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Sources Say, Biden Bypassed Justice Department When He Pardoned His Son; Trump Picks for A.G. and Defense Secretary Round Up Support from Senators; How Trump's FBI Pick Could Lead the Agency He Vowed to Dismantle. Sources: Biden Bypassed Justice Department When He Pardoned His Son; Syrian & Russian Jets Step Up Strikes On Rebels After Opposition Seizes Much Of Syria's Second Largest City. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired December 02, 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, new fallout from President Biden's controversial pardon of his son, Hunter. That decision sparking bipartisan backlash tonight, as sources tell CNN the president bypassed the U.S. Justice Department when he made the call.

Also tonight, Donald Trump's picks for Attorney General Pam Bondi and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth holding meetings with Capitol Hill senators today, this as Hegseth is facing new misconduct allegations, potentially making a tough confirmation fight even tougher.

And we'll take a closer look at the hardline Trump loyalists the president-elect just tapped to lead the FBI. How Kash Patel is being received inside the agency he's vowing to dismantle.

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

We're following two major political stories tonight, President Biden's contentious decision to pardon his son, Hunter, and the fast-moving developments inside the Trump transition.

Our senior White House Correspondent M.J. Lee is here in Washington, CNN's Kristen Holmes is live outside the Trump transition headquarters down in Florida.

M.J., first to you. Tell us, first of all, about the fallout from President Biden's move.

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the blowback is certainly coming from all directions for President Biden. And it isn't just Republicans that are crying hypocrisy. Even some of his own allies and Democrats are really questioning how he has handled this issue. I've spoken with a number of Democrats, including former White House and administration officials who told me that they actually never believed it when President Biden himself said publicly that he would not pardon his son and that they simply cannot understand why he insisted over and over again that he wouldn't be taking this course of action. This is what one former senior West Wing aide told me. They said, anyone who was even close to the top knew that he was probably going to do this. Why did we pretend otherwise?

Some Democrats, Wolf, telling me that the president could have at least avoided the appearance of hypocrisy if he had given an alternative answer to unequivocally saying that he would not pardon his son. We're also seeing a number of prominent Democrats questioning the decision itself to pardon his son, particularly given that we now know he had gone around his own DOJ. This is what Michigan Senator Democrat Gary Peter said on X. He said the decision was wrong and that a president's family and allies shouldn't get special treatment. This was an improper use of power. It erodes trust in our government and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.

Now, Wolf, as you can imagine, the White House is getting a lot of questions and pressure to explain the President's reversal. Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One earlier today that this is a course of action that the president would not have taken had Vice President Kamala Harris won the election instead of Donald Trump. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Do you think this would have happened if Harris hadn't lost the election?

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm not going to get into the election. It is a no, I can answer that, it's a no. And what I can say --

REPORTER: This would not have happened if Harris hadn't lost the election. The pardon would not have happened if Harris hadn't lost the election.

JEAN-PIERRE: I can speak to where we are today, and so I can't speak to hypotheticals here where we are today. The president made this decision over the weekend. He thought about it. He wrestled with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: So, a bit of a muddled answer there from Jean-Pierre, who said she wouldn't address hypotheticals after addressing a hypothetical. And, of course, this is hard to take at face value coming from a White House press secretary who, until as recently as last month, had repeatedly said that the president would not be pardoning his son. Wolf?

BLITZER: M.J. Lee, stay with us. Thank you very much. I also want to bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's just outside the Trump transition headquarters down in West Palm Beach, Florida. Kristen, give us the latest on some of Trump's controversial cabinet nominees.

[18:05:00]

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Donald Trump's team brought through a number of various controversial picks today through Capitol Hill to meet with various senators, one of them being the new attorney general nominee, Pam Bondi. Now, she met with Senator Grassley, Senator Graham. Both of these meetings, we are told, went well. One thing to note here is that Republicans on Capitol Hill and in the transition team, they are breathing a sigh of relief that this is not Matt Gaetz. They find her far less controversial and they believe that she can get confirmed.

Also up on the Hill is a far more controversial figure, which is Secretary of Defense Nominee Pete Hegseth. Now, this comes -- his trip to Capitol Hill, this is his second time up there, comes after new reporting in the New Yorker that essentially said that he was forced out of his position at two veteran advocacy groups for alleged misconduct, one of them being the Concerned Veterans Group of America, the New Yorker obtaining a whistleblower complaint.

Here's what was in that complaint. This is just some of what was in this really bombshell report that Hegseth was repeatedly drunk at events, that he took staff to a strip club, was drunk, and tried to get on stage and dance. He sexually pursued female staffers, and he once chanted, kill all Muslims. This, again, just part of what is in that report, it follows another part of that report, which says that he was essentially removed from another veterans group for alleged misconduct as well.

Now, he did meet with two senators up on the hill, one of them being Tommy Tuberville. Tuberville was asked about these allegations, he said he hadn't talked to Hegseth about them today, but in the past he had. Here's what else he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I've asked him. And he had a good explanation, but I'm not going to try to explain to y'all about his personal endeavors over the many years, he's got great work ethic. He's very, very smart. He understands the business side as well as the military side, been in 20 years. He's actually fought in wars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, I did talk to a number of people close to Donald Trump who said that they believed Hegseth was still in the clear when it came to being the nominee, that they didn't think he was going to drop out. They said that he had turned his life around since these alleged events.

But just one thing to keep in mind here, when Donald Trump's team talked to Hegseth the second time about various allegations, they told him that they didn't want any more surprises. It's unclear whether or not this constitutes as a surprise, but clearly is not the kind of headlines that Trump's team wants right now.

BLITZER: Kristen, all of this comes, as you well know, on the heels of another very controversial nomination over the weekend for a position that's not even vacant.

HOLMES: That's right. Kash Patel, a loyalist to Donald Trump, was nominated to be the head of the FBI. The reason why this was so unprecedented is there is actually a current head of the FBI who is serving out a ten-year term, Christopher Wray, someone who was appointed by Donald Trump in his last term as president.

So, this is essentially warning shots fired to Chris Wray saying that I will be firing you when I take office from Donald Trump. But on top of that, a second layer to this being the idea that Kash Patel is a loyalist who does not have experience deeply within the FBI. He did not serve as an agent. This is somebody who is incredibly controversial. We saw pushback from both Republicans and Democrats.

Now I did speak to a number of transition officials today who believe that Kash Patel is in a different boat than some of these other controversial figures. They don't believe there's anything in his past other than his own rhetoric, so they think that he could still get confirmed.

But, of course, it's going to be a big question, particularly, again, when we are hearing this pushback from both Democrats and Republicans that this figure would serve there. This is someone who is a loyalist to Donald Trump and has expressed interest in following through with some of what Donald Trump wants to do, which includes gutting the FBI. Wolf?

BLITZER: Kristen Holmes, thank you. M.J. Lee, thanks to you as well.

Our political experts are here with me in The Situation Room for some analysis right now. And, Jeff Zeleny, you've been doing a lot of reporting on the president-elect's decision-making process going through all of this. Tell us what you're learning.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I think in the end President Biden acted as a father. I mean, he was with his family in Nantucket spending the Thanksgiving holiday, and this is when we're told that he finally came to this decision. But the challenge of that is, of course, he's far more than a father. I mean, he has said repeatedly, his officials have said repeatedly that he would not do this.

And if you think back to the very reason he ran for president, he said to restore the soul of the nation, and that included the rule of law and other things. A lot of Democrats and even admirers of him believe that he has soiled his legacy because of that. But, clearly, he was aware of this fallout, and he acted as a father.

And if you look at some of his statement last night that he released on Sunday evening, of course, just hours before going to Africa, he makes that clear. Let's take a look at it. He says, I believe in the justice system, but I also believe raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice. He goes on to say, I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision.

[18:10:01]

So, we will see how this is sort of absorbed over time. But in the short run, a lot of Democrats, you know, speaking publicly and privately believe that this was, you know, a choice a father would understandably make, but one a president has handed the Trump administration coming in a very large gift.

BLITZER: Yes, it's an important development. Lulu Garcia-Navarro is with us as well. Lulu, the president and his press secretary have spent a year-and-a-half basically publicly ruling out the possibility of a pardon for Hunter. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Is there any possibility that the president would end up pardoning his son?

JEAN-PIERRE: No.

REPORTER: When would the president pardon or commute his son if he's convicted?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, I've answered this question before. It was asked of me not too long ago, a couple weeks ago. And I was very clear and I said no.

REPORTER: You said before that the president would not pardon his son. Is that still the case?

JEAN-PIERRE: Nothing has changed. That is still the case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And have you ruled out a pardon for your son?

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes.

I said I abide by the jury decision. I will do that, and I will not pardon him.

JEAN-PIERRE: I could speak for the president and he said he would not pardon his son.

REPORTER: Does the president have any intention of pardoning him?

JEAN-PIERRE: We've been asked that question multiple times. Our answer stands, which is no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, what are your thoughts, Lulu, about this major about face?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He lied. I think this is the least surprising pardon. We, I think, knew that this was probably going to happen because of the reasons that Jeff said. He is a father. This is his only surviving son. This is a man who has been marked by tragedy. But even so, to have repeatedly lied, to have not allowed any room for equivocation to have not opened the door to the possibility that this might happen, I think, is really difficult for the Democrats. They have been standing and saying, we are the party of the rule of law. We are the party that stands for norms and values. And with this pardon, I think that erodes that very principled stand.

BLITZER: And, Ashley Allison, as you know, there are a bunch of Democrats who are publicly criticizing President Biden for this decision. Senator Peter Welch, for example, says, and I'm quoting him now, as he says, it was as the action of a loving father, understandable, but as the action of our nation's chief executive, unwise. Others like Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell are defending Biden, saying, and I'm quoting him now, if you defended the 34-count felon who committed sexual assault, stole national security documents and tried running a coup on his country, you can sit out the Hunter Biden pardon discussion.

So, what is this split among Democrats say to you?

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not surprised that people were -- I think some Republicans would say, even Joe Manchin who was independent recently said he's a father, he would do that. I think the rub is that he said he wouldn't, and he said he wouldn't so many times. I think he should have said from the beginning, if Hunter is convicted, would I pardon him? Yes. And I think the American people would accept that, because for so long, when Hunter was facing criminal charges, people understood why his father was standing by him, because that's what a father does, is they stand by their son.

I understand Democrats might be split on this. I don't know if it will be the biggest blemish on Joe Biden's tenure because we have so much more to come. We have these confirmation hearings. But I understand where he came from. I just wish he would have said he was going to do it from the beginning.

BLITZER: Lance Trover is with us as well. Lance, as you know, Trump pardoned his son-in-law's father, Charles Kushner, during his first administration. Now Kushner is the pick to become the next U.S. ambassador to France. And more than 20 other close allies and loyalists Trump pardoned as well. So, do Republicans have any ground to stand on the criticism of President Biden's decision?

LANCE TROVER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I think the key difference here is that Donald Trump never said he wouldn't pardon some of these people. That is the core. And when it goes back to what happened on November 5th, it all goes to the core of Donald Trump is very explicit in terms of what he's going to do with voters. That's one of the reasons voters like him and put him back into office in January.

So, I think this has actually empowered him with some of the nominees, including the ones we were talking about here earlier. I think it has empowered him with voters. Let's remember, CBS had a poll last week that said 60 percent of the nation approved of his handling of the transition. It would not surprise me given what has taken place in the last 24 hours, if we don't see those numbers go up.

BLITZER: How credible, Jeff, is Biden's concern that his son could have been targeted by a new Trump Justice Department?

ZELENY: It's very credible. I mean, it's one of the reasons that the pardon was not just specifically for the guns and the tax case, it was a full and unconditional pardon going back to January of 2014 all the way until yesterday.

So, look, when you see the recent nominees, particularly over the weekend, Kash Patel as the FBI director potentially, this was a very real concern. So, I would have to believe history will show that the timing of this is certainly not coincidental. I mean, they were very concerned about the retribution for Hunter Biden.

And, look, this is something that I'm sort of struck by when President Biden came to Washington in the era of Watergate, right after that.

[18:15:07]

And now he's taking his leave here in an entirely different Washington issuing this type of pardon. He knew what the fallout would be, but he did it because he loves his son, Hunter. But he, of course, was also worried about what would happen in the next Trump administration.

And he had spent the weekend with Hunter Biden and the family up in Nantucket obviously. They all discussed, I suspect, what was about to happen.

ZELENY: Right.

BLITZER: All right. Guys, everybody stand by. We have more ahead.

Just ahead, we'll have more on Donald Trump's latest controversial administration pick. What we know about Kash Patel, the reaction from senators and how he would upend the FBI potentially.

Plus, we'll go live to California where Governor Gavin Newsom is making moves today on what he describes as Trump-proofing his state before inauguration day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

BLITZER: Donald Trump's pick to lead the FBI is causing a major stir up on Capitol Hill, drawing unified opposition from Democrats and mixed reaction from Republicans.

Our Brian Todd is on the story for us. Brian, why is Kash Patel such a controversial choice?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are so many reasons, Wolf. Kash Patel has endorsed QAnon conspiracy theories, has said that the FBI is part of a so-called deep state within the government, and his vow to use the government to go after Trump's enemies is deeply worrying to many.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KASH PATEL, FORMER ADVISER, TRUMP NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: Thank you.

TODD (voice over): In planning to nominate 44-year-old Kash Patel as FBI director, President-elect Donald Trump is elevating a loyalist and conspiracy theorist who's vowed to dismantle the very agency he's now tapped to lead.

PATEL: I'd shut down the FBI Hoover building. on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Most people come into the government at least respecting the fundamental enterprise that they're going to be managing and what you're seeing here is a nominee who seems to have some measure of contempt for the very body that he would be charged with leading.

TODD: Considered even among Trump's allies to be an unrelenting self- promoter, Patel, according to The New York Times, exaggerated his role as a prosecutor in the investigation into the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans. He's promoted Trump's lies about the 2020 election being stolen and vowed that Trump's Justice Department would go after Trump's enemies, among them, according to Patel, members of the media.

PATEL: We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're going to come after you.

TODD: To install Patel, Trump would have to fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray, who has about three years left on his ten-year term, and who was appointed by Trump. Why has Trump turned on Wray? Analysts say it's Trump who believes Wray turned on him.

GARRETT GRAFF, FBI HISTORIAN: Donald Trump sees the FBI over the last decade as the agency sort of most to blame for his own legal troubles and the troubles of those around him.

TODD: Wray headed the FBI when the bureau launched a search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in August, 2022.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT: They broke into my house.

TODD: The search uncovered classified documents that Trump had allegedly stored inappropriately at Mar-a-Lago. It led to federal criminal charges against Trump, which were just dropped by the special counsel. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.

GRAFF: To him, a major sign of how the Biden administration was trying to politicize the FBI and use it for political payback.

TODD: And Wray would be the second FBI director Trump will have fired.

TRUMP: Oh, and there's James. He's become more famous than me.

TODD: In 2017, Trump dismissed James Comey. The then-president later saying he was frustrated over the ongoing Russia probe.

(END VIDEOTAPE) TODD (on camera): Historian Garrett Graff says Donald Trump is not alone among presidents who believe that the FBI director should be beholden to them. He points out that John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton had all expressed frustration with FBI directors who served during their administrations. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Brian Todd reporting for us, thank you, Brian, very much.

Our political experts are back with us, including now CNN Legal Analyst Carrie Cordero.

But let me go back to Lulu Garcia-Navarro first. Patel, as we know, is a very, very controversial conspiracy theorist who's vowed to actually dismantle the FBI and go after journalists who wrote critical articles, let's say, of Trump. What are you hearing about this pick?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I think this pick is extremely controversial. I am not sure that it's going to face the same pushback as other controversial picks because we have so many controversial picks. We have Tulsi Gabbard. We have Pete Hegseth. We have so many people right now who are going to face a lot of scrutiny But Kash Patel, let me just lay it down there, is someone who is rankly unqualified for this post.

And, you know, you can talk about the FBI and you can say it deserves to be reconstituted. They have overstepped the mark. But what Kash Patel is interested in doing is using the FBI for the purpose of going after Trump's enemies. It's not protecting the American people. Let's not forget the FBI does counterterrorism. It does many things in this country that are of vast importance. He is talking about really going after people that Donald Trump doesn't like, and that is very worrying.

BLITZER: Very worrying, indeed. Carrie Cordero, you're our legal expert. Trump already has a handpicked FBI director in place right now. Christopher Wray still has three years left on his ten-year term as the director of the FBI. So, what does trying to replace him with Kash Patel say to you?

CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Right. So, the bigger picture here is that it's not just about Kash Patel. It's also about this bigger issue of the fact that Congress decided that the FBI director should serve a ten-year term.

[18:25:05]

And the precise reason of that is to insulate that role, in particular, from politics, from the change of administrations.

And so that was specifically where Congress has already spoken, another branch of government. And so by saying that he is either going to fire Director Wray and nominate somebody new, he is breaking with what the law is and with what congressional intent is.

Now, he can fire the director or he can request his resignation and Director Wray may resign, but then, even then, until Kash Patel is actually confirmed by the Senate, there's a question about who would serve as FBI director during that acting period. So, there's a real precedent here at issue with respect to the nonpolitical nature of the FBI director.

BLITZER: Wouldn't it be the deputy director of the FBI?

CORDERO: Normally, under the succession rules of the FBI, it would be the deputy director. But with President-elect Trump indicating that he wants somebody who is loyal to him, there is -- I have a question, and I think there is a question, as to whether or not he would accept the normal succession, the deputy director, or whether he would use some loopholes that exist in the law to reach into government and find other people that he think would be more aligned with what he wants to see done in the bureau.

BLITZER: Interesting development, indeed. Lance Trover is still with us. Lance it's not just Democrats who are slamming this pick. This is how Trump's deputy national security adviser, Trump's deputy national security adviser, Charles Kupperman, who worked closely with Patel during the first term of the Trump administration, described the selection to The Wall Street Journal. Let me quote, he's absolutely unqualified for this job. He's untrustworthy. He's an absolute disgrace to American citizens to even consider an individual of this nature. How do you respond to that?

TROVER: Well, he's going to have to go before the Senate like everybody else. As I say this all the time, there is a process and that we will see this play out. But given what happened in the last 24 hours, I don't think we can underestimate Americans, and I mentioned this earlier, the Senate should take note of what just happened in this country. Is there anybody that doesn't think that the Justice Department and the upper brass of the FBI at this point doesn't need a massive overhaul? There's no question about it.

And I would argue on the whole punishing of enemies thing. There's a lot of people that would argue that there's only one person's Justice Department who targeted a political enemy, and that's the current occupant of the White House who just pardoned his son of 11 years worth of crimes.

BLITZER: You know, Ashley Allison is still with us. Ashley, Trump has long wanted to place Kash Patel into a senior national security type of role. He considered doing so during his first term. Why do you think he's finally doing it now?

ALLISON: Well, I mean, hopefully he doesn't run for reelection in 2028. He wants people around him that will do his bidding, that will be loyal to him. And I think there's an opportunity. I doubt that Donald Trump will take it, but there's an opportunity if you feel like the last administration went after you, even though the FBI director was somebody that he nominated, he could say Donald Trump, that is, I'm going to be the bigger person. But instead everything that Donald Trump is signaling right now is that he's not, that he is going to go after people that did things that he did not like. And so he's surrounding himself now with someone like Kash Patel because he will do that. He will fall prey to the conspiracy theories. He will not be -- have a firewall between him and Donald Trump. And that is the danger of what is at stake in this democracy.

I understand the last 24 hours could be unsettling for some people that Joe Biden just pardoned his son, but Joe Biden did not break the law by doing that. What Kash Patel could potentially do as FBI director is do something that he would target people that have not committed crimes just because they might have said something. He said he would go after the media. I pointed out yesterday, I'll point out today. We're all sitting on a media panel. That could make us all, maybe one day you say something that he doesn't like.

We don't want that to be the standard bearer for who our FBI director is. We want to believe no one is above the law, Democrat or Republican.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: And I'll also just say one other thing. It reminds me of the dark days of the Nixon administration. I mean, it has been a long time since this country has seen such a partisan cabinet being put into place where they are promising explicitly to go after people not because of things that they actually have done to break the law, but because they might have gotten on the wrong side of the president.

TROVER: Here we go, this fear mongering, I mean, I would have thought everybody would have given up this on November 5th.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But you're quoting what he said.

TROVER: That's why we have a process in place. They're going to go before the Senate. But it doesn't do anybody any good to continue this fear mongering. I mean, yes, they have made these comments. But, again, I go back to Joe Biden himself just said that the Justice Department is a disaster. So, are we to say that nothing should change in our justice system, that the top brass at the FBI is A okay right now?

[18:30:01]

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But do you think Kash Patel is qualified for this position?

TROVER: I think that is something for the U.S. Senate to decide. I think he has a range of experience in both the national security and the Department of Defense. And that's something the Senate will --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Sure, but he was a QAnon supporter. He said a number of -- I mean, this is the thing people's record matters, or does it? They either say something and they mean it, or they're making things up.

TROVER: Absolutely.

ALLISON: And I'd be glad to be proven wrong. I hope I'm proven wrong. And it's not fear mongering when you take somebody's words. I just said in the last segment, this is what is different be calling balls and strikes. I just said, if Joe Biden was going to pardon his son, he should have said it from the beginning. I'm a Democrat and I can say that. If Kash Patel doesn't want to go after the media, then somebody should stand up and say, don't say that if you want to be the FBI director, but that's not what he's doing. So, I can only -- I'm not fear mongering. I'm just holding him at his word.

TROVER: That's the opportunity he'll have when he goes before the Senate to address those types of questions.

ALLISON: Please prove me wrong.

BLITZER: Let's not forget his potential boss, the president-elected the United States, keeps calling us the enemy of the American people.

All right, guys, everybody, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, Pete Hegseth is back up on Capitol Hill today trying to soothe his very bumpy road to confirmation as the U.S. defense secretary. A military veteran and current member of the Intelligence and Foreign Affairs Committees, Congressman Jason Crowe is standing by live. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: Right now, the race is on in California to, quote, Trump- proof the state against the incoming Trump administration. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom leading the charge with just weeks until Donald Trump takes the oath of office for a second term.

CNN's Nick Watt is in Los Angeles with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: Gavin Newscum, he's another beauty.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): He means Gavin Newsom, California's charismatic, quaffed governor who predicts an imminent Trumpian assault on abortion rights, immigration, environmental protections, and more.

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): We know exactly what he intends to do. He's been very honest about that.

WATT: Already threatening Newsom if he doesn't tow the Trump line on water rights.

TRUMP: And we'll say, Gavin, if you don't do it, we're not giving you any of that fire money that we send you all the time for all the forest fires that you have.

WATT: We will work with the incoming administration, Newsom said today, but when there is overreach, when lives are threatened, when rights and freedoms are targeted, we will take action. RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: There's no question that Newsom sees his future as a Democratic presidential candidate as rooted in his ability to rally resistance.

WATT: Today, on his orders, Californian politicians trying to Trump- proof their deep blue state before DJT 2.0 takes office.

ROBERT RIVAS (D), CALIFORNIA STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER: If LGBTQ people come under attack, if hard working immigrants are targeted, if women's reproductive freedom is threatened, we will fight back with everything we have.

WATT: They're proposing an up to $25 million fighting fund and bills protecting abortion rights.

ROB BONTA (D), CALIFORNIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are not backing down. We are absolutely committed to making sure that all women have access to reproductive freedom, period, full stop.

WATT: During his first term, California spent more than $40 million suing Trump's administration 122 times.

NEWSOM: He vandalized our progress, he vandalized our programs he broke the law.

BROWNSTEIN: The level of confrontation between Trump and Blue America is going to be even more intense in the second term than it was in the first. Stephen Miller openly talked about deputizing the National Guard from red states and sending them into blue states. That is a recipe for intrastate conflict of the kind we have not really seen in the U.S. since the Civil War.

WATT: Today, immigrants' rights groups protested outside California's statehouse carrying signs, MAGA out of California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): Now, Gavin Newsom seems pretty keen on a 2028 run for the White House, but it's going to be a difficult balancing act. He can't afford just to be the pretty face of the resistance, and here's why. This year, Donald Trump won about 1.5 million more votes here in California than he did in 2016. So, it's clear his talk of a broken state, of a broken country, did make some inroads.

So, Gavin Newsom can't just be the anti-Trump totem. He also needs to propose some real solutions to some real problems that people say they have. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Nick Watt in Los Angeles, thank you very much.

Coming up, Democratic Congressman Jason Crow joins me live. I'll get his thoughts on President Biden's very controversial pardon of his son, Hunter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

BLITZER: More now on the bipartisan backlash against President Biden's decision to pardon his son, Hunter. Democratic Congressman Jason Crow, one of President Biden's Democratic allies in the House, criticizing the move in a statement that he released, and I'm quoting him now, presidents hold enormous power and responsibility and must be held to a higher standard. And right now, upholding the fabric of our democracy is one of our most important tasks.

Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado is joining us right now. Congressman, thanks very much. I think we just lost that connection.

We'll take a quick break. We'll fix it. We'll be right back.

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[18:48:17]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: We're back with Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. We have reestablished our connection.

Congressman, thanks once again for joining us.

The president says he is issuing this pardon because his son Hunter was, quote, selectively and unfairly prosecuted and writing -- and I'm quoting him now -- no reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter's case can reach any other conclusion that Hunter was singled out only because he is my son and that is wrong, close quote.

You are critical of this decision by the president. Are you suggesting President Biden was wrong to pardon Hunter despite the merits of the case?

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Well, this is undoubtedly an excruciating situation. I'm a father. My heart breaks for any father that would be in a situation like this, wanting to protect his son, just like I would want to do.

But you know, when you're the president of the United States, you have different responsibilities. That is why it is probably the toughest job on the planet because you have to set aside all of your personal interests. You have to set aside everything that you might be pulled upon. That would be a conflict of interest, and put the Constitution, the good of the country first, which is why I came out today and said that I did believe that this particular pardon was a mistake, you know?

And I'm aware of the legal merits of the case. I am aware of the questions surrounding the fairness of the process. I get all of that but the standard just must -- must be much higher when you're dealing with conflicts of interest.

BLITZER: Let me follow up. Congressman, if you were in President Biden's shoes, would you trust a Justice Department led by Trump loyalists to act responsibly and not unfairly target your son?

CROW: No, I wouldn't, which is why this is such an excruciating case an example, right?

[18:50:02]

I mean, this really does put lots of things into conflict here, right? A father's duty to his son not wanting to see unfair targeting which I think is a possibility in this instance. But again, we are on the cusp of experiencing an onslaught of abuses of power, of, you know a president-elect who is going to come in and attempt to create a government that serves his interests and the interests of his family, the interests of his donors and his other allies, and weaponize the Department of Justice and the FBI against his perceived political enemies. And I am not going to sit here today, and I'm not going to say one thing about one political party and one thing about another.

I know the situation we're going in, and I know we have to defend that high standard across the board. And that's what I'm here to say.

BLITZER: There are also growing questions about Trump, defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth's conduct and treatment of women coming from a very explosive new article in "The New Yorker Magazine", as well as a letter his mother wrote accusing him of mistreating women.

Are you hearing any concern at all from your Republican colleagues about this?

CROW: Not much, certainly not a lot publicly. I do hear concern privately, which is always a problem, right? This disconnect between what I hear from some of my colleagues privately versus what they're willing to say publicly for fear of being targeted by Donald Trump and his loyalists or some online troll army.

You know, listen, we just need people to speak up. We need leadership. We need people who are willing to just say the truth about any given instance and call out these situations.

But, you know, I am less concerned about the feelings of my colleagues and politicians and elected officials than I am about the morale and what our service members must be thinking right now, particularly our female service members, our daughters, these women who have stepped up to serve our country, who in some cases are fighting on the front lines right now to keep us safe.

And somebody with accusations of abuse and who has publicly said -- one thing we absolutely know to be true is that he's publicly said that women shouldn't serve in combat roles, and that's just beyond the pale. And that's just disqualifying in and of itself. And does a disservice to those women who every day stand up and fight and serve for us.

BLITZER: Congressman Jason Crow, as usual, thank you very much for joining us.

And we'll be right back.

CROW: Thank you.

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[18:56:54]

BLITZER: In Syria tonight, government forces alongside Russian jets are striking back after rebels dramatically escalated the country's civil war last week with a surprise attack.

Our chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, is joining us live from Beirut right now.

Clarissa, what's the current situation in northwest Syria after the rebels stunning capture of the second largest city in Syria, Aleppo?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, according to the U.N., 44 civilians have been killed in the fighting that's been going on there in the last five days. Two thirds of those people are women and children, according to the U.N. The White Helmets Group, the civil defense group on the ground is saying that the majority of those killed have been killed in these airstrikes, that we have been seeing in the wake of this astonishing offensive by the rebels in five days, Wolf, they've been able to take more territory than they have in the last eight years.

And the reason that Assad was effectively able to quash this rebellion and why you haven't really heard about Syria much in the news for some years now, is because it has relied heavily on the support of Iran, on the support of Hezbollah and, most crucially, on the support of Russia and Russian airstrikes, which decimated huge parts of rebel held territory in Idlib, in Aleppo back in 2015.

It appears now, Wolf, that potentially the rebels saw a moment that they could exploit where Israel was bombarding Hezbollah, where Iran was tied up also with the situation with Israel where Russia was preoccupied with Ukraine. And so they saw a window and they went for it.

The question now is what happens next? Is Bashar al-Assad potentially really facing the end of his rule at this stage? Still far too early to say, but we are definitely seeing a ratcheting up of these devastating airstrikes and everyone waiting anxiously not just in Syria, but across the region to see what happens next, Wolf.

So Clarissa, to that point, where do you think things go from here well, in terms of where the rebels are taking things, they have now taken Aleppo, as you mentioned, they are in control of the entirety of Idlib province, and they seem to be focused now on the city of Hama, which is in central Syria, population of about a million people. It is the fourth largest city.

Rebels earlier today announced to people living in Hama that they should basically take care to avoid being anywhere near regime figures regime forces. And so the expectation is that in the coming hours or days, we may see some type of an offensive on that city but more broadly, I would say while a lot of people are feeling gratified to see Bashar al-Assad take a black eye, there's a lot of uneasiness as well about the rebel groups that are participating in this offensive, some of which, at one stage were in allegiance with al Qaeda and just a sense of unease about the prospect of the Syrian civil war being reignited at a time when this region is already in deep crisis, Wolf.

BLITZER: Deep crisis indeed.

Clarissa Ward on the scene for us in Beirut, stay safe over there. Clarissa, thank you very, very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.