work out and once i fired the house speaker, he was, of course, referring to former house speaker kevin mccarthy. gaetz is just the latest on a growing list of former politicos on the platform i'm a little teapot, short and stout i used to be the governor of illinois and inmate number 40892424. >> needless to say, it was way better being governor, i'm here to tell you that you are absolutely terrible and i mean totally terrible at a college pick'em football league. >> my favorite bts song is definitely going to be trouble i knew you were trouble when you walked in hate club condo >> after 18 years in the closet george santos pulled me back out okay, uh, again you a happy birthday on cameo

from the oh, has it really? >> okay, right back to the turkey pardon to you guys for being here thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. >> i'm kasie hunt. don't go anywhere cnn news central starts right now cabinet picks filled out. >> and now the real work begins. new reporting today on how the trump team is preparing for the contentious confirmation battles ahead. >> and for the first time in 28 years, eric and lyle menendez will appear in court today decades after they were sentenced to life in prison for murdering their parents. but could they have a chance at being released? and it's set to be a record breaking week for holiday travel. i know you've probably heard that before, but some major winter storms could actually have a big impact on those thanksgiving travel plans. i'm omar jimenez with kate bolduan, john and sarah are out. this is cnn news center

president-elect donald trump's cabinet picks are facing some serious questions serious concerns and potentially serious roadblocks on their path for getting confirmed by the senate. >> and we're not even talking about matt gaetz anymore. donald trump announced ten more top level administration picks over the weekend. so if you blinked, you may have missed one. with his cabinet now filled out, the focus now shifts to the real work ahead and how to get all of them over the finish line. as the senate looks to a busy january of confirmation hearings that process typically includes fbi background checks for basically all of them. but the trump team has yet to file the necessary paperwork for the fbi to begin conducting those checks. skipping them altogether may be the newest trump strategy and the latest example of how trump has always and will many norms as he pleases in the next term. cnn's alayna treene starts us off this morning.

elena, what are you hearing from the trump transition team on how they are now preparing for confirmation now that all of these administration level top administration picks have been announced >> well, we still have a couple left, kate. we have about four left in the cabinet. but really he has filled out all of the most important cabinets and the core cabinet and moved at a very quick pace to do that. with just three weeks since election day. but you're right. i mean, right now the focus is really shifting from his announcing his picks and filling out who he wants to serve in these top roles, to how he is going to get them through the confirmation process. i know from my conversations with those working with the transition that they have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes for some of these people. they had already recognized some of these concerns beforehand. that includes someone like rfk jr.. they know that as a former democrat and someone who is now going to be in a top health role, if he can get confirmed, a lot of senators are worried about, you know, his past comments on supporting abortion access and trying to get some of those staunchly conservative

people in the senate to feel get assurance by some of what they're trying to do. so we're hearing them reach out. i know a lot of people on trump's team are reaching out to people on the hill. they're going to be setting up meetings one on one with some of these different candidates to have them meet them behind closed doors. before we start to really see these confirmation hearings play out in public. now, two very controversial picks that they recognize they could have some issues with are pete hegseth, his pick to lead the department of defense, but also tulsi gabbard and i want to focus on gabbard here because her comments about, you know surveillance and also really her her deep distrust of a lot of the agencies that she is going to be overseeing is something we have heard many people in the senate start to raise alarm bells on. as you take a listen to what we heard some senators say yesterday on this intelligence community, very unqualified. >> plus, she is potentially compromised and could be and has is there questions about

whether or not she is now a russian asset? >> well, we'll have lots of questions. 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 there, but we want to be able to know the rest of the story so, kate, as you heard there, senator tammy duckworth, she is a democrat in the senate. >> but then lankford, a republican and someone who is new to leadership, also saying that he has some serious questions that he wants to ask gabbard. now, through all of this, i will say that when you know, just to here, he chose a lot of these different people, recognizing they were controversial, but also that was part of the reason that he picked them. he wants to have different what they're calling disruptors in these different agencies, in these top roles, to really as you put it, buck the norm here. and really break from tradition. and so he is very committed and so is the transition team to making sure they have a smooth process. i

think the work that they will be doing between now and inauguration day, making sure these people are walking through the senate meeting with the people they need to shore up support with, it's going to be one of the key priorities throughout the rest of his transition. kate it's good to see you, elena. >> thank you so much, omar. >> and new this morning. 80 million people are expected to travel this holiday week, but major storms could threaten travel plans and dampen those thanksgiving celebrations. derek van dam is tracking these storms for us. all right, so derek, i mean, what is this going to impact most yeah. >> well, omar whether you're hitting the airwaves or the roadways, if this map doesn't give you an indication of what's to come, this week, i don't know what is or what will you better pack your patience not only for the dinner table for thanksgiving, plans for family and friends, but also if you are going to be one of those 80 million americans traveling this week because we have one storm lining up after another, the big one really indicating and kind of culminating really on thursday and friday. some of the busier travel days of this

week here's a look at this forecast accumulation and we have well, a lot of lake effect snow in the forecast for the downwind areas of lake ontario. lake superior, lake michigan as well. but another storm system impacting the intermountain west first let's talk today. here's a look at your airport delays. no problems along the east coast. but notice detroit, chicago, minneapolis, some minor weather related delays that could stretch southward into new orleans as a weak cold front presses through and then along the west coast the state of california, la to san francisco. that's where we have at least moderate delays at the airports being reported, and it's all thanks to a storm system that is entering the equation going forward. and a lot of that energy will move eastward. i'll show you that in just one second. but follow this today this is a storm that will bring some rainfall early tuesday morning. if you're hitting the roads aware but this storm is really going to pack a punch as we head into thursday. look deepens and then just in time for the macy's day, thanksgiving day for a parade

in new york city looks to be a rather wet and breezy and blustery one as well. but you can see the snowfall for northern new england that will impact places like buffalo, albany into killington, the burlington area, as well as northern sections of maine. >> yeah, and for those of us who might be covering the thanksgiving macy's day parade. yeah, nothing to worry about there when it comes to rain or anything like that. but i know it's not just the storms to i mean, the temperatures are taking a pretty big dip too. i mean, what are we seeing there it's going to drop like a rock. >> actually, it's because of this cold front moving eastward. so watch this. we are going to enjoy a couple of more days of above average temperatures. but notice the oranges and reds get quickly replaced by the shades of blue and purple below average temperatures. that's the story going forward from tomorrow into the second half of this week, and many locations will not be spared from this look at these daytime highs in chicago well below average. and of course, the windy city living up to its name. it will be

breezy, so the wind chill values will be even colder than that. new york city on thanksgiving day. look at that 47 in rain. that's just cool and damp. and then atlanta. well, you're not spared from this cool weather as well. temperatures in the upper 40s. so we're running 15 to 20 degrees below where we should be this time of year. so plan accordingly for your forecast and your thanksgiving day travel plans because it will be a messy one and a cold one come the second half of the week. are two of my favorite things cold and rain. >> derek van dam appreciate it. >> it's going to be messy and cold. >> those are two of your favorite things coming up for us convicted of murdering their parents in 1989, the menendez brothers today are set to make their first court appearance in decades. could this be the first step on the on the road to freedom? now president elect donald trump has threatened to ban transgender athletes from competition. it's an issue even some a transgender athlete is speaking out now and responding to anti-transgender backlash today. and before he leaves

office, president biden is taking part in two. we'll call them major pardons. sure peach and blossom, two turkeys set to be given reprieve today at the annual white house thanksgiving day meet and celebrate the honorees then find out who will be hero of the year. >> plus, a special tribute to michael j. fox cnn heroes, an all star tribute. sunday, december 8th at eight on cnn. can support your brain health mary janet >> no. fraser. frank. >> frank fred. how are you? fred? >> support up to seven brain health indicators including memory. >> when you need to remember. >> remember, nariva your parents have given you some amazing gifts. but what about the inherited ones? celebrate them with ancestry dna. the simple test that shows your deep family roots from your mom's side and your dad's side with some serious detail trace

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confidence and an advanced home designed to outperform. >> i can't move again. >> you've gotten used to chaos. we can get rid of that. >> don't sell. oh my gosh is this our house? >> when leaving just isn't an option, the brothers are here to help. thank you. you're welcome. >> you're welcome. don't hate your house. all new wednesday at nine on hgtv for the first time in nearly 30 years, the menendez brothers are set to make a public court appearance. >> eric and lyle menendez are due in court today for a status hearing, as their attorneys asked the court to consider new

evidence that they were sexually abused and argue that they're both rehabilitated. now, the brothers are serving life without parole for the 1989 murders of their parents. joining me now is cnn's jean casarez. so, jean, i mean i guess people hear this, you know it's a status hearing. what could actually come from this hearing. >> well, normally a status hearing is just where are we where are we going? >> where are we now what do we need to do? saying that in a hearing, anything can happen. so they are going to appear virtually, which i think is things of this. and mark geragos, the defense attorney, says that the judge at the last minute could order them to be in court. but at this point it will be virtual. but the whole issue here, right, is their resentencing or the fact should they be let out and, you know, the back story to this and some of the facts involved in this is that eric menendez is now 54 years old, lyle is 56 years old. >> they have served 34 years in prison at this point. this all

happened august 20th premeditated murder of their parents and no one doubts that it was extremely premeditated. but the district attorney is saying that there are credible allegations. those are his words, credible allegations of sexual and physical abuse of both of the of the men. eric would have begun when he was six years old, going into his adolescence and lyle menendez sexual abuse allegations are that they began when he was younger and ended when he was eight years old. but the focus here that really the d.a. is going for is is a statute in california that allows leniency, even if it's life without the possibility of parole. so let's look at where the d.a. says they have been rehabilitated. first of all, when you look at lyle menendez, he has gotten his associates, his bachelor's degree from the

uc irvine university of california irvine. he created these are just a few of them. rehabilitation through beautification, adverse childhood experience, and rehabilitation. youth life without parole ally. now eric menendez got his associate degree. he's also gotten a certificate in sign language. according to the legal documents, to help others in prison who have hearing difficulties or are deaf. um his programs that he has he has instituted himself the life care and hospice connection program victim impact and victim empathy for vulnerable program. so this is really what the d.a. is relying upon. this them to get out. >> all right well, we will see. it's been a long time coming. we'll see what actually comes from this status hearing. jean casarez, really appreciate it. >> thank you. >> all right. meanwhile, it's

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matt? >> kate, the sense of relief in the business community this morning is palpable because this is just such a crucial job. and trump ended up going with a safe pick, someone who's going to command respect from markets. he did not go with radical extremists. the bomb thrower for this job. and that is a huge relief and listen, this hire of scott bessent is already winning some early positive reviews. yale professor jeff sonnenfeld told me that there is huge relief in corporate america. jamie dimon is a fan too. a person close to the jpmorgan ceo told me that diamond thinks very highly of bessent, and he believes this is an excellent choice, a manufacturing ceo, jay timmons, who's been critical of trump in the past, described this as an outstanding choice. and even anthony scaramucci, who fiercely opposed the reelection of trump called besson a great guy and a safe and stable pair of hands. it's also worth noting the market is reacting. we see u.s. stock futures moving significantly higher this morning, and it does seem as though at least part of that rally this morning is driven by this higher, just a little bit

more about scott bessent and his resume. he does have some of the qualities you would want in a treasury secretary. he's got deep experience in markets. he's a hedge fund manager. he's actually worked with some of the most famous investors in the world, including stanley druckenmiller and george soros, who of course, is looked at as a boogeyman on the right i mean, yeah, that's that sticks out. >> now that he's being appointed by trump. it does. >> and i think the the hope here, kate, is that bessent will moderate trump's campaign promises, especially on tariffs. sonnenfeldt told me that he likes the idea of using tariffs surgically as kind of a bargaining tool, but not necessarily blanket tariffs like trump has talked about. and sonnenfeld told me that bessent knows that tariffs help make the great depression worse. with the 1930s smoot-hawley tariffs. and he said that bessent doesn't want a second smoot-hawley. so that's a relief. but kate, at the end

>> here he talked about tax cuts. of course, deregulation, energy dominance, the idea of pumping a lot more oil and natural gas, although there's some skepticism, just how much have prices are pretty low and production is at all time highs but directionally that's what they want. >> i thought the most interesting thing he talked about though, was the budget trying to ease some concerns about skyrocketing deficits by talking about spending cuts. take a listen to what he said to kudlow that audio, but he said he basically was saying he's been investing in markets and bond markets for 35 years. and he doesn't think the bond market has ever seen the kind of spending cuts that he believes

are possible during this second trump administration. now there's reason to be skepticism that really, they can cut that much. but why? i think this is important. >> is this speaking to the doge? it is it is. >> he was talking about the elon musk commission that is going to try to look at ways to make the government more efficient. now, there's reason to be skeptical just how much more they can cut without getting into the social safety net. yes. and without getting into interest payments on debt. but directionally, he is trying to send a message to the bond market that they're not going to go crazy and blow up the budget and that is something that investors want to hear. now, whether or not they can make it a reality is another question. >> i mean, let us see let us see. it's good to see you. thanks for laying out for me this morning. so there is also this. why is everyone talking about saquon barkley today? the insane record setting sunday night game for the eagles and what that man pulled off and also does this snow and rain. several major winter storms are in the forecast. and yes, it could impact thanksgiving travel. we're keeping an eye on it for you

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with lovesac. you make the rules. >> i can't move again. >> you've gotten used to chaos. we can get rid of that. don't >> oh my gosh! is this our house? >> when leaving just isn't an option, the brothers are here to help. >> thank you. you're welcome. you're welcome. >>me don't hate your house. all new wednesday at nine on hgtv welcome back. >> a lot of president-elect trump's cabinet picks have gotten a mixed welcome, even from senate democrats. and this morning there are some signs the tide might be turning. even slightly. democratic senator elect adam schiff has praised for trump's secretary of state pick marco rubio, calling him, quote unquestionably qualified and senator tammy duckworth, one of the more vocal critics of trump's selections, is signaling there are some of

supporting. cnn congressional correspondent lauren fox joins us now. so, lauren, i mean, what is the approach here from senate democrats? i mean, what and why yeah, i mean, i think every democrat, every republican is looking at these nominees one by one. >> now obviously, republicans are more willing to give deference to the president and who he is selecting but there are even still some concerns among republicans. i think the key here is that republicans and democrats on capitol hill are making clear they want this process to play out a decision that president trump made to bring in another disrupter. >> and i think if you look at this election, it was disrupter versus establishment. he ran on this in the end. >> it is the republicans that are going to have to make a decision if these people are qualified for votes. >> the president has done this job before. he knows who he wants to put in

those positions. >> he wants us to have these hearings done quickly and expeditiously. i've said i'm more than happy to work through the weekends as long as it takes to get this done gaetz dropping out to be the president's next attorney general, there are a slew of candidates that republicans have been clear. >> they may have some concerns about. that includes pete hegseth, the president's choice to lead the department of defense. you've heard from some republicans that they have concerns about his views on women serving in combat as well as potential issues with the alleged sexual assault. he has denied that that took place. but that is another area where republicans are arguing more information has to come out, and it's worth reminding everyone at home that this is going to take months we are still in the beginning of this very lengthy process lawmakers are going to have several questions that they're going to submit in writing for these nominees. these nominees are going to be vetted by the committees of jurisdiction. they're going to have public

hearings. and that all has to happen before these nominees get a vote up or down on the senate floor. omar. all right. >> lauren fox, really appreciate it. joining me now to discuss cnn political commentator karen finney and cnn senior political commentator scott jennings. good to see you both. all right, scott, i want to start with you because when you look at trump's potential cabinet here axios has described it as maybe the most ideologically diverse cabinet of modern times. from a more pro-abortion right. rfk jr.. over health and human services to pro-union secretary of labor and congresswoman lori chavez-deremer. i mean, how do you assess the range of who he's picked so far? and do you think that's going to translate to implementation process we see by them an ideologically diverse group of people, and there are going to be a few of these folks that some republicans are going to have, some questions about. >> i mean, you mentioned rfk, the pro-life community has questions about his record and statements on that. and certainly there are a lot of republicans who don't agree with congresswoman dreamer's

views on say, the pro act. and she's been appointed to run the labor cabinet so i suspect at some point those people are going to have to make some statements about how they would act in office. and my further suspicion is those statements would revolve around one key issue. donald trump is the decider. he's the boss. he's the president he'll be the commander in chief. and so whatever political positions i've taken or whatever my personal proclivities are, i'm here to enact the agenda of this president. i do think donald trump won by assembling an ideologically diverse coalition of voters. i mean, you look at who voted for him. yes. a lot of republicans, but also a lot of former working class union type democrats, a lot of people who don't normally vote republican came in at donald trump's big tent republican party his cabinet reflects that. at the end of the day, he is the one who has to make all the decisions and all of his policies are the ones that will be enacted so i think that it's it's really fascinating, truthfully. and we'll see if some of these republicans are going to swallow a little bit and end up voting for a few people who

hold views that are perhaps not traditional conservative orthodoxy. >> and just to just to follow up on that as well, before we get to you karen, because one of the major issues here has come with the whether we use the fbi to do traditional background checks and some of these nominees, or to do it through private means, which we've seen at least the trump transition team use and vetting of their nominees before we've we've gotten to this point. and actually, karen i'll pose this question to you first, because, yes, there's a confirmation process. large part of this is traditional fbi background checks. and when your audience is the senate as a potential roadblock? how do you how do you see this playing into the process here? >> well, i think it's a potential risk to national security if we don't have people who have been through the proper processes, which includes background checks. i mean, both scott and i worked in different administrations we've been through the process where they go through, you know, it's a microcosm of the

process that a cabinet level appointee would go through. but there are reasons why that process is important. number one, it is to determine if there are any things in your background that could make you vulnerable to a foreign entity. also, you would want to know things that might embarrass the president. i think we've already seen just the whatever you might call this vetting just in the nominees that they've already announced. we've already had one person who had to drop out because of things that apparently they weren't so clear about all the background. and we're learning more about pete hegseth. so look, the process is there for a reason. and i hope that the republicans in the senate hold true to our norms and insist on a process. i was encouraged, actually, over the weekend to hear a number of them talk about wanting to, you know, give each nominee their their due opportunity to come before the senate and answer questions. i hope that the president elect and his team

reverse course and actually sign the documents that are traditionally signed around the transition. i just wanted to say one other thing about these nominees. they may be ideologically diverse, but they've all made a pledge to help president elect donald trump enact project 2025. and we know that that is going to be very much run out of the white house. that's, you know stephen miller as deputy chief of staff, is going to be making sure that everyone in following the president's bidding and scott, i want to pick up on some of the first part of what she said as well, was that, i mean, wouldn't an fbi check just be another error of credibility in the eyes of some doubters? >> you can do the private checks, but also if your audience is the senate here, why not add an fbi check on top of that? >> yeah, i view all this through the lens of how do i get to the votes necessary for confirmation, and it's obvious that there is a group of senate republicans who do have some

serious questions, or even some skepticism about some of these nominees. and so if i were in the president's shoes, i would be looking at the fbi checks as, hey this is a layer of you use the word credibility. i think that's a good word this is a layer or a tool that i can show good faith with. these senators who i need to vote for these people like a hegseth, like a gabbard like an rfk. so if i were in their shoes, i would do it. and and i and it would be sort of me attempting to get to these votes because. right now some of these folks are facing some senators who really aren't threatening, you know, by the normal political machinations, either. they're not running again. they just got elected they have well known public feuds with donald trump on issues from time to time. so and there's more than three of them, which is all you can lose in this process. so i look at it as a yes, it's a good thing to do anyway. but just as a political legislative affairs matter, they may need to do it in order to try to track some of these folks who are coming into these high

level nominations with some amount of skepticism. >> and, karen, i want to bring you in on another piece of news that we're that we're learning just before before we go, because politico is reporting that vice president harris is telling her advisers to keep her political options open. so whether that's a 2028 presidential run or a campaign for california governor in two years, i mean, how do you think what do you think a second harris run at the state or federal level looks like? and what is your advice to democrats moving forward as they potentially start to build one of those campaigns yeah. >> well, look, i think the most important thing is for the vice president to take a beat, take a step back look at this campaign that she ran and what are the things that she would have done differently? i mean, we've talked about the fact that it was 107 days. i myself can see a number of things i would have done differently. so i think part of it is an assessment of how would you run your campaign differently. and an assessment of where will the country be in four years and what what vision would you bring forward as well as if you're thinking about running

for governor again, what would your vision for the state be and to make that analysis in the context of where the country is or where the state is, you know she is young. she talented politician. i think she having been battle tested through the 107 days of a general election campaign, she's really got a lot to offer. and, you know, the future looks incredibly bright for her vice president harris. >> we will see a long road to get to even that point, but we've got to get through some cabinet confirmations first. karen finney, scott jennings, really appreciate you both being here thanks. all right kate, the philadelphia eagles are flying high. >> you love a fun sports pun in the morning locking in their seventh win in a row last night thanks to one of the greatest gameback saquon barkley. cnn's carolyn manno has more kate just to give you an idea of how good saquon barkley has been in his first year with philly, he is only about 200 yards away now from breaking the team's single season

rushing record, and they still have six games left to play this season. >> and last night against the rams on the first play of the third quarter, we saw why he has been so good. barkley busting loose one cut and he is flying 70 yards almost untouched for the touchdown. but he was just getting warmed up. philly up big late in the fourth trying to ice the game and there he goes again. this time 72 yards for the score 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. elsewhere, a wild ending in washington. the commanders had just cut the cowboys lead to three with three minutes left turpin misplaced the kickoff. or did he picks it up off the ground, hits the gorgeous spin move and he is gone. 99 yards for the touchdown. but the commanders and their star rookie quarterback jayden daniels, had an answer for that. after a field goal, they get the ball back with seconds to go. daniels finding terry

mclaurin and mclaurin does the rest. 86 yards for the touchdown to tie it up. if they can make the extra point. but somehow they miss it unbelievable. so now washington needs to recover the onside kick. instead, johnny thomas scoops it up and he scores. two return touchdowns in three minutes for dallas. cowboys hold on to win a wild one 3426, snapping their five game losing streak, while washington has now dropped three straight and baker mayfield doing his best. tommy cutlets impression in the bucks blowout win over the giants yesterday, scoring a touchdown just before half. then immediately popping up and breaking out the viral italian hands celebration that tommy devito made famous when he took the tri-state by storm for a few weeks last season. as the giants starter. baker, explaining himself afterwards, new york fans love tommy here and give him something to like. >> are you italian by any chance, or no, i haven't done a 23 and me, but i don't know. >> kate. >> the bucks won 30 to 6. the

final and i know the focus is on turkey this week, but it turns out baker mayfield cooking the giants with a different type of bird well played carolyn well played. >> thank you so much. all right coming up still for us megachurch pastor t.d. jakes suffering what has been described as a health incident during sunday service. the latest on how he is doing this morning. and a fiery explosion caught on camera after a cargo plane crashed near an airport, killing one crew member on board. how the pilot and two others survived economy seat

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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 eight on cnn >> one crew member is dead and several others have been injured after a cargo plane flying from germany crashed in lithuania. the plane crashed just outside the vilnius airport, narrowly missing a nearby house. cnn's salma abdelaziz joins us now from london. so, i mean how did people manage to survive this crash it is extremely remarkable, omar. >> especially when you look at the footage and we have cctv video to show you of the moment of this crash. you can see at the very top right corner of the screen, this plane in the dark emerge. it begins then to dip it disappears behind buildings and mere moments later, a huge fireball emerges. massive fire right behind that building, as you mentioned.

remarkably, three people on board that plane did survive. one person was found dead on the scene. here's what authorities have said. they say this plane at about 5:30 a.m. local time, crashed near a runway. it skidded for a few hundred yards, stopping just short of a family home with debris flowing inside. rescue workers rushed to the scene, rescued those three people who were on board, including the pilot and 12 people from the home. authorities say an investigation is now underway. they say terrorism cannot be ruled out, but it was likely that this crash was due to a technical failure or human error. authorities are right now collecting evidence, and they say that could take many more days. omar. >> thank you. you see just how high those flames reached? remarkable that anybody survived that salma abdelaziz. thank you so much, kate. >> so this morning, the list is pretty much final over the weekend. president-elect donald trump announced the remainder

of the major cabinet level positions for his next term. just four posts remain open including. you see them there. who will lead the small business administration and who will be the next u.s. trade rep to the united states? now, the focus very quickly shifts to congress and what all of these nominees will face in confirmation hearings, some of them very clearly will face a tougher road than others with democrats and republicans raising questions about past statements and qualifications of especially these three people. pete hegseth tulsi gabbard and rfk jr.. and while the trump team is preparing for those battles ahead, there is also some bipartisanship happening. dare i say, trump's incoming national security advisor, congressman mike waltz emphasizing this weekend how closely he and the biden team are working together in this transition jake sullivan and i have had discussions we've met for our adversaries out there that think this is a a time of opportunity that they can play one administration off the

other. >> they're wrong. and we are we are hand in glove. we are we are one team with the united states in this transition. >> joining us right now, democratic congressman from new york greg meeks. he's the top ranking democrat on the house foreign affairs committee, of course. congressman thank you for being here. good to be with you, kate. hearing you know, we're working together. hand in glove and we're on the same page from from the trump team to the biden team is something we don't. you know, you would not often believe or hear. what are you hearing about this transition in particular when you're on the concern of national security issues? any concerns or what do you think of what mike waltz we do have some concerns when you look at the appointment of a number of individuals like gabby like um, um uh seth you find individuals who do not seem to be qualified for the job and individuals who have had a statements, for example with gabby, where she talked and utilized russian talking points and was over

there with assad so those are problematic as far as those qualifications are concerned. >> and then you find some and i look forward to working with senator rubio for example, we differ. we're going to differ on many issues, but we all try to work collectively together, as i did with, uh, my republican colleague michael mccaul on the house foreign affairs committee. we differed we had arguments, but we were able to do it with civility, and we were able to move over and to talk to our allies um, my question is with some that are appointed they've never talked to our allies and our friends. they are individuals who have our allies and friends concerned for example, you know, there's reasons why you had countries like sweden and finland join nato. they didn't, you know, it's because they know what russia is after and what they want to continue to do. but then to have someone there who

it gives them a problem in dealing with national intelligence. it makes me concerned about our national security when it comes and you're talking about tulsi gabbard, is what i hear from you, because she's trump's pick for director of national intelligence. >> i heard you call her a national security threat to the united states. tammy duckworth, democratic senator. she was just on yesterday. and she believes that tulsi due to her troubling relationships. as she put it, with russia and syria. but then you have republican congressman markwayne mullin. he was just on with dana bash yesterday. and he said those characterizations that you have put out, but he was specifically talking about tammy duckworth. he called them dangerous and ridiculous. let me play what markwayne mullin says >> there's no background there for her to see, for anyone to see she is she is a true patriot of the united states. and there is no reason why the democrats are going after her other than the fact they're upset that she left their woke party. >> what do you say to that?

>> yeah, there's her talking points. there's what she has stood for. what she said her words not too long ago. she thought that she blamed ukraine for the invasion of of russia so it just makes no sense. she has actually used russian talking points. she went over to assad and seemed to sympathize with him. an individual who was gassing his own people concern about who she is and what she will do. that's why i think that the fbi needs to do security background checks before the senate even. >> what do you can you think of a good reason to not do an fbi background check? >> no, i can't think of one reason, because, look everybody that's going to be underneath her will have gone through a background check. anybody that's in the agency has to go through a background check. so why would the individual that's heading the agency not go through a background check? >> markwayne mullin he makes the case that the fact her military service shows that she

could pass a background check didn't go through it. >> what are you trying to do? why is the president trying to prevent that from happening? look, there's i tell you what my concerns are, and i have a lot of concerns. i've got concerns still about the guy who's going to be who is the president elect? i've got concerns about him and his background and the things that he said and the people that he put put in you know those individuals are not, you know what he has said when he looks at their resume, he doesn't he wants to know if they are loyal to him. and there's reasons why. you've heard republicans, even his current vice president, jd vance once described him as maybe america's hitler. why because even hitler was elected democratically. and you can't just go along with what someone says. and it seems to me that the president is putting in place some yes people but when you hear i mean, tulsi gabbard was on the campaign trail

relentlessly for donald trump when you say those things, you can also say this was litigated in the in the campaign he was elected voters vote. >> this is what voters voted for. what do you say? >> i say that voters voted because they were hurting financially. what voters? the reason why we lost this election to democrats and what we've got to continue to focus on is to make sure that the people like my late father, i recall being i grew up in public housing and i can remember how he struggled with my could put food on the table. and that's what national security issues. et cetera. the secondary. and that's why you saw in the polls that that was nowhere because we were focused. they were focused on the american people were focused on their survival as far as the cost of living is concerned that's why he got elected. and we understood that as democrats, we thought and we, you know, tried to explain what took place, but that wasn't good enough because they didn't feel us. and we've got to make sure that they feel us. that's why

he got elected. but the national security implications when you look at everybody that was close to the president, whether it was his former chief of staff, his former secretary of defense, generals people that had pledged allegiance to the united states of america, not to donald trump none of them supported him in this campaign. so if you look at national security interests and the people that know him best and who are concerned about the future, they all republicans did not support him. so those concerns are still there. that wasn't first and foremost on the american people's minds i wish it was. but we know that foreign policy was, you know, down on the charts. it was the economy and it was suffering because of inflation, of which we are fighting to change and to move and which by the way, kate took place around the world because what we had was we coming out of the pandemic and every government around the world, if we're just talking about politics, national internationally, every

government, whether it was a conservative government or a progressive government, lost because everybody was hurting after the pandemic. but who was the fastest to recover and whose economy is stronger than any of the others? the united states of america and we'll see. >> when it comes to the economy and these national security issues, this is going to be a fight that you're going to continue fighting in this next congress for sure. >> absolutely. >> thank you so much for coming in congressman. >> really thank you for having me, as always. thank you. happy thanksgiving. >> thank you very much omar. >> all right, kate, the debate over transgender rights and athletes became a political firestorm at points in the election, with the republicans spending millions on anti-trans ads. cnn's brynn gingras spoke with the transgender collegiate track star about competing in this political climate and her safety concerns. >> when you transition, you experiment with your look a lot i think i look best when i have this kind of makeup on. it feels most authentic to three years into her transition i take about eight pills a day

to help regulate both estrogen and testosterone among other things everyone who goes through a medical transition does this to some extent i have to be a bit more strict about it. >> strict because schreiner submits her hormone levels in order to compete. she's a star sprinter, a two time all-american, and has broken numerous school records on the women's track team at a division three new york college every time you get on that track and field, what's it like for you? >> it's stressful. there's an extra level of nervousness and caution because there's always someone outside who's kind of rooting against me. sometimes there's a group of protesters. it's a bit of a mixed bag because i like to celebrate. when i do better, but then i have to immediately prepare myself for the backlash. >> that backlash was front and center this election. >> kamala even supports letting biological men compete against our girls in their sports, with republicans reportedly