i'm jane pauley. we wish you the happiest of thanksgivings. please join us when our trumpet sounds again next "sunday morning." ♪ ♪ we've come to the time in the season ♪ ♪ when family and friends gather near ♪ ♪ to offer a prayer of thanksgiving ♪ ♪ i'm margaret brennan in washington, and this week on "face the nation," president-elect trump makes a

flurry of picks for top health and finance jobs. will they pass muster with the republican-controlled senate? the trump transition team unveiled almost a dozen people selected to fill key cabinet and white house roles. and as would-be nominees are whisped through capitol hill to meet with senators, there's already been one major with withdrawal, a quick replacement, and renewed scrutiny on some of the more controversial national security picks. we'll talk with two key senators, republican rand paul, and democrat tammy duckworth. they'll be questioning the president-elect choices on health, national security, and more. one of trump's national security advisers from his first term, retired army lieutenant general, h.r. mcmaster, will also weigh in. plus, as the conflict between israel, hamas, and hezbollah continues to rage, when can we expect a ceasefire? we'll ask maryland senator chris van hollen who has called

president biden's handling of israel shameful and a policy failure. finally, we'll hear from sarah mcbride frnt chon the opportunities and challenges facing her before she joins congress. that's all ahead on "face the nation." ♪ good morning, and welcome to "face the nation." as we begin this holiday week, americans are preparing to gather to give thanks for what has been, and contemplate what's to come. our latest cbs news poll shows that 59% of americans approve of how president-elect donald trump is handling the presidential transition. trump has kept up a steady drum beat of staffing announcements from his mar-a-lago resort in palm beach, florida, and that is

where we find our nikole killion this morning with the latest. >> reporter: after saturday lunch with one of the senators who will vote on his cabinet picks, president-elect donald trump announced former domestic policy adviser, brooke rollins, for agriculture secretary. one of his most highly anticipated selections, was scott bessent for treasury. if confirmed, the 62-year-old investor would be the first openly gay leader to lead it and responsible for quarterbacking mr. trump's proposed policies on taxes and tariffs. >> the most beautiful word in the dictionary is tariff. >> reporter: a new cbs news poll shows a majority of americans support imposing tariffs on imported goods, and more have an optimistic view of the economy since the election. mr. trump selected a pair of doctors to lead health agencies. former congressman david weldon has promoted debunked anti-vaccine views and has been tapped to lead the center for

disease control. project 2025 architect russ vought plans to reprise his role despite trump's disavowal of the conservative policy blueprint. >> i have nothing do with project 2025. >> reporter: our polling also finds many of the president-elect well known designees have more support than opposition including robert f. kennedy jr., tulsi gabbard, and pete hegseth, the former fox news host picked to lead the pentagon is drawing scrutiny over allegations of sexual assault in a 2017 police report. >> did you sexually assault a woman in monterey, california? >> as far as the media is concerned, i'll keep this very simple. the matter was fully investigated, and i was completely cleared. >> reporter: while president-elect trump has filled out most of his cabinet, a few economic positions remain up for grabs including u.s. trade representative and small business administrator. margaret?

>> that's nikole killion in west palm beach, florida. we go to kentucky senator rand paul. he is set to chair the homeland security committee next year, and he sits on the health committee. welcome back to "face the nation," senator. >> good morning. thanks for having me. >> well, you are a doctor by training. i want to ask you about some of these health picks. i know that you personally said that you have vaccinated all of your children, but vaccination rates in this country as you know, are on the decline. are you at all concerned that elevating individuals who have been publicly critical of some particular vaccines, rfk jr. at hhs director, that dave weldon will erode trust in vaccination? >> you know, i think all of us can agree that there's an increase in vaccine he hesitancy, and i think it comes from people not believing what the government is telling them. the fact that the cdc committee for vaccines and the fda committee for vaccines said for

covid boosters, that you should take a booster if you are over 65, yet the biden administration and rochelle walensky politicized that and said you should boost your 6-month-old. the american public is rejecting -- it's only about 20% of the american public of all ages is taking the covid booster because the government hasn't been honest with this. >> vaccination rates in other -- >> hesitancy -- >> other vaccines as well, not just covid vaccines. there's concerns about measles and other -- >> exactly, but people are doubting because they're being told that. i'll give you an example. look. i think vaccines, smallpox, the story of smallpox vaccine and polio are some of the most miraculous discoveries in all of medicine and i'm not against vaccines. when my kids were little, the hepatitis b vaccine, they want to give it to them as a newborn. my baby has just come into the world, and you can see how a lot of reasonable people say, why do i have to do it as a newborn?

can't i come back at 3 months or 6 months? it's about choice and getting rid of mandates. it's about letting people participate, but it's also about the government being honest. what are the risks, and what are the benefits, and they haven't been honest on covid because healthy children do not die from covid, do not get seriously sick, and there's no proof that the vaccine has any medical benefit for healthy children. >> well, we want to move onto other topics, sir, but we will continue to cover vaccination in this country. i think what you said there is that you're supportive of all those health nominees from what i heard. you have been -- i'm sorry. did you want to say -- >> i was just going to say, yes. i am supportive, but i wouldn't describe them as the problem with vaccine hesitancy. i would describe the government misinformation as the problem with vaccine hesitancy. >> messengers matter though, but you have raised concerns in your role on homeland security about

the implementation of some of the promises donald trump made on the campaign trail. his mass deportation bout is very popular. our cbs polling shows 57% of voters like the idea, but how it is implemented matters a lot to voters. the vast majority prefer that federal law enforcement or immigration agencies carry them out. just 40% say the u.s. military should be involved. the stated trump plan is to use the military or military assets, deputize the national guard, and have them act as immigration agents. do you believe that is lawful? >> you know, i'm 100% supportive of going after the 15,000 murderers, the 13,000 sexual assault perpetrators, rapists, all these people. let's send them on their way to prison or back home to another prison. so i would say all points bulletin, all in, but you don't do it with the army because it's illegal, and we have had a distrust of putting the army into our streets because the

police have a difficult job, and the police understand the fourth amendment. they have to go to judges. they have to get warrants. it has to be specific. i'm for removing these people, but i would do it through the normal process of domestic policing. now i would say that the mayor of denver, if he's going to resist federal law, which there's a longstanding history of the psupremacy of federal la, if he's going to resist that, i would suspect he would be removed from office. i don't know whether or not there would be a criminal prosecution for someone re resisting federal law, but he will lose, and people need to realize that what he is -- what he is offering is a form of insurrection where the states resist the federal government. most people objected to that, and rejected that long ago. so i think the mayor of denver is on the wrong side of history, and really i think will face legal ramifications if he doesn't obey the federal law. >> just context on those numbers you rattled off in terms of criminals. those numbers from i.c.e. are accurate figures, but they're over a 40-year period of time.

what we know now about the immigration authorities who would have to be charged with rounding these individuals up, tere are just 6,000 agents, 41,000 detention beds to carry out the assignment of rounding up millions of undocumented people potentially. how do you suggest they implement it, and if this is a red line for you in terms of using the military, would you vote no on the dhs secretary, kristi noem? >> i will not support and will not vote to use the military in our cities. i think it's a terrible image, but i will tell you that just in the last week with the belief that a new administration will change things, there are four or five criminals arrested in the last week, and what would happen, and i think what will happen under donald trump's administration is i don't recommend he use the army, but i would use the fbi. i would use i.c.e. i would use border patrol, and they have a list now of 15,000.

i don't care if it came in over 40 years or ten years. if you've got a list, you put these people on a all points bulletin. these are the kind of people that are dangerous, and that everybody needs the watch on, and they would go out and seek those people. we have about 30,000 very dangerous people, already convicted of crimes. that should be the first priority for all of this. it's not about detaining them in all likelihood. they should be going to a jail, either a jail here or in the country they came from. so i think if we did that, there would be a lot of unity. if they send the army into new york and you have 10,000 troops marching, carrying semiautomatic weapons, i think that's a terrible image and i will oppose that, but it's not that i oppose removing people. i just object to what has been against the law for over 100 years, and that's using the army. >> but deputizing the national guard, that specifically is the proposal. you also oppose that. >> i don't think it's the best way to do it. it's less clear whether that's legal or illegal.

typically it has to be done at the behest of the governors. i still don't like a militarization of police, whether it's national guard or army. i think there's a lot of fbi. >> okay. >> there's a lot of border patrol agents. there's a better way to do it, and it needs to be individualized. that doesn't mean i'm any less serious about getting it done. it just needs to be done according to the law and consistent with our traditions. >> understood. you have made clear you are a fiscal conservative. i'm going to ask you about the choice just made to select hedge fund manager scott bessent as trasury secretary. he had a long financial career. he served as the chief investment officer for george soros' funds. he's been a political donor. elon musk came out publicly agains him calling him business as usual. do you favor mr. bessent in the role as treasury secretary? >> you know, i've heard good things about him. i haven't made a decision. i lean towards being supportive. i don't like tariffs, but then

again i don't like the president promoting tariffs. i think tariffs are a tax on the consumer, and they ignore things like with steel. there are 80 workers working in steel, buying industry for every worker making steel. so yeah, you can protect certain industries, but it's at the expense of other people. i don't believe that will be enough for me to want to vote against bestent, sent, because also the president's position as well. it saves about every consumer $70,000 a year. everybody in our country is $70,000 richer because of international trade. it's part of one of the booms of post-war and post-industrial revolution. these amazing international trade has made us all richer and we need to talk about the statistics and facts concerning the benefits of trade. >> understood on the nuances and specifics there, but that is primarily how donald trump is promising to pay for all the things he promised on the

campaign trail. as you know, the federal debt is past $36 trillion as of this week. his proposals to lift taxes off of tips, overtime, medicare, social security, give tax credits, that could as as many as $8 trillion more to the deficit according to the committee for responsible budget. do you actually expect republicans to take up these proposals? >> you know, in 2017, i voted for a tax reduction package that they said would add to the debt, but i also forced my colleagues to vote for pay as you go. it's a policy that's in our law, and they have to waive it which means that if a tax cut causes a reduction and it causes an increase in the debt because of reduced revenue, you have to have spending cuts. i've always been in favor of the tax cuts, but iden've also been favor of the spending cuts. the same will in favor with this. it helps the economy, you and you leave money in the hands of

the private sector. i think that's a good idea, but if you do it, i would cut spending, and i would vote for cutting spending as well. >> our polling shows that the vast majority of americans, 86%, prefer people with experience running the agencies, and 64% polled by us think it's important to appoint people with that experience in washington. given that for example, the pentagon pick hasn't ever managed a large corporation or held a high rank in the military, do you think he can run the pentagon? >> yes, and i think the vast majority of people if you poll them, will say, that they don't think people should be picked based on religion or gender or sexuality. they want people to be picked on merit, and one of peote hegseths criticisms of our pentagon is we've gone away from merit and gone more towards racial characteristics, and so i think that the people are, and would

be overwhelmingly in favor of someone who's going to base hiring on merit, not on racial characteristics. >> okay. senator paul, thank you for your time today. "face the nation" will be back in a minute. ldren. (fisher investments) i understand. that's why at fisher investments we start by getting to know each other. so i can learn about your family, lifestyle, goals and needs, allowing us to tailor your portfolio. (wife) what about commission- based products? (fisher investments) we don't sell those. we're a fiduciary, obligated to act in your best interest. (husband) so how do your management fees work? (fisher investments) we have a transparent fee, structured so we do better when you do better. at fisher investments, we're clearly different. it's time for the main event: wayfair's black friday savings spectacular is here! right now, get up to 80% off furniture and cookware, holiday decor, and more at wayfair's lowest prices of the year! plus, score 24-hour flash deals you have to see to believe! and get free shipping on everything!

save up to 80% off wayfair's black friday savings spectacular! now through december 2nd! ♪ wayfair. every style. every home. ♪ we go we go now to democratic senator tammy duckworth in the state of illinois. she sits on the armed services and foreign relations committees. good morning to you, senator. >> good morning. thanks for having me on. >> well, former congressman matt gaetz took himself out of the running this week to become attorney general. this was after he met with senators and cbs reported that as many as 15 republicans opposed him. does that suggest to you that your republican colleagues in the senate will hold the line or are you still concerned they will just green light anyone trump nominates? >> well, i'm deeply concered that they will green light. i'm glad that they held the line on him. i'm also glad that they voted the way they did for the republican leader, but that was

in the secret ballot when they elected senator thune, and, you know, mr. trump's main choice for that position was not selected, but from what i'm hearing from my republican colleagues on everything from defense secretary to other posts, it sounds like they are ready to roll over for mr. trump. >> on that point of defense, since you sit in this advisory role on armed services, i don't have to tell you, but for our audience, there are over 200,000 american women who serve in active duty service right now. thousands of them in frontline combat roles. you were one of them in 2004 with your blackhawk helicopter you were piloting was shot at by an rpg and you sustained severe injuries. here is one mr. trump's pick for defense secretary said about women serving. >> i'm straight-up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. it hasn't made us more effective. it hasn't made more lethal. it has made fighting for complicated. >> do your colleagues who sit with you on armed services

believe that mr. hegseth's statement there is an issue that he needs to perhaps retract? >> well, i think they need to because he's wrong. our military could not go to war without the 220,000-plus women who serve in uniform. the women in our military does make us more effective, does make us more lethal, and let me just make one thing clear. the women who are in those very particular roles, whether it's in special forces or the s.e.a.l.s or the infantry, they meet the same standards as the men, and so he's been out there saying that, you know, women are not as strong. we don't -- the ones who are in those roles have met the same standards as the men and have passed the very rigorous testing, and so he's just flatout wrong. our military could no go to war without the women who wear this uniform and frankly, america's daughters are just as capable of defending liberty and freedom as her sons. >> having served in combat yourself, what do you think of the idea that women make fighting more complicated?

that was specifically what he focused on. >> well, it just shows his lack of understanding of where our military is, you know, he was a pretty low-ranking guy in the military, and he never had a command position. he was a platoon leader, i think once or twice, but he never even commanded a company, and so this is a man who is inordinately unqualified for the position. remember that the pentagon is 3 million service members. i don't think he has run anything near to that size, and frankly, women actually make our military more effective, and i've personally found that i brought many insights to my job when i was a logistics officer - that came from my own personal background that made things better. i took better care of my men ffor example, in my unit. i was often the only woman in an all-male unit, and my gender was a problem. i just adapted and we continued to perform the mission. >> the question of character has

also come up in regard to this leadership role. mr. hegseth has acknowledged he paid a woman back in 2017 to quiet her accusations of sexual assault. he claims it was consensual sex. i'm sure you've read that monterey police report as we did here. it refers to the defense code, rape: victim unconscious nature of the act. it details both the accuser's and hegseth's version of events. here's what mark wayne mullin said it shows. two people flirting with each other. is the committee going to speak with the accuser to see if this was a misunderstanding? >> that will be the decision of the republican chairman of the committee next year. i hope that we will, but i suspect that they, again, will roll over for mr. trump. frankly, i will raise those questions. remember that we've just fought over a decade of fights and overhaul at the military, and its treatment of military sexual

trauma. it's frankly an insult, and really troubling that mr. trump would nominate someone who has admitted that he's paid off a victim who has claimed rape allegations against him. this is not the kind of person you want to lead the department of defense. >> to move to a vote you took this past week, you've said you have discussed at the brutal tactics used by the netanyahu government in gaza, but you voted against all three resolutions of disapproval this past week that would have paused very specific offensive weapons shipments to israel, your colleague, senator van hollen said it's just about getting israel to comply with u.s. law. how do you respond to that? why shouldn't they be held to the same standards as other recipients of u.s. aid? >> well, i respect senator van hollen's position, and, in fact, i have a cosigned many of the letters that he's led that has caught on israel to comply with humanitarian standards across the world. my decision comes from my

military experience, the fact that many of these rounds were not going to be delivered for a couple of years. the fact that, you know, these are resolutions. they don't actually have binding effect, and frankly for me, my decision came from the fact that we have tens of thousands of u.s. troops in harm's way right now, and i am deeply concerned that resolution that doesn't actually do anything might invoke the houthis and iranian regime and hamas to further target american troops abroad. so i respect chris. he and i are good friends. we were freshmen in the senate together, but we come at this from slightly different angles. mine from 23 years of military experience, but i share his concern about the brutal way that israel has acted in gaza, and, you know, i cosigned many of his letters. >> our polling shows that there is a desire among the american people to see democrats and republicans work together in this future trump administration. with that in mind, i'm looking

at some of these nominees including trump's pick for labor secretary. she is drawing praise from unions because she is perceived as pro-union. could you see yourself supporting her or any of the other nominees? >> absolutely. i, you know, what i would need to do is have a chance to sit down and talk with each one of these nominees and listen to them and hear what they have to say. i think congressman collins over at v.a., he's the nominee, and i could talk with him. i worked with him in the house a few years back. i'm going to evaluate each one of these candidates based on their ability to do the job, and their willingness to put the needs of the american people first, and not be on a retribution campaign for mr. trump. so it's about -- are they willing to be independent and do the job they are being nominated to do, and are they competent and qualified for the position? >> senator duckworth, we appreciate your time this morning. >> thank you. >> and we'll be right back with a lot more "face the nation." stay with us. lot more "face the nation." stay with us.

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