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‘Disbelief’: Dr. Sanjay Gupta on medical community reaction to RFK Jr. nomination
11:40 – Source: CNN
• Administration takes shape: President-elect Donald Trump continues to build his incoming administration, choosing loyalists for top White House roles and making a string of controversial Cabinet selections.
• Scrutiny over picks: House Speaker Mike Johnson is opposing the release of a House Ethics Committee report on alleged sexual misconduct by Matt Gaetz, Trump’s choice for attorney general, but some GOP senators are withholding support for Gaetz until they see more. Separately, sources say Trump’s team was caught off guard by a 2017 sexual assault allegation against defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, who received little internal vetting.
• More names to know: Trump tapped North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head the Department of the Interior on Friday, and he named his former campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt the next White House press secretary. The growing list of Trump picks includes vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the country’s top public health official.
When President Joe Biden meets for the final time Saturday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, his aides say the moment will be ripe for reflection on a relationship that began more than a decade ago.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House has been the overwhelming backdrop to the summit of Pacific leaders that’s been unfolding in Lima this week, as delegates discuss and strategize for an uncertain future.
Trump’s embrace of tariffs, autocrats and isolationist viewpoints runs mostly counter to the foreign policy principles Biden spent the past four years espousing on the world stage.
Yet perhaps most disconcerting for leaders gathered in Lima may be Trump’s unpredictability. That includes Xi, who regularly encourages stability above all else in his public pronouncements.
Keep reading about the two leaders’ relationship and how they’re preparing for Trump.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday said Russia’s war in Ukraine “will end faster” when Donald Trump takes over as US president.
Speaking in a radio interview with Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, Zelensky admitted to a difficult situation on the battlefield, where Russia has been pressing its advantages in manpower and weaponry.
He said the war “will end faster with the policy of this team that will now lead the White House,” referring to the incoming Trump administration.
Zelensky stressed that, on Ukraine’s part, “We must do everything to ensure that the war ends next year through diplomatic means.”
Remember: Trump has repeatedly claimed that the Ukraine-Russia war would not have started if he had been president. In July, he said he could settle the war in one day — without saying how he would do so. The president-elect has also cast doubt on continued US commitment to Kyiv, and made comments that suggest the US could pressure Ukraine into an uneasy truce with Russia.
On the battlefield: Russia is making gains at key spots along the front lines of eastern and southeastern Ukraine, while unleashing wave after wave of aerial terror against Ukrainian cities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s strategy still appears to be slowly grinding Ukraine down. But a number of analysts have said Putin has a limited window of opportunity to achieve this goal, given the staggering losses Russia is suffering to make even the smallest advances.
The strain the conflict is putting on Russia’s economy is clearly growing. Inflation is running high, and companies are facing labor shortages. And while Russia has many more people than Ukraine, it is undergoing significant losses and recruitment of new troops is already a problem.
Two of President-elect Donald Trump’s choices for Cabinet positions are receiving intense scrutiny.
For attorney general: It remains unclear whether the House Ethics Committee will release an investigative report on alleged sexual misconduct by former Rep. Matt Gaetz, whom Trump picked for attorney general, now that Gaetz has stepped down from his seat in Congress.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said yesterday that he will request the committee not release the report. Later Friday, an attorney representing two women who were witnesses in the committee probe said one of his clients told the panel she saw Gaetz having sex with a minor. The lawyer called for the report’s release, saying, “Democracy demands transparency.”
Asked about the testimony, first reported by ABC News, a spokesperson for Gaetz told CNN that “Merrick Garland’s DOJ cleared Matt Gaetz and didn’t charge him.”
The Senate is expected to consider Trump’s picks, including Gaetz, as part of the Cabinet confirmation process, and some GOP senators are withholding support for the Florida lawmaker until they see more.
For defense secretary: Separately, the Trump transition team was caught off guard by a previous allegation of sexual assault against defense secretary pick Pete Hegseth, who had received little internal vetting, according to sources.
Several members of Trump’s team have since raised questions about the viability of his nomination, according to two people close to the situation.
Within 48 hours of Trump announcing Hegseth, the heads of the president-elect’s transition team were brought a complaint about the sexual assault allegation. The complaint aligns with an investigation by Monterey, California, police involving Hegseth on October 8, 2017.
Hegseth has not been charged in any criminal case or named as a defendant in any civil lawsuit filed in Monterey County since 2017, and his attorney has denied any wrongdoing. But the nature of the allegations caused incoming chief of staff Susie Wiles to question Hegseth during a call Thursday, a source told CNN.
Iran’s foreign ministry denied that a meeting was held between the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations and Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person and close ally of President-elect Donald Trump, Iranian state media reported.
The New York Times reported the meeting took place earlier this week, citing two Iranian officials.
But Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei “categorically denied” that a meeting took place and was “surprised” by the coverage in US media, state-run IRNA said.
The Times reported that a meeting between Musk and Iran’s envoy Amir Saeid Iravani was held at a secret location in New York on Monday and lasted more than an hour, citing the Iranian officials, who reportedly described the discussion as focused on how to defuse tensions between the two countries.
CNN had reached out to Musk, Trump’s transition team and the Iranian mission at the UN for confirmation of the meeting.
More context: Musk has been exerting deepening influence during Trump’s transition and was tapped to co-lead a new Department of Government Efficiency, along with entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. Musk was also with Trump at Mar-a-Lago when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called to congratulate the president-elect the day after the election, according to a source briefed on the call.
We’re starting to get a feel for Donald Trump’s vision of the incoming administration, with the president-elect naming his choices for Cabinet positions and other key roles.
On Friday, Trump formally announced his selection of North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to head the Department of the Interior.
He also added to his new staff, naming campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt as White House press secretary, and fellow campaign staff members Steven Cheung and Sergio Gor to his communications team.
Keep in mind: Trump’s picks for his Cabinet are subject to Senate approval, though he is pushing Republican leaders to buck recent norms and allow him to bypass confirmation hearings through procedural means. It presents an early test of loyalty for GOP senators.
Here are more of the officials Trump has chosen so far: