cnn's steve contorno j

steve contorno in south florida. now, so does president elect trump agree with biden that it's good news well, trump really wanted a key victory to come out of this this funding of the government bill. >> he wanted the republicans in the house to go along with a plan to push off a debt ceiling limit vote beyond 2025. in fact, he at one point floated the idea of getting rid of it entirely. and he had threatened lawmakers who didn't go along with his plan with the primary. just take a look at this post on social media, one of several in recent days calling for this debt limit to be threat to be eliminated. he didn't want this to dog negotiations over the budget. in the early days of his administration, and ultimately, 38 republicans voted against a bill that would have funded the government and pushed off the debt limit. negotiations to 2027. and then yesterday, 170 house republicans voting for a clean, continuing resolution that had no mention of the debt limit and whatsoever. now, trump, frustrated by this, but ultim

steve contorno, thanks so much for that.ng up, checking back in with some of the people hit hardest by hurricane milton. i'm going to speak with a florida restaurant owner who has some good news to share about his business and his community. that's next. >> all the best or the worst? 2024 tonight at 11 on. >> you make good choices. they've shaped your journey to leave all that your life built. rock solid for generations. with ambition like that, you need someone who elevates advice to a craft. at ubs, we match your vision with insight and expertise to shape a unique outcome for you. advice is our craft. >> i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's? >> what are the three p's? >> the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are. price, price and price. a price you can afford. a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. >> i'm 54. what's my price? >> you c

. >> we're joined by cnn's steve contorno and manu raju steve, you have new reporting this morning that florida governor ron desantis, who was a rival of donald trump during the gop primary process, is interested in becoming defense secretary, should that nomination open up again tell us more. >> not only is he interested jim, but donald trump and ron desantis have actually already had a conversation about it. according to two people with knowledge of the former florida governor's conversation. and he has expressed interest in joining the trump administration, which would be a new development just a few weeks ago, he was actually asked point blank if he had any interest in joining the trump administration, and he said he was perfectly happy with his his his job as florida governor. however, he is up against a term limit that would leave him without a job starting in 2027. and he has more open lately under this new political reality of trying to stay relevant in donald trump's republican party. and so suddenly joining the trump administration in a high profile role as secretary of defens

john. >> all right steve contorno for us, steve, thank you very much kate. >> today, embattled secretary of defense pick pete hegseth is heading back to capitol hill to meet with more senate republicans making the rounds. hegseth is trying to shore up support just as he is facing new allegations through a really scathing report of inappropriate behavior and mismanagement and mismanagement during his time when he was heading up a veterans organization. still a senior advisor to president-elect trump says the transition team is confident in his confirmation. all of this is happening, though, as some republican senators also appear to be warming up to trump's desire. the transition team's desire to ignore the standard of putting nominees through fbi background checks. let's get the very latest on where things stand in terms of confirmation and making the rounds on capitol hill with lauren fox on capitol hill. what are you hearing from lawmakers? >> lauren yeah, this is another big day for pete hegseth who is going around capitol hill meeting with some of these senators. we saw yesterday. he

cnn's steve contorno joins us now from west palm beach, near trump's florida home. steve. good to see you. some of these new picks continue to highlight the benefits of being a big donor, right. >> that certainly seems to be the case. fred, let's focus on two of the individuals that donald trump named yesterday. one of them is troy edgar. he is an ibm executive who will be the deputy secretary of homeland security. and the other is bill white, another businessman who will be the ambassador to belgium. and like so many other trump nominees so far, these two individuals donated it to the effort to get donald trump elected. in fact, white contributed more than $100,000 to various campaign committees and other groups that are aligned with donald trump. and this is a trend. in fact, a cnn analysis found that more than nearly three dozen of the picks that trump has made so far were people who donated to donald trump. and it includes eight of his cabinet members and their spouses, giving $37 million to donald trump's campaign or the groups that have been aligned with him througho

cnn's steve contorno joins us now from west palm beach, near trump's florida home. steve, some of these new picks continue to highlight the benefits of being a big donor absolutely, fred. >> let's take a look at just two of those that were announced yesterday. troy edgar, he's an ibm executive. he's going to be deputy secretary of homeland security if he's confirmed for donald trump. and he is an individual who has donated to committees and to trump's campaign in the last year, as well as bill white, the incoming ambassador to belgium that trump announced yesterday. in fact, he gave more than $100,000 across several campaign committees, all tied to the effort to get donald trump elected. and as you said, this is a trend. we took a look at 90 of trump's appointments that he has made over the past few weeks, and 30 of them have donated in the past to trump's 2024 election efforts or committees who were aligned with him. and that includes more than $37 million coming from his eight cabinet members and their spouses, and then two other cabinet members. representative eli

>> steve contorno is with us now. steve, how do you think these ideas are going to go over in washington? because certainly the audience there in arizona, they're excited about it. they're cheering him on. what about members of congress and everybody else? >> well, look, this was billed as a rally style speech. >> and this is certainly what donald trump delivered with his remarks. and look, everything he said and those remarks that you just played is something he said over and over again on the campaign trail. so i don't think it would catch anyone in washington off guard. but there were two areas that i found interesting. one is that he there was almost no mention. in fact, there was no mention of what transpired this past week with the debt ceiling fight and the funding fight to get the government funded. nor did he echo what many of his allies were saying in arizona, which is that they were going to primary challenge people in washington who wouldn't go along with donald trump. he didn't he didn't echo those kinds o

but the president elect made time for college football on saturday, cnn's steve contorno has more. >>nald trump on saturday attended the army-navy football game for the fifth time, and he was joined there by several close allies, including his embattled pick to lead the pentagon as defense secretary pete hegseth. >> joining trump in his box were also house speaker mike johnson, vice president elect j.d. vance and incoming senate majority leader john thune also spotted alongside trump was daniel penny. he is the ex-marine who was acquitted this week by a manhattan jury on charges that he choked a homeless man to death in new york on the subway earlier this year while on his way to the game, donald trump continued to announce new picks for his incoming administration, including troy edgar. he is an ibm executive who will be deputy secretary of homeland security for donald trump. this is someone who previously served in the department of homeland security. he is also someone who contributed to project 2025. that is the controversial playbook for a second trump term put together by the co

cnn's steve contorno has more monday kicks off another critical week on capitol hill for donald trump's cabinet picks. >> it's the last expected week the senators will be in dc before they head home for the holidays. and on sunday, we heard from senator thom tillis of north carolina, who urged donald trump's allies to knock off the pressure campaign, trying to get republican senators on the hill to support his picks blindly. >> pete hegseth had a good week this week on capitol hill. i'm working with kash patel. the members are not really swayed by these. if anything, they could create a structural problem for future nominees if they overreach. but i don't believe that it's coming directly out of mar-a-lago. i think it's coming out of groups sometimes they're there. they have good behavior, other times they're out there to make some change and and get their name out there. >> trump's pick for defense secretary pete hegseth, will continue meeting with senators this week. it comes after a weekend where he had a public display of support from president elect trump. when the two appeared sid

cnn's steve contorno joins us from west palm beach with more on this. steve, how are trump's allies responding today? >> well, we've seen several of them already go after some of the republicans on capitol hill who wouldn't go along with trump's plans especially republican chip roy of texas. he seems to be bearing the brunt of a lot of the the maga blowback for what transpired on the hill this week. but look, donald trump had threatened going into the final votes to primary. anyone who didn't vote to extend the debt limit in this bill to fund the government and ultimately, 38 republicans rejected the initial bill that would have extended the debt limit fight beyond 2025. but then 170 republicans on the hill and dozens more senators got behind what ultimately passed and was sent to joe biden's desk. but we are seeing trump's allies set the stage for republicans to potentially take on their own, and especially anyone who stands in the way of president elect donald trump. listen to what one of trump's top allies senate candidate, former senate candidate kar

cnn's steve contorno joining us now from west palm beach, near trump's florida home. steve, what more do we know about trump attending the game and what kind of role might he be playing? >> well, fred, he will be joined by florida governor ron desantis, who himself is a navy veteran. >> and it's also someone who has been at times at odds with donald trump. obviously, they ran against each other for the republican nomination, but also someone lately he has considered as a potential replacement. if pete hegseth nomination falters. now some of that chatter has subsided in recent days, but it's still interesting to see these two together at such a stage. and he will also be joined by his vice president elect, jd vance, who invited to the game daniel penny. he is the former marine who was acquitted this week on charges in manhattan that over the case where he fatally choked a homeless person to death and has become somewhat of a contentious figure, someone who has been celebrated by the right and vilified by the left. and jd vance, posting on social media about inviting pen

cnn's steve contorno joining us now from west palm beach, near trump's florida home. so, steve, what more do we know about this journey for the president elect well, he's got some interesting company joining him in landover for this game, including florida governor ron desantis. >> desantis and trump, of course, had a pretty heated primary over the past year and a half, and they weren't exactly on friendly terms. toward the end of the presidential race. but they have buried the hatchet lately, and we've seen donald trump actually float privately. ron desantis as a potential replacement for defense secretary. if pete hegseth doesn't survive the nomination process and the intrigue continues today as desantis, a navy veteran, will be joining trump in at this game. and we also will have vice president elect jd vance there who has invited to the game daniel penny that is the ex-marine that was acquitted on charges this week related to fatally strangling an individual on a subway in new york. vance talking about this on social media, writing, quote, i hope he's able to have

cnn's steve contorno is joining us now from west palm beach with more on this. eve, how is the president elect reacting to the debt ceiling omission? >> well, last night, sources telling cnn that donald trump was frustrated that he could not get that debt ceiling provision included in these negotiations. it is something that he posted on social media about in the days leading up to the vote, certainly something he was pressuring house republicans to get behind, behind, even going so far as to threaten them with primaries if they didn't vote for it. but ultimately, lawmakers, allies, advisers convinced him that if he wanted, if he really, really wanted to get that debt ceiling piece removed, it was going to probably require him to be the the blame, take the blame for a shutdown in the federal government, something he didn't feel ultimately was worth that effort. and so yesterday we saw this bill pass without the debt ceiling piece of it included. >> and also, we want to note that president elect trump just announced a familiar name to serve as special envoy to the

cnn's steve contorno joins us now from west palm beach, near trump's florida home. so, steve, some of these new picks continue to highlight the benefits of being a big donor. what can you tell us that's right fred. >> yesterday, donald trump named troy edgar, an ibm executive, to be his deputy secretary of homeland security. and then he named another businessman, bill white, his ambassador to belgium. and these two individuals have in common is that they were also donors to the effort to get donald trump elected president. in fact, bill white gave about $100,000 to trump's campaigns and other committees that were aligned with him in his effort to get elected. and this is a trend in fact, a cnn analysis found that of the 90 people that trump had given assignments to as of early last week, more than a third of them have donated to the effort to get donald trump elected. and it includes eight of his cabinet members and their spouses, who gave $37 million combined to those various committees. and then two other of his cabinet picks, new york representative elise stefanik

cnn reporter steve contorno joining us now from west palm beach, florida. steve. look there.re going to have to see how this process plays out. but of course, senate republicans in the spotlight here to see if they will go along with trump's picks or if any of them will buck trump here. >> that's right, jessica, we started to see last week this sort of pressure campaign building around some of trump's picks, trying to get these republican senators on board, certainly joni ernst, the senator from iowa, was one of the targets of that came and today campaign. and today, we're seeing senator thom tillis from north carolina suggesting that these allies of trump should back off and let some of these these nominees, even though they're controversial, pass on the merits. take a listen to what he said pete hegseth had a good week this week on capitol hill. >> i'm working with kash patel, the members are not really swayed by these. if anything, they could create a structural problem for future nominees if they overreach. but i don't believe that it's coming directly out of mar-a-lago.

cnn's steve contorno is live for us in west palm beach, florida, near trump's mar-a-lago home. , steve, how is the president elect reacting now? >> well, behind the scenes, fred, he was really frustrated with how this entire process went down. and he was telling lawmakers that he really wanted them to fight for getting the debt ceiling extension part of this package. he wanted to see. in fact, the debt ceiling go away entirely and had encouraged democrats to get on board with that idea. and in fact, republicans. and it was his own republican party that wouldn't go along with it. and ultimately, 38 republicans voted on thursday against a bill that would have extended the debt ceiling through 2027. so trump, frustrated by the process, but ultimately came to the conclusion yesterday when talking with advisers and allies on capitol hill that a shutdown would have been inevitable if he would have really put his foot down for this and forced republicans and congress to get behind this plan. and ultimately went along with what what passed yesterday. and we also saw a bit of face saving

cnn's steve contorno is in west palm beach, florida, with this report. >> speaking from arizona on sundaydonald trump delivered what his campaign called a rally style speech in front of a friendly conservative audience, his first since winning election last month. and it was certainly reminiscent of many of the campaign speeches that he delivered over the past two years, with a heavy focus on immigration and his plans for the us-mexico border. he did, however, tread some new ground, saying that he was open to allowing tiktok, the chinese social media company, to continue to operate in the united states. he also considered taking back control of the panama canal, and suggested that he would meet early in his term with russian president vladimir vladimir putin about the ukraine war. he also pushed back against democrats criticism that he has allowed billionaire elon musk to become the de facto leader of his party and the country. take a listen to what he said there on a new kick russia, russia. >> russia. ukraine, ukraine, ukraine. all the different hoaxes. and the new one is president trum

cnn's steve contorno is joining us now with the latest on this. d, steve, you've covered the trump campaign and now the trump transition. we're hearing from him for the first time since the whole government, the potential government shutdown. what stood out to you jessica, this was billed as his first rally style speech since winning election last month, and it was quite familiar to anyone who had been following his campaign speeches throughout. >> there was a heavy focus on immigration and many of the promises that he had made throughout the campaign, though he did tread some new ground, he said that he would be open to considering allowing the chinese company tiktok to continue to operate in the united states. he suggested that he would sit down early in his presidency with russian president vladimir putin to try to solve the ukraine war, something that, of course, he has been saying he would do for months. he also talked about seizing control of the panama canal, though he offered no clues to as to how he intended to do that. and he also pushed

we start things off with cnn's steve contorno, who joins me now, steve.sident-elect trump's inauguration. i think it's just a couple of weeks away at this point. how are those first 100 day plans taking shape? >> phil, we still have a lot to learn about how trump intends to execute his policies that he wants to implement early in his administration, but he has certainly offered some broad parameters of where his targets will be early on. >> and certainly immigration is at the top of that list. and his plans for mass deportations soon after taking office, restarting the border wall and closing to some extent, the border between us and mexico. he has also proposed extending the trump era tax cuts that are set to expire at the end of next year, implementing new tariffs on foreign goods. we've already seen him tease a 25% tariff on goods coming from mexico and canada, and he has also said he will review the cases of the january 6th offenders and potentially pardon at least those who committed nonviolent crimes that day. he has also made more vague promises th

for more on that, let me bring in steve contorno, who's got much more reporting for us. what are you hearing today, steve kate, for much of the past four years, ever since donald trump left washington, d.c., he has been running his political operation out of palm beach, and most of his aides and advisers have lived within a stone's throw of mar-a-lago. >> well, that has been the case up until recently, because we are now starting to see the epicenter of his political team shift to washington, d.c. allies are on the hill walking these nominees through these capitol hill and senate meetings. we are seeing his advance team scouting out space for inaugural balls and fundraising events and such. even people who are hoping to have an in in the administration groups that have been close to them, they're now renting office space near the white house, and people who have been living in south florida advising trump. they are now relocating to washington, d.c., and this is all happening on a much faster timeline than eight years ago, with the hope and expectation of donald trump hit

steve contorno cnn, west palm beach, florida republican senator mitt romney says he's standing by hisriticism of donald trump's character, but he's acknowledging the president elect's grip on the party. >> romney says mrs. trump and the maga movement now define the gop. >> maga is the republican party and donald trump is the republican party today. and if you were to ask me who the nominee will be in 2028, i think it will be jd vance. the republican party has become the party of the working class, middle class voter. >> well, another republican, senator, lindsey graham, is pushing back against trump's isolationist stance towards syria. he fears mr. trump's approach could allow terror groups isis to resurface. and that's amid the assad regime's fall. of course, there are 50,000 isis fighters under the control of kurdish allies of the united states in northeastern syria. >> it is in our national security interest. they do not break out of jail and reestablish the caliphate. >> meanwhile, trump's incoming national security adviser suggests that trump intends to keep some military presenc

steve contorno. thank you. there. live for us from miami. appreciate it. kate. >> let's talk more about this with democratic congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz of florida. it's good to see you. congresswoman. thanks so much for coming in. kevin marino cabrera, former miami-dade county commissioner. now. well, maybe former his choice to be ambassador to panama. what do you think of this election? you know, i don't know much about the commissioner. >> i did represent miami dade county for for 18 years. >> and i'll tell you, it's just another example of trump selecting an individual who has a scant resume, other than being someone who worships donald trump. we have a free trade agreement with panama. we have a decades and generations long relationship. and you know what? what donald trump and speaker johnson and the republicans across our government are doing is demonstrating that the incoming chaos congress and this administration is going to be of, by and for the billionaires and corporations. i mean, that's that's what they're telegraphing very clearly

steve contorno, cnn, west palm beach, florida now mr. trump's referenced the panama canal during his speech on sunday came only a day after he made similar comments on social media. >> he told his supporters in arizona that he'd consider retaking control of the canal, as he accused panama of charging fees that he called ridiculous and highly unfair. >> it was given to panama and to the people of panama, but it has provisions. you've got to treat us fairly, and they haven't treated us fairly. if the principles, both moral and legal of this magnanimous gesture of giving are not followed, then we will demand that the panama canal be returned to the united states of america in full, quickly and without question. i'm not going to stand for it now. >> as you might expect, those comments sparked a swift reaction from panama's president josÉ raÚl mulino. he made it clear his country will remain in control of the canal coy wire. >> i want to express that every square meter of the panama canal and its adjacent areas belong to panama and will conti

steve contorno cnn, west palm beach, florida. >> still to come, a rare tornado hits northern california over the weekend, but more winds and rain are on the way as recovery there begins. we'll have your latest forecast for you. plus, it's the worst storm in almost a century to hit the french territory of mayotte in the indian ocean. we'll bring you the very latest on cyclone chido. >> so what are you thinking? >> i'm thinking about our honeymoon. what about africa safari? hot air balloon ride. swim with elephants. wait. can we afford a safari? great question. >> like everything takes a little planning. >> or put the money towards a down payment on a ranch in montana with horses. let's take a look at those scenarios. >> jp morgan wealth management has advisors in chase branches and tools like wealth plan to help keep you on track when you're planning for it all. the answer is jp morgan wealth management. >> i brought in ensure max protein with 30g of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks. here, i'll take that. >> ensure. max protein 30g protein, one gram of sugar

cnn's steve contorno joins us now from west palm beach with more on this. eve, what did we glean from the last 48 hours or so well, jessica, we saw that there are limitations to the electoral mandate that donald trump believes that he won just a month ago, we saw 38 republicans on thursday vote against a plan to raise the debt ceiling all the way through 2027, and then 170 republicans siding with house speaker mike johnson and the entire democratic caucus in support of a continuing resolution to fund the government. >> without that debt ceiling extension that trump desperately wanted and was pushing for. and this is not the first time that we have seen trump suffer some defeats at the expense of his own party in recent weeks, he had senator rick scott, the trump aligned candidates who lead the senate as a majority leader. he lost his bid to senator john thune, who didn't even endorse trump in the primary last go around. we have also saw matt gaetz falter in his nomination to be the attorney general, a job that donald trump views as integral to his cabinet. n

cnn's steve contorno joining us now from west palm beach, near trump's florida home, steve. trump also has several friends joining him there in the booth. >> yeah. and the footage that we have seen so far from that booth, senator john thune, the incoming majority leader, is there. speaker mike johnson also expected to be in attendance. his vice president elect, jd vance, there as well. we also are expecting florida governor ron desantis, an interesting person, to join donald trump, because there's been a lot of intrigue as to whether desantis could potentially be a replacement as defense secretary if trump's nominee pete hegseth ultimately falters. that was some of the chatter last week. it's died down a little bit since hegseth has had some more positive meetings on the hill, but desantis being there with him at this game is certainly noteworthy also, because the two have just such an interesting pass, given how donald trump and him competed for the republican primary last fall and through the winter. so interesting to see him there as well. and we also are expecting daniel

steve contorno, thank you so much for being here. turn it over to kate. >> we can keep an eye on that at the very same time, let's talk much more about this time magazine cover that we were just talking about. time magazine correspondent eric eric, he is joining us now. he wrote this cover piece. he sat down with the president elect for this lengthy interview and in going through it during the show, quickly in commercial breaks, i have to say, eric, very interesting and some important parts to get to. but first and foremost, i think i saw that it was like a 65 minute sit down. your what was your overall impression from your interview with the president elect? >> well, you know, he's less defensive than he was in recent years. i met with him last in april. and, you know, you could sort of sense that the volume was turned down. he has felt that sense of vindication. and there was almost a kind of wistfulness on the part of trump that his last campaign was over. he actually said, it's sad in a way. this will never happen again. so he wa

omar and amara. >> all right, steve contorno, thank you for that. and we will have highlights from the army-navy game coming up later this morning with coy wire in sports. well, abc news has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit brought by president elect donald trump against the network. abc and anchor george stephanopoulos. under the terms, abc will make a $15 million charitable contribution to a, presidential foundation and museum. issue a public apology and pay $1 million in legal fees to trump. >> and it comes from a march interview stephanopoulos conducted earlier this year with south carolina congresswoman nancy mace. during that interview, stephanopoulos said ten times that a jury found trump, quote, raped writer e jean carroll. but actually, the jury found trump liable for sexual battery, not rape. in the civil case that carroll filed, as well as defamation. >> let's discuss this now with cnn's chief media analyst brian stelter. good morning brian. so tell us how big of a win this is for president elect trump? >> yeah, $15 million and the a

steve contorno cnn west palm beach, florida. >> the u.s. is targeting military facilities linked to houthi rebels in yemen, with new strikes coming hours after a missile attack on tel aviv. details after the break. plus the season to be jolly is a tough sell to people living in war zones around the world, but many still find ways to keep the holiday spirit alive despite all of the violence around them. >> head and shoulders is launching something huge. the bare minimum anti-dandruff shampoo, made with only nine ingredients no sulfates, silicones or dyes and packaged with 45% less plastic, giving you outstanding dandruff protection and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized. >> major dandruff protection minimal ingredients. >> job done. head and shoulders bare. >> since 2007, origin has been focused on the future, a future that helps you build passive income from real estate. >> when we invest by your side without hidden fees or confusing structures, build the future you deserve with origin investments, your emblem of devotion. >> have your

trump's victory last month, west palm beach has become the center of the political universe in steve contorno is there. he's joining us now with the latest we know trump. steve is headed back to mar-a-lago as he left the army navy game just a few moments ago. he attended that game with the vice president elect, jd vance, but also with pete hegseth, his pick for secretary of defense. what else can you tell us about the dynamics today? >> yeah, very public show of support by donald trump for his embattled secretary of defense pick, pete hegseth, someone who has gone through a very grueling week of meetings on capitol hill. trump standing by his side, even amid allegations of sexual assault, and also new information on his past views about women serving in combat roles, as well as gays in the military. and this show of support by having him in attendance today with him at the army and navy game. certainly a sign that trump will continue to stand by his side in the immediate future. other people of note at the game in the box with donald trump include house speaker mike johnson, incoming majority

cnn senior reporter steve contorno joining us now from west palm beach. um.anians are. >> sir. and it starts right at the top with the panama president. josÉ raÚl mulino, who told cnn en espanol that he had no plans to work with donald trump on turning over the canal and that trump's attacks over the past few days represent a gross misunderstanding of the operations there. trump has accused panama of charging exorbitant fees to the u.s. navy and american ships that try to use the canal to get from the pacific to the atlantic, or vice versa. panama president, though, saying that trump's threats to take over the canal will not be taken lightly. take a listen. >> it was. >> that is a manifestation of gross ignorance of history. so all those speculations and all that range of eventualities that are not going to happen, well, i leave them there as totally irrelevant issues and quite bordering on historical incoherence with what the panama canal has been, is and will be now, i should point out, sir, that this port has been under control of panama for the past 25 ye

trump pushing back on those attacks cnn steve contorno joining us live from florida. so, um, there's a lot happening here. the the reviving of the idea of controlling greenland. in addition to these statements about the panama canal. first of all, where did those come from that's a great question, erica. >> and i've asked that question of the trump transition team. i asked, for example, on panama, you know, what would that look like? how would the u.s. get involved? would it require the military? is this just a trade negotiation tactic? where did this idea come from? and i was basically just pointed back to trump's remarks in arizona on sunday. and without any sort of further guidance of what this idea is or where it came from, talking to some people close to the trump transition team, they said, look, trump has been very interested in making trade conditions much more favorable for the u.s. we saw that with his threats to put a tariff on mexico and canada. and this is in line with those. but the idea itself has certainly come out of left field, even for some individu

steve contorno. thank you very much for that, kate. >> and an important clarification, john, on that one for sure. also this morning, the supreme court is going to be hearing arguments in what is considered the marquee case of the entire term. justices will hear arguments challenging a tennessee law that bans gender affirming health care for children and teens the measure? it's a law prohibits doctors from giving hormone therapy and puberty blockers to transgender minors. tennessee is one of 26 states that have passed similar laws. let's get to the high court, though cnn's joan biskupic will be following all of this. all all of this important moment from minute to minute and every minute of oral arguments is extremely important today joan, help people understand what is at issue here and also what is at stake. >> yes kate, good to see you. and you're right. this case could become the most important of this current supreme court session much is at stake, not just for these youths who are trying to hav

cnn's steve contorno is in west palm beach. and steve grenell, of course, served as trump's top u.s. intelligence official at the end of his term and is very well known in trump world. there were big questions about where he would land if he would be part of this administration. what more are you learning about this yeah. >> at one point, jessica, it was thought that he was on the short list to be potentially secretary of state, which is obviously one of the most important jobs in any administration. and he had been linked to several others because he is incredibly close to trump. he has done a whole bunch of different jobs for him. he was ambassador to germany at one point. he has also been helpful in with donald trump in key states, especially michigan, which is a state that he's very close to and was very critical to helping trump there this past go around. and he now will find himself as the presidential envoy for special missions and one of several individuals who trump named today, some of them on the way to this football

cnn's steve contorno is joining us now from west palm beach with the latest on this. steve, this was kind of billed as his first big rally, big speech since he won this election. what more did he say? >> well, jessica, it was very reminiscent of a campaign style speech. in fact, some of the lines i've heard probably dozens of times in the past year and a half, but there was some new ground that he traversed as well. you mentioned tiktok. he opened the door to allowing them to operate in the country once he takes president. they potentially were supposed to be banned under a new federal law. he also talked about sitting down with russian president vladimir putin about the ukraine war, which he has promised to solve within the first day of taking office. he didn't speak a lot about what happened this past week, where we saw this fight on capitol hill, over, over spending and him losing to some of his close republican allies. but he did respond to the attacks from democrats that his coconspirator in blowing up the the funding negotiations, elon musk is now sort of in char

let's get right to florida, man steve contorno the twists and turns here. some new developments. steve john. >> two sources close to florida governor ron desantis confirmed to me this morning that he is interested in this pentagon post if it is formally offered to him and not only that, the sources also told me that trump and desantis have spoken in recent days about the possibility of him stepping in to replace hegseth as a potential nominee. now we are still trying to figure out the details of that conversation and how serious it is. we also know that trump is considering potential other names for a hegseth replacement, if not if hegseth either withdraws or trump decides to move on. and that includes iowa senator joni ernst as well as tennessee senator bill hagerty. and ernst is an interesting name. in particular because she is one of the people that hegseth is expected to meet with today on capitol hill. she is also someone who has been considered a sort of swing vote and a key voice in determining whether or not he has enough juice behind him to get the nomination passed. 54 v

our thanks to steve contorno there. over to you, kate. >> this just in to cnn.we are learning that rfk jr.. is headed to capitol hill next week to begin meetings with senators to try and shore up support for his nomination to be the next secretary of health and human services. his nomination facing a lot of questions, his selection to head up the country's sprawling public health agency that oversees 13 different departments. controversial and in a rare move ahead of all of this. more than 75 nobel prize winners have banded together, now urging senators to oppose rfk's nomination. the group, writing in a letter to senators this in part placing mr. kennedy in charge of the department, would put the public's health in jeopardy and undermine america's global leadership in health sciences. joining me right now is one of the nobel laureates who helped draft that letter, sir richard roberts. roberts, a biochemist who won a nobel prize in physiology or medicine. sir. richard, thank you for coming h about? what made you decide to speak up in a way that we really haven't

steve contorno, thanks so much. all right. also this week, president elect trump named his pick to lead the justice department's civil rights division. trump is tapping conservative san francisco attorney harmeet dhillon to the powerful position. the indian born immigrant is known as a culture warrior and has been active in republican politics for years now. sources tell cnn she is part of incoming new leadership at the doj that is preparing to go on what's being called an anti-woke offensive against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. joining me right now to talk more about this pick and what it means for the justice department is joe garofoli. he is a senior political writer for the san francisco chronicle and recently wrote an article on dhillon. joe, great to see you. am i pronouncing her name right? dhillon. dhillon? yes. okay. very good. all right, so trump's justice department, you know, is, you know, preparing what's being called an anti-woke offensive against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. how i

cnn's steve contorno has the very latest for us panama. panama isn't having it, steve. but what are you hearing about? why this push from donald trump now? >> well, it's a fair question, kate, because for a lot of trump's inner circle, this has certainly come out of left field. it's not something that he talked about during the campaign at all. and he has not necessarily made it a priority up until the point where he just suddenly posted the trolls to truth social about it, and he obviously doubled down on sunday. and it's sort of part and parcel with the rhetoric we have seen from donald trump in recent days, not just panama and not just greenland, as you say, but also teasing this idea that canada could potentially be absorbed as a 51st state. now that appears more as an attempt to needle the canadian prime minister, justin trudeau. but but it does seem like this idea that trump wants to buy greenland and wants to pressure panama and potentially take over the panama canal are serious endeavors. and as you said, it's not just the the panama president that is pushing ba

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>> steve contorno much to come from those words from the incoming president. thank you very much, john. >> all right. this morning, back pain is no justification for murder, but it is one piece of information swirling around the background of luigi mangione, the man behind bars accused of killing health care. ceo brian thompson, mangione claimed in handwritten notes he was suffering from a back injury. cnn's chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta, has some of the details in what he's talking about. >> so the condition that we're talking about here is something known as spondylolisthesis big word basically means that two of the bones in the spine are sort of slipping a little bit, one on top of the other. let me show you on this model of the spine and how well you can see that, but this is the neck area up here. the thoracic spine over here that's behind your chest. and then this is the lower back or lumbar spine. there's five bones here. and this is the fifth bone in the lumbar spine. and this is your tailbone. and it's in this area that we're sort of t

cnn's steve contorno joins me now for more on this. eve, just to ask the obvious question, where did this come from exactly phil, i've been trying to get to the bottom of that question for the past 48 hours and even talking to people close to the president elect, they feel like this. >> this one came out of left field. >> and you know as well as i do that trump often dines with people, business leaders, friends across the water at mar a lago where they float ideas to him and he often will then regurgitate them in some form. and the best answer i got was that this is closely in line with his focus so far on trade and improving conditions for trade for the united states. we've seen him also taunt mexico and canada with 25% tariffs. he has certainly provoked some of our other trade partners as well. and this is sort of in line with that. but just take a listen to what he had to say over the weekend, because it outlines a bit of what his concerns are with the current situation with the panama canal. >> has anyone ever heard of the panama ca

cnn's steve contorno has the latest. >> speaking from arizona on sunday, donald trump delivered whatis campaign called a rally style speech in front of a friendly conservative audience, his first since winning election last month. and it was certainly reminiscent of many of the campaign speeches that he delivered over the past two years, with a heavy focus on immigration and his plans for the us-mexico border. he did, however, tread some new ground, saying that he was open to allowing tiktok, the chinese social media company, to continue to operate in the united states. he also considered taking back control of the panama canal, and suggested that he would meet early in his term with russian president vladimir vladimir putin about the ukraine war. he also pushed back against democrats criticism that he has allowed billionaire elon musk to become the de facto leader of his party and the country. take a listen to what he said there on a new kick russia, russia. >> russia. ukraine, ukraine, ukraine. all the different hoaxes. and the new one is president trump has ceded the presidency to

lauren fox steve contorno. thank you so much. coming up right now, the supreme court is hearing arguments in a case involving gender affirming care for minors. we're going to bring you the very latest up next and harbor freight, we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. >> no middlemen, just quality tools you can trust at prices you'll love. whatever you do do it for less. >> at harbor freight bent finger appointment in 30 minutes. >> you got this one. >> remember i don't want surgery for my dupuytren's contracture. >> two, i don't want to wait for my contracture to get worse three i want a treatment with minimal downtime. four i want a non-surgical treatment. and five. >> and if non-surgical treatment isn't offered i'll get a second opinion. >> let's go take charge of your treatment. >> if you can't lay your hand flat, visit. find a hand specialist.com to get started rise up. >> this morning smile with the rising sun three little birds with by my doorstep singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true saying

. >> today i'm steve contorno covering the trump transition in west palm beach, florida. >> and this. >> sauer. o john king ben hong, hong kong nam nine houthi. >> the vast majority of this country don't remember the american war. they don't remember any war. no. you used to be a tour guide. >> yes. >> for how many years? >> 15 years. >> 15 years? i know you have to bring people over to the museum. the american war museum. but every time. right? yeah. in your lifetime, is it going to be a time when that's not going to have to be a stop? it won't be necessary. it won't even be important. no one will remember. or should people always remember? >> i think it's good to remember so we don't make the same mistake. you know, some people choose to be angry, to hold a grudge, but then some people choose to let go and follow the peace inside themselves. that's up to the person. and i think it's good that the. it's important that we know about history. and to make sure it's never happen again. i made a lot of war veterans and surprisingly, a lot of them don't feel don't have any anger against.

. >> i'm steve contorno covering the trump transition in west palm beach, florida.> you have to think positive. how lucky you are to be in the alps on a beautiful day. >> i'm lucky to not actively be throwing up on myself right now. >> you know, you have to enjoy little things in life, right? >> i do. >> i mean, this is a special moment. i do. >> i will enjoy the minute. i don't have to do this anymore. >> oh, come on, man. >> so here's the plot. yeah. tell me. okay. 64 yolks. the revenge. >> 64. >> it's about a chef named eric ripert who runs a three star michelin in new york, played by bruce willis. but what? >> oh, i'm played by. >> okay. i like that. >> bruce willis playing you goes out into the dining room, visiting the table, overhears a. >> conversation, and then car chases violence. >> big fight in the kitchen at le bernardin. we could shoot it there. i'm sure it won't interrupt. service. no. >> the holy cow! oh, it's unbelievable. >> i mean. nothing is more beautiful than that. cow in my selfie. >> oh, it's a video. hold on. >> look at that. >> yeah, yeah,

. >> steve contorno frelimo has been making the same thing for 50 years. >> paul has an amazing respectc. >> food. the peasant classic. >> by tony. get closer. >> you were totally sending me every one of those pictures, by the way. wow, look at that. this style of dish goes back long before cameras, but it's perfect. is there a more perfect assortment of colors and textures in this one? a somewhat more luxurious version. beef shanks, flank steak, oxtail, veal shanks, chicken marrow bones, beef ribs. leeks. carrots, turnips, fennel and parsnips, all stewed long and at low temperature, then served with its own deeply rich broth. >> i think is enough for the two of us. and then this. >> oh my god, monsieur le royal. >> as if the chef had been listening to my deepest, darkest secret yearnings, the legendary live at le royal, an almost completely disappeared. incredibly difficult preparation of wild hair. the animal is first slowly cooked, then coated by a sauce of its own minced heart, liver and lungs that has been thickened with its own blood. after more than six hours of preparation, the

. >> steve contorno is out front with us now, steve.hy all of a sudden interest for donald trump in the panama canal? >> kate, that is a question that i've been trying to get to the bottom of for the past 48 hours. i asked the trump transition team and they declined to elaborate. but i did talk to several people in trump's inner circle. and look, they said that this came out of left field for them as well, and they were caught off guard. it's not something that he campaigned on over the past year and a half. it's also not something that they have understood, have saw him talk about recently behind the scenes as well, and they don't really know where the origins of this come from. the one person did tell me, look, trump dines regularly with friends and new acquaintances, and he's been entertaining business leaders and and world leaders, and he gets ideas in his head. and then he quickly decides whether or not to act on that. so that could certainly be the case here. and another person told me he has been infatuated with taking steps to i