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The Situation Room

Trump Renews Attorney General Search After Matt Gaetz Withdraws; Hegseth on Hill as Graphic Details Emerge of Sexual Assault Claim; Exclusive Interview With Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump Taps Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi For U.S. Attorney General; International Criminal Court Issues Arrest Warrant For Netanyahu. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 21, 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 ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking news, Matt Gaetz is out and President-elect Trump's search for an attorney general of the United States is back on. We have brand new reporting on a phone call from Trump that prompted Gaetz to withdraw.

Also breaking, Trump's controversial pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, tries to shore up his support up on Capitol Hill while being hit with a new bombshell, a newly released police report revealing graphic details about a 2017 sexual assault allegation against Hegseth.

Plus, an exclusive interview with the embattled New York City mayor, Eric Adams. He joins us with his newly appointed police commissioner to discuss crime and immigration. I'll also ask him about his own historic criminal indictment and whether he's hoping to be pardoned by the incoming president.

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

Let's get right to the breaking news on the implosion of Donald Trump's choice of Matt Gaetz to be the U.S. attorney general. CNN's Paula Reid is standing by with exclusive new reporting on the sexual misconduct allegations against Gaetz. But, first, let's go to CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Kristen, you have new reporting about when Trump and Gaetz last spoke.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We are told by a source that with direct knowledge of the call that Donald Trump called Matt Gaetz this morning and told him that he did not believe that he had the votes in the Senate to get confirmed.

Now, this source did insist that Trump did not pressure Gaetz to drop out, that he did not insist that he drop out, but instead that he let Gaetz come to that conclusion on his own.

Now, one thing just to note here, Wolf, as we have been reporting, Donald Trump has spent an enormous amount of time calling some of these Republican senators directly, trying to lobby for Matt Gaetz. He had said that Gaetz was his most important pick, attorney general, being the most important pick to Donald Trump in his administration and one that he wanted to push through.

Now, there had been conversations among Trump allies about how much political capital Donald Trump was willing to use on Matt Gaetz and how that would affect other nominees, particularly those that are more controversial. But, again, they are saying he did not push him out, but this call was to inform Gaetz that he did not believe that he had the votes.

Now, one other thing I want to mention here, we were told by a number of Trump's allies that there was concern, there was more in that ethics report that had not yet come out, and that that was going to hurt Matt Gaetz, hurt the process, and that it was going to be impossible to get him confirmed. Among the things that we were told there was concern over was that there was a belief there were new witnesses that were interviewed by the committee, and that information was going to come out that was previously known. Wolf?

BLITZER: Kristen, what do we know about what direction Trump is going to go to for an attorney general?

HOLMES: Well, we're told he's going back to the drawing board. Just a reminder, Matt Gaetz wasn't even on the shortlist when it came to attorney general. He wasn't on the original list. Donald Trump had sat through a number of interviews that just continued to come in as they tried to find more and more people who he might like for the role.

We were told that Donald Trump was unimpressed by a number of them. He thought they were too stiff. He wanted someone who was a bomb thrower, and that is how he got to Matt Gaetz, essentially saying that he would put someone more straight-laced, like his lawyer, Todd Blanche, which he ended up doing in the deputy attorney general position, but that he wanted somebody who could go out and be a messenger.

So, now, whether or not he continues down that path or goes a more traditional route, we will wait and see. But we do know that of the names he had already looked, he was not pleased with the selection.

BLITZER: All right, we'll see what he does. Kristen Holmes reporting for us, thank you very much.

I want to go to our Chief Legal Affairs Correspondent Paula Reid right now. Paula, lay out your very exclusive reporting about Gaetz and the timing of your reporting.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, our colleague, Sarah Ferris, and I broke the news that the woman who was 17 years old when she says she had sex with Gaetz told the House Ethics Committee that she had a second previously unreported sexual encounter with Gaetz that also included an adult woman. So, it was allegedly a threesome.

The alleged underage victim testified this encounter occurred at the same Florida party in 2017, where she also testified she had sex with Gaetz on an air hockey table, a detail that was revealed in a civil deposition we reported earlier this week.

[18:05:11]

Now, the Justice Department investigated allegations Gaetz had sex with a minor, as well as other alleged crimes, and did not charge him. Gaetz has denied wrongdoing. The adult woman, the witness referenced, also denied having sex with the minor.

But before we published this story, we contacted Gaetz about this reporting. And while we were waiting for his response, a few minutes before they knew we would be on air, he announced he was withdrawing his nomination.

BLITZER: Paula, we've heard some of these allegations before, but this is significant. Tell us why.

REID: Yes. Well, this is certainly salacious, but this reporting illustrates the kind of information the Ethics Committee has that is not yet public. Earlier this week, a lawmaker waved away our colleague when they were asking about releasing the report. And the lawmaker said, you know it all, you've reported everything that's in the report. But this is an example of the kind of information that has not been released.

Wolf, I have reported on these investigations for four years, broken dozens of stories on Gaetz's investigations, and never heard about this. So, what else does the Ethics Committee have? That is a question the American people should be asking.

BLITZER: I'm sure they will be. Paula Reid reporting, excellent reporting indeed, thank you very much.

I want to break all of this down with our legal and political experts who are here with us. And, Lauren Tomlinson, let me start with you. I want to play some of the reaction that we're hearing up on Capitol Hill to Matt Gaetz's decision to remove himself for consideration to become the next attorney general of the United States. Listen and watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): I mean, simple math, I think, was made clear that there's not a path. And if there's not a path, you're going to spend a lot of political capital for losing cause, and that wouldn't have been worth it.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don't you think the Trump team should have done a better vetting job?

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Well, the more you do up front, the less you have to do that on the back end.

SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Skipping what has long been a key part of preparation for confirmation, which is an FBI background check, and making these decisions so quickly may have led to an early constellation that looks more like a reality T.V. show casting call than serious incredible proposals for cabinet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Lauren, what do you think? How much are Republican senators now breathing a sort of sigh of relief?

LAUREN TOMLINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think there's a lot of sigh of relief. I'm kind of sad that you didn't play the John Fetterman clip where, you know, he said, holy s, that, you know, I can't believe this is happening, because to everyone, it was kind of inevitable, right? Like there was early reporting that he wasn't even getting it -- that there was 30 Republican senators already against him right out the gate. So, he was already on the back foot.

I think that, you know, for the Republican senators, they're institutionalists. They want to exert their power and show that they want to work with the Trump administration on these nominees, but also that they have a really important role to advice and consent. And I think behind closed doors, you saw this exercise very much this week with the Matt Gaetz nomination.

The Trump team, I hope, takes away from this that they should probably engage the senators early on and do gut checks with them to make sure that their nominees going forward can pass muster unless you buy into the conspiracy theories, of course, that this was all a crazy genius play to, you know, manipulate the nomination process and take away media attention from some of the other nominees.

BLITZER: I don't buy that crazy genius theory.

TOMLINSON: I buy it, 100 percent. I'm into it.

BLITZER: Ashley, let me get you. Are you surprised that Trump appears to have come to the realization this early in the process that Gaetz wouldn't be confirmed?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: Well, I mean, you know, I will say this, Wolf, from my perspective, this is the best thing that's happened to the country in a few weeks. You know, this is the most wealthy, powerful nation in the world and it deserves serious nominees that have experience to be put up for these posts. This is not a Trump enterprise like the stakes or that bogus university. Our country cannot fail.

So, I'm happy that this happened, but I agree that with Lauren, I hope that the president-elect really takes this up seriously. But I am one of those that believe that Gaetz was a scapegoat. I think that he was put up to really make those who are more dangerous, like Hegseth and Tulsi Gabbard, more palpable to those Republican senators.

So, again, I think it is a good day for America. I hope that the president-elect gets sober and gets serious and realizes this is not another Trump experiment. This is our nation and we deserve the best.

BLITZER: Elliot Williams is with us as well, our legal analyst. Given what we know about these allegations in this case, why would t have decided not to charge Gaetz?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: To be honest, Wolf, I don't know because I haven't seen the case files. Now, in terms of why anyone wouldn't get charged with the crime, in order to proceed, the Justice Department needs to be convinced that they could win a case beyond a reasonable doubt, that -- now, we've heard those words before, it's a very high bar.

[18:10:00]

It's very much further than we think he did it, or it just doesn't sound right or it doesn't feel good. You know, you got to get it past the jury.

Now, commonly, when someone isn't charged with a crime, the Justice Department tends to -- the prosecutors tend to think there's some infirmity in the evidence somewhere. Either there's witnesses that aren't trustworthy or not credible. They have some things in their background that maybe won't hold up well in front of a jury. Maybe evidence has -- it's been a long time since evidence happened. And, you know, they just may not trust that, that they could get it in front.

There's competing evidence that sort of could put forward a narrative that undermined the Justice Department's case. There's a whole bunch of things. It could also be the fact that they just simply don't have corroborated evidence. They might have one person's testimony, but not something else to sort of bolster the fact that it's true.

So, there's a world of reasons why they don't bring charges. That doesn't mean that there wasn't serious. misconduct that at least smelled bad enough to open a case, but they just couldn't get it past the jury.

ETIENNE: The fact that -- I mean, the fact that these allegations existed, you had this young lady and her lawyer testify. And that was not disqualifying says a lot about the Republican Party right now. I continue to make this point that they are morally, ethically bankrupt and they really need to become sober about where they are as a party.

BLITZER: Well, let me follow up with Lauren on that point. What does it say about Trump's judgment, Lauren, that he would pick someone like Gaetz in the first place to become the attorney general of the United States?

TOMLINSON: Listen, I think he wants to shake up Washington. And by putting out these people who are bomb throwers and who he knows are going to be loyal to him, that is a very big lesson that he learned in the first administration, is that he leaned on what he considers the Republican establishment to pick out some of these nominees because he wasn't expecting to win, right? So, then he ended up with a cabinet of people he didn't trust and he didn't believe was fully executing his vision.

DOJ in particular is a position in which he wants someone who is fully aligned on his belief that we need to root out the corruption of the FBI, that we need to shake things up. And he wants a bomb thrower that -- you just saw that in the reporting.

I believe that his next nominee will also be a bomb thrower. I don't think he's going to back off of this at all. He's going to pick someone who he believes is loyal to his vision, who also believes that they need to shake up Washington and will go out there and do it.

ETIENNE: Can I add one thing, Wolf?

BLITZER: Yes, go ahead, Ashley.

ETIENNE: I mean, I've served two presidents, and you can speak to this, Elliot, but, typically, historically, what has happened is the Department of Justice has remained independent from the White House. That's to under Republicans and Democrats. That's how we function. So, what Trump is going to do is break that tradition and really not only gut out the agency but use it to weaponize it against his own political enemies.

BLITZER: Let me follow up, Ashley, with the Trump responding to the Gaetz announcing his withdrawing from consideration. Trump posted on his Truth Social site. He said this. This is Trump. Matt has a wonderful future and I look forward to watching all of the great things he will do.

Do you see him having a great, wonderful future?

ETIENNE: Absolutely. I think he's going to have it on Fox News, absolutely. And I think he's going to serve the president's purposes on the outside. And that works for him.

BLITZER: Do you think he's clear from any possible legal problems down the road?

WILLIAMS: I don't think he's clear from any possible legal problems down the road. Now, he's not being prosecuted by the Justice Department. That doesn't mean he could not be sued, for instance, by one of the alleged victims who might have claimed, you know, an assault or battery or something like that.

You know, to the question of, does he have a future, look, there's a host of jobs in government that don't require Senate confirmation starting at the White House. And so I'm not saying Matt Gaetz is going to end up being a senior White House official but he can still end up in government.

ETIENNE: He could be in the White House Counsel's Office. He could be -- yes, he could be in the White House as a lawyer.

BLITZER: He could certainly still wind up in Congress. He was just reelected to the new Congress, which comes in January, Lauren. He's withdrawn from the current Congress. So, what do you think he's going to do?

TOMLINSON: I do not know. Because if I was him, I would step entirely, because even though with the new Congress means that the Ethics Committee report will have to start over, that ethics work will resume in the new Congress, but they'll have to start fresh, which means he might buy himself time, I guess, for any sort of repercussions there. I would hope, though, that he reevaluates going into the new Congress.

He's made a lot of enemies. You know, he's not beloved by everyone in the Republican Party for a ton of reasons, including the sexual and drug allegations. So, he probably has a better future outside of Congress. Maybe that's state politics. Maybe that's in the administration. Who knows? Maybe that is at Fox News. I think he'll still be around. But you have to remember he also funded a bunch of primaries against current members of Congress as well. So, even everyone in the new Congress coming in, he was trying to get them out.

BLITZER: If he goes back to Congress, the possibility, if he's a member of Congress, the House Ethics Committee report on what he did could be released.

[18:15:03]

If he's a private citizen, they're not going to release it.

TOMLINSON: Yes. Well, at this point, he should want it released, just get it out and then move past it. Because this slow leak does more damage. Yes, it does way more damage than just getting it out and getting it over with.

BLITZER: All right. To all of you, thank you very much. We're staying on top of this story.

Just ahead, Trump's controversial choice for defense secretary makes the rounds today as well. Plus, we'll break down the newly released police report on the sexual assault allegation against Pete Hegseth.

But, first, there's breaking news on the final undecided Senate race and the candidate who's now conceding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: All right, there's breaking news we're following. Pennsylvania's Democratic Senator Bob Casey has just conceded in his race against Republican Dave McCormick. That means the next U.S. Senate will have 53 Republican members and 47 members who caucus with the Democrats.

[18:20:03]

Listen to what Senator Casey just said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB CASEY (D-PA): I just called Dave McCormick to congratulate him on his election to represent Pennsylvania in the United States Senate. As the first count of ballots is completed, Pennsylvanians can move forward with the knowledge that their voices were heard, whether their vote was the first to be counted or the last.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring in CNN's David Chalian for some analysis. This is a big deal.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it's a big deal in the sense that it is the final Senate race on the board. So, now we have our complete picture here. I don't think the actual outcome of this race was in much doubt. But, Wolf, what we've seen, and this is what Senator Casey was talking about in his video as well, we've seen a lot of votes get counted since Election Day. It was taking Pennsylvania a while to get through all of the vote counting, provisional ballots as well, and we saw the margin shrink.

Now, it was so large of a margin that we never thought really that he was going to have a chance of overtaking McCormick here, but it went just from a week ago, a 30,000-vote margin for Dave McCormick, and now it's between 13,000 and 14,000, as more and more of these provisional ballots got counted.

What was clear to Bob Casey, there was no path there to actually overtake Dave McCormick. It was also within the state mandated 0.5 percent margin that triggered an automatic recount. And that is what the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was doing right now. Bob Casey says, no longer needed to do anything further here. I'm out of the race. Dave McCormick is the winner. And that gives incoming majority leader John Thune a 53-person majority.

Now you and I just saw the Gaetz story today, right? No votes were taken, but it was clear that well more than four Republicans were opposed to the Gaetz nomination. The math wasn't there. So, 53 is a majority, but it is not 60 to dictate all the legislative priorities of the Trump administration necessarily. And, clearly, if you lose four, you're not going to get your confirmations through either. And so --

BLITZER: Assuming all the Democrats --

CHALIAN: Assuming all the Democrats are opposed, precisely. So, a 53- person majority is certainly a bigger majority than the Democrats currently have in the United States Senate. And it will be something for Thune to work with. And they'd rather have 53 than 52. So, this race matters, no doubt.

BLITZER: And, David, on behalf of all of our viewers here in the United States and around the world, this is an opportunity for me to congratulate you. Not only are you our political director, but you're also our brand new Washington Bureau Chief, and we are grateful to you for all you have done.

CHALIAN: Thank you, Wolf. I appreciate that.

BLITZER: David Chalian, thank you very, very much.

We're following other breaking news on another controversial Trump cabinet picks confirmation fight, and it is intense already. The would be Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, met with Republican senators today up on Capitol Hill joined by Vice President-elect J.D. Vance. Hegseth spoke to reporters about his trip to the Hill as graphic new details were emerging about a 2017 sexual assault allegation against him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, TRUMP'S DEFENSE SECRETARY PICK: Take absolutely nothing for granted and we welcome the opportunity to talk to any senator that wants to talk to us.

REPORTER: Did you sexually assault a woman in Monterey, California?

HEGSETH: I have -- as far as the media is concerned, I'll keep this very simple. The matter was fully investigated, and I was completely cleared, and that's where I'm going to leave it. Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Let's get some more on this with CNN's Kyung Lah in Los Angeles. Kyung, the police report on a California woman's claim she was assaulted by Hegseth is now public. Tell us what it reveals. And a warning to our viewers, some of the viewers may find these details very disturbing.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're getting a couple of very different narratives from that evening. And the evening that we're talking about is the night of October 7th into the early morning hours of October 8th, 2017.

Pete Hegseth was the keynote speaker at an event at the Hilton in Monterey. And after the event, He ended up at the bar with some women from the Republican women's event that he was speaking at. And that's really where the stories then begin to diverge.

And in this police report, there are people interviewed from the hotel, employees at the hotel, as well as people who attended the event, Pete Hegseth, as well as a woman who's identified as Jane Doe. So, what is her story? She says to police that after the event, she was at the hotel bar and there, there are gaps in her memory.

And she tells police in this report that she believes, quote, something may have been slipped into her drink that she ended up in Hegseth's room, that she had a vague memory of how she got there, that she did not know where she was and how she got to the room, that Hegseth took her phone once she was inside the room from her hands, that Hegseth blocked the door with his body and that Jane Doe remembered saying no a lot.

[18:25:02]

As far as the encounter itself, she says that he ejaculated on her stomach, threw a towel at her and asked her, are you okay? Another point of the report, he also allegedly said to her, clean it up.

Now, Hegseth sees this very differently, according to this police report, that this was a consensual affair, an encounter that she was the one who would not leave the room, the Jane Doe, that, quote, always conversation and always consensual contact is how he is framing his view of all of this, and that Hegseth stated Jane Doe showed early signs of regret. Wolf?

BLITZER: Kyung, what is Hegseth's lawyer saying about this police report?

LAH: Well, his lawyer actually sees it as vindication. This is a quote that CNN got from Pete Hegseth's lawyer, where he says, quote, this police report confirms what I've said all along, that this incident was fully investigated, and no charges were filed.

We also did hear from Monterey County's district attorney that the reason that they didn't file any charges is that none of the charges were supported beyond -- by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. So, that's why the D.A.'s office declined to charge. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Kyung Lah reporting for us, Kyung, thank you very much.

Coming up, our exclusive interview with the embattled New York City mayor, Eric Adams, including what he's now saying about the federal indictment against him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

BLITZER: New York City Mayor Eric Adams has just named a new commissioner to lead the city's police department. Jessica Tisch, who currently heads the Department of Sanitation, will take over at the NYPD next week. She'll be the first person to lead the police department under Mayor Adams and the second in less than three months.

Eric Adams and Jessica Tisch are joining me now for an exclusive interview. To both of you, thank you so much for joining us. Mayor Adams, I'll start with you. You ran for mayor saying you would make the city safer, and, in fact, crime is down in New York City. But why is someone who hasn't served as a uniformed police officer the right choice to lead the nation's largest police force?

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): The right time, right place. We are excellent at crime fighting. In fact, I think we're probably one of the best on the globe. I want the department to go to the next level more than just of catching bad guys, but how do we use the technology, the vision, to ensure that we continue to be the safest big city in America and the safest city.

And that is what Commissioner Tisch brings. She was innovative. When she was in the police department for a number of years under one of the commissioners that I really appreciated, Commissioner Bratton, she brought the body worn cameras. She brought the new technology on how to communicate and really planted the seed for some of the technology we're looking at now.

I want this police department to be ready as we move deeper into this century.

BLITZER: Good point. Commissioner Tisch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association noted, and I'm quoting now, the challenges confronting police officers remain the same despite the repeated changes in NYPD's leadership. How are you going to address this?

JESSICA TISCH, INCOMING NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Yes, I'm a person who takes challenges head on. I'm looking forward to working with all of our labor unions to understand the issues that our members have and to put in place plans to address them.

ADAMS: And, you know, Wolf, what's interesting here is just like Mayor Bloomberg brought the uniqueness of being a businessman and his perspective and he turned around this city. I bring the uniqueness of being a former police officer. I know what that agency needs, and as I stated, we're doing a great job of bringing down crime, tenth straight month, close to 10,000 guns off our streets. But there is a missing component that if we're going to be this holistic approach to match the great things that police officers are doing, there's another level, and that next level, Commissioner Tisch is going to bring that.

BLITZER: A lot of sensitive issues are certainly going to be coming up. And, Mayor Adams, I know you've come out in favor of modifying New York City's sanctuary laws, which would seemingly make it easier for the city to aid the incoming Trump administration's mass deportation plans. Will New York City assist these efforts under your leadership?

ADAMS: I have been extremely clear prior to the election those who abuse their right to be in this country by violating and harming innocent people, they should not be here after they serve their time. I'm clear on that and I'm unwavering on that.

And I'm looking forward not to be in a warring state with the incoming president and his team, but to be in a working state. He's the president of the United States and it's imperative that this country rallies together to deal with the problems that working class people are facing. And that is included what voters have stated, fix the immigration, secure our border and make sure that we can protect Americans.

BLITZER: Commissioner Tisch, are you committed once you become the police commissioner, the NYPD leader, to upholding the city's current sanctuary laws, even if that conflicts with federal authorities?

TISCH: We will always follow the law in New York City and certainly at the police department, but New York City is a city of immigrants. It's part of what makes us the greatest city in the world. The mayor's been very clear, if you commit a crime in New York City, regardless of your immigration status, we need to be able to take action.

[18:35:05]

And right now, in certain circumstances, we can't do that.

BLITZER: Mayor Adams, you currently face federal charges for bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, and at the same time, you've been accused of cozying up to Trump. Critics have noted that you've declined to criticize him or his most controversial cabinet picks in recent days and weeks. You were also seen greeting Trump at last week's UFC event in New York. Have you spoken with the president-elect potentially about a possible pardon?

ADAMS: First of all, think about that for a moment. Critics are criticizing me for shaking the hands of the president, incoming president of the United States. They're criticizing me for working together. When I reached out to the incoming president and stated we want to work together, the governor followed me and made a similar call. Senator Gillibrand followed me and made a call. And even television personalities called to do the same thing.

America is moving in a direction that realize that working class people have been overshadowed by our petty differences and we want to work together to do so. It's not about my status. I have lawyers to handle that. It's about me ensuring that I produce for the city. And every time I spoke with the incoming president, I shared with him, I'm ready to move our city forward to deal with these tough issues. And he welcomed that and stated he wanted to do the same.

BLITZER: Have you spoken to the president-elect about a possible pardon?

ADAMS: I don't go into private conversations, but that is not on my agenda. My agenda is fighting for the people of this city, and we need help from Washington, D.C. 220,000 migrants and asylum seekers came to our city, like other cities, like Chicago and Denver, and they only gave us $200 million out of a $6.4 billion budget. That is unfair to the city, and it's unfair to other cities in this country.

BLITZER: Would you accept the pardon if Trump offered it to you?

ADAMS: I don't deal with hypotheticals. I have a legal team and they're going to manage anything that's possible to deal with these charges that should have never been brought on me in the first place. And whatever we can do to resolve those charges, my legal team will handle it.

BLITZER: So, can I assume that's a yes?

ADAMS: No, I wouldn't do any assumption. I will allow my legal team to handle. I got a great lawyer and a great team that, as I stated, I did nothing wrong. I should not have been charged. I handled the city and my actions appropriately as a former police officer. I'm going to continue to do so. And any questions dealing with the case, my legal team would manage that. My job is to manage this amazing city that I was elected to do.

BLITZER: So, you don't even want to tell us whether or not the conversation about a possible pardon has even come up, is that right?

BLITZER: Wolf, you're a great interviewer, but I can't be more clear. I got a great attorney, and so he's going to do his job. I'm going to do my job as the mayor of the city of New York. And we're going to continue to see the success we're doing around business, around safety, around educating our children, and around what I was elected to do.

TISCH: And I would just add, Wolf, that crime is down now ten months in a row. In October, we saw a 26 percent decrease in crime on our subway system. The men and women of the New York City Police Department are out there doing their thing and delivering for New Yorkers. The mission is to create safety, but also to make New Yorkers feel safe, and that's what this mayor is doing.

BLITZER: And, Mayor Adams, speaking of crime, three people, as you know, and it was awful to hear about it and read about it, three people were killed in a series of unprovoked stabbings in Manhattan on Monday. The suspect is a 51-year-old unhoused male who you've said has a history of severe mental health issues. What is your administration doing, Mayor, to try to address the issues of homelessness and mental illness?

ADAMS: It shattered my heart when I got the first call of the stabbing. And then when the team shared with me, there was a second and a third, including the mother of an eight-year-old child, it goes back to the beginning of our administration, the success of our city has been overshadowed by random acts of violence, and many of them associated with those with severe mental health illness.

We need to have stronger laws that allow what's called involuntary removal, people who are in danger to themselves and in danger to others. We need to be able to take the action to involuntarily move them off the streets.

We're getting a lot of pushback and a lot of fight against that on every level of government. It's time for us to be serious about those with severe mental health illnesses and don't wait until they take the life of three innocent New Yorkers. And that's what we're seeing often, Wolf. When you see someone shoved to the subway track, random acts of violence, it is associated with a large number of people that are dealing with severe mental health issues.

BLITZER: Mayor Eric Adams, good luck to you, and, Commissioner Jessica Tisch, congratulations on your new assignment and good luck to you as well. To both of you, thank you very much for joining us.

ADAMS: Thank you.

[18:40:00]

Take care.

BLITZER: And just ahead, there's breaking news right now, President- elect Trump just announcing his new pick for attorney general of the United States. We're going to tell you who that is when we come back.

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BLITZER: There's breaking news right now. Donald Trump has just announced his new pick for United States attorney general only hours after Matt Gaetz pulled his name from consideration. Let's bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's joining us from outside Trump transition headquarters down in Florida. Kristen, so who did the president-elect just named?

HOLMES: Well, Donald Trump has named Pam Bondi, the former Florida attorney general and one-time lawyer of Donald Trump's, as his pick for attorney general. And we are told that this was not a surprise to some people around him, that he has been very close to Bondi for some time. She was a staple in his first administration. Since then, she has taken on many roles, MAGA-adjacent, including taking over running his super PAC at one point.

[18:45:05]

I do want to read you part of the statement that he put out about Pam Bondi. He said, I am proud to announce former attorney general of the great state of Florida, Pam Bondi, as our next attorney general of the United States, then he goes into her biography saying, Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, very tough on violent criminals and made the streets safe for Florida families.

Then, as Florida's first female attorney general, she worked to stop trafficking of deadly drugs and reduce the tragedy of fentanyl overdose deaths, which have destroyed many families across our country. She did such an incredible job that I asked her to serve in our opioid and drug abuse commission during my first term, we saved many lives.

Then she goes on to say, Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting crime and making America safe again. I have known Pam for many years. She is smart and tough and is an America First fighter who will do a terrific job as attorney general.

She is considered a Trump loyalist, but she's also considered somebody who is likely to be able to be confirmed. She is non-controversial as far as we know at this point, and that obviously is something that Donald Trump was looking for after his experience with Matt Gaetz.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Thank you very much, Kristen.

Elliot Williams, our legal analyst, is here with us as well.

So what does this pick of Pam Bondi tell you about Trump's thinking as far as an attorney general is concerned?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: He's picked another person who's as Kristen had said, a loyalist somebody who's been in his orbit for quite some time.

You know, I will note she's at least been a prosecutor, a line prosecutor in Florida, and also a state attorney general. So she does come in with at least the modicum of prosecutorial experience that I think we as Americans ought to hope for out of an attorney general. But this is an individual who was one, advised his impeachment team. He has clearly prized this form of loyalty in picking his attorney general, this time. BLITZER: Elliot Williams, thank you very much.

And we'll be right back with more news.

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[18:51:21]

BLITZER: Tonight, Matt Gaetz is out of the mix. But President-elect Trump's other problematic picks are still feeling the heat.

CNN's Brian Todd has our report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FORMER REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): Make sure that we get the country back on track.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Matt Gaetz is gone but Donald Trump's headaches with troubled cabinet picks persist.

DAVID MARCHICK, CO-AUTHOR, "THE PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER": It's really not just one nominee. This is like the Star Wars bar scene of nominees. There's a whole host of problems with the entire slate.

TODD: There's Pete Hegseth, the president-elect's choice for defense secretary. CNN has obtained a police report with details from a female accuser, where she alleges that in 2017, Hegseth blocked her from leaving a hotel room, took her cell phone from her and sexually assaulted her. Hegseth denies the allegations, says the encounter was consensual and he was not charged with a crime in connection with the incident.

Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's pick to be the director of national intelligence, wrote bills while she was a congresswoman supporting two of the most notorious intelligence leakers in history, Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, according to new reporting from CNN. Gabbard did not respond to CNN's request for an interview.

She's already been blistered for her past support of Syria's brutal dictator, Bashar al Assad, and for supporting Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including criticism from fellow Republican and former presidential candidate Nikki Haley.

NIKKI HALEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: DNI, department -- Department of National Intelligence this is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer.

TODD: Linda McMahon, Trump's selection to be education secretary, is accused in a recent lawsuit of knowingly enabling the sexual exploitation of children by an employee of World Wrestling Entertainment, which she used to head. McMahon denies the allegations.

Then there's Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's pick for health and human services secretary. Health experts have sounded multiple alarms over Kennedy's stance against vaccinations and his false conspiracy theories about the COVID virus. This past summer, "Vanity Fair" magazine published allegations that Kennedy had sexually assaulted a former nanny for his family. Kennedy sidestepped the accusations.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., (I), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not a church boy.

TODD: What do all these picks say about Trump's transition process overall?

JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, REUTERS: There's certainly seems to be a common theme of not having had a whole lot of vetting he has chosen people who are loyal to him and who he has a good connection with or a vibe with, and sometimes that is taking precedence over a strong and really robust vetting process.

TODD: Which will present problems analysts say in the weeks ahead.

MARCHICK: The danger is that the government will not be staffed on day one or shortly after inauguration, if he doesn't choose picks which are going to be acceptable and pass muster with the United States Senate.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD (on camera): Analysts say one of the most problematic challenges for the Trump team going forward is that at least three of the nominees who are left, Pete Hegseth, Linda McMahon and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have dealt with cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting -- Brian, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, an arrest warrant issued today for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

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[18:58:55]

BLITZER: Tonight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is denouncing the International Criminal Court after the body issued an arrest warrant for him and his former defense minister, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza.

CNN's Nic Robertson is joining us now live from Jerusalem.

Nic, what will be the impact of this warrant?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, this is really going to affect the prime minister's ability and the former defense minister's ability to travel 124 countries are signatories to the Rome statute, which means if Prime Minister Netanyahu shows up there, then they are obligated to turn him over to the ICC in the Netherlands to face those charges.

Now, we've already heard from the French, the Italians, the Dutch. They've all said that they would turn him over to the ICC. The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said he, Canada, is for international law and they too would turn Prime Minister Netanyahu over to the ICC.

Fortunately, for the prime minister, his two biggest allies, India and the United States are not signatories to the Rome statute. He can travel there. In fact, President Biden tonight called the ICC's decision outrageous.

There is some pushback from some other countries, Argentina, Austria as well, have said that what the ICC has done is wrong. I don't think its going to have a lot of impact on Prime Minister Netanyahu inside of Israel. But absolutely, he won't be able to jump on a plane and travel to Europe the way that he used to, Wolf.

BLITZER: Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thanks very much for that report.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.