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The Situation Room

New Indictments Against Letitia James and James Comey?; Pete Hegseth Under Fire; Trump Holds Cabinet Meeting. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired December 02, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

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[11:35:10]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now: President Trump will convene his full Cabinet over at the White House at any moment now, marking his ninth Cabinet meeting since taking office.

And it comes amid new questions from Congress about the legality of a follow-up strike on an alleged drug boat by the U.S. military in the Caribbean back in September.

We have an all-star group of reporters and analysts here to discuss what to expect. CNN White House reporter Alayna Treene is joining us from the North Lawn of the White House. CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez is here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Alayna, let me start with you.

All eyes are on the secretary of defense right now, Pete Hegseth, amid a lot of scrutiny over that very controversial follow-up strike. What are you watching for?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, this will be interesting, Wolf.

And I will say we have seen several different Cabinet officials trickle into the West Wing over the last hour or so. But I'd remind you that, in these televised Cabinet meetings in the past, you often see a lot of flattery. The president will go around to each of his different officials and ask them for updates and whatnot.

They often tend to very heavily compliment the president. But then I think the key part that we will all be watching for is the questions, and specifically the lining of questions, as you mentioned, Wolf, that relate to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who is presumably going to be in this meeting this morning.

This is going to be the first time that we will actually see Hegseth in public on television getting a chance to answer questions from reporters since that "Washington Post" story first broke that kind of led to all of this growing concern and scrutiny for the president, but also the highest members of his national security team and military officials regarding that, what they call a double tap strike on that boat off the Venezuelan coast in the Caribbean back in September.

And we have heard -- look, the White House has been trying to address this. We heard the White House yesterday, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt come out, defend that double tap strike. But we also saw both of them place some of the responsibility on Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley, who they argue was the one who actually directed that second strike.

But one of the things I'm also watching for, Wolf, along these Venezuelan lines is how President Trump specifically responds to this, because the last time we actually heard him publicly discuss this was on Sunday. And, at that point, the president had been saying he needed to get more information.

He said he wouldn't exactly have wanted a second strike to be carried out the way it did. So watch for that as well, because that will be a telling moment, but a lot of the attention today, of course, and particularly, I think the scrutiny and questions we're going to be hearing from reporters is going to be directed at Hegseth and the president regarding that strike and where they go from here.

BLITZER: We will see if the president goes around the table and gets various members of the Cabinet, the national security team, to weigh in. And reporters are going to be inside. They're going to ask some questions as well.

Priscilla, we expect to also hear from the U.S. homeland security secretary, Kristi Noem, at this Cabinet meeting. And you have some new reporting about her calls for a full travel ban right now. Tell us about that.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf, what she has to say if she's able to comment at this Cabinet meeting is also going to be important, because, of course, her department has been at the center of that incident that occurred last week of the Afghan national who shot those two -- allegedly shot these two National Guard members.

Now, what I am being told by a source is that the homeland security secretary has recommended that the White House increase the travel ban list. Currently, that is a list of 19 countries that places restrictions, both full and partial, on people coming to the United States from those countries.

Well, the secretary is recommending that this increase to be a list of about 30 to 32 countries, so at least an additional 10 countries added to this list. Now, it's unclear which countries exactly. Typically, this would include some level of consultation and discussion with the White House before it's finalized and announced.

But the secretary had said yesterday that she met with the president and that that is where this was discussed, doing a full travel ban, and she said on countries -- on "every damn country" -- I'm quoting here -- "that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches and entitlement junkies," so a pretty strong statement from the homeland security secretary.

So we will see if she speaks more about this during the Cabinet meeting, but this is an extension of the various pauses, holds that they have been putting on adjudications in the immigration system, again, on the heels of that incident in Washington last week.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much for that, Priscilla.

I want to bring in retired U.S. Army Major Mike Lyons right now.

Major Lyons, what was your impression of the response from the White House saying the second strike in the Caribbean was directed by the commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Admiral Frank Mitch Bradley?

[11:40:03]

MAJ. MIKE LYONS (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Well, Wolf, I was surprised.

I would rather have them have not said anything at this point. I think I still think there's a lot of information that still has to come out and it will come out at the Senate Armed Services Committee meeting maybe behind closed doors next week, get Admiral Bradley in there to testify.

All of the audio -- all this is on video at some point. They're obviously trying to separate themselves from the incident, highly politicized, with what happened about 10 days ago now, with the senators and congressmen talking about obeying illegal orders. There's going to be this discussion about whether this order was legal or not.

And likely they will show proof that it was and the second one was as well. It's just it's going to take some time. But the White House is obviously trying to separate itself from what's happened at the Pentagon.

BLITZER: Yes, that's a good point.

Joining us also is Kylie Atwood, our national security correspondent.

Kylie, what are you hearing from your sources specifically about Secretary Hegseth's standing among members of the U.S. military and the administration, for that matter?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, sources really aren't saying a whole lot.

I think that the State Department is effectively trying to stay out of this situation. Obviously, we know that, when it comes to this policy, going after these drug boats in the Caribbean region, Secretary Rubio has been majorly involved in drafting up that policy. He's also obviously the interim national security adviser right now.

So, he is intimately involved, but he has not been involved in the discussions over who ordered these specific strikes. And when you talk to administration officials based here at Foggy Bottom, they are effectively trying to keep him out of the fray on this one.

But as we are having this conversation about this Cabinet meeting happening, about what's going to be the fallout from this double tap with that drug boat strike, we also have members of the administration who are in Russia right now meeting with President Putin, trying to push ahead efforts to drive a peace deal for the Ukraine war.

And we heard from the Kremlin that they believe that these efforts have been very productive, but they also say that any peace deal is going to have to address the underlying root causes of this conflict, effectively, that they want a commitment that NATO wouldn't be expanded.

And that's not something that NATO members have agreed to. So there are some clear disagreements even heading into that meeting that Steve Witkoff, the president's special envoy, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who is for the first time in a meeting with Putin to discuss the end of the Ukraine war, are going to be having today.

And it's a really important meeting because we will have to see what the readout is from these U.S. officials. Do they actually believe that President Putin is in the headspace to agree to some sort of deal, which will obviously take time in the coming weeks to potentially accomplish, or do they believe that he is still head set on continuing the war in Ukraine, as he was following that meeting that he had with President Trump in Alaska in August?

BLITZER: All right. I want to go back to Retired Major Lyons right now.

Major Lyons, the Pentagon press secretary said during an event only moments ago that the U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, and President Trump are ultimately -- quote -- "the ones directing any strikes made by the U.S. military against alleged drug boats," but repeated the administration's position that Admiral Bradley made the decision to conduct that September 2 follow-up strike.

What do you make of that?

LYONS: Well, that's, frankly, confusing.

Obviously, if the president and the secretary take responsibility, they take responsibility. In the military, that's how it works. The commander in chief has ultimate responsibility. I'd like to think there's no question in my mind that there was no war crimes committed on purpose, especially by this chain of command.

These professionals, as they are, the admiral, along the way, I just don't see that anyway. They know what they're doing. They know what orders are and what's legal and what's not. And so -- but that message itself is somewhat confusing. They're not going to be able to throw this individual under the bus at this point.

It's just -- it's a really disappointing spot that we are with our military right now, this -- we have kind of pierced this veil of confidence, and I'm a little bit concerned about it. I hope we can get it back pretty quickly.

BLITZER: Yes, a lot of people are concerned.

All right, everyone, stand by. We're going to keep watching the White House right now. We're going to bring you that Cabinet meeting live once it begins.

We will be right back.

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[11:48:42]

BLITZER: We're keeping a very close eye on the White House right now. The president, President Trump, will convene his full Cabinet at any moment now, marking his ninth Cabinet meeting since taking office. We're going to bring you live coverage as soon as it begins. We're told it will begin within a few minutes.

But there's other important news we're following this morning as well. The U.S. Justice Department could bring new indictments against two of the president's political opponents perhaps as soon as this week.

James Comey, Trump's former FBI director, and Letitia James, the New York attorney general, were already facing federal charges until last week. That's when a judge ruled that the U.S. attorney who brought those indictments didn't have the authority to do so.

Our crime and justice correspondent, Katelyn Polantz, is here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM. She's doing a lot of reporting on all of this.

What's the latest?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Wolf, we are waiting to see exactly what the Justice Department is going to do.

But sources are telling me and others on our Justice team that this could happen quickly, that James Comey is very likely to be indicted again, or the Justice Department is likely to try again with a grand jury. Whether the grand jury approves it, that's another question.

And that the Justice Department does want to also try and indict again Letitia James.

[11:50:00]

BLITZER: Hold on one moment. We're going to continue this in a few moments.

But the Cabinet meeting has just begun. I want to hear what President Trump has to say.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: ... final Cabinet meeting of 2025, a year that will go down as the most consequential and successful first year of any administration.

They're saying that, not me. Oh, I say it too, actually. A lot of people are saying it. And a lot of that is thanks to the men and women in the Cabinet Room, and with the new and improved Cabinet Room, I might add.

We have got pictures down from the vaults. We had vaults down here. We brought the pictures that haven't been exposed to the world for, in many cases, over 100 years. We brought them up, and we're using them as they should be used.

But the Cabinet Room looks beautiful like it should now. The Oval Office looks beautiful like it should. It was not -- it was like the rest of the country. It was in disrepair.

One year ago, our country was dead, and said to me by many leaders. We had a dead country. Now we have the hottest country anywhere in the world. It's true, the hottest country anywhere in the world. Think of that. In four long years of the Biden administration, there were just $1 trillion of new investments in the United States.

In 10 months, we have secured commitments of over $18 trillion. So they had, in one year, less than -- they had less than $1 trillion. That's in a period of four years. Think of it. Four years, they had less than a trillion. In 10 months, we have more than $18 trillion. Is that right, Scott? It's even going to be higher than that.

SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: It'll be higher by...

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: And going up. And we're waiting for the Supreme Court case, and it's so important and so vital for this country, because we're not only respected again. We're putting out wars by our trade policies, and we're taking in hundreds of billions of dollars, and our country is wealthy again and secure again, and it's part of national security.

And I hope that goes well. I think it's very important. But think of the number. We're going to be over $18 trillion in 10 months, and which is a record times, probably eight or 10 times, I think more than that, for any country. There's never been a country that's had that kind of an investment ever in history.

And there's never been a country that's had half of that. It's a tremendous thing that's taking place. We have companies moving in from all over the world, from Mexico, from Canada, from Europe, from China, from Japan a lot. We just had -- Toyota is going to spend $10 billion they just announced on building new plants in this country, our workers. They're going to be our workers.

But they're spending a tremendous amount. So the stock market has set 46 all-time highs. And this last Friday, which is called Black Friday, was the biggest ever online sales that there's ever been by a lot. More Americans are working today than in any time in the history of our country. I mean, these are the facts we have to get out. And there's this fake

narrative that the Democrats talk about, affordability. They just say the word. It doesn't mean anything to anybody. They just say it, affordability.

I inherited the worst inflation in history. There was no affordability. Nobody could afford anything. The prices were massively high. Do you remember when we took over eggs? You did a great job on that, Madam Secretary, Agriculture, Brooke.

Eggs were four or five times higher than they had ever been. We -- they said, don't order eggs for Easter at the White House. And we ended up doing it. And we got the egg prices way down, lower than what they were before.

But the word affordability is a con job by the Democrats. They say affordability. I watched the other day where some very low-I.Q. congresswoman talked about affordability, affordability, affordability. She had no idea.

Their prices were much higher. As an example, energy, gasoline, we're now at about $2.50 a gallon. We're going to be, I think, at $2 a gallon. We could even crack that at some point. I'd love to do it. But -- and we could do it more easily if we weren't building up the Strategic National Reserves, which Biden emptied out before the election so that he could try and get elected, meaning she. He started it.

Then he got thrown out of the race. And she took over and she kept it going. And they emptied out these Strategic National Reserves, which are really meant for something else. They're not meant to keep people happy with their gasoline price. They're meant for war. They're meant for problems, big problems.

He emptied it out, and then she continued it during the process of trying to get elected. Didn't work out too well for them. And they virtually brought it down to the lowest level, I believe, in history. And it didn't have much of an impact, because the prices were very high.

[11:55:04]

But our prices now for energy, but for gasoline, are really low. Electricity is coming down. And when that comes down, everything comes down. But the word affordability is a Democrat scam. They say it, and then they go onto the next subject. And everyone thinks, oh, they had lower prices.

No, they had the worst inflation in the history of our country. Now, some people will correct me, because they always love to correct me, even though I'm right about everything. But some people like to correct me, and they say 48 years.

I say it's not 48 years. It's much more. But they say it's the worst inflation that we have had in 48 years. I say ever. But whether it's 48 years or ever, it's pretty bad. We had the worst inflation that we have ever had.

Since last January, we have stopped inflation in its tracks. And there is still more to do. There's always more to do. But we have it down to a very good level. It's going to go down a little bit further. You want to have a tiny bit of inflation. Otherwise, that's not good either. Then you have a thing called deflation.

And deflation can be worse than inflation. But we have it almost -- we will soon be at a perfect level. But we inherited the worst inflation. But we have 20 states that are now selling gasoline at less than the $2.75. Think of that, $2.75. And it was at $5 under sleepy Joe.

Grocery prices are down, with the cost of Thanksgiving turkey this year down 33 percent. It was lower than -- 33 percent lower than under the Biden administration. Egg prices are way down, 86 percent. Thank you. And mortgage rates, despite the fact that we have an incompetent chairman of the Fed, a real dope, who should reduce rates -- I saw even Jamie Dimon said he should be reducing rates.

I never saw Jamie Dimon say that. I wonder why he said that. But he really said it because he's right. But we have a guy that's just a stubborn ox who probably doesn't like your president, your favorite president. But they're going to be coming down.

We will be announcing somebody probably early next year for the new chairman of the Fed. I talked to Scott about taking the job, and he doesn't want it.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: You got the greatest job here, right?

BESSENT: Yes, sir.

TRUMP: He said, no, I want to stay chairman. I want to stay -- I want to stay right where we are, Treasury.

And I think we're doing really great, aren't we?

BESSENT: We're doing great, sir. And it's a great team to be part of.

TRUMP: Yes. Yes, it's amazing.

Under my executive order to lower prescription drug prices, which I think is the single biggest thing we have ever done that nobody writes about, because you're fake news. I have made unprecedented deals along with Bobby and Oz and all of the people that work on it, a lot of people, a lot of people that you wouldn't even think work on it, but they do, to slash drug prices by 200 percent, 300 percent, 400 percent, 500 percent, 600 percent, 700 percent, 800 percent.

Nobody's ever heard of it before, because I instituted favored nations. And no nation agreed to do it. And then I said to the nations, if you're not going to do it, I'm going to charge you a 100 percent tariff, which is more money than we're talking about. And they said, sir, we'd love to do it, please. We would be honored to

do it. And they agreed that they would go along with the whole thing. Nobody thought you could do it because they felt, number one, you couldn't get the drug companies to do it.

So we're paying, as an example, for the, let's call it the fat drug, the fat drug, F-A-T, for fat people. Anybody use it at the table? Don't ask.

(LAUGHTER)

TRUMP: But the fat drug was $135. Think of that for certain people, $1,300 for certain countries, $1,300 in New York. So, in New York, it was $1, 300. And in London, it was $135.

And a friend of mine called me. He said, what is this? Why is it? He got used to paying $1,300. Well, now what we have it down to is -- Bobby, what's the number, like $150 or something? We have it down to a low number, don't we have?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY NOMINEE: Yes, it's around $125, $150.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: Think of that. So we got it down from $1,300 to $125 to $140, depending on various countries.

In other words, we're paying the lowest price, tied for the lowest price in the world. And people said, you could never do that, because you couldn't get the countries to agree to it. I did. Every country agreed to it, because I said, if you're not going to agree to it, that's OK.