hears the criticism that voters like her helped elect Trump, but rejects it, saying they wanted Harris to work with them.

ZEIDAN: You could have added every single vote in Dearborn and Kamala still would have lost. You could have added every single Jill Stein vote across the country, Kamala still would have lost. And so this wasn't a referendum on Gaza policy.

This election was not lost because of Gaza or because of Uncommitted voters. What it showed you is that she not only was sidelining Uncommitted and Arab and Muslim voters, but she was sidelining other communities of color as well.

FREEMAN: Do you have any regrets?

ZEIDAN: I have no regrets because what I did and, you know, what I believe Uncommitted did in the last, you know, 10 months is we did everything we could to offer the democratic leadership something to save this democracy and to save Palestinian lives.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREEMAN (on-camera): Now, Victor, Amara, the folks that we interviewed for this piece, acknowledged to us that their Arab-American communities are only growing and they expect to be even more influential in elections to come. They say that neither party can afford to ignore them or go back on promises.

Victor, Amara?

WALKER: Fascinating interviews, Danny. Thank you.

Special Counsel Jack Smith is winding down his criminal cases against President-elect Trump. But it's Trump's New York hush money conviction that will test the legal system this week. We are going in depth straight ahead.

[07:25:09]

And if you're looking for a pet mouse, which is not something I expected, I would say this morning, but here we are.

WALKER: Do you know anyone who has a pet mouse?

BLACKWELL: I've never known anybody --

WALKER: Yes.

BLACKWELL: -- with a pet mouse.

WALKER: I would never want to of us.

BLACKWELL: But apparently some folks in New Hampshire have a few hundred of them that if you're looking, they have one available. I'll tell you how they came in is so many of these through an unexpected donation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Headlines for you this morning. The coach known for catapulting U.S. women's gymnastics into world force has died.

Bela Karolyi and his wife trained several champions and Olympic gold medalists in the U.S. and Romania including Nadia Comaneci, Dominique Dawes, Carrie Strug, and Mary Lou Retton.

His training tactics came under scrutiny though when he was sued for taunting athletes at his Texas gym. Karolyi was 82 years old.

A super typhoon has made landfall in the Philippines. The country has evacuated more than a half million people from the area. Typhoon Man- yi is unprecedented. The fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines in less than two weeks and it is the force of a Category 3 hurricane. Civil defense officials said no deaths have been reported, but winds have wiped out homes and schools and businesses.

And the U.S. Post Office will honor the life and work of Betty White. She gets her own stamp. It's been nearly three years since he died. It was 2021 just weeks before turning 100. The stamp, which is designed by an art director for the Postal Service, will be available next year.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this week we could learn how Donald Trump's election win will impact his lingering criminal cases. In New York a judge delayed his ruling on if and how to sentence in the hush money case. Lawyers needed more time to hash out how to proceed following the reelection. So on Tuesday they will reconvene with new arguments. Now, there are questions on whether Trump will ever be sentenced after being convicted in May. Let's discuss all this with CNN Legal Analyst and former U.S. Attorney

Michael Moore. Well, I think that sentencing date has been pushed back even further to November 26. Is that what you're hearing?

MICHAEL MOORE, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think that's right.

WALKER: OK.

MOORE: They keep extending it to give him time to consider these arguments.

WALKER: Got it. OK, so then -- I mean, there are two separate questions in terms of what do you expect and what do you think should happen, but do you expect the judge will move forward with imposing a sentence on Trump for the hush money conviction?

MOORE: Well I think it's possible and this is why I say that. There are some really legitimate arguments for appeal in the case, and that is what evidence was presented to the jury and you know now that we have the Supreme Court immunity ruling we know that there's certain evidence that might should have been withheld from the jury because that conduct the Supreme Court has deemed to be likely immune. If the judge thinks that that somehow tainted the conviction and then I think it's likely he -- he may put this off. If however he thinks that that was limited enough or that the conviction should stand on its own that he may move ahead.

Remember New York's a little different than federal court. That is Trump's already actually a convicted felon there even though he hadn't been sentenced and so this would simply allow him to sort of finish the case as far as he was concerned. He could sentence the President- elect to some type of probated sentence meaning that he wouldn't do any jail time. He would simply have a conviction and some sentence to do. He could even stay the sentence really, but then it moves to the to an appeals court.

Either way I think you're going to see this move toward an appeals court. It's just hard for me to imagine the judge is totally ceding the state's authority to do anything with the case simply because former president was elected. We have -- we have different branches of government, different sovereigns. This is a state case not a federal case.

WALKER: Interesting so, but if he is sentenced anyway or again against probation that would wouldn't be served until after he serves well as president after four years from now?

MOORE: If the judge were to say, I'm going to give you a suspended sentence of four years or something like that that would mean he would never serve anyway, but it would allow him basically to put the period on this case. To sort of put this like this, we're through here, if you want to take it to the appeals court have at it, but this case is done as far as I'm concerned.

WALKER: All right, what about these two federal cases that have been pending with special counsel Jack Smith as we've been reporting that he's obviously winding down the two federal cases have to do with plotting to overthrow the 2020 election of course the hoarding of the classified documents. I mean he's done -- spent so many years on these cases. Are they just going to get thrown out the window?

MOORE: He doesn't have really many good choices at all.

WALKER: Yeah.

MOORE: And I think it's likely that nothing's going to happen with the cases. But remember we're here because they were so late getting into the cases. His appointment was late as Special Counsel. The investigation took a long time and so basically they brought these right up sort of on the eve or in the last part of Biden's term but the eve of the election.

So there are several things he could do. He could just sort of fold his tent and say our policy is not to move forward. We're not moving forward. I think that's unlikely at this point. He's got a report that generally special counsels are required to put out. He'll probably submit that report with a we hope we see it. It should sort of give us the full picture.

WALKER: And then resign?

MOORE: Well, and then resign --

WALKER: Yeah.

MOORE: -- to keep from having the president fire him --

WALKER: Fire him.

MOORE: -- which he's going to do, but he could also ask the judge to dismiss the case without prejudice and that would essentially allow the charges to be brought back within the statute of limitations and he could ask at the appropriate time or a prosecutor could ask at the appropriate time that the statute would be considered to have been told or extended because of certain things like Trump's inability to be prosecuted because -- or the case to move forward because he was a sitting president.

[07:35:03]

There's a conspiracy charge here that generally has a longer statute of limitations and he can say look, some of the ongoing efforts are to continue with this conspiracy. They're not good options at all. I don't think they're his strongest argument but there are things he can do other than just fold his tent and go home.

WALKER: To kick the bucket down the street a little longer?

MOORE: He can't -- he can't do that.

WALKER: Yeah, OK. What about the Georgia 2020 election subversion case there? So we know that the Fulton County DA, Fani Willis, this case of hers was basically sidelined because of the financial conflict of interest issues having to do with the prosecutor that she hired. Will it have -- if it -- if it's allowed to resume, will it have any legs to move forward can you think?

MOORE: I don't think there'll be much. In about two and a half weeks the Georgia Court of Appeals is going to hear an argument on whether or not she should be disqualified. If they determine that in fact her conduct was so egregious that she should be taken off the case and a new prosecutor assigned, it's going to be hard to imagine a prosecutor sort of picking up and trying to clean up this mess.

The other thing that could happen though is that she could -- if a prosecutor wanted to do it, or she could do it if she's left on the case. And that would be to simply try to dead-dock it, the case against Trump. That is to sort of put it in limbo, ask the court to do that, but to continue to move forward with these other co-defendants.

You know they don't enjoy sort of a team sport mentality here in the criminal process. They're charged, she could actually move forward. It wouldn't be much different than you think about these folks who've already taken a plea. They were charged originally but their case will now be, is over. Sort of the same type of rationale would happen in the case if she does move forward. But, you know, that's assuming that she gets past the Court of Appeals and is allowed to stay on the case.

WALKER: Well, moral of the story, we got to go, but the moral of the story is that it does not seem likely at all that Trump will face any criminal consequences as a result, right?

MOORE: Maybe not.

WALKER: Yeah.

MOORE: Certainly, for the conduct that's happened thus far.

WALKER: Right, yeah.

MOORE: It looks like it is.

WALKER: Good to see you.

MOORE: It's great seeing you.

WALKER: Thanks for coming in, Michael Moore.

MOORE: Glad to be with you, it's a pleasure.

WALKER: Victor?

BLACKWELL: In September of 1982, seven Chicago-area residents were stricken with a deadly illness. Doctors could not figure out why, but they soon discovered all of the victims had taken cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules.

Tonight, CNN takes you inside the decades-long investigation that forever changed how medications are packaged. Tune in for back-to-back episodes of "How It Really Happened" tonight at 9 and 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:42:10]

BLACKWELL: This morning, 5 billion people are under flood watches in Texas and Oklahoma. Heavy rain and possible severe thunderstorms, they're sweeping through the Southern Plains.

WALKER: CNN's Allison Chinchar is here. Tell us more about these severe storms, Allison.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, so they're really going to ramp up later this afternoon, and especially as we head into the evening hours. And it's this front here with the slow pressure system. That's what we're mostly concerned about.

And the focus is really going to be across Texas and Oklahoma. But really, much of the eastern U.S. is going to see something from this system over the next several days. Here's the best potential for those severe thunderstorms today.

That does include some damaging winds and, yes, even some tornadoes possible late this afternoon and into the evening. By tomorrow, that shifts a little bit farther east, now spreading into states like Louisiana, Arkansas, and into Missouri as well.

Here's a look at that timeline. Again, late this afternoon, you're really starting to see a lot of those showers and thunderstorms fire up. But it's also slow moving on the south end. So even as we go through the rest of the day, it really doesn't do all that much. You've got to wait until later Monday and especially into Tuesday before we start to see that spread into states a little bit farther east.

Now, behind that, you're going to see the temperatures drop. Take a look at St. Louis, for example. Almost 70 degrees by Monday, but then that front comes in. And now we're looking at highs in the 40s as we finish out the rest of the week. And again, this same system is going to make its way across the east.

So we're not only looking at the potential for those temperatures to drop in severe thunderstorms, but also some flooding, too, is going to be a concern, especially across Texas and Oklahoma, where we could end up getting as much as three to five inches of rain in just the next few days.

BLACKWELL: Allison, thanks so much.

Deion Sanders, Colorado buffaloes have been heating up as they storm towards a hopeful appearance in this year's expanded college football playoffs.

WALKER: And there is one player who is really shining. Coy Wire is here. COY WIRE, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yes, Travis Hunter. He might be the number one overall pick come this next NFL draft. And he is playing there for Colorado, where Coach Deion Sanders is in the midst of one of the greatest turnarounds we've seen of any program in college football.

In Boulder yesterday, here comes that Buffalo. Coach Prime's number 17 Colorado taking on Utah. And Colorado's two-way superstar, Travis Hunter, takes over. Doing it on defense, picking off a pass, returning it 21 yards. Look at him striking the pose, the Heisman there. He's the favorite to win the award for best college football player.

Hunter at receiver now. Long pass from Shedeur Sanders. And watch this ridiculous catch. Hunter's body is like parallel to the ground after he gets blasted midair. He can do it all. Buffaloes looking for their fourth straight win.

How about a touchdown? Running one in from Travis Hunter here on the reverse. He goes straight through the heart of that defense. Flying into the end zone. Colorado dominates the youths, 49-24. Shedeur Sanders taking a team that went 1-11 before he arrived. And two years in now, he has Colorado at 8-2 in playoff contention. He was asked what his message is to any of the undecided Heisman voters.

[07:45:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEION SANDERS, COLORADO BUFFALOES HEAD COACH: I ain't been to get no message, you know, Heisman voters is undecided. They can't see -- they can't see. It is what it is. I mean, Travis is who he is. He's supposed to go to the best college football player. I think that's been a rap since, what, week two?

So, we ain't petitioning for no batting. We ain't doing that. We got a wonderful display of cameras here, and I think we're on national television every week. If they can't see us, there's a problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Travis Hunter, straight-A student, by the way, as well.

Now, number 11, Georgia, fell behind 10-0 to the seventh-ranked team in the nation. Tennessee at home, but they went on a 31-7 run in large part thanks to their quarterback, Carson Beck. Completing 25 passes, 346 yards, three total touchdowns. Bulldogs started the season number one. They had two tough losses, and now Coach Kirby Smart has them locked in, ready to make some noise headed towards the playoffs.

Number one, Oregon, trailing at halftime for just the second time this season, down 13-6 in the fourth at Wisconsin, but here they come. Jordan James rushing for 11 of his 121 yards and a score. Field goal put the Ducks up three.

The Badgers have a chance, though, with under two minutes to go, but the Ducks' defense quacks the code. Interception by Matayo Uiagalelei, sealing the deal. Oregon comes from behind to win and remain undefeated at 11-0.

We have about two weeks left in the regular season before the conference championship games and then that selection for the first ever 12-team college football playoffs. All right.

WALKER: Awesome. Coy Wire, good to see you. Thank you.

WIRE: You too.

WALKER: Well, a New Hampshire animal shelter is facing, do I have to say it again?

BLACKWELL: No, you don't.

WALKER: An enor-mouse problem. They loves it.

BLACKWELL: Enor-mouse. What are we doing?

WALKER: Victor thinks it's funny. A man surrendered nearly 1,000 mice, and now the shelter is asking for your help.

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[07:51:23]

BLACKWELL: All right, let's take you to New Hampshire where shelter workers there were shocked. I should say animal shelters workers were shocked. When a man showed up, this was Monday, and he said he wanted to give them 150 mice. Problem here is that he wasn't clear. It was actually 150 cases of mice. So that's about a thousand in total.

WALKER: A thousand mice. Imagine that. Lisa Dennison with the New Hampshire SPCA is here now.

OK, Lisa, first off, how did this man have so many mice? And what did he say when he came in?

LISA DENNISON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW HAMPSHIRE SPCA: Well, when he first arrived, he said he had 150 mice. And then, as you said, clarified it and said he had 150 containers. And first of all, good morning and thank you for having us. But, you know, this is a situation that's gotten out of control clearly. And, you know, the breeding of the mice has just created this enormous problem for him.

BLACKWELL: OK, so he didn't have this many mice. They continued to breed and got up to this number. Now, as you're trying to find these mice homes, you know, mice like to entertain themselves and make more mice. So how are you preventing the multiplication of your challenge here if you're able to at all?

DENNISON: Well, we are. And the very first thing we did not only was obviously, you know, clean them and separate them, but we gendered them so that we were separating the males and the females. We were separating the juveniles from the adults.

And now we have many females on pregnancy watch because they breed rapidly and we don't know. And we don't want to set up a potential adopter with an unknown litter and to recreate this problem. So we have many in foster care, and we're waiting and slowly putting them up for adoption as we can confirm that they are not pregnant.

WALKER: Got it. So how -- what has the reaction and response been? I mean, has there been interest in adopting mice?

DENNISON: We have. We've actually adopted 18 mice so far. That is the tip of the iceberg. So we hope many of your viewers might be interested in adopting mice. We've had a number of our regional animal welfare organizations also offer to take some from us so that we're able to transfer some to them. So if you live in other parts of New Hampshire or Maine or Massachusetts or even Connecticut, we have some mice on their way there today. There are mice. So ask around and please help us -- help these mice find wonderful new homes. They're great fun.

BLACKWELL: Wonderful new homes. And you're the SPCA, and you want them to go to homes where they will be loved. How many questions and which questions are you asking when people come in for free mice that they don't have other plans for them?

DENNISON: Well, you know, we always are asking people about, you know, what are you looking for? You know, what kind of home are you going to provide for them? You know, often people really are very compassionate, and they're excited to help.

They're excited to bring these wonderful, fun, creative creatures into their homes. And, you know, we're not looking for individuals who are looking for large numbers of mice, for example, or wanting to rebreed them, but we're looking for companions to have fun and have them be, you know, a wonderful new addition to their family.

WALKER: Lisa, do you mind?

DENNISON: They're fascinating to watch.

WALKER: Yeah, I'm sure they are. And if you don't mind showing us one of the mice or two mice, one mouse.

BLACKWELL: Oh, she's going to take it out.

DENNISON: Sure.

WALKER: She is.

DENNISON: I am.

WALKER: Do they have names, Lisa?

DENNISON: So here is, whoops, very, very fast. This is one of our baby mice, and he knows that I'm going to pick him up again. But you can see. Whoops, let me put him over here for you so you can see him better, perhaps. He's a cute little guy.

[07:55:07] BLACKWELL: Does he have a name?

DENNISON: And he's, you know, running around this container. Well, we've named lots and lots of them. As you can see, well, you may not -- Doug and Daryl, Dude and Deputy is one group. Fun Dip is another. M&M. Sometimes they're named after candies or planets. The staff and the volunteers have a great time naming them. But then when they go home, people can name them again.

WALKER: All right.

DENNISON: But we -- I think I really want to share is make sure that if you are, you know, finding yourself in trouble in any way, please call your local animal welfare society.

WALKER: Thank you.

DENNISON: When you have 15 or 20, not 600.

BLACKWELL: Not a thousand, yeah. All right.

WALKER: Yes, that's a lot. Good luck to you, Lisa Dennison. Thank you.

DENNISON: Thank you so much. Thank you for having us.

WALKER: All the best.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

WALKER: Thank you for being with us this morning on CNN This Morning.

BLACKWELL: Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju starts after the break.

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