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CNN This Morning
Uphill Battle for Confirmation Faces Two of Trump's Unconventional Cabinet Picks; Department of Government Efficiency Ally Elon Musk Gets a New Partner in Congress to Help Him Slash Federal Government Spending; Israel and Hezbollah Closing in on Agreement As Conflict Reaches a Deadly Milestone. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 25, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KASIE HUNT, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING: It's Monday, November, 25th, right now on CNN THIS MORNING.
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SEN. JAMES LANKFORD (R-OK): There's comments that are floating out there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story.
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HUNT: Confirmation fight. The uphill battle facing two of Donald Trump's unconventional cabinet picks.
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ELON MUSK, FOUNDER, TESLA & SPACEX: Well, I think we can do at least 2 trillion.
HOWARD LUTNICK, CEO, CANTOR FITZGERALD: Yes!
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HUNT: DOGE allies Elon Musk gets a new partner in Congress to help him slash the federal government. Plus --
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(EXPLOSION)
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HUNT: Ceasefire in sight, Israel and Hezbollah are closing in on agreement as the conflict reaches a deadly milestone. All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the east coast, a live look at the Washington monument on this Monday morning of this holiday week. Good morning, everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us.
President-elect Trump has finalized his list for every department head in his administration. Over the weekend, he announced Brooke Rollins as his choice to lead the Agriculture Department, rounding out his picks to lead the executive branch departments. But the two selections facing Senate confirmation are looking at a slim margin for error in the 53-seat majority.
Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. Gabbard facing growing scrutiny over her foreign policy positions and that 2017 meeting that she had with Syrian leader Bashar al Assad. One anonymous GOP aide tells CNN, quote, "if we're ranking the most in trouble, she's number one."
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LANKFORD: Well, we'll have lots of questions. She met with Bashar Assad. We want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. As a member of Congress, we'll want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she's made and get them into full context. So, sure, there's comments that are floating out there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story.
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HUNT: Fox News host and army vet Pete Hegseth also facing tough questions in his bid to lead the Pentagon. During meetings with key senators last week, Hegseth got warnings from aides and senators that a high stakes confirmation hearing will dig deeply into allegations from his past, including a sexual assault report to police in 2017.
Hegseth wasn't criminally charged, he later entered into a settlement agreement with his accuser. Some senators, though, are signaling, they're not concerned with the report.
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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: From your perspective, you believe his part of the story and not hers.
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): I absolutely do. He wasn't charged. He wasn't even kind of charged in this. There was no crime committed. The police dropped everything. It's what's unfortunate in today's world. You can be accused of anything, and then if especially if it's something like this, you're automatically assumed to be guilty.
If you read the police report from cover-to-cover, which I have, and I know every reporter has too, it is clear there is nothing there.
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HUNT: All right, to be clear, the report does not say that the police found the allegations to be false. Monterey County's district attorney said in a statement that they declined to press charges in January of 2018 because, quote, no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt." Joining us now to discuss all this, Catherine Lucey, White House reporter --
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HUNT: Excuse me, for "The Wall Street Journal". Catherine, good morning.
CATHERINE LUCEY, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Good morning --
HUNT: Wonderful to see you --
LUCEY: Happy holiday week --
HUNT: Happy holiday week indeed, and a relatively slow news weekend --
LUCEY: I know --
HUNT: But --
LUCEY: Compared to standards --
HUNT: To the firehouse -- fire-hose that has been the previous standards. That said, we do, you know, have the full kind of shape of Donald Trump's cabinet emerging here. I did think the Gabbard question was particularly interesting over the weekend. This idea that she does have potentially significant challenges, not for personal reasons, which we have seen from Hegseth, from, of course, Matt Gaetz, who is now no longer being nominated, but because of some of the things she's done in her public life.
I mean, what is your latest reporting and your sense of how aggressively the Trump team is going to be ready to support her?
LUCEY: Yes, certainly her views and some of these meetings are raising questions. You saw those comments from Senator Lankford. I mean, she's certainly one of a couple of people that we keep hearing are going to have tough confirmation hearings. And I think the key thing we can take away from Matt Gaetz withdrawing is that, while this is a Republican Senate majority that is sympathetic to and supportive of Trump, they're not just going to roll over for every single choice.
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So, there is -- they do see that they have a role to vet and to weigh in on these candidates. So, I think that is going to happen here and in particularly with Gabbard, Hegseth, and I think Robert F. Kennedy Jr. also is someone that could face a lot of scrutiny from this group.
HUNT: Yes, so, let's talk about Hegseth for a second. Here is what -- kind of how Democrats are framing it. Senator Klobuchar was on "ABC" talking about it. Let's watch that.
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SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): The fact that he has said even just recently, this wasn't, you know, ten years ago that he didn't want women in combat when 18 percent of our military is made up of women, when that is how we made our recruiting goals last year, was the fact that women are signing up for the military, and we have thousands in combat right now. That really concerns me for the good of our military, that someone
would have that position.
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HUNT: So, that's -- that was Amy Klobuchar. Now, let's look at Bill Hagerty, a Republican also on "ABC", this is a preview of how Republicans are probably going to defend him. Let's watch.
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SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): As you said, they're allegations. It's amazing how this comes out. Pete is a very talented individual. I talked with him earlier this week, he told me, John, about how many people had written to him and said, look, I was thinking about getting out, you know we have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military.
I was thinking about getting out, but now that you've come to lead us, Pete, I'm going to stay in. That's the type of inspirational leader we need to see. Don't let these allegations distract us. What we need is real significant change.
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HUNT: So, there you have it on either side. What do you think it means when the rubber hits the road?
LUCEY: We do know this is a pick Trump really likes. We've seen a lot of effort going into, already trying to have these meetings, trying to bring him to the Hill, trying to -- trying to make in-roads here. It's going to be a tough confirmation process for him. And I think these issues of the assault -- you know, accusations are going to continue to be brought up.
And the question of, you know, women serving in combat roles, you have, you know, women who are combat veterans serving in the U.S. Senate. And so, there's certainly, I think -- you could hear from some of them about this. And I think that is a question that you're probably not just going to hear from women on also. That is -- I think that's a real issue that is going to be continued there probably --
HUNT: Yes, when you even heard Republican Senator Kevin Cramer raise that, saying, look, we focused on sexual assault in the military as a big problem --
LUCEY: Yes, absolutely --
HUNT: This could be an issue here. All right, Catherine Lucey for us this morning, Catherine, thank you so much for being with us, I appreciate it. All right, ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, an anti- Semitic act of terror. Officials in the UAE making three arrests after a missing Rabbi was later found dead.
Plus, how Marjorie Taylor Greene could help Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy slash the federal budget. And closing in on a ceasefire. The latest on a potential deal to end the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've seen this pattern where President Biden makes demands of Prime Minister Netanyahu only to be ignored or slapped down entirely. And then President Biden sends more bombs and more money.
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HUNT: Welcome back. Officials in the United Arab Emirates confirming they've arrested three people in connection with the death of an Israeli Rabbi whose body was discovered Sunday. Zvi Kogan vanished from Dubai last Thursday. He was part of the Orthodox Jewish group Chabad. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describing the Rabbi's death as an anti-Semitic act of terror.
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BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL (through translator): The state of Israel will use every means to bring the murderers and their dispatchers to justice. None of them will escape accountability. I greatly appreciate the cooperation with the UAE in investigating this murder. Together, we will strengthen our ties in the face of attempts by the axis of evil to harm our peace relations.
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HUNT: The White House says they're working closely with Israeli and UAE authorities, calling the incident, quote, "a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and co-existence. It was an assault as well on UAE and its rejection of violent extremism across the board."
CNN's Max Foster joins us now from London. Max, good morning to you. What do we know about the people who have been arrested here?
MAX FOSTER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Very little. So, the UAE Interior Ministry said just three people in connection with the death have been arrested, but they won't confirm the suspect's affiliations or their identities. So, we don't know much about it at all. But you clearly saw there the Israeli Prime Minister referring to the axis of evil.
So, some suspicion there about who they think is behind it. But we don't have any firm advice on that at this moment. And, you know, Israeli authorities as well are issuing a warning to all its citizens really about travel, recommending against non-essential traveling and telling visitors they should minimize movement and stay in secure places because we have seen a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, not just in the Middle East, in parts of Europe as well. So, a scary time for Israelis living abroad. HUNT: Yes, well, and Max, I was going to ask you kind of about that
big picture here. I mean, obviously we saw what happened in Amsterdam, which has kind of rippled across the world. Obviously, this is a different situation, but kind of speaking to your broader point.
This is something that we have seen kind of rising around the globe. I mean, what is your sense of what you are hearing and picking up from European leaders and others about what's to be done about it?
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FOSTER: Well, it's a huge concern. I mean, if you just take the U.K., there have been attacks, you know, on Muslims, they've been attacks on Jews as well, and there's a huge concern about how to deal with these sort of hate crimes and how you protect the different communities involved. What's happening in the Middle East is certainly rising tensions around the world.
People have very strong views about what's happening there, and it's turning into violence and it's very scary for anyone associated with those conflicts because they immediately get drawn into it. And if you face that sort of hate, things do happen. And they have been happening increasingly.
So, you know, here in the U.K., they've been protecting -- and I know that in Germany as well, they've been protecting, you know, places of worship for example and schools. I mean, it's just trying to keep control of it, but a lot of it does come down to the peace process, trying to make it work and calming tensions, not just in the Middle East, but how that tension spreads around the world as well.
HUNT: For sure. All right, Max Foster for us on this Monday, Max, always grateful to have you, thank you so much. All right, coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, Marjorie Taylor Greene heading up a new committee to oversee the slashing of government spending. She's already laying out her top priorities. Plus, a cargo plane turns deadly, crash turns deadly in Lithuania. We'll have more on that when we return.
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HUNT: All right, 20 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning round- up. One person is dead, several others injured following a cargo plane crash in Lithuania. The plane crashed near the capital's airport, narrowly missing a nearby house. Two people on board were rescued and taken to the hospital.
The Menendez brothers expected to appear virtually from prison at a court hearing today. Defense lawyers making a plea for their release. It will be their first public appearance in nearly 30 years. The brothers serving life without parole for the 1989 murders of their parents.
A noon arraignment today for former Kentucky Sheriff Shawn "Mickey" Stines. He's charged with killing a county judge in his own chambers. Stines could face the death penalty if convicted. The hearing is set for the courthouse where the judge was gunned down on September 19th. It has been closed until now.
And we're looking at live pictures outside of North Carolina's Charlotte-Douglas International Airport. Service workers there going on strike this morning. Officials with the workers union demanding higher pay, more respect on the job as the nation enters one of the busiest periods of holiday travel.
Several hundred workers expected to join the strike, with the work stoppage set to last until Monday. Storms could also impact Thanksgiving travel this week. Chilly weather, rain, snow in the forecast for parts of the U.S. this morning. Let's get straight to our meteorologist, our weatherman, Derek Van Dam. Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, happy Monday Kasie, and to all our viewers. So many of you hitting the roads or the skies this week to visit family, loved ones. So, we've got a lot of weather that's going to impact coast-to-coast. I'll try and take you right through it so you can plan accordingly.
Here's just kind of a broader perspective, storm system moving through the Great Lakes right now and one impacting the west coast. Still, the east coast though looking very nice, so all in all, about 80 million Americans traveling, whether or not it's on the roads or in the skies, the majority of people traveling by road, that's for sure, over 90 percent.
But several people trying to hit the airports right now across the Great Lakes, we do have snow flying across international falls to Marquette, Michigan, and the Upper Peninsula, and then over the west coast. This is the -- just kind of the ongoing barrage of storms we've been contending with, certainly weaker than last week's atmospheric river, but it is bringing rainfall to San Francisco, southward towards Los Angeles.
And so that rain could lead to some localized flash-flooding, especially for the in-land areas near the mountains. But as that air starts to cool off, as it goes into higher altitudes, that precipitation changes from rain to snow. And we are talking about several feet of snow for the mountainous areas.
Great news for the ski resorts. So, if you're hitting the airports, no travel delays because of the weather on the east coast, the west coast, that's a different story. As this storm system moves inland, could impact Denver International. And taking you through the week, here's the first initial storm system today, that moves off the east coast, bringing some rainfall on Tuesday, perhaps into Wednesday, though, this is the storm we're going to keep close eyes on because as you head home from Thanksgiving, it could impact a large portion of the eastern seaboard for Thursday and Friday. Kasie.
HUNT: All right, good to know. I love that little airplane map you have with all of the like --
VAN DAM: Hey, not bad, right?
HUNT: The colors, it's excellent --
VAN DAM: The incomplete --
HUNT: We have to bring that back, OK, Derek, thank you. I appreciate it, I'll see you next hour. All right --
VAN DAM: Yes --
HUNT: Still to come here on CNN THIS MORNING, the death toll rising in the Middle East as Israel and Hezbollah appear closer-than-ever to a cease-filed(ph) here -- ceasefire deal. Plus, Marjorie Taylor Greene's goals for the new Department of Government Efficiency.
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REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): We don't care about people's feelings. We're going to be searching for the facts, and we're going to be verifying if this is worth spending the American hard-earned -- American people's hard-earned tax dollars on.
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HUNT: All right, 5:28 a.m. here on the east coast. It's 2:28 a.m. out in Seattle, a beautiful shot of that city on this Monday morning. Good morning, everyone, I'm Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us. We're getting a clearer picture of what exactly Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are planning to cut once Donald Trump re-enters the White House.
The President-elect tapping the two men to lead what he is calling the, quote, "Department of Government Efficiency". Yes, it abbreviates to DOGE for short. This is an effort to slash government funding. We're also learning there's going to be a Congressional Oversight Committee that will work with DOGE. It is set to be led by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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GREENE: I'd like to talk to the governors of sanctuary states and the mayors of sanctuary cities and have them come before our -- why they deserve federal dollars if they're going to harbor illegal.
