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confirmation path in peril uncertainty looming over president-elect donald trump's pick for defense secretary pete hegseth. >> the former fox host vowing to never back down. but behind the scenes at mar-a-lago, there's already talk about who might replace him. >> plus, a manhunt is underway after a deadly shooting in midtown manhattan. the ceo of unitedhealthcare was gunned down. and what officials are calling a brazen, targeted attack. and now we have surveillance video showing that shooting. we'll have a live update on the search. and the supreme court hears arguments in a landmark case. at issue, whether tennessee has the constitutional right to ban minors from receiving gender affirming care. about half of the country has similar bans, so the implications could be far reaching for transgender

youth and their parents. we are following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right now on cnn news central hi there. >> i'm brianna keilar here in washington alongside phil mattingly, who is in for boris today. how long can president elect donald trump's pick for secretary of defense hang on. today is a critical one for pete hegseth. right now trump's choice to lead the defense department is meeting with key republican senators as scrutiny is growing over allegations of his serious past misconduct. >> now, hegseth says he's not going anywhere and that he has trump's full support. here he is speaking to conservative radio host megyn kelly reiterated the same thing this morning. >> hey, pete, i got your back. it's a fight. they're coming after you get after it. the media is driving with this ridiculous narrative. it's our turn to. it's our time to stand

up and tell the truth and our side. and he knows that cnn's manu raju manu raju joins us live from capitol hill. >> manu, let's kind of cut through things right now. we know the meetings. there's clearly been a strategic shift in terms of trying to fight back that we've seen today. what's going on behind the scenes? is this on the brink or is it possible to turn it around? >> it still remains to be seen because there are a lot of republican senators who simply are holding their cards close to their vest. their are concerned about these allegations and uncertain about whether pete hegseth could actually do the job as secretary of defense and want to hear him discuss in length and in public about these allegations of misconduct, the sexual assault allegation, which he denies, as well as what happened at a time when he ran that veterans group several years ago, in which the new yorker reported about misconduct, personal misconduct, drunkenness on the job and the like. so all the pete hegseth behind the scenes has been denying those allegations and that has alleviated some concerns. but

some members still, like shelley moore capito of west virginia, says she does not know how she will ultimately vote if and when that time comes. now there's also discussion about whether there will be a replacement. donald trump, we're told, has been looking at possible replacement candidates in case hex's nomination collapses. one of them, florida governor ron desantis. that's someone who, in fact, some democrats are signaling they could be open to supporting, if that nomination comes forward i'm considering voting yes on desantis. >> if he's finally admits that he has lifts in his boots. i'm sure he does. you know, maybe three inches. four inches at least. >> he's a, you know a governor of one of our biggest states. he served in congress. he's you know, served in the military. so i think he has what you would look at on paper as the requisite kind of experience you would want in a secretary of defense. >> it's 100% clear to me who he wants. the secretary of

defense right now that last comment coming from senator josh hawley, a republican who had a meeting scheduled with hegseth tomorrow, he told me that it was canceled but the transition tells me that they've rescheduled that for next week. >> but it all underscores the questions that are still on capitol hill about whether he will actually make it, whether they'll actually be a replacement candidate, and whether donald trump continues to stand behind him. hegseth has told reporters all through the course of the day that, in fact donald trump is supporting him. donald trump does have the have is fully committed to pushing him through. and i asked hegseth are you considering dropping out for consideration as secretary of defense? and he said no. >> manu raju live for us on capitol hill. thank you so much. let's discuss all of this with democratic strategist megan hayes. and republican strategist shermichael singleton. guys, welcome shermichael. we've all been in this town long enough. i'm very young what we've seen over the

course of the last 18 hours for the pete hegseth nomination is like the perfect encapsulation of the doom spiral before the end, but we've also seen him fight back today. yeah, and to manu's point, senators aren't coming out and saying we're against him. he's still alive. he is still. can he turn this around? >> his mom did an interview on fox news today. i watched it, i thought it was very compelling. we'll see how the meeting goes with iowa senator joni ernst. i think a lot of republicans are really waiting to see what the senator of iowa says. i think if she says yes, thumbs up, i think he will absolutely move forward and ultimately get confirmed. if, however she says, i'm not really certain, i'm not sure. and megan and i talked about this, i don't know if she'll come out and say, well, you know what? no but maybe there will be a call to the president elect and say, look, the numbers aren't here, mr. president, you got to choose someone else. so i'm really watching that meeting today to really decide whether this is going to move forward or not, because conventionally you look at what's happening. >> to your point, he's toast. but the ship sailed on conventional a long time ago. a

long time ago, a long, long time ago. i wonder what you think specifically of what you heard from hallie. him saying, i'm not 100% clear who he wants as secretary of defense. right now. really interesting thing today as he's as the meeting has been postponed to next week, which could be next week, to never depending on how this week goes. what do you think? >> yeah, i think that's right. i think that the trump team is putting names out there. they're muddying the water right they are signaling that we are okay. if you guys are not going to vote for him or this is not going to move forward, i think desantis is a smart move. he has. he's an executive. he's you know, he's led a major state. he understands there's some concerns here operationally. and just because i don't agree with his policies doesn't mean he wouldn't be good at running the dod. but he he's also been vetted at a national stage. so, you know, i think the trump team is smart to put names out there because there are some actually qualified people who have the character and the experience to lead a major organization like dod shermichael to that point. >> first off, i can't this is very inside baseball, but i can't stop laughing at hegseth saying never back down, which was the name of ron desantis

super pac no, no pun intended. there very in the weeds on that one. deep cut, deep cut deep cut. i think one of the things that i'm struck by through all this, i have no, i'm not surprised by the types of people that donald trump has nominated he said it loud and clear over and over and over and over and over and over. and i want to scream this into the void to people who are like, i can't believe he's doing this, that or the other. it's the fact that some of these people aren't don't seem to be vetted. they don't seem to have a great sense of what's in their background. that i think is striking because you can pick people that are loyal, that want to carry out what you have campaigned on and yet still make sure that there's nothing behind the scenes that is going to be a surprise. >> yeah, look, i'm going to be honest with you guys that is a bit annoying even to me as a conservative you don't expect the principal, the president elect, to know every single thing in a person's background. that's not necessarily the principal's job or role. that's the job for people like me or people like megan and our former capacities. you're supposed to do your due diligence with a litany of names to present,

hey, if this is who you want, sir let us do our process of going through this person's background, making sure that there's nothing that's not only embarrassing to them but also to you. go ahead. megan, i see you want to jump in. >> some of this is if they would have done the fbi background checks. i think that some of this would have already come out, because in those background checks i've had them done when i worked at the white house, they ask you if you if you have a drinking or a drug problem. they ask people who know you if you have a drinking or a drug problem. so some of these things would have come out. and because they did not do this, they are sitting here with a matt gaetz and a pete hegseth not getting confirmed. sorry, i just wanted to throw that in there for vetting. >> but even if you used a private firm, if the president elect says but i still want him, you at least give the team the opportunity to prepare for this. so if we know this is coming, let's let's, let's talk with mom to make sure the statements are out there. let's talk with colleagues at fox to make sure that they can come out and defend their former colleagues. are you prepared to be on the defensive? hopefully, the offensive towards the end, if you know this onslaught, could potentially come not having that background information, it does hurt. and again, it's been

annoying to me because you just don't want the president elect who had a great victory having to deal with this when he should sort of be coasting into his swearing, his confirmation. >> can we consider that if you are donald trump and you're hearing, oh, democrats like mark kelly and john fetterman are open to ron desantis? is that really the guy you want as defense secretary? someone that democrats are open to? it seems that he might instead want someone who his side will pass without democratic support. is that is that your read so far on all the picks that you've seen? >> i think that trump is putting himself into a situation where he needs people who are going to be qualified, and i think the senators republican and democratic senators are making this more difficult than he originally anticipated it being. i think he thought he could just throw whoever they wanted. he'd get a rubber stamp. and that's the republican senators are standing up and saying, you don't have the votes for these people. so i think that the democrats are this is how they work together in the senate. >> but i just want to add quickly here what it shows is that the president elect is willing to nominate individuals

who can get bipartisan support. and i think that's what you want. there were some sort of blue collar democrats or blue dog democrats who did vote for the president elect, having voted for a republican in quite some time. so to see that of the three names democrats are coming out and saying, wait a minute here, these are some good people. i would potentially vote for them. i think that's a kudos to the president elect and his willingness to put forth individuals who can sort of bring congress together. that's a good thing. the second time around. >> we second time around, that's true. the ability to shift an overton window to where ron desantis is the acceptable nominee for the democrats it's shoot, shoot for the moon. >> maybe you'll land among the stars. i wonder if that isn't the strategy here shermichael megan, thank you so much to both of you. we're going to continue to follow our breaking news. cnn has obtained new video that

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are about to see is disturbing. in the video, you can see the shooter come up behind thompson on the sidewalk. that's thompson walking right there aim and shoot. a law enforcement official tells cnn that the gunman used what appears to be a silencer. >> the commissioner of the nypd calls this a brazen and targeted attack. the video now giving us a sense of why. and in the meantime, cnn has received this statement from thompson's wife, who writes quote, we are shattered to hear about the senseless killing of our beloved brian. brian was an incredibly loving, generous, talented man who truly lived life to the fullest and touched so many lives. let's go now to cnn's shimon prokupecz, who is live outside of nypd headquarters. shimon, what are you learning about their search for the suspect here so they're trying to what the police are doing. >> the detectives are trying to trace every step of this individual. right. they have him the last time they see

him is in central park where he is on this citi bike. and that's a big clue. and an important piece of evidence for investigators, because that bike has gps. and so they're hoping they can follow the gps. so right now on video they lose sight of him in central park. and obviously it's been a few hours since we've last heard from police. so they're continuing to do that work. they're going to go back. they're going to go forward they're going to go all across different cameras within the city. i mean, this city is wired with cameras. you know, every which way you walk on every street there is a camera. it doesn't mean that it always captures everything. obviously and it's not that easy for investigators, but that's what they're doing. they're also trying to figure out right now there is a cell phone and that could also be a very important clue that they were able to locate. they found it in an area that the gunman was seen, and they're trying to see if it's connected to the shooter. cell phones are not always easy for law enforcement to get into. you need a search

warrant. there's other kind of steps that they need to take. and obviously phones are locked. a lot of times. and so there's a whole process. so that process is underway. but they have a lot to work with. they have an e-bike. they potentially have the cell phone. they have images of this individual. they probably have a lot of other images that they're not sharing with us at the moment, because they also don't want to sort of show their hand so quickly yet so right now, they're working a lot behind the scenes to pinpoint this individual's last locations. and then the motive here, right now, obviously, from everything that we've seen, this video, this horrific video, really is such a key piece of evidence for investigators because it shows that this was a targeted attack. this was an execution. the individual arrives at the hotel sometime around 640 in the morning, and within minutes, within minutes, the ceo is there and the shooter sees him and then opens fire, striking him in the head. the gun jams during this and the

shooter, they say is, it appears, is proficient, knows how to use weapons clears that jam and then continues to fire. and that is when it ends. and he leaves and gets on this citi bike and takes off about 20 blocks or so north into central park, where police last see him. and that is the circumstances here. right now. they're continuing to search and we have no updates from police as of now. but, you know, i've been talking to sources. i think the detectives here are pretty confident they're going to figure this out pretty soon. >> all right. please keep us posted. shimon prokupecz thanks so much. for more on this, let's bring in cnn security correspondent josh campbell josh, when you watch the video after listening to what law enforcement officials were saying earlier today, that's that last point from shimon. the proficiency they saw. and now you can see in this video with not just how he uses the weapon particularly when he clears the jam but just his approach in general seems to show somebody who knows what they're doing here.

>> yeah. you know, as i've been saying, this looks like a professional hit job. and before the video, we heard some of those characteristics from law enforcement officials and law enforcement sources about the timing of this incident, about the amount of time that the suspect was able to get there before the ceo walks by. so a lot of reconnaissance, a lot of understanding of where he would be. and as you look at the video itself, you see him behind that black suburban over on the left side. he steps out, he puts the gun up, it's on target. and then he fires. and as that video continues to play out, we're not going to show that part obviously, because that is extremely graphic seeing the ceo go down. but what we see is that the suspect continually racks the slide on that weapon that continues to cycle it. he has the suppressor at the end of that weapon, we're told, which would muffle the sound. that obviously is something that people would use if they want to do a shooting and not draw any attention to themselves. so a lot of sophistication there. and then at one point you actually see the gun on this video. the part that we're not showing, it actually jams and he goes through a essentially a

clearing drill, something that those of us in law enforcement and the military do, where you prepare for an instance where you may have to be in a gunfight and your gun jams, which is not that uncommon, but you have to quickly immediately get that that malfunction resolved, the gun back up on target. we see guys in this video. that's exactly what the suspect does. so a lot of some level of sophistication that we can see there. this doesn't look like in any sense that it was random. and so then the question comes down to motivation. a lot of questions that authorities are trying to answer. were there threats against this individual? were there people out there who may have had some type of grievance against him? a lot of investigative work that they're doing in that regard as well. >> what do you think about all of the things this suspect may have done to conceal their identity? can you just take us through, i mean, even from going into the park where you might expect that they could more easily evade detection as they try to make their getaway, not using a car, using a bike, those kind of things. what stands out to you josh?

>> yeah. you know if you have someone who's going to do a sophisticated style essentially, essentially assassination as we see here, they're not just focused on the moment where they're actually making contact with their intended victim, but they do things like planning how they're going to get to this location, understanding that new york city is blanketed by surveillance, and then understanding how they're actually going to flee, how they're going to get away, and you're spot on, you know, indicating there that this is someone who appeared to have that planned out because he is still evaded police. one thing i'll point out, though, the one thing that that shooter cannot control is what that firearm left behind. there is a sophisticated gun tracing ability that law enforcement has where they can go through various steps anytime you fire a weapon, two things happen. you'll have the shell casing that's ejected. you'll have the bullet that comes out of the front of the gun. in this case it's essentially like a fingerprint. firearms leave individual unique markings on both the bullet and the shell casing, and so analyzing those, i imagine you know, nypd, they're obviously very proficient. but this is

expertise also that agencies like the atf could assist with to look to see what were those unique markings and then i understand this is grim, but actually finding the bullets themselves sometimes law enforcement will have to pull those from a victim but they do that analysis and then run those through those databases to see, is this a firearm that we know has been used in a past crime that's known to law enforcement? that could be key here. but again, this this person was obviously sophisticated. we don't know if this was a weapon that would have been used in a crime. that's certainly something they're trying to rule out. >> yeah. a lot more to learn. no question about it. josh campbell, thanks so much. still to come on cnn news central why the supreme court's conservative majority appears skeptical about the challenge to a tennessee law banning certain medical treatments for transgender kids and teens. a case that could be the most controversial in this term, and how president-elect trump's push to slash government spending and boost efficiency is getting support from an unlikely place democrats cnn heroes, an all star tribute

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with abby phillip tonight at 10:00 eastern on cnn a landmark case involving transgender rights is now in the hands of the supreme court at the center is a tennessee law that bans children and teens from receiving gender affirming care, like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. >> during oral arguments today, the high court's conservative majority expressed skepticism about the challenge to tennessee's law. while the three liberal justices indicated they strongly support the biden administration's arguments that the ban is a form of sex discrimination now,

issues surrounding the transgender community have become a major flashpoint in the culture wars across the country. in this case, could have significant implications. 26 states have all passed similar restrictions. joining us now is cnn's supreme court analyst and georgetown university law professor, center professor steve vladeck. steve, appreciate your time. i want to start kind of digging in a little bit. the case seems like it's really testing the reach of the constitution's equal protection guarantee. break. break that down for us. what does that mean yeah. >> so phil, you know, the federal constitution, which only applies to governmental actors. so the federal government, state governments, local governments has this very ambiguous, very vague phrase that says that states are required to provide the equal protection of the laws. and the supreme court has interpreted that historically to mean that when states when the federal government is going to treat people differently based upon sex or race or other, you know characteristics that the government has to have an especially good reason for

doing so. and the question that the justices are resolving in this case is whether treating people differently because of transgender status is in line with those other characteristics, is deserving of that kind of heightened constitutional protection. you know, as you say, i think the the biggest top line takeaway from today's argument is it's hard to find five justices who seem inclined to rule that way is there a role for parental rights in these arguments, in the law, in what's being discussed right now inside the court you know, i would have thought so. i mean i was it's interesting how little that was sort of a central focus of today's arguments. you know, the, the states like tennessee that have restricted access to these kinds of medical treatments so far, have focused on children, on the idea that if you're an adolescent, you're not yet able to make your own decisions. but of course, if the parents are doing it with you, it would seem like that ought to matter. and phil, what's striking about this is that this is actually

just about the same court that four years ago held in the context of federal statutes that is to say, you know, laws congress has passed that where you cannot discriminate in the workplace on the basis of sex, that includes discrimination on the basis of transgender status. you know, it's going to be interesting to see how justice neil gorsuch, chief justice john roberts, who are in the majority in that case, in 2020, might split the difference between a federal statute like the civil rights act and a constitutional guarantee like equal protection. >> that was actually what i want to ask you about in particular. our our our in-house sherpa, who i know works closely with you as our outside sherpa when it comes to supreme court. joan biskupic pointing out neil gorsuch did not say anything today that was striking to her. everybody's trying to figure out what that means. obviously, it's tough to read the tea leaves when there are no leaves. what's your sense of kind of coming out of this where he may stand here i mean it's a great point by joan and phil it's exactly right. >> i mean, part of why folks

are so fixated on gorsuch is because his vote in that 2020 case was a bit of a surprise and i think some folks were surprised pleasantly or otherwise, that you had someone like a neil gorsuch leading the way to interpret our workplace discrimination laws to include discrimination on the basis of transgender status. you know gorsuch, i think, knows a little bit about playing to the audience and that if he said anything today, it would have been taken wildly out of proportion. but phil keep in mind, even if justice gorsuch is inclined to come out the same way on the constitutional question that he came out on the statutory question, that only gets the federal government and the and the challengers in this case, to four votes, right? that as opposed to 2020, when there was also justice ruth bader ginsburg, the, you know, the federal government's position, those challenging tennessee's law would need to pick up at least one of the other republican appointees. and i'll just say, after the oral argument today, it's not obvious to me who that would be. i didn't hear a lot of

sympathy from chief justice john roberts or from justice amy coney barrett, or even from justice brett kavanaugh. so it's very possible, phil, that when this decision comes down later, you know, later next year um, justice gorsuch is actually not going to be the decisive vote. and maybe it's even going to be five four in favor of tennessee's law with justice gorsuch joining the democratic appointees in dissent. >> yeah, it's a really smart point. steve vladeck, always appreciate your expertise. thanks so much, brianna. >> all right. for many parents of transgender children, it's not just about access to health care. it's also about protecting their children's mental health. many worry that these types of laws vilify transgender people causing them to worry about their safety. here's one child who spoke to cnn's lucy kafanov about that scenario what concerns have you had about speaking out? >> that i'm going to be, like, murdered like one day i'm going to be walking down the street and somebody's going to come up and like, shoot me or something.

>> that's a really scary thing to be worrying about at ten years old. >> yeah, that should not be a worry and with us now is kristen waggoner. >> she is the president of alliance defending freedom, which filed an amicus brief in support of tennessee's law. thank you for coming in to talk with us about it. you were in court during these arguments, and i should also note that in the issue of the bostock case, adf represented a party, the party in that case, that case did not prevail. and i'm wondering how you felt walking out of court today, from what you heard compared to how that day felt. >> i would say we felt good about it. and we also have the privilege of representing two other states. nearly half of actually over half of all states have passed laws similar to tennessee's. we represent a couple of states alongside their attorneys general as well and the principle or the question before the court is whether the constitution permits states to keep kids safe from dangerous and experimental drugs and surgeries.

>> did you have a sense today that this was going one way or the other? what did you think leaving? >> well, we've had a number of constitutional cases before the court, and you never want to speculate about what it will do but in listening to the questions, i think what was very clear was that the u.s. the department of justice, was quickly walking back any allegation or suggestion that there's overwhelming scientific support for this because there's not. and in that, in the course of that, the justices were hearing again and again about the studies and how europe led out on this issue in pushing this gender ideology and now they're in quick retreat because they're seeing the tangible physical harms to kids. >> it's not it's not completely settled. right. i mean, that is the truth, though. and one person's needed medical care is another person's child abuse. this is an issue that a lot of americans look at, and they're divided on this right. so statistics are clear though what it can mean for trans youths who don't receive the

treatment when they're seeking it, that there can be an increase in suicide, even an increase in suicide. among some of these laws being emphasized in states, how do you balance that? >> well, i'd respond in two ways. first of all, that's the role of the legislature to balance benefits and risks. but i would disagree with most of what was even in the question, and that what we heard before the court today is that the overwhelming science is is saying again and again that the benefits of these drugs, there's little or no evidence to support them. and the risks are off the charts and in terms of those risks, they're very tangible. where a woman like patricia moseley, who at 14 was sexually assaulted, 1516, diagnosed with serious mental illness by 18, she has testosterone in her breasts removed and her shoulders are too wide to support her hips. she has to she she didn't lose her fertility, but many do. and this process no child is equipped to make those decisions when they're a child as to whether they want sexual

dysfunction that comes, whether they want to lose the chance to have a baby, to feel their baby on their chest. and so ultimately today, in terms of this suicide and suicidality, it came up in court as well. and the evidence suggests that also, if you have these puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones your chances of suicide actually increase rather than decrease. so even if this is unsettled, we shouldn't constitutionalize a right. >> folks on the other side, as you well know, and you've heard them, they'll disagree with you on that. and some of them will say, these are the kinds of treatments that have saved their lives and that can save lives. so this argument, you hear this on the other side, i wonder you tweeted it's insidious to tell vulnerable kids they are born in the wrong body and lead them down a path full of irreversible consequences. but what do you do about this when a lot of times we do hear stories, it's not the adults telling the kids, it's actually many times the kids telling the adults, some of whom are reticent to

fully embrace what that may mean. parents talk about this. they're not the ones putting this in their in their child's head so what do you say to those parents? >> it's heartbreaking. heartbreaking to see a child that is in need and is expressing confusion and it's interesting that this explosion of children who are experiencing this aligns with what they're seeing in social media, and an explosion in social media. this is not typical for this to happen while the number of adults who want to identify as the opposite sex has remained constant are our kids are experiencing all kinds of crisis. and it's not just in this issue. so i think it suggests there's a deeper need and a deeper approach that we need to take. but i want to take it back to what was before the court today, which is that the evidence based medicine would suggest we shouldn't constitutionalize a right to experiment on our kids. and this right now is an experiment. and so far, what we see is far more evidence

suggesting it brings real, tangible, long term and irreversible harm to them. >> i want to ask you because you you, you're talking about, of course, what is before the court today, the adf has been involved in so many different cases. this one. yes but also when it comes to workplace discrimination, the bostock case, i mentioned trans athletes in sports, parental consent for lessons about gender identity treatment restriction for trans minors. that's some of the kid stuff and some of the adult stuff with the sports. but there's also stuff having to do with adults having to do with trans adults. it's not just the kids that adf is focused on. i wonder as you know, and there are people who agree with you, but do you ever consider that these anti-trans laws and stances may not age well? >> i don't consider the fact that not standing up in this moment and not standing for children, and for biological

reality, that is so critical in this moment, we're seeing this ideology that's being used to disempower parents as you say, it causes such concern with the parent. when a medical professional that's misguided is saying your your child needs to choose between suicide or you, you pump their body with drugs, that is not going to allow them to naturally develop. what kind of choice is that for a parent when the science actually says it will bring harm to the child? so i know we're on the right side of this, but all children deserve compassion. and this isn't it. it might look like it, but it's deeply misguided, not just kids. >> that was the point. i wanted to get at with you. you're talking about kids. and this case is about kids. but adf is involved in a number of cases aside from this one, and efforts that have to do as well with adults with trans adults. >> no, that's not true. >> bostock you you just said a number of cases and that's not true. >> that we're involved in a number of cases. what we are involved in is ensuring that when the law is interpreted, adf represented, uh represented a party in the bostock case, we

represented a party in the bostock case involving whether title seven, an employment law discriminates on the basis of sex, not children being discriminated in employment. >> just to be clear, it's apples and oranges what you're comparing and you're only mentioning one case. >> what we are about is ensuring that trans athletes in sports, first of all, you just said trans adults, and that's just not true. we're not involved in a lot of those cases, but i'm glad that you brought up the sports cases because they were brought up today, too. when there are biological differences and the law doesn't recognize relevant biological differences, it's largely women and girls like us who are going to face harm. and the women's sports issue americans are waking up to see this extreme danger, the loss of women's rights and equal opportunities the loss of their privacy in dorm rooms and locker rooms as well as their safety girls are being harmed from having to compete against men who have a 10 to 15% physical advantage over them. that no amount of puberty blockers and cross-sex

hormones stop yeah, and the point being, it's not just about kids. >> adf's interests are not only about children in this realm. >> i think that you're you're creating this box to try to put everything in it and to suggest that we aren't about all people. >> i'm just talking about the body of work of your organization. >> i think that the gender ideology movement and the transgender ideology that's being pushed on americans right now has gone so far that it's threatening to silence people. it's bullying them and it's telling them, i think that they should ignore reality. >> i think a lot of people are confused about this issue. they don't know where they stand on it. but where is the room for a conversation about this? >> i love that we're having one right now in terms of a conversation and that's what was at issue today because the aclu and the biden administration has taken this issue to the u.s. supreme court and said there is no room for this debate. it is a matter of constitutional right. and the left consistently tries to constitutionalize all of american life. it is not a

constitutional right to engage in experimental surgeries that cause a child to lose their their fertility what kid? what girl is knows whether she's going to want to have a baby long term or what testosterone will do to her uterus, or that she will increase her risk of heart attack by taking some drugs, some of them do no, no, none of them. no, i don't none of them. >> none of them do. >> 85%. what we know from the science. and again, it's about not putting ideology over evidence. and that's what's happening here. 85% of all kids that are able to grow through puberty who say their gender confused over 85% of those kids live at peace with their bodies and consistent with their sex in those children that are put on puberty blockers. the science tells us that you're putting them on a one way treadmill to live as the opposite sex. for the rest of their life, and they will still experience being a lifelong patient.

>> and i think that is a great question. certainly to be discussed. and for someone on the other side of this equation to answer for, there's also people who do not do that. and so that's something that i wanted to discuss with you, and i appreciate you being on today. thank you so much, kristen wagner. we'll have more news when we come back like a relentless weed. >> moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya with rapid relief at four weeks. tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation at one year. many people experienced remission and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms, or if you need a vaccine. healing is possible with tremfya. ask your doctor about

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was fascinating to see it start to play out. your story on this was really great on cnn.com. where's this coming from? why is this happening? >> well, phil democrats want a seat at the table. they want to be a part of the conversation. there is broad support on capitol hill to cut government spending and excess waste there's just different ideas among democrats and republicans on how to do that. and so the democrats that i spoke to for this story, their calculus is it's better to be a part of this conversation and work with this republican led effort on issues that they agree with and serve as the guardrails on issues where they don't. so that's why we saw democratic congressman jared moskowitz join this caucus. that's going to be supporting musk and ramaswamy's efforts. and i'm told from sources that other democrats are expected to get involved in this effort as well. we've also seen publicly, senator bernie sanders and ro khanna talk about that. musk has some good points to make about cuts that need to be made to the pentagon budget, specifically because

there is a lot of excess spending there. they continue to fail audits at the pentagon and all of this jockeying is happening because democrats want to work with republicans on certain issues. they certainly don't want republicans to use this effort to cut social security and medicare. and that's why we're seeing more democrats get involved especially ahead of musk and ramaswamy expecting to be on the hill to meet with republicans tomorrow. >> yeah, it will be an important meeting. i'm sure you'll tell us everything that happens behind closed doors, as you always do. andy. great. thanks so much from capitol hill. well, did a former marine go too far when he restrained a man in a new york subway with what turned out to be a deadly chokehold? a manhattan jury is facing that question right now as they continue deliberations into daniel penny manslaughter trial laura coates live tonight at 11 eastern on cnn i have to find a babysitter. >> i have a lot of questions when can they start? today. now. how about saturday? are they background checks? my wife

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key pieces of evidence. the vasquez video that is the video that went viral shortly after the incident that's been seen by most of the public. >> a compilation of body worn camera video, which was captured by responding police officers, but also the detective video, which was captured during an interview between detectives and daniel penny shortly after the incident. at that moment, daniel penny did not know that jordan neely was dead. he was not under arrest and he did the interview voluntarily. now this is a critical piece of evidence because the prosecution focused on it during their closing arguments, they said that the video showed that daniel penny did not show any concern for nealy's life. >> he never asked how he was doing. he never asked if anything happened to him, which they say shows that there was recklessness and a lack of care. >> but remember, the defense has said that penny was responding to an apparent threat embodied by nealy. and

in that same video, daniel penny says it's not like i was trying to hurt the guy. so it is impossible for us to know exactly what piece of detail this jury is looking at within those videos but it is certainly interesting that they are asking to rewatch it as they deliberate. we could be here for many more days, or perhaps a few more hours. it's just really hard to tell at this point, but we do expect a verdict at any moment if convicted on the top charge he is facing a maximum of 15 years in prison. brianna gloria pazmino live for us in new york. >> thank you. and still ahead, a consequential day for president elect trump's pick to head the pentagon pete hegseth vowing to keep, to fight to keep his nomination hopes alive. while one senator says that nomination is, quote doomed big changes are coming to medicare, and your coverage could be affected even if you've had your plan for a

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