Gaetz Sex Allegations Go Public
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It's Tuesday, November 19th, right now on CNN This Morning. Representative Gates paid my client, both of my clients, for sexual favors. Going public, we're now hearing from the lawyer for two women making allegations against Donald Trump's AG pick, Matt Gaetz, and this. This is a biological man. He does not belong in women's spaces.

The Capitol Hill bathroom bill. A Republican congresswoman wants to ban the first transgender woman elected to Congress from using certain bathrooms. And later. She continues to ask him what happened with the girl. What happened to the girl? A contentious call introduced as evidence between the man accused of killing Lakin Riley and his estranged wife.

And an urgent weather warning: significant snowfall, life-threatening conditions as a bomb cyclone approaches the West Coast.

6 a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at a beautiful sunrise in New York City on this Tuesday morning. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us. This morning, we are learning more about former Congressman Matt Gaetz, now President Trump's pick to be attorney general, and the two women who say he paid them for sex over a nearly two-year period while he was serving in Congress.

The lawyer for the two women going public with the details of their allegations, including that one of them saw Gates having sex with her 17-year-old friend. The two women testified before the House Ethics Committee, but now there are questions about whether the report that resulted will ever see the light of day.

She testified to the House that Representative Gates did not know her friend's age at the time they had sexual intercourse. And when he found out about her age, that Representative Gates stopped having sexual intercourse with her, and he only started the sexual intercourse interactions later on when she turned 18. The testimony before the House was yes, that Representative Gates paid my client $1,000

both of my clients for sexual favors throughout the summer of 2017 all the way to the beginning of 2019. Gates has denied any wrongdoing and House Speaker Mike Johnson is urging the Ethics Committee to keep the Gates report private because he resigned from the House last week. But some of the senators who may have to go on the record voting for or against Gates, yeah, they'd like to know what's in it.

Whether we get the ethics report or not, the facts are going to come out one way or the other. And I would think it would be in everybody's best interest, including the president's, not to be surprised by some information that might come out during the confirmation.

hearing in the background checks. Do you want to see it? Oh, I do, but more importantly, I want the Judiciary Committee to be able to see it prior to the hearings. And then after that, depending on what happens, then of course it could be released to the other members that are going to at some point have a vote.

The lawyer for the two women who say that Gaetz paid them for sex has been doing media interviews as President-elect Trump has been personally calling senators to push them to confirm Gaetz as Attorney General, we've learned at CNN, although Trump has also been asking his allies about the likelihood that Gaetz can be confirmed.

Privately, he has said in discussions with people that he thinks that Gates' chances of getting confirmed are, you know, the odds are less than 50 percent or less than even. But he is still going to push ahead with it and he is digging in. And I expect that that is going to be the posture for as long as he can hold it.

All right, our panel is here. Joining us now, Kristen Soltis Anderson, CNN political commentator, Republican strategist. Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst. Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator, former communications director in the Biden White House. And Lanhee Chen, former policy director for Mitt Romney and Hoover Institution Fellow. Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here. Elliot, we are hearing from this lawyer for these women who had to go through all of this once when they testified to the House Ethics Committee, now increasingly looking like perhaps

if that information is, and it is wanted by the Senate Judiciary Committee and others, if they're not gonna give them the report, they're gonna have to go straight to these women. What did you, how do you understand what this lawyer is doing and what's next here? - Well, the most important thing to know is that it's not, the important question here is not whether Matt Gaetz is a good or bad guy or qualified for the job or whether you like him personally. The question is what information ought the Senate Judiciary Committee to have

in making its constitutionally dictated, doing its constitutionally dictated job of vetting candidates and nominees. And this is the kind of information almost out of the textbook that they are number one, allowed to look at, number two, should be allowed to look at, and that number three, the House is free to release to them. Now, I think what the lawyers are doing is being a little bit cute with material that might have been put under seal in another circumstance.

They put it into the record, they've said the words and let the public know that it's out there. So it really falls to the senators to figure out ways to get it. And simply seeing John Cornyn, who's number one, one of the most senior Senate Republicans, and number two, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee calling for this material, I think it's going to end up in the committee's hands in some way just for them to look at it, even if it's behind closed doors.

It feels impossible to me that it's not going to leak if they don't officially hand it over. I mean, too many people have seen it. The House is not an institution that is historically, you know, holds information tight. So I think too many people want to see it. I would certainly hope it would be handed over in time.

sort of normal order, but if it isn't, I cannot imagine a world in which this information does not get leaked and these senators ultimately don't have the opportunity to see it. - Yeah, the ethics committee is usually more locked down than the rest of the, I would, I normally would agree with you on the-- - Fair, fair, fair. - The House of Representatives is a very leaked place, but less so there. And Wang Hechen, I mean,

This is what my colleague, Stephen Collinson, who sort of specializes in writing these big picture sweeping pieces for us here at CNN every day, he noted this about what's going on with Gates. He says Trump is making this about far more than Gates. He's creating a test of power that reflects his own self-confidence, the balance of power in the new Congress, his belief that the GOP Senate should be at his service and not a moderating force.

The president's elect's unorthodox pick of the Florida Republican, the muscle he's already put into his candidacy, may mean that Trump may soon approach the point where it will cost him more political capital to fold on Gates than to keep trying to get him installed, whatever it takes. What do you make of that analysis, and what do you think the president-elect is doing here?

- Well, I think senators are gonna have to make a decision here because this is not a private vote, okay? This is gonna be a public vote. And so ultimately what they're gonna have to look at is can they actually take this public vote given the information they have? And I think that's why you see so many of them saying, "Look, we would like to see the report," because I think they would like full information before they take those votes. Ultimately, I do think there is a tremendous amount of loyalty toward President-elect Trump, both in the Senate and the House.

But at the end of the day, these senators have their own political careers. They've got to figure out what they want to do. And so that's why I think you see so many of them, notwithstanding what's already happened, saying, look, we'd like to see all the information before we cast this vote because the worst thing would be to cast this vote and then have information come out that implicates them in a vote that would be problematic. Three of the first folks to come out of the gate were Joni Ernst, Susan Collins, and John Cornyn, all up for reelection in 2026, recognizing that this is going to be something that's hanging.

Yeah, and 2026 is going to be a tough year for Republicans anyways because of the pendulum that swings back and forth in our politics. We're coming out of a very good Republican year. It's likely to be good for Democrats. And that's why I think you're seeing so many Republicans struggle with this pick much more so, I think, than some of the others. I do think some of these nominees that Donald Trump has put up, who may be a little more avant-garde for Republicans, may ultimately get through.

Because I think if the key objection is that somebody has a policy difference, I don't think these Republican senators are likely to say, I don't like this person's stance on Ukraine or what have you. I think that is likely to get passed. That's why this Gates one is fundamentally different. Because it's not about, does Gates have a different philosophy of the law than I do? It is, is he in compliance with the law? And that's why I think this one, if any of them get hung up, it might be this one.

I want to believe both of your kind of theories here of what Republican leadership in the Senate is going to do. But I just, I think everything that we have seen in the era of Donald Trump over this last decade, if Donald Trump makes this the public litmus test of are you for me or are you against me?

I think at the end of the day, even a lot of these folks who are absolutely gonna be up in really tough races in 26 are gonna toe the line. - Then the ultimate test, even beyond are you going to vote for this person or not, the ultimate test for the Senate is would they allow themselves to go into recess for a period of days to allow the president to install his nominees? Now, that would be a remarkable step.

and a remarkable bending the knee to future President Trump. But in order for that to happen, it would require almost an agreement among senators for that to happen. I think that would be a huge step. - I think for one nominee, that's a challenge. I think if it becomes a situation where there are several nominees implicated, then we'd have to see. But I would be surprised to see it for one nominee.

- Longhi, you know and have worked with Senator Mitt Romney, who's now an outgoing senator. Big part of why he's outgoing is because of the political dynamics that we see across the board.

Do you think that there is any willingness, to Kate's point, left among these senators to push back against Donald Trump in situations where they would otherwise feel that they were in a morally unacceptable position? I think, again, what I'd come back to is, first of all, there is a political dynamic here you cannot forget about, which is that each individual senator has to take that vote publicly. They have to deal with the political consequences of voting.

what that vote might yield in future years. So I think that's one element of it. And some senators, you know, we don't know that members of the conference are coming in who are new. They're going to have to craft their own political identities. And I don't know how that's going to go for some of these new members. But again, it is at the end of the day, politicians are- Aren't they all likely to be, I mean, they're all, they all came to base in the Trump era. We'll see. I mean, well, you know, there are some people who don't necessarily have a record in the Senate yet. So we'll see. We'll see how that goes. I don't know what's the short answer.

We're about to find out. We are. All right, coming up here on CNN This Morning, raising the stakes, what the use of long-range missiles inside Russia will mean for Ukraine's war effort. Congressman Mike Quigley, he's the co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, will be here to discuss. Plus, prosecutors expected to arrest their case today in the Lakin-Riley murder trial. And more controversy on Capitol Hill after a bill is introduced targeting a new transgender member.

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Sarah McBride doesn't get a say. I mean, this is a biological man. He does not belong in women's spaces, women's bathrooms, locker rooms, changing rooms, period, full stop. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace introducing a resolution to ban transgender women from using the women's restrooms at the U.S. Capitol.

The move comes just weeks after the first transgender person was elected to Congress. Democratic Congresswoman-elect Sarah McBride will be sworn in in January. She responded in a post on social media. She writes this, quote, This is a blatant attempt from far right-wing extremists to distract from the fact

that they have no real solutions to what Americans are facing. We should be focused on bringing down the cost of housing, health care, and child care, not manufacturing culture wars. Delawareans sent me here to make the American dream more affordable and accessible, and that's what I'm focused on.

Some of McBride's soon-to-be Democratic colleagues defended the incoming lawmaker. Congressman Joe Morrell telling Axios, quote, I think we have a lot of problems in America. I don't think spending time worrying about the restroom is an order of priority here. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called the move plain bullying, while Congresswoman Becca Ballant said cruelty is the point. Our panel is back.

Kristen Soltis Anderson, trans issues became such a flashpoint in this election in no small part because of that one ad that the Trump team put a lot of money behind that really broke through. The flip side of talking about this is that usually these measures impact women.

a very small number of people, whether it's transgender women and transgender girls in women's sports, or a situation like this where there is one member of Congress who is clearly being targeted by this bill. Clearly Nancy Mace is going to get some attention for doing this.

When you look at this back and forth, how do you see this cutting? Well, first, I think it's important to unpack why that ad was one that Republicans ran so often and ultimately felt was a successful ad in the campaign. And I think it comes down to the very end of the ad, where it sets up this dynamic of Democrats are fighting

for this small group that you're not a part of, Donald Trump's for you. And so when the debate is what should be prioritized, should you be prioritized, I mean, that's an argument that Republicans found worked with a lot of voters. It is also true that over the last, say, six, seven years, we have seen public opinion shift in a pretty significant way against

considering gender identity ahead of biological sex. I mean, particularly among Republicans, it's something like nine out of 10 believe that biological sex should be considered first. So that's part of why Nancy Mace is doing this. She's run afoul of Republicans in the past for anti-Trump stances. She's had quite a journey on that front. And so it wouldn't surprise me if this isn't part of saying like, look at me, I'm a true conservative. I'm taking this action.

Let's watch the piece of the ad that you were just kind of running through that sets up this debate or did for the presidential election. Watch. It's hard to believe, but it's true. Even the liberal media was shocked. Kamala supports taxpayer funded sex changes for prisoners and illegal aliens. Every transgender inmate would have access. Kamala's for they, them. President Trump is for you.

That last line, Lon, he really seemed to kind of cut through. And to Kristen's point, there were some moderate Republicans, Axios reported, who were apparently open to the resolution. One said they would need more information. Another one said, quote, I mean, presidential election may have been decided on this issue.

- Yeah, I mean, the ad was very effective. And I think that for many different reasons, the cultural issues broadly, I think for Republicans were effective throughout the country in 2024.

The issue is going to be it's a small Republican majority in the House. There's not a lot of room to sort of, there's not a play in the joints there. So I think the question is to what degree something like this potentially creates division within the conference ahead of what they will need, which is a unified front going into a lot of tough votes, a lot of very impactful votes on actual substantive questions

in 2025. So I think that's really going to be the question. We'll see. I mean, I do think there's more of an openness, certainly more of an openness now to something like this than there would have been, let's say, even a year or two ago.

The irony here is that Nancy Mace is kind of doing exactly what the Trump ad accused Harris and the Democrats of doing, which is zeroing in on this cultural issue as opposed to focusing on these bigger issues of, I shouldn't say bigger, these other priorities of cost and making things more affordable and improving the economy.

So, you know, I think sort of to Lonnie's point, I mean, I think the question is, does this kind of, you know, does this land as like a division in the Republican caucus? Because it's this question of, OK, well, now you have power. What are you prioritizing? What is what are you going to focus on? And if Nancy Mace is coming out with this bill clearly aimed at one member of Congress,

Is that really where, is that how Republicans want to defend what they're doing on Capitol Hill? I'm not sure it is, even though the trans issue itself, of course, did have salience in the presidential election. Yeah, and salience in the ways that these things would affect a broad swath, you know, everyone who has a daughter in women's sports

That's one way to look at it. But when you're looking at it in terms of this is a single person that is being targeted, I do wonder how the politics of that are different. I also think it's worth noting that in the Senate, it took until 1992 to get a women's restroom with two stalls for people like Barbara Mikulski, who was really focused on this. So just keep in mind how...

how long it seems to take Congress to get places the American public gets faster on these issues. All right, still coming up on CNN this morning. Tuning into influencers, part of the daily routine for so many Americans. For some, it's the only way they get their news. We'll talk about how that impacted the 2024 election. Plus, a close call before the Cowboys game when a piece of the roof fell in. It's one of five things you need to see this morning. All right, 25 minutes past the hour. Five things you have to see this morning. I don't even know there.

A Columbus police officer springing into action to save a man from his burning truck. The truck caught fire after a crash and the man was trapped inside. He's now in fair condition. A thief in Oregon takes off with more than he bargained for. You can see a delivery worker in the back of a truck when a suspect starts to drive off with it. The worker eventually jumped off. The driver was arrested.

22 people stuck in the air for more than two hours after an amusement park ride malfunctioned in California. KABC reports everyone was helped off the ride safely. It's not clear why it broke down. A 10-foot piece of metal falls from the roof of the Dallas Cowboys Stadium. It happened just hours before the start of the game against the Texas. While the team was opening up the roof, thankfully no one was hurt.

Aw, buddy.

All right, a live look now at Seattle. Rain already falling there as a bomb cyclone moves onshore. The West Coast bracing for potential flood watches, blizzard warnings. Washington State seeing their first major snowfall of the year. Let's get to our meteorologist, the weatherman, Derek Van Dam. Derek, what are we seeing?

snowboarding on the TV screens. That's what I like to see. It's really going to pile up across some of these areas throughout Mount Baker, perhaps the Cascade Mountains. So getting the ski resorts primed and ready for the winter season. But this is a major storm that will have significant impacts

You saw it raining in Seattle. This will be a lot of rain by Seattle standards. We've got this thing called a bomb cyclone. It's a real meteorological phenomenon. The storm is deepening and strengthening by a certain criteria to get that term, but it's also streaming in this plume of moisture. We've heard this atmospheric river, and so basically what that does is it sends storms

a stream of moisture all the way to the West Coast from far out into the Pacific Ocean. So there's a lot of energy associated with the system. So on top of the wind and the rain, we will also have gusts over 50 to 60 MPH, even higher in some of those high altitude mountain ranges. Flood watches in

just posted recently across the northern sections of California. You can see how the threat increases from today through the rest of the week. A rare high risk of flash flooding exists across the northern coastline of California. Elsewhere across the country, rain and storms throughout the southeast. Still our fire risk across the northeast. Here's a quick look at your temperatures. Daytime highs in the middle sixties across the east coast. Casey. All right, Derek Van Dam for us this morning. Derek, thank you. I appreciate it. All right.

All right, ahead here on CNN this morning, the clock winded down on the Biden presidency. What Democrats want to try to get done before he leaves office. I'm going to talk with Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley. Plus, from podcasts to TikTok, how online influencers are changing the way that people get their news. Actually, most of the information I got was from Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan? Joe Rogan. He's a legend, man. Yeah. But mostly, like, social media. If you want to be honest, it's social media. Fever.

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All right, welcome back. President-elect Donald Trump taking a night off from his presidential planning over the weekend to attend a UFC event at Madison Square Garden. CNN's Donio Sullivan was there to talk with young men as new research shows that conservative news influencers helped the former president win their support. Are you guys excited for tonight? Of course. Chandler knocking out Oliveira in the second round. Mark Bowers. Pow, pow, pow, pow, pow. Pow, pow.

We are here at Madison Square Garden for the UFC with special guest President-elect Donald J. Trump. And we are speaking to some of the young men who helped get Trump elected. Saving our country.

I don't got no taxes on my tips now. So thank you Donald Trump. Love you. Pookie. You guys both vote for Trump? Of course. Yeah? I've been working at the same restaurant for four years. I've been a waiter, I've been a busser, I've been a bar back. You know, I just don't... All the taxes that... Can I curse? No. Oh, curse as much as you would. They f***ed you up, man. Where did you get most of your news and information?

Most of it through... I know it's not CNN. That's why I'm here. I want to hear it. Actually, most of the information I got was from Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan? Joe Rogan. He's a legend, man. Yeah. But mostly, like, social media. If you want to be honest, it's social media. Yeah. TikTok? Yeah, usually. That's what everything spreads around, man. Yeah. TikTok's everywhere, man. I don't watch a lot of mainstream stuff. Yeah. Where'd you get your news? Like, Reddit. Yeah.

A lot of podcasting. Yeah, like who? Joe Rogan. Yeah. The Joe Rogan experience. Do you think it was a mistake for Harris not to go on Joe Rogan? Probably. Honestly. I think a long conversational talk is better than a debate. Right. Honestly. You can see how a person actually interacts. Yeah. I think Trump's good at interacting.

Oh, no. He doesn't need a script. You're a New Yorker? Yes, born and raised. Nice. Brooklyn, New York. Right. From the hood. Did you ever consider voting for Harris? I actually voted for Obama. You did? Yeah, that was the last time I ever voted for somebody that's not Trump. Yeah. So what changed? My level of thinking. Me not thinking that the police are above me and white men are above me. And I'm all good about like, yo, we can learn about history and all that stuff, but don't tell me or don't...

don't try to put it in a way that it's like our country is racist. Our kids are important guys, you know, and if we're not teaching them well, if we're not teaching them about credit, if we're not teaching them about how to get a home eventually, and we're always talking about is racism and, you know, trans and gays, which

The power of the alliance between Trump and the UFC was on full display here in Madison Square Garden.

Trump was flanked by Elon Musk, Kid Rock, House Speaker Mike Johnson and some of his new cabinet picks including RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard. As he made his way into the arena, Trump embraced UFC commentator and the world's most famous podcaster Joe Rogan who'd endorsed him after Trump appeared on his podcast.

And what Donnie did not show you there was that the person who won that fight did the Trump dance after he won as Trump looked on. What Donnie O'Sullivan just reported there relates to a trend that is really defining politics and news as we know it in this era. -According to a new report, one in five American adults get their news from social media influencers. Somehow, in 20 years, we went from Tom Brokaw to Hak Tua. -Hak Tua.

A new Pew Research study revealing that one-fifth of US adults regularly receive their news from online influencers who post about current events. For young adults aged 18 to 29, that number jumps to nearly 40%. According to the study, those influencers are predominantly male and more likely to be conservative, something that Donald Trump took advantage of this past election cycle.

Do you know what live streaming is on these platforms? More or less, yeah. It's the new wave. It's the new wave. You love going in there after the fight and they're sweating all over you, they're slopping all over you. Is cocaine a stronger up? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I have respect for fighters, you know, when you can take 200 shots to the face. What is your message to younger voters right now? Well, the big message is vote for Trump.

Okay, our panel has returned. There was a lot there just now. There was a lot. There was a lot to absorb. The men talking to Donnie O'Sullivan, what was your reaction watching that?

Well, I mean, look, it's I think it is probably broadly speaking a good thing that young people are at least looking to engage on politics in some way, shape or form. OK, so I'm going to start with that. Like, I think that's actually probably a good thing. Now, I obviously have a lot of issues with the way that Donald Trump leverages his influence in this in this space. But I think that's that's actually probably I see like signs of hope in that.

But the fact that people have abandoned the idea that news needs to come from an arbiter of facts, an arbiter of truth, I mean, that's where the breakdown is, right? I mean, if people are getting their information from social media influencers who have, you

who have their own bent, who have their own slant, who are presenting information in the way that best suits the argument they want to make. That's not really getting news, right? That's getting entertainment or opinion. So, I mean, look, I think Democrats are at a huge disadvantage here because we have not built up the ecosystem that the Republicans have built up over, I mean, you could look at Fox News in 1996 and the ARC campaign

of conservative media since then, and I think make a really important case that Democrats have not really built an infrastructure in the same way, which is hurting us. But I also think, and here's the... I'm going to give Donald Trump his due, which is not something that I often do, but...

Part of Donald Trump's effectiveness in those settings is Donald Trump and the way he talks. I mean, you could take a lot of Republican leaders and put them on Joe Rogan, and those guys that we were hearing would not come away saying, "That guy's awesome and he's totally got my back." So I gotta give Donald Trump his due there. - Yeah, I mean, look, these formats, they benefit people who can have these relatively natural interactions, right?

- Look, I mean, that makes me feel very old when I watch all of that because I feel like I get my news in a very different way, right? - You've never done a news interview while smoking a fatty? - I know. I don't even know what that is. I mean, it's just, we are in a different era and the way in which

people absorb information, the speed with which that information turns over, I mean, it's really just a remarkable thing. And the lack of any kind of intermediation, I think is, I mean, to me, I think that's a problem. But I also feel like politics just changes so fast. And if you think about the politics of 2024, even versus 2020 or 2016, totally different.

Yeah, there is always some kind of technology that seems to be defining in an election. So like 2008, Facebook massively defining in that election. Twitter becomes really defining around the time of the Tea Party era. We are now in the podcast election moment where what I thought was so interesting, that second interview, they talked about how it was

good to just hear people kind of speaking at length, not in a debate format. I don't think it's bad that a new generation craves to know what do my leaders think in a format that might actually be more revealing than the traditional state, let's put two people at a podium kind of format. I don't think that's a bad thing. - And I think printing press, radio, television, cable television all came with a backlash in various different ways that they would rot people's brains, that the people weren't ready and we'd start as human beings

failing and how we took information. And now all of the points being raised here are valid, which is that when information is not checked or when it's not properly vetted, you run the risk of mis and disinformation. But the idea as Chris, to the point of your book many years ago was that as media change, people evolved to meet the medium, not necessarily expect it to conform to what people used to be

used to want before. Video killed the radio. Quite literally, video killed the radio. All right, straight ahead here on CNN This Morning. What will be Biden's legacy with two months left in office? Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley weighs in next. Plus, pausing transition talk to watch a rocket launch. Donald Trump heading to Texas in support of Elon Musk.

President Biden this weekend became the first sitting president of the United States to visit the Amazon rainforest. And he was never seen again. He was wandered off.

Got mixed up with some monkeys and that was that. The ayahuasca hit him pretty hard. Oof.

with donald trump's inauguration looming president biden in a race against time in his last two months in office in a major move over the weekend biden authorized ukraine's use of u.s supplied long-range weapons for strikes inside russia the president's decision representing an effort to cement his foreign policy legacy a legacy that some in his party say has been tarnished by his late withdrawal from the 2024 race and kamala harris's election loss

Our next guest was one of the first sitting Democratic members of Congress to single an openness to replacing Biden as the party's nominee back in July after his debate performance against Trump. We have to be honest with ourselves that it wasn't just a horrible night, but it's his decision. I just want him to appreciate at this time just how much it impacts not just his race, but all the other races coming in November.

And joining us now is Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. He's a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus. Congressman, thanks so much for being here. Morning. So I'd like to start by asking about Ukraine. You were there shortly before the election. You obviously saw the results play out. I'm interested to know how you think, what lessons you took away from the election results, the fact that Republicans have now swept all three, you know, the House, the Senate, and the White House.

and how that's going to impact the foreign policy priority that you have put at the forefront. Sure. I mean, it's a great concern. Senator Vance and candidate Trump both talked about Ukraine not being worth the fight and real concerns about pulling out of NATO. We're fighting the war, helping to fight the war in Ukraine for the same reasons we fought the Second World War. We created this liberal democratic order after the Second World War, and I think that's in peril.

So what do you think is, can the Biden administration do in the last remaining months? Have they gone as far as you would like them to go? Do you think there's more things they could do between now and Inauguration Day? I think President Biden deserves a tremendous amount of credit for uniting NATO at a difficult time, for helping probably the person most responsible outside of Ukraine, for Ukraine's ability to hold back the biggest army in Europe.

and extraordinary odds against them. If I had any criticism, the fact that it took them too long to get to that long range weaponry and all the weaponry that was needed during the course of the war, and now sending military people to help, our contractors help with their moving forward with the weaponry they have.

So the concern is that too little, too late in a war that was really a race against time. Putin saw what could happen here. He was able to use and willing to use his own people as cannon fodder. And in a much larger country, the odds are against Ukraine with that taking place.

Sir, you served on the Intelligence Committee for quite some time, and President-elect Trump has said he wants to choose Tulsi Gabbard to be the Director of National Intelligence. She's a former Democrat, but she also has become something of a celebrity on Russian state TV.

What do you think she brings to that job? And knowing what you know behind the scenes, what concerns do you have? - Yeah, help one in no experience necessary apply in the White House. It must have a destructive personality and be a sycophant. That's what concerns me. This is a critical job.

post 9/11 job to coordinate our intelligence community to have them all work together to share information so we can prevent another 9/11. Well part of that sharing is involving other countries. It's what keeps us safe. I'm wondering if those countries are going to trust that information with her when she had secret meetings with Assad, said he was an enemy of the United States, seems to be

a favorite of Putin, likes Putin, criticized Ukraine for the fact that this war took place and blaming them seemingly for Putin's invasion. - Do you think that Tulsi Gabbard has ties to the Russians?

I don't know that she has ties to them, but she acts as if she does. She acts as if, you know, she said that Zelensky was corrupt. She blamed Zelensky, as Trump seemed to, for this invasion taking place, even though it was Putin. Said that they had security concerns that were legitimate and seemed to give them the right to invade an independent, autonomous country.

Before I let you go, I do want to ask you, there's been some reporting about, you know, the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was quoted in the New York Times, former House Speaker, saying that she thought President Biden should have dropped out of the race earlier. And if he had done that, Kamala Harris might have had a better chance to win. Perhaps there would have been a primary. Do you agree with her analysis? Do you think it's productive?

You know, those Monday morning quarterbacks at this time, you know, it was frustrating for me at that point in time recognizing just we weren't trending down in the polls. We were spiraling down. And of course, the quintessential aspect of that was the debate performance. At this point in time, we recognize that the economy probably had the most to do with this election. And, you know, I'll leave it at that. I appreciate the president getting out and his legacy. Right now, it's time to live with what we have and move forward.

All right. Congressman Mike Wrigley, thanks very much for being here. Thank you. I appreciate your time. All right. Fifty three minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. The murder trial involving the death of Lakin Riley resumes in about 90 minutes in Georgia. New testimony on Monday revealed how officers found defensive wounds on the suspect, Jose Ibarra, one day after Riley was killed near the University of Georgia, where she was out for a run. On his left arm, he had a forearm scratch that was very similar, which in my mind looked like fingernail scratches to me.

The state expected to rest its case against Ibarra sometime today. The judge will render a final verdict in this bench trial. Three people are dead after being stabbed in Manhattan Monday morning. Police say the attacks were unprovoked. A 51-year-old man is in custody. He's been charged with three counts of first-degree murder.

A royal robbery the grounds of Windsor Castle, home to King Charles and Queen Camilla, broken into. Police say the incident happened last month and the suspect stole two farm vehicles. Right now, no arrests have been made. Today, Texas education officials set to vote on a proposal that would incorporate the Bible into elementary school lessons. The curriculum covers kindergarten through fifth grade. It would be optional. Critics say it blurs the line between church and state.

All right, today, President-elect Donald Trump expected to attend a SpaceX launch in Texas with his new buddy and Doge Department co-chair Elon Musk. The billionaire has been a near constant presence at Trump's side, often attending meetings with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, sitting in on job interviews for his administration, joining in on a family photo. Trump, at least publicly, has had nothing but praise for Musk, but has joked about his constant presence.

What a job he does. He's a great, and he happens to be a really good guy. You know, he likes this place. I can't get him out of here. He just likes this place. And you know what? I like having him here too. He's good.

Is Elon wearing out his welcome? Axios reports there are signs of tension between Musk and top Trump advisor Boris Efestin clashing over Trump's cabinet picks. They write this, Their rocky relationship came to a head last Wednesday during a heated discussion at a dinner table in front of other guests at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club. Three people familiar with the episode told Axios,

At one point, during what sources described as a massive blow-up and a huge explosion, Musk accused Epstein of leaking details on Trump's transition.

Our panel has returned. I have been wondering how long the Trump-Musk, like, two egos in one room was going to last. It does seem as though it's a little tricky now. Yes. Well, I mean, look at Donald Trump's history with the people around him. He's not exactly somebody who creates a sense of stability amongst the people around him to begin with. And then you take Trump's ego, you take Musk's ego, right?

I can't imagine that it's going to be very long, that they're going to be working in harmony with the Department of Doge, but I guess we'll find out. And I suspect the explosion will be quite spectacular. You know, everyone who's worked for an elected official knows that at some point they have folks from the old neighborhood who are still hanging around, who are in their ear and provide insight and guidance and whatever else.

And at some point, they always end up crosswise with the staff who have been appointed to that member. It happens not just to Donald Trump, but to everybody else. We could have seen this coming. - What's so fascinating is that

Elon Musk's not from the old neighborhood for him. It's actually the newness of this connection that I find so fascinating here, that Elon Musk was not hanging around Trump Tower in 2016. He was not hanging around even in 2020. This is a new development. Some of it is, of course, Musk saying that he's changed his positions and he has now seen the light and likes Donald Trump. But I think the newness of this relationship is actually what makes it more important. Here's the thing, Elon Musk is like a

principal, right? He is like the richest man on the planet. It's not the same as like a staffer fighting with a staffer. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, and I think that's one of the things that is going to be so interesting to see how does it play out with, but like Elon Musk is not the vice anything in his orbit. He is somebody who is building rockets that go to the moon or building things that get caught when they come land back down on earth. He has someone who's building, uh, companies that do, uh,

tunnels cheaper than the government can build them with infrastructure funding. He is, I mean, Elon Musk is building things. And frankly, I think that is part of why he appeals to Donald Trump in a way that other sort of wealthy, high profile individuals might not be able to have that level of access. There is a, if there is really a conflict between Elon Musk and a, and a staffer or advisor, my money's on Elon Musk. I mean, honestly, like I don't,

I don't really know how much of this is real versus manufactured. I mean, we'll see as time goes on. But what is absolutely clear is that there is a real connection between the president-elect and Elon Musk. That is a real thing. However, the counterpoint is without question. If it's Elon Musk versus number four guy at the GAO, absolutely, Elon Musk ends up winning that. At a certain point, you end up with an Elon Musk-Donald Trump confrontation. It has to happen. It's almost inevitable.

- Yes, it's totally inevitable. And the currency, not just in Trump world, but in any White House, is closeness to the president. And Musk is somebody, to your point, Casey, a principal, Musk is somebody who is used to running his own show, being his own person. And I think that the moment that he sort of realizes, wait, have I fallen in stature because Donald Trump is angry that I said X, Y, or Z?

I think that's going to be a real awakening for the Musk ego. So it doesn't matter how rich and powerful you are, closeness to the president is currency in the White House. Well, upstaging the president. Yeah, that too. At a certain point, antics, or not even antics, just behavior can upstage the person who feels that he came in and was elected with a mandate. I would think that that

ought to get under the skin of someone who's president of the United States, and I think could lead to problems. I mean, we also, I don't think, should lose sight, Chris, of the fact that Musk has so much business before the United States government. I mean, there are literally billions of dollars on the line based on this relationship, whether it's, you know, SpaceX, the approvals, and that's not even money. That's, you know, they need the government to allow them to do things. His security clearance, Starlink, he's involved with the FCC. I mean, there are so many, there's so much here.

And yet, does it seem, you know, I think of Elon Musk as somebody who makes a lot of electric vehicles. Like, will this mean that Donald Trump is suddenly pro-electric vehicle? I mean, I'm reserving judgment on whether or not this relationship is actually directly benefiting Elon Musk's business. For right now, I think he's just enjoying the ride. Yeah, well, and here is the infamous rocket catch, or famous rocket catch, I should say, that Donald Trump has also...

repeatedly mimed in his campaign events. So there you go. That's what's at stake. Guys, thanks for joining us this morning. Thanks to all of you at home for being with us as well. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

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