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Trump Returns To World Stage At Notre Dame Reopening In Paris; Healthcare CEO's Killer Evades Police For Fourth Day; Syrian Rebels Inching Closer To Capital Of Damascus; Trump: U.S. "Should Have Nothing To Do" With War In Syria; Manslaughter Charge Dropped In NY Subway Chokehold Case. Manslaughter Charge Against Daniel Penny Dismissed; TikTok Faces U.S. Ban After Appeals Court Refuses To Block Law; Police Find Backpack In Central Park, A Possible Link to Gunman Who Killed CEO; Trump Acknowledges Concerns About Hegseth, Calls Him Fantastic; Taylor Swift's Eras Tour Finale Kicks Off In Vancouver; Jamie Foxx Shares "Moments Away From Death" Experience During Netflix Special. Aired 12-1p ET

Aired December 07, 2024 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

PAYAL KAPADIA, WRITER & DIRECTOR, "ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT": And for me, that is a matter of concern.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: And "All We Imagine is Light" is out now here in the U.K. and in theaters in the United States.

That's all we have time for though. Don't forget, you can find all our shows online as podcasts at CNN.com/audio, and on all other major platforms.

I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. Thank you for watching, and see you again next week.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everyone, thanks for joining me, I'm Alisyn Camerota in for Fredricka Whitfield today.

Happening now, President-elect Donald Trump returns to the world stage. At this hour, he's in Paris, meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In the next hour, Trump will attend the official reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Today's grand opening comes five and a half years after the iconic cathedral was ravaged by a fire that brought the gothic masterpiece within minutes of collapsing. We have a team of correspondents covering today's events, Alayna Treene is in Washington, Nic Robertson is in London, but let's begin with CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris outside of Notre Dame. Melissa, five years ago, many people thought this restoration and this moment would not be possible.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, it seemed so ambitious on the part of the French President at the time that many had said it would never happen, that he was setting completely unrealistic expectations. And yet, just over five years now and the restoration's complete, we got our first look at it last week, Alisyn. We got to go inside, it is extraordinary.

This, of course, now, the grand opening, heads of state, celebrities are arriving for this official ceremony. The first mass will be tomorrow. And what we understand is there are going to be three masses a day for the next six months.

So many people are going to have the opportunity to come in for themselves, whether it is to worship or to visit over the next few months. Tonight is all about giving life again to the cathedral, bringing it back to the life, in the words of one of the priests closely involved in that restoration.

And in tonight's ceremony, what we expect to have happen is once all the heads of state have gathered, the Archbishop of Paris will knock on its doors. He'll be allowed in. The procession will start. He will breathe life into the organ of Notre Dame Cathedral, the biggest instrument in the whole of France, carefully restored as well as part of the cathedral's broader restoration, Alisyn.

And it promises to be a very moving ceremony. First, though, all eyes have very much been on the Elysee Palace, where even now President Macron is speaking not just to President-elect Donald Trump, who accepted, we understand, the invitation with alacrity, but also with President Zelenskyy of Ukraine.

It had been unclear whether the two presidents would meet. We knew that they were going into the Elysee Palace one after another. They are, in fact, holding a trilateral meeting now ahead of this ceremony. And given the delay that that took, we expect that this is likely to take a little more time than we'd expected to kick off as well, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Melissa, thank you for that.

Let's go now to Nic Robertson in London. So, Nic, help us understand the significance of this meeting as we just saw between Trump and Macron and, of course, Zelenskyy.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it's a real meeting of minds and a meeting of powers and a meeting of influences. And the last time President Zelenskyy had a very important meeting with Donald Trump, the last meeting, was late September.

Of course, that was before Donald Trump became president-elect. So this is the first time that Zelenskyy has been able to meet with Donald Trump as president-elect and continue to pitch for his vision of the level of support that he'd like to continue to see coming from the United States, given that Donald Trump has cast doubt about the United States' level of commitment and involvement to NATO and has said that he would end the war in Ukraine within a day.

We've heard, since Donald Trump was -- became president-elect, we've heard President Zelenskyy speak about the sort of timeline for reaching a peace deal with Russia, and he's sort of moderated his tone. He's gone from, it seems, absolutely saying that Ukraine must have all its territory back to perhaps rolling back those ambitions or the timeframe to achieve them, to become a little more modest with the apparent reality that he won't get all he wants from Donald Trump or perhaps not even part of it.

Now, Macron, for his part, of course, is pushing for the maximum level of support from Trump. They -- he continues to believe in the maximum level of support for -- from European countries, from the E.U., financially, from NATO, militarily, to keep Ukraine in the fight and to press the message to President Putin and Russia that he can't win.

And it is an interesting aside, they're having this meeting today. But, of course, when the fire was ripping through the Notre Dame Cathedral, I was on the pavement outside, along with Melissa at that time.

[12:05:09]

Donald Trump, of course, was still president. President Zelenskyy was, you know, in the throes of becoming president of Ukraine at the time. And the war in Ukraine was nowhere on the horizon right now. And right now, that is the biggest fire, literally, and burning issue that Europe faces at the moment.

So I don't know if they'll be playing on analogies of that in these meetings, but certainly, first and foremost, in Zelenskyy's mind, is getting maximum support from the United States, from President-elect Donald Trump.

CAMEROTA: Nic, it is amazing to think about what's happened in these five years.

Let's bring in now Alayna Treene in Washington, D.C. So Alayna, it's a little strange to see someone who is not president at the moment acting as president on the world stage. I assume that President-elect Trump chose to accept this invitation because of the pageantry of this moment.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN REPORTER: Exactly. And then you saw that when he was greeted by the French President Emmanuel Macron for that meeting. The pomp and circumstance, the pageantry around that, their warm embrace, you know, the video of them shaking hands, waving to the crowd, and the way that he was received.

They knew that this would be like that, and I will say that. And you've also seen, you know, in the time after since that greeting, many of Donald Trump's advisers and allies sharing that moment and kind of saying, look, he's back. He's going to be back soon. And this is the type of greeting that he wanted.

Look, I was told that when Donald Trump received this invitation, he accepted it eagerly and told his team immediately that he wanted to attend. Part of that is because he has long had a fascination with the Notre Dame and the cathedral burning, as Nic had noted.

He was president at the time. I actually remember covering him. He was writing about it on Air Force One, saying how horrible it was.

So this kind of one was something that Donald Trump personally wanted to do, but of course, you know, from a political perspective, this is a great opportunity for Donald Trump to rub shoulders with many of these foreign leaders and kind of, you know, a lot of these people, he's known before. He's known Macron from his first time in office. He knew, you know, Zelenskyy, and they've talked since as well.

I will add that they have spoken since Donald Trump won the election on November 5th via phone, but this is, of course, the first meeting that they are having since he has become president-elect. But it's a great opportunity for him to kind of be on the world stage, reintroduce himself to many of these people, and have, like you said, the pageantry of this moment, the cameras on him, and the way that he is being accepted by Macron is definitely a pro in their eyes. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Alayna, thank you. Melissa, thank you. And Nic as well.

With me now to talk more about these developments is Jonathan Wachtel. He's a Global Affairs Analyst and a Former Director of Communications for the U.S. Mission to the U.N. Jonathan, great to see you.

So, what --

JONATHAN WACHTEL, GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Good to see you, too.

CAMEROTA: So tell us what the significance of President-elect Trump's visit is to France, and also, you know, there's all of these kind of this glad handing and this presentation, as Alayna was just saying, of pageantry, but it's not as if there aren't problems right below the surface there as well.

WACHTEL: Yes, it comes at a time, Alisyn, in which France is in a major political and economic crisis. So, you know, French President Macron is, of course, enjoying basking in, well, it's not great weather there in Paris today, but certainly basking in the warmth of being the center of international affairs right now with the incoming President Trump and meeting with President Zelenskyy and showing himself as a major player in world affairs, which actually he is.

I mean, I don't want to downplay that. France is one of the leading economies in the world, democratic economies in the world. It's the third largest country in Europe after Ukraine and Russia. And it's a big player in world affairs.

So it is indeed important, and it's extremely significant to actually be sitting in the room with President Zelenskyy and incoming President Trump as war rages with Russia. And the Trump administration talks about how they feel that they can clinch a deal, a ceasefire, very shortly after taking office.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about that, because that, I think is the optics here are really interesting of President-elect meeting -- Trump meeting with Zelenskyy. And as we know, you know, leaders are concerned that Donald Trump could end the U.S. military aid to Ukraine. So, what's at stake? What do we know about what these conversations are like?

WACHTEL: What's at stake, Alisyn, depends on where you're sitting. If you're sitting in Ukraine, what's at stake here is that the Russian Federation, with the maneuvering of Vladimir Putin, would end up seizing about 20 percent of what has been Zelenskyy's effort to liberate, you know, huge swaths of territory within his country, including the massively strategic Crimean Peninsula, where the Russian Federation has its Black Sea fleet.

[12:10:20]

So huge stakes for Ukraine, for Russia, for Vladimir Putin, of course. It's all about him showing his power and might and his long -- out long-standing aspiration to reconstitute the Soviet Union and to show the Kremlin as a leading force and global power, something that he doesn't want to step away with.

And certainly the ratcheting up of fighting that we've seen over the last weeks as the Trump administration takeover from the Biden administration takes place is a show of strength in trying to position the Russian Federation in a stronger negotiating position once Trump takes power.

CAMEROTA: And then, as we were alluding to earlier, it's a difficult time for Macron. In France, the French government basically just collapsed. Macron put out this speech trying to stabilize the government and the country's economy. So does, you know, President- elect Trump's visit help Macron?

WACHTEL: It probably boosts Macron, but, you know, the truth is after the cameras go away and all this focus on Notre Dame and what's happening today goes back into the history books. Certainly, Macron has a big task in front of him.

He is in a fragile state himself with calls from the left and the right for him to step down. He's just lost his prime minister. He must rapidly come up with a prime minister. You know, we in the United States are used to these government crises and potential shutdowns of the government.

Suddenly, Macron finds himself facing such a crisis in 2025. And he really needs to rapidly try to shore up some sort of, you know, cohesion so that he himself can lead and he can choose a premier. And that's a very complicated and, you know, that would be, you know, the grounds for another segment, Alisyn, for us to discuss that. But he's got to figure out the right premier to represent him as he tries to negotiate through parliament to try to put together some sort of budget for the country so that the nation can get through 2025 OK.

CAMEROTA: All right, I'll hold you to that. Jonathan Wachtel, we'll have another segment at some point in the near future. Thanks so much for being here.

We have more breaking news. Investigators have new clues, including a backpack, DNA, and security footage as the search for the killer of the healthcare CEO goes into its fourth day. Authorities now believe the gunman left New York by bus after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

CNN National Correspondent Gloria Pazmino joins us now live. Gloria, what's the latest in the investigation?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, what's come into focus this morning is just how quickly this happened. I want to show you the timeline because it really helps to illustrate how quickly it all happened.

Police now believe that the suspect likely left New York City by boarding a bus right here at this bus terminal behind me. And we now know that from the moment that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot to the moment that there was a video that showed the suspect entering the bus station here behind me, that is less than an hour.

So that means the suspect managed to travel from the scene of the crime to this neighborhood, two neighborhoods along high traffic congested New York City in less than an hour to likely make his getaway. The police were just starting to respond by the time that the suspect was seen here likely making his way out.

Let's talk about the clues that they have found so far because they do have a backpack that appears to have been left by the suspect in Central Park that is currently being processed at a crime lab by the NYPD. They also have DNA evidence that the suspect left behind on a water bottle that he purchased at a Starbucks near the scene of the crime.

And they have what police have described as the money shot, right? The photo of the suspect pulling down his mask and flashing a smile. This takes place at the hostel that he was staying at. And so we briefly have his face in full view and this is what police are hoping is going to help identify him.

Now, the murder weapon, the bicycle, and of course this man's identity remains a mystery for now. And what is likely a search that is going to expand far outside of New York City because we simply do not know what bus he got on and where that bus might have been headed.

[12:15:08]

That is going to be a critical part of the puzzle that police is going to have to put together in the next several hours. We are hoping to hear more updates throughout the day today specifically whether or not they can nail down the identity of this person.

That is going to be a crucial piece of the puzzle as police here in New York City but across other places in the country as well as federal authorities work together to try and identify him. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Gloria, it seems like they have a lot of good clues that should lead them in that direction. Thank you very much for the update.

All right, ahead, rebel forces in Syria are inching closer to the capital city of Damascus. We'll show you how.

Plus, outrage connected to that murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Americans express anger on social media over denied medical claims.

And actor Jamie Foxx opening up about a near-death experience. New details on the health scare that hospitalized him.

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[12:20:46]

CAMEROTA: New today, South Korea's president survived an impeachment vote days after his stunning move to declare martial law, though most of the lawmakers from the ruling party walked out of parliament and boycotted the vote.

President Yoon Suk Yeol has been under intense pressure to step aside after he briefly imposed martial law on Tuesday, but then relented just hours later. His party says they want his resignation. Thousands of protesters filled the streets outside of the National Assembly in Seoul demanding that he resign or be impeached.

And we have breaking international news. Rebels in Syria say they are in the final phase of surrounding the capital of Damascus. Video shows them tearing down a statue of President Bashar al-Assad's father on the city's outskirts.

Assad's government issued a statement today saying that Assad has not left Damascus. Video appears to show regime forces leaving the neighborhood close to the presidential palace. This morning on social media, President-elect Trump said the U.S. should not be involved in Syria's civil war.

CNN's National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand joins us now. Natasha, does the current White House think the Assad regime could fall?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Alisyn, we're learning really interesting and new details from U.S. officials today about just how long they feel Assad can actually hold onto power. According to the officials that we spoke to, they have been watching the really remarkable speed of the Syrian rebel advance, and they believe that it is possible that the regime of Bashar al-Assad could fall within days. And that's according to five U.S. officials who spoke to CNN. Now, if that analysis proves true, it really would represent a spectacular fall, a spectacularly fast fall from power for Assad after this 14-year war, and one that had been relatively stagnant until just last week. And what we're told is that these rebels, they really did take advantage of an opening that they saw given how distracted the Russians and the Iranians, two of Assad's key allies inside Syria, have been with their own problems, of course, against the Israelis and against the Ukrainians.

And so, you know, officials cautioned that there isn't a formal assessment yet that has emerged on Assad's fate, and views vary. You know, his demise isn't necessarily a foregone conclusion. But according to one U.S. official, the emerging consensus, quote, is that it is an increasingly plausible scenario. That official said that probably by next weekend, the Assad regime will have lost any semblance of power.

And so, this is really just, you know, it's hard to overstate just how remarkable this sweep has been by these rebels, of course, putting the U.S. in a difficult position, because this particular rebel group is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S.

But at the same time, you know, the Biden administration and the U.S., they do not support Bashar al-Assad. So, you know, the U.S. has 900 troops in Syria. They are watching and waiting to see what happens here.

For now, they are not going to be changing their force posture, but this could really upend dynamics in one of the most, you know, consequential and important conflicts that we have seen over the last decade plus in the Middle East. Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Yes. And Natasha, I mean, it's a -- these are stunning developments. And President-elect Trump says now the U.S. should stay out of the fight in Syria. So how does that change the equation?

BERTRAND: Yes, it is really interesting that he's weighed in here because President Trump actually tried to pull all U.S. forces out of Syria during his first administration. That did not pan out, but he has always kind of been of the opinion that the U.S. should not be involved there at all.

Of course, we'll all remember that President Barack Obama drew that red line in the sand, that infamous red line where he said that the U.S. would intervene if Assad did not stop his attacks on his own people. So the U.S. has been involved in one way or another in Syria really over the last decade plus of war here, with Trump now saying that he doesn't want the U.S. to be involved.

You know, it does remain to be seen just how that affects, you know, the Assad regime's perception of how long they can hold on here. The U.S. is not going to be supporting the rebels anytime soon, but, you know, the U.S. forces that are there right now, they also aren't going to be helping the Assad regime in any way. So this is just a really complicated scenario that everyone is watching to see what happens.

CAMEROTA: Indeed. Natasha Bertrand, thank you very much for the update.

[12:25:04]

Back here, the jury in New York City in the subway chokehold trial is deadlocked again. What this means for defendant Daniel Penny?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The judge in the New York City subway chokehold trial dismissing the manslaughter charge against the defendant Daniel Penny. That ruling clears the way for members of the jury to consider the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide when they convene -- reconvene on Monday.

The Manhattan jury twice said it was deadlocked on the manslaughter charge. Penny, a former Marine, now faces a maximum sentence of four years in the death of Jordan Neely last year.

And the U.S. appeals court upheld the law that requires the Chinese company ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the US. More than 170 million Americans use that social media platform. U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern that ByteDance could share user data with the Chinese government, posing a national security threat. The ban is set to start mid-January. TikTok plans to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, which could delay or stop the ban.

OK, back to our top story. The ongoing manhunt for the killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The search now in its fourth day. And guards along the northern and southern U.S. Borders are searching for any sign of the suspect.

Investigators zeroing in on a backpack they believe belonged to the suspect. Detectives found it last night during a second sweep of New York's Central Park. No weapon has been recovered, but investigators are exploring the possibility that the shooter may have used a veterinary gun. That's a specialized weapon that does not make a loud noise.

The killing of the CEO of one of the largest health insurance companies in the country has sparked a flurry of pent up anger against the healthcare system. Many people online making light of the murder. CNN's Jason Carroll looks at what's fueling this vitriol.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Soon after the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson came the somewhat unexpected a flood of social media posts like these.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I vividly remember being on the phone with UnitedHealthcare for days and days. Nine months pregnant, about to give birth alone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a terrible stress mad scramble. We appealed, of course, to UnitedHealthcare, and they denied the appeal within one day. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were wondering. I'm just saying my thoughts

and prayers were also denied. I don't give a fuck.

CARROLL (voice-over): Thompson's death has not only opened the door for people to share their pain about how they say they were unfairly treated by UnitedHealthcare, it has also unleashed a torrent of vitriol against the entire healthcare industry.

Ex-posts like this are some of the tamer versions of what's out there. Today we mourn the death of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson gunned down. Wait, I'm sorry. Today we mourn the deaths of the 68,000Americans who needlessly die each year so that insurance company execs like Brian Thompson can become multimillionaires.

Then there's UnitedHealthcare Group's Facebook posts about Thompson, who was a husband and father of two. It reads in part, we are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Brian Thompson. Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him.

So far, that statement has received more than 90,000 laugh emojis. No laughing matter to security experts like Philip Klein.

PHILLIP KLEIN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, KLEIN INVESTIGATIONS AND CONSULTING: There's now a widow and two orphan children out there. They don't have a father now. And we all need to remember that.

CARROLL (voice-over): Klein provided security to Thompson in the early 2000s, and he has grave concerns about what he's seeing now.

KLEIN: This has set a ripple through the corporate executive world about security and the security of their employees.

ERIN BRADSHAW, EXEC. VICE PRESIDENT, PATIENT ADVOCATE FOUNDATION: I am surprised of the backlash just because it's such a really sad situation that has occurred.

CARROLL (voice-over): Erin Bradshaw has some insight into the current climate among patients and insurance carriers. She's an executive vice president at the Patient Advocate Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to improving healthcare access.

BRADSHAW: It's an exhausting process, you know, and on top of already being sick, injured or disabled, when they are running into a challenge with getting access to prescribed care through their insurer, it just, it complicates it and creates multiple layers of frustration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Unfortunately, sympathy requires a prior authorization and I have to deny that request.

CARROLL (voice-over): As frustration simmer online with dark comments such as may the shooter never be found, my thoughts and deductibles go to the family. A new Gallup poll found just 44 percent of adults say the quality of U.S. health care is excellent or good, the smallest share since Gallup's tracking started in 2001. CARROLL: So some shocking comments there, also comments from people

who are clearly frustrated. The security expert that you heard from in the piece just wanted to emphasize that much of this backlash, many of these comments are insensitive and downright irresponsible.

[12:35:00]

We did reach out to UnitedHealthcare to get more of their perspective on this particular issue. They did not get back to us, but CNN has learned that UnitedHealthcare has increased its security measures at facilities around the country. Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: While President-Elect Trump is standing by Pete Hegseth as his choice for defense secretary, how is Congress reacting? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:04]

CAMEROTA: President elect Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon faces another crucial week on Capitol Hill. Trump says he still supports Pete Hegseth despite many reports about the former Fox host's drinking, financial mismanagement, infidelities and allegations of sexual misconduct. Trump told NBC's Kristen Welker that he's working hard to get Hegseth confirmed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT ELECT: He loves the military, and I think people are starting to see it. So, we'll be working on his nomination along with a lot of others.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: Since you bring him up, do you still have confidence in Pete Hegseth?

TRUMP: Yes, I do. I really do. He's a very smart guy. I've known him through Fox, but I've known him for a long time. And he's basically a military guy. I mean, every time I talk to him, all he wants to talk about is the military. He's a military guy.

WELKER: Have you gotten assurances from senators that he's going to be confirmed? Do you think he can make it?

TRUMP: No, I think he will. Yes. I've had a lot of senators call me up saying he's fantastic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining me now, two congressional reporters, Mychael Schnell of The Hill and Farnoush Amiri from the Associated Press. Ladies, thanks so much for being here. SoMychael, are there still senators who are on the fence about Hegseht? MYCHAEL SCHNELL, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE HILL: Yes, absolutely,

Alisyn. And one of them is Senator Joni Ernst, who is really a prime voice on this topic, who a lot of folks are watching to see which way she goes with the nomination of Pete Hegseth.

Joni Ernst, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who's also a very big proponent about sexual assault in the military. Against that, of course, she met with Pete Hegseth this week and did not give a firm answer on whether or not she would support him. That we heard from Joni Ernst late last night who said that she plans to meet again with Pete Hegseth next week to talk about his nomination to discuss these allegations against him.

But she said at the bare minimum, she believes that he deserves a hearing to talk about his nomination and that, Alisyn, is significant because that's a sign that even though Pete Hegseth does not at this moment have enough confirmed votes to become the next secretary of defense, he could very well make it to the point of a confirmation hearing before the Senate where we could see a lot of these allegations discussed in public.

Now, there's a lot of time between now and when that confirmation hearing could happen. So there could -- we could see this drip of allegations continue to come out about Pete Hegseth. But right now, he's sort of in that middle ground where he doesn't have enough support to be Secretary of Defense. But he doesn't look like he's dropping out of this race anytime soon.

CAMEROTA: And Farnoush, why would any senator, Democrat or Republican, be comfortable confirming someone who has a horrible track record of management and leadership? The two veterans organizations that Hegseth was the head of had major financial problems on his watch. So do senators say that they're okay with that?

FARNOUSH AMIRI, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: So the, you know, the interesting part about all of this is that if this would have happened, you know, two years ago, four years ago, six years ago, eight years ago, it'd be a different story. I think Trump's, you know, monumental victory last month really just solidified for so many in the Republican Party, including members who voted to impeach him in the Senate and in the House, that this guy is not going anywhere. Right?

He's going to be the next President of the United States. He is, you know, effectively the leader of the Republican Party. And that win last month solidified it. And many of them are expecting what the next four years of their lives are going to look like. And they're wondering, is this the Hill I'm going to die on?

And obviously, you know, Mychael and me have heard privately from senators and just members of Congress in general who are extremely concerned about a number of these nominations, including Kash Patel for FBI and other and, you know, RFK Jr. for health, but they aren't willing to come out and publicly say it.

Now, obviously, Matt Gaetz was really interesting because we saw that kind of level of anger and frustration among senators reach a boiling point to the fact that he withdrew. But whether Hegseth will again, I mean, this is going to be really a test of Trump's strength in with Senate Republicans and whether his nominees are being taken seriously.

CAMEROTA: Mychael, I do want to get to Kash Patel because Patel has said that he wants to prosecute anyone he believes is a political opponent of Trump. And of course, he's being nominated for to head the FBI. And so, again, are a majority of senators okay with that plan?

SCHNELL: We're going to have to see how it pans out. I think that there are two separate conversations, well, a few different conversations you're having with Kash Patel. A, the idea that he does have this baggage that he would come to the position with. He has made some of those past controversial statements that are prompting skepticism among some.

But also the idea that putting Kash Patel in the director of FBI position would mean that Christopher Wray, the current director of FBI, would be fired from his post. He still has three years left in this position. His term is not up until 2027. And there are some senators who have outright said they are supportive of Kash Patel and the job he is, I'm sorry, are supportive of Christopher Wray and the job he has done. And they're not so sure if it's right for him to be taken out of that position.

[12:45:00]

But again, back to what Farnoush said this is going to be. Do they feel that they can take enough votes against, take so many votes against these nominees to tank them? Trump is going to be in the White House for the next four years. They're going to have to work together. Is this the tone that they want to set at the beginning of that relationship? It's going to be a question that all of these Senate Republicans are going to have to ask themselves as they go through this list of controversial nominees. Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, Tulsi Gabbard as DNI, RFK Jr. As HHS. There are a lot of conversations about or how many are they willing to tank and which ones will they be.

CAMEROTA: Farnoush about that, about Christopher Wray, what would stop President-elect Trump from just firing him even though the term isn't up?

AMIRI: I mean, nothing. We saw, you know, we don't need to look too far back. We saw what happened with James Comey. You know, he is, this isn't going to be unprecedented if he asked Christopher Wray to step down. But I think what's important for everyone to know is that Christopher Wray is a Republican appointee to this job and he has investigated a number of individuals from both sides of the aisle. He has been Republicans and Democrats have been a fan of his.

So it would be consequential if he pushes it out and to put a Trump loyalist like Kash Patel in his position. But as we know, Trump has done this before and it seems to indicate that he would do it again.

CAMEROTA: Mychael Schnell, Farnoush Amiri, thank you both very much. Well, it was a mysterious medical emergency. Now, Jamie Foxx is

finally revealing details about the health scare that almost took his life.

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[12:51:18]

CAMEROTA: Taylor Swift brings her record breaking Eras Tour to a close with the final stint in Vancouver, British Columbia. You can see the big energetic crowd at her show last night.

Her final show is tomorrow. The Eras Tour involved more than 150 shows and five continents. It lasted more than two years and estimates are that it made more than $2 billion, making it the highest grossing tour in history.

All right, well, after months of silence and mystery surrounding his health, actor Jamie Foxx now talking about that episode that left him near death in the hospital. It was last year that Foxx suffered a sudden medical scare. Now he's sharing new details in a new Netflix special. CNN entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMIE FOXX, ACTOR: First of all, I want to say thank you to everybody. This prayed man and sent messages.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jamie Foxx speaking to his fans last year, three months after he collapsed while filming a movie in Atlanta.

FOXX: And I know a lot of people were waiting, you know, or wanting to hear updates, but to be honest with you, I just didn't want you to see me like that, man.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): But now --

FOXX: What had happened was --

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): -- Foxx is ready to tell all in a Netflix standup special out Tuesday.

FOXX: I'm so glad to be here.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Where he shares new details on his mystery hospitalization in 2023, which CNN has now learned was a near death experience.

DEMECOS CHAMBERS, ATTENDED FOXX SPECIAL: He was talking to somebody personal to him and then he just passed out on an elevator.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Demecos Chambers is a longtime Foxx fan. He was in the audience for The Netflix taping in Atlanta back in October, the first time Foxx has spoken about his unknown condition since this brief clip surfaced on social media last summer.

FOXX: Bad headache, asked my body for an Advil. I was gone for 20 days.

CHAMBERS: Jamie didn't know, but actually his health was declining greatly while he was in the hospital. Like he was literally on the brink of death.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Cambers says Foxx explains how one of his daughters unknowingly kept him alive playing their special song on a guitar as he was in a coma. It's the sound he woke up to weeks later.

CHAMBERS: His heart started picking up and his responses on the medical devices started increasing and his health came around. He eventually woke up was literally due to his daughter playing a song that was kindled to them, kindred to them both.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Chambers says Foxx seems strong on stage, not just speaking, but singing and dancing and playing the piano. And of course, joking that he woke up from his coma with a beard, looking like Django, one of his most famous roles.

FOXX: Just like old times, baby. Just like old times.

WAGMEISTER (voice-over): Foxx was filming the aptly titled Back in Action with Cameron Diaz at the time of his medical emergency. That movie is now complete and comes out on Netflix next month. For Chambers, though, it's his up close and personal moment with Fox that will mean the most.

CHAMBERS: I just wanted to see Jamie. I just wanted to see my -- the guy that I grew up off of perform on stage. It takes a lot to move me and that moved me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you.

[12:55:00]

All right. You are about to look at some live pictures outside of Notre Dame Cathedral, where at any moment the iconic Parisian landmark will hold services for the first time since that devastating fire more than five years ago. On the guest list, President-elect Donald Trump. We're going to take you live to Paris, next.

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[13:00:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

CAMEROTA: Hello everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Alisyn Camerota in today for Fredricka Whitfield. We begin this hour --