matt gaetz pete hegseth or robert f. kennedy jr.. while you're voting, sign up for the free daily newsletter i hand select 20 aggregated links every day, providing you with media balance. it costs nothing and you get great editorial cartoons like this one from jack ohman episodes of how it really happened wasn't just about tampering, it was about evil why did they do it? this pathological, how it really happened tomorrow at nine on cnn bye bye. >> cough or chest congestion? hello? 12 hours of relief. >> 12 hours. >> not coughing. hashtag still not coughing mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion in any type of cough, day or night. >> mucinex dm its comeback season can support your brain health. >> mary. janet. hey, eddie. 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 oh, what a good time we will have you can make it happen again voltaren for long lasting arthritis pain relief >> subtle curves curated

we have talked about matt gaetz who is -- we have three nominees embroiled in sexual misconduct scandals, pete hegseth, r.f.k. jr. and matt gaetz. if nothing they could get embarrassing. an easy way to avoid that is through recess appointments, adjourning congress and having the president appoint whoever he wants. it's an extreme test of presidential authority. president-elect trump has talked about it. he has not laid out a plan of how he would do it. mike johnson would need to be onboard with this although we haven't seen any signs that mike johnson would appose anything the president wanted to do. one of the things i think is really interesting is back in 2013, president obama tried this and he made a couple of recess appointments during the holiday. the republican congress tried to push back by having pro forma sessions. it went all the way to the supreme court and the supreme court swatted obama down, telling him this was unconstitutional because as long as they were having the pro forma sessions, that counted a them being in session. the supreme court did not define where the powers end in terms

he is standing by matt gaetz, pete hegseth, and tulsi gabbard. why do you think he picked them? is he standing by for fear. >> you are in your car, driving down the street and your check engine light goes on, what do you do? pull into a grocery store? no, look for a filling station where there might be somebody who knows what to do. trump is doing the exact opposite. he is intentionally kind of sabotaging the system steve bannon, his old political advisory actually says that in the first months of the trump administration the idea is to pierce tradition, obliterate it. put a hand grenade over it and so you see all of these appointees that trump made that he is standing by what does he want? he wants a revolution where he controls completely. and, to achieve that he has to destroy the system. so, driving down the road, check engine light goes on, he goes into a clown store. because that is where has happened. >> your book, come is so relevant to this moment because you actually talk about what people in these past jobs, including people trump had in his first administration did.

he was lamenting today on truth social that clearly matt gaetz and pete hegseth are undergoing scrutiny and having questions about whether or not they can get confirmed and was essentially making the argument that that i've heard he's also been making in private, which is that no matter who he picked, they were going to be facing obviously, that is something that a lot of senate republicans, even would disagree with. anderson. >> yeah, i mean mean it seems like gates mostly held the line in his meetings with senate republicans. they're basically all saying he deserves a hearing, even if they're not saying they'd vote to confirm him he benefits, obviously, from the house ethics committee, not releasing its report um, where does this go next, do you think? >> the goal right now is just to get it to a hearing. what they are trying to stave off by having these meetings with these senators today for matt gaetz, tomorrow for pete hegseth, is that enough of them? don't come out because they can only lose a handful and say, i'm just not going to be able to get behind this person. they are askin

matt gaetz, pete hegseth, tulsi gabbard and robert f. kennedy jr. and the like.t the possibility that trump will try to shove these through with recess appointments? how would that happen? what sort of reaction, what kind of feasibility is there that this could happen? >> to do a recess appointment the congress need to be in appropriately and they must vote affirmatively to go into recess for this purpose. for years congress has avoided to go into any type of lengthy res recess for this purpose. it's how the senate has operated more than a decade. i'm skeptical that senators will vote to do that. if you're mitch mcconnell who still has a vote in the senate will you vote to take away the power of the senate and one of the responsibilities of the senate to vet and confirm nominees so donald trump can put in a full slate of whoever he wants? that seems unlikely. but donald trump has one more card he could potentially play. the constitution allows him to recess congress. he can declare them in recess if there is a disagreement between the house and senate to -- wheth

we can confirm that vance is meeting with nominees like matt gaetz and pete hegseth and their nominations head to the senate and vance flexing contacts in that chamber to get the nominees through starting in meetings on the hill this week. meantime, trump is giving the press a chance for a reset and telling fox digital he's committed to working with the media including those that treated him badly and >> he's going to be the president and if you want to meet with him, meet with him. that's no different than why would kamala harris go talk to brett bear, on one side -- bret baier. >> trump thinking while many others are calling for meetings, i'm not looking for retribution, grand standing or destroying people treating me unfairly even badly beyond comprehension he said. reporter: the current president had no engagements with the press and on his way back from the two summits in south america that ended without a press conference or a shouting question answered. in fact, the pool traveling with him was screaming at biden as he boarded air force one to return to washington trying to get him

matt gaetz, pete hegseth, tulsi gabbard, what if rfk jr. is nominated for a position? senators are going to be sick and tired of taking tough votes. so we'll see. >> is there any concern among those senators about the backlash that could happen if they say no? i mean, i ask that very seriously because after the insurrection, jake, you saw a number of senators, lindsey graham included, coming out and saying enough's enough, we can't do this anymore and then turning right back around and saying donald trump wasn't responsible, it is not that big of a deal, and that was the insurrection. it happened after they were followed by trump supporters, at the airport, yelled at, they were threatened, physically as well. i just question the reason why i say it is a maybe, and the reason why i ask this today and frame it this way is because even on an issue as big as insurrection, a violent insurrection, you saw these republicans backpedal and try to make it easier for donald trump. i just don't know what the appetite is, maybe beyond susan collins and lisa murkowski, i don't know

pete hegseth. what's your feeling on that? >> i think that pete hegseth is maybe a little bit less controversial than matt gaetz, but still, this is all relative i mean, there's controversial, then there's off the wall controversial. i would categorize matt gaetz as off the wall controversial. pete hegseth is still a very unorthodox choice, you know, of course, he's been a fox news anchor very, uh involved in trump's first administration, was kind of lobbying behind the scenes for uh, u.s. service members who have been accused or convicted of war crimes talked to trump on his show fox and friends. trump would tweet back at him so i'm not sure if this is an individual that republicans on capitol hill in particular would be willing to push back. i mean, maybe some of the more establishment old guard would say this is just not our pick. we need someone who's a bit more really coming in with a mandate, and i think it's going to be a bruising struggle and a dilemma for gop politicians especially given that many republicans on capitol hill, you know, don't want to challenge what they perceive as just this juggernaut of trump coming i

we are reporting on the problems with matt gaetz, pete hegseth had problems that were surprises to theg us this came fast enough it doesn't sound like you understand there was a sufficient or extensive debate, discussion and vetting process? you just had a candidate go down, go lose partly over vetting. >> reporter: right. as far as we are aware, those memorandums of understanding with the gsa have not been signed by this trump transition team meaning that they have not agreed to go through fbi background checks or security clearances for any of these cabinet picks or nominees. there is no federal funding that is going to this transition because that would require them to sign financial disclosures. it's private money they are getting and potential conflicts of interest. mar-a-lago is operating on its own island, if you will, in very literally and metaphorical ways here. i think this is for this operation, it's not just pete hegseth, not just matt gaetz, right, over sexual misconduct and sexual assault allegations, but linda mcmahon her husband, vince mcmahon, in wwe are under departme

matt gaetz and pete hegseth will be working to win over any skeptical republican senators in their bids to become attorney general and defense secretary respectively. "cbs news" reporter asked trump about his selection of matt gaetz. >> reporter: are you reconsidering the nomination of that gates? >> no. >> reporter: how far are you willing to go to get him confirmed? >> norah: cbs's caitlin huey-burns is going to lead us off from west palm beach, florida. good evening, caitlin. >> reporter: good evening. elon musk and the president-elect have been virtually inseparable since the election, but today's trip wasn't just an outing with friends. it also puts a spotlight on the relationship between musk's businesses and the federal government. >> reporter: president-elect donald trump and businessman elon musk took their friendship to texas today to watch musk's company spacex test if largest vessel. commercial rocket launches like this one are regulated by the federal government and spacex has complained that some of those regulations or slowing down technology. >> elon, get those rocket sh

comment, tuberville i am worried about matt gaetz and pete hegseth, i know there is opposition, i am worried about matt gaetz you have the world of a convicted felon now in his serving out an 11 year prison term, right now. and his two prostitute lady friends. they seem to be the principle attackers for matt gaetz, i don't know everything that there is to know about this, i spend time with mollie hemingway a brill i brilliant journalist, who wrote about this i don't think a lot of people in senate want matt gaetz because he is a tough minded conservative. who will protect donald trump. from any kind of nonsensical lawfare and weaponization, you know. russia, russia. and all that garbage, what do you think, what kind of shape is the t is -- matt gaetz thing. >> in no matter who president trump picks media will hammer them every day, we have all been around long, if you are a republican, you have to fight your way through all this. if you remember, clearance cler clarence thomas and bret c kavanaugh, they are all rumors, we have to look at facts, we have to help president trump, he will

and today two of trump's most controversial picks, matt gaetz and pete hegseth, will be on capitol hill with vice president-elect j.d. vance working to win over some skeptical republican senators. cbs' naomi ruchim joins us with the latest. this is really the first test of the trump administration's influence. >> reporter: right. and michael, those republican senators definitely have their work cut out for them in terms of convincing folks to get these confirmations today. the meetings come as what's being called an unknown and unauthorized third party has gained access to two dozen depositions of witnesses tied to the various investigations into former representative matt gaetz, trump's pick for attorney general. a lawyer for two of his accusers has come forward detailing their testimony that gaetz paid them for sex including one who was 17 at the time. president-elect donald trump has revealed more picks to his incoming administration. among them, transition adviser and billionaire businessman howard lutnik for commerce secretary. his former small business administrator linda mcmahon,

nazi, fascist, liar, racist, and you know, matt gaetz, pete hegseth, tulsi gabbard, rfk jr. it's like i'm getting a headache already. how much outrage can can one side possibly muster up that is feigned, phony and hypocritica? well, it's all they have, as we've seen, this is the last group of people after what we've all been going through for a decade, not even just the last year. but americans have clearly sent a message that we know who you are. we don't want what you're selling. we don't believe you. we know that you're in the business of making us afraid and sick and you want us to retreat. there is nothing they can say that we can believe. and the election was more than just electing donald trump. even though, of course, that was magnificent. it was a statement to everyone else by giving the entire government to him, by giving him this, this massive margin that not seen for almost 100 years in the popular vote. it was in a way, a national apology for having believed the democrats. but it also was what we're all experiencing is this lift of pressure on us, because we hav

>> i think the linda mcmahon one is different from the various allegations that involve matt gaetz pete hegseth and rfk jr.. so that is a bit different. but you know the i'm trying to put this delicately the political culture that surrounds maga is generally puts a lot of stock in alpha males and there is an emphasis on virility and therefore sex related matters can sometimes come up that would be the best way for me to explain why three of these nominees. well, it's now two because one just dropped out. matt gaetz had these various issues that swirled around them otherwise it's just a coincidence. and that's a little hard to believe. >> yeah, well, i mean it's interesting, but it is. i'm glad you took a moment to catch your thoughts because i think it's a very well said now memorable thank you so much, mark. >> i probably should have i probably should have taken a little more time to capture my thoughts, but thank you. i appreciate it. >> all right. well, it's good to see you. and next, an ominous warning tonight from putin saying he will fire more of his experimental missiles at ukraine and b

undoubtedly she will still face through the confirmation hearings, but compared to matt gaetz, compared to pete hegseth and linda mcmahon, there is not a cloud of controversy related to sexual assaults or misconduct or cover-up allegations that she is facing with a republican senate majority, she should be a welcomed face coming to capitol hill. >> in fact there is none of that at all. so, ryan nobles up there on the hill, does she have a much better chance of confirmation in the senate than matt gaetz? doesn't have a whole lot of experience but she was, you know, florida's attorney general for eight years, so, that's something. >> reporter: i don't think there is much doubt at all that she has a much smoother path to confirmation than matt gaetz. but that bar is not very high. pam bondi, i think, will draw quite a bit of scrutiny from democrats. she's going to have to sit on -- for a confirmation hearing where they will ask her pointed questions about her role in the 2020 election denialism, whether or not that loses her any republican votes, i think it is an open question. but i think, you know, the

matt gaetz as attorney general. that's who donald trump is nominating or trying to nominate for attorney general. matt gaetz. you thought pete hegseth surprising. matt gaetz. now symone sanders. i know we want to talk to you about the democrats and i still do. but let's get your first reaction to matt gaetz. you're laughing. tell me. >> you knocked the earring out of my ear. let me say when we heard the first nominations put forward by president-elect trump, i heard from a number of democrats and even some republicans, particularly people work on the hill, you know, proxies for their ranking officials who say he could have nominated worse people. these don't seem bad, these are career individuals. i disagree with the -- the democrats saying i disagree with their ideology but we can work with them. then you heard the nomination of pete hegseth for secretary of defense. many said i want to take my comments back or, we don't know if this is true then you saw at the press release from the president-elect talking about this was his nomination. matt gaetz is interesting. what are the qualifications, if you will? and can he get through a s

in the world of matt gaetz and pete hegseth maybe not too toxic in 2024. solates donald trump's agenda in a way that may or may not play out well. matt gaetz with the toxic mix of unqualified. he was not qualified to run the department in questions of personal fitness related to serious allegations of misconduct with a minor. there was also a question of an enemies list. was his agenda to pursue an enemies list? with pam bondi, you have someone that is qualified to run the department and questions of personal fitness aren't significant enough to disqualify her. now it comes down to a fascinating confirmation hearing where she will be asked, do you think it is appropriate for the justice department to be an arm of the executive office of the president? do you plan as attorney general to prosecute liz cheney and adam schiff and you plan to go out to the media? how would you handle donald trump pushing the lines? i think she is being set up to be bill barr of the second administration. with bill barr you have someone that did all of the presidents bidding on r

we have talked about matt gaetz who is -- we have three nominees embroiled in sexual misconduct scandals, pete hegsethr. and matt gaetz. if nothing they could get embarrassing. an easy way to avoid that is through recess appointments, adjourning congress and having the president appoint whoever he wants. it's an extreme test of presidential authority. president-elect trump has talked about it. he has not laid out a plan of how he would do it. mike johnson would need to be onboard with this although we haven't seen any signs that mike johnson would appose anything the president wanted to do. one of the things i think is really interesting is back in 2013, president obama tried this and he made a couple of recess appointments during the holiday. the republican congress tried to push back by having pro forma sessions. it went all the way to the supreme court and the supreme court swatted obama down, telling him this was unconstitutional because as long as they were having the pro forma sessions, that counted a them being in session. the supreme court did not define where the powers end in terms of making

intoxication and she maintains she did not willingly have sex with pete hegseth and one other difference between pete hegseth and matt gaetz folks that donald trump has been associated with including donald trump himself, pete hegseth never denied he was engaged in a sexual encounter with his accuser. he told the monterrey police department that they had consensual sex, she led him back to his hotel room and that she immediately regretted the act and showed signs of regret, though he didn't elaborate on that. this is a woman happily married with two small children, on a different floor of the hotel, there is something here that doesn't add up with respect to pete hegseth and his accuser. the matt gaetz situation was more fraught, his accusers, while young women, were engaged in sex work at the time. if the matt gaetz story was a bridge too far for many republican senators, i wonder how they're going to receive this woman if and when they have to confront the reality of her story. >> and i would imagine this would come out in the confirmation hearings at the very least this police report. >> absolutely. >> lisa rubin, juani

matt gaetz will be the attorney general. trump wants to see how low he can go. apparently, the answer is how low he can go is whatever is sort of above matt gaetz and below pete hegsetht know. it is interesting when you find out what a bridge too far for donald trump looks like. apparently it looks like matt gaetz. >> the gaetz eyebrows are the low watermark for him. you know, we were wrong about this though the wrongness was based on how these senators will act and matt gaetz let them off the hook by withdrawing. murkowski didn't have to force the others to not vote for him. it was interesting. gaetz may have been decided to withdraw for other reasons. he may not have wanted the additional details of the apparently two encounters with the 17-year-old or the other payments that "the new york times" reported on and that remains to be seen and the big test of that which is our thesis is that these senators will fold to trump will be hegseth and rfk. you know for a fact that mitch mcconnell, given his past and his commitment to the polio vaccine is not at all interested in antivaxxer leading hhs. will he actually stand in the way of rfk, jr.? that will be one test and p

but the thing is, president trump has put forth matt gaetz and pete hegseth and tulsi gabbard and now rfk jr. so they're not going to block -- there will be some choices, if they choose to block any of them. certainly rfk jr. won't be to have of the list, or would he be? >> i wouldn't put him in the same category of gaetz. i think gaetz is pretty far under the line. rfk, i saw a few positive vibes out of senate. i'm not going to totally handicap it yet. he like everybody else gets to sit at a table and answer questions. to your point, a lot of what he talks about, there's widespread agreement with on the left and the right. if we just improve the way we ate in this country we would solve a lot of our health problems and it would be really good. so you'll get widespread bipartisan agreement on that. i'm certain the vaccine stuff will be the biggest flash point in the hearings. and like everybody else who gets nominated, he'll have a chance to answer for those statements. and the senators will have to decide whether that's satisfactory or not. as a political matter, there is no hateding

the ones you mentioned, matt gaetz, rfk jr., and the appointment to the defense department, pete hegseth. i think all of those are very problematic among at least four or five republicans who don't want them, but donald trump has the right as i say to make appointments because he is the elected president but as i say he doesn't have the right to stock it with one flew over the cuckoo's nest meets star wars people. >> danielle, the new york times reporting trump advisers are proposing to give security clearances without fbi vetting. we have seen what happens when trump has access to classified documents, for example. when you consider men like matt gaetz and pete hegseth are up for incredibly important jobs, are we looking at a second trump term of just political negligence and yes-men? >> i mean, i don't think it is just going to be negligence, katie. i think it will be woefully dangerous, right? one, we already know that matt gaetz, for instance, has been caught up in scandal, has been investigated over potentially having sex with a minor. we already know that a number of the men that h

to -- i think what exactly would be the rationalization for not appointing somebody like matt gaetz or pete hegsethke, well, matt gaetz had some allegations against him. you supported a felon for president who was indicted in four different j6s. pete hegseth is unserious. you supported a reality tv host who was a scam artist who a failed university and failed water company for president. so there is no rationale for donald trump for commander-in-chief and not whatever, you know, ridiculous alignment of characters he chooses to be around him in his cabinet. so i find the whole thing -- i was just looking online and listening to your previous guests. the reporters on the hill saying that john cornyn is snorting and people at the pentagon are aghast. it's like, where were all these people? obviously, donald trump was going to pick his cronies and tv show hosts to run the government. like, that's what he told us he was going to do. and so, you know, i think that there are some people, the establishment in the gop now is maga, but the former establishment of the gop, john thune and all of them are in fo

the gabbard nomination has generated fewer headlines because matt gaetz and pete hegseth and all these other things. right. but at the same time, there are things here that certainly a lot of the republicans that i used to cover every day on capitol hill would have a lot of problems with. what is your sense of whether there is a big issue here for gabbard on a list of unorthodox picks, tulsi gabbard perhaps one of the most unorthodox. >> i think for exactly the reasoning that mitt romney and nikki haley and a lot of the folks have been talking about now, of course this hasn't gotten a lot of attention because there has been so much else exploding with this vetting in public of these at the top of the show was about the new allegations the new document leaks, what the ethics committee is doing. >> there is so much news that we've been distracted from that. that doesn't mean i think a lot of the intelligence community and a lot of intelligence focused members of congress are focusing on this is very interesting. the new york post came out against tulsi gabbard. i think earlier this week.

matt gaetz. he has a lot less invested in pete hegseth. matt gaetz was somebody that he handpicked, that he believed would lead the most important department or division of his administration. pete hegseth was picked almost on a whim. he was certainly on the short list, but he had been somebody that donald trump watched clips of. he liked the way his messaging was so less investment in pete hegseth. and the question is, how big of a problem does pete hegseth have become to which donald trump essentially moves away? because again, it's all about political capital at this time. and donald trump has people around him who are saying, we have a couple of controversial picks that are very important. we need to make sure that they get through. you have to decide how much capital you want to use on each of these people. so the question is again, how big of a problem does hegseth become for donald trump and the administration before we see him start to back away if we do see that at all? >> all right. kristen holmes always bringing us the very lates

matt gaetz. there's a lot of open questions, and i think, looking at the people trump has nominated from matt gaetz to pete hegseth him and not all of these people are going to get through. >> yes, and the other question would be, you are talking about republicans that are still in the senate, how many of those republicans have very serious profound interests in the trump administration over the next four years and how many of them are willing to in the early days say no, i'm not supporting it. >> yeah, probably not that many of them, because this is part of the larger story of donald trump's complete dominance of the modern republican party. eight years ago, when he was elected president, he had no congressional wing to speak of, in the house, in the senate, the republicans viewed him not really as the leader of their party but as this party crashing. now he has almost driven out every outspoken member of congress who has opposed him, the quintessential example being someone like mitt romney. and now romney is out of the senate and there are very few of those people left who are willing to say no to trump.>> jeff

other names that are less normal, maybe we will see a bit more controversy, for matt gaetz for attorney general, pete hegsethnse to name a couple. what is the sense that you are hearing among republicans about some of these names are the chances that they might be approved by the senate? the key thing to understand about what's going on in the senate right now is we have a change of guard on the republican side which will control the senate next year. we're in very unsteady times. the new senate majority leader elect isjohn thune and we don't have a sense of how he's going to approach things compared to mitch mcconnell. we can say there's going to be a majority. republicans will have a four or five seat majority in the senate. there are possibly a handful of senators who can make up that margin and stop a nomination. i think itjust depends on how much pressure they feel, whether or not they will run for re—election and how much incoming they're willing to take from donald trump and his allies. when you look at some of these names that may not be exactly the way others would nominate, maybe not establishment

hegseth? and also jd vance, which i find fascinating? the only two meetings he's sitting in on are those with matt gaetz and pete hegseth noting that he um, you know, he's not sitting on the ones with stefanik and doug collins that are also taking place. but all to say, um, one trump source that i had this morning i was talking with said the same honestly, the same thing we heard from the trump team on the record, which was the police report doesn't change anything because it doesn't change the fundamental point that charges were never brought. that is what they're going to keep saying. i think when i talk to them about the broader question about what is going to happen with this, is there a contingency plan? are you actually are there actually concerns about this? a few things. as we know, there was a lot of frustration and uneasiness from the get go with donald trump selecting pete hegseth. and that's partly because it happened so quickly. he called him down to mar-a-lago to interview him. very soon after donald trump announced that he was going to be his pick to lead the pentagon. however, they didn't have a lot of time to vet him to

matt gaetz and pete hegseth will be introduced to to some skeptical senators. trump wants recess appointments to avoid lengthy senate confirmation hearings. meanwhile, the influence of elon musk just keeps on growing. he took the president-elect to see the launch of a spacex rocket. musk gives advice and opinion on everything. it's a relationship that's helping musk. tesla's stock has rallied strongly especially since trump's team pledged today relax the rules on self-driving cars. that helps musk's robotaxi. back to the market and p oh, look at this, target's stock heading south. same-store sales heading down. what is target doing wrong and walmart doing right? if big picture the dow industrials will open with a small gain the morning, same with s&p, same with the maas nasdaq. little bit of green. bitcoin, last time we checked it was $93,000, it's gone up again, 94,400 as of now. interest rates, the 10-year yield moving up to 4.4 3%, the 32-year around 4.30. actually, it's now 4.31. oil, $70 toa barrel, 700.10. gas -- 70.10. gas down to an average of $3.06. di

predators coming to town in january of 2025, they may be two of trump some cabinet picks, matt gaetz and pete hegseth are fighting allegations of sexual misconduct, which both men denied that she is worried about transgender people using her bathroom and this is literally what it means to flood the zones and we are talking about transgender panic and not the unfitness of trump's cabinet picks and the very real threats they pose to the agencies they are set to lead. for example in a video of 2020 from rfk jr., trump's pick to lead the health and human services agency suggesting that he is open to the idea that the global coronavirus pandemic was actually a sinister government conspiracy. >> many people argue that this pandemic was a planned pandemic and planned from the outset and i can't tell you the answer to that and i don't have enough evidence. >> to be clear, the pandemic that caused the deaths of more than 1 million people in the united states, the covid pandemic, wasn't planned by the us government. here is another example. a few hours ago trump named dr. oz the failed pennsylvania senate cand

pete hegseth story. in the pentagon. and other is matt gaetz story. you wrote on pete hegseth story. what is that will do? they have witnesses who are not good witnesses? or not credible? what is that they are worried about with pete hegseth? >> well i don't think that trump is worried about him, i think that trump is going ahead with him. this is just usual smear that every single member of this administration will suffer. and we have seen that trump and his people are teflon, they have thrown every smear possible at trump and called him a rapist and a nazi, you name it he won a landslide. so it doesn't work. i think people see it for what it is. pete hegseth is a danger to the blob to the sort of military industrial c complex he is a real soldier he is against the woke d.e.i., endless wars, a point less military spending and matt gaetzs is the same, they are bid ill fin fing -- they are both middle fingers by trump to the deep state, telling them it is not going to be business as usual any more, i'm not going to be mr. nice guy. >> one mistake trump made first time, generals are im

so rfk i think the focus shifts from matt gaetz to pete hegseth, but we should not sleep on the dangersedy imposes and in fact at one point he knew exactly who donald trump was and what kind of regime donald trump would bring to america. >> right. i mean, look, when we had dr. fauci, who is a brilliant man, because donald trump wouldn'tlis will be to him and lied to the public a million people died. that's why donald trump was fired the first time when his supporters decided to sack the capitol because they couldn't handle the fact that he was fired for botching covid. now somebody who believes in chemical trails and doesn't believe in vaccinations. it's not just because he is a kennedy. he used to be somebody who was very respected for his environmental views, including having called mcdonald's poison. let me show you a picture of him completing his humiliation. not only is he chilling with the man he said is like hitler and mussolini, he is consuming mcdonald's, something he would have never done when his dignity was intact, he has to fully humiliate himself. you have to fully humilia

there's more rumors up there going around about matt gaetz and pete hegseth, and all of them have somed of rumor when it comes down to it. we've got to look at facts. we've got to help president trump. he's not going to pick somebody that's a criminal, he's not going to do that. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: tommy, i've got some news you might want to hear. [ laughter ] the president is a criminal. 34 times over. [ cheers and applause ] he's a convicted criminal. truth be told, he's not even looking for a cabinet, he's looking for cellmates, okay? [ laughter ] team trump is said to be "optimistic" about gaetz's nomination. but if gaetz wants enough votes to get confirmed in the senate, he's got a lot of work to do. not on his face. he's already done too much on that. [ laughter ] he looks like he got the forehead got zamboni'd or something. [ laughter ] maybe instead of attorney general, he could be our plastic surgeon general? [ laughter ] i think we'd be okay with that. [ cheers and applause ] this list of nominees of trump, it's like he's turning the whole government into a tv show. ♪ full

so much, whether on purpose or not, by picking people like matt gaetz and pete hegseth for dod, that that may be the the you know, capacity of what republican senators are willing to consider on capitol hill has changed and shifted enough. that is something that, of course, remains to be seen. when it comes to confirmation hearing time. jake. >> all right kaitlan collins, thanks so much. and, caitlin, of course, is front and center for all the trump transition news there in west palm beach florida. look out for more of her excellent reporting tonight on her show, the source. that's tonight at nine eastern only here on cnn. now let's go to cnn's lauren fox. is live for us on capitol hill. and lauren, just 24 hours ago, matt gaetz was making the rounds with republican senators to build support for his nomination i was told by a senate source, a republican senate source, that he left the hill yesterday feeling pretty good. matt gaetz, how are lawmakers reacting today to the decision to withdraw and also to the new reporting from cnn that that 17 year old girl alleges there was more than

>> pete hegseth at the pentagon or matt gaetz, your former colleague at the u.s. attorney as u.s. attorney or tulsi gabbard another former congresswoman as director of national intelligence, any any thoughts on any of them it's awful. >> i mean, when you read some of the comments especially as i was looking at the comments by the man who wants to lead our defense department it was just a complete misunderstanding of how we fight today, saying that women shouldn't be in combat, as if there's some sort of front line that women shouldn't be on. they should be, um, away from the front line. our military is integrated. we our fighting force needs women today. so, for example, if we are in the middle east doing house to house clearing of weapons caches, we need to make because you can't go gain intel inside those homes where women and children are. if you don't have women that can do that kind of combat clearing. and so not only are we saying am i saying that, look, you need women inside the force because that's how we fight today. and they should be able to do many of the jobs as well

i mean, obviously, you talk about the fact that these two picks, matt gaetz and pete hegseth, being viewed with some skepticism, even among some republicans here. so with that being said, how much opposition are these two likely to face in the senate during the confirmation process? >> yeah. so the republicans have a 53 seat majority in the senate. those are, by and large, trump republicans. there are not a lot of moderate republicans anymore. they're effectively two. so i would expect that trump is going to get the majority of his picks through a normal process. the senate today also elected a new republican leader. so john thune is going to be the leader of the senate. and president trump has already articulated that he wants the senate to approve some of these appointments effectively through what's called the recess appointment, which is to say that the president can make them in the senate, not even consider them, because those appointments can happen during the recess. and the president elect has said that he expects the these appointments to not face any opposition and, if necessary

this whole conventional wisdom is so silly, these people on the hill say matt gaetz is not going to get through, but pete hegsethce between matt gaetz and pete hegseth. they both have private issues, very serious accusations in their personal lives, they are both unqualified, pete has never been elected to anything, he was a weekend talk show host until about two minutes ago, so the only rationale is that people don't like matt gaetz because he was mean to them but that's a -- >> none of this is normal, none of this is acceptable and none of it is inevitable. actually think trump has made a miscalculation by nominating so many of them really, somebody like hegseth, he got nominated a month ago, it could be two months before he has hearings and there are plenty of evil in the media and in congress who are going to start to try and hold the line, at least i hope, for some semblance of ethics and integrity especially around institutions like the pentagon -- >> but what is that look like, i take your point and trump hates bad press, that's his standard for everything, i mean what is your sense of what it would take

all three of trump's most high profiled picks, gabbard, pete hegseth and matt gaetz in the things theyd and the content they have in the departments that they are now going to lead and the views they have that are in stark contrast to the republicans now asked to confirm them to lead those agencies. we will start with tulsi gabard who said reportedly the west is responsible for the war in ukraine. far out of line to the views of bipartisan national security experts. >> kamala harris was in europe a few days before putin invaded ukraine. speaking clearly and loudly about how ukraine should become a member of nato. this was one of the mainince gators crossing this red line that russia, during putin's reign and before him have been the red line. and it, for any objective- minded person you can understand why they would not want nato missiles sitting in ukraine. >> so, again, whatever you think of that, you have to look at how it squares with the views of outgoing gop senate leader mitch mcconnell and a sizeable chunk of his caucus. >> by assisting ukraine today america is directly demonst

and and then there's matt gaetz and pete hegseth and. oh rfk admitted to groping the nanny. i'm not saying this crew will not be good at their jobs, but they will be the first cabinet that's asked to stay within 500ft of a school uh sexual harassment seminar that we all have to do at work? we finally found an office that needs it. okay, we got a great show. >> i thank you for a great season. we have donna brazile and andrew sullivan are here >> ready? wallet. happy that's 365 by whole foods market lowe's knows when it comes to the holidays. >> everything has to be seamless. save on lg's first ever zero clearance refrigerator that has near flush installation for the ultimate built in look. save at lowe's. now, during our black friday build up event in-store and online, advil liquid gels are faster and stronger than tylenol rapid release gels also from advil, advil targeted relief, the only topical with four powerful pain fighting ingredients that start working on contact and lasts up to eight hours. >> i wish my tv provider let me choose what i pay for i wish my tv provider l

. >> and then there's matt gaetz and pete hegseth and. oh rfk admitted to groping the nanny. i'm not saying this crew will not be good at their jobs, but they will be the first cabinet that's asked to stay within 500ft of a school uh harassment seminar that we all have to do at work? we finally found an office that needs it. okay, we got a great show. >> i thank you for a great season. we have donna brazile and andrew sullivan are here anymore. >> i have sling. >> okay. morning. i only left sling. deliver the news. i need to stay informed. thank you very much. nice one. nope. sling gives us all the news we want in a quick and reliable manner and at a wonderful price this critical time calls for the critical news coverage that sling >> okay, see you tomorrow the most important news at the best price sling lets you do that >> it's roxie you ought to be glad you good girls are gonna go bad. >> you were made to chase your passions we were made to put them in a package can stretch further than your budget. >> with my lowe's rewards, you get member deals and earn points when you sh

tough questions, but as these allegations and these details from these individuals like matt gaetz and pete hegsethrward here, it really sort of clouds over the entirety of this process in which it will take to fill out a cabinet and top administration posts for donald trump. not to mention the other political appointees, which there will have to be 4,000 of them to fill out the executive branch come january 2025. >> vaughn hillyard and ali vitali thank you very much. now basal, democratic strategist and former republican congressman charlie debt. charlie, you served as its house ethics committee chair. how damaging is all of this new reporting about gaetz for his confirmation? >> i think it's all very damaging. this report that is on -- seems imminently it could come out, will be very damaging to matt gaetz because -- by the way, matt gaetz would not have resigned if this report would give him a clean bill of health. this report likely says, of course i haven't seen it, they will recommend some sanction, reprimand, censure, worst case expulsion, which would be moot because he resigned. if the comm

to head to capitol hill to meet with lawmakers alongside embattled attorney general pick matt gaetz and pete hegsethcast, the parent company of nbc universal announcing a major shake-up in some of its key assets. nbc's business correspondent brian chung joins us with this. what do we know? >> just moment ago comcast announcing it will spin off key cable brands into a new, separate and publicly traded company. those include some of nbc universal's tv brands people might recognize like msnbc, nbc, e! the sci-fi channel and oxygen. nbc news and telemundo in addition to the streaming service peacock will remain under comcast, nbc sports as well as bravo which has a strong presence on peacock will also remain under the comcast umbrella. in an email sent to employees this morning, comcast president mike cavanaugh rights in part it will inject energy and renewed focus in the new company and future nbc universal adding the company and nbc universal are set off to play offense in a complex and evolving media landscape and comcast estimates that timeline will take about a year, guys. >> so all of your shows w