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Trump's Pick for Defense Secretary Vows to 'Fight Like Hell'; SCOTUS Conservatives Signal Openness to Law Banning Gender-Affirming Care for Minors. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired December 05, 2024 - 06:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR: It's Thursday, December 5. Right now on CNN THIS MORNING.

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[06:00:19]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack.

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HUNT: On the run. Still no sign of the CEO assassin who escaped in New York. But he may have left clues on the shell casings.

And --

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PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEWS HOST: We're going to fight like hell. There's no reason to back down.

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HUNT: Remaining defiant. Donald Trump's choice to lead the Pentagon refusing to bow out of a tough confirmation fight amid mounting allegations of misconduct.

And --

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel like we failed. It's -- it's tough.

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HUNT: A tragic loss. Recovery efforts continue to find a Pennsylvania grandmother believed to have fallen into this sinkhole.

Plus, transgender rights taking center stage at the Supreme Court. Why justices may be leaning toward a ban on gender-affirming care for minors in one state.

All right, 6 a.m. here on the East Coast, where it looks to be blizzarding in New York City. I did look down at my phone and saw, hey, we're going to get snow in a few hours and hey, here it is.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Pete Hegseth defiant in the face of an uncertain confirmation fight in the Senate.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, do you feel confident after your meeting today to be confirmed?

HEGSETH: Great meetings on that with all the senators today.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you feel confident?

HEGSETH: I feel confident every day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNT: That confidence set to be tested again today as Trump's pick to lead the Pentagon returns to Capitol Hill later on.

Pete Hegseth vowing to fight like hell as he tries to win over Republican senators made skeptical by multiple reports, alleging that he engaged in sexual misconduct, financial mismanagement, and abused alcohol.

Hegseth has denied all wrongdoing; yesterday mounted a public defense in an interview with fellow former FOX host Megyn Kelly.

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HEGSETH: I've never had a drinking problem. I don't -- never -- no one's ever approached me and said, oh, you -- you should really look at getting help for a drink. Never. I've never sought counseling, never sought help.

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HUNT: Last night, "The Washington" Post reporting this: quote, "At FOX News, Hegseth had a reputation as a heavy drinker. According

to six former FOX News employees who worked directly with Hegseth and saw him drinking on the job or visibly drunk at work events, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation," end quote.

Through his lawyer, Hegseth denied the reports when he was asked for comment by "The Washington Post." But he is clearly aware of how central the issue of alcohol has become to his confirmation.

Here was the incoming chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Roger Wicker, telling CNN about a promise that Hegseth made in their meeting yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): The allegation was made about him being intoxicated at several times, and so the -- the questions that every member will be asking him led to this statement.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And he categorically said he would stop drinking altogether --

WICKER: That's right.

RAJU: -- if he becomes secretary of defense.

WICKER: That's exactly right.

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HUNT: As of last night, CNN's sources tell us there are more than three Republican senators who are uncertain how they'll vote on Hegseth nomination.

If more than three Republicans join all Democrats in voting no, that would sink him. And Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal, also a member of the Armed Services Committee, says that the number could be much higher.

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SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think this nomination is doomed. I've talked to 5 to 10 Republicans who have said to me, they're just waiting for the right moment to say no to Pete Hegseth.

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HUNT: All right. Our panel is here: Stephen Collinson, CNN politics senior reporter; Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst, national political reporter for Axios; Kate Bedingfield, CNN political commentator, former communications director for the Biden White House; and Erin Perrine, Republican strategist at Axiom Strategies.

Welcome to all of you. Thank you all for being here this morning.

Stephen Collinson, let me start with you, big picture, because what we saw from Hegseth, of course, yesterday was trying to show Donald Trump that he was willing to fight this, to push forward on this. And of course, he was going into these Senate offices and apparently promising him -- promising them that he won't drink as defense secretary. What do you make of it all?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: He seems to be adopting the Kavanaugh defense, trying to make this about something bigger than just his own qualifications, saying that he's the victim of partisan witch hunts, et cetera.

I think it's pretty clear that there are enough Republicans who don't want to vote for him, and they don't even want a hearing, which could turn into a real circus just before President-elect Trump takes office next year. I think for Hegseth, what he has to do is keep this going, try and

push it into next year, because then it becomes a direct decision by a Republican senator to openly defy, in a Senate vote, the new president. And that's a much more difficult situation for them than they -- they have now.

[06:05:15]

It looks like several of them might -- might want it to actually just go away.

HUNT: Go away entirely. I mean, Alex, one of the -- the audience, of course, for Hegseth yesterday in that interview was largely Trump. Right?

ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.

HUNT: I mean, going out and doing something like that is more likely to anger senators than it is to help.

But for Trump, this is the way he consumes things, obviously.

But this is what "The Post" said about where Trump is on Hegseth. They write this: quote, "Trump has stood by numerous aides and appointees accused of sexual assault or indiscretion, but he has long disdained the abuse of alcohol by those around him, dating back to the death of his brother, Fred Trump Jr., who suffered from alcoholism and died from related diseases at the age of 42. Trump has been troubled by the allegations about Hegseth's excessive drinking, said two people familiar with his thinking. Trump does not drink alcohol, he frequently tells those around him."

So, again, we started this conversation about Hegseth with this allegation of sexual assault. But it may be the drinking that is the real problem for Donald Trump.

THOMPSON: And there's a sort of an internal contradiction with his answers here, which he's like, I've never had a problem, I've never reported a problem.

But he's also saying, I'm not going to drink at all if I'm secretary. Well, if you don't have a problem, why are you promising not to drink?

And you know, I don't think you can underestimate the visceral experience. Donald Trump doesn't talk much about his, like, personal life. The experience with his brother is something he actually talks about very frequently on the trail, as something that was sort of a defining experience.

And so, take out the stuff that, you know, there that -- the allegations, the stuff that they're denying. The fact that there are particular instances of him saying, Hey, I came back from war. I was drinking, and that, you know, he has basically admitted that he was, you know, tomcatting around, for lack of a better term. I think both those things are troubling a lot of Republicans. HUNT: Well, and to that point, Erin, "The Post" story that starts out

with something that he said on a podcast in August of 2021. So not even that long ago.

And he said that his heavy drinking started after a brush with death when an RPG ricocheted off his vehicle. It didn't explode, while he was serving in Iraq with an army infantry unit.

And when he returned home to a Manhattan apartment after the deployment ended in 2006, he said he was disconnected from the people that he served with, from his wife: "I look around at 10 o'clock and be like, what am I going to do today? How about I drink some beers?"

So, this is -- you know, he is recounting here -- and it's tragic, right?

ERIN PERRINE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes.

HUNT: It's -- it's really difficult. But it also contradicts deeply what he said yesterday, where he said, I never had a problem.

PERRINE: This is a war fighter who came home and was clearly struggling, as so many do. And acknowledging that first and foremost, I think, is really the key thing here.

Because I have not served my country in capacity in war. I can only imagine how terrifying that is. And how hard it must be to come home and feel completely disconnected from the world around you, having seen that.

He does admit that he drank a lot, but he seems to have -- he -- he seems to think that he has this under control.

And if you're being -- if you've never been through the confirmation process and sat in a meeting with a senator, even if you've interviewed them and you feel comfortable with them, if they say, will you tell me you won't drink, you'll take the answer and say even if you don't think you have a drinking problem, you know what? I won't drink.

What I really think we're seeing here from Pete Hegseth is part of what Trump wanted in these nominees, was, can you fight the battle of the political opinion in the court of public opinion on media? That's what Hegseth is doing here.

We know that when Trump was going through the selection process, he had tape of people defending him on camera. That was an important point. Will this pay off with somebody like Pete Hegseth? I think this is a test case to that about Trump's selections.

HUNT: And of course, Kate, the real question is what are these senators going to do? And Joni Ernst, in particular, is someone who she did meet with him yesterday.

Let's watch the moment where -- she was not one of these people who came out. And, you know oftentimes supporters will put out a picture of the two of them because obviously, this is going to be a significant Washington player, in their view.

That's not what happened here. Instead, she was caught up -- caught with reporters in the hallway. Let's watch that moment.

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SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): It was a frank and thorough conversation.

HEGSETH: We had an engaging and constructive conversation.

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): It's a tough road for him, but it is a 100 percent doable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not -- it's not 100 percent clear to me who he wants as secretary of defense right now.

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HUNT: So, that was a series of senators, obviously, but that Joni Ernst moment where she says they had a thorough conversation.

KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

HUNT: What do you take away from that?

BEDINGFIELD: So, so her feet never stop moving. And generally, if you don't want to answer a question, I'll give you a -- I'll give you an insider's -- insider's communications look at how you avoid answering a question you don't want to answer. You keep your feet moving. You keep walking.

So, I think her body language, in addition to -- to what she said, suggests that she's not on board. There's a lot of space there. She needs to be persuaded.

I think it's also interesting. It seems telling that we really haven't heard from Trump I mean, yesterday was such a critical day for Hegseth, such a, you know, tipping point moment, potentially, for the nomination. And we didn't hear from Trump at all, which also seems very telling.

[06:10:11]

If he wanted to put his muscle behind fighting for Hegseth, you would think.

HUNT: He is not afraid of putting things on Truth Social.

BEDINGFIELD: You would think we would have heard from him. But what's so -- exactly, exactly. But what's so interesting to me that Trump and the Trump team are so, you know, are so opposed to the vetting process when, you know, this is what a vetting process saves you from.

I mean, this is what an intense dive into somebody's background before you put them out on the public stage and then have to endure all of this questioning. This is what it protects you from. So, it's interesting to me that they are so adamantly against the

vetting process when, you know, they're now looking at their -- potentially their second nominee going down.

PERRINE: I do think you make one point there that's interesting, which is that, as of this point, we haven't seen Trump spend political capital on any of these nominees. He's not making calls around. We're not hearing reporting that he's trying to push folks.

He did a little bit early on Matt Gaetz we had heard there might have been some conversations and phone calls. You're not hearing that now.

So, Trump saying, hey, you guys figure this out. I've put forward who I want. And if it changes, it changes.

HUNT: Yes. Erin, I do have to ask you about the fact that there's other names being floated out there, right, including Ron DeSantis.

Here were a couple of senators talking about the possibility that Ron DeSantis might be defense secretary yesterday. Let's watch.

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SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): He's, you know, served in the military. So, I think he has what you would look at on paper as the requisite kind of experience you would want in a secretary of defense.

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): I'm considering voting yes on DeSantis, if he's finally admits that he has lifts in his boots, I'm sure he does. I think maybe three inches. Four inches at least.

RAJU: Yes.

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HUNT: So, that aside, with Fetterman there, I mean, Mark Kelly is a serious guy from a, you know, red state, basically saying, "I might vote for Ron DeSantis." But is Trump serious about it?

PERRINE: There are other names being floated. And Governor DeSantis does have a really compelling story, if he were to be put forward.

He was a JAG attorney. He did cover a SEAL team and deploy with them into active combat. He has really seen a lot.

He's been the chief executive of Florida. We've seen what he can do politically. We've seen what he can do in the state.

But he does have a very strong military background. That really could bode well for him.

The fact that there are other names being floated and not smacked down immediately means Trump's flirting with the idea a little bit.

THOMPSON: Yes, and those senators are clearly trying to tempt him, right? Being like, oh, we'll confirm this guy real fast. PERRINE: Yes, all these problems will go away.

HUNT: All evaporate.

All right. Up ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, man on the loose. That manhunt is still underway for the gunman who shot down the CEO of America's largest healthcare company.

Plus, transgender rights lands at the Supreme Court, where justices appear to stand for a Tennessee ban for gender-affirming care for minors.

And blanket pardons. Could President Biden issue preemptive pardons for some of Trump's enemies?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jack Smith's name is on my list. Liz Cheney's name is on my list. I think that they all should be preemptively pardoned.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tennessee's elected officials carefully considered the evidence and passed a law to protect Tennessee kids.

The Constitution allows this. We look forward to a decision from the court.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our fight for justice did not begin today. It will not end in June, whatever the court decides. We are in this together.

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HUNT: The decision over a Tennessee law banning gender affirming care for minors is now in the hands of the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Wednesday, the justices heard two hours of arguments in the case over whether the ban is constitutional. The court's conservative majority single [SIC] -- signaled an openness toward allowing the law to stand.

Chief Justice John Roberts appeared to be reluctant to have courts second-guessing state legislatures. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also brought up the topic of women's sports.

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JUSTICE ELENA KAGAN, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Encourage minors to appreciate their sex and ban treatments that might encourage minors to become disdainful of their sex. Sounds to me like we want boys to be boys, and we want girls to be girls.

JUSTICE BRETT KAVANAUGH, U.S. SUPREME COURT: If you prevail here on the standard of review, what would that mean for women's and girls' sports in particular?

Would transgender athletes have a constitutional right, as you see it, to play in women's and girls' sports?

CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT: It seems to me that it is something where we are extraordinarily bereft of expertise.

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HUNT: The decision is expected by July.

Kate Bedingfield, how -- obviously, this case is very sensitive for these families. It's very emotional for people involved, but it's also become a central part of our political debate. It was in the campaign.

And it's clear -- and Jeremy Peters wrote about this in "The New York Times" -- that there are shifting opinions around this. He says this: "The public does not appear to be growing more empathetic to the transgender cause. Fewer Americans today than two years ago say they support some of the rights that LGBTQ activists have pushed for, like allowing children to undergo gender transition treatment, according to the Public Religion Research Institute. Multiple recent polls have found a considerable majority of Americans believe advocacy for transgender rights has gone too far."

[06:20:03]

How does that play into this debate?

BEDINGFIELD: Well, theoretically it shouldn't, right? I mean, the Supreme Court is supposed to be removed, in many ways, from the back and forth of -- of politics. I -- you know, obviously the justices are human, and they are, you know -- they are very much plugged into what's going on politically.

But in theory, the case should be decided on the merits, on this question of whether the ban is Constitutional. Obviously, you know, certainly I think many -- even many Democrats who may be uncomfortable with some of the leading edge of advocacy on these transgender issues would, I think, still argue that a ban that prevents medical care for young people who, in some cases, may need it, you know, is not a good thing.

So, I think there are -- you know, I think there are grades of nuance here. But, you know, in theory, the politics of the issue shouldn't sway the court. But of course, we know that's probably not the way the world works.

THOMPSON: Well, I was going to say, you -- you can be supportive of transgender rights, which President Biden has been. But President Biden -- I mean, you remember this in 2020. He knew that there were political risks to being on the leading edge, which is why, you know, the ACLU questionnaire that really caused Kamala Harris a lot of problems this last election about providing gender-affirming care for, you know, detained migrants and stuff, Joe Biden never filled out that questionnaire.

And that was an intentional decision during the campaign.

BEDINGFIELD: Yes, it was.

THOMPSON: Because they knew that it was a political risk that could be taken advantage of by the right. And they clearly are trying to press that advantage.

COLLINSON: It was interesting that the chief justice was talking about perhaps we don't have the expertise to talk about this. In a way, the courts, and the Supreme Court especially, is the place where these things really ought to be addressed, because they can be -- a very emotive issue, can be debated in a way in which it wasn't on the campaign trail, where it was completely demagogued.

A lot of the talk about these surgeries and therapies was completely taken out of context. But this is an issue which everybody is wrestling with every day. People are seeing it in their lives. And that's why it's affecting the politics.

And we've got this situation where, if legislators are, and states are responsible for sorting all this out, what other rights, civil rights, does that then bring in? Does that open questions like interracial marriage, for example?

So, this has massive reverberations far beyond just this issue.

HUNT: All right. Still to come here on CNN THIS MORNING, a massive manhunt still underway as police try to locate the suspect who shot and killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

Plus, as if life on the road isn't hard enough, the rock band that was robbed at gunpoint.

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HUNT: All right 26 minutes past the hour. Five things you have to see this morning.

A real-life grinch steals $100 worth of Christmas decorations straight from a family's Michigan front yard. Oh, come on, this is ridiculous.

Police are looking for two suspects. That's not very nice.

All right. The FBI looking into multiple reports of mysterious drones flying over Northern New Jersey. It is not clear who they belong to or who is operating them. Officials say that there is no known threat to public safety.

Very strange. And this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to try and find her and make sure that we get her to the family.

It's been a rough go. You know, we feel like we failed. It's -- it's tough.

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HUNT: The search for a woman who authorities believe fell into a sinkhole, now a recovery effort. Crews say they have found no signs of life. The 64-year-old disappeared while searching for her lost cat on Monday.

You're watching cell phone video of the moment popular British band Sports Team was robbed at gunpoint. It happened in California on the way to their first U.S. performance.

Their laptops and passports swiped. Luckily, not their instruments. They did still make it in time for the show.

The iconic Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting up the night in New York. The 74-foot tree features 50,000 multicolored lights. The star on the top -- get this -- made of 3 million Swarovski crystals.

Very pretty. I'm going to watch that on replay. I can never stay up late enough to actually see it in prime time.

All right. Time now for weather. The Eastern coast of the U.S. feeling a big chill this morning. More snow falling on the Great Lakes region.

Let's go to our meteorologist. Our weatherman, Derek van Dam.

Derek, we were just looking at this live camera we have of a -- basically, it looks like there's a blizzard in New York City right now. I have no idea if that's true, which is why you're here. What do you got?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, great question, because we've got this clipper moving through, and it's bringing the intense bursts of moderate to heavy snowfall.

Now, the temperatures are really flirting with freezing there. So, it's not going to really accumulate much on the roadways, but just outside of the New York City suburbs, the boroughs there, certainly could see some minor accumulation that could cause some localized travel concerns, especially away from the coastline.

Now, here's a look at the 15 million Americans impacted by winter weather alerts. This is a mixture of winter storm warnings and lake- effect snow warnings.

And by the way, we have a blizzard warning in effect through Saturday morning for Erie, Pennsylvania. This area is just getting walloped with heavy snowfall as we speak. Conditions will become quite difficult to drive. Near whiteout conditions anticipated right along that I-90 corridor that we've been talking about, that's accumulated so much lake-enhanced snowfall lately.

Now, we have had some wet snowflakes fall in Boston. Minor accumulations there. This is mainly rain near the coast, but again I- 95 to the North could see a little bit of that accumulation on the ground.

Now, this is the look at the temperatures as you step outside. Well below freezing for places like Indianapolis to Chicago.

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