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Trump Fills Top Administration Roles; Mayor: Criminal And Mental Health Systems "Failed New Yorkers"; Putin Lowers Threshold For Using Nuclear Weapons. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired November 20, 2024 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: All right, 5:29 a.m. here on the East Coast. A live look at Miami, Florida on this Wednesday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Donald Trump travel to Texas to watch Elon Musk's SpaceX rocket's latest test flight, a sign of Trump and Musk's growing bond as Trump prepares to reenter the White House.

Trump was also joined by his pick for education secretary, Republican donor and former pro wrestling executive Linda McMahon. McMahon was one of three major roles that Trump tapped yesterday, including Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and Cantor Fitzgerald CEO Howard Lutnick for commerce secretary.

As Trump fills out his cabinet there is one role that reportedly has Republicans at odds.

Semafor reports this: "At the moment, the two leading choices to lead the FBI in Trump's second term are Kash Patel, a former Trump administration official who's talked openly about revenge on the president-elect's enemies, and former Congressman Mike Rogers, who just narrowly lost a Senate bid with Trump's endorsement. Their rivalry is a microcosm of the tension simmering within the GOP as Trump prepares to take office, between his loyalists and the party's more establishment-minded players."

If Trump were to tap Patel or Rogers that would mean he would fire current director Christopher Wray, who is still serving his 10-year term.

Joining me now to discuss, Semafor's Shelby Talcott. Shelby, good morning to you. It's wonderful to see you.

I know you've been covering so much of this drama very closely from -- you're in West Palm Beach, Florida right now which has, of course, become the center of the political universe.

How do you understand -- and let's start with the tension here on the FBI pick question. First of all, I mean, it's clear Trump wants to upend the status quo here, right? I mean, we should underscore that it would be breaking a norm to fire another FBI director for him. But these two choices, Mike Rogers and Kash Patel, remarkably different.

Explain what the dynamics are behind the scenes.

SHELBY TALCOTT, REPORTER, SEMAFOR (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. So it's -- you've got Kash Patel on one side of the spectrum and he has the support of a lot of what I call MAGA Republicans, right? The real diehard loyalists within the Trump administration like Don Jr. And then you have Mike Rogers, who has the support of a lot of members of Congress because he is sort of the safer pick. He is seen as more establishment. He is supported with some of the donors.

And so that are the two sort of factions that we're seeing quietly at odds within the Trump administration. And, of course, if Donald Trump were to go with Mike Rogers, he would most likely have an easier confirmation process. But as we've seen that's not really Donald Trump's main focus at this point. He came into this campaign saying that if he won, he was going to, as you said, upend the status quo and he sees Kash Patel as somebody who is perhaps more aligned with that vision.

HUNT: So, Shelby, one of the other pieces of this, of course, is that Donald Trump has been really focused on picking made-for-TV people in his cabinet, right? I mean, Kash Patel is not someone that we see on TV. Rogers, of course, ran for Senate.

But in these other jobs, right? I mean, Linda McMahon, for example, is someone who had when she was a wrestling executive a public-facing career. And then, of course, you have Dr. Oz who first made his name on his own talk show, right -- or did make a name for himself in TV on his own talk show.

Let's watch a couple of the moments from that just to kind of remind people. He also testified at one point before Congress because of some of the controversies that arose from this. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MEHMET OZ, FORMER HOST, "THE DR. OZ SHOW": What I believe is one of the most important discoveries we've made to help you burn fat faster -- green coffee bean extract.

I actually do personally believe in the -- in the items that I talk about on the show. I passionately study them. I recognize that oftentimes that they don't have the scientific muster to present as fact.

LARRY KING, AUTHOR, RADIO HOST, TV HOST: What is Hydroxychloroquine? What is that?

OZ: It turns out that it might have an effect against this virus. I would take it myself if I was having issues with the virus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: So what stands out to you about the Oz pick? TALCOTT: You know, I think it is sort of in line with what Donald Trump has wanted to -- I guess, publicly said he wants to do when it comes to the health aspect, which is again, like other agencies -- drastically reshape, right? He picked, of course, RFK Jr. to head up HHS. He has promised to unleash Kennedy on the health aspect when it comes to American politics. And I think that is sort of in line with that pick.

And, of course, it's also notable that Dr. Oz has had a -- had a longstanding TV show, and Donald Trump likes picking people who are good on TV. He likes people who are going to be able to go on camera and talk about his policies and defend him.

HUNT: So, Shelby, the other piece of this, of course, now that we're looking ahead to today -- what's going to unfold here on Capitol Hill. J.D. Vance, the vice president-elect, is set to be shepherding Matt Gaetz on Capitol Hill where they plan to talk to some of these senators.

[05:35:00]

What's your understanding of how Trump world is feeling about the Matt Gaetz pick, in particular, compared to some of the others? I mean, there's also some reporting out this morning in Vanity Fair. We should -- we should note we're still working on confirming it here at CNN at this hour -- but that there may be names being prepared to replace Pete Hegseth as department -- as defense secretary, which would suggest that there's a difference in approach among these various nominees.

What is your reporting?

TALCOTT: You know, I have not confirmed that reporting as well individually, but if it is true it indicates -- you know, I think the big thing with Pete is that allegation was unknown to Trump world -- whereas, you have Matt Gaetz whose allegations against him have been known for a long time. So they seem more willing to potentially defend and try to push him through.

And when I talk to people inside Trump world and I ask: "Do you really think that Matt Gaetz and some of these more 'controversial picks' can get through," their argument, at least publicly to me, has been well, listen, Donald Trump got all of these votes. He won handily in this election.

And he made clear what he wanted to do if he won that election. He made clear that he wanted a big change in the government. And so if lawmakers want to go ahead and vote against his picks then that's on them and they're going to potentially suffer the consequences AKA a potential loss if they are up for re-election.

HUNT: All right, Shelby Talcott for us this morning. Shelby, always grateful to have you on the show. Thank you so much for being here.

TALCOTT: Thanks.

HUNT: All right, now this.

A fatal New York City stabbing spree now prompting questions about why the suspect was on the streets to begin with.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS, (D) NEW YORK CITY: It is a clear, clear example of the criminal justice system and mental health system that continues to fail New Yorkers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: Three people were killed in the attack. Mayor Eric Adams says the system allowed the suspect, 51-year-old Ramon Rivera, to fall through the cracks in the leadup to this week's violence. Rivera now facing first-degree murder charges. He is believed to be homeless. He was just released from prison in October for burglary and assault on a corrections officer.

New York's governor with a blunt question about why this was allowed to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL, (D) NEW YORK: I will be happy to bring my state resources to help analyze what actually failed at Rikers and someone who assaults a corrections officer gets out for good behavior. If that's good behavior, how are we defining bad behavior? This is-- this is what you look at, like, what the hell is going on here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: All right, joining us now, CNN senior law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey. He is a former Philadelphia police commissioner and the former Washington, D.C. police chief. Chief Ramsey, thank you so much for being here.

You head there the governor and the mayor both blaming the system for allowing Rivera to get out. I mean, what happened here, and what does this say about what does need to change?

CHARLES RAMSEY, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST, POLICING REFORM CONSULTANT, FORMER PHILADELPHIA POLICE COMMISSIONER, FORMER WASHINGTON, D.C. POLICE CHIEF (via Webex by Cisco): Well, first of all, my condolences to the families.

I mean, these random acts of violence like that -- I mean, you know, you wish they'd never occurred but unfortunately, they do occur. And this isn't just a New York problem. It's across the country where we have issues when it relates to people -- their mental health and being out on the street without the proper treatment.

And so both the governor and the mayor are correct in their assessment of it. I mean, the individual was in custody -- in jail for a felony. He committed an assault on a -- on a guard and still released. And he had been arrested a couple of times before in New York and designated as an emotionally disturbed person and put into a hospital for temporary evaluation, and again was released.

So the system does need to be overhauled, to say the very least. It is an issue. Not everyone that's homeless has got mental illness issues. Not everyone is violent. But for those that are, they do not need to be on the street.

HUNT: So, sir, what does this say to you more broadly as well about kind of how we as a country as grappling with crime? It obviously was a huge issue in the election that we just saw happen. Donald Trump, of course, won. Republicans are saying that we have a mandate because they won all -- you know, the House, the Senate, and the White House. And crime was not a small -- I mean, it was a -- it was a significant issue in the campaign.

You, of course, have understood how American public political sentiment interacts with how officers actually act and conduct themselves on the street.

So what do you think all of this means for how we go forward?

RAMSEY: Well, crime overall in the country is down but the perception and the fear of crime remains high, and we have to find a way to address that. You know, that was one of the main topics during the election. It does rile people up. People are afraid and people want safe, secure neighborhoods.

[05:40:00]

And incidents like what you just saw in New York don't help matters any when you have situations where you have people that should be under treatment, that should be off the street, yet they're on the street. They have access to a weapon. Granted, not a gun, but a knife can be just as deadly. And people are killed as a result of that. So the fear is understandable. There's no question about it.

But we have to get serious about finding solutions, not just always after the fact, blame somebody else, or what have you. We have to sit down and figure out OK, what do we do?

I mean, the mental institutions that they had decades ago are no longer there. People are turned out on the streets. You don't have enough mental health workers in this country to be able to deal with the volume of people that need assistance.

So it's something that we have to get serious about. We have to fund it, and we have to come up with a plan -- a long-term plan.

HUNT: All right, former police chief Charles Ramsey for us this morning. Sir, I'm always grateful for your perspective. Thank you so much for spending some time with us this morning.

RAMSEY: Thank you.

HUNT: All right. Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING an American embassy shut down a short time ago over fears of an attack just hours after Ukraine struck deep inside Russia with help from the U.S. Plus, the end of the road for Rafael Nadal. His historic career not ending the way he wanted. The Bleacher Report up next.

(COMMERCIAL)

[05:45:35]

HUNT: All right. New this morning, the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv is closed for the day after receiving information of a potential air attack as the world marks 1,000 days of the Russia-Ukraine war.

Russian President Vladimir Putin now lowering the bar for a nuclear strike, saying any attack against Russia supported by a nuclear power could be met with a nuclear response.

This comes after Ukraine fired American-made missiles into Russia Tuesday after the Biden administration gave Ukraine permission.

Pentagon officials downplaying Russia's new nuclear decree.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SABRINA SINGH, DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: We don't have any indications that Russia is preparing to use a nuclear weapon within Ukraine. We don't see any changes that need to be made to our own nuclear posture as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: In another policy shift, the White House now granting permission to sent anti-personnel mines to Ukraine to help slow Russian advances in the east.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy saying U.S. support is critical.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREY YINGST, FOX NEWS CHIEF FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT: What is the U.S. government cuts military funding to Ukraine?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: If they will cut, we will -- I think we will lose. Of course, anyway, we will -- we will stay. We will fight. We have our production but it's not enough to prevail, and I think it's not enough to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger is here to discuss all of this with us. David, good morning. It's wonderful to see you as always. Thank you so much for being here.

Can you explain a little bit about this decree from Russia around nuclear weapons and what it means?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE AND NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES, AUTHOR, "NEW COLD WARS" (via Webex by Cisco): Sure, Kasie, and good morning.

This was signaled a few months ago and it I think really reflects, as most nuclear doctrine does, an effort to try to go deal with a country's greatest fears. And their fear here is that they were stuck in a nuclear retaliatory doctrine that said that if another side used nuclear weapons, they could use nuclear weapons in response. But it's never been clear, both for American doctrine and for Russian doctrine, what do you do if you get an overwhelming conventional attack?

And so, what Putin has done -- and as I said, he signaled this in September -- is revise their doctrine so that if you got a conventional attack like the kind that Ukraine has been launching now with ATACMS -- this short-range missile system -- deep into Russian territory, and the attack is backed by a nuclear power, the United States, then it could be considered to be the equivalent of an attack by that power. And he said he would have the right to use nuclear weapons.

Now, having the right and deciding to do it are two completely separate things. And so you heard the Pentagon spokeswoman make the case there we haven't seen a change in posture. I think that may be looking a little bit too short-term here. Putin is trying to lay out some red lines.

HUNT: So, David, when you say it's a little too short-term, can you help us understand how this fits into what we know to be at least the immediate term, which is that Donald Trump is going to take office as President of the United States and that's obviously really going to change what's going on in Ukraine?

SANGER: Well, one way to view it is that President Biden is lifting the last of the restrictions that he's reluctantly come to lifting so that the Ukrainians have everything that they've asked for, and that it would be President-elect Trump's decision once he got into power whether to withdraw things from them. And that would be I think politically difficult because I think Zelenskyy had it about right in that clip you played when he said well, if the Americans withdraw support, we lose.

On the other hand, he's giving Trump some bargaining chips here. And if, in fact, there is a negotiation with Russia, then Trump would have the advantage of being able to say well, if you do X, we will withdraw the permission to use long-range weapons and so forth. In other words, give a little bit of leverage as they go into the negotiating room.

[05:50:05]

But the real question here at the end of the day is does Donald Trump take his time here to see how this plays out or does he step into solve the war in 24 hours as he has suggested? And I can't imagine a way to go do that, Kasie, other than calling Vladimir Putin and say what do you need? He's going to hear I'd like 20 percent of the country and no NATO entry for Ukraine, and then call Zelenskyy and say do I have a deal for you.

HUNT: All right, David Sanger. Always very grateful to have you on the program, as I do very much appreciate your sober approach as well to these questions about nuclear weapons because they are such difficult and alarming ones. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

SANGER: Thank you, Kasie. Always great to be with you.

HUNT: All right. See you next time.

All right, time now for sports. The Cavaliers finally losing their first game of the season falling to the defending NBA champion Celtics last night.

Andy Scholes is here with this morning's Bleacher Report. Andy, good morning.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good morning, Kasie.

So the longest winning streak at the start of the season -- that was by the Warriors back in 2015. They won 24 in a row. The Cavs were at 15 heading into Boston last night and this was an NBA Cup game. The Celtics' green court not my favorite, but Boston certainly playing well on it.

Behind Jayson Tatum, they opened up a 17-point halftime lead. Tatum had 33.

The Cavs, though, not going quietly. Donovan Mitchell's three here made it a three-point game in the fourth quarter. Mitchell had a game- high 35 points. But Tatum and the Celtics -- they would hold off that late charge to win 120-117, handing the Cavs their first loss of the season.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAYSON TATUM, FORWARD, BOSTON CELTICS: We was excited for today. We lost the last couple of games. They've been the best team of the league, you know, all season. They're 15-0. They came in and they felt like they was the best team, and we feel like we the best team. It's all in competition, so we was ready to play today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, Dalton Knecht, meanwhile, having a career night in L.A. The Lakers rookie -- he was just on fire from deep. In the third quarter, Knecht making a three on four-straight trips down the floor. LeBron and the Lakers bench just loving it. In the end, Knecht made nine three-pointers, tying the NBA's rookie record. He finished with a career-high 37 points.

The Lakers beat the Jazz 124-118. It was their sixth win in a row. The Lakers have never lost an NBA Cup game.

All right, the latest college football rankings are out and well, they are quite interesting. So right now, the first round byes would go to Oregon, Texas, Miami, and Boise State. So the Hurricanes are ranked eighth. Boise State is 12th. But in this new system the top four highest-rated conference champions automatically get a top four seed and first round bye.

Now, the Canes are winning the ACC right now and Boise State is winning the Mountain West, so that's why the bracket looks like this right now. Ohio State is ranked second but they would be the five seed.

There's still lots to sort out as we head towards the final two weeks of the season and conference championship games.

All right, and finally, Rafael Nadal's incredible career coming to an end yesterday as he was knocked out at the Davis Cup. Nadal leaves the game with 22 Grand Slam titles. The 38-year-old was the king of clay. He won a record 14 French Open titles. He lost only four of his 116 matches at Roland-Garros, which just is incredible.

And here was Nadal before he left the court for the final time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAFAEL NADAL, 22-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: I am one of these that I have been very lucky that the life give me the opportunity to live unforgettable experiences because of tennis so I just want to be remembered as a good person and a kid that followed their dreams and achieved more than what they ever did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yeah. So now we're down to just Novak Djokovic in the big three, Kasie. Sad for tennis because, you know, Federer, Nadal, Djokovic -- when they were all in their prime going for it, it was just like you could book it two or three of them would be in the final almost every single time. But I guess it's good for all the other men tennis players, right, because now everyone else can try to win.

HUNT: It is the end of an incredibly epic era. I'm actually -- I'm a huge tennis fan and so it really is a massive changing of the guard. But I do think --

SCHOLES: Yeah.

HUNT: -- it's going to be really exciting to see who comes up and gives us another hopefully new era for the sport. So congratulations to Rafael Nadal.

Andy, thank you. I really appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

HUNT: All right, coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, in a matter of hours, the House Ethics Committee will meet to discuss the fate of their report looking at Matt Gaetz. Democratic Congressman Steve Cohen is going to join us live to discuss that.

Plus, the president-elect selects a longtime ally for education secretary. What it may signal for the future of the department that Trump has pledged to shut down. [05:55:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) THEN-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ultimately, we want to close the federal Department of Education, and we're going to do that. And we're going to move it all back into our states.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL)

HUNT: It's Wednesday, November 20. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They key point is that the Senate should have a chance to look at it, not us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: The Ethics Committee's report on Donald Trump's attorney general pick Matt Gaetz. Today, a House panel could decide to release it or bury it forever.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OZ: And I've got the number one miracle in a bottle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: From pushing weight loss pills to proposing policy. Trump wants Dr. Oz to join his team.

And this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A bomb cyclone? Whoever heard of that?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: A powerful storm unleashing a month's worth of rain, hurricane- force winds, and dumping a ton of snow on the Pacific Northwest.

And more new weapons for Ukraine. President Biden making another big policy shift to help the fight against Russia, but is it too late?