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Another Controversial Pick By Trump To Lead The FBI; Severe Lake-Effect Snow Blankets Great Lakes Affecting Post Thanksgiving Travelers; Syrian Rebels Sweeps Into Aleppo; Biden Set For His Final Overseas Trip As President; Football Players Brawl; Trump Picks Kash Patel As FBI Director. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 01, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JUSTIN SUN, CRPTOCURRENCY ENTREPRENEUR: I also want to talk to Elon Musk to tape this banana to one of his spacecrafts probably send the banana to Mars or the moon.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right. We're just going to slide on out of here now. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "CNN Newsroom" continues with Jessica Dean right now.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York and we begin with breaking news as we learn new details into how President-elect Donald Trump came to choose MAGA Firebrand Kash Patel as his pick to lead the FBI. We're going to go straight to CNN's Alayna Treene who is live in West Palm Beach. Alayna, I know you've got some new reporting. What are you learning?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: That's right, Jessica. I've been talking to those close to Donald Trump, people on his team, working with the transition process, and asking them how did he come to land on Kash Patel. Now, I'm told that in recent days, he was really wavering between two people for the role of FBI director. That includes Kash Patel, but also Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, someone we know that Donald Trump has considered for a number of roles.

I'm told that essentially Donald Trump had thought that Patel was always going to have a big role in his second term, but there were some that were close to him, including some people on his transition team who were wary of having him name Patel for the FBI director slot, noting that there could be some controversy around a likely contentious Senate confirmation battle.

However, there is also people who are very close to Donald Trump who have his ear, people like his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., as well as Stephen Miller, his incoming deputy chief of staff for policy, that were encouraging him to select Patel, arguing that he was really the only person in their eyes that would reform the FBI in the way that they thought Donald Trump wanted and to try to root out the bias that they believe has kind of permeated the bureau in recent years.

Now, I'm also told that Donald Trump interviewed both Bailey and Patel at Mar-a-Lago in person for the role of FBI director. However, these sources told me that essentially Trump wasn't that impressed by Bailey's interview and didn't think that he would be the legal attack dog, the legal bulldog really, that Donald Trump wants in the role for the leader of the FBI. I'm going to read for you what one Trump advisor told me who's been involved in these conversations.

They said, quote, "It came down to a matter of what Trump wants and what he was looking for in terms of an FBI director. And Bailey didn't fit that mold. He didn't have the personality." So again, really getting into that sense of Donald Trump wanting someone who will carry out his agenda and be kind of the person he wants in the FBI to, you know, whether it's investigations or whatever else Donald Trump has planned for his second term, be that person to kind of carry that out.

Now I'll say similarly, we also saw a number of people, including people who are picked for top roles in Donald Trump's second administration, including Mike Waltz, his selection for national security adviser, but also Senator Mike Lee, a top ally who Donald Trump had thought about for certain roles, and Robert O'Brien, his former national security adviser, all of them really weighing in, defending Donald Trump's selection of Patel.

And then we also heard a number of top Republican senators, those close to Trump, this morning on the Sunday shows, defending him as well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Donald Trump campaigned on reforming the FBI and the Department of Justice. So I don't know why any of this is frankly surprising to people.

SEN. BILL HAGERTY (R-TN): There are serious problems at the FBI. The American public knows it. They expect to see sweeping change and Kash Patel is just the type of person to do it.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I got to say all of the weeping and gnashing of teeth, all of the people pulling their hair out are exactly the people who are dismayed about having a real reformer come into the FBI and clean out the corrupted partisans who sadly have burrowed into senior career positions at the FBI. I think Kash Patel is going to be confirmed by the Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, Jessica, there you have, you know, Mike Lawler, Ted Cruz, Bill Haggerty, all kind of echoing what Donald Trump has been saying behind closed doors, which is that he really wants someone in this role who will be a disruptor to the Bureau and that's what he believes he has now in Kash Patel. Jessica?

DEAN: Alayna Treene with that new reporting from West Palm Beach. Thank you so much for that. And when this news first broke about Patel last night, I spoke with former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe and this was his immediate reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER DEPUTY FBI DIRECTOR: The installation or the nomination, I guess we should say at this point of Kash Patel's FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI and to possibly use it as a tool for the president's political agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:05:01]

DEAN: Let's bring in CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez for more on how the law enforcement community is reacting. Evan, I'm curious what you're hearing from your sources.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, look, I think there has been, frankly, a lot of expectation for this announcement. There's been a lot of talk, obviously, behind the scenes that we've reported on, on Trump's rumination on what to do with the FBI Director's spot. And obviously, Patel was always at the top of the list, but there also was talk about perhaps some more palatable names.

And so one of the concerns that I've heard from people inside the FBI is that, you know, obviously, this idea that the Bureau needs to be reformed or that there is some kind of like political bias in the ranks of the FBI, I think they would dispute. They view the Bureau really as being part of an effort by both political parties to try to use the FBI to settle their political scores.

And so that's the big concern you hear is that, you know, going forward, is Director Patel or anyone that is installed by Donald Trump at the FBI, are they going to make the FBI go after his political enemies and what does that do long term to the organization?

DEAN: Yeah. And Evan, Patel's distaste for the current setup at the FBI and his promise to go after Trump's so-called political enemies is not a secret. I want to play a clip of what he said in recent interviews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASH PATEL, FORMER AIDE TO DONALD TRUMP: I shut down the FBI Hoover building on day one and reopening the next day as a museum of the deep state. And I take the 7,000 employees that work in that building and send them across America to chase down criminals. Go be cops. You're cops. Go be cops.

We will go out and find the conspirators, not just in government, but in the media. Yes, we're gonna come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens, who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections. We're gonna come after you. Whether it's criminal or civilly, we'll figure that out. But yeah, we're putting you all on notice.

(END VIDEO CLIP) DEAN: So, Evan, there's obviously a lot of questions about what that might look like, those promises, and also, too, before you can even get to that, if Patel will make it through Senate confirmation.

PEREZ: Right, exactly. And I think that's still an open question. I think that's one of the reasons why Trump was spending the last few weeks ruminating on this. This was a big job and one, it was a priority. But the reason why he didn't immediately just go with Patel, who was the obvious pick internally, was because you can hear some of the concerns there that might come from that inflammatory rhetoric that is very common from Kash Patel.

And one of the other things that I think the Trump team probably has to be concerned about is what to do about Chris Wray, right? Because he still has more than two and a half years left in his 10-year term, and either he quits, which at this point doesn't appear likely, or Trump will have to fire him on day one of his administration. And that will trigger a whole set of other circumstances as to how to replace -- how to put someone temporarily in that job that he wants. So there's a lot of complications here, and I think vote counting is going to be very key.

DEAN: Yeah. And just lastly, in talking with people in the law enforcement community, in this justice community, what is your sense of how they feel about Kash Patel's priorities for things like political revenge, let's say, this deep state risk that he wants to fair it out? Are they concerned about him focusing on that and if it takes the FBI's focus off of what they typically are trying to handle day in and day out?

PEREZ: Yeah, look, I mean, priorities change when you have a new administration and that everyone takes for granted. One of the big concerns would be, because you keep hearing from Chris Wray and from other people in the intelligence community, that there's a lot of threats emanating both from the, obviously, the wars in the Middle East, the Ukraine situation, the Russians, and the threats from the Chinese, all of those things are big national security threats that the FBI is at the center of.

And then if you try to decide, as Patel just described there, basically shut down the Hoover building and send people to be cops, then it's sort of like a mixed message there. And it's not clear which priority will take precedence, because one of the things is that they're going to miss things if you start using agents to start investigating Joe Biden, for instance, and Merrick Garland and Jack Smith, those are the things that they've also talked about. So we'll see which of these priorities take precedence once Donald Trump takes office.

DEAN: Yeah. It's going to be very interesting to see. All right, Evan Perez, thank you so much for that reporting. We really appreciate it.

Joining us now, Congressional Reporter for Axios, Julie Grace Bruffke. Julie Grace, good to have you on. Thanks for being here.

JULIEGRACE BRUFKE, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, AXIOS: Good evening. DEAN: I want to talk a lot about the Senate confirmation and the

prospects for Kash Patel of getting through Senate confirmations. A lot of Republicans, and Trump himself has said -- Trump has a mandate to pick whomever he wants for these positions in his administration.

[17:10:00]

What is your sense, and again, I know we have -- that you guys have not been back to the Hill since this news broke last night, but what is your sense in talking with people about where Kash Patel's chances stand?

BRUFFKE: Now, speaking of the sources, I mean, the odds he gets any Democrats are looking like they're zero percent. And there does seem to be some reservations with Republicans. We heard Senator Rounds earlier today praising Christopher Wray and his term isn't up until 2027, Christopher Wray, so it'll be interesting to see if some of these moderates' kind of get on board with keeping him there.

And we heard Chuck Grassley said that he would need to kind of prove to the judiciary committee that he's going to restore people's faith in the FBI. So those aren't -- they didn't sound like rounding endorsements toward Kash Patel there. So I think he's got some convincing to do, but Trump's allies are definitely pushing him. So we'll kind of have to see how he navigates the different members and making his pitch.

DEAN: Right, and it will be interesting to see because we saw Matt Gaetz, who ultimately bowed out of being considered for his nomination for attorney general, trying to go behind the scenes and really do outreach along with Trump allies to these senators to try to kind of test the waters before it got to that point. Do you expect that will kind of be a similar situation or how might the Trump apparatus kind of apply pressure on the Senate around Kash Patel?

BRUFKE: So without Democratic support, we can only lose three Republicans. So with some moderate skepticism, it could be a battle for him. That being said, there've been a number of controversial nominees have been put forth and I doubt that the Senate's going to kill all of them. So it'll be interesting to kind of see how these confirmation hearings play out and whether some of these more controversial comments about kind of dismantling the FBI and if he's able to kind of smooth those over and call some concerns with moderates.

But I know that Trump, when it came to Matt Gaetz, was making personal phone calls, and I'm guessing you can probably see -- we'll probably be seeing similar actions from him with Kash Patel and some of these other nominees.

DEAN: Yeah, and you mentioned some of these more, let's call them swingy Republicans in the sense that they're willing to vote with Democrats from time to time. But do you -- there's just gonna be an awful lot of attention on a number of Republicans in the Senate because with that sort of small majority, as you mentioned, it's a very small number that could peel off and kill a nomination. There's a lot of pressure on them.

BRUFKE: Absolutely, and I think the Senate, just kind of the nature of it, from what we saw with Matt Gaetz, is kind of push back on Trump. And we know Republicans kind of want to go in with a unified front, now that they have control of the House, Senate and the White House. But I think some of these concerns, there will be some Senators that push back on a number of these nominees. So it's going to be interesting to kind of see who ultimately makes it through in the end there.

DEAN: Yeah, and I'm also curious kind of what their take might be on bucking some of these traditions, i.e. Chris Wray serving out what is typically a 10-year term. Of course, that in 2017, he was put into that place because Trump fired James Comey at the time. But typically, FBI directors serve these 10-year terms. Just what the appetite is for bucking that tradition or if that's a tradition that maybe we may see go away.

BRUFKE: I mean, we've seen a lot of Trump allies like Ted Cruz come out for Kash Patel and he seemed very supportive and for Chuck Grassley kind of criticized Christopher Wray's job performance there. So I think a lot of kind of the more maggie (ph) Republicans are going to be on board with that. But I think you'll definitely see, I mean, we've heard from Democrats that ultimately would like to see Christopher Wray to serve out his term.

And I think there's a handful of Republicans that also kind of like to see that happen. But whether that's gonna be enough to kind of pressure Trump not to fire Christopher Ray there kind of remains to be seen. But I think he's kind of very much been pushing for his loyalists. So I think things kind of look like they would be leaning in that direction of wanting to get his people in there.

DEAN: Yeah. There's gonna be plenty to follow on Capitol Hill. No doubt about that. Juliegrace Brufke, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

BRUFKE: Thanks so much.

DEAN: Coming up, heavy snow breaking records and making a big mess for people trying to get back home after Thanksgiving holiday through nearly four feet of snow in some places.

Plus, Syria's president is vowing to fight quote "terrorist organizations" as Syrian rebels fight to take complete control of the city of Aleppo. More on that. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

DEAN: Treacherous lake effect snow is today hitting parts of the Great Lakes region, impacting post-Thanksgiving travel with more than 4,000 flights delayed across the country so far. The frigid weather is set to continue with nearly 70 percent of the U.S. forecast to see temperatures dip below 32 degrees this week. In Erie, Pennsylvania, officials are urging residents to stay safe

following what one county executive is calling a snowmageddon event.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRENTON DAVIS, ERIE COUNTY EXECUTIVE: You know, stay in place, stay safe, only travel when necessary. We just need you to hunker down for today and tomorrow, potentially into Tuesday, and then we're going to reassess based on the snowfall from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Our meteorologist, Elisa Raffa, is tracking the latest conditions from the CNN Weather Center. And, Elisa, I know temperatures are expected to plummet this week, and it's for a lot of America.

ELISA RAFFA, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, and it lasts really through the work week. We'll find temperatures well below average.

[17:19:58]

This is the lake effect snow that really hasn't stopped since Thursday night, these bands of cold that come off of the lakes picking up the moisture and get all of that snow to pump and I want to point out -- oh wait, there it is. Off of Lake Huron we actually have some lightning bolts that are starting to come up in this band too that's kind of over Canada. That is how dynamic these snow bands have been.

We've had thunder snow. You get so much lifted the cold moist air, it starts to act like a thunderstorm and you get thunder and lightning. Cleveland with some heavy snow bands coming across right now. I-90 has been a mess near Erie. Southern suburbs of Buffalo, we are about to do a game, a Bills game here in a couple of hours against some heavy snow there.

Watertown I-81, problems on the roads there because of three feet of snow on the ground already. Look at these bulls eyes from Erie, south of Buffalo, Watertown, we have had many totals, well over three feet. We have one total so far that's over 4 feet, 49 inches in Saybrook, Ohio, 41 inches for parts of Western New York. Again, 39 inches, other communities in Ohio. Just incredible to see the totals already, and we are still expecting another foot or so.

I mean, look at that, Eerie. This is additional snow could still be up to 12 inches or more through the next day and a half. Again, what's happening is we have this very cold air coming over the record warm lakes that picks up the moisture and then dumps the snow as it starts to go inland and it really doesn't stop until that cold wind stops. Again, the wind picks up the moisture and then the snow just keeps going until that wind stops, which is why this lasts a long time.

Eighteen degrees right now in Duluth, 26 degrees in Chicago, wind chills in the teens and single digits in the Northern Plains, and the below freezing temperatures make it as far south as the Gulf Coast, where we have some freeze alerts in effect for Northern Florida, looking at temperatures below freezing, even here in Atlanta. Jessica?

DEAN: Yeah, there's a lot of blue on that map. All right, Elisa, thank you so much. And as Elisa just told us, in New York State, there was thunder snow on top of nearly four feet of snow in parts of that state. There was that thunder snow phenomenon. This is what it sounds like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Let's turn now to CNN correspondent Polo Sandoval who is live in New York. Polo, tell us more about how people are handling this extreme weather.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That blue on the map you just talked about, we are definitely feeling it here in New York City with those very chilly wind chills. And it's really what so many Americans throughout the country are experiencing. But really the worst of the worst, about 400 miles northwest of here near Erie, Pennsylvania, where officials there have been dealing just with a snowy mess for days now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(Voice-over): The record-setting snowfall is complicating the post- Thanksgiving ride home for travelers in the Great Lakes region.

TOM LAIRD: This could be a 24 to 35 inch snow for sure.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Daily snowfall totals have paralyzed stretches of the highly trafficked I-90 corridor this holiday weekend.

UNKNOWN: There's a car underneath that. Yep.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Here in Erie, Pennsylvania, nearly 23 inches fell on Friday alone.

UNKNOWN: Yesterday I shoveled for four hours.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Shattering a 1979 record, burying cars, and interrupting flight operations at Erie International. In Michigan's Upper Peninsula, over two feet of snow fell on Friday, eclipsing a daily record set in 1942. And the list of cities impacted by the locally heavy lake effect snow goes on. In Buffalo, New York, Bill's fans are once again being hired as shovelers to clear out the stadium ahead of a snowy Sunday night game against San Francisco.

And there's more to come according to meteorologists with nearly 2 million people still under lake effect snow warnings come Monday.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CN METEOROLOGIST: The biggest concern right here along that eastern flank of Lake Erie as well as portions of Lake Ontario. Now the reason you're getting that lake effect you've got the slightly warmer lakes, that very cold air rushing over it.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): Then there's the cold, some of the chilliest temperatures since last winter which are expected to linger into the week ahead. They've been felt as far south as Florida where many residents endured freeze warnings this weekend. Some are making the best of these snowy scenes.

UNKNOOWN: Oh, the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): But they may also be foretelling a wicked winter ahead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(On camera): It being the Sunday after Thanksgiving, the race is on now to head back home after the holiday. If you're listening to this in your vehicle, well then, you're likely one of the roughly 71 and a half million people, according to AAA, that will be returning home from their holiday by actually driving there. There's still close to six million people that will be flying instead.

[17:24:55]

Finally, Jessica, if people are still perhaps planning that return home for tomorrow, travel experts saying that the worst time to hit the road is between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. tomorrow. So maybe an added reason to get up at the crack of dawn, especially if you have to deal with some of that snow up in the northeast.

DEAN: Yeah, no doubt about it. And if they're driving, we're glad we can keep you company. Be careful out there. All right, Polo Sandoval, thanks so much.

Allies are coming to the aid of Syria as rebels take control of more of the country's second largest city. We'll talk more about it right here in the "CNN's Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Syrian rebels tonight control nearly all of the city of Aleppo after their surprise attack. Rebel forces securing the eastern entrance to the city and key sites, including the airport. A person living near the military academy telling CNN the Syrian regime soldiers gave up without a fight. But Syrian and Russian jets now retaliating, stepping up airstrikes against the rebels. CNN's Nic Robertson is following all these developments for us. So, Nic, what is the situation in Aleppo tonight and how is President Bashar al-Assad responding?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, in Aleppo tonight, there are a couple of neighborhoods there that are under Kurdish control and it appears as if those areas are preparing to depart and hand over to the rebels. Again, this is sort of by organization rather than fight. The Kurds there not formally part of President Bashar al-Assad's army or his forces, although in and out of alliance with them at different times.

But right now, it appears that Assad is intent on retaking Aleppo. He is certainly saying that, saying that he'll regroup and come back at the terrorists. He met today with the Iranian foreign minister who flew into -- who flew into Syria for conversations. It does appear at this moment, though, as if the Syrian government under Bashar al-Assad has really been caught on the back foot and it does appear as well as if this group of different rebel factions has put in some pretty thorough planning over the past few months that has led to this lightning attack.

But I think it's far from over. Assad in the past for the four-year campaign, 2012 to 2016, to get control of Aleppo and it was bloody and it was brutal and that really seems to be where Russia and Syria are going with their bombing campaigns right now. In fact, the Russian state news agency claiming some pretty high death tolls among the rebels. The Russian state news agency, however, not always known for its accuracy and impossible for us to confirm those figures. But is there going to be a fight for Aleppo? That's certainly what the what Bashar al-Assad is indicating.

DEAN: Yeah. And what are you learning about the group leading the rebel offensive?

ROBERTSON: Yeah, well, there's two principal groups. The main group here is a prescribed terrorist organization that was once affiliated with al-Qaeda. Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham is the group's name, HTS. They are Sunni fundamentalists, but not as hardcore as al-Qaeda and certainly not as hardcore as the ISIS groups inside Syria that the U.S. has forces inside of Syria, not in the same area, further east.

So, they are still a fundamentalist force and they appear to have sort of be working in alliance with a Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army group, which is another grouping of rebels, but doesn't have the same sort of religious fundamentalist tendencies. But they've combined their forces here and done it with speed and with secrecy.

So, the United States has reason to be concerned about this group that's leading them, that's leading the rebel forces right now because it's a terrorist-based organization. But on the other hand, they're taking on Russia's interests inside Syria, taking on Bashar al-Assad's interests, taking on Iran's interests inside of Syria. So, it's complicated, but there will be things in this that the United States might see as beneficial here.

DEAN: Yeah, it is complicated. There's no doubt about it. All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much for laying that all out for us.

And joining us now is CNN political and national security analyst David Sanger. He's also the author of "New Cold Wars: China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's Struggle to Defend the West." David, good to see you.

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, WHITE HOUSE AND NATIOANAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES: Great to see you, Jessica. DEAN: I first just want to get your reaction to the speed and the success so far of this rebel offensive.

SANGER: Well, it has been pretty remarkable. You know, it was back during the Obama administration that Washington thought that Assad would go, that he basically wasn't going to survive. Here, he is a survivor at the end of 2024. But this definitely did take him by surprise.

Many here in Washington are trying to figure out how to feel about that. They don't care for Assad at all. Obviously, this is a man who has gassed his own people. But part of the rebel group, as you just heard Nic describing, is a group that has been on U.S. terror list and was at one point affiliated with al-Qaeda. So, not the ideal freedom fighters in America's view. The really fascinating part is that this has once again lined up the Russians and Assad. It become, you know, another of the areas in which the U.S. and Moscow are at odds.

[17:35:03]

DEAN: Yeah, I think that's such a great point to remind everybody how it -- how it is all kind of connected. It is connected. The U.S. has forces in Syria to fight ISIS, but national security adviser Jake Sullivan said American troops are not at a greater risk now. I am curious, though, what you think all of this means and this rebel offensive means for U.S. interests in the region, just kind of going off what you just -- where you just, you know, your last point there.

SANGER: Right. Well, you know, Russia has made no secret and Vladimir Putin has made no secret that he wants to develop, you know, an alternative system with an alternative set of alliances to the one that the U.S. dominates. Syria has always been critical to that. It has got a major Russian naval base, I think the only one that the Russians have outside of Russian territory. So, he has got significant interests there.

And I think the question for the U.S. is going to be, how much do they get involved here? I noticed that early on the administration, the Biden administration turned out statements saying this had nothing to do with us.

DEAN: Right. And I -- David, I also want to talk about Georgia where we have new video of people taking to the streets for a fourth straight night of mass protests after the government suspended the nation's bid to join the European Union. We've seen riot police using water cannons. There are also reports of injuries after clashes with police. What are you kind of tracking? And again, just going back to how so many of these things are connected, this -- this also --

SANGER: Betrayed.

DEAN: -- played into what we're seeing kind of across the world globally in this time in between when Biden leaves and when Trump takes over.

SANGER: It is Jessica, you know, part again of the new Cold War, which is to say that Georgia is caught here now between huge pressure, long- existing pressure from Russia to stay in its orbit as it attempted with Ukraine and other former Soviet states and pressure from its own people, particularly its young people, to join the West, and that means joining the European Union.

And you've seen the Georgia leadership say, well, by suspending this for four years, we don't mean that we've given up any hope of integrating with Europe, just not necessarily on the pace we were scheduled to do. Well, everyone knows what that means, and this is another point of struggle, as Ukraine was.

I thought it was interesting that you heard some Russian officials say that Georgia runs the risk of making the mistakes Ukraine did before it was invaded. And, of course, we've seen Russia invade Georgia once. It has been a number of years, but it did happen.

DEAN: Yeah, and that is -- that's my other question is, what is the Russia of it all when it comes to this and how does that connect back to what they've done in Ukraine and what they might try to do in other places?

SANGER: Well, you know, this is -- the Ukraine war is clearly stretching the Russian economy. You've seen that with the fall of the ruble. But at the same time, Putin probably believes that President Trump's coming back to power on January 20th means he has a good shot at ending the Ukraine war on terms very favorable to Russia. We'll see whether or not that's right. And one of the fears about that has been that Putin would then train his sites elsewhere and Georgia, Estonia, Lithuania, those are all, in his -- in his mind, possible marks.

DEAN: All right, David Singer, as always, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

SANGER: Great to be with you.

DEAN: You, too. President Biden about to do something he has never done before as president. You're in the "CNN Newsroom."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Later tonight, President Biden will travel to Africa, becoming the first sitting U.S. president to visit Angola. The three-day trip is meant to highlight U.S. investments in the region as China continues to deepen its relations across the entire continent. CNN Washington correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is joining us now. So, Sunlen, let's start first with why it's so important that Biden is headed to Angola just weeks before he leaves office.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jessica, certainly Biden here is mindful of his legacy going forward, making good on the promises that he made while he's in office. And so, it is notable that he is making this trip. It is also long awaited. This was something that was originally scheduled back in October. It had to be postponed due to two hurricanes that were hitting the U.S. And Biden then promised that he would indeed do that trip.

Now, when he is there, he'll be meeting with Angola president. He'll be delivering some remarks, talking about the strength of the relationship but importantly, as you noted, with China's growing influence in the region. A senior administration official says that so much of what Biden is going to be talking about while there is going to be about investments in infrastructure in Africa.

[17:45:00]

Specifically, he's going to reference many times the rail corridor project, something that the U.S. supports, a project that potentially would start an angle as something that means a lot to the economy there. That will be something that the president will be speaking about. And also, White House officials suggesting this is the sort of initiative that they hope that the Trump administration will carry on.

And Jessica, certainly, that is what is going to be hanging over the head of this trip, the fact that Biden is now just two months away from leaving office and making room for the next incoming president.

DEAN: Yeah, yeah, definitely. And we know that the president spent Thanksgiving with his family on Nantucket. He was back in D.C. and had an event at the White House earlier today. What more can you tell us about that?

SERFATY: Yeah, this was interesting event, something that I think the whole time I was thinking about Biden's legacy and trying to in advance frame how he wants his legacy to remembered. So, he did have this very big event to mark World AIDS Day on the south line of the White House. And while there, he and his wife, you could see in the background, it was the AIDS Memorial Quilt, you see the pictures there, that has been displayed for many, many years, but this is the first time that they displayed it on the south line of the White House and something that Biden really elevated in his marks.

He appeared with families who have lost loved ones, he appeared with survivors of AIDS, and he talked about the progress that he believes his time in the White House has made towards the epidemic. And notably, Jessica, the White House says that they will be coming out with a progress report to show what they believe the gains that they have made against the epidemic this week. Again, in the final days that he is in the White House, Biden here really trying to frame his legacy and point to wins and progress that they believe they've made. Jessica?

DEAN: All right, Sunlen Serfaty at the White House tonight, thank you so much for that. During Rivalry Week, several college football games turned into brawls. We'll show you. That's up next in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: Some ugly scenes across college football this weekend. Players brawling after several big rivalry games. Punches being thrown, pushing, shoving all over the field. Police even reportedly using pepper spray at one game. CNN's Don Riddell is joining us now. Don, walk us through what we saw this weekend.

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hey, Jessica. Well, some of the reasons for this, I guess, could be pride, ego, testosterone, perhaps, but seriously for quite some time now. Players and teams have got into the habit of taking a huge flag with their team's logo on it and planting it in the middle of their opponent's field, kind of a final stake in the heart of their rivals.

And it seemed to be a real epidemic this weekend, starting with the Ohio State and Michigan incident that we brought you at this time yesterday. Police reportedly using pepper spray to break that up. Similar scenes in Chapel Hill where a North Carolina player ran away with an NC State flag and through the way after it has been planted on the middle of their field. Both sides then brawled for a few minutes before they had to be picked apart.

More melees breaking out when Florida put their flag into Florida State's midfield logo. Seminoles coach Mike Norvell confronting Florida coach Billy Napier about it. Napier apologized afterwards, saying his team's actions were embarrassing. And it almost happened in Texas's big win over Texas A&M. Players were gathering at the 50-yard line to do it, but coach Steve Sarkisian stopped them. Not sure if more coaches did that kind of thing to prevent more of these incidents happening over the weekend.

Hopefully, though, Jessica, they can handle this and perhaps put a stop to it because there's already enough drama and physical drama on the field without this as well, right?

DEAN: Yeah, nice to see some leadership from coach Sarkisian there. Don, we also just saw the latest AP college football poll. How far did Ohio State's fall after yesterday's loss because that was -- that was a big one, as you just mentioned, and obviously, the heart of one of these brawls.

RIDDELL: Yeah, I mean, defeat this late in the season is pretty big for teams. But in this new era of the 12-team playoff, it might not be entirely devastating. The Buckeyes falling from second to seventh in the AP poll, which was released just a couple of hours ago. Texas now second, followed by Penn State, Notre Dame, and Georgia. Miami fell six places down to 14th after their upset loss at Syracuse. And Clemson also falling six places down to 18th with their defeat against South Carolina. Clemson could still get in if they win the ACC Championship game on Saturday against SMU. Miami was eliminated with that title game with the Syracuse loss.

But remember, Jessica, this is just the Associated Press poll, not the official college football playoff rankings that come out on Tuesday night, but it is a pretty good indication of what we think is going to happen.

DEAN: Yeah, a lot of eyes on that one. All right, Don Riddell, thank you so much for that. President-elect Trump's plans to appoint Kash Patel to the FBI's top job is drawing criticism from both sides of the aisle, also getting a lot of praise from some of Trump's biggest allies. We're going to talk more about that here in the "CNN Newsroom."

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DEAN: You are in the "CNN Newsroom." I'm Jessica Dean in New York. And tonight, new details into President-elect Donald Trump's decision to choose Kash Patel as his new FBI director. It's a move that's reverberating across Washington. CNN's Alayna Treene is live in West Palm Beach, Florida with new reporting on how Trump came to land on Patel as his choice. Alayna, tell us more of what you're hearing from your sources.

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TREENE: Right, well, Jessica, what I've talked to Donald Trump's team and those working on the transition, some of those involved in these conversations about Kash Patel directly, they told me that Donald Trump really over the past several days.