DOGE Days on Capitol Hill
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Doge days on Capitol Hill. Are Musk and Ramaswamy's budget-slashing plans all bark and no bite? And the manhunt continues. The gunman who killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO still on the run, but his flirting may be giving police their best lead yet. And terrifying tremor is one of the most powerful quakes in its history strikes just off the coast of California. And I don't answer to anyone in this group, none of you, not to that camera at all.

Making his case, Pete Hegseth trying to win over skeptical senators in his bid to be defense secretary. All right, 6 a.m. on the East Coast, we'll have a look at the Statue of Liberty on this Friday morning. Nice way to start the day. Good morning, everyone. I'm Casey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Doge takes Capitol Hill. Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy meeting with Republican lawmakers as they begin to consider just where the so-called Department of Government Efficiency will make cuts. To be clear, Doge, not actually a federal agency, does not have the power to eliminate departments or slash budgets. But of course, Congress does, and the Republicans who will soon control both chambers seem to be on board.

We're all excited, I know you're all excited that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have joined us today. And let me be frank about this, government is too big, it does too many things, and it does almost nothing well. And the taxpayers deserve better. Since joining Trump on the campaign trail in October, Elon Musk has become a close advisor, inviting him to watch a SpaceX rocket launch, even spending Thanksgiving with him at Mar-a-Lago.

And we now know that Musk spent over a quarter of a billion dollars in his effort to help Trump win. New FEC filings show the world's wealthiest man gave over $200 million to his own PAC and dozens of millions of dollars to other pro-Trump groups. That's support and Trump's victory, of course, giving Musk star status on Capitol Hill, where his Doge recommendation is soon to be put to the test.

Elon, is Social Security and Medicare, is it off the table? Is it off the table? Musk ignoring that question. But Republican lawmakers coming out of yesterday's meeting with the belief that, yes, cuts to Social Security and Medicare are a possibility. They say they're going to tackle nothing is psychosocial.

Nothing. They're going to put everything on the table. Everything is on the table, not just Medicare and Social Security and Medicaid. We're going to make government more efficient so we can honor the promises of people that are on Social Security, that are people who are on Medicare. Everything is on the table, and they're just going to take a much-needed look at the efficiency of our government.

Joining us now is our panel, Annie Linsky, White House reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Elliot Williams, CNN legal analyst, former federal prosecutor, Jaime Moore, former regional communications director for Joe Biden's 2020 campaign, and Brad Todd, Republican strategist and a CNN political commentator. Welcome to all of you. Thank you so much for being here. Brad Todd, I got to start with you because, look, the president... The news is just coming.

President-elect Trump, I mean, campaigned on protecting Social Security and Medicare. And I guess my question, honestly, having covered all this for a while on the Hill, it's like, how fast is Elon Musk going to realize that he's, like, grabbing the third rail, holding onto it, and, like, he's going to

take it off a cliff, essentially. I don't think he's headed for Social Security and Medicare. I think that the Hill's budget hawks are going to insist that we look at that because it's such a big pile of the budget. But that's not where President Trump's heading, President-elect Trump. I think he's, and I think, by the way, this is not that different from what we've had before. We had the Peterson Commission, Al Gore tried reinventing government. You often need people from outside Congress to come and shake it up. And let's

face it, the appropriations process in Congress could not be any worse. Musk will not mess this up. I mean, like, it's currently broken. It's already messed up. It's already messed up. Explain that quickly, because I don't know if people really understand how the appropriations process works and why it's so corrupt. Well, it doesn't. It doesn't. You're supposed to have both houses pass spending bills. Come and

debate each one of them line by line. Instead, we don't do that. We have four leaders get in a room. Instead, I'm constantly reading things that say, we're days from a government shutdown again. Remember this again. Right. And then four people get in a room and like hammer out something that was handed to them as just an algorithm. You know what I mean? It's just a it's a mess.

We're currently not debating spending in Washington. Harry Reid broke that process, I would argue. Republicans have failed to fix it since then. So if Elon Musk comes in with new ideas line by line, and Lord knows there are plenty of places to cut, I think it'll be a good thing.

Yeah, I mean, there are a lot of popular ideas out there. I mean, that's what's kind of interesting about this. If you kind of look through what they could do, I mean, putting aside Social Security and Medicare, there's been talk of changing daylight savings time, which it would be an efficiency move that's very popular in the United States and would set it past it. There's talk of...

the size of the federal workforce, which is hard to do. But, you know, this is a federal workforce that has been largely working, many of them working from home, which has been a real boat of contention for Republicans. So,

something that Vivek Ramaswamy spoke about extensively on the campaign trail. And that's something that could be changed or could be used to reduce the size of the federal workforce, which has grown significantly. So, I mean, I think there are areas that outsiders can come in and grab it. And what I think is interesting here, too, is, you know,

the previous panels that you mentioned didn't have this sort of celebrity interest. I mean, it's just unbelievable to see these images and the kind of

I don't know, the glamour that they've attached to it. Well, having covered the hill for a long time, seeing Elon Musk walking down the hallway with his kid on his shoulders is a jarring image, you know, that does draw your attention. A blue ribbon commission doesn't usually get this much excitement. Not that blue. I mean, Elliot, you've worked inside the federal government in your career, and there is this kind of saying in Washington that at the

at the end of the day, the building always wins. And by the building, they mean the infrastructure that has been built in all these places. So that even when you do try to do something, the building itself will push back. - Sure, and I just think there's a lot of talking points and buzzwords being thrown around here. The government is too big. Okay, fine. But that ultimately means when you take it to its extreme, firing people.

recognizing that number one, most government employees are not at-will employees. It is a legal question. You can't just go in and start firing government employees that aren't political appointees. So you got to figure out what means you have for shrinking the size of government. And also these questions about, are you talking about entitlements or defense spending, which are also things that people really care about. But I'll be the first person to agree, of course, government could work more efficiently. The

But the fact is you can't just start cutting government like a business. The law gets in your way. And I think to pick up on Annie's point, this telework and remote work is an important issue, not just for the government. It's because you have a lot of real estate that's sitting empty that people are paying for. Now here, it's taxpayers in the private sector. It's companies are paying for it. And everybody needs to take a good look. Yeah, Merrill Bowser, the

- A very democratic mayor, he would be definitely on board with more federal employees working more days. - And it's entirely a fair question to say if the government is spending millions of dollars on rent for space that is not being used, of course that could be more efficient. But if you're just talking about going and firing hundreds of thousands of people, it's just not gonna happen, it can't.

can't. Well, and one of the things that was apparently shown at this meeting was a picture of a federal employee reportedly working from his bathtub. Haima, but the reality is that this conversation about Social Security and Medicare is happening because of things that Elon Musk has said on social media that suggests that those are places that he might want to go. And, you know, if that's the case, and the

the president-elect doesn't want to do that, he's going to really quick figure out that actually it's pretty hard to cut the federal budget in a significant way. Yeah. I mean, to Elliot's point, I think Vivek and Elon are getting a civics lesson this week.

And I think at the end of the day, Donald Trump's the president. So I will be the president very soon. I think Elon Musk can go on X and say what he wants to say. He can have said things in the past, but Donald Trump will make the decision on how this is gonna go forward. And so I think it's interesting to all these guys' point, the government is too big. It has been less efficient than it should be. We all agree on that. But I don't think that the approach that Elon and Vivek are taking right now is giving any confidence to the federal government employees in particular, and no confidence to the American people who vote for Donald Trump to bring down costs.

to protect their interests, particularly health care and social security and Medicaid. And so I think people are going to be unhappy when they start seeing these things start to show up in the next couple weeks. Well, then of course there's the question of going after individual federal government employees. He should be going after individual agencies. But an agency is not a person with

a neighbor who you know is just trying to raise their family across the river all right straight ahead here on cnn this morning a powerful earthquake off the coast of northern california triggering a tsunami warning for more than five million people plus new clues in the search for the assassin who gunned down the ceo of united healthcare in manhattan and pete hexeth on the hill trying to convince lawmakers he should be the man to lead the pentagon

I don't say this lightly about a colleague, but that is one of the most ridiculous statements I have ever seen.

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All right, welcome back. It has been nearly 48 hours since an assassin in New York City gunned down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. There is, though, a critical new clue in the search for the killer. Could a flirty smile be the key piece of evidence that brings him down? Take a look at this newly released surveillance footage of the man police are calling a person of interest. He is smiling at a female clerk at the Upper West Side hostel he was staying in after she asked him to lower his mask.

A source tells CNN he used a fake New Jersey driver's license to check in.

There is also new footage of the suspected gunman on an e-bike racing from the crime scene. Sources tell CNN he got to New York by Greyhound bus 10 days before the shooting. That bus route began in Atlanta. It is not clear where he boarded the bus. Former Secret Service agent, CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Wackrow joins us now with more. Jonathan, good morning to you. That unmasking of his face, is that likely to be his undoing here?

Well, listen, it could be. It's a data point, but it's a significant data point. You know, the image that was captured on that screen is being shared nationally. There is somebody out there that knows who this individual is, and this is what the law enforcement is trying to do. They're trying to crowdsource the identification of this attacker, which is crazy.

critical in this case. The law enforcement needs the public's assistance to help solve exactly who this shooter is and bring them to justice. I mean, I think it's just remarkable though, when you think about the planning that went into this attack, the execution of the attack itself,

it's all going to come down to a potential flaw in really what's a basic social human behavior, which is flirting, that actually makes the attribution to who this individual is. So Jonathan, can you talk to us a little bit about the length of time that is going by as they try to search for this shooter? On the one hand, they're clearly uncovering more evidence. As you point out, they could potentially hear from more people.

But on the other hand, I'm curious, what may go cold the longer he is on the run, in your view? Yeah. Listen, I mean, the challenge for law enforcement is that this was a well-thought-out attack. However, it was sloppy in a lot of different ways. And that's what law enforcement is looking for. If you look at the items of evidentiary value that we have today, those are actually key to going ahead and making attributions.

We have the bullet casings, we have the cell phone, the water bottle, we have these images now of the suspect. We also have a lot of digital trace from the video forensics that NYPD is putting together, this mosaic of video images to track the individual's movement. Yes, it's been 48 hours, but think about what has been done in 48 hours by investigators,

from the NYPD and actually tracking this individual. We now know that he entered into New York City via a bus almost 10 days prior to the attack. So it's taking a little bit of time. The advantage here from law enforcement is that they know that there's a pathway to violence. And typically that pathway starts with a grievance.

and then goes through violent ideations and attack planning and research before even launching the attack. That is key right now because we're going to see that mistakes that were made along that pathway of violence actually will lead to additional investigative clues. And I'm very confident that the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies working together will apprehend this suspect.

Jonathan, the words that were found on the shell casings and the live rounds, I mean, is that something like you've seen before in law enforcement people doing this? It just seems so remarkable. And what does it tell you?

Well, listen, when you think about assessing a threat, you really bucket it into three categories, the means, the opportunity and the intent. And the intent here is captured with motivation. And if you think about revenge for perceived grievance or association with like minded groups,

To me, these shell casings with the inscriptions are connected to that either like-mindedness or revenge for perceived grievance. That's what investigators are focusing on right now, among a bunch of other things, is does that lead to the motivation for this attack? And if we can get to that and start making a link analysis to different groups and organizations or individuals that might

may be associated to this attacker, that's when we're going to find out who they are. All right, Jonathan Wackrow for us this morning. Sir, very grateful to have you. Thanks very much for being on. All right, still coming up here on CNN this morning, fears of the big one after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake shook the northern coast of California. Plus, Democrats campaigned on democracy and they lost. Is it time to rethink the strategy? Congressman Seth Magaziner joins us live.

Unbelievable. When I got off of 280, I saw all these cars and there were police cars and ambulances and fire trucks. I thought something really serious is going on.

A powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake striking off the coast of Northern California yesterday, shaking the ground as far south as the Bay Area. The strength of the quake, rare by California standards, becoming the 12th strongest on record to hit the state. More than 5 million people were placed under an immediate tsunami warning, but it was canceled about an hour later.

All right, that brings us to weather in the eastern part of the country. Frigid temperatures are peaking. Some relief apparently coming this weekend. Let's get to our meteorologist Allison Chinchar with more. Allison, good morning. And good morning. Yes, there will be some light at the end of the tunnel. We've just got to get to the weekend before we see that rebound in temperatures. Still pretty chilly out this morning. Not just the temperatures, but it's very windy in a lot of places. So when you combine that, you get that feels like or the wind chill temperature. So right now, four.

degrees is all the warmer it feels in Chicago. Nine is what it feels like in Nashville, even a southern city like Atlanta feeling like a balmy 15. That cold air coming down really quick in some of those southern cities. You look at where these areas were just 24 hours ago. That temperature is now 24

degrees cooler in Atlanta, 23 degrees cooler in Nashville, nearly 30 degrees cooler in Birmingham. That cold air over those, well, at least relatively warmer lakes is still triggering some lake effect snow in several states, adding at least a couple more inches on top of what many of these areas already had. So you've still got a lot of these winter weather alerts as we go through the day today, but temperatures will finally start to warm back on some places

is as early as later today in the Midwest. For the rest of these areas, you're going to have to wait until the weekend before you really start to see those temperatures bumping back up and in some cases like New Orleans, for example, actually getting above average by sunday.

All right, Allison Chinchar for us this morning. Allison, thank you. All right, still ahead here on CNN this morning, Pete Hegsteth fighting for confirmation votes where he stands after a critical week of meetings on Capitol Hill. Plus, Congressman Seth Magaziner joins us live with his thoughts on the future of his party as former President Barack Obama breaks his post-election silence. Can the idea of pluralism work in the current moment? I believe the answer is yes.

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All right, welcome back. Pete Hegseth wrapping up a critical week for his confirmation chances with another round of meetings with key senators. Hegseth has been more public in his battle to win enough votes to become Donald Trump's defense secretary. Seems to know, of course, exactly the number he needs. I'm not going to back down from them one bit. I will answer all of these senators' questions. But this will not be a process tried in the media. I don't answer to anyone in this group, none of you, not to that camera at all.

I answer to President Trump. I answer to the 50, the 100 senators who are part of this process and those in the committee. And I answer to my Lord and Savior and my wife and my family. Hegseth fighting an uphill battle to get to 50 votes as he deals with past allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, and financial mismanagement at veterans groups that he once led. A senator that everyone is watching probably most closely is Iowa Republican Joni Ernst. Ernst is a veteran and served as

for more than 20 years in the Iowa Army National Guard, and she's also a sexual assault survivor. Hegseth has been publicly critical of the idea of women serving in combat roles. Assuming every Democrat votes no, Hegseth, of course, can only lose three Republicans and still win confirmation.

He will continue with the vetting process. I think that that is incredibly important. It doesn't sound on your answer that you've gotten to a yes. If I'm wrong about that, correct me. And if that is the case, it sounds to me as if the hearing will be critical for his nomination. Am I right about that? I think you are right. I think for a number of our senators, they want to make sure that any allegations have been cleared.

Really interesting. Brad Tide, you of course have your finger on the pulse of Senate Republicans. Do you think right now that Hegseth is going to get confirmed?

I think his chances are improving, and I think he's in pretty good shape. There are no Republican senators who have come out and said they are voting no. That's a big deal. And I think another thing has happened. I think two names who have emerged as chief critics of Pete Hegseth, and they're helping him. Elizabeth Warren and Jane Mayer of The New Yorker. Jane Mayer wrote an anonymously sourced article taking down Brett Kavanaugh, or trying to,

And there are a lot of Republican senators hearing echoes of that here. Elizabeth Warren also has been really sharp in her criticism, and on a lot of these matters, if she's sharp on it, a lot of Republicans will polarize on the other way. Pete Hicks is fighting for the nomination. He's taking all questions. I think he's getting some pretty tough questions from some Republicans. That's how this process works. And I think if he continues to do that, continues to be open, and has a good hearing, he's in good shape.

- Annie, what do you make of Joni Ernst's role here? - I mean, I think it's significant. She is one of the senators who would potentially be a part of a block who could block him if that's what ends up happening. So any sort of hint as to where she's going or more importantly, whether others are joining and echoing her concerns because that's how it would work. You're not gonna necessarily hear somebody come out and say no, but if you start

if you start hearing other senators echoing her concern. - There's safety in numbers, shall we say. - There's safety in numbers, absolutely. But that hearing is gonna be so important and so significant. - Just to add to the fact that she's a veteran and a survivor and an influential senator, one thing you left out, she's also up for reelection in 2026, Joni Ernst, and the fear of either a challenge from the right or a credible challenge from a Democrat in Iowa. Now look, it's a red state, but she's still up for election and has,

a calculus to go through in deciding how to proceed here. - Yeah, she's tough though. She's starting to get some criticism from some of Trump's biggest supporters online, but Joni Ernst also is the chair of the Doge Caucus. She's about to become a hero to some of Donald Trump's biggest fans. Right now they're questioning her, but this is how advice and consent works. She's supposed to ask tough questions.

Casey, can we recenter this? Look, some of these allegations are very serious. And I don't think this is going to be a Democrat issue and this is a Elizabeth Warren issue. These are real allegations that we have to take into account. And so I do think that he's showing a lot of moxie. He's showing a lot of fight in him. But the senators are asking the right questions. They're being very direct, very poignant. And these are things, this is a guy who's going to lead our defense, our national defense for this country. And if you have allegations, like, you know, we don't need to repeat them. If these things are true, and then we've got to make sure that, you know,

he can do the job and then he's, you know, he's not just saying things to make the senators feel comfortable. He's being honest about himself. - All right, straight ahead here on CNN This Morning, the national conversation taking place about healthcare in America following the fatal shooting of a top industry executive. Plus, members of President Biden's team debate whether to give preemptive pardons to top critics of Donald Trump. Michael Smirconish, here to break it down because it's Smirconish Friday.

I think there are people who Trump may bring into this government who will go after these people in a serious way. This is ridiculous. Donald Trump has never been about retribution. They also care about our democracy and not having a president of the United States who admires dictators. He's willing to sacrifice our democracy. I do believe he is a threat to our democracy. Well, that's my commitment to you, to show you democracy, democracy, democracy.

Democracy, democracy, democracy. It was, of course, a critical message for both the Harris and the Biden campaigns, but it's not one that ultimately delivered them electoral victory. Now, former President Barack Obama, who had largely stayed quiet in the months since Democrats' election loss, is speaking out about how he thinks his party should think about that word going forward. The election proved that democracy is pretty far down on people's priority list. Pluralism is not democracy.

about holding hands and singing Kumbaya. It is not about abandoning your convictions. It is about recognizing that in a democracy, power comes from forging alliances and building coalitions and making room in those coalitions, not only for the woke, but also for the waking.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Seth Magaziner of Rhode Island. He is the ranking member on the House Subcommittee for Counterterrorism, Intelligence, and Law Enforcement. Congressman, thanks very much for being here. Thanks for having me. So let's start right there with what former President Barack Obama had to say about, it's not just for the woke, it's for the waking.

What do you hear in that, and is he right? He is right. You know, politics in a democracy is the art of coalition building, and the side that has the largest coalition wins the election. And so, yes, as Democrats, we have values that we care about. We care about supporting working people. We care about our democracy. But we also have to stop the purity tests and make sure that people know that they are welcome, even if they don't agree with our candidates 100% of the time.

And when we go back to that big 10 mindset, I think we'll be successful. When you say you have to stop the purity tests, what do you mean?

Well, I mean, I think it's pretty self-evident, right? We have a way in both parties, frankly, but including the Democratic Party, of insisting on sort of litmus test laundry lists for our candidates, but also sometimes for our voters. And that is ultimately self-defeating. So listen, we have to have an attitude that says, if you are interested in voting for a Democratic candidate, we're happy to have you whatever brings you to that table. And nothing is disqualifying.

Let's talk a little bit about some of the security-related issues I know you work on in the Homeland Security Committee. But this also has touched you personally as you had a bomb threat over Thanksgiving. What does it say that that is now something that is part of being a member of Congress?

Well, it says that we've entered a very dangerous era and an era where norms have been violated. And, you know, we need to constantly remind ourselves as Americans that we have more in common with each other than we have different and that, you know, politics, you know, can be competitive, but it doesn't need to be a blood sport. We also have to remind ourselves, by the way, that, you know,

our adversaries overseas, like Russia, like Iran, they are not our friends and they are behind a lot of these swatting incidents. They are behind a lot of these cyber attacks. They are behind a lot of these bomb threats. We don't know who is ultimately responsible for the one at our house, but a number of these we know are coming from overseas. And I think that's an important reminder as we enter

that, you know, Vladimir Putin and his allies do not have our interests at heart, and they're trying to sow division within our country and turn us against each other.

What do you think, big picture, are the implications for our national security in the face of the Trump nominees, Tulsi Gabbard, for example, as a DNI, but also Kash Patel at the FBI, giving your understanding of the threats that you just outlined, but also everything you know on the committee?

Deeply disturbing. So I'm the ranking member for counterterrorism, law enforcement, and intelligence on the Homeland Security Committee. And I've been very vocal about particularly why Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel are not the right picks. Tulsi Gabbard has a disturbing history of taking the pro-Russia position

on every major geopolitical event of the last several years. She, you know, immediately when Russia invaded Ukraine, was online trying to justify the Russian invasion. She spread the false conspiracy theory that the United States was building bioweapons labs in Ukraine, which is not true. But importantly is this: she's taken the pro-Russia position even when that was not Donald Trump's position.

You know, she was an apologist for Assad in Syria. Trump was never an Assad supporter, but Tulsi Gabbard was. Assad, of course, is an ally of Vladimir Putin.

When President Trump took out General Soleimani in Iran, she publicly criticized Trump for that. Iran, another Russian ally. So the pattern with Tulsi Gabbard that is disturbing is that she takes the pro-Russia position when it's Trump's position, and we all know that Trump is too pro-Putin, but she also takes the pro-Russia position when it's not Trump's position.

there's a clear pattern there that's very disturbing. She cannot be trusted to run our nation's intelligence-gathering operation. And Kash Patel, we all know, has no law enforcement background at all. He was being chosen just because Donald Trump thinks that he will enact his retribution and his revenge against his political enemies. All right, Congressman Seth Magnesiner for us this morning, sir. Very grateful to have you on the show. Thank you for being here. Come back soon.

All right, 45 minutes past the hour. Here is your morning roundup. House Republicans voting to block the release of an ethics committee report on former Congressman Matt Gaetz. The committee had been investigating a number of allegations against him, including sexual misconduct and illicit drug use. Gaetz denies all wrongdoing. He resigned from Congress last month after Trump picked him to be the next attorney general before withdrawing his name eight days later.

Nearly five years after its devastation in that unbelievable fire, the Cathedral of Notre Dame will be reopened this weekend in Paris. First Lady Jill Biden will attend, as will President-elect Donald Trump, who was invited by the French president earlier this week. A screaming match at a congressional hearing on the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump.

An argument broke out between the Secret Service's acting director and Congressman Pat Fallon, who accused the acting director of attending a 9/11 memorial event for publicity. I'm asking you, if you were the realest person I didn't charge! I was there to show respect for a Secret Service member that died on 9/11! Oh, that's a bunch of horse hockey! Oh, that you're trying to be— Do not invoke 9/11 for political purposes, Congressman! Oh, I'm not!

Just an absolutely stunning exchange there. And of course, he had also said, we didn't show the part where he talked about how he responded to Ground Zero on 9-11. What is that congressman doing? I really don't know why there was that kind of... What's he doing? He's playing to his folks back home. It benefits... You know, this is the dark side of cameras in Congress. He benefits from having that fight with a government official. He

Does anybody benefit from that? The acting director was totally out of bounds. It is his job to come and patiently answer the questions of his overseers in the Congress who were elected. He's not elected by anybody. Pat Fallon's elected. It is the job of the staff who work for the government to be deferential to the Congress. It's theater. You have to acknowledge that it's theater.

I've testified in Congress before. And not to dispute that there is a decorum that witnesses ought to have and they're there to serve the people that put them there, but you can't deny that. - Of course, television in Congress is theater just like television in courtrooms have become theater. But there was a complete lack of deference there. - And all these members are preparing for the midterms already. We're already back in campaign season. - We are. All right, let's turn now to the White House. In just 45 days, President-elect Donald Trump

will, of course, have the opportunity to enact his many campaign promises, including possibly this one. We pledge to you that we will root out the communists, Marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country. I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed, I am your retribution. I am your retribution.

Sources now telling CNN senior Biden aides are discussing potential preemptive pardons or legal aid for people who they believe may be targeted for prosecution by Trump, who has previously called for investigations and prosecutions of special counsel Jack Smith, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney and Senator-elect Adam Schiff. Some Trump allies, however, say the president-elect would never do such a thing.

People are gonna see very quickly that this is a man who really just wants to go in there and take charge of this country as the American people mandated. Secure our border, bring down inflation, get us out of wars and do the right things for America. He has no intention on retribution or revenge. This is ridiculous. Donald Trump has never been about retribution. Donald Trump has been stopping these agencies from being weaponized against we the people and frankly from being weaponized against him.

All right. It's Friday, which means it's time for Michael Smirconish, CNN political commentator, host of CNN Smirconish. Michael, wonderful to see you. Simple question. Do you think this is a good idea, these preemptive pardons? No. If I were Liz Cheney, if I were Adam Schiff, if I were Dr. Anthony Fauci, I would say no thank you because I think that there's an implication that I've done something wrong and I don't think that any of them has done anything wrong. And there are protections afforded to each.

Let me back up a step. I have no problem on this pardon subject. I have no problem with President Biden having pardoned his son Hunter. The mistake that he made was in for two years or thereabouts saying he would never do it. I always suspected that he would do it and he wouldn't run that risk. I hope that Donald Trump doesn't.

lawfare through Kash Patel or through Pam Bondi. I don't think that he should be launching political investigations or politically motivated investigations.

But if President Biden now were to offer preemptive pardons, I think that it furthers this perception that there's no difference between politics and the law and it cheapens the whole process. No, don't preemptively pardon anybody. Hold some faith in the system that if there were a bogus prosecution brought, it would be thrown out. Yeah.

Fair enough. And I mean, Michael, what is your sense in terms of what Trump is actually going to do? I mean, we saw all these promises. We played some of them that he made during the campaign. Now we have people like Laura Trump saying, no, no, that's not going to happen. What do you think is going to happen?

They have withdrawn my prediction card for all things related to Donald Trump. I have no idea. I can only hope that that was campaign rhetoric and that he won't put it into practice because he's got bigger fish to fry now that he has won the office.

Michael, let me also get you to weigh in on Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary nominee. Brad Todd was on our set here saying that some of the coverage and the journalists involved in the coverage have influenced senators to kind of come to his defense the same way they defended Brett Kavanaugh. What's your sense of the landscape for Hegseth?

Yeah, I heard that. And I kind of get it on one hand that, oh, the media are coalescing around Pete Hegseth and therefore we've got to defend him because this is a hit job.

But have you read the Jane Mayer piece? I mean, it would have to be diabolical to invent so many different accounts of so much behavior over so many years. And by the way, I'm sensitive to the idea that someone can clean up their act either through an epiphany of a religious nature or something else. But that still doesn't mean that we look past all that your history has entailed. There's just too...

too much there to ignore. And if there are hearings, if it gets to that point, which I seriously doubt because the president is apparently, president-elect, not working the phones for Hegseth, that's the big tell. If it gets that far, I think those hearings will be ugly. And the bigger picture and concern that I have is the demise of the background check.

People ought to Google the SF-86 and look at that 135-page document that people who want to serve in government have to fill out as a roadmap for an FBI investigation. I think it sets a very dangerous precedent if we are now saying, we don't need that level of investigation. Yeah, fair enough. All right, Michael Smirconish, always a pleasure, sir. Thank you so much for being here. See you next Friday. And to our viewers, remember to tune in to Smirconish tomorrow morning, 9 a.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

all right we're now just 48 hours removed from when united healthcare ceo brian thompson was gunned down in new york and that massive manhunt is still underway for his killer in what police are calling a calculated and premeditated attack in a new statement the united healthcare group says this quote while our hearts are broken we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place

But this killing has generated a very different reaction from some on the internet. Just take a look at some of these comments found under a CNN video about this story online. These are a few, just a few, among dozens of hateful comments that we found, including one saying, quote, sorry, my sympathy is out of network.

The New York Times writes this, quote, "The dark commentary after the death of the 50-year-old insurance executive from Maple Grove, Minnesota, highlighted the anger and frustration over the state of healthcare in America, where those with private insurance often find themselves in Kafkaesque tangles while seeking reimbursement for medical treatment and are often denied." And that frustration is something that doctors say they've seen from patients throughout their careers.

I see people when they're at their lowest, when the system has failed them. And I'm frankly not surprised. They feel abandoned. They feel exploited. They feel lied to when it comes to the health care system and especially insurances because of the things you mentioned, denials, prior authorization, narrow networks, the cost of health care. It's been going on and bottling up for a long time.

So, our panel's back. Annie Linsky, you know, we're going to be clear here about the tragedy that is Mr. Thompson and his family, right? And set that aside. But what we do see in the wake of this is an outpouring of anger around the way people have been treated by these companies. Now, we are, again, going to be clear. We are not saying that this justifies any sort of violence at all.

But this conversation has really exploded. I know, I mean, my family's talking about it. Absolutely, mine is too. I mean, of course, vigilante justice is not the answer to the problem. But what I should say is, and this incident and the reaction to it ought to be a wake-up call to this industry, which has, you know, many, there have been many, many big wars

really good investigative pieces about UnitedHealthcare in particular, and the issues that their customers have, getting the healthcare that's promised, getting the responses promised. And if it's not a wake-up call to the industry, it certainly will be to Congress, and they are gonna have to have, there will be laws.

In a CNN story that was just published about this, they note that a Facebook post that was put up by UnitedHealth Group expressing sadness about the CEO's death, it received 62,000 reactions. I'm a 57,000 of them were laughing emojis. I mean, that's sad to think about, but look at this. And you're right.

Most of these healthcare issues are life or death. And I have a sick dad home in Louisiana, and we go to the doctor all the time, and sometimes we get denied for things. And it doesn't feel good, you know? And so I think people have a personal issue with the way their healthcare has been administered. And I think, to your point, Annie, over the next few weeks, few months, we're gonna have to have a conversation about this.

If Congress has to take action, I think they will have to, but we hope that these private companies can come to the table and be a little bit more consistent in the way they administer healthcare. I think that would be helpful. You know, UnitedHealthcare has already been the focal point of ire for Congress because it's vertically integrated. They're buying up doctors' offices. They own the largest PBM, which controls the price of prescription drugs in the country. And they're the most aggressive on denying claims. I think UnitedHealthcare will get more scrutiny.

Yeah, and of course we don't know the motivation yet of this killer. We just know that these two words were found on these bullet casings. But Elliot, this is something, the fewer means you have, the harder it is to fight back against some of this stuff. And it is something that happens, it seems like this is a universal experience for people.

- And I agree with everything that's been said here. This is exposing a frustration in the public across income levels. I just think, just to state the obvious to some extent, Casey, this is as much about the internet and how the internet has broken us as a people. Most of the people putting those laughing emojis and responses

would never look this person's wife in the eye and make those things, no matter what kind of problems they might have with how United handled their healthcare. And that's really, to me, what this is all about. - It's coarse. - Very coarse. - All right, you know what? Let's, after that difficult discussion, we're gonna leave you with a lighter note on this Friday. Yet one more example of life imitating art.

Who the heck are you? What are you talking about? I'm Santa Claus. No, you're not. Why, of course I am! You disgust me. How can you live with yourself? Just cool it, Zippy. You sit on a throne of lies. That was the art part. Here's the life part. Expelled Congressman George Santos reappearing on Capitol Hill yesterday dressed as, you guessed it,

"Best at Santa Claus." Congresswoman Debbie Dingell posting this photo of Santos Claus at Congressman Tim Burchett's annual 15-minute Christmas party. Burchett hinted there would be a celebrity Santa. Politico reporter Olivia Beavers posting that the speaker, Mike Johnson, seemed to quickly disappear just as Santos' arrival was announced. In his scandal-plagued 11 months in office, there were so many special Santos moments. Here is one of our favorites.

Congressman, were you ever a drag queen in Brazil? No, I was not a drag queen in Brazil, guys. I was young and I had fun at a festival. Sue me for having a life. Santos pleaded guilty in August to aggravated identity theft and wire fraud charges. He will serve a minimum of two years in prison when he is sentenced in February. So I guess he really is getting the treatment that Buddy the Elf thought that mall Santa should have. It's more like meat and cheese.

May we all this holiday season have as little shame as former Congressman George Sanders. It's a holiday message for all of us. Okay. Thank you all for being here. We're out of time, thank goodness. Thanks to all of you for joining us. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. CNN News Central starts right now.

From the original movie sets in London, Food Network presents Harry Potter Wizards of Baking. Yes! Hosted by James and Oliver Phelps, the Weasley twins. Welcome to platform 94! Must create a dessert display that's a tribute to the part of the wizarding world that you guys love the most. I'm living my greatest life. Let the baking begin! All new Harry Potter Wizards of Baking. Thursday at 8 on Food Network. Stream on Max. ♪