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save cnn this morning with kasie hunt next right now on cnn this morning there's comments that are floating out there. >> but we want to be able to know the rest of the story confirmation fight the uphill battle facing two of donald trump's unconventional cabinet picks and well, i think we can do at least 2 trillion. >> yeah doge allies elon musk gets a new partner in congress to help him slash the federal government plus >> israel and hezbollah are closing in on agreement as the conflict reaches a deadly milestone east coast, a live look at the washington monument on this monday morning of this holiday

week. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us president-elect trump has finalized his list for every department head in his administration. over the weekend, he announced brooke rollins as his choice to lead the agriculture department, rounding out his picks to lead the executive branch departments but the two selections facing senate confirmation are looking at a slim margin for error in the 53 seat majority. pete hegseth for secretary of defense tulsi gabbard as director of national intelligence. gabbard facing growing scrutiny over her foreign policy positions and that 2017 meeting that she had with syrian leader bashar al assad one anonymous gop aide tells cnn quote, if we're ranking the most in trouble, she's number one. >> well, we'll have lots >> she met with bashar assad. >> we'll want to know what the purpose was and what the direction for that was. as a member of congress, we'll want to get a chance to talk about past comments that she's made and get them into full context so, sure, there's there's comments that are floating out there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story.

>> fox news host and army vet pete hegseth also facing tough questions in his bid to lead the pentagon during meetings with key senators last week. hegseth got warnings from aides and senators that a high stakes confirmation hearing will dig deeply into allegations from his past, including a sexual assault report to police in 2017. hegseth wasn't criminally charged he later entered into a settlement agreement with his accuser. some senators, though, are signaling they're not concerned with the report from your perspective, you believe his part of the story and not hers i absolutely do. >> he he wasn't charged. he wasn't even kind of charged in this. there was no crime committed the police dropped everything. it's what's unfortunate in today's world. you can be accused of anything. and then if. especially if it's something like this, you're automatically assumed to be guilty if you read the police report from cover to cover, which i have, and i know every reporter has two, it is

clear there is nothing there. >> all right. to be clear the report does not say that the police found the allegations to be false. monterey county's district attorney said in a statement that they declined to press charges. in january of 2018 because, quote, no charges were supported by proof beyond a reasonable doubt. joining us now to discuss all of this, catherine lucey, white house reporter for the wall street journal catherine, good morning. >> good morning. wonderful to see you. >> happy holiday week indeed. and a relatively slow news weekend compared to the firehouse fire hose that has been the previous standards that said, we do have the full kind of shape of donald trump's cabinet emerging here. i did think the gabbard question was particularly interesting over the weekend. this idea that she does have potentially significant challenges, not for personal reasons, which we have seen from pete hegseth from, of course, matt gaetz, who's now no longer being nominated, but because of some of the things she's done in her public life. i mean, what is your latest

reporting and your sense of how aggressively the trump team is going to be ready to support her? >> yeah, certainly her meetings are raising questions. you saw those comments from senator lankford. i mean, she's certainly one of a couple of people that we keep hearing are going to have tough confirmation hearings. and i think the key thing we can take away from matt gaetz withdrawing is that while this is a republican senate majority, that is sympathetic to and supportive of trump, they are not just going to roll over for every single choice. so there is they do see that they have a role to to vet and and to weigh in on these candidates. so i think that is going to happen here. i mean particularly with gabbard pete hegseth, and i think robert f kennedy jr. also is someone that could face a lot of scrutiny from this group. >> yeah. so let's let's talk about hegseth for a second. here is what kind of how democrats are framing it. senator klobuchar was on abc talking about it. let's watch that the fact that he has said

even just recently this wasn't, you know, ten years ago that he didn't want women in combat when 18% of our military is made up of women, when that is how we made our recruiting goals last year was the fact that women are signing up for the military, and we have thousands in combat right now. >> that really concerns me for the good of our military, that someone would have that position. >> so that's that. that was amy klobuchar. now let's look at bill hagerty a republican. also on abc. this is a preview of how republicans are probably going to defend him. let's watch. >> as you said, her allegations. >> it's amazing how this comes out. >> pete is a very talented individual. i talked with him earlier this week. he told me, john, about how many people had written to him and said, look, i was thinking about getting out, you know we have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military. i was thinking about getting out, but now that you've come to lead us, pete,

i'm going to stay in. that's the type of inspirational leader we need to see. don't let these allegations distract us. what we need is real, significant change. >> so there you have it on either side. what do you think it means when the rubber hits the road? >> we do know this is a pick trump really likes. we've seen a lot of effort going into already trying to have these meetings, trying to bring him to the hill, trying to trying trying to make inroads here. it's going to be a tough confirmation process for him. i mean, i think these issues of the assault accusations are going to continue to be brought up and the question of women serving in combat roles. you have women who are combat veterans serving in the u.s. senate. and so there certainly, you could hear from some of them about this. and i think that is a question that you're probably not just going to hear from women on. also, that is i think that's a real issue that is going to be continued. >> yeah well, you even heard republican senator kevin cramer raise that saying, look, we've focused on sexual assault in the military as a big problem. this could could be an issue here. all right. catherine lucey for us this morning catherine, thank you so much for being with us i appreciate it. all right. ahead here on

cnn this morning, an anti-semitic act of terror. officials in the uae making three arrests after a missing rabbi was later found dead. plus, how marjorie taylor greene could help elon musk and vivek ramaswamy slashed the federal budget and closing in on a ceasefire. the latest on a potential deal to end the fighting between israel and hezbollah we've seen this pattern where president biden makes demands of prime minister netanyahu only to be ignored or slapped down entirely, and then president biden sends more bombs and more money watch cnn's coverage of thanksgiving with special appearances by chef bobby flay, jennifer hudson t.i. >> and more john berman and erica hill host, cnn. thanksgiving in america live coverage starts at 8:00 on cnn. >> the itch and rash of moderate to severe eczema disrupts my skin night and day. despite treatment, it's still not under control. but now i

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confirming they've arrested three people in connection with the death of an israeli rabbi whose body was discovered sunday zvi kogan vanished from dubai. last thursday, he was part of the orthodox jewish group chabad. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu describing the rabbi's death as an anti-semitic act of terror. >> medinat israel al cirium the state of israel will use every means to bring the murderers and their dispatchers to justice none of them will escape accountability. >> i greatly appreciate the cooperation with the uae in investigating this murder. together we will strengthen our ties in the face of attempts by the axis of evil to harm our peace relations. >> the white house says they're working closely with israeli and uae authorities, calling the incident, quote a horrific crime against all those who stand for peace, tolerance and coexistence. it was an assault as well. on uae and its rejection of violent extremism across the board. cnn's max

foster joins us now from london. max, good morning to you. what do we know about the people who have been arrested here? >> a very little. so the uae interior ministry said just three people in connection with the death have been arrested, but they won't confirm the suspects affiliations or their identities. so we don't know much about it at all. but you clearly saw there the israeli prime minister referring to the axis of evil. so some suspicion there about who they think is behind it. but we don't have any firm advice on that at this moment. and, you know israeli authorities as well are issuing a warning to all its citizens really about travel recommending against non-essential traveling and telling visitors they should minimize movement and stay in secure places because we have seen a rise in anti-semitic or anti-semitic attacks, not just in the middle east, in parts of

europe as well. so a scary time for israelis living abroad. >> yeah, well, and max, i was going to ask you kind of about that big picture here. i mean obviously we saw what happened in amsterdam, which was kind of rippled across the world. obviously, this is a different situation, but kind of speaking to your your broader point this is something that we have seen kind of rising around the globe. i mean what is your sense of what you are hearing and picking up from european leaders and others about what's to be done about it? >> well, it's a huge concern. i mean, if you just take the u.k., there have been attacks, you know, on muslims they've been attacks on jews as well and there's a huge concern about how to deal with these sort of hate crimes and how you protect the different communities involved. what's happening in the middle east is certainly rising tensions around the world. people have very strong views about what's happening there, and it's turning into violence and it's

very scary for anyone associated with those conflicts because they immediately get drawn into it and if you face that sort of hate things do happen. and they have been happening increasingly so, you know here in the u.k., they've been protecting. i know that in germany as well, they've been protecting you know, places of worship for example, and schools. i mean, it's just trying to keep control of it. but a lot of it does come down to the peace process, trying to make it work work and calming tensions, not just in the middle east, but how that tension spreads around the world as well, for sure. >> all right, max foster for us on this monday. max, always grateful to have you. thank you so much. all right. coming up here on cnn this morning marjorie taylor greene heading up a new committee to oversee the slashing of government spending. she's already laying out her top priorities. plus, a cargo plane turns deadly, crash turns deadly in lithuania. we'll have more on that when we return

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arraignment today for former kentucky sheriff sean mickey stephens. he's charged with killing a county judge in his own chambers. stephens could face the death penalty if convicted. the hearing is set for the courthouse, where the judge was gunned down on september 19th. it has been closed until now. and we're looking at live pictures outside of north carolina's charlotte-douglas international airport. service workers there going on strike this morning. officials with the workers union demanding higher pay, more respect on the job as the nation enters one of the busiest periods of holiday travel. several hundred workers expected to join the strike, with the work stoppage set to last until monday thanksgiving travel this week. chilly weather, rain snow in the forecast for parts of the u.s. this morning. let's get straight to our meteorologist. our weatherman, derek van dam. derek. good morning. >> good morning happy monday casey to all our viewers.

>> so many of you hitting the roads or the skies this week to visit family, loved ones so we've got a lot of weather that's going to impact coast to coast. i'll try and take you right through it so you can plan accordingly. here's just kind of a broader perspective. storm system moving through the great lakes right now and one impacting the west coast. still, the east coast though looking very nice so all in all, about 80 million americans traveling, whether or not it's on the roads or in the skies, the majority of people traveling by road, that's for sure over 90%. but several people trying to hit the airports right now across the great lakes, we do have snow flying across international falls to marquette, michigan, and the upper peninsula, and then over the west coast. this is the just kind of the ongoing barrage of storms we've been contending with, certainly weaker than last week's atmospheric river, but it is bringing rainfall to san francisco southward towards los angeles. and some of that rain could lead to some localized flash flooding, especially for the inland areas near the mountains. but as that air starts to cool off as it goes

into higher altitudes, that precipitation changes from rain to snow. and we are talking about several feet of snow for the mountainous areas. great news for the ski resorts so if you're hitting the airports, no travel delays because of the weather on the east coast the west coast, that's a different story. as this storm system moves inland, could impact denver international and taking you through the week. here's the first initial storm system today that moves off the east coast, bringing some rainfall on tuesday. perhaps into wednesday, though this is the storm we're going to keep close eyes on because as you head home from thanksgiving, it could impact a large portion of the eastern seaboard for thursday and friday. casey. >> all right. good to know. i love that little airplane map you have with all of the like. >> not bad colors. >> it's excellent. we have to bring that back. okay, derek. thank you. i appreciate it. i'll see you next hour. all right. still to come here on cnn this morning, the death toll rising in the middle east as israel and hezbollah appear closer than ever to a cease fire. cease fire deal. plus, marjorie taylor greene's goals for the new department of government efficiency we don't

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this monday morning. good morning everyone i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us. we're getting a clearer picture of what exactly elon musk and vivek ramaswamy are planning to cut once donald trump reenters the white house. the president elect tapping the two men to lead what he is calling the, quote, department of government efficiency. yes, it abbreviates to doge for short. this is an effort to slash government funding. we're also learning there's going to be a congressional oversight committee that will work with doge. it is set to be led by republican congresswoman marjorie taylor green. >> i'd like to talk to the governors of sanctuary states and the mayors of sanctuary cities and have them come before our committee why? >> they deserve federal dollars if they're going to harbor illegal criminal aliens in their states and their cities. we're going to look in every single aspect, and we don't care about people's feelings some cities have already started preparing for trump's return to washington.

>> the los angeles city council voting last week to adopt a sanctuary city ordinance. joining us now, axios senior contributor margaret talev. margaret. good morning. good morning. nice to see you. i wasn't sure that i would ever see, you know doge in the on the top page on the washington post. right. it's like, yeah, you can expect to see it on baseball caps. >> it will become the the new four letter word of our time. >> let's talk about what it really means in practice. i mean, you heard marjorie taylor greene there saying we're not going to care about feelings. certainly there is a lot of nervousness among, you know, rank and file federal government employees who live here in the the area around washington d.c., about what this looks like. what do we know so far? right. >> well early sort of efforts to pin down what is going to be the focus have yielded quotes i'm paraphrasing, such as it's everything. so i think there there's a lot of conversation about everything being on the table. but one of the areas that we've heard a lot about is just the idea of compelling federal workers back to work, because the idea that that

would prompt a lot more efficiency and then some other things, like here, you're seeing marjorie taylor greene talk about cutting off funding for basically major cities with democratic populations and democratic mayors who've adopted a more sympathetic approach toward undocumented migrants, that sort of thing. so we'll see about that then. it's like, should entire parts of government be eliminated or merged? so that idea of kind of reorganizing government, could there be a purge of federal civil service employees? could some of this be contiguous? in other words, you try to force people back to work five days a week. they've gotten accustomed to working three days a week, and they're like, forget it, i'll just quit. so maybe some of that's out there, or maybe between the labor unions and the real number of people who are actually on their way back to work anyway, it won't actually have that much impact but there may be a lot of conversation and talking points around it. but then i think it's also going to be things like, are

there usaid and diplomatic programs that are being targeted? you know countries outside of the united states that we've sought to use soft diplomacy for, and they're deemed deemed a non worthy project or is there going to be funding for public radio? that's going to be i'd these sort of things. so i think there is a real catch all and then the question is like, well, why has president-elect trump tapped these people, these particular people to be the face of this effort? you've got two billionaires who don't have to work in an office five days a week, and actually are interested in making government money from the government going to crack down on contracting to other people. and then you've got marjorie taylor greene, who is sort of like best known for being divisive in congress and and driving headlines who does who does not care if what she's doing is controversial. she wants it to be

controversial. these are purposeful picks because trump is looking for people who don't care if they take a lot of heat from the public or the institutions or the conventions, and who in fact thrive on that and want to get headlines for being controversial and not being afraid to take on the power structure. and so that's precisely why he's tapped these people. >> yeah, it's it's almost like the entire point, one of the people that is likely to be involved in this is someone named russ vought, who he's not necessarily going to be well known to everyone at home, but he was i remember, you know, sitting across the tables from him at meetings at the in the first trump white house. right. he used to run the office of management and budget under the first trump administration. and he's since went on to work on project 2025, which is, of course, what democrats had focused on so much during the presidential campaign. here is what he said in this was this video was secretly recorded by a british nonprofit of him talking about this stuff. let's watch 80% of

my time is working on the plans of what's necessary to take control of these bureaucracies. >> i want to be the person who crushes the deep state. i think there's a lot of different ways to do that. it is defunding it. it's impoundment. the ability to not spend money. it's getting rid of their independence so this guy is likely to be brought in on all of this and he he clearly is someone who really knows the ins and outs of these things and there are a lot of ways to potentially disrupt the way that government functions right now yes in the executive branch already has that power. >> and that's like i know that the expression deep state has been popularized. the u.s. government is not what the deep state actually means. so i know it's a segment for another time, but um, in the u.s. government, there's the executive branch and agencies and departments report up through that executive branch system. and then congress has the ability to decide what to fund. and then if there are

lawsuits, the judiciary figures it out. so that is all like worked out in government. there's a democracy that owns a piece of all of this but sure, a president can send directives down to impact the agencies and then congress can decide whether to fund them. and so who you elect for president absolutely makes a difference in terms of our government agencies going to be funded who are they going to be funded by and who are they responsive to? >> all right, margaret talev, for us this morning. always grateful for your expertise. thank you for being here. thank you. have a nice thanksgiving. if i don't see you before then. all right let's turn now to this story. israel and hezbollah are very close to a cease fire deal according to a regional source, an israeli official tells cnn that talks have made quote, significant progress. but adds there is still some disagreement. lebanese health ministry figures show more than 3000 people have died in israeli attacks since mid-september. last week, the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu, accusing him of war crimes. democratic senator chris van

hollen criticizing president biden for his support of netanyahu over the past year we've seen this pattern where president biden makes demands of prime minister netanyahu only to be ignored or slapped down entirely, and then president biden sends more bombs and more money. >> that is not an effective use of leverage. so i do hope in these closing months, the president will finally make more effective use of american leverage to at the very least, uphold american law. >> all right joining us now, former deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs joel rubin. joel, good morning. it's always wonderful to see you. what can you tell us about the talks that are ongoing right now between israel and hezbollah and what it means in the bigger picture yeah casey, it's great to be with you. >> and these talks that are being shepherded by amos hochstein from the white house are very close to concluding and are not there yet, however,

but the biden team is certainly working very hard to try to get this front shut down in terms of military action. they're looking to push hezbollah back up north from the areas south of the litani river, where for now, almost two decades, hezbollah has been occupying and launching strikes into israel from in violation of un security council resolution 1701. and so that's the ultimate goal here and, you know, the deal is not done. but it does look as if in terms of all the diplomacy and all the issues iran gaza and hamas and the houthis, that this is the one that holds out the most promise before president biden leaves office at getting closed. >> so joel, how does this interact with what's going on in gaza with hamas? i mean is it is getting this deal with hezbollah like a prerequisite to fixing what's going on in gaza, or how do you understand it yeah, you know, casey,

they're not directly linked. >> there are going to be often that all one needs to have done is a cease fire in gaza. and then the lebanese front calms down because remember, hezbollah launched attacks after october 7th, after hamas attacks. and as a result of of that incursion in the south. but that's really not true. this lebanon conflict is discrete from the conflict in gaza. but the connecting point, of course is iran. and the big question is how much effort is iran going to put into supporting hezbollah and continuing its fight this losing fight, especially with the trump administration coming in, it's likely going to to tighten the screws on iran and give a lot more freedom of action, quite frankly, for israel to strike into into the proxy groups that iran is supporting. and so it's not directly connected. last thing, it's important to mention, lebanon is an american ally.

and so for the lebanese government to be able to control its whole territory, that's a crucial goal. and that's not dependent upon the ceasefire in gaza. >> yeah, it's a very, very important point to conclude on, joel rubin for us this morning. joel, thanks very much for your time. see you soon, i hope. >> thanks casey. >> all right. ahead here on cnn this morning, the world's richest man sets his sights on slashing the federal government. how elon musk's influence could reshape federal agencies and his own bottom line. plus, the philadelphia eagles running back saquon barkley rewriting the record books highlights from his historic night coming up in bleacher report >> i've had a hard time sleeping since my late 30s, when i didn't get sleep things got worse and it took a toll on my physical, mental and emotional well-being fortunately, i discovered relaxing sleep america's

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star running back saquon barkley. carolyn manno has this morning's bleacher report carolyn good morning is that a larger smile than usual? casey i feel like you are extra bubbly this morning. i mean, just to give everybody at home an idea of how good saquon barkley has been in his first year with philly, he's about 200 yards away from breaking the team's single season rushing record, and they still have six games left to play last night against the rams on the first play of the third quarter, barkley busting loose one cut and he is just flying 70 yards almost completely untouched for the touchdown turns out he was just getting warmed up on the night philly up big late in the fourth trying to ice the game. and there he goes again. this time 72 yards for the score. so the eagles win 3720. barkley becoming just the sixth player with 270 yard rushing touchdowns in a game his 255 yards on the ground are the ninth most in a game all time and yes, he knew exactly how much he had before that last big one. there i'm not going to lie i looked up and i saw i was

at 173 and i said, i wish i never saw that and it worked, man. >> when you have the type of quickness lateral movement that that saquon has with the ability to accelerate and the and the speed to finish, he's got everything you look for in a back. he's been he's been awesome and he was awesome tonight. >> he's a hell of a player. you know i think we're fortunate i know we're fortunate to have him i'm fortunate to have him. he's playing his tail off and he's having fun the chiefs keep finding ways to win after a slow start patrick mahomes finding his form against the panthers, throwing three touchdowns for the third time in the past four games on sunday. >> but even against one of the worst teams in the league, it came down to the final seconds of this game. it was spencer schroeder hitting a 31 yard field goal as time expired to give kc the 3027 win, so the chiefs are ten and one this season. eight of those wins coming by single digits. and baker mayfield doing his best. tommy cutlets impression during

the bucks blowout win over the giants yesterday, scoring a td just before half and then immediately popping up and breaking out the viral tommy devito italian hand celebration that devito made famous when he took the tri-state by storm for a few weeks last season. baker explaining himself afterwards new york fans love tommy here and give him something they like. >> are you italian by any chance, or no, i haven't done a 23 and me, but i don't know a little bit awkward. >> in the postgame presser, casey, he was grilled over his chicken choices but he said eventually, hey, listen, i respect the guy. he's got a lot of swag and tommy took it in stride, too. >> he said, it's going to happen. >> it's going to happen to me all right fair enough. we've got lots of food related items coming up here. like we talked about pop tarts last week. chicken anyway, i must be hungry. yeah carolyn. thank you. i really appreciate it. see you soon all right. let's turn now to this story so for nearly 80 years, many americans

have been drinking water that has added fluoride in it. the cdc calls the benefits one of the greatest health achievements of the 20th century. but donald trump's pick to lead the health and human services department, robert f. kennedy jr.. he has said he wants to remove fluoride from the water. quote on day one, cnn's nick watt reports with more in several western towns, children rarely got tooth decay. >> why their drinking water contained fluoride ever since we started putting a trace of fluoride in the water, there have been those who say we really shouldn't. >> they were criticized, they were ridiculed, they were called conspiracy theorists. >> they were called tinfoil hatters. >> in 1964, doctor strangelove, this was the sign ripper had gone bananas. >> you realize that fluoridation is the most monstrously conceived and dangerous communist plot we have ever had to face, but fluoride skepticism is now mainstream according to a new

york times headline and a washington post columnist who now thinks it's not an entirely crazy idea because this recent government report finds with moderate confidence that higher estimated fluoride exposures, more than double the dose in our water, are consistently associated studies are needed. >> and because a federal judge recently ruled there is an unreasonable risk of such injury, a risk sufficient to require the epa to engage with a regulatory response and because rfk jr. department of health and human services, i'm going to let him go wild on health and on fluoride. >> it causes loss of iq. it causes neurodevelopmental injuries. >> worth noting rfk jr. has also said this. there's no vaccine that is, you know safe and effective. not true. and

this covid 19 is targeted to attack caucasians and and and black people also not true. the cdc still touts fluoridation as one of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. >> at least 25% fewer cavities. and as a clinician, i will tell you that it is more like 50%. >> if you look into it, you'll realize very quickly that the science is not on the cdc side you have contact with any people who have been sort of definitively harmed by this, by fluoride as a child and have suffered neurological impairment. it's hard to tell if if that you know that person with a neurological disorder was it was exclusively caused by fluoride they'll take the science and cherry pick tidbits out of it, take and mix in their opinions, throw it in a blender, and then pour it out over an unsuspecting public. >> we don't know that it causes harm. we don't know that it definitely doesn't. >> you don't know that. it doesn't cause great hair.

>> after nearly 80 years of this kind of debate, now might be a turning point. inauguration day, says rfk the trump white house will advise all u.s. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. >> i'm going to give them good information about the science, and i think that that fluoride will disappear. >> so rfk jr. and his side of the debate they're fine with fluoride in toothpaste. that's topically applied. and it's not dosing everybody like it is in the water. and you know it's a couple of months before he even takes his new job, before he starts his new job. and rfk jr. is already having an influence past couple of weeks, over a dozen municipalities have voted to stop fluoridating their water. i listened in to the debate in winter haven florida. rfk's junior's name came up numerous times and they voted in favor of stopping putting fluoride in their water. nick watt, cnn los angeles a really

great report from our nick watt there fascinating. >> all right the city of lights a little brighter now thanks to the annual paris's champs-elysees avenue. 400 trees adorned with led lights in the shape. oh these are for me of wine glasses. possibly to encourage some festive cheer. the lights are going to glitter every night until midnight throughout the new year. that's beautiful. and then there's this. there might be no such thing as a free lunch, but apparently there is a such thing as free coffee or a free coffee if you're willing to dance for it. that was the deal at this coffee shop in eastern massachusetts, and so far quite a few people are taking them up on the offer moves in this now viral tiktok. it has gotten nearly 8 million views so far. the owner says

the promotion has brought in a wave of new customers. all right, straight ahead here on cnn this morning, after a swirl of weekend announcements, donald trump rounds out a few contentious nominees may force republicans to ask themselves just how far their loyalty goes. plus, the republican push to block the first openly transgender lawmaker from using the women's bathroom brings the fight over transgender rights front and center on capitol hill. >> it's just ludicrous to me that women who are victims of abuse should be forced to undress or go to the bathroom next to a man we have issues here in this country, and yet she's worried about one member of congress using the bathroom thanksgiving parades around the country with special appearances by chef bobby flay jennifer hudson, t.i., and more. >> john berman and erica hill host, cnn. thanksgiving in america live coverage starts at 8:00 on it's the most

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me. doctor sanjay gupta wherever you get your podcasts right now on cnn. >> this morning. >> he kind of charged in this. there was no crime committed the path to confirmation republicans bracing for a bumpy road to confirm some of donald trump's controversial cabinet picks and this is important work we have to do. >> it's going to be very tedious and i look forward to doing it doge takes shape. >> elon musk gets a new teammate in congress to help him cut government spending and i want to be the person that crushes the deep state reversing course after distancing himself from the conservative blueprint trump taps a project 2025 architect to head up his budget office and then i want to take a moment to recognize the brave turkeys who weren't so lucky, who didn't get to ride the gravy train to freedom lucky turkeys the decades old and

honestly very strange tradition to save a few fortunate turkeys from the fate of the thanksgiving day feast east coast, a live look at capitol hill where people are taking a break beginning this week, just for a little holiday time. good morning everyone. i'm kasie hunt. it's wonderful to have you with us on this monday as we head in to the thanksgiving week. donald trump's vision for his second term cabinet. we now understand it in full. the once and future president's personnel choices revealing a stark contrast with his first administration. so among trump's picks, this time an independent with the last name kennedy, who supports abortion rights. more than one former democratic presidential contender, a centrist republican who is favored by the teamsters union. a man who fundraised for al gore and advised george soros. and then,

of course, there are quite a few maga loyalists and fox news favorites. it all adds up to a cabinet that is united not by dogma, but by loyalty to trump and his vision. over the weekend, mike allen and jim vandehei, writing this in axios quote, lost in the noise of trump's most controversial picks is the simple undebatable fact that this might be the most ideologically diverse cabinet of modern times. the team represents the trump worldview traditional conservatism is dead, and its biggest lifelong advocates neutered to the point of irrelevance. a trump transition source told us that most of the picks are a version of trump in their thinking and approach. they're fearless disrupters who can walk into these buildings and know they have a mandate for reform and change. a mandate for reform. if of course, they can land the job. trump has suffered at least one defeat on that front so far. matt gaetz withdrawing his name from consideration for attorney general just eight days after it had