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Republicans On Ethics Panel Vote To Block Release Of Gaetz Report; U.S. Reopens Kyiv Embassy After Fears Of Air Attack Forced Closure; Made For T.V., How Former Reality Star Trump Is Casting His Cabinet; Laken Riley's Killer Sentenced To Life Without Parole; Former Election Workers Ask Judge To Hold Giuliani In Contempt. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 20, 2024 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news, Republicans on the House Ethics Committee vote to block the release of the panel's report on Matt Gaetz. President-elect Trump's embattled choice for attorney general has been on Capitol Hill trying assure of support among GOP senators. And now we're learning of another controversial Trump pick heading to the Hill tomorrow.

Also breaking, the U.S. just reopened its embassy in the Ukrainian capital, where fears of a significant air attack by Russia briefly prompted it to close and drove scared residents in the Ukrainian capital to take cover in the subway. We'll have a live report from Kyiv.

And the highly publicized Laken Riley murder case comes to a close with the Georgia student's convicted killer sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Stand by to hear the raw emotion as Riley's family and friends choke up and spoke out in the courtroom.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

This is CNN Breaking News.

We begin with the breaking news up on Capitol Hill, the findings of a House Ethics Committee investigation of Matt Gaetz still under wraps. Republicans on the panel falling in line with the GOP leaders and voting to block the release of the potentially very damning report on president-elect's choice to become the next attorney general of the United States.

Let's go to CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju. He's up on Capitol Hill. Manu, walk us through this very significant day in the Gaetz controversy.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted to block the release of that ethics report. This committee deadlocked. Ten members, committees, five Democrats, five Republicans, typically acts in a bipartisan fashion, but not this time, leading to finger pointing between the two sides. Immediately afterwards, the Republican chairman of the committee, Michael Guest, said there was not an agreement reached. That prompted the top Democrat to come out and said -- pushed back against the chairman and said his contention that the two sides had agreed that the report should not be released was wrong, as Democrats pushed for it to be disclosed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SUSAN WILD (D-PA): He has implied that there was an agreement of the committee not to disclose the report. That is an untrue, to the extent that that suggests that the committee was in agreement or that we had a consensus on that. That is inaccurate. And I will say that a vote was taken.

RAJU: The chairman also said the report is not done. Is the report done?

WILD: I haven't seen him say that. I haven't seen that statement. And I really don't care to comment on the status of the report except to say that we were in a position to vote today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, the chairman of the committee, Michael Guest, told me earlier today that the report, he said, is not done. He said it's still going through the review process. Democrats believe that is an effort to bury this all together, prevent these very damaging allegations, which Gaetz denies, from coming to public light, which could undercut his chances to become attorney general.

Now, I caught up with the chairman of the committee, Michael Guest, in the aftermath of those comments from Susan Wild, and I asked him why Republicans voted against disclosing this report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Why did Republicans vote to block this report?

REP. MICHAEL GUEST (R-MS): I'm not going to talk about any of the matters that happened within the committee. That is confidential. I've released the statement, which I stand by, that there was not an agreement to release the report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But earlier, he told me that he had some reservations about releasing this report because it was not final. But no doubt about it, Wolf, Republicans have put pressure on the GOP members on that committee not to release the report, including the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who contended it should not be released, because Gaetz is now a former member of Congress, even though there's precedent for releasing ethics reports against members who had just resigned.

So, that leaves Democrats for deciding what is next. One issue that they have now offered is to try to force a vote in the full House to compel the Ethics Committee to release this report.

[18:05:04]

Wolf, that would be required for the house to act within two legislative days. It could potentially wait until after Thanksgiving, but that means Republicans, at least some, will have to join with Democrats in order for them to be successful.

BLITZER: We'll see if that happens. Manu Raju up on Capitol Hill, thank you very much.

Let's get reaction from the Trump world as it tries to navigate the Gaetz fallout. CNN's Kristen Holmes is joining us from West Palm Beach down in Florida, not too far away from Mar-a-Lago. Kristen, you have new reporting on Gaetz's prospects and another very controversial Trump pick heading to the Hill tomorrow.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We have heard that Vice President-elect J.D. Vance is actually taking Pete Hegseth up to the Hill just to have a similar day to what we saw today with Matt Gaetz, to try and introduce him to a number of Republican senators as they try to really sell him after we have heard about the sexual assault allegations, which, of course, we know that Hegseth has denied.

Now, after the meetings today, I spoke to several Gaetz allies who said they believed that the meetings went well. They were briefed on them. They said they were slightly optimistic that part of the goal here is that they believe that Gaetz is best one-on-one, that he can make the pitch for himself and that he can show why he is the right person for the job.

Now, one of those sources did tell me they still don't believe that he actually has the votes to get confirmed, but they think this is a step in the right direction. So, clearly, they're going to continue to push him, but one other source noted to me, and this was part of a sentiment in Trump world that I heard over the last several days, there is a large concern over this ethics report. Nobody wants this ethics report released. They think it could undo any goodwill that he's built up since meeting with these senators, or even just in the last few weeks since he was nominated to be attorney general. There is a lot of fear as to what's in there.

And just a reminder, nobody actually knows except for the people who have seen it. Outside of that, what's actually in there, there are a lot of Republican senators who still want that information, Wolf.

BLITZER: They certainly do. All right, Kristen Holmes down in West Palm Beach, thank you very much.

Let's get some analysis from our political experts who are here with me in The Situation Room right now. Gloria Borger, the chairman says the report still isn't finished. What do you think is going on here?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Look, I think the Ethics Committee in the house is completely deadlocked. Apparently they took a vote and it was Democrats against Republicans and that's it. The Democrats want this out and there's going to be a privilege resolution on the House floor. As Manu was saying, who knows what's going to happen with that. There are lots of Republicans in the House who don't like Matt Gaetz, particularly since he ousted Kevin McCarthy, and there are a lot of McCarthy fans there.

And, you know, I have to believe, at some point, the Senate is going to get hold of this report, or have these women come testify privately or the Senate Democrats have asked for the FBI to give them their information. I don't think that's going to happen. But I do think they're going to get more information about Matt Gaetz. And I will also point out he's got a lot of enemies. He has tweeted trash about a lot of senators, including Mitch McConnell, Thom Tillis, for example, and the list goes on. And so he doesn't have a lot of friends up there, and that matters in these kinds of things. And there are going to be people who don't think he has the right temperament to be attorney general.

BLITZER: I want to get Lance Trover into this conversation. Lance, don't the American people, the public at large, deserve to know what's in this report given that he has been nominated to be the top law enforcement official of the United States?

LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think that's up for the Ethics Committee to decide, but let's remember the precedence that they have set over the course of the last 35, 40 years is they do not release these types of reports for former members of Congress.

BORGER: They've done that. They've done that in a couple of years.

TROVER: Like 35 years ago, 40. I'm saying the long-term precedence though with this committee is that they do not release that.

I do have a question though. I think, does it not get -- we are a country -- you are innocent until proven guilty. He has vehemently denied these accusations. Does it not give anyone, and certainly I would hope the Senate, does it not give them some pause that the two individuals that this report relies on, the Justice Department themselves said had credibility issues?

And I just think that's something that certainly the senators need to take into account that these two individuals were cited by the Justice Department to have credibility issues, and that's why they didn't pursue the charges.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But to what Gloria was saying, that I think is part of why the Judiciary Committee could say if we can't have the report, then let's have the women come and testify privately. And that's got to be something that Matt Gaetz and others who may know something of what's in the report should be very concerned about.

I think, you know, in terms of the precedent, look, the Senate Judiciary Committee should have all of the information available to make this decision. I mean, this is someone who is seeking to be the highest law enforcement officer in our country. And so it is not unreasonable, I think, to say if this report is out there, if there are allegations out there, they should at least be part of the materials that are under consideration.

[18:10:09]

BORGER: And her lawyer said on Erin Burnett last night that there were other women. He talked about the Venmo payments that amounted to about $10,000 and talked about trips these women took with him to New York, once when he appeared on Fox News. And so, you know, the lawyer has already put out a bunch of the stuff that's clearly in the Ethics Committee report, but we don't know about other women. He's not talking about the illicit drug use, for example. So, there is more.

TROVER: But one point, I think this is a concern of the Trump people. We talked off camera. You said, you know, they're going all in because I think there is an issue that they fear is character assassination here. If our Biden's own Justice Department to go after this case, then what is the use of just spewing some of this stuff out into the public view?

FINNEY: But, again, it's different when you're saying, you're considering something regarding this person is a member of Congress versus, wow, this person wants to come run the Justice Department.

But here's the other piece of this, Wolf, because we were talking about Hegseth going up to the Hill. I think we also need to look at this kind of in a holistic picture. It's actually starting to look like we're going to have four years of The Apprentice on television, the way he's picking people. But, you know, the other consideration, as we've all seen before, is, you know, you consider these nominations kind of in the whole fulsome. So, are we going to fight on this person? So, does that mean we're going to let this one go?

And we know there's always kind of a little bit of a chess game around how the negotiations might go. We've heard the president-elect really wants Matt Gaetz. So, does that mean he's going to be willing to give up someone else to be able to make those senators take what will probably be a tough vote on this one?

BORGER: Well, and Pete Hegseth is not going to have an easy time. And the word is that the Trump people were upset that when they did their vetting, they didn't know about his payment to this woman who has accused him of rape. And he denies it, of course. So, you know, there are things that the Trump people didn't know, which I can understand why they'd be upset about that.

And then you have all the, you know, Bobby Kennedy and the list goes on.

BLITZER: How awkward is it, do you think, Lance, that all of these Trump nominees, so many of them, are now being investigated by ethics committee and other senators and members of the House, including a whole bunch of Republicans for misdeeds?

TROVER: Well, there's always a vetting process that goes on with people. I mean, that is what we go through. That's why we're having this discussion.

BLITZER: That doesn't sound like the Trump transition team did much vetting.

TROVER: No, I disagree. I think they knew -- I mean, there may be -- look, if someone didn't tell them something, that's not a vetting process, a problem, that's an issue with the candidate for the position. I actually think they've been -- this is something I think we spend a lot of time talking a couple about these couple controversial folks, quote/unquote, controversial. But by and large, this isn't a very smooth process. They've got, what, 14, 15 nominations since the election. I think that is like been a very efficient process they've kicked out, yes. And, look, we're going to have a process to go through. That's what the Senate Judiciary is for and that's what the Senate's going to do its job.

But I do think they have done a good job in terms of having a smooth process. I think Susie Wiles leading that charge.

FINNEY: It's more than nominating people. I don't think it's -- I think we're looking at several of these people though and saying, Tulsi Gabbard, Hegseth, we're talking about Matt Gaetz. Each one of them, with the exception of Marco Rubio, Dr. Oz, for heaven's sakes, there's some area of concern.

TROVER: He's a medical professional, I mean, no one argues.

FINNEY: And a great T.V. star.

TROVER: So, I think what gets lost is everybody's like, oh, they're a T.V. personality, but these people had careers prior to going on T.V. Dr. Oz was a respected physician with a -- I mean, a great doctor.

BORGER: You know what we're not hearing now is a recess appointment for Matt Gaetz.

FINNEY: Yes.

BORGER: We're not really talking about that because every senator that went in to see Matt Gaetz and J.D. Vance today came out saying, I want a full process here. We need a full process before the Judiciary Committee, before the Senate. And they weren't talking about recess appointments, because with recess appointments, you're challenging the role of the United States Senate. If they don't advice and consent, what are they there for? That's their job. And so we're not hearing a lot of chatter about, oh, I'll just do Matt Gaetz through a recess appointment.

TROVER: And according to reporting today, Matt Gaetz wants to. I mean, he clearly wants to go before this committee and address these accusations head on, which I think is great.

BLITZER: We'll have live coverage.

FINNEY: I can't wait for it. Let's get ready.

BLITZER: Thank you very much. We're watching a lot that's going on right now.

Just ahead, a behind the scenes, look at the strategy Donald Trump is using now in picking his next administration and why it includes so many faces familiar to Fox News.

Plus, a live report from Ukraine where there's breaking news, the U.S. announcing the American embassy in the Ukrainian capital will reopen after warnings of an attack by Russia abruptly shuttered operations.

[18:15:03]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: There's breaking news we're following. The U.S. Embassy in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv has just reopened after fears of a very significant Russian air attack forced the facility to shut down.

Our Chief International Security Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is joining us live from Kyiv right now. He has an update. Explain what happened, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. People in Kyiv already on edge, frankly, about the possibility of some kind of Russian retaliation after U.S. made and supplied missiles were fired by Ukraine into Russia woke up to hear this very specific warning from the U.S. embassy that it was closing and keeping its diplomats, essentially, in shelter, at home.

Now, some of their allies, the Greeks, the Italians, the Spanish, followed suit, also closing their embassies here. And I think while Kyiv is quite regularly hit by aerial assaults by Russia, particularly a bad one at the weekend, the specific nature of this warning enclosure had many deeply nervous that perhaps the Americans had some pinpoint intelligence.

[18:20:12]

And floating around social media were some suggestions, detailed ones, in fact, almost too detailed, of a mass scale attack that Russia was likely to launch.

Now, soon, Ukrainian officials came out and said, look, these warnings are misinformation put out by the Russians. But it's fair to say they contributed to the anxiety rather than were the entire cause of it. There's a lot of worry here about what was behind that U.S. embassy warning. Yes, as the days passed, they say they will reopen tomorrow.

And we have had a relatively quiet day here, frankly, two air raid sirens in the morning and another one in the middle of the day. But it feeds into a broader pattern of concerns here, Wolf, that Russia may be looking to respond to not only the American-made ATACMS being fired in the last 48 hours and hitting targets inside of Russia, but now reports, too, that U.K.-made Storm Shadow missiles, they've hit targets inside Russian Kursk as well. So, a lot moving fast here and an escalation, certainly, something people are waking up to every morning. Wolf? BLITZER: And amidst all of this, Nick, the Biden administration has announced another major policy change and will now send anti-personnel mines to Ukraine. Tell us why this is significant.

WALSH: Yes. I mean, there's controversy about devices like this, obviously, because they stay around, anti-personnel mines, long after conflicts, indeed. But bear in mind, a lot of the frontlines all over Ukraine are already heavily mined, anti-tank mines, anti-personnel mines as well.

The rationale behind this, as put forward by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, was that the Russians change tactic and no longer use armored vehicles, but dismounting their assaults. That's been the case for a number of months. And I think this contribution of equipment is formed as part of a larger package. We also heard announced today as well $275 million worth separately. These are urgently needed HIMARS ammunition, mortar shells, 155 artillery rounds, things that Ukraine needs an urgent constant supply of.

The overall picture after the weekend announcement about the ATACMS longer range missiles being given permission by Ukraine to fire them into Russia is one of a Biden administration pretty much rummaging through the remainder of its toolkit to see what it can give to Ukraine to improve its chances in the remaining 2.5 months that Biden has in power before he hands over to President-elect Donald Trump who has made it quite clear, quote, he wants to stop the killing that probably involves peace talks.

And the feeling I've really got here talking to senior government officials, people on the street, is a fear that peace talks may well not be on their terms. A bid to try and say, well, you know, we have to project strength towards Russia, maybe Donald Trump can help us with that, but an anxiety, too, that potentially the clock is ticking on that solidarity of western support that has been so urgently needed by Ukraine in the 1,001 days of this war now. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in Ukraine for us, stay safe over there, Nick. Thank you very, very much.

Coming up, as Donald Trump builds his next administration, we're getting new insight into what's being called the central casting cabinet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: As the Trump transition is playing out right now, it is increasingly clear that the president-elect is eager to hire T.V. friendly personalities for his cabinet and other top positions.

CNN's Brian Todd is with me. He's taking a closer look at what's going on. It seems, Brian, that Trump is taking on the role of casting chief for this administration.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. He's fond of saying that a given cabinet pick comes from central casting. But Donald Trump's strategy here does involve more than just gravitating toward T.V. stars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is going to hurt me a lot worse than it hurts you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get her.

TODD (voice over): Ladies and gentlemen, meet your new secretary of education, Linda McMahon in the beige jacket in a WWF Smackdown with her daughter, Stephanie. She's a mom who can get as good as she gives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're simply a conniving (BLEEP).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? That's her mother. Stephanie struck her mother down.

TODD: McMahon, former CEO of the WWE, which she co-founded with her husband, Vince McMahon, she's been tapped by President-elect Donald Trump to lead the Department of Education and is one of several Trump cabinet picks with a common thread, experience on television.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: This is officially the television cabinet, the made for T.V. cabinet.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: They seem to have two things in common. They look the part, and they are loyal to President-elect Trump.

TODD: Something Trump has even mentioned.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: This guy's central casting.

He's central casting.

TODD: Dr. Mehmet Oz, who Trump just selected to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, had appeared as a health expert on The Oprah Winfrey Show for years, and hosted his own syndicated T.V. show.

Many of Trump's cabinet picks come straight from Fox News, like Fox Friends Host Pete Hegseth, Trump's choice for defense secretary, who interviewed Trump several times on Fox. There's Sean Duffy, Trump's pick for transportation secretary, who was a cast member of MTV's reality shows, The Real World and Road Rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand up and stick up for yourself. Do you feel that way?

TODD: Duffy was also a host on Fox Business and a CNN contributor.

STELTER: During Trump's first term in office, there were 20 different occasions of Fox to Trump hires.

We don't know how many there will be this time around, but already I've counted almost half a dozen Fox related hires.

[18:30:00]

TODD: Former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's nominee for director of National Intelligence, has guest hosted on FOX. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, the choice for U.S. ambassador to Israel, hosted his own show on Fox. Gabbard, Huckabee, Duffy, and Linda McMahon do have experience in government. Others, like Hegseth, don't.

KUCINICH: There could be a drawback when it comes to the lack of experience with some of these nominees. That said, there will be other appointees that are under them that could actually do the day-to-day running of the organization.

TODD: CNN has reported that Trump picked many of these people for their messaging abilities.

STELTER: He wants people who can communicate and defend him on T.V., and that's what he's getting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Analysts say in some cases, some of the T.V. personalities chosen for positions actually appeared to be auditioning for government jobs when they were on T.V. Brian Stelter points out that Pete Hegseth had been putting on shows trying to appeal to Trump for years. And he says Tom Homan, Trump's choice for border czar, had previously spent a lot of time on Fox talking about how he would handle the border. Wolf?

BLITZER: Brian Todd, good report. Thank you very, very much.

Joining me now, the former Trump White House communications director, Anthony Scaramucci. Anthony, thanks for joining us.

As you just heard, Trump is very focused on looks, on television experience, as he staffs his incoming administration. You know Trump. You know him well. What's behind this strategy?

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I'm surprised that Rupert Murdoch didn't get like a non-compete clause going with Donald Trump during the campaign. You know, I think it's very simple. I think for the cabinet areas where Mr. Trump, President Trump feels aggrieved, he wants super loyalists, and that's why you've got Pete Hegseth and Matt Gaetz, et cetera. Those are areas where he felt he was treated unfairly. Again, I'm not saying he was. I'm just telling you what he thinks. And then, you know, he'll probably pick somebody for treasury that's less telegenic and more professional in terms of the gravitas.

But I think, ultimately, it's not just the looks and the telecommunication skills, if you will, or the television skills. It's about whether or not he can exert his influence on them in a way that makes him feel comfortable. He couldn't do that with Jeff Sessions as an example. His former first DNI person, Dan Coates, he couldn't do that with. And so these things are about loyalty to him. Looks do matter, presentation skills matter, but let's not overlook the loyalty factor, Wolf, which I think is very important here.

BLITZER: Yes, you make a good point. Elon Musk, as you know, has become a fixture down at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He also traveled with Trump to Washington. And Trump joined Musk for the SpaceX launch only yesterday. What do you make of this relationship between Trump and Musk?

SCARAMUCCI: Hey, listen, you know, Elon Musk is literally the best entrepreneur of our generation, if not history. And so I think the president has got a bounty of luck having an affiliation with Elon Musk. And Elon Musk, like it or not, he helped President Trump in that election through the megaphone of what's now called X, but also the groundwork that Elon Musk did in Pennsylvania. The Democrats really need to study what Elon Musk did in Pennsylvania because they were heralding a great ground game. But Elon Musk really did outshine them in Pennsylvania.

So, the question is, are those two big egos going to be able to cohabitate? And so I would just say to you, Wolf, that, you know, the definition of insanity is to repeat the same thing over and over again, expect a different outcome. So, you know, I think he'll cycle through the president, like many people do.

I don't think those two eagles are going to sustain a four-year relationship in the president. That's just me personally. I mean, if I had a guess, I got Elon last thing, probably 33 Scaramuccis, which is, 330 days. I don't think he'll make a full year, but I think he'll make it longer than most people think because he's very, very rich and shooting up rockets and having the president next to him is worth it to Elon, and it also makes the president look good.

BLITZER: You make a good point. Trump, as you know, Anthony, is taking responsibility for the very controversial nature of many of his picks, writing this on Truth Social earlier today. Let me put it up on the screen. This is what the radical left lunatics do to people. They dirty them up, they destroy them, and then they spit them out. They are trying that right now with some great American patriots. So, Anthony, how do you respond to that?

SCARAMUCCI: Well, listen, I mean, you know, obviously they're not doing that, but I understand why he's saying that because he consistently plays to his base and he's trying to say that these people that may have potential ethical violations or people that may not have experience in a job.

[18:35:04]

You know, Pete is a good guy. I worked with Pete at Fox, but he's never run anything. And so you're putting him in charge of a trillion dollar organization with 2.8 million people. So, I think people questioning that, the president's obviously upset about that. That's why he's firing out an angry-based tweet, but I think that those things are legitimate concerns. And, by the way, I think the president knows this. This is not the radical left. There are centrist Republicans in the caucus that are senators that have issues with some of these nominations. So, we'll have to see what happens. We'll have to see how much flex the president will do on those people. What we do know about many of those Republicans is that they are absolutely spineless, Wolf. You know, their knees knock when he comes calling or when he's in their presence. And so they may say one thing in a private salon in D.C. but they may do another thing if they're intimidated by the president.

BLITZER: Clearly, this drama is only just beginning right now.

Anthony Scaramucci, as usual, thank you very much for joining us.

And just ahead, new comments just coming in from Matt Gaetz, what he's now saying about his confirmation hearing to become the U.S. attorney general and the House investigation into his conduct.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: There's breaking news coming into The Situation Room right now. We're getting new remarks just in to CNN from Donald Trump's embattled pick for attorney general of the United States, Matt Gaetz. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT GAETZ, TRUMP'S ATTORNEY GENERAL PICK: (INAUDIBLE) good advice. I'm looking forward to a hearing. The folks have been very supportive. They've been saying we're going to get a fair process. So, it's a great day of momentum for the Trump-Vance administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring in a key Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland. Senator, thanks so much for joining us.

SEN. CHRIS VAN HOLLEN (D-MD): Wolf, good to be with you.

BLITZER: Matt Gaetz, it was hard to hear what he was saying in the hall over there, but he's saying there that he thinks things are going great and he's looking forward to his Senate confirmation hearing. Do you get the sense that they are -- that there are really any serious Republican senators willing to defy the president-elect on this all- important selection, who becomes the next attorney general of the United States?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, Wolf, based on my conversation and assessments, it would be very premature for Matt Gaetz to announce that things were going great. I think there're still a lot of Republican senators who, first of all, would like to get access to the House Ethics Committee report. I would argue it's their duty to get access to it, whether it's a public copy or a private copy for their review. Because part of the whole advice and consent process is trying to make sure you have full information. And I know some of them, some of those Senate Republicans, including on Judiciary Committee, have expressed an interest in having that information.

BLITZER: And the American public certainly deserves to have that information as well.

As you know, Senator, Trump's pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, will join Vice President-elect J.D. Vance up on Capitol Hill tomorrow. Do you have any plans to meet with him and is he qualified to lead the Department of Defense?

VAN HOLLEN: So, Wolf, based on everything I've seen to-date in the public record, the answer is no, given many of the comments he's made. But, of course, this is why the whole confirmation process is important. It's why the hearing process is important. So, what worries me most about some of the things that incoming, you know, President Trump and his team have said is not their support for any one nomination, although I find people like Matt Gaetz and others very troubling. But this suggestion that they might try to end run the Constitution of the United States and effectively, you know, cut up the advice and consent clause. Of course, they could only do that with the complicity of Republican senators. And so I hope that doesn't become the case.

BLITZER: We shall see if it does. I want to turn to Ukraine. You're a key member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator. President Zelenskyy of Ukraine is accusing Russia of staging what he calls an information and psychological attack. The U.S. embassy, as you know, was shut down earlier today. It's just reopening now. We can't say if that was related to what's going on. What's your reaction to this late-breaking disinformation effort from Moscow?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, President Zelenskyy, I'm sure, is right that's what this was by the Russians and we need to be very careful, you know, not to be -- you know, not to base actions on misinformation coming from the Russians. I was very pleased to see that our embassy is operating fully and, you know, we need to obviously work with President Zelenskyy and our Ukrainian friends to make sure that nobody's the victim of Russian misinformation.

BLITZER: I want to get to another sensitive issue while I have you, Senator. I know that you and Senator Bernie Sanders and a few other Democratic senators are forcing a vote today on a measure that would block the sale of billions of dollars of U.S. weapons to Israel. The White House opposes this, as you know. They issued a formal statement opposing this resolution. Critics say this would move -- this would harm Israel's ability to defend itself and would embolden Iran. How do you respond to that?

VAN HOLLEN: Well, what this does is not reduce or deny support for Israel. What this says is that we need to apply U.S. law and that the Netanyahu government needs to comply with two provisions in U.S. law that we expect every other recipient of U.S. military assistance to abide by. One is to make sure that humanitarian supplies can get into areas where U.S. weapons are being used, so in Gaza.

[18:45:07]

And, you know, the Biden administration has been quite clear that the criteria they set forth have not been met.

There's also the question of the use of U.S. weapons. So this is not a question of denying support to Israel. This is a question of making sure that our support paid for by U.S. taxpayers is provided in a way that complies with U.S. law.

We would not be on the floor considering these provisions if the Netanyahu government was abiding by U.S. law, which we expect of every other country that receives U.S. taxpayer assistance.

BLITZER: So are you saying that President Biden and Secretary Blinken, the Biden administration, are violating U.S. law by supporting this military aid for Israel?

VAN HOLLEN: Unfortunately, the president of United States has again and again made demands of Netanyahu. Netanyahu has ignored those demands, and President Biden has not applied these laws faithfully. There are two provisions, and the evidence is overwhelming.

If you look at the information coming out from independent organizations that are providing humanitarian assistance on the ground in Gaza, if you listen to, you know, folks like Cindy McCain with the World Food Programme, and Catherine Russell at UNICEF, and you read the material that they signed on to along with others, its very clear that the situation especially in northern Gaza, is what they called apocalyptic, and they specifically pointed to restrictions that the Netanyahu government has put in place that prevents aid from getting in.

So all the Netanyahu government has to do is comply with U.S. law, allow more humanitarian assistance to come in and we wouldn't be dealing with this at all. So again, this is not about providing military support to Israel. The United States has been there and we will continue to be there, but our military assistance has to be done and used in a way that's consistent with U.S. law.

BLITZER: Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, thank you very much for joining us.

VAN HOLLEN: Thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up, the dramatic ending today in a murder trial that became politically charged. We'll have a live report with the CNN correspondent who was inside the courtroom.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:30]

BLITZER: A judge in Georgia has today convicted and sentenced a man who brutally murdered Laken Riley.

CNN's Rafael Romo has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

H. PATRICK HAGGARD, ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE: Count one, malice murder, I find the defendant guilty.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Guilty on all ten charges. That's the verdict in the bench trial of Jose Ibarra, convicted in the killing of 22 year old nursing student Laken Riley while she was jogging on the University of Georgia campus back in February.

ALLYSON PHILLIPS, LAKEN RILEY'S MOTHER: This sick, twisted and evil coward showed no regard for Laken or human life.

ROMO: Her mother said Ibarra, an undocumented migrant from Venezuela, not only took her daughter's life, but he took away the life of her family and friends.

PHILLIPS: This monster took away our chances to see Laken graduate from nursing school. He took away our ability to meet our future son in law. He destroyed our chances of meeting our grandchildren and he took my best friend.

LAUREN PHILLIPS, LAKEN RILEY'S SISTER: What Jose Ibarra did to my sister is almost unbearable to listen to. I am completely disgusted having to even look and be in the same room as him.

ROMO: Today, Judge Haggard sentenced Ibarra to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

SHEILA ROSS, PROSECUTOR: The evidence in this case has spoken loud and clear that he is Laken Riley's killer, and that he killed her because he would -- she would not let him rape her.

ROMO: During closing arguments, prosecutor Sheila Ross called the evidence against the 26-year-old overwhelming. That includes one key item a black hat.

In surveillance video, investigators say an unknown person wearing a black Adidas hat stuffed the bloody jacket into a dumpster near the crime scene the day after the murder. Investigators spotted Jose Ibarra's brother, Diego, wearing the same black hat, something the defense tried to spin in closing arguments.

KAITLYN BECK, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: There is no way Diego put on that hat without noticing something was strange about it, and the reason he put it on without questioning why it's got dirt and blood all over it is because he already knew that it was there.

ROMO: But when officers started questioning Diego and his two brothers, they noticed scratches and injuries on Jose Ibarra.

ROSS: The fact is, if Diego had not been wearing that hat, we may have never caught these people. We may have never caught him.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROMO (on camera): And, Wolf, before issuing the sentence, Judge Hager told the courtroom that he acknowledges that there is no such thing as closure, but just another stage in this tragedy for Laken Riley's family.

Later in life, he added, referring to the painful loss. You start smiling about the memories and I'm hopeful that at some point that takes over for the grieving family -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Rafael Romo, thank you very much for that report.

Coming up, why a judge is now deciding whether to hold Rudy Giuliani in contempt.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:56]

BLITZER: Tonight, a federal judge is weighing whether to order Rudy Giuliani to pay even more money to the two former election workers he defamed.

CNN crime and justice reporter Katelyn Polantz is here with me.

Katelyn, give us an update.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, this is the continued fallout from Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss winning that jury verdict of $150 million and telling Rudy Giuliani stop defaming them. Stop lying about the 2020 election and the counting of votes. They settled with him and he said, okay, I will stop and then on his show just a few days ago, November 12th and 14th, he doubled down, re- upped.

Here's a little bit about what Giuliani was saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: We think that they wouldn't be allowed to take all my property until the thing was affirmed on appeal. And I got a chance to show them that they never let me show the tapes that show them quadruple counting the ballots. Now, they -- they want to take $145 million, somebody telling the truth. I'm sorry. They're going to sue me again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POLANTZ: So, Giuliani, they're acknowledging -- he's saying quadrupling of votes, that's not true. And so, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss have gone to a judge, say, hold him in contempt, please. This is a brazen violation of the terms that he has with them in a settlement.

So the judge now, in this case in Washington D.C., they want to have a hearing with Giuliani in person December 12th.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. Katelyn Polantz, thanks very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.