work. sending a report on this charge in positions against donald trump against garland which could be released. there are two cases in courts as of an hour ago the department has them they want to pause them both they want to decide what to do next. they were given update to the courts in december but there is a question what to do with these two situations the january 6 case in dc which a sitting president cannot be prosecuted and an appeal defending the justice department's ability to have a special counsel office in the appeals court over the florida courts and what do they do with those cases. under the federal cases against trump, we will see what happens, a lot at stake for the incoming president of the united states. thank you for joining us into the viewers, thank you for watching. erin burnett on front starts right

now. trump making a mockery of the justice department naming matt gates to be the next attorney general. outcry from republicans loud and clear. melania trumps snubbing the bidens . she really doesn't care, do you? let's go out front. good evening i'm erin burnett out front, breaking news. a quote from trumps white house attorney about the president-elect's nomination of matt gaetz to be the next attorney general. the simple headline, trumps middle finger in that image but this is a

bipartisan state. republicans, democrats aghast at the announcement which is clearly intended to mock the office of the attorney general otherwise how to explain nominating someone who has said this of the agency that he has been selected to lead? >> we either get the government on our side or we defund and get rid of and abolish the fbi, cdc, atf, doj. every last one of them if they do not come to heal. >> the republican senator calling matt gaetz and unserious candidate saying we need to have a serious attorney general and i'm looking forward to the opportunity to consider someone who is serious. this one wasn't on my bingo card. the conspiracy around matt gaetz has an important asset when it comes to how trump sees him .

>> this is donald trump's party and i'm a donald trump republican. we are on a mission to rescue and save the country and we ride or die with donald john trump to the end. >> that's the way it is, ride or die with donald trump to the end. that's how matt gaetz has led his political career. there's been no bigger defender of donald trump no matter the cause. i'll give you 2020 election. >> the election that was stolen as a consequence of illegal last-minute changes to the rules. >> the question i would like to ask, let's start with the basics. do you accept joe biden won the presidential election? >> accept he is the president. >> he's spoken out on the conspiracy theories surrounding the fbi on january 6. >> it's reasonable to ask whether or not the fbi engaged in the playbook where they were in a triple threat of the

organization and try to bring the organization to the point of criminal conduct. >> when it comes to trumps trials and it's important, this gets to the point here, the attorney general justice, matt gaetz was defender number one . >> we would be remiss if we did not mention this corrupt judge. this is a made up crime. >> none of those reasons are actually why many republicans are appalled by the choice. they are shocked for many reasons and at this moment, matt gaetz is under investigation by the house ethics committee by his own colleagues because of allegations that he "engaged in sexual misconduct" dispensed special favors to individuals with whom he had a personal relationship and sought to

obstruct government investigations into his conduct. republicans have a problem with that. max miller saying "he has a better shot at having dinner with queen elizabeth ii then being confirmed by the senate. you get the joke and the republican congressman john duarte saying he's under ethics investigations by the house ethics committee and would be a compromised ag and there are better choices. like he was under the fbi investigation and whether he broke federal sex trafficking laws and had a relationship with a 17-year-old and he denied these allegations. the investigation was closed eventually without charges but he didn't stop powerful republicans like kevin mccarthy from speaking out about him. >> if there's anyone who should go to trial matt gaetz should be convicted in a trial. >> he's under investigation by the house ethics committee for those things and more as we speak that would end if he became the attorney general and whether that happens is all in the hands of a crucial

conversation one democrats comments stood out. senator john fetterman tweeting there had been serious qualified individuals nominated. eric schmidt would be a solid choice with the opinions about him are not that interesting. the good ones will come from the gop colleagues to justify the vote for that. he's not the only choice to raise alarms. the alarms were raised in the bomb dropped and so everyone turned over there but don't miss this, he tapped former congressman tulsi gabbard to be the election for national intelligence. >> you say that you have doubts

about these generals providing that kind of proof to the president? >> yes i am skeptical. >> mitt romney has called her out for parroting false russian propaganda using those exact words saying she parroted russian propaganda and added and i quote him again, "her treasonous lies may well cost lives." the washington examiner saying that republicans face a choice between putting the nation first or submission to trump and if tulsi gabbard is approved the chinese president and the russian president will have an ideological sympathizer holding the keys to the u.s. intelligence community crown jewels. christian homes is live in washington beginning coverage this hour. the senator calling gaetz a serious candidate but the reality is that trump is made the nomination and is serious about this. is this what he expected? >> i got off of the phone with a senior advisor saying that

they expected the backlash and they don't care about what they are seeing. essentially this person said he's perfectly positioned for donald trump wants in and attorney general. someone he believes is an effective communicator who could go out and put out the message that donald trump wants what it comes to the department of justice and it's something that he has seen matt gaetz do time and time again. he played the clips of him talking about getting rid of the department of justice and defunding the department of justice. it's a larger plan that he's openly spoken about when it comes to how he wants the government to be run and part of this means that apartment of justice which operates completely at the behest of the president of the united states as part of the executive branch so one of the jobs he needed to fill, a critical job in the administration is the attorney general who would go along with those plans and he met with a series of individuals over the last several days and was not

impressed that he made this decision almost last-minute. he wanted him to go with someone who had pushed forward the same level of messaging he wanted about the department of justice and it's not just the messaging, we know we have heard this from his allies as well. matt gaetz is the truest loyalist to what that term means. he's been nothing but next to the president every step of the way whether this includes the election or whether how he views the department of justice. at the end of the day he wants to get rid of the deep state and when he talks about the deep state he's talking about the department of justice and using the messages we have heard matt gaetz use publicly when trying to talk about what their plans are for the department of justice moving forward. >> a congressman who sits on the house judiciary committee, the attorney general will be crucial for what you will be doing over the next couple of

years so here we are, what do you think? >> to the president i say no seriously, who was your pick for the attorney general? this pic is a middle finger to the democrats and the republicans and it's not being panned only by democrats my republican friends in the house are also clowning this pick and have set it publicly . they are also saying this privately and this was the mood earlier at the capital. donald trump is not known for having a sense of humor, a credit to you, you landed a good joe joke on the country but it's a serious position considering situations overseas, counterterrorism, child trafficking, public corruption, it's worthy of being taken seriously and i will tell you everything about matt gaetz that he'd allow himself to be used by the president to own the liberals with something we will know is

not going to pass in the senate. >> can i ask you something are you sure about that? >> i'm sure. i say that because at least three individuals on the republican side who voted to convict donald trump so you've got senators cassidy murkowski, collins. the state became a little bit bluer. kamala harris didn't win their we also elected a statewide governor and attorney general and roy cooper so you've got at least four reasonable people who i don't think they are going to be inclined to move on this and he just beat the choice to be the majority leader of the senate they wanted rick scott so i just don't see this happening. >> the irony of that so they've chose the candidate that he

didn't want but the irony is lost on anyone there but okay you say what you say but trump has said that he wants whoever is the majority leader. trump wants to basically anyone that he nominates could be appointed during recess so another words the senate doesn't get a vote so he will have to take him on directly. this would be essentially the first thing that he does. >> i believe that the senators will put a pressure on him not to do that. the american people won't be quiet about this but i was suggest to you, as disturbing this is, matt gaetz could be a lapdog for the president but doesn't mean we democrats in congress have to chase every ball the president throws. it this is just trying to fire us up and spin us up.

it's the beginning of negotiations. i seen this move before and i've got confidence in the way that this is working. >> well i appreciate your time and thank you very much. joining us now the national political reporter. i appreciate you being here. mark, i know you've got new reporting on his thinking behind the pick and interesting your heard his point of view on it. he spoke with the advisors a few moments ago what did you learn? >> i think that with all due respect to him he's as wrong as to left shoes, it's not a negotiation, donald trump is serious about this. they feel aggrieved by the justice department and matt gaetz has been a longtime advisor and well tested by fire and the presidents eyes and well trusted by the president-elect . if he gets in office you could rest assured according to his advisors and the people

familiar with his thinking that matt gaetz will investigate the investigators like those who investigated him and those who investigated former president trump so it's a serious thing they are doing and in their minds it doesn't really matter if the democrats don't like this. what matters is that they've got the votes in the senate it should be pointed out there was a new procedure or move to recess.

>> i was in the audience when matt gaetz. >> that comment about getting rid of every single government. >> yes doj fbi. there were rabid clause in the crowd. that's something that they've talked about as a means of getting payback for what they feel. i don't think there's any indication we should assume that republicans won't go along with this or that the recess appointment that he's talking about won't allow this to come through i'm of the belief because of the way that they one there is a sense that he has a mandate to govern as he wishes and i think there's

going to be -- this will be the first test how much congress is willing to push back. >> now mark, i was hearing a lot of what republicans said. it's now his party and they obviously had a broad-based talk about this. elon musk has spoken out about matt gaetz as attorney general. he posts the hammer of justice is coming, and endorsement for the idea. his role says in a decision like this with matt gaetz how much did he push him for ag? >> i don't think that he had to i think that this was gaetz from the get-go . they had said that all of the other people who wanted to be there talked about this judicial appointment and they talked and i'm censoring some of this. they talked about their like-minded ways. and it was gaetz who said

i will go in there and cut off some heads. that's what's appealing to donald trump. not only is he willing to and able to do it he has a zeal to do it and has demonstrated his ability to be loyal to trump and prosecute his agenda. >> so the news broke and there was something about that's one that won't pass to your point with the recess appointments. then tulsi gabbard has come in and you got serious republicans who have a serious problem with tulsi gabbard. then you've got matt gaetz. so all three of those then presumably are all real and in the world we're talking about with the appointment all three of them will get the nominations? >> i don't think it's a for sure yes but i wouldn't say it's a no . i think that this is us recognizing donald trump was clear as day about how he

intended to govern and he plans to follow through on the promise so it will be interesting how they play this. will they try to kind of offend send off the worst of these and let other ones through or will they try to fight them on the offense? this is part of some of the resistance energy that was different in 2016 and 2017. there was an immediate reaction during trump's win. there hasn't been that grassroots energy this time either so will the electorate to speak out? one question i have is for the voting public, was that a rejection of the status quo or an endorsement of the agenda? i don't know that we really know that but hopefully we could get clues on that front based on the reaction we see. >> this is maybe not what they signed up for.

>> i don't necessarily see the republican senators going out of their way to oppose that . >> thank you it's great to have you and your reporting. next breaking news continues. matt gaetz is just resigned of congress ahead of what he thinks will be his confirmation and his confirmation battle first. trump making light of third term. making up a third term. ty cobb will listen to exactly what he said and tell you what he hears. he's with us next and a special report this hour on his controversial pick

♪ ♪ ♪ something has changed within me ♪ ♪ it's time to try defying gravity ♪ ♪ ♪

trump's pick for attorney general matt gaetz resigning from his seat in the house, the first step through the republican congressman to join his cabinet and ends the ethics investigation he's facing and allegations he may have "engaged in sexual misconduct and illicit drug use" among other things. ty cobb former trump house lawyer, he called the nomination of matt gaetz for the attorney general of the united states and i'm quoting you and if you to america. tell me why. >> it's just as shocking as is intentionally so. he's a disruptor, trump is but matt gaetz is simply unqualified both academically, professionally and ethically.

even experientially. he has no business being in this conversation. he doesn't have any leadership. the one thing he was famous for, he deposed kevin mccarthy. he walked into the white house when i was in the white house, serious staffers threw up red flags and looked the other way and hoped he wasn't there to visit them so this is not a serious choice it's a contentious choice. anyone who has served in the justice department historically and the people there today are saddened by this and this diminishes the pride with which they have associated themselves with the justice department. hopefully they won't get to a hearing and with regard to the discussion of the recess appointments. the one thing he could have done which quashed

his ability to get the recess appointments to ensure that if they are approved they won't be approved at the cabinet level this is what he did today. >> it's interesting and obviously john thune will be the majority leader as opposed to rick scott so you mentioned you met with him and i want to ask about this because you had meetings with gaetz at trump's request and met him at the white house and i believe many times during the mueller investigation in which he was the judiciary committee. what could you share about these interactions and what he was like? obviously, how that would be leading to your point of view with his lack of fitness for this. >> ethically there's not much i could share . he was there basically to curry favor with the president. he wanted to be the president's point on a spear in terms of tacking molar

one of the things that i demanded from the president that the criticism would be frequent and muted. the goals i had in the belief i had in terms of what was important to get the case to a conclusion and demonstrate whatever else he may have done historically and has done since, the one he didn't do was the russian collusion. that would be obscured by the attacks on mueller that gaetz launched. >> trump told republicans today, "i suspect i won't be running again, unless you do something. was quote now republicans are saying that was a joke. what do you think? >> trump is not a jokester when it comes to those things. there's some desire. keep in mind, my offset of views, he's

a narcissist and nothing is not in non-self-interest. he's after self-esteem, praise, glorification, and wealth. the idea of power to him is like a narcotic so if you could run again for a third term and if the constitution permitted this he would do it. i don't know that that's a possibility or anything congress could do other than pass a constitutional amendment which is not going to happen. i think he would certainly love to be a dictator for life but yes i don't think it was a joke he would love that and he was signaling that but it's not going to happen. >> well ty cobb i appreciate you, thank you. >> nice to meet with you. thank you take care. a republican civil war breaking out. one republican warning their careers will be

over if they stop the nomination. where is melania? the president-elect's wife was not in the white house today. she does not have any intention of moving back to washington.

breaking news, blindsided,

that's how many republicans feel about matt gaetz as the choice for the attorney general. audible gasps. here's how susan cohen describes how she felt when she heard this news. >> i was shocked that he has been nominated and if the nomination proceeds i'm sure there will be an extensive background check by the fbi and public hearings and a lot of questions will be asked. >> kevin kramer raising the issues explicitly about the back rent check from the fbi making it clear that many feel that would lock him before they get a deal with him. our reporter is live on capitol hill. even trying to talk to republicans tonight you were

there witnessing the audible gasps and what are they telling you? >> this is going to be a rocky road to confirmation because a lot of republicans are concerned over a number of things that matt gaetz has done or said . trying to oust kevin mccarthy. the house ethics investigation into sexual misconduct something he denies as well as the defense of donald trump in the aftermath of january 6 and it goes down the line. it doesn't align with the views for the republican senators who have the votes to confirm him. i tried to talk to a lot of the republican senators about him being nominated to the post. they made it clear they weren't ready to engage. >> what about matt gaetz? >> i don't know yet i will have to think about that.

>> any concerns about this? >> we will see. >> do you think he's confirmable? >> what do you think of the attorney general? >> happy thanksgiving. >> several of the senate members who play a key role in deciding whether to advance the nomination. some members include senators john cornyn, there are concerns about the nomination. they feel the new senate majority leader the incoming senate majority leader, john thune indicating this would be and advised to consent process through the regular senate process and not saying if he believes that gaetz could be confirmed to the post. >> kate you just heard some of the republicans that they spoke to. they don't want to talk about it at this point when it

comes to matt gaetz others though have been very open so what do you think happens here? you could have a big firestorm and eventually people just get on board. that's what history shows what will happen. that's the precedent but here we are do you think that this will be a bridge too far for a number of republicans to block the nomination? >> i mean time and again we've seen trump say or do things that we expected senate republicans wouldn't fall in line behind and they inevitably have so i think the past precedent plus the combination of his overwhelming political victory last week suggests that ultimately if he's really serious about putting muscle behind the nomination and getting it over the finish line will probably get there? probably but i think the big questions are what comes up ? are there things that will come up that are just so appalling

or unacceptable that enough republican senators will walk away? i think the big question here though is is this a genuine nomination? or is this an exit ramp for matt gaetz to leave the house and have the oversight ethics investigation into him closed which happened effectively when he resigned ? is this trump giving him an exit ramp and a graceful exit? i don't know that we know the answer to that yet so it would be interesting to see how this would develop. >> so republican senator mullen was on and he said gaetz will have to sell himself with a lot of questions. the reason his comments stood out is because he spoken about this before and here's what he told him. >> he was accused of sleeping with an underage girl. there's a reason why no one in the conference came in and defended him because we had seen the videos he was shown on the house floor, the girls he had

slept with, he brag about how he would crush medicine and chase it with an energy drink to go all night. >> it's like here we are and we have to hear the stuff and talk about all of this stuff and frankly it's beneath everyone but this is the situation that we are in. so do republicans get past all of that or pass the health ethics ? >> proceed julie you can't afford to lose republicans you lose 3-4 then you can't get confirmed so they have to work

on working the votes so from the president-elect's perspective i think he wants someone to come in as a wrecking ball. based on his experiences with the doj and prosecutors at large i think that he will probably argue that prosecutors have too much power and too much discretion and he wants someone he believes would be loyal to him and dismantled the prosecutorial state if you will and i think from his perspective, gaetz may be the best individual to accomplish that but everyone has to go to the confirmation process >> i will note gaetz has denied any wrongdoing and the investigation was going on until he resigned a few minutes ago so one of trump's most loyal allies has said this, supporting this they made it clear because he had a warning for republicans would consider opposing the nomination. >> at the end of the day, president trump is elected by an enormous votes and he deserves a team around him that he wants. it's not us to determine that. vote with president trump, this is the last chance we will have to save this country. if you want

to get in the way find that we will get you out of the senate if you want to do that. >> how serious of a threat is this? >> i think it's probably pretty serious. again, the victory trump had on tuesday, he had expressed a lot of support and we saw the vote increase in states across the country where the senators will be looking at their own backyards and saying do i want to pick this fight with donald trump out of the gate? such a shame that trump chooses to surround himself with people like this who have such appalling character or ethics. there are brilliant conservative minds in this country. i suppose it's also possible that he throws gaetz as chum in the water. it's true in a transition and confirmation that someone becomes the lightning rod and actually makes it easier for everyone else to get confirmed and maybe that's what he's doing here except i will say he

hates to lose so i'm not sure if that is a strategy he would try to employ here. >> until 3:30 today i wanted to i was planning we were all planning to lead our show with this because i thought this was significant that the pick, the supportive pick for the majority leader scott, from tucker carlson and on, would lose. john thune, the establishment republican, he won in a secret ballot because the publicans no one knows who they voted for, they could vote if they really wanted to and when they couldn't identify this they didn't vote for the guy he wanted they voted for john thune, scott didn't even make it to the second round of voting. is there anything to read into that or do we take from this? that's the only time you're ever going to get one so that's the last time you'll see something like this.

>> look, i think that if this were a public ballot they would have voted for rick scott. i think that >> he's befriended a lot of the people there. i'm not surprised that many of them stood with him. rick scott will have disagreements with members of the past when he and mitch mcconnell had back-and-forth a year ago so i wasn't necessarily shocked by the outcome here but i think that the senators are looking at the mandate that the president-elect has and they will give him as much leeway as they can but i think you'll see some pushback here and there. i think the president-elect likes the battle in politics he said it could be a rough sport and i think he enjoys this a little. >> thank you both very much and i appreciate it. >> when you say the former president, the current president, the president-elect were on together today. the person not there was the former

and future first lady melania and she doesn't plan to return to the white house full time . and then a nightmare. a senior military official stunned by the news. we have new details digging into this.

tonight the former and incoming first lady trent seven trump melania trump has not joined her husband at the white house today. this as cnn reports that melania is an expected to live at the white house during her husband's second term. >> president-elect donald trump in washington for a triumphant return and among his small

entourage, a slate of advisors and millionaire elon musk. former first lady melania trump despite an invitation from current joe biden is absent. there's no reason for her absence instead writing "her husband's return to the oval office to commence the transition process is encouraging and she wishes him great success." after carving out her own approach to being first lady during trump's first term sources telling cnn her absences likely to be a staple of trump's second term in the white house with mrs. trump unlikely to move to washington again full-time. she herself indicating she's got a better understanding of the rule and how to handle it this time around. >> i'm not anxious , this time is different. i've got more experience and knowledge. i was in the white house before. when you go in, you know exactly

what to expect. >> discussions about when and how the next first lady will spend most of her time our ongoing though she's expected to split her time between palm beach and new york where her son, baron, will attend college. >> i can't say i'm an empty nestor, i don't feel that way. >> the decision unsurprising on the campaign trail the former first lady was rarely seen by her husband's side only appearing a handful of times including at his announcement. her only speaking role at her husband's madison square rally. >> this builds on american greatness. let's decide this moment and create the country for tomorrow, the future, the future we deserve. >> before appearing again on election night in his victory.

in a series of interviews promoting a memoir, she said this of her husband's presidency. >> would you have married donald trump if you had a crystal ball said he would be president? >> that's an interesting question . >> a very interesting answer there. we know that melania trump herself wasn't super happy in the spotlight but one thing to note is that we spoke to people close to her the former president saying that she will still be present at the white house for big events including state dinners and she will still have a platform even if she isn't physically living in the white house full time. >> outfront , the writer at the new yorker, the author of many must-read books including the videography of joe biden biography of joe biden. we are learning she will live in washington full-time . how rare is this for the first lady? >> it's completely rare the last time first lady didn't live in the white house that was best treatment and that was

only because they were renovating the building. some people might say this is trivial but the point is this is a reminder of something and a preview of a kind of disregard for the institution of the presidency that the trump family has. in a sense that look not everything is in the law, it's not all codified in the rules some of it is about the ritual and public demonstration of what it means to be in office. >> writes, the pomp and circumstance and when he put that way, she didn't come back, for the visit biden and trump did meet and they had a cordial meeting and you see them sitting together. no signs of bitterness from biden despite trump has said many thing about him. >> joe biden was the worst president in the history of our

country and we will knock off the biden grind family. >> he can't put two sentences together or know he's alive. >> so having spent extensive time with biden and you saw them together today, what do you think was going through joe biden's head? >> i think there needs to be an academy award for a presidential performance the reality is he has a deep and personal disdain for donald trump not only for refusing to accept the loss of the election it's also for marking mocking paul pelosi when he was attacked by an intruder of his home. there's a real personal contempt however teddy roosevelt said the presidency was about disinterested service for people all over the nation meaning you had to pull yourself out of it and joe biden has 60 days in effect to project to americans that this is larger than him and donald

trump. >> so yet not announced at that point tulsi gabbard or matt gaetz. i'm curious what you think about this. what do you make of his timing ? >> i think it's partly the meeting and the fact that he had just lost something which is that in the senate john thune was elected not the person he wanted for the job and a reminder for all of us that the senate is becoming more and more an essential institution and putting up the guardrails around donald trump's presidency. >> and they said the great irony of this is the secret ballot when you talk about democracy is it a secret ballot. >> we don't know. we could make our gases but we don't know. thank you very much. >> next reporting tonight on the former fox host, trump's pick to lead the pentagon and

why military officials are sounding the alarm.

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from current and former senior military officials calling this election of former fox news host and army veteran pete hegseth ridiculous and an f- ing nightmare. that's what they told our jim sciutto. who really is he? alex marquardt is out front. >> it's among the most surprising of donald trump's picks so far, pete hegseth, a fox news host set to now run the u.s. military at the pentagon. the 44-year-old veteran, a stunning choice for defense secretary after trump

named several, more classic experienced national security hands to other posts. >> i'm straight- up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. >> he's someone who has flaunted his controversial views. >> men in those positions are more capable. >> and railed against a woke military as in a video that was posted just last week. >> any admiral general, involved in any of the woke shit has got to go. >> he appears what he has most in common with trump. >> the woke generals should be fired immediately. >> trump's decision was met with shock by current and former military officials. the choice seeming to come out of left field. hegseth has been a weekend host of "fox & friends" after serving the military for nearly two decades with tours in both iraq and afghanistan. while in the national guard he claims he was barred from serving at president joe biden's inauguration because of a cross that toot that the

was extremist. >> they used it as an excuse to frame me as enemy of the state effectively. hegseth served at guantanamo bay and defended water boarding and defended u.s. troops accused of murder, with eddie gallagher who posed with a corpse of an isis detainee. >> he would go on to promote gallagher. >> he praised january 6th insurrectionists. >> these are people that understand first principles. they love fred om and they love free markets. >> hegseth recently moved to tennessee with his third wife and seven children where he says he now lives on a farm. >> after the initial shock of hegseth's announcement. several current and former defense officials were critical of this pick. one senior military official told me it's not a serious choice and another top