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CNN This Morning

Trump Announces Picks For Key Health Economic Roles; Tulsi Gabbard Was Briefly On Government Watch List; Judge In Trump Criminal Case Delays Sentencing Indefinitely; Millions Impacted Across The Northeast By Powerful Winter Storm; Putin Issues New Threats In Wake Of New Hypersonic Missile Strike. Closing Arguments Set for December 2nd in Daniel Penny Trial; Six Tourists Dead in Laos Over Alcohol Poisoning; Texas Education Board Approves Optional Bible-Infused Curriculum for Elementary Schools. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired November 23, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to CNN This Morning. It's Saturday, November 23rd. I'm Victor Blackwell. Have we done all of the shopping for Thanksgiving?

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Not at all. Because I won't be having a turkey this year.

BLACKWELL: Oh, no.

WALKER: No. Have you done all your shopping?

BLACKWELL: I know what it's going to be. I mean, I haven't put it in the car, brought it home.

WALKER: But what are the sides? What are your favorite sides?

BLACKWELL: My favorite, we're going to do roasted sweet potatoes. Instead of all the syrups and the marshmallow and all that, just a nice hearty roasted sweet potato.

WALKER: I like sweet potato.

BLACKWELL: Yes, that's my -- that's my side dish.

WALKER: As long as there's no cranberry sauce.

BLACKWELL: Oh, no.

WALKER: I'll be at your place.

BLACKWELL: Cranberry sauce is the best. I know we got a show to do. Cranberry sauce and the cheap kind. I'm talking right out of can.

WALKER: The jelo.

BLACKWELL: The jelly with the ribs. Oh -- WALKER: We're not having Thanksgiving and dinner together ever. Hi, everyone, by the way, I'm Amara Walker. And let's talk about what we are working on for you this morning. President-elect Donald Trump unleashes a flurry of cabinet picks for his return to the White House. The billionaire he tapped to run the Treasury Department and why his intelligence picked Tulsi Gabbard was placed on a government watch list.

BLACKWELL: Vladimir Putin ramps up threats while touting his military's new experimental missile. The new escalation in Russia's war in Ukraine. That's coming up.

WALKER: And reading, writing, math and scriptures inside the controversial Bible based curriculum that may soon be taught to kindergartners through fifth graders in Texas public schools.

BLACKWELL: Millions of people from West Virginia to New York are waking up to a wallop from winter this morning as the next storm that could impact the Thanksgiving travel rush is taking shape. Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking this fall snow form. That's ahead.

Busy Friday night for President-elect Donald Trump. He announced a list of new picks for key health and economic roles in his administration. That includes hedge fund manager Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary, Oregon Representative Lori Chavez-DeRemer to lead the Department of Labor, and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, family practice doctor who's also appeared as a contributor to Fox News, as U.S. Surgeon General. Now sources tell CNN that Trump wanted to announce his key roles before the Thanksgiving holiday.

WALKER: Now he is moving on from the debacle that surrounded his initial pick for attorney general now former Representative Matt Gaetz. Last night, Gaetz announced he will not be returning to Congress next year. However, another pick is making headlines. Sources tell CNN that Tulsi Gabbard, who Trump selected to lead the intelligence community, briefly landed on a TSA watch list, but she was quickly removed after going public with the claims.

Federal sources say public statements have no influence on who is or is not on the list. CNN's Arit John is here with more details on these key administration picks. Arit, Lori Chavez-DeRemer came as somewhat of a surprise, didn't she? Why is that?

ARIT JOHN, CNN REPORTER Well, if you're a Democrat, you're probably pretty happy with this pick compared to a lot of the other nominees of President-elect Trump. Lori Chavez-DeRemer is somebody who recently lost her reelection bid for a seat in the Portland area.

And one of the things she really emphasized in that bid was her union ties, that she had been endorsed by some unions, that she had sought out union support. She's the daughter of a union member and she also was one of the few co-sponsors of the PRO Act, the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which was introduced in the Senate by Senator Bernie Sanders. So this is somebody with really strong labor ties, somebody who is supportive of unions and who was back by Teamster President Sean O'Brien.

If you'll remember, Sean O'Brien spoke at the RNC, tried to reach across the aisle in terms of building up Republican union support and famously did not endorse in the presidential election when in the past the Teamsters have been have endorsed Democrats.

So Sean O'Brien, this is a real victory for him because he was able to boost somebody who would be supportive of labor in a Republican administration. And I believe that's why this is such a surprise for sort of the business community because typically you don't expect Republicans to pick somebody who's against right to work laws, who is for bills like the PRO Act to be the Republicans labor secretary.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about some of the public health roles. And we understand from sources that RFK Jr. was influential in some of these selections. Does that give us any insight, tell us anything about these picks?

JOHN: I think it's pretty early to say what policies or what issues these picks are going to bring up. I think what's clear is that this follows President-Elect Trump's pattern of picking people with ties to Fox News.

[06:05:05]

Pattern of picking people who are going to be able to present his sort of be camera ready, be people who can like, talk about these issues on TV because these are people who have either contributed to Fox News in the past or have been contributors on Fox News. These are people who -- these are people who are comfortable talking about Republican talking points on healthcare. But in terms of what their policies are going to be, I think it's a little early to say.

BLACKWELL: Arit John, thank you so much. Now, as the president-elect prepares for this second term, he can forget about being sentenced in his New York criminal case for now and potentially for good.

WALKER: Yes. The judge overseeing the case adjourned his sentencing. CNN's Paula Reid explains when we could learn more about the future of the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Amara and Victor, Judge Juan Merchan made it official this week that President-Elect Trump's criminal sentencing is indefinitely suspended. They are waiting to resolve some other issues in the case.

Earlier this week, the district attorney's office made it clear they're fine to delay that sentencing until after Trump leaves the White House for a second time. But one thing they're not going to allow is for this case to be dismissed. Prosecutors say they will continue to fight that even though Trump's lawyers are trying multiple different paths to try to get the entire case tossed out.

Judge Juan Merchan gave Trump attorneys until December 2nd to lay out their arguments. Why? They think that because Trump is now president elect that his conviction on 34 counts of falsifying business records should be tossed out. Prosecutors have a week to respond.

So it's possible that Juan Merchan could potentially give us answer on the fate of this historic case before the new year. Amara. Victor.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALKER: All right, Paula Reid, thank you. Joining us now for analysis is politics editor for Bloomberg News, Laura Davison. And Laura, good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us on this Saturday. As you know, the president-elect went on this blitz last night. He rapidly fired off his announcements for many government posts on True Social last night.

I want to first start with Trump's pick for treasury secretary, billionaire Scott Bessent. He's an interesting pick, isn't he? I mean, he once worked for George Soros. He would be the first only gay treasury secretary and President-elect Trump took more time with this decision, didn't he? I mean, he's also not a disruptor.

LAURA DAVISON, POLITICS EDITOR, BLOOMBERG NEWS: Yes. This is someone who is well known to Wall Street. Scott Bessent, really, over the past year or so has been trying to ingratiate himself with Trump's inner circle. He's been on the campaign trail. Even during rally speeches during the campaign, you would hear Trump talk about Scott Bessent, calling him the most brilliant guy on Wall Street.

So this is someone who is more of a conventional pick. He's not going to be a disruptor. But this was somewhat of a knife fight to get through this treasury selection process. There were several other people who were interested in the job, including Howard Lutnick, who ultimate to the Commerce Department. There were other figures in the mix, including Scott Haggerty or Bill Haggerty, rather, the Senator from Tennessee, Mark Rowan. This was somewhat of a controversial pick within Trump's orbit.

He's the CEO of Apollo, which is a big private equity firm. And even some of Trump's close allies like Steve Bannon came out and said that it's people like Mark Rowan who have really disrupted companies in the middle of the country and have left people worse off economically.

So Bessent was sort of a choice that was both palatable to Trump's team as well as Wall Street. The Treasury Secretary serves as a key liaison between markets and the central bank. So this is someone that we should be able to see a positive reaction for in the markets.

WALKER: So what do you think the thinking was behind Trump's pick for labor secretary, Representative Lori Chavez DeRemer. She is a moderate, she is a union friendly Republican. Were you surprised by this pick?

DAVISON: Yes, this is very much of a different approach than Trump had during his first term where he picked people who were very anti-union. We've really seen this transformation, including at RNC, when Sean O'Brien, who's the president of the Teamsters, came out and addressed the RNC. He was the keynote speaker one night.

And in the room it was very interesting because there were some people who, particularly delegates on the floor who were very much interested in his speech, what he had to say about rights for workers. But others who were also a little bit concerned of, hey, is this where the Republican Party is on this issue? But it's clear that blue collar workers and union workers were really key to Donald Trump's victory in the blue wall states and elsewhere. So you start to see sort of the parties realigning here.

Labor is one of those issues where we're seeing rank and file members of unions support Trump versus Democrats who they've supported for years.

WALKER: Matt Gaetz, as we're saying at the top of the show, he won't be returning to Congress after his really quick rise and fall in those eight days since Trump picked him to be his attorney general. And then, of course, hours after his withdrawal, Trump named Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general, to the post.

For those of you who don't know, she played a leading role in Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Bondi may be a less provocative choice than Gaetz. She is, though, just as loyal.

[06:10:04]

And Senator Dick Durbin is insisting on an FBI background check for her, pointing to her conduct as Florida's attorney general. How do you see all this playing out?

DAVISON: Yes, this is certainly someone, as you mentioned, who, you know, is, has been in Trump's inner circle for a long time, though a much more conventional pick. She does have political experience serving as Florida's attorney general. And she doesn't have all the personal baggage and investigations in the same way that Matt Gaetz had where he was just sort of uniquely opposed by both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.

Bondi, you know, if confirmed, she will certainly be, you know, a very loyal Trump ally in the Justice Department. But this question of background checks is one that has been percolating around Capitol Hill and really set up to be a showdown between Senate Republicans and the Trump -- incoming Trump administration. Trump has said he doesn't necessarily want to have the FBI investigating and doing background checks on people. This is, however, a long standing practice.

This is happened before. And this is, you know, something that generally with the incoming president would really join forces with the federal government. Trump has really resisted that. He's not running the transition out of a federal building. He's not taking federal money. He's doing it all on his own at his private Mar-a-Lago club. And this is sort of the latest example of seeing, you know, the Trump team really bristle at any sort of government interaction with the transition process.

WALKER: All right, well, we'll see how that all comes together. Laura Davison, good to have you this morning. Thanks.

BLACKWELL: New this morning, it is firmly fall, but 8 million people in the Northeast are under winter storm alerts. Some states got hit yesterday with more than a foot of snow, caused some power outages. Watch this.

You can hear the wind howling. There you see these scenes from appropriately named Mount Storm, West Virginia. Sheets of snow blanketed the area made for really dangerous driving conditions. Some areas in the Northeast could see fresh snow of up to 9 inches. Now, more than 127,000 people in Pennsylvania and New York combined are without power this morning.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with us. Now, we've got snow and rain on the map. But before we get to that, choose ye this day. Jellied or whole cranberry sauce.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm more of the whole the chutney style. I am more than the jelly. I ate the jelly as a child.

BLACKWELL: I almost want to walk off the set.

CHINCHAR: My preference lies in the thicker chutney style. Sorry, that I will die on that hill.

BLACKWELL: I like mine to come out of the can with a sound and --

CHINCHAR: And saying that shape.

BLACKWELL: Toss it to the side, slice it down the ribs. Mmm. All right.

CHINCHAR: I'll save the cans for you then.

BLACKWELL: Weather, go ahead. I'm getting out of the way.

CHINCHAR: So let's take a look. Again, these were scenes from these areas in the last 24 hours. This from West Virginia. Again, you can see the snow coming down, but they weren't the only area. When you look at some of these totals, this was definitely an overachiever of a storm. 20 inches topping out at High Point, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, also getting well over a foot of snow, and it's not done just yet. You still have it. Not nearly as heavy anymore, but you've got some rain across western Pennsylvania.

The snow into the mountains there, but also into portions of New England. It is still raining as we speak in Boston. Portland, you've also got some snow into the White and Green Mountains. But that snow is likely going to melt the next few days because the temperatures are going to start to rebound.

Look at St. Louis, 51 back into the 60s by tomorrow. Memphis, it takes a little bit longer, but we get back into the 70s by Monday. Same thing for Richmond and New York. It's going to be a bit more of a delay. The temperatures really don't warm up that much until Monday and into Tuesday of this week, but they will get much warmer, melting a lot of that snow that just fell.

If you have some travel plans today, the most ideal spots are really going to be the Southeast and pretty much of the central U.S. no issues there whatsoever. The only other rough spot is still going to be out into the West. That bomb cyclone has moved off, but we still have that atmospheric river kind of funneling some more moisture back into the Pacific Northwest and especially into north and Central California for today, again, you can see still some of that moisture.

But finally, once we get past today, that atmospheric river is going to shift away from these areas, finally giving them at least a little bit of a reprieve before the next system begins to arrive. So as you look over the next several days, you're still looking at several more inches of rain in some of these spots and feet of snow into the Sierras.

And as for Thanksgiving Day itself, the biggest travel concerns are really going to be from Pennsylvania stretching all the way back to Louisiana.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison, thank you.

WALKER: You know, forget the chutney. Forget this cranberry jello thing you've got going on. Do you know what the best side is with your Thanksgiving turkey?

BLACKWELL: What is it?

WALKER: I might be a little controversial here. Kimchi and Korean barbecue. But honestly, the day after. Get that kimchi. Get that kimchi there. Allison is still here. Have you had kimchi with turkey before? And you make a turkey sandwich. Put some kimchi in there. It's amazing.

CHINCHAR: I'll have to take your word for it.

[06:15:00]

WALKER: It's just silence here.

BLACKWELL: It's silence at home, too. People watching this kimchi.

WALKER: I bet you, Marcus, one of our producers is like. That's right. That's exactly.

BLACKWELL: You got one.

WALKER: Right, Marcus? Yes.

BLACKWELL: All right. Still to come --

WALKER: Cranberry jello.

BLACKWELL: -- Vladimir Putin is ramping up threats to the West. He says Moscow is entitled to strike military targets of countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons on Russia. Last, President Joe Biden hosted a glitzy dinner to thank his allies as he prepares to exit the White House. We're going to have details on who was on the guest list.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:07]

WALKER: In Beirut, rescuers are searching for survivors under the rubble of a residential building following an Israeli airstrike in the center of the Lebanese capital. Lebanon's civil defense says at least 11 people were killed in the strikes and 63 were injured. Israel's military did not issue an evacuation order ahead of the strikes and is declining to comment on the target.

BLACKWELL: As an ominous warning from Russia's Vladimir Putin after Russia launched a new medium range ballistic missile on Ukraine Thursday, Putin claims that no country in the world can counter the missile and says he'll use it again.

Moscow says it's a response, to the his words here, reckless decisions of Western countries to supply weapons to Ukraine that were used to strike inside Russia. This week, the White House authorized Ukraine to use long range missiles against targets inside Russia. And Ukraine also used bridge British supplied missiles for the first time. Joining me now, CNN military analyst Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling and CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. Welcome to you both. General, let me start with you.

And this statement from Putin also that he says Russia now has the right to use weapons against countries that allowed Ukraine to use theirs to attack Russian facilities. Is this bluster? I mean, the U.S. and European countries have been aiding Ukraine for 1,000 days now. Should this be considered any different than statements he's made over the last year plus of this war?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It's a little worse than the statements he's made in the past, Victor. And I'd say it is certainly bluster because Mr. Putin is in very bad shape. The state of Russia, the Federation of Russia is in very bad economic and military shape right now after almost three years of war. And what I would say is he knows he has not made very smart decisions since the start of this conflict, but he knows involving potentially attacking other countries that have been supplying Ukraine with weapons and ammunition would only lead to more disaster to him if NATO were to vote on whether or not to pull an Article 5 approach to this thing and any attack on any NATO element.

And he's mentioned Poland and he's implied other countries would certainly result in a vote of an Article 5 in which all of NATO's countries would counter Russia's aggression inside of Ukraine.

BLACKWELL: David, we've talked about how world leaders are now kind of targeting their rhetoric toward the incoming Trump administration. President Xi on the sidelines of the APEC summit, the leaders of the G20 kind of looking over President Biden's shoulder at President elect Trump. How much of this is intended for the audience of the Trump

administration, not just the use of this medium range missile, but also the rhetoric that's coming in.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, good morning, Victor. I agree with Mark that I think a lot of this is performative. We've seen a new nuclear doctrine in recent days out of Russia, one that would loosen the conditions under which he could use nuclear weapons. This short range missile that was fired in is designed to take nuclear weapons and even can have multiple warheads on it. Obviously, it was not armed that way when they shot it at a not very strategic target in Ukraine.

But I do think a good deal of what you're seeing going on right now is to ramp up the sense of escalation and then create a condition in which President-Elect Trump could come in and say, I just want an end of the war. Let's have a negotiation. This has gone on too far. It's too dangerous.

And the thing that you hear Putin and Trump both say is this could lead to World War III. So, if they did that, then I imagine you could see a negotiation in which President Trump argued for giving the Russians the 20 percent of the country they now hold, keeping Ukraine out of NATO, and then forcing that decision on President Zelenskyy.

BLACKWELL: David, let me stay with you because you pointed out that this missile could carry several nuclear warheads and it did not. But if we look at, in 2019, then-President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the INF Treaty, which prohibited or at least limited the production of these weapons. Is this kind of a tip of a hand to say to Trump, you thought were violating, and indeed, we have developed more since you've been out office?

SANGER: Well, he certainly has developed more.

[06:25:00]

And that was one of several treaties that President Trump, when he was in office, withdrew from. In balance and fairness to President Trump, President Obama had considered doing the same thing because the Russians had been in violation of that treaty for some time.

That said, Victor, we're headed into a scary moment here where in February of 2026, just 13 months after President Trump is inaugurated, the last treaty with Russia will expire. That's the New START treaty and that limits the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles.

And I think one of the big objectives of the next year has to be setting up the conditions that we don't plunge ourselves into another Cold War style arms race because there will be no legal restrictions.

BLACKWELL: General to you. And this claim from Putin that these weapons render Western defense systems useless, that no defense system in the world is safe from these. Fact check that for us.

HERTLING: No, it's untrue, Victor, but I'm not going to go any further into that. It's certainly untrue and he knows that. But I think you bring up a very good point about Russia disregarding the INF Treaty and making more immediate range ballistic missiles, which is the kind of missile he launched today inside the continent of Europe that's been ongoing for several years.

You're right that President Obama considered doing it, but he didn't do it. This is the interesting piece that you can never depend on Russia and especially Mr. Putin telling the truth.

The other factor that's involved that I'm glad to hear you mention it and David as well implied it, that any kind of attack on any NATO nation or any kind of negotiation by Mr. Trump to parcel away part of Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty would only have massive repercussions across the continent and around the world. And certainly it could seem to be a quick fix and a 25 meter target, as we call it in the military.

But I got to tell you, any kind of negotiation that would create that kind of condition without the incorporation of President Zelenskyy and the Ukrainian authorities would just be devastating, increasingly devastating to our standing in the world.

BLACKWELL: All right, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, David Sanger, thank you both.

WALKER: That's President Biden hosting a glamorous dinner for allies as his administration begins to wind down details of the event and who was in attendance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:30:00]

AMARA WALKER, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: In the headlines this morning. Closing arguments in the trial of 26-year-old Danny Penny will kick off after the Thanksgiving holiday. He is a man accused of killing 30-year-old Jordan Neely on the New York City subway last year. The defense rested yesterday following four days of witness testimony.

The medical examiner called Neely's death a homicide after authorities say Penny put him in a choke-hold for about six minutes. But a forensic pathologist who testified for the defense said Neely died from a variety of factors, including schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana and from being restrained.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CO-ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND: There's an investigation in Laos after six tourists, including an American died from what authorities suspect was a mass alcohol poisoning. It happened in a popular tourist town. Now, the government said it pledges to bring whoever is responsible to justice.

Embassies are warning tourists of the possibly deadly consequences of drinking tainted alcohol while they're in the country. The victims are from Australia, Denmark, as we mentioned, the U.S. and also Great Britain. WALKER: As President-elect Trump is building up his next

administration, President Biden is winding his down.

BLACKWELL: Yesterday, the Bidens hosted a gratitude dinner at the White House to thank and honor some of the administration's closest allies and donors. CNN senior White House producer Betsy Klein is live outside the White House. What more can you tell us about this big, fancy dinner?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Victor and Amara, President Biden kicking off what is expected to be a long goodbye to a political career spanning more than half a century. It was a moment of reflection for him as he welcomed donors, allies and longtime friends to the White House for this glitzy black-tie dinner described to us by sources as a gratitude dinner.

Now, make no mistake, Biden still has 58 days left to govern, and he is racing the clock to shore up some of those accomplishments and protect them from being undone by President-elect Donald Trump. But really, a moment for him to give thanks to those who have been with him the longest. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We began this journey to redeem the soul of the nation and to find the light in the darkness. One thing I've always believed about public service, and especially the presidency, is the importance of asking ourselves, have we left the country in better shape than we found it?

(CHEERS)

(APPLAUSE)

BIDEN: Tonight, I can say with all my heart, the answer to that question is a resounding yes because of you. Because of you.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:35:00]

KLEIN: Has said there will be a peaceful transfer of power on January 20th, and has charged his team to do the same. This as the Trump team continues to ignore those key deadlines to sign agreements, kicking off those transition activities with the Biden administration. And we have learned from sources that the hold-up remains over some concerns over those mandatory ethics agreements.

But what this means is that the Trump team is not receiving those key briefings from outgoing officials at agencies across the federal government, and we have heard from watchdogs and Democrats alike, including Senator Elizabeth Warren, who herself wrote some of those ethics in transition laws. She says in a new letter obtained by CNN, quote, "that Trump is

undermining his own ability to effectively manage national security emergencies." Urgent public health and safety threats, and corruption risks as he prepares to take office. Now, the Trump team insists that they will be ready on day one, and they are not concerned about not getting these briefings.

But President-elect Trump has received his first Intelligence briefing last week since being elected. We do not know if there are subsequent briefings for him, but certainly, a wide range of challenges at home and abroad facing President-elect Trump and allies watching U.S. response closely.

BLACKWELL: Betsy Klein at the White House, thanks so much.

WALKER: Thanks, Betsy. Well, Texas has approved a new Bible-based curriculum for public elementary schools. Coming up, the monetary incentive the state is offering for schools that adopt the lesson plans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: Legal challenges are expected in Texas after the state school board voted to approve a controversial optional curriculum that features Bible lessons.

WALKER: Yes, it's called the Bluebonnet Learning Program, and it's designed for K-through-five public school students. CNN national correspondent Rosa Flores has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROSA FLORES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tonight, a big win for the Republican-led effort to infuse Christianity into public schools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eight-seven, the motion passes.

FLORES: Officials in Texas approved a controversial public school curriculum called Bluebonnet Learning, that critics say disproportionately focuses on Christianity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please, don't know.

FLORES: The days long debate at times becoming heated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, respect the rules.

FLORES: Both sides voicing strong opinions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Public schools are not Sunday schools.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These biblical references do not constitute an establishment of religion. FLORES: The Texas education agency defending its curriculum, telling

CNN Bluebonnet Learning incorporates multiple faiths, and religious content is a small part of the product. Reaction outside schools in Houston mixed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our kids need the Bible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't think it has a place in school.

FLORES: And while these controversial K-through-five lessons are optional, some are concerned a state-funded $60 per student incentive could encourage even some progressive budget-strapped schools to adopt Bluebonnet learning.

RYAN FIRTH, DAD OF 2ND GRADER IN HOUSTON, TEXAS: There are better ways to spend that money than giving it to schools that adopt this religious stance.

FLORES: This move in Texas --

RYAN WALTERS, STATE SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, OKLAHOMA STATE: I will now say a prayer, and to be clear, students, you don't have to join. I pray in particular for President Donald Trump --

FLORES: Coming just days after Oklahoma state superintendent announced the purchase of over 500 Trump-approved Bibles for classes across the state.

WALTERS: We're not telling kids they have to pray, but we are telling kids they have the right to pray if they so choose.

FLORES: A group of Oklahoma parents, teachers and ministers filed a lawsuit against the state's top educator after he ordered the Bible be taught in public schools. The case is ongoing. In Louisiana, the legal fight over a law requiring the 10 commandments be displayed in public school classrooms has been temporarily blocked.

(on camera): Why is religion in schools such a flashpoint right now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I think it's -- one issue is because for Republicans, it's an issue that mobilizes the base.

FLORES (voice-over): Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University says President-elect Donald Trump's push for Christianity in schools --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT-ELECT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will support bringing back prayer to our schools --

FLORES: And his influence could help spread the Bluebonnet curriculum to other states across the country --

MARK JONES, PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, RICE UNIVERSITY: Especially since the Bluebonnet learning curriculum is open source, it's something that other states could adopt relatively quickly and relatively easily, and it's free. FLORES: But like similar efforts in other states, this one too, is

expected to end up in the courts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLORES: And at least one advocacy organization says that they have attorneys ready for the expected legal fight. Here's a statement from Americans United for Separation of Church and State. It says quote, "we urge all Texas school districts not to implement this curriculum. If families learn their public schools are using this curriculum, our attorneys are standing by and ready to defend their religious freedom."

If Bluebonnet Learning survives this expected legal fight, it would be available for instruction during the 2025-2026 school year. Amara, Victor?

BLACKWELL: All right, Rosa Flores, thanks so much. Now, coming up on first of all, at 8:00, we are taking a look at another angle of this, how history would be taught with this curriculum. Here's an example. It comes from a unit for kindergartners called "America, Our Great Country".

There's a guide for teachers that says, tell students that many of the founding fathers realized that slavery was wrong and founded the country so that Americans could be free. What is missing there?

[06:45:00]

Which detail about the founding fathers is not included in that explanation? We'll discuss on first of all coming up at 8:00. All right, still to come, Sean "Diddy" Combs is fighting to get out of jail. What his bail conditions will look like if the judge decides to grant his release.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

WALKER: New this morning, the judge overseeing Sean "Diddy" Combs bail-hearing could have a decision as soon as next week. On Friday, lawyers for Combs argued that the embattled music producer and mogul is not the danger to the community that prosecutors portray him to be. Prosecutors argue Combs is not following the rules, alleging that he had tried to influence the potential jury pool and tamper with witnesses.

With me now is civil rights attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin. Areva, good to see you this morning. So, the judge on Friday did not make a decision, he said that would come next week. And he's now ordered both sides to submit letters to lay out what type of communication Combs will be permitted to engage in. Does it indicate to you that the judge may consider granting bail, is considering that?

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY & LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Well, Amara, definitely it's good news for Combs. You know, this is his third bail hearing, and then the other two hearings, he was summarily denied an opportunity to leave that Brooklyn facility. This judge, at least, is willing to consider what some kind of home detention would look like.

And he is asking both sides to lay out what would occur if Combs was indeed released from detention. So, it does appear that the judge is willing to take into consideration perhaps facts that were not considered or were not considered persuasive, at least, in the other two bail hearings.

WALKER: We've heard the prosecutions argument saying that even behind bars, Combs was defying the rules and getting ways to, you know, get the other inmates telephone records and calling others to -- you know, allegedly tamper with witnesses. What is the defenses' argument to, you know, argue to let Combs out on bail?

MARTIN: Well, we know the defense has categorically denied that Combs has engaged in any kind of witness-tampering, witness obstruction. They say he's been modeled. They say he's turned over his passport. His family members have turned over their passports. They've outlined this very elaborate scheme under which he would hire private security.

He would stay in an apartment in Manhattan, he would wear some kind of GPS monitoring. They said he would limit all interactions with anyone other than family members and his attorneys. And they said that this is very similar to bail conditions for Mike Jeffries. We know the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, who also has been charged with sex trafficking.

On his first court appearance, Mike Jeffries was allowed to post a $10 million bond and have similar conditions of home confinement and being restricted to just communications with his attorney. So, some -- this happened -- Mike Jeffries case just occurred a month ago, so, this I think portends very well for Combs in terms of making an argument that there is precedent for the arrangement that his attorney has been pressing now for months.

WALKER: What about this argument from the defense that the prosecution -- well, the allegations that the prosecution edited that surveillance video, many of us saw from Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where you see Combs, you know, grabbing his then girlfriend Cassie Ventura and throwing her to the ground.

The defense is saying that the footage was edited, some of it was omitted, that the sequence of events would -- had been changed around. What's the argument here that the video is not as bad as it seems?

MARTIN: Absolutely. What we know the defense is trying to say to this judge or argument they're making to the court is that Combs again, is not a danger to the community, he's not a danger to anyone. And we know that video is so horrific, that video has been seen by millions of folks and the prosecution has used that as part of its evidence.

And the defense is saying, look, that video cannot be trusted. It's not a full video of what happened. It was a situation between two people in a consensual relationship -- again, trying to make the point that Combs is not dangerous to the community and definitely not a danger to any of the victims and witnesses, which is what has been a central part of the argument by the prosecution.

WALKER: Well, it will be interesting to see if this third time will be a charm, since he's been denied bail twice already as you say. Areva Martin, thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: Tonight on "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU", journalist Kara Swisher and comedian Jenny Hagel join host Roy Wood Jr., team captains Amber Ruffin and Michael Ian Black. Catch a new episode at 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

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[06:55:00]

WALKER: We're introducing you to the top five CNN Heroes of 2024, and you get to vote for your favorite one through December 3rd. Yamilee Toussaint was one of only two black women in her class while studying engineering at MIT.

BLACKWELL: Now, she's tackling that imbalance using a unique approach that hooks young girls of color into science, technology, engineering and Math.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is strip one --

YAMILEE TOUSSAINT, MIT ENGINEERING STUDENT: We bring STEM and dance together by allowing the girls to create dance performances that combine the two, so, they can work on costumes that light up as they move. And they're learning how to program the circuit so that when they press a button on the circuit, the lights turn blue or whatever effect that they want to be able to convey a message.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to talk about song structure today.

TOUSSAINT: They can create their own song through computer science and A.I.

So, these are the poses in the beginning.

And then be able to make a dance routine to that song that they created.

Love it. This is going to be so fly.

We're normalizing that girls of color can do computer science and create something --