his disappearance. investigators found that the 44-year-old moved funds to foreign bank, changed his email, communicated with a woman and to get a $375,000 life insurance policy in january. the sheriff's office said they later discovered that his passport was run the date after he was reported missing. >> we were sure that brian was not in our lake. >> they believe he is likely in eastern europe. no charges have been filed. in the meantime, they have a message for borgwardt. >> get a hold of us and let us know that you are okay. people forgive. but it is important to get him back here.

>> the news continues right here on cnn. it is thursday november 14th. >> you could literally hear jaws dropping to the floor. >> absolute disbelief. trump pics matt gaetz to be attorney general. why some say it is a step too far. i was grateful and honored to accept the honor. >> tulsi gabbard and later -- >> the new leader in town, republicans handing over the gavel. the first order of business, confirming trump's cabinet.

just after 5:00 a.m. on the east coast. a live look at capitol hill back in the heart of all the action here in washington. it is wonderful to have you with us. donald trump placing loyalty above all else as he fills out his next administration. but even some of his supporters were, shall we say, caught off guard by his latest pick. announcing matt gaetz as his choice for attorney general. gates, who resigned from the house yesterday in preparation of the upcoming confirmation process has been an outspoken critic of the justice department. >> we either get this government back on our side or we defined and get rid of, abolish the fbi, cdc, atf, doj, every last one of them, if they do not come to heal.

>> if confirmed by the senate he would be in charge of the same law enforcement agency that pursued a years long sex crimes investigation into him. the justice department ultimately decided not to pursue criminal charges against him. the house ethics committee has also been investigating gaetz. a report was expected as soon as tomorrow but now that he has resigned from congress it is unclear if that information will ever be made public because that committee loses its jurisdiction over him. some members expressing uncertainty over trump's choice. >> i was shocked that he has been nominated. >> what about matt gaetz? do you support him? >> i don't know yet. >> do you have any concerns about him? >> we'll see. >> what you think of that gates

is attorney general? >> happy thanksgiving. >> be on capitol hill and audible reaction inside the justice department headquarters. joining us now, axios publisher, nick johnston. those scenes are so familiar to me. >> just like trump 1.0. >> i haven't seen the tweet, i haven't seen the news. what is your bottom line assessment of whether or not matt gaetz will actually become the attorney general? >> there is a small majority and we know that their are senators that will be a big headache and three or four that

will probably will come out in favor. i think what we saw, at the start of the show was a perfect split screen of what a trump administration is like. he comes back and house republicans have a joyous pep rally. john thune defeats the maga and by the afternoon here comes tulsi gabbard and matt gaetz, and people are running for their cars to avoid talking. >> this is of course why he focus -- focuses on appointments and it will determine or could determine whether or not these people actually end up in positions of power. >> i literally googled the constitution last night to find that clause. it had never been used or tested in the courts.

good lord, would that be a fight. >> it was tested a little bit under the obama administration. and there were additional guardrails placed around it. there are options for democrats to try to keep it in session, certainly. but it will also be a test for senate republicans and whether they are willing to let this happen to get someone like matt gaetz through. matt gaetz is so deeply disliked by members of congress on capitol hill. that is likely to be as important as anything. >> google what house members say about matt gaetz. i cannot say it on television. and it did happen during the obama administration and it led to convoluted sessions that said that obama could not use it or

abuse them. i think it is clear with the transition team and it comes back to testing institutions. senators like being the senate and like being deferred to the senate. and we know that mitch mcconnell will vote with murkowski and collins on that. and so are they going to try to blow up the filibuster? >> well, look, it has already pretty much been blown up because of nominees. we are in for quite a ride. coming up, the other trump pics, tulsi gabbard as the director of national intelligence. what that might reveal as the foreign policy plans. and the foreign senate

race headed for a recount. and president biden preparing for his last meeting with xi jinping. >> they always say if you have a smart president you will never have a problem with china, russia or any of them. i get along great with, with xi jinping and the president of north korea.

president biden and xi jinping will meet face to face for the first time in a year on the sidelines of the apex summit in peru. the

relationship between the world's two largest economies is already tense. president-elect trump is promising to take a harder line against china, selecting a string of china hawks for key positions ahead of taking office. >> china is building an army specifically dedicated to defeating the united states of america. that is the strategic outset. they have a full spectrum, long-term view of not just regional but global domination. >> let's go live to london where we find max foster. this of course will be biden's last meeting with xi jinping before he leaves office. what is the significance of this meeting and really, i think the bigger

question is what is the significance of the trump appointees? we have so many questions here about whether they will all be confirmed. but they do send a lot of signals about how president trump is likely to approach the relationship. >> anywhere you hear from trump people it is the threat from china economically and this is the tension between the u.s. and china. president biden tried to create as smooth a transition as possible. he has some things he wants to smooth out before he leaves the white house. we recently had the chinese spy in the telecom network and really though, he is pretty much a lame duck. biden had a very long meeting

with trump yesterday. and we could get from that perhaps how to prepare for the next administration to make it as smooth as possible without giving too much away. also in interesting example that they are not investing as much as they used to in china. will they be investing more when trump comes into power. we just don't know, do we, until trump is in the position. >> fair enough. let's look at what marco rubio who is on tap to be secretary of state, had to say about china. this was last year but likely relevant to today. >> china today is the single most formidable adversary of the united states. the soviet union was not an industrial,

technological or commercial power. and we have both foreign and geo-economic policies that were built for a world that no longer exist. >> that of course is likely to be the frame he would bring to that job. and it all adds up to a much more caucus posture with the issue of taiwan looming over everything. >> there is a conflict here, if you are saying, keep chinese products out of america, invest less abroad and intervene less abroad, we are creating a space for china to move into and become more powerful and just take control of them. in this

event, xi will unveil this multibillion-dollar port that china is building. how do you prevent china have -- having more power if you are less involved in the world? we need to hear more about what rubio's plan is and yes of course taiwan is a big issue. how will america respond if china sees this as an opportunity to take taiwan. >> max, always grateful to have you. still ahead, big-time football stars targeted by burglars. investigations underway at the homes of pat mahomes and travis kelce. and andrew mccabe joins us live with his reaction on trump picking matt gaetz to lead the

doj.

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

here is your morning roundup. the pennsylvania senate race heading for a recount. less than 30,000 votes separate bob casey and mccormick. we expect recount results in about two weeks. kansas city chiefs star patrick mahomes speaking out after his house was burglarized last month. >> obviously it is frustrating and disappointing. i can't get into too many details because

the investigation is still ongoing but it is obviously something you don't want to happen to anybody and obviously yourself. >> the thieves hit travis kelce's home, too. $20,000 in cash was taken from one of the homes. a suicide attack under investigation in brazil. police say a man detonated explosives attached himself after trying to enter the supreme court. no other injuries reported. another tropical storm brewing in the caribbean and eight -- a drought warning in new jersey. let's get over to derek. >> good morning. we are still watching after the driest october on record. we've got about 57% of the northeast under drought conditions with roughly 93% under abnormally dry. we all know that we need the rain and guess what's

coming. look to the west. this is the current radar. now i will take you into the future and notice how it dives south, talking about northeast new jersey where the fire has been burning over the past several days. we will see little to no rain out of the system. and behind the front we start to dry things out again, and yes, another elevated day of fire weather for tomorrow. 47 for new york, 52 for the nation's capital, 59 for atlanta. certainly warmer across the state of florida where we have been talking about the potential of some tropical mischief. this is the entity we are monitoring closely. it will

bring a lot of rain to honduras, nicaragua and the yucatan peninsula. but this land interaction means that it spends less time over open waters and it will weaken. >> thank you. coming up, from democratic presidential candidate to donald trump's pick for national intelligence. why tulsi gabbard is likely to set off the confirmation fight. senate republicans gathered behind closed doors to select a new party leader to succeed mitch mcconnell. do we see mitch mcconnell? that reminds me, i have to make a note to myself, by frozen turkey.

a live look at denver, colorado where it is 3:29 a.m. mountain time. good morning, everyone. donald trump once tulsi gabbard to be his director of national intelligence. as recently as four years ago she ran for the democratic nomination but has since left the party and is a staunch ally of donald trump

who believes that the intelligence community has been weaponized against him. she is an army veteran but has never served in any capacity in an intelligent -- intelligence agency. she met with the syrian president in 2017 and two years later i pressed her about whether he was a u.s. adversary. >> do you think he is our enemy? >> he is not an enemy of the united states because syria does not pose a direct threat to the united states. >> what you say to democratic voters who watched you go over there and military members who have been deployed repeatedly to syria? >> people who have been

deployed to syria have been there to focus on the mission, to defeat isis. >> joining us now is the former director of communications for the u.s. national intelligence. good morning to you. thank you for being here. your reaction to the selection of tulsi gabbard. there are questions that also tie into this question about asad and lead to moscow. >> i have been saying that the president gets to make his cabinet and we know that and get to -- got to accept that. but the role of the national intelligence is one of the most complex positions the president has. and this needs to be someone with a steady hand and

is willing to speak truth to power. and when i look at someone like tulsi gabbard and the lack of qualification and experience and more importantly when i think about the fact that she is someone in the role not because of her understanding of intelligence but because of her loyalty to donald trump. the clip that you ran and for her to say that he is not an enemy of the united states it completely discounts the fact that we have allies around the world and he is a threat to our partners. i am really concerned about this pic and my hope is that she will

have the full knowledge and understanding of the intelligence community and realizes the weight of the job. >> this seems to underscore some of the points. he writes "she is stunningly unqualified, no qualifications as an intelligence professional. leave aside for the moment that she is manifestly unprepared to run any kind of agency. trump has the right to stash her in some area if he feels he owes her. but her appointment would be a threat to the security of the united states. do you think that tulsi gabbard is a national security threat? >> i am concerned that her inexperience for a position like this can cause real

challenges on the national security stage for the united states. and on the campaign trail or outside of these roles, people say a lot of things that seem to suggest they would do certain things when in these roles. they take an approach that is an outsider's approach. right now tulsi gabbard is in a position where she is about to learn about some really complex and convoluted issues in regards to our intelligence. if she does not surround herself with people who understand those issues and can really get her up to seed quickly on the complexity of our intelligence relationships and national security issues, then she will make decisions and advise the president in ways that are not in the best interest of the united states and that in and of itself is a threat to our national security. the hope is that she surrounds herself with talented and experienced

intelligence professionals so she can do this job effectively. >> thank you very much for your time this morning, sir. appreciate it. south dakota senator john thune elected as the new leader of the senate gop replacing mitch mcconnell who has held that role since 2007. republicans will have a trifecta in washington next year having won the white house and both chambers of congress. trump has already made one controversial demand. he wants the senate to bypass the traditional confirmation process for his cabinet choices. >> the senate has and advise and consent role and we will do everything we can to process his nominees quickly. we expect

a level of cooperation from the democrats to work with us to get these folks installed. obviously we will look at and explore all options to make sure they move quickly. >> good morning, to you. you had a busy day on capitol hill. obviously john thune telling trump what he wants to hear. but there are very real questions about whether some of these nominees trump has announced can get the 50 republican votes they would need even if the process were allowed to move relatively quickly. what is your assessment of the likelihood of, let's start with matt gaetz and we can continue down the list. >> it almost seems like trump in the transition team are trying to beat each other at who will be the most difficult person to get through the senate each time they nominate

someone. five minutes ago we were talking about access and how the majority of defense hawks and officials don't know who this guy is and now we have quickly moved on that he will not likely, but then we moved to matt gaetz and tulsi gabbard and as someone earlier said, matt gaetz is a member of congress, you will ask their opinion of them and they will say, that is on the record. and with tulsi gabbard, when they said they were hoping for cooperation from democrats, that is certainly not going to happen with the candidate like that. >> our colleagues were up on the hill asking this question. and we can take a look at what

a couple of them had to say about recess appointments. >> we will do whatever it takes but that is the last resort. >> if you go into the department of defense and have the backing of the united states senate and the president of the united states, it is much better than a recess appointment. >> thomas massey said suck it up. >> even john thune was kind of closing the door but leaving a little crack open. he knows who he has to answer to, and it is donald trump. how he gets that, even in the largest majority that they've had in several years will be a really tricky question and first test of his leadership. >> what is your sense that the

senate has to stand up against trump? >> i think these past eight years have really eroded people's ability to fight back against trump. he is not an anomaly in washington anymore. he is the figure in the republican party. and a lot of republicans on and off the record have this conclusion that this is not a guy that is going to go away. we have a trifecta, what battles are worth fighting for and some of these confirmations will actually go through even though we are spending this time thinking that they won't. >> thank you for starting your day with us. straight ahead, donald trump, what he calls the deep state and how his cabinet picks a line with his view of america's intelligence

agencies. plus, will the cleveland cavaliers ever lose? that report coming up next.

your business needs a network it can count on... even during the unexpected. power's out! power's out! -power's out!

power's out! -power's out comcast business has you covered, with wifi backup to help keep you up and running. wifi's up. let's power on! let's power on! let's power on! -let's power on! it's from the company with 99.9% network reliability. plus advanced security. let's power on! power on with the leader in connectivity. powering possibilities. comcast business. - achieving my goals as an adult was challenging without a high school diploma. with the help of an adult education center, i finished my high school diploma and it changed my life. oh my gosh. - this year's book is a testament to your accomplishments and how they have impacted all of us. - getting my high school diploma made me feel like i can do anything. now i can help the kids in my community achieve their dreams. - when you graduate, they graduate. visit finishyourdiploma.org to find free and supportive adult education centers near you.

in 2024, it is the final battle. this will be the big one. either the deep state destroys america or we destroy the deep state. they are not coming after me, they are coming after you and i'm standing in their way. >> president-elect donald trump's pics of matt gaetz and tulsi gabbard may be no surprise when you consider his remarks about intelligence agencies and what he calls the

"deep state." and his picks align with that goal. >> we either get this averment back on our side or we defined and get rid of, abolish the fbi, cdc, atf, doj, every last one of them, if they do not come to heal. >> of course there is going to be resistance to change from the swamp in washington. i think that is the point. american people are saying , hey, stop looking at yourself and focusing on your own power, position and bank accounts. how about having leaders in washington that are looking out for the american people. let's bring in former deputy director of the fbi, andrew mccabe, thank you for being with us. i want to start with matt gaetz, who is potentially on track to lead the agency that includes

the fbi, where you spent so much of your professional life. what are the implications of having matt gaetz as attorney general? >> good morning. there are so many things that jump out to you when you hear that prospect of that nomination. the first thing that really impresses me is what it says about donald trump's intention for the fbi. matt gaetz is holy and qualified for this job. he is someone who quite wrinkly could not get hired by the fbi had he ever been interested in that, which i'm sure he never was. probably couldn't qualify for clearance. matt gaetz, by some of his own statements, has no interest in the fbi or department of justice. no respect for the work they do or the people that do that work. he is singularly a disruptor .

he is someone who has been selected because of his interest and desire to go into the organization and tear things apart, likely get rid of people, stop doing a lot of the work the justice department is currently doing. we have spent a lot of months debating whether or not donald trump actually means the things he says about the department of justice and the fbi and if you will actually try to dismantle those organizations in a serious way. i think the selection of matt gaetz is a clear indication of just how squarely he intends to do that. >> can you give us a little bit of insight into what kind of things he could potentially do that would impact the fbi specifically and also the department generally? what do you see as the stakes of having, especially having someone who seems willing to do the bidding of donald trump as

kind of a key qualifier for this role. >> foundation only, the job of the attorney general, and i can tell you this from having observed it firsthand time and time again in meeting after meeting in the white house in the situation room about critical national security issues. these are incredibly complicated, legally challenging, morally challenging, ethically challenging issues about operational matters involving the united states government, its enemies overseas and how we are going to protect the united states. in those conversations, the attorney general is the key player that informs and educates the entire room. we are talking about cabinet secretaries, people who advise the president on a day-to-day

basis. they all look to the attorney general to be able to tell them what the law says, what it means, how it fits in any particular scenario and what the challenges are to some of the things that our military, law enforcement and intelligence agencies need to do to protect the united states. and the idea of matt gaetz, a guy who may be practice law in a small firm in florida for a year or two before going into politics, it is just unthinkable that he would be able to rise to the demand, significant demands of that role and perform it in a way that actually added value to the nation's national security process. for me, that is the part that really shakes me to my core. beyond that there is 1 million different ways he could negatively impact the department and its component parts like the fbi in terms of just his misunderstanding and lack of

respect for the work they do. there are many ways you might think those agencies need to be changed or reformed or redirected or pursuing different policy goals. that is all totally fair. donald trump, it is his job, not just his right and not only has the authority but the obligation to do that in pursuit of the mandate he's been given in last week's election. but you don't get there by destroying the very entities you rely upon to provide these services to the american people. >> andrew mccabe with a very significant warning, i really appreciate your time. grateful to have your voice on the show as we all take this in the morning after it happened. see you soon. the cavaliers rallied in the second half to beat the sixers and become the sixth team in the nba to start the season 13-0. andy scholes has this morning's report.

>> they've got a ways to go to get to that all-time best record. but they started 24-0, but of the previous five teams to start 13-0, four of them made the finals. donovan mitchell escort 13 points and darius garland had a game-high 25. they ended up winning 114-106. here is garland on the street. >> we know we've got a target on our back so we need to go in with that confidence that we've had every game. like i said, long nights, not a lot of sleep. we just have to stay together and continue to be great. >> they host the bulls on friday. yunus, a man on a mission last night, he scored

22 of the bucs 24 points. going on to score 59. beating the pistons in overtime, 127-120. the spurs announcing that head coach popovich had a minor stroke, and in a statement, he has already started a rehabilitation program and is expected to make a full recovery. but there is no timeline for him to return to the sidelines. they are back on the floor hosting the wizards on wednesday. and it was another career night for victor wembanyama. on his way to a career best 50 points. the fourth youngest player ever to score 50 in a game. they beat the wizards 139-130. also a

nice night for lebron james, he had yet another triple-double against the grizzlies with 35 points and 12 rebounds and 14 assists. the lakers rallying in the fourth to get the win, 128-123. lebron is the oldest player ever to have three straight triple-double's, breaking his own record from five years ago. pretty incredible. finally, caitlin clark taking part in the pro-am. she joked before the event, hoping she didn't hit anybody. but look at that, she nearly decapitates a fan. that was pretty close. i am shocked that someone didn't say, hey, guys, this is a pro-am and these are professionals. standing that close in a pro-am is pretty wild. thankfully that did not go off someone's head.

that could have been bad. >> i would be standing behind the tee box if that were me. >> or at least third row, right? >> i'm glad everyone is okay. thank you. appreciate it. in our next half hour, republicans officially take control of the house with a full d.c. sweep. plus, donald trump's new cabinet picks sending new -- more shockwaves through washington. >> clearly, clearly it is just kind of a god to your kind of trolling just to trigger a meltdown.

drop everything and get some magic of your own during the xfinity black friday sale. xfinity internet customers, our best deals of the year are back! switch to xfinity mobile and get your choice of a free 5g phone, plus your next unlimited line free for a year. get amazing savings and connect to wifi speeds up to a gig on the go with xfinity mobile. fly don't walk to get our best deals of the year. connect to the world of wicked this holiday, only in theaters november 22nd.

it's thursday, november 14th right now on "cnn this morning. " >> this is going about to red alert moment for american democracy. >> disbelief in washington. donald trump taps congressman matt gaetz to lead the justice department. and -- >> i was grateful and honored to accept president trump's offer to serve our country. >> a stunner. tem turns maga tulsi gabbard chosen for the top intelligence spot. >> excited to reclaim majority. >> a new era on the hill. electing john thune to lead them confirming trump's cabinet job ÷÷number one. and then -- >> donald, congratulations. >> appreciate it very much. a transition that's so