no one in the senate was surprised when mitch mcconnell did that because mitch mcconnell was regarded then as an honorable senator who would approach the work with integrity and he did. because i had watched the way mitch mcconnell ran that senate ethics committee, i had high hopes for mitch mcconnell and donald trump became president. i had high hopes that he would be the one to say hell no to donald trump during the first presidency. he made another choice in order to hold onto his position in leadership. i was very wrong about having high hopes about him. now, now mitch mcconnell is just the senior senator from kentucky with no leadership burden at all. he is probably never going to run for reelection. his seat is up in 2026. for the next two years, and his position on the senate appropriations committee, mitch mcconnell will be in a position to say hell no to elon musk's proposals for cutting the budget. elon musk has to be very careful with mitch mcconnell because mitch mcconnell does cling to one point of power in the appropriations committee. mitch mcconnell will be the chairma

mitch mcconnell will be the chairman of the subcommittee on defense spending. mitch mcconnell will have a lot to say about the funding that benefits difference contractor elon musk. and, so, yes. absurdly unqualified nominee for attorney general has been crushed by republican senators. that is who crushed them. we will be governorred in the next governed and mitch mcconnell might never stand in trump's way again. might be a one-time event. but the fact that he did say no when trump had gone into personal lobbying mode, calling senators, asking them for their vote as an indication and only an indication that there could be real resistance among republicans in the united states senate to donald trump's most inappropriate ideas. if mitch mcconnell knows he is not going to run for re- election it makes him stronger in his ability to say hell no to donald trump. remember all of that video that was all over cable news of matt gaetz walking the hauls with senator j.d. vance that supposed to be a powerful player. remember the confidence as they walked passed the report

it does beg the question whether the senate led by republicans with mitch mcconnell is kind of an engine under the water if not the majority leader is really going to show some backbone. i wonder what you make of mcconnell's silence on trump's most controversial cabinet picks other than matt gaetz who no longer is in the running. but, you know, he hasn't said anything about pete hegseth for defense secretary, he hasn't said anything about tulsi gabbard for director of national intelligence and hasn't said anything about robert f. kennedy jr. for hhs. do you read anything into that silence? and secondly to that, do you think the gaetz failure, the flameout of matt gaetz is giving republicans a sense of renewed faith in their own agency, not that they came out and did anything about matt gaetz, but that trump will relent in some cases or do you think they're more gun shy as it were about, you know, killing off one of his nominees rhetorically speaking because he's already lost one and donald trump doesn't like to lose? >> well, to be honest, we don't know. but you asked exactly the right q

something named mitch mcconnell., the new york times reports that senator mcconnell is feeling "liberated" and prepared to defend his chamber, independent from trump. but whether the man who privately mused about impeaching trump before voting to acquit him, and who refused to hold a hearing for president obama's supreme court nominee in an election year, then expedited president trump's pick in an election year, whether that guy is actually the resistance, well, that very much remains to be seen. joining me now is charlie sykes, msnbc contributor and columnist. charlie, thank you for being here. i am very eager to get your assessment of all this. the new york times reports that mcconnell wants to concentrate on preserving the senate's institutional independence, at a time when trump has made clear that he intends to bend the chamber to his will. what you think of mitch mcconnell being this sort of unlikely face of, i guess, we will call it a resistance, of sorts. >> well, extremely unlikely. i think the core positio

mitch mcconnell would be three. there are 53 republicans. is can mcconnell recruit one more republican i don't know if he can on all of them although it will depend on how the hearings go for a couple. i think that a lot of republicans in the senate would love to see mitch mcconnell liberated from chuck schumer though their critique of him in the last couple of years is he's done schumer's bidding when it comes to spending deals and crs at the end of it so if mitch mcconnell feels liberated from chuck schumer, he can go back to being the old mitch mcconnell that jammed supreme court nominees through. republicans will be happy with that. >> see, and i remember the mitch mcconnell that is a full institutionalist of the senate who as as i think may throw his own bombs in the way that mitch mcconnell can. i mean, he worked together with joe biden on the on fiscal deals. he worked with him to stop the debt limit. i think these are things that he's going to go back to his roots. fundamentally, he is an institutionalist at heart. >> he's not going t

something did mitch mcconnell.es reports that senator mcconnell is feeling liberated and prepared to defend his chamber's independence from trump. whether the man who privately mused about impeaching trump before voting to acquit him and who refused to hold a hearing for president-obama's supreme court nominee in an election year and expedited trump's in an election year, whether that guy is the resistance, that remain to be seen. joining me now is charlie sykes. the new york times reports that mcconnell wants to concentrate on preserving the senate's institutional independence at a time when trump says he wants to bend the chamber to his will. what do you say about mcconnell being the face of a resistance of sorts? >> extremely unlikely. we have been through this before. over and over and over again. but let's play a quick became of what if. what if, in the twilight of his career, he does actually regret not disqualifying donald trump after january 6th? what if in his heart of hearts, he deeply does resent trump's

this book is fascinating, a look at mitch mcconnell's role in the senate but on this race to replace tonight, you sell rick scott quickly coming out almost immediately saying he 100% agrees with trump and will do whatever it takes to get his nominations through. from your perspective, how clear is it that the deference to trump will be a requirement for whoever it is that takes mitch mcconnell spot? >> it is pretty clear and when you have outside validator's like tucker carlson and elon musk trying to shape the race, it puts the senate in an unusual spot. as you know the senate prides itself on being in an exclusive club made up of people who are very self made and don't need the validation of other people. here, you have outside forces shaping an inside election. >> when you look at that, it very clearly is working because they are all coming out and i am not sure anybody would have envisioned that they would have all emphatically endorsed these appointments and what you think he makes of what we see play out tonight on social media? >> he certainly believes in the idea of co-equal

mitch mcconnell's term runs through 2026. what will his role be now that he will not be one of the first people to speak at the beginning of the day in the senate? where does he fit in now just another senator? guest: this is so and traditional. think of the last sets of speakers of the house who, when they left that position, left the house altogether. dennis astor, john boehner, paul ryan gong. these are the types of things that have been tradition. nancy pelosi has been this democratic backbencher but has not carried it that way. she has been a force on television and she was potentially pivotal in president biden's this vision to stand down as democratic nominee for the white house and remains this powerful operator, working alongside the rest of her caucus and the leadership. that's. untraditional they may still be trying to navigate that. you have mitch mcconnell, now a rank-and-file senator with a vote. how does that work in concert with john thune? it will be fascinating to find out. but who are the dissenting voices

mitch mcconnell, the minority _ lot. mitch mcconnell, the minority leader _ lot.the minority leader of - lot. mitch mcconnell, the minority leader of the - minority leader of the republicans in the senate. the republicans in the senate. the republicans about to come into the majority after the election is over night. he said he was looking forward to getting work done. he said we haven't been very good at that over recent years. he congratulated the candidates across the country, their quality. interestingly, i am still a reagan republican, america's role in the world is indispensable. addressing some of the reporters' questions that live in washington. while we're watching that, a line from the israeli prime minister's office. an important line. they tell us that benjamin netanyahu has had a conversation with donald trump to congratulate him. the two discussed the iranian threat and the need to work together for israel's security. an interesting line. benjamin netanyahu has a long —— has long talked about the need to address the iranian threat given the conflict

as far as sam's hope for mitch mcconnell, i just don't have it. i would love to be surprised, if i'm going to be pleasantly surprised, then that would be great. but, why? what evidence would you have that these guys are going to actually show some spine? i don't really see it and i think the matt gaetz thing was probably a one off and trump didn't really fight for it, i thought he would fight for it more, trump is not going to get bullied by these guys for too long. and trump doesn't like anything more than humiliating establishment republicans. so, i just don't expect he's going to get pushed around by mitch mcconnell.>> thank you for joining me on this very special bulwark thanksgiving edition, it is good to see you both, we have a lot more to get to including an attempt to persuade the new york attorney general to drop her civil case against trump, the novel argument, it is for the good of the country. and trump's pick to lead the national institute of health is making health experts a little more than nervous, we will talk all about that, next

he's the author of an excellent new book on mitch mcconnell, the price of power. also the table. cnn congressional correspondent lauren fox and john bresnahan is back. so, mike you obviously spent so much time with mcconnell going through all of his archives, hearing about him and obviously a lot about donald trump as well. now that he's how do you what do you anticipate in this new phase? he's no longer the leader. he has to represent his conference, but he's still got two more years and he's got powerful positions in the senate. >> i think what you're going to see is he's going to act surgically. he's not going to reflexively oppose everything. he's not going to try to get ahead of the parade on too many issues. but there will be moments where he'll say that goes too far and he'll take a stand. >> yeah, i agree entirely. i think it's fascinating. one, he's taking the defense subcommittee on appropriations, which is huge for for. it's a hugely powerful panel inside the appropriations committee. his his ally susan collins there. but he took that. i think that was a big deal. it's

what does mitch mcconnell make of this playing out on social media? >> he believes in co-equal branches of government and separation of power, though i'll doubt he'll say much publicly because he knows if he put his thumb on the scale for one candidate or the other, it might actually backfire. i expect he'll stay quiet until the election himself. >> i would almost guarantee trump would almost pick that person. and your back is full of mcconnell very critical of trump and the state of republican party. he told you at one point the maga movement was quote completely wrong. he said reagan wouldn't recognize the party as it was today. i wonder in hindsight after tuesday how that has changed for him. >> well, i don't think he's changed his mind. we're in a position where we'll see what happens. all the norms we thought existed have obviously been shattered. he's in a position where he's ceding power he's held for 17 years. in some ways i think he's relieved because it's a very difficult job. you're often the subject of ridicule and rarely the subject of pr

plus the race to replace mitch mcconnell. a role that will be one of the most powerful positions in a republican dominated washington. >>> we have to be the change. that is what business guys do. will >>> 5:30 a.m. on the east coast. a live oak on capitol hill with a 5 for leadership he did not in the senate. good morning, everyone. i am kasie hunt. in just two days senate republicans will pick mitch mcconnell successor. over the weekend president-elect donald trump issued a new demand for whoever would ultimately fill the role. try posting the next leader must support recess appointments. it is a way for the president to get around minority opposition to his pics. while all three of the top contenders quickly signal support, one figure has emerged as a favorite among key trump allies. elon musk, rfk junior and others publicly endorsing florida senator rick scott for the role. trump is not endorsed anyone yet. on wednesday the senate g.o.p. would hold a secret ballot election to decide who will win the power to control legisl

he is somebody who is mitch mcconnell's deputy and mitch mcconnell is notoriously kept his own counsel and it's not necessarily true that i would call john thune his protegÉ . he certainly was somebody who was the number two to mcconnell for several years. as manu raju just said, not historically a trump fan all the time. >> senate republican conference of 2024 is very different than the senate republican conference of 2017 when donald trump came to washington. there are many people who owe trump credit for their seats. john thune is not one of them and that doesn't mean he doesn't support trump. trump wants to focus on that in the start of the term and john thune is always a player of tax policy . he is not an acolyte and is not somebody who came up or owes donald trump his career or pathway to washington . i think what is most telling is that we try to get our heads around what trump's washington looks like. the senate is still the senate and the senate is different than 2017 in terms of the makeup of the senator republican conference, but it is still a chamber that appreciates its i

it doesn't take, susan collins, lisa murkowski and mitch mcconnell. you just need one more to stop these people in mitch mcconnell could be counted in some of the circumstances. you don't want to ask questions you don't want the answers to. summit background checks you don't want to confront so some of these people like the tennessee senator he doesn't want to nobody's voting for. there may be enough, these people take themselves seriously in the senate and i think they will want to go through the process. >> normally, this what happens is they fill these questionnaires and they go to the committee and the committee leak some of the information from the background checks. that's not happening right now but reporters, a free press right now, we are doing the reporting and all this stuff is put in the senators in an awkward spot. that feels to me like it's putting the free press in a positive light here in terms of their role. what else do you think could happen? >> here is the thing. when you are up against someone like bill hagerty who clearly knows b

i mean, i know that there were issues around mitch mcconnell.uld not even bring certain issues to the floor because he was existence them. i want to know -- against them. i want to know how likely it is that trump's agenda can get through either with you, or john thune or john cornyn. tell me that. >> so, number one, you're going to have to, you're going to have to to get his nominees done. that means you're going to have to have a plan to get those done. number two, to get the legislation done it's not just bringing it to the floor, you've got to figure out how you bring people together to get it cone. that means you're going to have to sit down with people and understand their agenda. so that's what i've done my whole life. i've probably, i don't know, done 500 economic deals in my life. that's what i've done. i've brought people together, found common ground. and that's what whoever the leader's going to be, to get trump ice agenda cone, you're going to have to bring everybody together and have a plan. have a plan to get the nominees done. ha

these why mitch mcconnell is so popular.thune from south dakota and john cornyn from texas are both seen as disciples of mitch mcconnell and both have a history of being fairly critical of president trump. who they would prefer not weighed, wade. senate ballot are best left to senators and work with all of us when it's all said and done. >> laura: i understand why the senate wants to preserve its independence, i get it but at the same time, let's be real. they all owe their majority status to him donald trump, think about it, when mitch mcconnell worked with the maga like on court nominations, the usmca, the tax bill, they got stuff done. it was great. but, when they are at cross purposes, as you saw with that lankford-schumer immigration bill that fiasco or the absurd infrastructure bill, the results are just horrible the people have spoken. trump has won. texas where cornyn is from. south dakota where thune is from, three times in a row. so, it is logical for voters in those states to believe their lawmakers will work with

[captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2024] >> later from the senate floor, mitch mcconnell congratulated john thune, who was elected to be the next majority leader. senator mcconnell also thanked staff, pages, and police for their work. >> yesterday they elected the leader to steer our incoming majority. senator thune and others.

mitch mcconnell is not one of them. john thune of south dakota, john cornyn of texas and rick scott of florida. john cornyn is a former deputy and john thune is the current with associated with leadership and mitch mcconnell allies, protigis. maga world is for rick scott. >> i think the next leader needs to be somebody who's -bent on getting trump's agenda done. that's the most important thing. he has a mandate and we've got to get his nominees done in his tax cuts in and all his legislation passed. it's as simple as that. who will get that done? >> trump has weighed in publicly on his preference but his feud with mcconnell is one of his defining features of the first terms is probably maga's pick is probably trump's pick too. a senior adviser to senator bernie sanders and previously was senior adviser to senate minority leader harry reid. political strategist, previously worked for national republican committee and finance director for -- and they both join me now. you know this world better than i do. i think, it's ea

mitch mcconnell i've had disagreements with how he has operated for a long time.has basically behaved as a one-man dictator. i don't think we want a leader who does that. i think when we win in november and i believe will see a really good election but i think trump is going to win. think were going to win a republican senate and a republican house. when that happens we've got an enormous work to do. when that happens here is what's going to happen. we will secure the border. we will cut taxes and extending tax cuts. we are going to end the regulatory assault on small business sent in an oil and gas. we're going to end the war abroad. israel will defeat hamas. to do that is going to take republican standing together being focused at the task on hand and having an effective leader is a very important part of that. maria: kamala harris has two completely different messages when it comes to the war on israel. what comes what she says in pennsylvania where she appears to be talking to jewish voters. where she says i'm going to make sure israel has the right to defend

mitch mcconnell has held this post for 18 years. so a really significant transfer of power that we could see today on capitol hill. but again, we are just a few feet away from where mitch mcconnell gives his weekly press conference as a republican leader each and every week, john. >> laura fox, grab who you can. put your ear on the door. let us know what you are hearing inside. we will come back to you as this develops over the next hour. kate. >>> one thing we do know, going into these meetings they don't talk, but they do like to talk on the way out. someone who knows that more than most is dana bash. the ohio clock corridor brings back so many warm and fuzzy memories, dana. >> so many. >> so, so many. let's start with the senate republican leadership vote, because whoever is going to be the republican leader -- and majority leader is important no question. but also it kind of can represent maybe something of a signal whoever comes out on top of kind of what's going to be the prevailing force for the senate republican kind of agen

do we see mitch mcconnell?, i have to make a note to myself, by frozen turkey. >>> a live look at denver, colorado where it is 3:29 a.m. mountain time. good morning, everyone. donald trump once tulsi gabbard to be his director of national intelligence. as recently as four years ago she ran for the democratic nomination but has since left the party and is a staunch ally of donald trump who believes that the intelligence community has been weaponized against him. she is an army veteran but has never served in any capacity in an intelligent -- intelligence agency. she met with the syrian president in 2017 and two years later i pressed her about whether he was a u.s. adversary. >> do you think he is our enemy? >> he is not an enemy of the united states because syria does not pose a direct threat to the united states. >> what you say to democratic voters who watched you go over there and military members who have been deployed repeatedly to syria? >> people who have been deployed to syria have been there to focus on

i more skeptical on mitch mcconnell being against maga abuse here. i think you talked about this. u hear about are murkowski, collins, mcconnell may be. thom tillis and cassidy may be. there are other senators that we could potentially get here. we are not talking a lot. the default is that they won't do anything. and it is unfortunate. it is also pivotal because republicans in the senate are the real check and balance we are talking about here. it is conceivably the least checked balanced presidency, especially right out of the gate, as we have seen in a long time. >> i do think there should be a high bar for rejecting a president's nominee. there should be some deference to the president getting his team. nominating people that meet the high bar. so they will have some of those. john curtis from utah is another person to keep an eye on. >> it depends today nominate. we have to wrap this up. thank you so much. we appreciate you joining us. donald trump's transition is running on secret money. so you could fork over cash. what could go wrong? i will tell you about that brand-new re

and mitch mcconnell said he's responsible for the insurrection. it is pretty astonishing that donald trump just didn't try and they all went along with him anyway so i think if you are in donald trump's shoes, the mitch mcconnell voters are going to vote for me because they're just like mitch mcconnell. they don't have any backbone and they were going to come on through. i'm going to try to expand out and went over, what did matt gage say, the julios, try to expand out, assume those people will go along. i just think that's a mistake. assuming is a mistake and i think a lot of those voters had said no thanks. >> interestingly we are not hearing from haley. we are not seen donald trump flanked by matt gaetz, marjorie taylor green and lauren boebert, either. >> we are seeing a weird closing message and donald trump has never been a great closer but this does seem to have devolved even more than typical donald trump. i think nikki haley is making the calculus that if she does just enough, she won't alienate his base, but she can still run and that's

there is one person who has not been in lockstep with him and that is doherty leader mitch mcconnell.essed the congressional results earlier. i want to play for our viewers what he had to say. >> i think one of the most gratifying results of the senate becoming republican, the filibuster will stand. there won't be any new states admitted that give a partisan advantage to the other side and we will quit beating up the supreme court every time we don't like a decision that they make. i think this shifting to a republican the senate majority helps control the guard rails, keeps people who want to change the rules in order to achieve something they think is worth while as not successful. >> there is a lot to unpack there, hunter, not the least of which that mitch mcconnell said he would step down from his leadership position after the election. who might we see him replaced by and what will that make for trump's agenda? >> this is one of the most interesting races in washington. you have the republican senator john corning. they have been in gop leadership in other roles. they are well kn

mitch mcconnell was here last night.e was surprised to see me and i was surprised to see him here. >> harris: why the surprise? weren't they doing well obviously? >> frankly, he was probably prepping for the press conference and he is moving out. there will be a leadership election in one week. he is not endorsing anybody. he will remain in the senate and go back to the appropriations committee but talking to some of his staff, he leaves that leader's office and either john thune or john cornyn or rick scott or maybe somebody else could move into that office sometime early next year. >> harris: one more thing to watch. look at all the details with get from chad running around running into important people. chad, thank you for that. again we'll take that live when senator mitch mcconnell speaks at 11:30 a.m. in "focus" now you see her there congresswoman elise stefanik, from new york. before we get started on the chambers on the hill i have to say this. it looks like now that the current president-elect donald trump picke

tomorrow, senate republicans will make a pick to replace mitch mcconnell, the wildcard is florida's rick, he's not exactly the most popular member of the gop conference but maga influences are pushing hard for him. so while cornyn and boone work behind the scenes, scott has been on fox at least four times in 48 hours. his pitch, he will do what trump once. >> we've got to change the way the senate is run, to get trump's agenda done. >> i'm very optimistic i'm going to win because i'm representing trump's agenda. >> if we don't have the right leader in the senate, what is going to happen is all the things the donald trump wants to do, it'll get bogged down. >> i know what to do, i will make sure that trump's agenda is done. >> the panels back, hans, >> that wildcard is donald trump, if donald trump ways and, this has an entirely different tenor. imagine if trump does weigh in and says, not cornyn or food -- thune. every smart reporter in town has written a template on when donald trump weighs in on that senate leadership race because that's the one question. >> you say that hasn't happene

mitch mcconnell doesn't like robert f. kennedy's anti-vax stance. hawks left in the senate that don't like tulsi gabbard and pete hegseth i would go further than both of you and say he's less qualified and more serious objections to him than could have been put forth by matt gaetz. if trump is facing rejection on multiple fronts, do we see the lash out trump, the bullying trump. the one that wants to humiliate people and my suspicion is yes and we'll see. >> can we talk about mitch mcconnell for a minute? also struck by this mark. tim is pointing out mitch mcconnell made himself the head of the senate rules committee like leapfroggings over other people who might have it. he's retiring and not a fan of trump and trump insulted racist slurs against mitch mcconnell's wife. he could go out like yosemite sam and be like not on my watch. he could link arms with thom tillis. how effective how old he be as a bulwark against trump? just as a character that knows the ins and outs of the senate. >> certainly be effective because i mean the loyalty that he has

mitch mcconnell, the minority _ lot. mitch mcconnell, the minority leader _ lot.congratulated the candidates across the country, their quality. interestingly,

but i've talked to republican senators who are very eager to see the exact role that mitch mcconnell quote, unquote liberated from the pressures of leadership. senator john cornyn, who, of course, lost the republican leadership race to john thune last week joked to me, he said, senator mcconnell and i both feel liberated in some respects. i don't think senator cornyn is going to sort of trend more in that direction. but i think it's very possible that senator mcconnell does especially on these national security picks that trump is unveiling because he has quite openly said this is a top priority of his to push back on what he sees as a growing sort of isolationist, what he calls america first narrative within the republican party all right. >> andrew desiderio, for us this morning, sir grateful to have you. thank you, thank you. all right. time now for sports. the houston texans dominate the struggling dallas cowboys on monday night football to win the battle for texas. carolyn manno has this morning's bleacher report carolyn good morning. >> good morning casey. it is tough to be a c

mitch mcconnell is not one of them, he is retiring.n is a former mcconnell deputy, and thune is the minority whip, both associated with leadership, they are mitch mcconnell allies, protigis, so to say. and rick scott, basically offering to be trump's handmaiden in the senate. >> i think the next leader needs to be someone who is -bent on getting trump's agenda done. that is the most important thing. he has a mandate, we have to get his nominees done, we have to get his tax cuts in, all of his legislation passed. it is as simple as that. who is going to get that done? >> trump has not weighed in publicly on his preference, but his feud with mitch mcconnell was one of the defining features of his first term, so probably a good bet that maga's pick is trump's pick, too. executive director of more perfect union and senior adviser to senator bernie sanders, previously was senior adviser to senate minority harry reid. we have been donovan, political strategist and writer, previously worked for the national senate committee, and worked for se

who's going to replace mitch mcconnell. in just a few hours a secret ballot will decide as the candidates prepare their pitches. >>> antisemitic violence in the streets of amsterdam. now police are beefing up security in other european cities. >>> mike huckabee tapped. >> you're seeing a scrambling all over the middle east of countries trying to behave differently because they know a new sheriff has come to town. >>> welcome back. hick hick mike huckabee has been a staunch defender of israel throughout his career. cnn uncovering this comment from huckabee in 2008. >> basically, there really is no such thing -- be careful in saying this because people would get upset -- there's no such thing as a palestinian. there's not. >> huckabee said if a palestinian state is created it should be located in egypt, syria or jordan. >> there are certain words i refuse to use. there is no such thing as a west bank. there's no such thing as a settlement. they're communities. they're neighborhoods. there's no such thing as an occupation. >>

as we look at our republican party a week from election how does mitch mcconnell and people i can fitit really depends. you are absolutely right about ukraine. that's a moment where mcconnell really put capital at risk. the other is an immigration bill that in pass. he put that bill together, he talked to president biden and convinced him to go along. he tried to help lead the charge on the republican side. everything was set for an immigration deal and then trump called senators and scotch to pick >> because he wanted for an issue in this campaign. the new book, the price of power. how mitch mcconnell master the senate, changed america, and lost his party. it's on sale now. author and deputy washington bureau chief for the associated press, michael, congratulations again. thank you for being here this morning. >>> coming up, he played hamlet, macbeth and now king lear. and oscar-winner joins us for his latest production when morning joe weekend comes back. you love because of asthma? get back to better breathing with fasenra, an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken

so it's an enormously powerfuljob and of course mitch mcconnell who said he was going to step down inand he's not going to be leader any more. there's people vying for thatjob. any more. there's people vying forthatjob. in any more. there's people vying for thatjob. in some ways a kind of reasonably late entry has been senator rick scott from florida who does seem to certainly have the backing of elon musk and others on the right of the party. we will see whether he becomes triumphant, but the votes are due i think later on today on that one, so we will get a new one, and it will be a new era because mitch mcconnell has been doing it for a while now. we will see what the style of the new person is, and it looks like it will be a guy rather than a woman. absolutely, and we know it's a secret ballot as well. donald trump saying untruth social that the president... as we continue to look at these pictures, you mentioned elon musk. everyone talking about him again today as we learn a little bit more about what his role will be along with vivek ramaswamy leading this new department of gove

mitch mcconnell will still stay kind of behind-the-scenes.ll see how much play he will have in terms of leading or influencing the senate, you know, in the shadows or former state of pelosi who is also staying in congress and has assisting leadership in that way. we will have to see what mcconnell decides to do. >> it will be fascinating to watch. thank you so much. we appreciate it. >>> and still ahead, israeli prime minister benjamin and yahoo confirming his country is responsible for the exploding pager attacks on hezbollah. you are listening to cnn. >>> israel's prime minister said he has spoken three times in the past few days with president-elect to donald trump. benjamin and yahoo says they were, quote, very good and very important conversations, and it is strengthening the solid alliance between israel and the us. the calls coming as israel confirms for the first time that it was behind the september operation that detonated thousands of pages and walkie-talkies used by hezbollah in lebanon. matthew is in jerusalem with more on this.

that his wife mitch mcconnell is so powerful.t candidates for the position. johnnd from south dakota and john cornyn from texas are seen as disciples of mitch mcconnell in both have a history of fairly critical of president trump who they would prefer not wade into the internal senate deliberations at all. >> my preference would be and in his best interest to stay out of the and secret ballot elections are best left to the senate and he's got to work with all of us when all said and done. >> laura: i understand the senate wants to preserve its independence, i get it. e real.the same time, th they all owe majority status to him. donald trump. think about it, when mcconnellew worked with the maga republicans and maga agenda with a usmca, the tax bill, they got stuff done. it was great! but when at cross purposes as youmeru saw with the lankford schumer immigratiocon bill that fiasco or absurd infrastructure bill, it was horrible! that people have spoken. trump has won! texas where corner and is from, south dakota where john thome i

speaker mike johnson, leader charles schumer, leader, mitch mcconnell, leader hakeem jeffries, senator steve daines, representative lisa mcclain. and the families of the 13 servicemembers who lost their lives on august 26, 2021 in kabul, afghanistan. >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable mike johnson, speaker of the united >> you may hobe seated. >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable mike johnson. speaker of the united states house of representatives. >> my colleagues in congress, our distinguished guests and the families of the 13 brave servicemembers we lost three years ago. as speaker of the house, i have the privilege of welcoming you to the capitol as we award the congressional gold medal. the metal is the highest honor that congress can bestow upon any group or individual. since the time of the american revolution, congress has commissioned these medals to show our national appreciation for the achievements and contributions of great americans and to date we are here to honor some of our greatest. scripture teaches us that greater love hath no man than this. that a man lay down

you don't have anybody of mitch mcconnell's caliber in the u.s. senate.or a long time. and i don't know that there's anyone there that can fill those massive shoes but i do think this story about the resistance i'm actually glad that this is not happening. we need a couple of years of political peace in this country. when donald trump got elected, there was no peace. and it was constant dragging him down and investigations that were bogus and so on and so forth this government needs to be allowed to operate. republicans won the election. they have the presidency. they have the house. they have the senate. democrats need to fall in line here a little bit. they can be loyal opposition, but that doesn't mean you have to be totally obstructive. i think if they are, it's going to hurt them politically the american people said, we need some action, and they and donald trump and the republicans ought to be able to take that action. it's the mandate delivered by the american people. >> you guys you guys killed your own immigration deal. >> you guys killed your ow

mitch mcconnell does not like robert f. kennedy anti-vax stance.th i would say is less qualified and more serious objections to him than could have been put forward by matt gaetz. if trump is facing rejection on multiple fronts do we see the lash out trump, bullying trump, the one that wants to humiliate people, my suspicion is yes, but we will see. >> can we talk about mitch mcconnell for a minute. i am struck by this. mitch mcconnell made himself the head of the senates rule committee. leapfrogging over others. he is retiring. he is not a fan of trump. he had racist slurs against his wife. he can go out guns blazing and say not on my watch. this is, you know, he could link arms with people. how much of a factor do you think it can be in play here and how effective could he be as a bull work against trump? just as a character that knows the ins and outs of the senate? >> reporter: he can be effective with the loyalty with the other members. it is also perhaps a little easier for him because he is outgoing at there point. not outgoing verbally but

>> mitch mcconnell is a man of few words but when he speaks you should listen. colleagues behind the scenes as well. he has no fear of donald trump. if he thinks the president is doing things that are not appropriate, he will make his position known. >> do you think that's going to be really the only check? i mean here, you know, again, republicans have control very narrow control of the house, control of the senate. the supreme court. conservative leaning right now. do you think those republican senators are going to be able to check on his power? >> they're the most obvious institutional check. i think they want to get to yes on a lot of nominations and most of trump's policy priorities. mitch dock northbound heal has a strong relationship with john thune. mitch mcconnell endorsed early. he's fond of thune. >> he's going to be one to watch as well. hope you all have a very happy thanksgiving. that is all for today. thank you for watching. have a very happy thanksgiving to all of you. we will be back next week because if it's sunday it's meet the press. the pre

leader on this the secret vote to choose among three prominent republicans buying to replace mitch mcconnell. welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world, i am wolf blitzer and you are in the situation rocnn breaking news. >> we start with breaking news tonight. the trump staffing announcements coming in fast and furious with the president announcing his choice to be cia director and following all of these developments for us, bring us up to speed on who trump is tapping to lead the cia . >> reporter: we have learned that donald trump will pick john radcliffe to be cia director. an interesting choice for a number of reasons. number one he had been running the policy division of the transition team when it came to intelligence. two because he was on the shortlist for attorney general and we know he had been in conversations about that as well. a little bit of history, he was the director of national intelligence from 2020 to 2021 and during that time he faced accusations that he was weapon icing intelligence information to help trump politically in 2020 in that election.

schumer, leader mitch mcconnell. leader hakeem jeffries, senator steve da inch nmp es and the families of the 13 servicemembers who lost their lives on all 26, 2021 in cab >> ladies and gentlemen, the honorable mike johnson, speaker of the united states house of representatives. the speaker: my colleagues in congress, distinguished guests and the families of the 13 brave servicemembers we lost three years ago. as speaker of the house, i have the privilege of welcoming you to the capitol as we award the congressional medal. it is the highest honor that congress can bestow upon any group or individual. since the start of the american revolution congress has shown our national appreciation to the achievements and contributions of great americans. today we are here to honor some of our greatest. no greater love has man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. we honor that very love and that very sacrifice. on august 25, 20113 men and women of valor defended this nation in karzai international airport. the

mitch mcconnell i've had disagreements with how he has operated for a long time.has basically behaved as a one-man dictator. i don't think we want a leader who does that. i think when we win in november and i believe will see a really good election but i think trump is going to win. think were going to win a republican senate and a republican house. when that happens we've got an enormous work to do. when that happens here is what's going to happen. we will secure the border. we will cut taxes and extending tax cuts. we are going to end the regulatory assault on small business sent in an oil and gas. we're going to end the war abroad. israel will defeat hamas. to do that is going to take republican standing together being focused at the task on hand and having an effective leader is a very important part of that. maria: kamala harris has two completely different messages when it comes to the war on israel. what comes what she says in pennsylvania where she appears to be talking to jewish voters. where she says i'm going to make sure israel has the right to defend

so, bill, that's a nice swan song for mitch mcconnell -- >> yes.hat looks to be a 53-seat majority. maybe an additional one, maybe not. does he get credit for this? the was he part of the -- >> mitch mcconnell? if yeah, i think is. with the senate funds -- i mean, he doesn't get credit just for this. it's his tenure. he's very underappreciated. he's not necessarily ideological lodestar for conservatives, but for getting things done and, like getting the supreme court that we have now, it was just a fantastic job by mcconnell and getting a lot of trump's judges on the bench. we've got to see if we can repeat that the next time the around. paul: allysia, they had trump's coattails to some extent, but what happened this time that was different than when they lost in 20222 and other years? >> i think the big part of it is they just picked better candidates who had less baggage. bernie to moreno in ohio was probably 23409 the best candidate, be he didn't have the liabilities that some in the past have had. they had the inflation issue that they continue

fight the first bruising battle among themselves, choosing a republican senate leader to succeed mitch mcconnell. the candidates include texas' john cornyn and mcconnell's lieutenant john thune of south dakota. but trump ally elon musk has urged for florida's rick scott who'd posted he'd agree to trump's call for the senate to surrender some power to confirm trump's cabinet and judges, allowing recess appointments. if recess appointments are allowed, trump nominees could take the helm and take their posts without hearings and without votes here. as for the vote for senate republican leader, that happens by secret ballot which makes it difficult to exert any outside pressure. scott macfarlane, cbs news, the capitol. >>> breaking overnight, we're learning that a massive explosion at a plant in louisville, kentucky, has turned deadly. at least two workers were killed according to the communication director of the givaudan sense color factory. nearly a dozen others were hurt. the blast rocked the surrounding neighborhood blowing out window -- windows and doors in homes and businesses. people within