Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Picks Dr. Mehmet Oz For Top Medicare & Medicaid Post; Trump Joins Elon Musk In Texas For SpaceX Launch; Sources: Trump Calling Senators Directly to Lobby For Gaetz; Manhattan DA Agrees To Postpone Trump Sentencing In Hush Money Trial; Man Charged With Killing 3 People In Random NYC Stabbings; Court Hears Details Of Riley's Cause of Death. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 19, 2024 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In our boiled innards of whatever haggis is made of.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Is there enough space in our stomach for all of that Oregon meat delicacy? I don't know.

SANCHEZ: Haggis is cute. I would like to see her handle running water and attack her zookeeper the way that Moo Deng does. She's the original and my favorite, in my personal record book of pygmy hippos.

KEILAR: We'll see Haggis. Yeah. Win us over, right?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, yeah.

Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.

THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts in just a few seconds.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Guess who just named to join the incoming Trump administration, Dr. Oz.

THE LEAD starts right now.

President-elect Trump makes a brand new pick, selecting Dr. Mehmet Oz for a top health role in his new administration. This breaking news just coming in. We will get live reaction.

And can SpaceX do it again, launch its Starship spaceship, then bring back and catch the booster? We're just minutes away from liftoff. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk will be there to watch, and he's bringing along his pal, the president-elect.

Plus, a deadly horrific stabbing spree in New York City. Three victims killed in a three-hour span. Is the city's top prosecutor a little too focused on political vendettas? Not enough on keeping the citizens of New York safe?

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

Dr. Oz is going to join the Trump administration if President-elect Trump gets his way. And Trump right now is not making that critical decision for Mar-a-Lago because he needs some space. To clarify, he's going to arrive any moment to watch SpaceX launch its Starship from Texas. That's the scene there in -- in the distance there.

Trump's there on a field trip with SpaceX CEOO Elon Musk. One of his administration picks to lead the new department of government efficiency. There he is.

The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. We're going to bring that to you live, that launch when it happens. You see, the two men there.

President-elect Trump and Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX. These are live images coming your way. Let's take it in. I don't think we can hear anything.

All right. They're walking off there.

Here's what Trump was up to before he headed to Texas today.

Let's bring with CNN's Kristen Holmes. She's in West Palm Beach, Florida, for all the latest on Trump's transition picks.

Kristen, another high profile name for the new Trump administration. Tell us more.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, not just a high profile name. Dr. Oz is also a television star, so something that he, Donald Trump, is clearly making a repetition of. Obviously, yesterday, as we announced, he was said that he was choosing Sean Duffy, who was the host of Fox Business, as well as a reality TV star, as the head of the Transportation Department.

Now we know that he is going to choose Mehmet Oz as the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Now, a couple of things to note about Dr. Oz, in addition to being a television doctor, he also is somebody that Donald Trump put up for Senate in 2022 in Pennsylvania and lost. He was very unhappy with Dr. Oz at that point, but obviously, they have cleared the air since then, since he is naming him as part of his administration.

Part of the statement reads, he is an eminent physician heart surgeon, inventor and world class communicator. I really wanted to highlight that point, Jake, because as we continue to see these names drip out, so many of them, are being chosen because Donald Trump and his team believe that they can be an effective communicator because of their experience on television. He wants them out there defending him, defending the administration. He wants people who can actually communicate.

Remember, one of the ways he's choosing them is watching clips of them on television. And obviously with doctor oz, there was a lot to choose from there.

TAPPER: All right. We also know that one of his transition chairs, Howard Lutnick, wanted to be secretary of the treasury. He didn't get that, but he got something else today?

HOLMES: Yes, he is going to be secretary of commerce. Of course, he will have to also get confirmed, but it does seem as though this was a consolation prize for the secretary of treasury. Just as we've been reporting, there had been somewhat of a knife fight, which we were told by advisers, was led by Howard Lutnick when he decided to put his name in the ring for secretary of treasury. The other candidate at that point had been Scott Bessent, a hedge fund manager.

We still don't know if Bessent is the only one left. We have been told that they had expanded the list. He did a number of interviews over the last two days with new candidates for secretary of treasury. We'll see if we get that tonight.

Just remember this is one of the biggest positions that is left. So whether or not this Howard movement comes with eventually the secretary of treasury, we'll have to wait and see. But we are expecting potentially more names tonight.

TAPPER: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

President-elect Donald Trump has been calling Republican senators urging them to confirm former Congressman Matt Gaetz as the next United States attorney general.

[16:05:00]

Gaetz is calling those senators, too. Gaetz is asking them to keep an open mind, which will be necessary since Gaetz finds himself in a Capitol Hill ally deficit of his own making. And it turns out some of those Republican senators want to see what's in the most sought after document in Washington today, the House Ethics Committee report into Gaetz's past conduct, which includes allegations of a sexual encounter with a minor, one that Mr. Gaetz denies, three sources tell CNN.

Vice President-elect J.D. Vance this week will bring Gaetz and some of Trump's other cabinet picks to Capitol Hill for meetings with those key Republican senators, his former colleagues in the Senate.

Let's go to CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill with the latest.

Manu, at least a few senators have already said they want to see this report from the house ethics committee which the house ethics committee has not decided what theyre going to do with it yet.

Have we heard from any more Republican senators today?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, one key Republican senator, Chuck Grassley, who will chair the Senate Judiciary Committee next year.

I asked him whether or not he wants to see that report. He said it would be actually speed up consideration of this critical nomination if the House Ethics Committee were to release this report because, he said, a lot of Republican senators actually want them did side on that, saying that they prefer to see it or that they expect to see it in some way, even as the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, contends that it should not be released because Gaetz, he says, is a former member, and he says it would open up a Pandora's box, even though there have been instances in the past in which former members have seen their ethics reports released after they left Congress.

Now there's also a question about what would happen down the road, and how committed Donald Trump is to getting this nomination in, and if he would actually resort to short circuiting the Senate confirmation process and installing him via a recess appointment, something that some Republican senators warned Trump not to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Trump would recess-appoint him after the Senate rejects him? Is that a --

SEN. THOM TILLIS (D-NC): That's not even in the cards. I mean, again, I know it makes for great fodder. Maybe a couple of more clicks or whatever, but I don't even believe that Mr. Gaetz would want to come in under those circumstances.

RAJU: Given these serious allegations involving sexual misconduct with Matt Gaetz, including sex with someone who's underage, is he qualified to be attorney general?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Nobody should be disqualified because of a media report.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): I've already talked to him. I mean, he just said, listen, he wants a shot to be able to lay out his vision for the department and also to respond to these various allegations. And, you know, I said, hey, the confirmation hearing is the place and chance to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last comment coming from Senator Josh Hawley, who spoke to Matt Gaetz last week.

Gaetz himself also called Lindsey Graham to try to talk to him as well, an effort to try to consolidate Republican support, which is soft at the moment and tomorrow, Jake Gaetz, along with vice president elect J.D. Vance, will be on Capitol Hill meeting with Republican senators including Senator John Kennedy, who sits on that key Senate judiciary committee, all an effort to try to get Republicans to fall in line even as a number of Republicans are concerned about this nomination -- Jake.

TAPPER: Manu, just two things. One, I love the notion that reporting on recess appointments gets clicks. Nothing the American people love more than reading about recess appointments. The second one is like the only reason we're even asking you about it

is because President-elect Trump raised it. We didn't concoct this. He posted something on Truth Social and Rick Scott and others said, yes, we -- that sounds great.

RAJU: Yeah, that's absolutely right.

And the fact that this has not been done really in 17 years because Senate majorities don't like to give up their power and allow the Senate, the president, to essentially put in somebody without their advice and consent, which is why we can see a big clash next year if Trump goes that route.

TAPPER: Manu Raju, thanks.

Let's -- we're just watching Elon Musk and Donald Trump there, but apparently the audio is not operative. They didn't get miked ahead of time. Apparently, let's talk about this with the panel.

Dr. Oz, head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. What do you think? I think this is a good selection.

ERIN PERRINE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, AXIOM STRATEGIES: I think this is a good selection. I think he's going to be pretty well prepared to go through a Senate confirmation process, having gone through a very difficult primary process for that Senate primary in Pennsylvania.

Dr. Oz has a really storied medical career. He has a number of medical patents. He's a cardiothoracic surgeon and worked at Columbia. I think this is a very strong pick for the medical community in the United States.

TAPPER: Nayyera?

NAYYERA HAQ, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CABINET AFFAIRS, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: If only he had been given HHS or even surgeon general, right? Where he actually can impact the health care quality and how research will be conducted in this country. He'd be great for that.

The challenge with he's going to have with Medicare and Medicaid Services is that they are chronically underfunded, deeply popular government programs, right? So you have people in the MAGA coalition who will say as voters keep government out of my Medicare right. So how do you message and wrangle the fact that this is a storied government institution that also will require a bailout or a reworking of the finances to keep for the American public?

TAPPER: Bill, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, your favorite member of Congress, posted this lengthy threat to her Republican colleagues on X or Twitter earlier today about the Matt Gaetz report.

[16:10:12]

She said: If we're going to release ethics reports and rip apart our own, that Trump has appointed, then put it all out there for the American people to see. Yes, all the ethics reports and claims, including the one I filed, all your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled, paying off victims with taxpayer money. The entire Jeffrey Epstein files, tapes, recordings, witness interviews. But not just those, there's more, Epstein wasn't/isn't the only asset. If we're going to dance, let's all dance in the sunlight. I'll make sure we do.

First of all, let me just say yes, I agree. Release it all, I love it.

What do you think, Bill?

BILL KRISTOL, EDITOR-AT-LARGE & MORNING SHOTS CO-AUTHOR, THE BULWARK: Yeah. Send it to the bulwark.com. Attention, Bill Kristol, CC.

TAPPER: Yes. No, I agree like that. Sounds fantastic release it all.

KRISTOL: I mean, the House Ethics Committee report is an actual report done by a bipartisan committee in a Republican House --

TAPPER: Right.

KRISTOL: -- with the opportunity for representative, then Representative Gaetz to issue, you know, to contest charges and get his side of the case into it. So it's a serious document. Obviously, the senators who have to confirm or reject Gaetz should have access to it.

I like Oz, though, with Dr. Oz there, I guess he'll be working for Secretary Kennedy, Robert f. Kennedy Jr. if he gets confirmed. So CNN should ask to tell in the interest of transparency to televise the senior staff meetings at HHS with Kennedy, Oz and all those characters.

TAPPER: Well, they're -- they're all very famous. Look at this shot right now coming in live. We've got musk there. We got I don't recognize everybody. There is a President Trump. Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, who is also thought to possibly have a position coming in the administration. Senator Cruz on the left, with the shades. Is that Ronny Jackson on the right with the hat? I can't really tell.

What do you what do you make of this they -- they fashion themselves on social media as this legion of superheroes, this incoming administration. Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., et cetera, et cetera.

I guess we're -- we're adding pictures and names. I know, you know, you're looking at me like. Like you mean the Legion of Doom, but --

HAQ: It's the Marvel universe versus second rate DC. But that's --

PERRINE: I mean, if I understood what that meant, I would probably have a better opinion about it. But if we're talking --

TAPPER: But just talk to me about Musk, talk to me about Musk. What do you think about the role he's playing in this administration? PERRINE: Listen, this is one of the most successful people that the world has ever known, and the ability to build businesses and think outside the box and be an entrepreneur. That's a voice that the president really values. But when you look at this totality, this kind of theme that they all think they're superheroes now, there's a little bit more swagger with the Republican Party now because they did win the White House, the House and the Senate.

You see it in sports now where people are scoring touchdowns and goals and winning matches and doing the Trump dance. There are Republicans who are themselves for the first time in a long time, but they should stop -- the guy should all stop doing the dance unless they're athletes.

TAPPER: The dance is a little weird but unless --

PERRINE: It doesn't quite work, unless you're Donald Trump because it's a hit.

KRISTOL: If Elon Musk wants to help fix the federal government, he should get a government appointment, go through security clearances go through conflicts of interest disclosures and the like. It's really hard.

The idea that he's going to go butt into every agency, he'll have Trump obviously Trump (INAUDIBLE) -- no one's going to refuse to tell Musk something or show him documents. Then he goes right back to his private business and uses the information however he pleases. It's really unbelievable.

TAPPER: Not to mention the fact that he has so many government contracts.

KRISTOL: Right.

HAQ: Well, where as you mentioned, that the when the U.S. government decided not to continue its own space shuttle development and advancement it did outsource to places like SpaceX.

And so, he has this heavily subsidized, and now is going to be overseeing the same agencies that have been giving him money and making this profitable. Now, it's very -- one of the coolest things in government is to be able to go and see a SpaceX launch, right? It is the idea, the moonshot. You know, you really feel like you're doing something bigger than yourself.

But Elon Musk is not accountable to anybody in the American public, wasn't elected, like you said, not confirmed. And his whole goal is to really just go in as he says, as a big hammer and break things. And some of these things that he wants to break are actually really healthy and productive for keeping basic standard of living in the United States. It's that whole disruptive idea of technology, that disruption for its own sake is the ideal as opposed to what's the impact on people.

TAPPER: I think -- I think we can all agree that that this government could use some disrupting, but it\s also good for people to go through background checks and be vetted by the Senate through its constitutional advice and consent role, right? Everybody agrees with that. Everybody's nodding.

OK. Don't go far. We have more to talk about.

In 62 days. Republicans will control the White House, as well as both the House and the Senate. And next, some new insight into priorities for House Republicans after their closed door meeting earlier today and the live images from Brownsville, Texas, President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk and others in place for the big countdown.

A dramatic SpaceX liftoff -- SpaceX liftoff is just minutes away.

[16:15:03]

We're going to bring it to you here live on THE LEAD. We're going to squeeze in a quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: President-elect Trump is now in Brownsville, Texas. He's alongside SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose company is just minutes away from a major launch. And way in the distance there, you see the launch pad for the Starship air spacecraft, and we're going to bring that to you as it happens which we are expecting to happen during our show today.

Until then however, it's time for our politics lead. House Republicans laid out their plan for governing today in a closed door meeting. Topping the list, funding the wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, tax cuts and eliminating programs that had been established by the Biden administration.

Joining us now, Congressman Tony Gonzales, Republican of Texas.

Congressman, good to see you congratulations on your reelection.

How was Speaker Johnson making the case for the agenda? Did he have support in the room today?

REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): Thank you for having me, Jake.

Yes, he did. And I think this is an important aspect of it, is now that Republicans have won the House, the Senate and the White House, you know, very soon it will be time for us to go to work. And we have a very aggressive agenda that's going to help Americans that's going to make sure that our border is safe.

[16:20:04]

That's going to make people's communities safe, that's going to put more money back in our pockets. It's going to be a heavy lift, no doubt, but I'm confident that Speaker Johnson is the man to lead us forward, and I look forward to next year. Be a lot of fun. TAPPER: In addition to the border wall, we know a key Trump priority

is mass deportations of undocumented immigrants in the country right now. You've been vocal arguing that the focus needs to be on criminals. And you said on Sunday that if the U.S. government goes after farm workers, nurses grandmothers, before getting the criminals, quote, then our government has failed us, unquote.

When you say go after the criminals first, I doubt anyone out there disagrees with you, but how many people are you talking about?

GONZALES: Yeah. Yeah, Jake. I mean, no one in America should disagree with me. I mean, we shouldn't have any criminals in our country, more or less people that are here illegally. We're talking to the tune of over 600,000 people.

I reached out to ICE, and this is coming from the current ICE administration. As of July, 663,000 convicted. This -- this is important part of it.

These are not just criminals. These are convicted criminals that are loose in our country. This is where our focus needs to be.

That's a big number, Jake. That's going to take a lot of energy, a lot of resources. We absolutely need to use every ounce of government power in order to tackle that, to keep all Americans safe.

TAPPER: You're saying that 660,000 are loose in this country, or many of them are in prisons, but also undocumented?

GONZALES: That's the problem that I have with this administration and a lot of people. We don't know. It's anywhere between 1 and 663,000 that are already apprehended.

And so, we need more transparency. I look forward to seeing that in the new administration. And we need to know the people that are already in apprehension. How do we get them out of our prisons and back in somebody else's prison?

So all these things can be tackled, but we need more transparency. We need to figure out what's the plan, what's the number, and the people that aren't in -- in prisons or detained. How do we go out and detain them to once again keep people safe?

I'm once again convicted criminal illegal aliens should not be put in the same conversation with legal immigration people doing it the right way on work visas and other aspects of it.

TAPPER: Right, but removing the people who are here legally from the conversation, lets just talk about people who are here illegally that could be anywhere up to 25 million people. We have no idea. I mean, I've seen estimates that 5 percent of the workforce is undocumented.

So after that, 660,000, let's even make it a million, just for the sake of argument. Who comes after that? Who -- who should the administration go after that? And how do you go after them without separating families, majorly disrupting American industries? How do you do that? And who comes after the criminals?

GONZALES: Yeah, in my experience, it's -- the conversation gets -- gets deep, very fast and its very easy for people to get distracted and talk about, you know, DACA and the people that are here undocumented, all these other aspects. I want us to focus on convicted criminal aliens, a million people is a lot.

The way I look at it is it's like we don't have a pair of shoes right now, and we're talking about running a marathon. How about we put some shoes on and go run a 5K, go see how that works out before we start talking about running a marathon. So I don't want us to be distracted.

Step one focus on the convicted criminal aliens. I think everyone can agree on that. I think that keeps our country united. I think that keeps everyone safe, those type of things. And then we can have a conversation later on after you've accomplished that.

TAPPER: I want to ask you about the House Ethics Committee, which is set to meet tomorrow, to discuss what to do with its investigation of now former Congressman Matt Gaetz.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis seems sure that all the information is going to be turned over to the Senate. Here's Senator Tillis talking today with CNN's Manu Raju.

Oh, anyway. Tillis -- I'm sorry -- we're creating a false crisis because the reality is all that information is going to be on display at the hearing.

Do you think that the Senate should have access to what's in the House Ethics Committee report?

GONZALES: Look, I'm not a senator I think what the senates going to do is they're going to do its constitutional duties was to ensure that every single cabinet member regardless of who it is, is vetted properly.

And I also agree that the president of the United States deserves to have the cabinet of the choice both of those things can be true now, how they go about doing it. The Senate is its own animal. It's going to accomplish that.

I have every -- as a House member, it pains me to say this, but I have every faith that the Senate is going to do its constitutional duty and accomplish that. Get the -- get the right cabinet for our president of the United States.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales, thanks so much.

GONZALES: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: More live images from South Texas. President-elect Trump there for the launch of the SpaceX starship. He's alongside SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. We're following their every move. We're also following a horrific stabbing spree in New York City. Three

victims killed in a 2-1/2 hour span. What elected leaders are saying about the safety of their city in the wake of this crime, and others like it?

[16:25:03]

That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, Manhattan's district attorney has agreed to postpone President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing in his hush money cover up trial, giving the prosecution time to litigate Trump's expected motion to dismiss the case entirely.

In a letter, however, the D.A.'s office wrote that the judge should not dismiss Trump's conviction. It also notes there likely would be a four-year pause in sentencing until after Trump's term in office is complete.

To our national lead, which is not entirely unrelated, an arrest after a deadly stabbing spree in New York City.

[16:30:00]

Ramon Rivera faces three counts of first degree murder. Police say he stabbed all three victims within 2-1/2 hours yesterday morning. Authorities say that Rivera is homeless and has a long history of severe mental health issues, and numerous run ins with the law, including a grand larceny arrest just last month in New York and prior arrests in Florida, Ohio and New Jersey.

Let's bring in John Miller, CNN's chief law enforcement analyst and a former NYPD deputy commissioner.

And, John, this case raises a host of questions about systemic failures in the New York criminal justice system, as well as mental health services.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, and that's why the mayor has asked ranking police officials and his deputy mayor for criminal justice to look into it because as the mayor, Eric Adams, described it, he said this is a failure of two systems, the mental health care system of New York City and the criminal justice system.

So what do we have going on here? You have an individual who has eight arrests in the short time he's been in New York, seven of them are felonies. You also have the same individual being picked up by police twice and categorized as an emotionally disturbed person and transported to hospitals where, in theory, and this is part of what they want to look at in that examination of what his pathway through the system was, where he was mentally evaluated and treated and treated and recommended for, whatever further treatment was necessary.

But here we have these assaults yesterday with three people dead, random assaults of total strangers.

TAPPER: Why was he let go on October 7th on this supervised release, despite having committed multiple additional crimes -- instead of showing up for his earlier court appearances?

MILLER: So, Jake, that is a process that would only make sense to the most schooled students of New York City criminal justice. If you read the actual court transcript of that hearing, the prosecutor says this individual has been on a crime spree in multiple states he never returns to court. We've had to issue warrants for him. He's only back here today because we arrested him coming out of jail for his last crime to face charges on this case.

And then the judge repeats that to the legal aid lawyer who says, well, he should be released on his own recognizance even though he never returns to court. And then the judge and the prosecutor agree that they'll release him on supervised release, which means he still gets out. He doesn't have to put any money up in terms by phone once a week. And the legal aid lawyer objects saying that's too much.

And, of course, this is before the November burglary, where he allegedly throws a brick through the window of a store, steals the knives, and the gloves. Those elements that were used in yesterdays multiple murders.

TAPPER: It's just horrific. John Miller, thanks so much.

I want to bring in New York City Councilmember Erik Bottcher. He represents district three, where one of the stabbings took place. He also serves on the Committee on Mental Health Disabilities and Addiction.

Thanks for joining us, sir.

So, Mayor Adams said the following yesterday about the stabbing spree. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: It is a clear, clear example of the criminal justice system and mental health system that continues to fail New Yorkers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, that seems entirely correct, don't you think?

ERIK BOTTCHER, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: The mayor is not wrong, and the constituents of my district who are waking up this morning, angry, heartbroken, and terrified because so many of them are calling and saying, we were just on that block. That could have been me, that could have been my family.

And they're tired of hearing about how broken the system is. They're tired of hearing about how complicated this is. They know it's broken. They know it's complicated. They want it fixed. TAPPER: What specifically needs to happen so this doesn't happen

again? Somebody that has been arrested numerous times, that has shown no desire or ability to follow the law, whether it has to do with reporting to court or just, you know, being a law abiding citizen, being let out and killing people. What needs to change?

BOTTCHER: Well, lets take a look about at this case, this individual who is suffering from severe mental illness spent eight months in Rikers Island, was released into the New York city homeless shelter system instead of into residential in-patient treatment with wraparound services for someone who's severely mentally ill, mentally ill.

Do we know whether or not this person was - if court ordered outpatient treatment was ordered for this person? I guarantee you there's someone in New York City right now who is being released from Rikers Island, who is suffering from severe mental illness and has not received the mental health care they receive.

We need to rebuild our entire mental health infrastructure that has been dismantled over the decades because right now, in New York City, the number one provider of mental health services is jails.

[16:35:14]

Half the people in Rikers Island are suffering from mental illness.

TAPPER: So obviously, you're right. And it's not just in New York. It's all over the country, the mental health system, especially for people who have severe mental illness and are a danger to themselves or others. And obviously we need to know most people with mental illness are not a danger to themselves or others, but there are people like this person.

The Daniel Penny trial is going on right now. That's another high profile case that also speaks to safety frustrations of citizens over individuals confronting them, people with severe mental health issues. This guy who put -- put him in a chokehold, Mr. Penny, is now being prosecuted.

What are you guys doing in city council to try to fix this? I mean, I hear what you're saying. Is there a movement in city council? Is Mayor Adams at all willing to listen to like this is what needs to be done?

BOTTCHER: I wrote to the mayor over the summer calling attention once again to the -- what I call the humanitarian crisis taking place on the streets of my district, which includes west midtown, Village Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen, Times Square, and I made two specific requests.

One is an expansion of the Be Heard Program. That's a program where mental health professionals respond to 911 mental health calls. Right now, we have precinct cops responding to 911 mental health calls. That's not what they're equipped to do. That's not triaging the problem, and intervening in a meaningful way before people like this individual decline to the point that they've declined to. I've also introduced legislation that would put social workers in

police precincts, because we have people being cycled in and out of police precincts with no meaningful intervention, people with mental illness, people with addiction, people suffering from street homelessness and other issues.

TAPPER: Yeah.

BOTTCHER: They're getting cycled in and out, 10, 20, 30 times. We need to intervene in a meaningful way. Early intervention and treatment is the ultimate way that you address mental health issues.

TAPPER: We're running out of time, but I do want to ask you. What do you say to a constituent who says, well, it looks like the district attorney has spent a lot of time coming up with revolutionary legal theories to go after Donald Trump for some misdemeanor book cooking, but he's not doing anything to keep us safe. What do you say to that?

BOTTCHER: I work closely with District Attorney Bragg and his team, and I can tell you that the vast, vast majority of their time is spent trying to improve public safety. We're working very closely with them on the ground in the neighborhoods throughout our district.

He, too, is working within a broken system, and we need to stop talking about what were going to do to fix it. We shall go. We talked about it. Other instances we talked about it.

We need to sit down and make it happen now.

TAPPER: New York City Councilmember Eric Bottcher, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Another live look from South Texas. We're now minutes away from a major mission for SpaceX. Why there's so much attention on this specific test launch? That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:42:50]

TAPPER: Back with our law and justice lead. Now, the state has rested its case against Jose Ibarra. That's the undocumented immigrant charged with killing Laken Riley, the 22-year-old nursing student out for a run last February in Athens, Georgia. Ibarra will not be testifying in his own defense in the trial.

Rafael Romo has been covering this story from the beginning and has more. And we want to warn you. Some of the details you're about to hear might be difficult.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After three days of at this times heart-wrenching, at times graphic testimony, the prosecution has rested their case against Jose Ibarra, the man accused in the death of Laken Riley. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would this individual be walking in the direction

of the IM Fields?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

ROMO: And detailing over an hour of movements of the man. Prosecutors say, is Jose Ibarra on the morning Laken Riley was killed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What does he do right there at 7:54?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is ducking down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What direction is he going now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right back behind the building.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What direction is he going now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's going south.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Towards?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The IM Fields.

ROMO: At 9:05 a.m. --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who was that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is Laken Riley.

ROMO: The street camera nearby captured Laken Riley passing by and running further down the trail.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What direction is she running?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's running south and was that also in the direction of the IM Fields?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is.

ROMO: The prosecution sharing the last text Riley sent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what is the text?

SGT. SOPHIE RABOUD, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA POLICE: It says good morning about to go for a run if you're free to talk.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And did she, in fact call her mother?

RABOUD: She did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At what time?

RABOUB: Nine o' three.

ROMO: Her family openly and audibly weeping. RABOUB: At 11:47 a.m., incoming text from her mother says, please call me. I'm worried sick about you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that call -- is that text read?

RABOUD: It is not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is that text responded to?

RABOUD: It is not.

ROMO: Later, the medical examiner explaining in explicit detail the injuries.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dr. DiMarco, did you form an opinion as to the cause of death of Laken Riley?

[16:45:04]

DR. MICHELLE DIMARCO, GEORGIA BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION ASSOCIATE MEDICATE EXAMINER: I did.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is that opinion?

DIMARCO: Her cause of death is the combined effects of blunt force head trauma and asphyxia.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What is her manner of death?

DIMARCO: Homicide.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROMO: And, Jake, also, the last hour, the defendant Jose Antonio Ibarra said no when the judge directly asked him if he wanted to testify in his own defense -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Rafael Romo in Athens, Georgia, thank you so much.

From all indications, SpaceX is on track to launch its starship at the top of the hour. Were going to go to south Texas next to discuss what to expect when the spacecraft lifts off. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our national lead now, SpaceX is just minutes away from launching its sixth test of its most powerful launch vehicle ever. There are no humans on the Starship, but the spacecraft is key in getting astronauts back onto the room -- I'm sorry -- back onto the moon as soon as 2026.

Let's get right to CNN's Ed Lavandera. Ed is on South Padre Island, Texas, right near the launch site.

Ed, what should we expect to see and hear over the next few minutes?

[16:50:05]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a window of opportunity here that's opening up at the top of the hour and SpaceX will have about 30 minutes from 5:00 to 5:30 Eastern Time, 4:00 to 4:30 our time here in Texas to execute this launch.

And what will happen, and for those of you not familiar with this rocket ship, but as you mentioned, it's the world's most powerful rocket. It's there. We're about five miles away. We can see it there in the distance. And as after that rocket launches, what is propelling it up is something called the super heavy booster.

And what is interesting about this particular launch is that it is designed to come back to the launch pad. There was a test back in October where you saw these mechanical arms on the launch pad. There returned the super heavy booster and catch it. And bring it back into place.

That is the attempt here is to replicate that there is a possibility that it does not go as planned, and then the rest of the spacecraft continues on and supposedly in about an hour or so after the launch, the spacecraft will crash into the Indian Ocean, where it will sink to the bottom of the water there.

So, it will be incredibly dramatic for the thousands of people, Jake, that are here. They will hear several sonic booms. One of those is the launch itself, and then those two pieces will separate, and then they'll once again seven minutes later is when that super heavy booster is expected to return back toward the area of the launch pad and you will hear another boom. Then, as those rockets propel that machinery back here to the Boca Chica launch pad here in south Texas.

So, you know, a dramatic event once again for the thousands of people who turn out here to watch these launches Donald Trump is here on the ground with Elon Musk in the control room, as well as a number of other lawmakers as well, who are getting a front row seat to the control room as all of this is about to unfold here in the next few minutes -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Ed Lavandera, thanks so much. Exciting stuff.

Then there's the Trump and Elon Musk part of this launch, of course. And CNN's Kaitlan Collins is standing by with that. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:56:20]

TAPPER: And we start this hour with our breaking news. SpaceX just moments away from launching its sixth test of its most powerful launch vehicle ever, a nearly 400 foot tall starship spacecraft. That's taller than the Statue of Liberty. The Starship will lift off from the SpaceX star base near Brownsville, Texas, at any moment.

President-elect Trump is there, with SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whom Trump recently named to his newly created Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE, or DOGE.

SpaceX is trying to replicate its dramatic precision landing just last month, when the company landed its giant rocket booster back on the launch towers, a massive metal arms or chopsticks as they're called.

There are no humans on this starship. There's no chimpanzee or dog inside, but this spacecraft is key in getting astronauts back onto the moon as soon as 2026.

We're covering this story from all angles.

CNN space contributor Kristin Fisher is with me. CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Kaitlan, to you first, Mr. Trump's appearance at this launch is yet another example of Musk's increasing role in Trump's orbit. No, no pun intended.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: I mean, Jake, he's nearly ubiquitous. Whenever you see Donald Trump lately, you have seen Elon Musk. He has a few very times -- very few times in public ever since he won the election.

And almost every single time, Elon Musk has been right there with him, he was with him when he went to Washington last week to visit and speak with the House Republican Conference. He was at the UFC fight on Saturday night, flying with him on his plane and of him at the SpaceX launch today.

And what it speaks to is just how close these two are and just how much. Elon Musk has had an impact on this transition period and shaping what it's looked like.

Jake, I have been down here in Palm Beach almost every day since Trump won the election as we've been talking to sources about this transition process and the one recurring theme that has happened in almost every interview that I've talked to people, that they've gone into, or conversations they've had, is Elon Musk has been in the room or in Donald Trump's ear and speaking with him on this.

It's not a surprise that Donald Trump wanted to go to this space launch today, Jake. You've seen him and heard him marvel at SpaceX on the campaign trail time and time again. It was in almost every single speech, actually that he was doing close to the end of the 2024 campaign, where he was marveling at one of the reusable rocket boosters as it was being recaptured.

Trump was talking about watching it live on TV, leaving some billionaire donor on hold while they were talking. And you're seeing that continue. Jake, of course, the question that we've heard even lawmakers raise is potential for conflicts of interest, given just how many contracts, how many billions in contracts that SpaceX has with the federal government. And, of course, a question of what's to come.

TAPPER: And, Kristin, tell us what were about to see here any minute right now. We're looking and we see the image that Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee to the left, Senator Ted Cruz, President Trump there, obviously, Donald Trump Jr. is there as well.

But forget the political celebrities. What are we going to see from this beautiful spacecraft?

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You are about to see something that no other company or country in the world can do. I mean, not only is SpaceX going attempt to land this rocket booster on Earth or on a drone ship, they're going to attempt to catch it mid-air with these two giant metal chopsticks.

And, you know, it's so easy to get caught up in the politics of the moment with Trump and Elon Musk there just two weeks after the election.

TAPPER: We can put that aside for a sec.

FISHER: Yeah. And you know, I was going to say, because this is such a moment, an engineering moment for all of humanity. SpaceX is more than just one man. It has some of the most brilliant engineers in the world working for it. And what they're about to do and what they're trying to do. This is the first spacecraft that's ever flown that's designed to take humans not just to the moon, but to mars.