i think pam bondi is a good pick. i just had a couple of points, three quick points i want to make that i hope pam bondi will to consideration of. one, when trump was elected the first time, there were riots washington, d.c. i think over 700 people were arrested and not one single person got put in jail. i hope when trump is inaugurated in washington, d.c., that we track every single person just like they did on january 6. host: before we go too far, how does this deal with pam bondi? caller: i hope there is a cracked down on that and a fair analysis of what happened during january 6. and i hope that we start tracking the -- i hope that she will look at all the immigrants that have come in that we don't know anything about. if they have any communication with any government agency, dmv, police, hospitals, that we start tracking them, fingerprinting them and find out who is in the country. host: we will leave it there. tallahassee democrat poses a question this morning in light of matt gaetz no longer running for attor

that is pam bondi. and that includes his former pick. as of this morning, matt gaetz, who just a few hours after he took himself out of contention, said that bondi was a stellar selection and she is a proven litigator an inspiring, inspiring leader and champion for all americans. she will bring the needed reforms to the doj. my inside source tonight has experience working with her florida state attorney for palm beach county, dave aronberg is here. it's great to have you. pam bondi actually hired you once, i believe. tell me what it was like working for pam. pam bondi a lot of people who aren't familiar with her. what do you want them to know about her? >> well, i ran against her for attorney general of florida in 2010, but i lost in the democratic primary and we became friends on the campaign trail. so after she won the general election, she hired me to be her drug czar because i was campaigning on fighting the opioid epidemic. so when she hired me, it was controversial because the republicans did not want her to hire a former state sena

pam bondy was somebody who i picked. it is interesting. pam l bondy was somebody who was picked. n on the shortlist backin to have been on the shortlist back in 2018 to fill one of the vacancies for the attorney general for the vacancies for the attorney generalfor the president trunk. her name coming up on what i'm again here. as you mentioned she is a long—time supporter of president alexa chung. she was a defender of his in fact during his impeachment hearing back in 2020, the first on the game around. and so she is a person with close ties to him. she is also somebody somebody with a conventional legal background. she was in fact a lawyer but wasn't known for practising law. pam bondi is a former attorney general of the state of florida, a state friendly to president elect trump. she also has connections in the senate, there is a possibility she could have an easier time. tell us about the _ could have an easier time. tell us about the role _ could have an easier time. tell us about the role of attorney general and where it is so important in the trump illustration.— important

trump has chosen former florida attorney general pam bondi to be his pick. you may remember her from her many guest appearances on the political reality show that donald trump forced us all to live in. in 2018 she had reportedly been looking into allegations of fraud at trump's sham university. but then trump's sham charity gave an illegal $25,000 donation to a pac supporting pam bondi and pam suddenly decides she was not interested in investigating trump university anymore. years later both trump's university and his charity would be shut down after being investigated by attorneys general who didn't receive any large conspicuous donations from donald trump. may also remember pam bondi from her role as part of trump's defense team in his first impeachment trial where she demonstrated her skills as a litigator in front of the united states' senate. >> he remained on the board until april of 2019. >> nailed it. but like any good reality tv star, you probably remember pam bondi best from her many, many appearances on television and specifically fox news televis

so the question now really will be isolated on pam bondi. you are qualified for the job what u is your agenda and what donald trump tells you to pursue an enemies list, what will your answer be? that's a tough confirmation moment. it will be telling how she answers it and how republican senators handle it. >> there are a couple of things that are striking here. matt gaetz was not the only nominee or person that's going to be associated with this new administration that's got allegations of sexual misconduct against them. you could sgo through them allh er. the person for the department -- we will talk more about this. elon musk has some allegations. in pam bondi what you might get is the complicity of a past that ofhas the appearance of corruptn in it. f from "the daily beast," in it 2018 case against the trump foundation the new york attorney p general noted how trump broke the law by using his choirty to fund bondi's political group and the charity was ultimately dissolved after a judge found that trump breached his fiduciary duty to the c

, i know pam bondi very well. >> i don't want to cause her harm.di like many other republicans, is a mainstream republican who turned maga. she was attorney general of florida for eight years. i will tell you, she is not an ogre she is not a jerk. she's not a person who purposely wants to come across as being you know, the kind of person that that matt gaetz wants to come across as being. she has been an early loyalist of donald trump back in the 2016 primaries, she was a loyalist of him, even though jeb bush and marco rubio were running. i think with pam bondi, he gets loyalty, which he which matters a lot to him and she hasn't committed statutory rape or been accused of it. she hasn't been accused of sexual assault. she hasn't sawed the head off a whale or stabbed a dead bear cub. so all in all, i'd say she's one of the better picks um, this is me. >> not reacting to that at all. eliot pam bondi as anna said is a trump loyalist. there's no question about that. probably shares i don't know, 95, 98% of the views that matt gaetz shares. so what does

like any good reality tv star you probably remember pam bondi best from her many appearances on television, specifically fox news television. ms. bondi filled in as a guest host three times while she was still the sitting attorney general of florida. she spent plenty of time on the network since she left office. >> murders from venezuela and prisoners coming straight to our country. they are coming to a town near you. it should scare and terrify everyone in this country. this is one big press conference trying to smear donald trump, trying to hurt donald trump. we do have evidence of cheating but we are still on the ground in pennsylvania. i'm here right now and we are not going anywhere until they declare we won pennsylvania. >> the last clip was from just after the 2020 election when she was promoting the big lie that trump had won the election. she was part of the legal team that tried and failed to prove trump selection conspiracies in court filing multiple lawsuits in battleground states. she has been one of his most loyal foot soldiers ever since. she even stood by his side during hi

what pam bondi is is again, central. we know that trump has been sitting in mar-a-lago, or mar-a-lago patio correspondent has been telling us at the daily beast that he's sitting there with his colleagues watching people on television and how they perform on television. how aggressive they are. how they defend him. it is essential to how he thinks about how they're going to do. >> i'm so glad you brought this up. this has been on my mind all week. all week long people are saying, what is this? a made for tv cabinet? none of these people are qualified. from donald trump's perspective, the way i see it, he's looking for spokespeople. right? and all the people who -- not all but many who he's chosen are telegenic. they're good communicators. they get message out. if there is a critique of democrats, joe biden got so much done but they didn't do a great job communicating it. or people didn't know they got it done. could we be in a situation with donald trump where he's not getting much done or you don't know what he's doing

matt gaetz pulled out an hours later pam bondi is chosen. what you think?s one more clown in the car. compared to what matt gaetz was accused of, pam bondi to let trump off the hook seems like child's play. maybe that was the point. i don't see this as the republican party were the senators finding their spine, maga has always been willing to take a tactical retreat and that is what they did. they put gaetz up and they knew it would be bad. now he will run for governor and spend more money. it will not be a big deal. the point, the united states attorney general will be donald trump's lawyer and prosecutor of those he doesn't like in those he wants to go after. >> at least five republicans said they were hard-nosed on gaetz do you think that says something about senate republicans and what they're willing to tolerate or is it that matt was such a third rail they wouldn't go for? >> matt gaetz is not a litmus test. let's see what they have to say about a defense secretary that doesn't believe women should be in combat and wants to only focus on cultural issu

pam bondi. i know her well. she was attorney general for eight years. just before i came in as press secretary, she had wound up her time as being one of trump's impeachment lawyers. she did a stellar job, go back and water there. she's tough, she's got great. she's great and kind in her delivery of things. do not take her lightly about -- because behind that is a tough fighter. trump made an excellent pick. >> jesse: she's a good choice. and she's from florida. basically you were going to get ... fox and florida on your resume, you are in. thank you, good to see you. >> martha: >> jesse: johnny drops in on bill clinton's book tour. >> i'm ready for my big night with bill. >> is he ready for you. >> he's ready for me do your dry eyes still feel gritty, rough, or tired? with miebo, eyes can feel ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ miebo is the only prescription dry eye drop that forms a protective layer for the number one cause of dry eye: too much tear evaporation. for relief that's ♪ miebo ohh yeah ♪ remove con

pam bondi will slide through. the check, i looked into that, when i spoke to her about it back in 013, she referred me to a "new york times" article and found that the check that trump sent her was written and signed days before the article came out that informed there was a trump investigation going on. she released 800 pages of documents showing this was never discussed donald trump. the timing of the check doesn't look good. as far as if there is any evidence of quit pro quo conduct or bribery, there is none. >> did you get a sense this was a one-time show of opposition to a uniquely flawed candidate or does it tell us something more about the willingness to stand up to donald trump. >> i don't think it was trump's intent for this to be a strategic route to pam bondi. i think he wanted gets. pam bondi now looks like a very reasonable choice. she may have gotten more an significance and more criticism. she's an actual lawyer. former prosecutor, been elected state wide. i think that at the end of the day, the mat

here's matt gaetz talking about pam bondi. >> i know what an immigration hard-liner pam bondi is.w she's got no tolerance for the censorship, i know that she is part of the election integrity infrastructure in florida that became the model for the country and she can deliver that election integrity. >> trace: it seems like a lot of trump's reforms might begin with pam bondi. >> pam body is brilliant, she's great. and a past life i used to bugger on that talk radio show run by your colleague sean hannity. pam is an experience prosecutor. it's funny to see the about-face that some of the media has done with her because she's a legitimate prosecutor and will do so much as attorney general to clean up shop and to make sure that the laws on the books are being followed and to really stop this law fair at the federal and hopefully statewide level. listen guys, that's pair it down and do the job we are supposed to do instead of the job that one political party does or doesn't want us to be doing. >> trace: i'm unclear on this hannity person you speak of. >> on a couple hours before you.

matt gaetz is out, pam bondi is in. president-elect trump has tapped another long time ally from florida to be his incoming attorney general. bondi was florida's top law enforcement official for eight years. she was part of trump's first impeachment defense team. she also promoted trump's false claims with the 2020 election. bondi's elevation coming hours after ex-congressman matt gaetz withdrew his name from consideration to lead the justice department. after allegations that he paid women for sex and unknowingly had sex with a minor in 2017, appeared to be sinking his confirmation prospects. gaetz denies all allegations. let's get to nbc's vaughn hillyard in florida, following the trump transition. and here in new york, former adviser to house speaker john boehner, maura gillespie, and former federal prosecutor kristy greenberg. vaughn, what can you tell us about pam bondi and how this big change all went down? >> reporter: pam bondi is an absolute loyal ally to donald trump, let's be clear. she served as florida attor

the incident led stephen colbert to say this. >> one thing's for sure, pam bondi is the only person in the world ever to make money from trump university. now, i don't know other than donald trump, other than donald trump. >> bondi went on to defend trump in his first impeachment trial. she pedaled the baseless election fraud claims trump used to try to overturn the 2020 election, by his side at his criminal trial in manhattan and through it all, even when she was florida's ag, she was a fox news personality, pedaling all sorts of right wing talking points and conspiracies. >> murderers, rapists from priso our country, it should scare and terrify everyone in our country. >> we have evidence of cheating, but we are still on the ground in pennsylvania, i'm here right now and we are not going anywhere until they declare we won pennsylvania. >> pam, did you just say fake ballots? >> there could be. that's the problem. if they're letting -- >> do you have any -- do you have -- have you heard stories of, you know, ballots that are fake and if so, just tell us what you know. >> well, we know

former florida attorney general pam bondi.ked alongside donald trump's impeachment defense lawyers at the first impeachment. so she played that role for then-president trump. in a post that we got here 6:28 p.m. eastern from donald trump's truth social he says he is announcing former attorney general of florida pam bondi as our next attorney general of the united states and he cites her works a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, a contrast to matt gaetz's inexperience, and says she was, quote, very tough on violent criminals and made the streets safe for florida families. this is notable given the controversies, donald trump in the statement says, quote, the partisan doj has been weaponized against me, not any more. pam will refocus the doj to its intended purpose. we are following this breaking story. it came moment ago as we were covering the other doj news with donald trump's other first pick for a.g. dropping out, matt gaetz. and we are joined by juanita toliver, covering that story with us. welcome back. this is that kind of

pam bondi. i know her well. she was attorney general for eight years. just before i came in as press secretary, she had wound up her time as being one of trump's impeachment lawyers. she did a stellar job, go back and water there. she's tough, she's got great. she's great and kind in her delivery of things. do not take her lightly about -- because behind that is a tough fighter. trump made an excellent pick. >> jesse: she's a good choice. and she's from florida. basically you were going to get ... fox and florida on your resume, you are in. thank you, good to see you. >> martha: >> jesse: johnny drops in on bill clinton's book tour. >> i'm ready for my big night with bill. >> is he ready for you. >> he's ready for me >> jesse: matt gaetz pulled out of the running for the attorney general and a trump already has a new nominee. pam bondi. the president says she was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years where she was very tough on violent criminals and may the streets safe for florida families. that is

team homan and pam bondi are the real deals and all business.y will go after all of the stuff happening at the border as well as the abuses of big pharma. >> carley: terry, one quick thought, will pam bondi be confirmed? >> i do. she had a very popular run as attorney general. she has been fully added not just by background checkers but the florida boaters and a tub swing state and she would handle it ten points or eight points but serious politician and she has been added to, dog at the, pub nations, and she will get the job. the tomb when it comes to matt gaetz part of the next congress, apparently that decision is up to florida gove governor governor ron desantis thank you so much, have a great day. >> todd: pennsylvania where bob casey has finally, finally conceded after two weeks. following election day officially giving republicans to chill senate. >> carley: madeleine rivera. good morning, carley and todd appeared to have the initial votes cast with contested ballots about an hour after post on x, bob casey issued this statement. >> i jus

again, pam bondi from florida.nt-elect trump who obvi name from nomination as the votes were not there on capitol hill in the senate for matt gaetz as attorney general. pam bondi now the name that the president-elect has put forward in that position. okay. up next, why is it taking so long to count the election day votes in one major state? we'll take a look. [crowd cheering] sore throat got your tongue? mucinex instasoothe sore throat medicated drops, uniquely fomulated for rapid relief that lasts and lasts. that's my babyyy! try our new sugar-free cough drops. instasoooooothe! lumineux is the first fluoride free toothpaste i've ever found that actually works. my dentist was blown away with how clean and white my teeth are. my gums and teeth are so healthy. it's crazy. you can get lumineux toothpaste at walmart and target. (husband) we just want to have enough money for retirement. (wife) and travel to visit our grandchildren. (fisher investments) i understand. that's why at fisher investments we start by getting

right here to cnn news central rallying around the president elect's new pick for attorney general, pam bondi. >> just hours after trump's first choice, former congressman matt gaetz, announced he was withdrawing his nomination. trump wasted no time picking another fierce loyalist to lead the department of justice. bondi was florida's first female attorney general and she defended trump in his first impeachment trial and like gaetz, she's also pushed to use the doj to go after trump's perceived enemies. listen to this. >> when republicans take back the white house, you know what's going to happen. the department of justice the prosecutors will be prosecuted the bad ones, the investigators will be investigated because the deep state last term for president trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them and they can all be investigated cnn's kristen holmes is live in west palm beach, florida not far from trump's mar-a-lago estate. >> kristen, what are you hearing about pam bondi for ag republicans who are somewhat relieved at the choice. >> they believe that she i

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so who, again, is pam bondi and how different is she really than someone like matt gaetz? bondi is the former ag of florida, before donald trump came along, your clearest memory of her may have been her staunch opposition to implementing obamacare in florida or for her opposition to same sex marriage. back before 2016, she was considered a pretty mainstream republican, aligned with the party on ideology of the time. but when trump decided to run, bondi made a strategic choice, first withholding her endorsement, and then choosing donald trump over fellow floridian marco rubio in march of 2016, after super tuesday and right around the time it was becoming clear that donald trump was heading for the nomination. it was a big moment in florida politics, and one that would signal what bondi became next, which is close to full blown maga, defending donald trump in his first impeachment hearing, denying the results of the 2020 election, and as recently as august, going after the justice department and donald trump's own chosen language on fox news. >> when republicans take back the

pam bondi i should say she was a big supporter of the stop the steal movement. she was really out there talking about it, agreeing with rudy giuliani, even though as we know the claims after being tested through the courts and all kinds of ways and recounts, they were baseless. how is she likely to support this effort if confirmed yeah, i don't know. >> actually. i'm trying not to be able to answer that. i haven't closely scrutinized what she said in 2020. pam bondi i know you saw a lot of republican senators were thrilled to see her and said that she can get confirmed and certainly the early signs look like she's going to be confirmed, at least what the republican senators say. you know, but you're right that she's a loyalist. i mean, she's been with trump for many years. she's been one of his most avid and staunch folks on the campaign and 2020, 2024. uh, you know, she's someone he definitely trusts. she just worked for brian ballard at ballard partners with the lobbying firm that's particularly close to donald trump. so he does have someone here, you know, he

pam bondi being named as his replacement.n, that there were so many questions and concerns around matt gaetz from republicans. with his dropping out really inevitable? >> yes. in normal political times, matt gaetz would not have been nominated in the first place. in these times that we are in, especially with republican senators actually taking a stand and saying we don't think this, we could vote for this guy. yes, it was inevitable. the way he got the nomination honestly reflected sort of the chaos of the first trump administration, but i think that matt gaetz dropping out and pam bondi being selected as donald trump's new pick for attorney general to me says that trump 2.0 is more organized chaos. because you cannot make that selection that quickly if you had not been planning, you know, scenario planning ahead of time. >> david, what do you make of that? >> one of the good news stories are comforting new stories for those of us were not big fans of president trump is that he was elected by in the primary vote as david fre

is pam bondi's nomination _ installed. is pam bondi's nomination surprising . installed.hat have been expected? is she in the general running? i have been expected? is she in the general running?— the general running? i think she definitely _ the general running? i think she definitely was _ the general running? i think she definitely was not - the general running? i think she definitely was not a - the general running? i think she definitely was not a lot | the general running? i think. she definitely was not a lot of people is a list for potential candidates for this job but she is definitely someone who is a favourite of republicans in florida and nationally. she has an eight prong ally for donald trump going back to his originalfirst term as president and someone who is quite well regarded by a lot of republicans. florida is a good estate for donald trump, used to be a swing state but has not been for a while, it is where trumponomics is home, so you have a lot of republicans coming and going who have the opportunity to meet donald trump and ingratiate themselves with

attorney general, pam bondi who is replacing matt gaetz after meeting with g.o.p.s on the hill. it is, need we say busy friday afternoon good to be with you, john, sandra smith in new york. >> john: don't turn away for a moment and don't blink because the world can change. i'm john roberts in washington and this is "america reports." trump praising pam bondi to a social and intention of fighting crime and making america safe again. we are waiting to leave the fbi in potential shake-up but one of the advisor saying social media former congressman michael michael rogers no longer under consideration and pam bondi's nomination is already earning praise. >> matt gaetz would never get there and probably not effective at the good competence we want from attorney general eric had this says the democrats have a real reason to be nervous. >> they will disagree with everything that go and there and do exactly what donald trump tells her to do -- >> we have fox team coverage tick off this hour with bill mcgurn 20-meter lead him to studio in moments. >> john: peppers alexis mc

larry: joe concha, i think pam bondi is a brilliant choice. house and super confident and prosecutor over 20 year and former florida ag. know as lot about immigration too, which will be a key issue in enforcing the closing of the boarder and so forth. what do you think? synergy home this is smart for trump to announce all the cabinet picks now because if you have a matt gaetz situation, he's getting them out here and can't be confirmed for several months and she'll get confirmed and republicans won't be wobbly on her. larry: hegseth, there's a police report that said nothing happened and let's move on. hegseth that's a brilliant guy and decorated military man, et cetera. a good communicator here at fox. we know him well, all of us. get this done. let's stop harping on them. >> yeah, and look, we all know pete. known pete a long time. what is his job? to manage the federation of competing interest as sec def. that's a job with next level down to work and build up and we've got to modernize and train and equip and weed out what's wrong with the

i don't know a republican in the country who doesn't love pam bondi. so you were starting with gates, a nominee who was underwater significantly to start and was going to always be hard to get to the surface with bondi. i do think you're starting above water, and as long as she performs in her hearings and look, this is somebody who's been through two elections in a really big state and so a lot of public vetting of her has gone on already. so i think this is a great move by trump to be pragmatic and tell gates to get out. and a really good move to go with bondi. this is not a shaky limb. this is a sturdy branch he's going with for ag here. >> would you agree with that david well i'd agree with half of it. >> i think it was a good move to get gates out of the nomination, because he clearly was going to crash and burn, and he shouldn't have been there in the first place. it was a horrific choice. look, i think that, you know, my recollections of pam bondi were of leading the locker up chants at the 1960 19 i'm sorry, at the 2016 republican convention and

david, let's talk about pam bondi. in 2023, she was on fox talking about going after the justice department prosecutors whom she called the bad ones. let's watch. >> when republicans take back the white house, you know what's going to happen, the department of justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. the investigators will be investigated, because the deep state, last term for president trump, they were hiding in the shadows, but now they have a spotlight on them, and they can all be investigated. >> so, you wrote the book literally on the justice department and were over there just last week when gaetz was first nominated, not nominated, but named, and the shock and awe -- just shock that was felt among the professionals. how would they respond to someone who was as committed perhaps as matt gaetz to going after what she and president-elect called the deep state, whatever that is? >> so, she, i think she is a more polished, definitely more polished, more experienced as vaughn and ryan have said. she

so, what reasons do you have for opposing pam bondi? is that she has already demonstrated that she will not put the interests of the united states and the rule of law and the enforcement of civil and constitutional rights first, and that is required of anyone who is going to be the chief law enforcement officer of this country, she has already made a very explicit that she intends to carry out vendettas on behalf of the president without any justification, without any demonstrated objectivity at all. also her record itself shows that she can be persuaded as she accepted a $25,000 contribution to her campaign and at the same time ended her investigation of trump university when she was state attorney general of florida, which tells us that her alliance is more for the president-elect than it is for the american people. and in this moment, when we need an enforcer of the rule of law, when we need an independent law enforcement officer to lead this country, pam bondi simply is not it. and we are deeply concerned, we rely on the department

now with the nomination or potential nomination of pam bondi, you are getting relief from senators. i'm talking about someone like lindsey graham who called the pick of bondi a slam dunk. democrats do question bondi as someone who will be a full loyalist to trump and not independently evaluate the cases as they come. take a listen to what alex padilla had to say earlier on nbc. >> to the transition team, next try. i think a lot of people are saying they put out matt gaetz in the beginning and how crazy that was and nonsensical to make pam bondi look normal. she may be confirmed. is she going to be an independent attorney general upholding the constitution of the united states or is she planning to do trump's personal bidding? >> there are no indications that she is going to face an uphill battle for confirmation. senate republicans have a three seat majority plus and jd vance can break a tie after she gets out of the judiciary committee. so all in all, relief washing over them that trump picked bondi. we did see gaetz as an early test of how trump could see how far republicans are wi

florida's attorney general at that time was pam bondi. trump's latest pick to become u.s.llowing matt gaetz's disastrous short run for the position. well, just four days after reports surfaced that florida could join in the lawsuit, a donation of $25,000 was made from the donald trump foundation to a pack supporting bondi's 2014 re-election bid. that must have been a coincidence, right? first off, i should add it is highly illegal for a foundation to make political contributions which this clearly was. wouldn't you know it a few weeks later bondi's office announced it two not take legal action against trump university. who could have guessed that? and ever since then bondi has been by trump's side. in fact, she was floated as attorney general in his first administration after trump fired jeff sessions. she served on trump's legal team during his impeachment trial in 2020. her performance was less than stellar. >> he remained on the board until april of 2019. >> oh, honey. you wouldn't know it from that, but she has made countless appearances on tv, especially fox, showing

pam bondi knows what she's doing. >> kayleigh: why does one tear competency cannot quite a question. ily, i've known pam for a long time. we are both from florida. she's wonderful, she's a fighter, she has this really kind the near about her. but she's a fighter and she knows how to do the job. >> emily: she's accomplished a significant amount. i wanted to point out a couple things because it is directly relative to why she will be successful as united states attorney general. when she was the ag of florida, florida -- they were called pill mills. of the top 100 illicit physicians participating in this in the country, 98 were in florida. within one year, zero where. the cdc at that time called it an unprecedented national achievement. essentially she came to the helm, targeted what needed to be done, and she got it done, including reducing opioid deaths by over half because the holistic approach. here's something that came in and didn't effectively say, i'm attacking it with a huge constellation of resources and creativity and she got it done. the second thing i found so impressive, s

>> i'm a yes on pam bondi. i'm a yes on pete hegseth, i'm a yes on tulsi gabbard, absolutely. >> there you have it. let me doom zoom out. the trump transition team so far bypassed traditional background checks for cabinet picks. are you comfortable that all plaintiff trump's picks will be fully and properly vetted before the confirmation process? >> i am. that's an important role of the united states senate. it is a uniquely american institution for a bunch of reasons. we have the role of advise and consent. as we go through, armed services or judiciary, any of the committees that are going to be vetting these candidates for these positions, absolutely it is going to be thorough, it should be. we should ask tough questions. that's part of the process. so i have full confidence that that's exactly what we're going to have moving forward. >> let's do a little bit of foreign policy now. we have seen the war in ukraine obviously escalate this week. i wonder, do you support the u.s. staying in nato and recommitting

i think that's why you saw him move so quickly with pam bondi as well.r as his other nominations, he tests the system a lot. i think it's often going to be what is the reaction to this and he can pivot and move in a different direction when he so to chooses. but it's not good to start a transition with a defeat that way. so i think he will probably be a little bit more selective moving ahead. >> yeah, i mean, vaughn, do you think there is any lesson learned? maybe a lesson that should be learned, but lesson learned from team trump to what happened here? >> reporter: i think to mark's point here, is that mar-a-lago is not the operating center of the federal government, that washington, d.c., and its checks and balances is still going to be relevant in 2025 and that the u.s. senate despite a republican majority, there are still some republican senators that are not going to be simply rubber stamped to every nomination that donald trump puts forward, but also potentially legislation or budget that there are people, a wade cast of people from mitch mcconnell

tell us more about pam bondi? , ., ., , time. tell us more about pam bondi? , ., ., bondi?hours passed before we how _ bondi? just a few hours passed before we how this _ bondi? just a few hours passed i before we how this announcement of a new nominee for attorney general, pam bondi, who is an experienced prosecutor, the first female attorney general in the state of florida, donald trump was like home state, in the role between 2011— 2019. they are friends, they have a range of a long time. she is clearly a loyal trump ally. she was one of his lawyers during his first impeachment trial while he was president, that followed that phone call he made to president volodymyr zelensky, involving allegations of abuse of power related to aid to ukraine in return for a possible investigation into the then vice president or former vice presidentjoe biden. he was eventually found — donald trump — not guilty during that role. pam bondi was also public in her support of donald trump during his hush money trial more recently, she turned up at the court, she was photographed and seen on a

pam bondi, name started to circulate. and then of course, over just the course of a few hours is when he ultimately landed on her. i'm told he did that for a few reasons one, of course, they have a good relationship. they've known each other for years. she was previously in his white house helped on his first impeachment trial. she also knows susie wiles very well from her time in florida obviously, but that was an important part of this. i'm told as well and i'm also told that, i mean, it was very clear people were telling donald trump this, but trump's transition knew for days that matt gates was going to have a very difficult time getting those confirmation votes. they pam bondi will have an easier time going through this and that was one of the key requirements really. but i do want to walk through some of pam bondi background, because i do think that's important to note here, as she now has to face her own kind of potential issues with senators who will be involved in her confirmation process. one, she's of course, s

so now pam bondi pam bondi for attorney general. it happened very quickly, i think, as kristen laid out, there's a lot of relieved republican senators. and frankly, trump allies that, okay, they really believe pam bondi could get through. but bottom line here, i mean, whoever is the attorney general under trump, it's really going to be trump. i mean, he's made it clear he wants to drive the show. >> that's for every one of these cabinet picks that we've been talking about. you know, we've spent the last couple of weeks as we have for every previous administration where we talk through the qualifications for some of these folks that would be going into these positions the reality is where we are right now is that you don't necessarily need to be qualified. i'm not saying that, pam, but like pam bondi is qualified, right? there are certainly people that are qualified and you know, marco rubio as well as somebody else. however you are still putting people into positions that are just going to parrot what you want. so i know there's all

is it fair to say, i guess, that pam bondi is a safer bet?s yet to be seen with that one. but she definitely is somebody who has a more conventional background for a typical attorney general pick. someone, again, who's name had already been brought up before a couple of years ago when president—elect trump — or then—president trump — was looking to fill a vacancy. so, again, more conventional. is she safer? we'll have to see. jarred hill from cbs news. in southern china... scientists have discovered ancient forests with animals and plants they thought were extinct in several sinkholes hidden deep in the mountains. the sinkholes — or "heavenly pits" in mandarin — have formed over tens of thousands of years, and only recently became visible when the land collapsed revealing steep limestone cliffs and caves. they are now being explored with the help of local mountaineers. 0ur china correspondent laura bicker has been to meet to meet some of them. beneath the cloud, hidden deep in the mountain, scientists have discovered a lost world. the ancient

bondi, she has not been accused for investigated for paying for sex with an underaged person, but pam bondi shown how willing she is to use her authority to help donald trump. this is from "the washington post." bondi was one of a coterie of trump allies who barnstormed the country. she appeared at press conference events with former new york mayor rudy giuliani. she was no longer attorney general of florida, but her past title used as a means of establishing a means of her authority. pam bondi has the basic qualifications. she did serve as the florida top prosecutor for a number of years. she has years of experience. what do you feel about pam bondi serving as the country's attorney general? >> i think for starters, to president-elect trump's team and transition team, nice try. i think a lot of people are saying they put out matt gaetz in the beginning and now razy and nonsensical that was to make pam bondi look more confirmable. now the questions begin. as the former secretary of state for me, it starts with the false allegations of the voter fraud in the 2020 election and refusing to acc

>> i'm a yes on pam bondi. i'm a yes on pete hegseth. i'm a yes on tulsi gabbard. >> there you have it. let me zoom out a little bit. the trump transition team has so far bypassed additional background checks for cabinet picks. are you confident all of mr. trump's picks will be fully and properly vetted before this confirmation process? >> i am. i think that's an important role of the united states senate. it's a uniquely institution for a bunch of reasons. armed services, judiciary, any of the committees these candidates for these positions it's going to be thorough. it should be. we should ask tough questions. that's part of the process. i have full confidence that's what we'll have. >> all right. let's do a little bit of foreign policy now. we've seen the war in ukraine escalate this week. i wonder do you support the u.s. staying in nato and recommitting itself to the idea that an attack against one is an attack against all? >> yeah, i don't think anybody's talking about exiting nato. i do think what president trump has brought to the

this is pam bondi who is now the new attorney general choice for president-elect trump. f confirmed, bondi would lead the justice department and set the agenda for federal investigations and prosecutions. this is what trump had to say about bondi yesterday on truth social. pam will refocus the doj for intended fouse of fighting crime and making america safe again. i have known pam many years, she is smart. she is tough. and america-first fighter. she will do a terrific job as attorney general. this is one of the main reasons that bondi was floated and picked pretty quickly according to sources is because she said the doj need to be held accountable. listen. >> merrick garland is our chief law enforcement officer and this entire country. we talk about the weaponization of fbi, the cia, atf now, the irs. well it all starts at the top of merrick garland. he has to respond to this. he has to be held accountable this is way too important for the american people and our justice system is at stake. >> that's what we heard, too on the campaign trail when we talked to voters in di

what is your take on pam bondi for attorney general and what is your observation of broadly speaking about trump pics. >> this is an all-star group compared to what we had to go through confirm the nomination when joe biden came into office this is a no-brainer we have a lot of great talent on the republican side, president trump has put months and months into picking this group, matt gaetz goes on him, pam bondi is next in line. she'll be good and known her for a long time i was in a hurry not too long ago she is america first she believes in donald trump and she will work very well with them side-by-side she has experience, eight years in florida without that time governor rick scott, senator had controversy in terms of handling tough situations like trayvon martin trial i'm very confident and pam bondi she will come in and clean the d.o.j. up. we have to start there it is a disaster in the department of justice. maria: why because it was politicized. >> yes everything is weapon ice we have seen the up close and personal. if you do something or make a statement they will come after

pam bondi was different. surprise last night because her name had not been previously flowed. she was a twice elected attorney general of the state of florida. she is tough on dgs. she is tough on illegal immigration. she is a trump loyalist. that is a mistake trunk -- mistake trump is determined not to repeat this time. he felt his first attorney general failed him by allowing the bob moeller pressure gate probe to go on as long as it did. he felt his second attorney general also failed him not embracing his election dino -- his election deny was a misuse in 2020. . this time he is saying weather is justice or fbi come he is going to appoint people who know him and who he knows and are going to put him first. >> the attorney general is supposed to be an independent figure. are you saying we are not going to see that? >> people feel differently about that point because the attorney general by all ethics standards should be independent but the fact is he or she does work for the president and the president is