Return to Transcripts main page
CNN This Morning
President Biden Approves for Ukraine to Use Long-Range American-Made Weapons Inside Russia; House Speaker Mike Johnson Wants Ethics Committee to Keep Matt Gaetz Report Secret; Trump Taps a Big Tech Critic to Chair the FCC. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired November 18, 2024 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:00]
KASIE HUNT, ANCHOR, CNN THIS MORNING: It's Monday, November 18th, right now on CNN THIS MORNING. Missile decision. President Biden lets Ukraine use long-range American-made weapons inside Russia. And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): What I have said with regard to the report is that it should not come out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Under wraps. The House Speaker wants the ethics report into Trump's Attorney General pick to stay sealed. And --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDAN CARR, COMMISSIONER, FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION, UNITED STATES: Americans have been living through an unprecedented surge in censorship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The President-elect taps a big tech critic to chair the FCC to take on what he calls the censorship cartel. All right, 5:00 a.m. here on the East Coast, a live look at Capitol Hill on this Monday morning, good morning everyone, Kasie Hunt, it's wonderful to have you with us.
Ukraine can now use long-range American-made weapons inside Russia after President Biden gave them the go ahead. Two officials familiar with the decision tell CNN. According to one U.S. official, the weapons are intended to be used primarily in Kursk, a region in southern Russia where Ukraine launched a counteroffensive over the Summer.
While Moscow has deployed nearly 50,000 troops to Kursk, thousands of North Korean troops have also deployed to the region, a move that has the Biden administration concerned. Yesterday, Russia launched their largest aerial attack on Ukraine in months, killing 11 people, including two children, according to Ukrainian officials. Overnight, Russia said they intercepted 59 Ukrainian drones including
two headed for Moscow. Earlier this year, Biden secretly approved the transfer of long-range army tactical missile systems for Ukraine to use inside Ukrainian territory. But Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pushing Washington for approval to use the weapons inside Russia as well. He responded to the news yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT, UKRAINE (through translator): The plan to strengthen Ukraine is the victory plan I have presented to partners. Long-range possibilities for our army is one of its major points. Today, there is a lot of talk in the media about us receiving a permit for respective actions. Hits are not made with words. Such things don't need announcements. Missiles will speak for themselves for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: All right, joining us now, CNN international security correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. Nick, good morning, thank you so much for starting us off with this significant development here over the weekend. What does this mean bottom line?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Ultimately, it means that the United States in the last 24 hours is significantly more involved in the war in Ukraine than it was beforehand. Literally, with a matter of 2 to 3 months left in the Biden administration, on a practical level, there simply really aren't enough of these ATACMS missiles, the long-range missiles that Ukraine has been receiving to use against areas where Russia is occupying Ukraine over the past months.
There aren't really enough for this decision to radically change the battlefield or a course of a war in which Russia is slowly seeing progress across the eastern frontline. Small, but sadly at this point for Ukraine, strategic and indeed symbolic. What it does do, though, is after the months in which President Joe Biden has said that this decision, this permission would simply be too escalatory for him to grant it.
It does now suggest that he is willing to tolerate that level of risk, and that perhaps he's trying to alter the framework of the war in the months ahead, provide Ukraine perhaps extra capabilities, extra firepower, extra reach inside Russia so that when President-elect Donald Trump in January the 20th inherits this war, the largest conflict in Europe since the '40s, that potentially the United States is already so much further involved that it complicates Trump's clear open desire to reach a quick peace.
Now, we've not heard the Kremlin directly respond to this. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that if such missiles were supplied by the United States for Ukraine to use on Russia, that would essentially be Russia saying NATO involving itself in the fight fully.
[05:05:00]
Now, we've heard rhetoric from Putin in the past, which hasn't necessarily resulted in action from Moscow. And I should point out, too, Biden's decision has followed a very familiar pattern where we've seen HIMARS missiles, shorter range but more accurate missiles, Abrams tanks, F-16s all requested by Ukraine.
President Biden prevaricating for months, talking about how this would escalate, and then eventually giving Ukraine what it wants. The same pattern followed here with just months left to go. The key focus Kasie, is that the White House say they want to re-escalate back after North Korea's deployed troops to the Kursk region for Russia.
Remember, Kursk is a part of Russian territory that Ukraine moved into in August. This is kind of Washington pushing back against that. But still, it significantly raises the temperature in this war. And I should point out just one more thought here for you. The introduction of North Korean troops has some western officials I've spoken to say really, potentially changed some thinking particularly in the Trump transition team maybe.
A lot of them are China hawks, and they might see North Korea now being on the frontlines is making this more of a global conflict in which China potentially has more of a role. And so, that may change some of the thinking in the Trump administration. And it certainly seems to put the Biden administration to take this decision, which they've long resisted for months, Kasie.
HUNT: Yes, well, certainly, they're trying to make a mark here with just a handful of months left for Biden in the White House. Nick Paton Walsh for us, Nick, very grateful for your reporting, thank you very much. All right, straight ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, the Laken Riley murder trial resumes today.
How her smart-watch left pivotal clues about her final moments. Plus, a growing divide. Why Pelosi's critique of her party is reportedly ruffling some feathers. And a tug of war on Capitol Hill over whether or not to release the House Ethics report into Matt Gaetz.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): Matt Gaetz is going to go through the same scrutiny as every other individual, and I'm going to give him a fair shot just like every individual, and at the end of the day, the Senate has to confirm him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Matt Gaetz is by any standard completely unqualified to be the Attorney General.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[05:10:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): It's still not even Thanksgiving yet, and if we're having meltdowns, you know, every tweet or every appointment or all those things, I mean, it's going to be four years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Still not even Thanksgiving yet. In case, they've forgotten, Capitol Hill lawmakers getting a crash course on how Trump's Washington can operate. It hasn't even been two weeks since the election. The President-elect has already announced more than a dozen picks for key positions, including the "Fox News" host and army veteran Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense.
That choice is not without controversy. Over the weekend, CNN reporting that Hegseth paid a woman who accused him of sexual assault in a settlement agreement, the incident happened back in 2017 in what his attorney is calling a, quote, "consensual sexual encounter", end quote. The report making some senators hesitant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MULLIN: I think he's a good pick.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes --
MULLIN: But once again, as allegations come out, we'll figure out if as the Senate moves forward with the advise and consent to the President of the United States and doing our constitutional duties --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes --
MULLIN: We'll figure out if he can get confirmed or not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Trump's other most controversial choice for his cabinet may be getting an assist from the House Speaker Mike Johnson. Trump picked now former Congressman Matt Gaetz to be his Attorney General. The former part important, Gaetz stepped down last week just days before a potentially damning ethics report was about to be made public.
It's one dealing with his sexual misconduct allegations with a minor. Now, the House no longer has jurisdiction over Gaetz. One source tells CNN, Trump wants Gaetz confirmed, quote, "100 percent". He's not going to back off. He is all in. Now, House Speaker Johnson is saying the report that the Ethics Committee was finalizing should never see the light of day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: What I have said with regard to the report is that it should not come out and why? Because Matt Gaetz resigned from Congress. He is no longer a member. There's a very important protocol and tradition and rule that we maintain that the House Ethics Committee's jurisdiction does not extend to non-members of Congress. I think that would be a Pandora's box.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HUNT: All right, joining us now to discuss is Jackie Kucinich; she is
Washington Bureau Chief for "The Boston Globe". Jackie, good morning to you.
JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, THE BOSTON GLOBE: Good morning!
HUNT: So, let's start there with Mike Johnson and Matt Gaetz in this ethics report, because you've covered Capitol Hill for a long time. It sounds like this may not be the only example of something that may have been released in the wake of someone resigning from Congress. I mean, what do you know about whether there is a precedent here?
KUCINICH: I mean, when he says it's a Pandora's box, that box has been opened and it was in 2006, Mark Foley, he resigned from the House after what is known as the page scandal, and that report was released after he resigned. In the Senate, John Ensign, who is a former senator from Nevada resigned after a cheating scandal that was -- that roiled the Senate at that time in 2011 I think, also released after he resigned.
So, there is precedent for this. It's -- and the speaker is not really supposed to have any jurisdiction or any -- you know, active role in the Ethics Committee in the House, so, he can -- he can make this decision. But it's ultimately ethics decision to do this.
HUNT: Yes, and it is something of a norm that the speaker stays out of whatever decision they may or may not make, right?
[05:15:00]
KUCINICH: Right, exactly. And the other thing is yes, the Ethics will stop investigating him, but this report was going to be voted to be released, what? A couple of days after Gaetz decided to step down. So, it's there. And you already have members of the Senate saying, no, I want to see this so they can properly vet him for this very important position that he's been nominated for.
And I can't imagine senators wanting to just do this, see no evil as they're going through this process.
HUNT: Yes, because they do take it seriously regardless of what Trump may think that they're about to do. So --
KUCINICH: Right.
HUNT: Speaking of Trump here, so, this is not the only person that obviously may face difficulty getting confirmed. Pete Hegseth is another one because as we kind of ran through there, there was -- there's been this reporting over the weekend here at CNN that he had this sexual assault allegation against him.
There was a settlement where he paid the woman -- "The Washington Post" reported on kind of the overall mood down at Mar-a-Lago, and the headline is this, Trump won, the celebration started, and then the trouble began. And basically they chronicle that, of course, Trump won the election with this unified senior team that had brought some order and decision-making process to the campaign.
But the structure eroded in the days after his victory, and is now beholden to Trump's whims. His team presents the names and presentations, he reacts in real time, other times, he suggests the names of people who had not been vetted by the transition team. They also went on to report that both Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita went to this donor meeting in Las Vegas for a few critical days, then LaCivita went on to go hunting in New Mexico, that's when some of these more controversial picks came out.
Sort of -- we know how Donald Trump, you know, in moments like these, can basically go off and do what he wants. But does the rubber meet the road at some point? I mean, if he wants these nominees to get confirmed, I mean, where are the pressure points on the Hill? I feel like they're only going to have so much tolerance for bucking Donald Trump. But also, these two nominees seem so problematic. It's hard for me to see how they sail either.
KUCINICH: I mean, this reminds me a lot of the last time Trump was in this position where he was just nominating people. Yes, there's less pageantry, there's less people like trotting up to Bedminster and having to go before the cameras and all of that, that we saw. But it is -- I mean, at the end of the day, some of the vetting is being done live and in person through the press rather than behind closed doors with a transition team.
I mean, these allegations toward Pete Hegseth came at -- reportedly shocked the Trump transition team because they weren't -- they didn't know that this was a thing. So, I would expect more of that. And if you're surprised by this, you weren't paying attention the last time, and we all were very much so.
So, whether or not -- where the rubber meets the road is the U.S. Senate, which senators decide to -- I mean, we have someone like Markwayne Mullin who has made his thoughts on Matt Gaetz quite clear, now having to reverse himself, and we're going to see that in some corners, but at the end of the day, this is who -- will this person -- will Matt Gaetz eventually -- you know, pull back?
That has happened in the past because he's a distraction. We've heard that many a time, or will he go headlong into these Senate confirmation hearings where he could face some pretty pointed -- we'll go with pointed because it's early in the morning -- questions -- we'll have to wait and see, but my goodness, what a January-February we are going to be facing --
HUNT: Indeed. Here we go again, Jackie Kucinich, thank you very much --
KUCINICH: Thank you --
HUNT: For being here this morning, I appreciate it. All right, still coming up here on CNN THIS MORNING, in the final months of his presidency, President Biden giving Ukraine a major new approval in its war against Russia. Plus, in just hours, the trial resumes for the accused killer of Georgia nursing student Laken Riley. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:20:00]
HUNT: All right, 22 minutes past the hour, here's your morning round- up. New Orleans police investigating two different shootings that left two people dead and ten others injured. The shootings happened Sunday during a parade about 45 minutes apart from each other. No arrests have been made.
The pollster J. Ann Selzer will end her famed polling operation after her final survey this election cycle missed the mark by 16 points. The poll for the "Des Moines Register" showed Kamala Harris leading Trump 47 percent to 44 percent in Iowa, where other polls showed Trump comfortably ahead.
An E. coli outbreak linked to organic carrots reported across 18 states. The CDC says one person died, nearly 40 others have gotten sick since September. The carrots were sold at stores including Sprouts, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods and Target. They have now been recalled. All right, time now for weather, a series of storms set to blast parts of the U.S. with cold temperatures, mountain snow and rain this week.
A tornado-watch apparently still in effect this morning in the southern plains. Let's get to our meteorologist, the weatherman Derek Van Dam with more. Derek, good morning.
DEREK VAN DAM, METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning, happy Monday, Kasie. Yes, we need to keep an eye to the sky if you're located across Oklahoma and central Texas. This is where we have an ongoing tornado watch. And in fact, some tornado-warned storms which I'll show you in just one moment.
You can see the radar very active, very busy across this area. But I want to highlight this line of storms that's gusty winds and also a confirmed tornado on the ground. We'll talk about that in just one moment. This tornado watch exists through 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time and does include Oklahoma City, stretching through Wichita Falls, southward towards Abilene. Here's the severe thunderstorm watches highlighted in that shading of orange across central and northern Texas and into western Oklahoma.
But this shading of pink, that's a tornado warning with an observed tornado this morning. A small population area, but we'll keep an eye on this on the northern side of the storm as it moves to the east, perhaps impacting Oklahoma City in the coming hours.
[05:25:00]
And that area has a slight risk of severe storms today, large hail, damaging winds, and as you already are aware, the potential for a few pop-up tornadoes. On top of that, we've got a heavy rain threat. That's why we have flash flood watches for the area and also a surge of moisture across the Gulf Coast that will kind of work together to combine with the storm system in the days ahead. A lot of rain for the eastern parts of the country as we head into the
first half of this week, much needed precipitation. But check this out, some snowfall for the Appalachians, interesting, things are going to cool off. Here's a look at your temperatures for today. Still a mild day for one more day, but things will change dramatically the rest of the week, so enjoy it while it lasts. Kasie?
HUNT: All right, Derek Van Dam for us this morning, Derek, thank you, I'll see you next hour.
VAN DAM: All right.
HUNT: And still ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, day two in the Laken Riley murder trial. How a smart-watch is providing key evidence in the case. Plus, after failing to retake the majority, House Democrats now getting second-guessed by their former leader Nancy Pelosi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Speaker Pelosi has been incredibly respectful of the entire leadership team.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think she's undermining your leadership with her public pronouncements?
JEFFRIES: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
