'This Week' Transcript 11-24-24: Senators Bill Hagerty and Amy Klobuchar

A rush transcript of "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" airing on Sunday, November 24, 2024 on ABC News is below. This copy may not be in its final form, may be updated and may contain minor transcription errors. For previous show transcripts, visit the "This Week" transcript archive.

ANNOUNCER: From ABC News it’s THIS WEEK. Here now, Jonathan Karl.

KARL: Good morning. Welcome to THIS WEEK.

As we come on the air this morning, Donald Trump has chosen nearly all of his cabinet nominees and senior White House staff, making his picks at a record pace and bypassing the typical vetting process. No FBI background checks yet for any of them.

When Matt Gaetz dropped out as the nominee for attorney general, it took Trump just a matter of hours to name a replacement. He seems like a president-elect in a hurry, ready to make an impact as soon as he is sworn in.

If his choices are confirmed, Trump may have one of the most ideologically diverse cabinets in decades, with former Democrats, including Bobby Kennedy and Tulsi Gabbard, filling some of his most important roles.

Trump has announced jobs for a half dozen billionaires, including the world's wealthiest man, Elon Musk, who will head up what he's calling the Department of Government Efficiency. It may not be a team of rivals, but you might call it a team of billionaires. It's also a team of loyalists. The choices are, almost all of them, people who have demonstrated personal loyalty to Trump, and at least five of the picks he has announced so far work on air for Fox News.

In a moment, we'll speak with a Republican senator who has spent a lot of time with Trump at Mar-a-Lago since election day. And I'll talk to a leading Democrat in the Senate about the coming battle over confirming Trump's nominees.

But first, I spent several days around Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate this week checking in on a transition unlike any we have ever seen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL (voice over): This week, Donald Trump dispatched his vice president-elect to escort some of his most controversial nominees around the Senate. He learned there are limits to what Senate Republicans will go along with.

Early in the week, a top Trump lieutenant told me Senate Republicans would have no choice but to get in line, or see their political careers go down. “There's votes coming. And if you are on the wrong side of the vote, you're buying yourself a primary,” a Trump adviser told me. “And there's a guy named Elon Musk who is going to finance it. The president gets to decide his cabinet. No one else. That's just the way it is.”

As it turns out, that's not how it is. After just eight days as Trump's nominee for attorney general, Matt Gaetz dropped out because more than four Republican senators privately made it clear they just wouldn't vote for him, making his confirmation effectively impossible.

And now there's intense scrutiny on Trump's pick for defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, who was selected with almost no voting. He previously faced allegations that he denies of sexual assault. Some senators say he, at the very least, should go through an FBI background check before any confirmation hearing.

To replace Gaetz, Trump moved in lightning speed, naming Pam Bondi as his choice for attorney general within hours of Gaetz dropping out. Bondi had not previously been under consideration. She had never even been interviewed for the job until the day Trump announced her as the nominee. But Bondi has experience, eight years as Florida’s attorney general. She's also a vocal Trump supporter. She's campaigned for him, advised him, and served on his defense team during the first impeachment trial.

PAM BONDI, TRUMP ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: They threw due process, fundamental fairness, and our Constitution out the window in the House proceedings. That's why we're here.

KARL (voice over): If they are all confirmed, the top three officials at the Justice Department will all be people who worked for Trump as lawyers for his defense. And a fourth nominee, John Sauer for solicitor general, is the lawyer who argued the immunity case for Trump before the Supreme Court.

KARL: The Trump transition team has offices right here in West Palm Beach. Those offices are staffed. But the real action is right over there at Mar-a-Lago, as job seekers know that the key to getting a job in the Trump White House or even in his cabinet might just be getting a little bit of face time with Donald Trump at his club here in Palm Beach.

KARL (voice over): Late Friday, Trump filled the biggest remaining cabinet job, naming billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his choice for secretary of Treasury. Bessent spent years working for Democratic megadonor George Soros, but he has also been a prolific fundraiser for Trump, and a regular on Steve Bannon's “War Room” podcast. He also spoke at a Trump rally over the summer.

STEVE BESSENT, DONALD TRUMP’S NOMINEE FOR TREASURY SECRETARY: This is the Trump economy. This is the Trump stock market.

KARL (voice over): If confirmed, Bessent would be the first openly gay Treasury secretary.

Trump also nominated Russ Vought, another regular on Bannon's “War Room,” as the director of the Office of Management and Budget. He was an architect of the Project 2025 plan that the Trump campaign sought to distance itself from.

RUSS VOUGHT, DONALD TRUMP’S NOMINEE FOR DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET: The president has to move executively as fast and as aggressively as possible with a radical constitutional perspective to be able to dismantle that bureaucracy in their power centers.

KARL (voice over): It's not an especially racially diverse group. Of the dozens of nominees and appointees Trump has announced so far, only one is black. NFL veteran and conservative commentator Scott Turner is Trump's choice to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

And perhaps the most controversial announcement Friday, Trump named right-wing commentator Sebastian Gorka as the White House senior director for counterterrorism and national security. Gorka was a big advocate of Trump's ill-fated Muslim ban. More recently, he has had this to say about how Trump should approach his first 30 days in office.

SEBASTIAN GORKA, INCOMING TRUMP WHITE HOUSE SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR COUNTERTERRORISM: Part of my department, you identify the two worst criminals. You arrest them, and you perp walk them out of the building, in shackles, like they did in Peter Navarro, in front of the CNN cameras, and they stand trial.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KARL: And joining us now is Republican Senator Bill Hagerty of Tennessee, a close ally of President-elect Trump.

Senator Haggerty, thank you for being with us.

I know you have spent a lot of time with the president-elect at Mar-a-Lago and also in Texas since he won the election. Give – give us a sense, what do you – what do you expect – what does he expect for his first days in office? How’s he going to get started?

SEN. BILL HAGERTY, (R) TENNESSEE & (R) FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, one, I’d say this, Jon, he’s got tremendous energy. He’s feeling great. The mandate that came from the American public is overwhelming and he’s absorbed that, I think, in a very positive way. He knows that the American public has voted to see change, radical change in Washington. And I think that’s what he’s ready to deliver. It’s our job, in the legislative branch, to work alongside with him, arm in arm, and I look forward to doing that.

KARL: And I've – I've taken not with how quickly he’s made his cabinet nominees, White House staff announcements, much quicker than he did eight years ago. But, obviously, even in a Republican-controlled Senate, confirmation can be a bit sticky. What – what’s his expectation? How much of his cabinet does he expect to be in place for the first days of his presidency?

HAGERTY: He – he clearly expects to hit the ground running. He wants us to have these hearings done quickly and expeditiously. I've said, I'm more than happy to work through the weekends, as long as it takes, to get this done, to get people ready and – and prepared to go so that on the 21st of January the American public can begin to see his team get seated and the action that they hope to see, the change that they hope to see be put in place in terms of strengthening our economy, strengthening our military, basically making America the country that we all hope and believe it can be.

KARL: All right, so, obviously, there’s some controversy surrounding several of his picks. Perhaps most so, at this point, Pete Hegseth, to be the Defense secretary. I think he’s actually currently a constituent of yours. But – but he has faced – he’s faced these allegations of sexual assault dating back to 2017. You know, my understanding is Donald Trump didn’t even know about those allegations until after he named him. Is that your understanding?

HAGERTY: Jon, all these are, as you said, are allegations. It’s amazing how this comes out. Pete is a very talented individual. I talked with him earlier this week. He told me, Jon, about how many people had written to him and said, look, I was thinking about getting out. You know we have a huge recruitment problem, a huge retention problem in the military. I was thinking about getting out. But now that you’ve come to lead us, Pete, I'm going to stay in. That’s the type of inspirational leader we need to see.

Don’t let these allegations distract us. What we need is real, significant change. The Pentagon has been more focused on pronouns than they have lethality the past four years. We need to get back to business, and I think Pete is just the person to do it.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC "THIS WEEK" CO-ANCHOR: But -- but clearly, I mean, I've heard even from some of your Republican colleagues that you have to examine the allegations, you have to look at what’s there.

Are you confident that there’s nothing else to come about Pete Hegseth? I mean this was a pick that came together very quickly with -- with very little vetting.

HAGERTY: Actually, the transition team has been working for months to prepare for this. I'm certain that there was significant vetting that has taken place. It has for every candidate. So, I'm not expecting anything to sort of see -- drop, as you say, or -- or that type of thing. What I expect is to see a thorough hearing take place, to see the Senate do its work. And I expect to see Pete Hegseth confirmed as our next secretary of defense.

KARL: Your colleague, Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, of course, member of the Armed Services Committee, has said that she would like to see a -- and a combat veteran herself, she would like to see an FBI background check that would be helpful of Pete Hegseth.

As you know, there haven’t been FBI background checks for any of these nominees. Do you agree with her, though, that this -- this should happen before we get to confirmation votes?

HAGERTY: I don’t think the American public cares who does the background checks. What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon. We need to get to work again. Making our military stronger is absolutely critical. And I think we’re -- we’re looking at a chance to do this.

If you look at the cabinet that’s in place right now, the worst that we’ve ever seen. Alejandro Mayorkas has got to go down as the worst cabinet secretary in history. If you think about the failures on his watch, the failures of FEMA, if you think about what’s happened at our southern border, the invasion that’s happened there, the murder of Laken Riley, the Secret Service failures, we have to get competent people into office.

Lloyd Austin overseeing Afghanistan. What a debacle that was.

KARL: So --

HAGERTY: No one has been held to account by the Biden administration. The American public is ready to hold the people -- hold these people to account now and replace them with a new team.

KARL: So, you’re saying you don’t care about FBI background checks? Should we just do away with them? That you can go ahead and not do this for -- it’s been standard practice, as you know -- you know for a long time, but you’re saying do away with it?

HAGERTY: Certainly Jon. I’ve been through it myself. I've been through it myself.

KARL: Yes.

HAGERTY: I've been through confirmation as -- as well. They need to do these checks expeditiously. The FBI -- I think the American public’s had great concerns about how weaponized it’s become. They need to get on with this. We’ll get this done.

KARL: I understand you’ve also had some concerns about Hegseth’s view on women in combat. You know, he said pretty flatly, although there are some exceptions that he’s outlined, but he doesn’t like women in combat. You disagree with him, as I -- as I understand it.

Has he given you assurances that he won’t try to change Pentagon policy on that?

HAGERTY: The policy is set by the president of the United States, not by the cabinet members. I may disagree with him. Look, I disagreed with Rahm Emanuel on many things, but I supported him to be our ambassador to Japan because that was what we needed to do at that point in time.

I think Pete Hegseth will follow the lead of the commander in chief. That’s what I fully expect.

KARL: OK, and let me ask you about the other -- the big announcement that came Friday. Once again, Donald Trump moving very quickly. Gaetz drops out and then, boom, you have Pam Bondi announced as -- actually Thursday as the choice for attorney general. I -- you know, she’s -- she’s, obviously, qualified. She’s been, you know, attorney general for Florida for eight years.

She’s also a lobbyist and she’s lobbied for the Qatari government. You called the Qatari government a, quote, “Hamas benefactor.” Are -- are you concerned that -- that you have, as the attorney general, somebody that lobbied on behalf of somebody that you consider a Hamas benefactor?

HAGERTY: Well, I'm not familiar with Pam’s background and her career beyond being attorney general of Florida, which I understand she was a great attorney general. I know Pam. I think she’ll be outstanding in the job.

I'll say this about the Qataris. They’ve now kicked Hamas out. This is the Trump effect taking place, even before he takes office. So, I certainly am pleased to see that occur and I hope we see more of it.

KARL: OK, let me ask you about another one there. We’ve got Tulsi Gabbard to head of the intelligence agencies, DNI. She is somebody who has been harshly critical, not that long ago, of Donald Trump. In fact, while Trump was in office.

So, let me -- let me just go over some of the things that she has said. On the Iran nuclear deal she said, quote: It is unacceptable that Trump withdrew. The action that this Trump administration has taken in reneging and breaking our role in the Iran nuclear agreement when Iran is complying.

She also said that President Trump’s decision to take out Iranian General Qasem Soleimani is, quote, an illegal and unconstitutional act of war, and that it further highlighted his, Trump’s, lack of experience and understanding on a basic level and a lack of foresight in national security and foreign policy. She has also, of course, blamed the United States and NATO for Russia’s decision – illegal action to invade Ukraine. What – what – what – what’s your feeling on Tulsi Gabbard to head DNI?

HAGERTY: Well, I certainly don’t have to agree with her on every point either, Jon, nor does the president. What she needs to do is bolden (ph) –

KARL: These are some pretty big points, though.

HAGERTY: Well, I – you know, for example, on the Iran nuclear deal, we found out later, Israel proved it, they were not complying. You know, you can have bad information. What – what I think happens here, though, is there are consequences in President Trump’s cabinet. There have been zero consequences in President Biden’s cabinet. Again, massive failures on his watch, massive failures by his cabinet members.

You look at what Tony Blinken and – and Lloyd Austin have done on an international scale. They’ve not been held to account. Again, the debacle in Afghanistan, probably the greatest embarrassment in our lifetimes. No one held to account.

President Trump will fire people that don’t do their job well. I fully expect everybody coming into the cabinet will listen to President Trump, they’ll let him set the policy, and they’ll execute according to that plan.

KARL: And – and – and finally, the issue of recess appointments. You know, Trump had suggested and – and wanted John Thune to – to agree to it, the idea that if he can’t get confirmation on any of these, that he could bypass the Senate and do what – what’s called recess appointments. Is that still on the table? Do you think that’s still something that – that – that Trump is considering?

HAGERTY: It is – it should be on the table on. President Reagan used it. President Clinton used it. George W. Bush used it. This is a constitutionally available tool.

What we want to see is Democrats cooperate with us. But as a resistance move, and, yes, as heavy as it was I – I – you know, I've been through the process myself of confirmation. I turn my paperwork in on the 21st of January. I didn’t get through the process until July.

So, we need to see things move in a far more expeditious pattern. We need to see things move quickly. The American public has spoken in that regard. As I said in the beginning, President Trump is ready for action. We need to put his team in place around him. And he needs every tool at his disposal to do that.

KARL: Recess appointments have certainly been used by Barack Obama and named members famously to the National Labor Relations Board in a recess appointment, but never, as I understand it, for positions as important as cabinet secretaries and – you know, of the largest cabinet agencies. And – and let me just ask you, just finally, you mentioned if Democrats are obstructing, would he do that or try to do that if he didn’t have the Republican votes to get somebody confirmed, because that’s the issue, if he doesn’t have the Republican votes, would he try to bypass the Senate and – and – and appoint a major cabinet secretary in a recess?

HAGERTY: Again, Jon, I haven’t spoken with President Trump about the specific plans. What he wants to do is see these appointments made quickly. He wants to see us get through the confirmation process. And again, I think everything should be on the table. And I think if my colleagues understand that, they’ll know that they need to step up and move – move expeditiously to get thee cabinet members confirmed.

KARL: All right, Senator Bill Hagerty, thank you very much for joining us on this Sunday.

HAGERTY: Thank you, Jon.

KARL: Thank you.

HAGERTY: Very good to be with you today.

KARL: Coming up, will Democrats get behind any of Donald Trump’s cabinet picks. Minnesota’s Amy Klobuchar backed half of his first cabinet picks last time. We’re going to talk to her in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: When Republicans take back the White House, and we will be back in there in 18 months or less, you know what's going to happen. The Department of Justice, the prosecutors will be prosecuted, the bad ones. The investigators will be investigated because the deep state last first term for President Trump, they were hiding in the shadows. But now, they have a spotlight on them and they can all be investigated and the house needs to be cleaned out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: That was Donald Trump's new nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, just 15 months ago, promising retribution at the Justice Department.

Here to discuss that and more is Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, coming to us from the Halifax Security Forum in Nova Scotia.

Thank you, Senator, for joining us. Look --

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Thank you very much, Jonathan. And it's good to be in Canada. I have not moved here. I want to make that clear. And we are -- we're really having a good discussion here, Democrats and Republicans, with foreign policy leaders about our strong support for Ukraine.

KARL: So, let me ask you about the discussions to come on the confirmation. Let's start with Pam Bondi. Look, I know you had serious concerns about Trump's first choice, Matt Gaetz. I think you called him an absurd choice, among other things. What about Pam Bondi? What do you make of her?

KLOBUCHAR: Right. Well, to make clear, to have Matt Gaetz who was under investigation for sex trafficking run in a department of 115,000 law enforcement people, yes, I had -- I thought it was absurd.

Pam Bondi will have a hearing and we'll be able to make her views clear. I think the things that I look at, is this someone competent? And are they going to uphold the law? It is so important. It's the lead law enforcement officer for our country. And does it concern me that revenge would be part of her mission? Of course, it does. I hope that's not the case. I hope that what she wants to do is uphold the Constitution because that is a really important job, especially the attorney general job in our country's law enforcement and in our country's justice system.

KARL: You're on the Judiciary Committee, so you'll be part of those confirmation hearings. Do you expect to meet with her beforehand one-on-one?

KLOBUCHAR: Of course I do, and that has always been the case during Democratic or Republican presidents. Our job is to look at the FBI background check and is to ask some questions to make sure they're fulfilling the mission of the department. In this case, I am concerned with all these nominees, and I'm not singling her out, if we do not have an agreement for FBI background checks.

As far as I know the transition committee has not made that agreement yet. This has been something that's going on back to Eisenhower's days and when you look at some of the nominees and some of the issues with them, not all of them, not all of them. But when you look at it, you have to be able to find out what went on.

We require these background checks of line DEA agents, drug enforcement agents. We require of first time prosecutors for the federal government. Why wouldn't we get these background checks for the most important jobs in the United States government?

KARL: I mean, even junior officials at the White House historically have had FBI background checks. I want to get some more of that in a second but first --

KLOBUCHAR: Right, I was noticing that when Senator Hagerty talked about getting his papers in.

KARL: Yes.

KLOBUCHAR: That's part of getting your papers in. So if they keep delaying on these background checks, we will have a delay in getting these cabinet officials in. And I don't want to have a delay. I want to have the hearings. I want to make a decision on each one of them, on the merits, as I've done in the past, and I can't do that without the background checks.

KARL: So to be clear, you don't think there should be hearings until the background checks are completed?

KLOBUCHAR: Sometimes it is an ongoing process and you could do it at the same time but we just need the background checks. We need the hearings. And remember, part of what Senator Hagerty was talking about and others have talked about is not even having a hearing at all. And I want to make this really clear, this recess appointment as you pointed out, Jonathan, has been sometimes used on lower level officials.

Very, very, very rarely for cabinet officials. As far as I know, it has never been used and the U.S. Supreme Court in a 9-0 decision said that Congress sets its own recesses and makes its own decisions. You already have Senator Thune, the incoming leader on the Republican side, making very clear that they don't have a vote to ram through people during these recess appointments because in the end, it is the Republicans that are going to have to make a decision if these people are qualified for these jobs. They have the votes. They have over 51 votes right now in the Senate.

So while it is our job under the Constitution to raise questions to ask them where they stand on issues, to look at if what they are going to do, whether it's running the Justice Department or running the Health Department, if it's truly going to help the American people, that's our job. In the end, it's going to be the Republicans in the U.S. Senate, their decision about whether they want to put these people in place.

JONATHAN KARL, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: You know John Thune well and you're one of these Democrats who has had good relations with -- worked with the Republicans.

Do you think they would go along with this? I know Thune said everything is on the table. But do you really think Republican senators would allow -- would fold and allow major cabinet secretaries to be confirmed without even the Senate voting?

KLOBUCHAR: I don't and I think a number of them both publicly and privately have said that they will not go along with that. So I don't think that’s going to happen.

I also think you have senators such as Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and a conservative senator from North Dakota, Senator Cramer, making very clear that they believe they need the background checks to make decisions. So I mean, you add all that together, Democrats aren't delaying anything here.

We're not -- it's on them. They've got to get their background checks together. They've got to get qualified nominees and then we're interested in doing the work of the American people.

We want to continue the work of President Biden to bring down drug costs and that includes on the insulin cap negotiating the Medicare prices. That's a big, big job that's coming up because we have a number of drugs that are going to be under negotiation next year. We want to continue the work of bringing in more affordable housing and doing something more on child care. These are basic bread and butter issues.

But if things get delayed because they're not getting their background checks, or they don't have the votes for certain nominees, that just mucks up things.

And so, I hope that they will put in qualified nominees and we will get these background checks and we will move forward and we will not have brouhahas over people like Matt Gaetz that shouldn't have been nominated in the first place.

KARL: And as we pointed out earlier, you confirmed I think it is exactly half of Trump's initial first cabinet picks eight years ago. When it comes to Pam Bondi, the one that's you're going to be taking a lead role on on the confirmation hearings, do you see -- I know you did not vote for either Jeff Sessions or Bill Barr, those were Trump’s two confirmed attorneys general. Of course, Trump didn't like them either ultimately for different reasons.

But do you see a scenario where you would vote to confirm Pam Bondi?

KLOBUCHAR: I don't know yet and I never weigh in unless it's something as absurd as Matt Gaetz was and which my Republican colleagues were telling me incredibly troubling things about his background. In this case, as with every nominee, I believe you need to hear them out. You need to meet with them as I will do with this nominee, and then you make a decision. So I think you'll see a lot of Democrats and Republicans in that posture.

That being said, when you look at some of the views of some of these nominees, you asked Senator Hagerty about Pete Hegseth, the nominee for the Defense Department, the fact that he has said even just recently this was, you know, 10 years ago that he didn't want women in combat, when 18 percent of our military is made up of women, when that is how we made our recruiting goals last year was the fact that women are signing up for the military and we have thousands in combat right now, that really concerns me for the good of our military, that someone would have that position. So that's an example.

Or when we have someone nominated for the Health Department that's says that they question timeworn vaccines -- vaccines that save kids' lives. I’m not even talking here about the COVID vaccine which clearly saved lives, but I’m talking about other vaccines as well.

So those are the kinds of things that I think are important. It is qualifications that gets to the background check, and then it is -- is there -- are their views consistent with the American peoples in terms of where we need to move forward as a country? And will they be able to manage major, major departments of tens of thousands of people?

KARL: All right. Senator Amy Klobuchar from Canada, thank you very much -- I mean, from Minnesota, but coming to us from Canada.

KLOBUCHAR: Well --

KARL: Thank you very -- thank you very much thank you.

KLOBUCHAR: Via Canada.

KARL: Thank you.

KLOBUCHAR: Thank you.

KARL: Thank you very much for joining us.

KLOBUCHAR: Thanks, Jonathan.

KARL: Up next, the writing was on the wall for Matt Gaetz. Is another Trump pick in danger of losing support from Senate Republicans? The Roundtable is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM, (R-SC): As to Matt, he's withdrawn. Respect his service. As to what President Trump will do next, I am committed to helping him where I can. I will not be a rubber stamp to his nominees, but I will also not engage in an angry mob mentality.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY, (R-MO): I'm sure it's the right decision, if he feels like it is and the president feels like it is.

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER, (R-ND): There's a sense of relief about it, of course. I know enough people that were a hell no in the conference to know that the path would've been very, very difficult if -- if possible even, and I doubt it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: Republican senators expressing some relief about Matt Gaetz dropping out. What did Trump's other picks signal about his agenda on day one? Some of them might surprise you. The Roundtable is all here. We're going to be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KARL: Welcome back. Let's bring in the roundtable. We have former DNC Chair Donna Brazile, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett of Texas, and former Trump Whtie House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus.

All right, thank you all for being here.

OK, you were, for a time, the head of the transition for Donald Trump eight years ago.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & (R) FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

KARL: And you were – even after you moved on from that job, you were still very involved. How does it compare to what's going on now?

CHRISTIE: It's really different because, you know, think about what happened in '16. There were people coming in and being interviewed. There were people being, you know, vetted in real time by a – by an entire crew of former Bush 43 U.S. attorneys. And you had a senior group of people who were helping to direct the president-elect on the choices to make. And I think that was predominantly because, you know, Donald Trump was scared of the presidency when he got there in '16. He didn't expect to win. He didn't have a victory speech written on election night. He was not ready to go. And so, when it happened, he wanted as many of those people around him as he possibly could. This time there is no fear.

KARL: Were you doing FBI background checks before the election?

CHRISTIE: Not before the election, no. What we were doing was, out of all the publicly available materials, we had former – about 12 former Bush 43 U.S. attorneys who were going through all the publicly available information and writing up, you know, mini type of vettings before anything – FBI didn't start until after you were actually put forward by the administration.

KARL: And, Reince, you were obviously there – right there with the president-elect in 2016. He ended up choosing a cabinet that looks, I think, a lot different than this one, but particularly a lot of people that he didn't really know.

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER RNC CHAIR, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF, ABC NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, we – we started the transition, you know, as Chris said, it was a lot simpler time. I mean we didn't have a huge campaign. We didn’t – we didn’t –

KARL: It didn't seem simple at the time, by the way.

PRIEBUS: At the time, but we didn’t – think about it, though, it was actually pretty simple. We didn't have a huge Trump campaign, number one.

KARL: Yes.

PRIEBUS: We didn't have cochairs of a transition where we had, you know, in this case, you have a Howard Lutnick and a Linda McMahon in the room. You’ve got the chief of staff. You’ve got the kids. I think it's a lot more complicated now. But as Chris said, I also think the president knows – it's not unfamiliar to him, and he wants to make sure that the people that he wants, that he now understands all these jobs, he knows what he – who he wants to put in there, that he's getting it.

And by the way, he's got a mandate to do it. And – and I think that that feeling, that feeling of confidence, of what happened on Election Day and the – and the power that that delivers to Donald Trump is there and it's palpable in Mar-a-Lago. And you can feel it in the air.

KARL: I mean, Donna, these look a lot like in your face picks. At least some of them. Not all of them. Not all.

DONNA BRAZILE, FORMER DNC CHAIR & CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, I was expecting Hulk Hogan or Laura Loomer. So, I mean –

KARL: For which – for which department?

BRAZILE: The Department of Defense and Laura Loomer for secretary of education.

I'm not surprised by his selection, and that's what he believes, and that's what he thinks. But what I am shocked is this notion that these positions do not require an appropriate security background check.

Look. I’ve been appointed by two presidents for the same position, and I went through a thorough background check. Thorough.

PRIEBUS: But they will go through a background check.

BRAZILE: By the FBI or some (INAUDIBLE)?

PRIEBUS: Right. Yes. And now – because it's been done in record time.

BRAZILE: When?

PRIEBUS: Now the president and his team – it’s going to happen right now.

CHRISTIE: Well – well –

PRIEBUS: And they're going to have two months to do it.

KARL: But –

(CROSS TALK)

PRIEBUS: Yes, they will.

CHRISTIE: He has not signed – he has not signed the agreements yet that need to be done.

PRIEBUS: He will.

CHRISTIE: Well, I know -- I know you're saying that, Reince, but he's got to do it. He's got to sign the agreements that trigger these things, and I think look --

PRIEBUS: It’s been two weeks.

CHRISTIE: -- part of his problem is he doesn't like -- well, he's had enough time to name all these people, but not enough time to sign a piece of paper or to have Linda McMahon or Howard Lutnick sign the piece of paper.

Look, here's the thing, John, he doesn't trust the FBI, so he doesn't want the FBI doing these checks. And by the way --

JONATHAN KARL, ABC “THIS WEEK” CO-ANCHOR: He wants to vet the FBI, not the FBI vets his picks.

CHRISTIE: If I had Robert -- look, if I had Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Pete Hegseth with some of those background issues that they have, I wouldn't necessarily want the FBI looking around either.

(CROSSTALK)

KARL: Congresswoman?

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT (D-TX): No, I mean, I understand exactly where you're coming from. I agree he doesn't want background checks and he's not decided to put people in that are qualified. I mean -- and not to mention, this has to be a historic number of people that have been accused of sexual assault or some type of sexual misconduct in some way.

But what is really frustrating that the American people need to pay attention to is the fact that if you are going to work in one of these agencies, you will have to be most likely vetted to a higher level than the person that's running that agency. That's a problem.

But for whatever reason with this team, it doesn't seem like it's a problem he's absolutely deciding that he wants loyalists. This is something that Project 2025 talked about. It was about putting the most loyal people in into position. It wasn't about making sure that you had the most qualified people in position.

PRIEBUS: You guys still don't get it. The president put all this on the table.

KARL: Don’t get what?

PRIEBUS: These people -- most of them have been speaking at rallies for three to four years every day.

KARL: That's not exactly an FBI background check.

CROCKETT: Nor it is a qualification.

PRIEBUS: From a week from now -- in a week from now, all these documents are going to be signed. The Senate's going to have all this information. It's all going to come out and they're going to take their time and they're going to vote. Or they're going to do a recess appointment. One way or the other, these people are going to be --

(CROSSTALK)

CROCKETT: Well, at this point in time, they're saying they’re going to do a recess appointment.

PRIEBUS: Well, why do you think John Thune is going down in Mar-a-Lago right now? He's down in Mar-a-Lago because he wants --

KARL: Explaining why he can't do recess appointments.

PRIEBUS: Right.

CROCKETT: Saying that he doesn't have the votes.

PRIEBUS: The Constitution is pretty clear, the president does have the power to do this, the question is whether or not the Republican leader and whether the Senate's going to do it. But it's very clear that the president has the power.

KARL: The Constitution is not clear on the extent of that at all. As you know, there was a Supreme Court case, where three -- actually four at the time, Scalia was one of them, but three current justices on the court who are all the conservatives said that the president's ability to make recess appointments is highly limited.

PRIEBUS: It’s limited.

KARL: Highly limited.

PRIEBUS: It's limited. But with cooperation from the Senate, the president has that power.

But here's the thing, forget that for a minute. He's going to get the most of these -- 90 percent of these nominees anyway. I mean, these are not going to be nominees. I don't believe that are going to be rejected by the Republican Senate and you can thank Harry Reid.

(CROSSTALK)

CHRISTIE: By the way -- and that's why -- and that's why -- and that's why he should just go through the process because look, there's a number of these nominees that are actually quite good. Like I -- Doug Burgum, I’ve known him for a long time, he will do a really solid job for as secretary of interior.

KARL: A current governor of --

CHRISTIE: Of North Dakota. And I’ve worked with Doug for a long time, he'll do -- he'll do a really solid job there.

I think Brooke Rollins will do a really good job at agriculture.

KARL: Scott Bessent?

CHRISTIE: She's a very bright woman.

I don't know Bessent, so I don't want to say --

KARL: But certainly, he’s great.

CHRISTIE: Certainly, he's a mainstream type of choice. He’s a Wall Street guy who's being put in by -- by a Republican president.

So part of this, Jon, too is that there's an over -- there's too much hysteria about all of them and I think that's going to be a mistake for the country. You know --

KARL: Focus on --

CHRISTIE: -- Matt Gaetz was an abominable pick and it was Donald Trump over-reading his mandate. Well, he got smacked back. So we'll see what happens.

KARL: So, Donna, how hard are Democrats in the Senate going to fight on these picks.

(CROSSTALK)

DONNA BRAZILE, ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Article --

KARL: What can they do?

BRAZILE: Article 2 Section 2 Clause 2 of the Constitution -- see I didn't go to law school but I read.

CHRISTIE: Pretty good.

BRAZILE: I mean, it gives the Senate the power of advise and consent and I -- and there's no question, with 53 Republican senators, that the Republicans will have to maintain the support of all of them in order to get these nominees through the process.

But there's no question, like Lisa Murkowski, the senator from Alaska, the Republican senator, she said, look, I want to see some background information. Democrats are want -- will want to see the receipts, and it's their right. I think the Democrats must pick and choose their battles.

There's going to be so much on day one for us to be appalled by but I think when it comes to these cabinet positions and others, the Democrats should hold the line. They should make sure that these -- these nominees are vetted properly and then we can question whether not they should succeed.

KARL: So, Congresswoman Crockett, who do you think that the Democrats in the Senate, your colleagues in the Senate should really fight on? What --

(CROSSTALK)

CROCKETT: I definitely think Tulsi. I think --

KARL: Tulsi Gabbard?

CROCKETT: I think -- yeah, absolutely.

KARL: You overlap with her, but former Democratic member of the House?

CROCKETT: Yeah, no -- but she is a clear danger. I think when we are talking about whether or not we are going to be more vulnerable or less --

KARL: Yeah.

CROCKETT: When it comes to like our international security, I definitely think we've got to have really, really qualified people. I think some of these other positions, you know what, the agency can kind of run on its own. And even if it's somebody who's learning on the job, that's OK.

But when you're starting to talk about our national security, something that we should all be concerned about, especially when we know that Iran supposedly had a hit out on President Trump, I think that this is something that we need to make sure that we focus on.

(CROSSTALK)

REINCE PRIEBUS, ABC NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST, FORMER RNC CHAIR & FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: You know something? You have some inside information about her that you want to share?

KARL: That's been --

CROCKETT: No.

KARL: That's been reported.

(LAUGH)

KARL: But -- but wait a minute. We're going to take a quick break. I want to get -- that's a great segue because we're going to come back. We're going to talk about why some Republicans, at least one top Republican is calling Trump's pick to head the intelligence agencies a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, and Chinese sympathizer. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIKKI HALEY, (R) FORMER UNITED STATES AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: DNI, Department of National Intelligence -- this is not a place for a Russian, Iranian, Syrian, Chinese sympathizer. DNI has to analyze real threats. Are we comfortable with someone like that at the top of our national intelligence agencies?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KARL: Former Trump U.N. Ambassador and Presidential Candidate, Nikki Haley blasting Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's nominee for Director of National Intelligence. We are back with the Roundtable.

So Donna, you heard what the Congresswoman said before the break. How hard are Democrats going to fight Tulsi Gabbard?

DONNA BRAZILE, ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR & FORMER DNC CHAIR: I don't know. She deserved to have a hearing. She deserved to be vetted. She deserved to have the most strenuous background check. If the TSA rumors are true that they looked at a suspicious pattern of travel, that will come up in the vetting process. Look, I served, inside the DNC with Tulsi Gabbard. I know her.

KARL: Yes, she was the what? She was like co-chair?

BRAZILE: She was a vice chair.

KARL: Vice chair.

BRAZILE: We were both vice chairs.

KARL: You're colleagues. You were side-by-side together.

BRAZILE: She's a lieutenant colonel. I respect Tulsi Gabbard. I may disagree, I disagree with her choices. I disagree with everything in terms of where she's at now, but she deserves to have a very thorough background check.

KARL: I mean, she could get a Democratic vote or two, no? I mean like Bernie Sanders?

BRAZILE: She represented Hawaii. I don't know if she'll get the support of Democrats, but she should have a thorough background check like everybody

KARL: But, Reince, what about the way she's hammered Trump, I mean, not that long ago?

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER RNC CHAIR: Well, I mean, look --

(CROSSTALK)

PRIEBUS: So Marco Rubio did, too.

KARL: Did he know? No, no, no, but that was longer. This was while Trump was president, the Soleimani assassination, which Trump thinks is one of his big national security accomplishments and a lot of people agree, you know, she said it was unconstitutional and an act of war.

PRIEBUS: OK, fine. That's what she said, but today she's saying something different, and she's -resolved it-

KARL: Is she saying something different about that?

PRIEBUS: We're going to find out. One thing I highly -- would suspect is that you wouldn't rise to a rank of an old five lieutenant colonel if our intelligence agencies thought that somehow she was some kind of Russian asset which if people are going to leverage those charges, they better be darn sure that they're accurate. And it is very dangerous thing to do.

KARL: I mean, Nikki Haley didn't say that. She said that she was a sympathizer.

PRIEBUS: But it's all insinuated, OK? It's this cutesy, hyperbolic nonsense coming out of the media and the Democrats who refuse to accept the fact that almost a majority or a majority of Americans have accepted Donald Trump and Trumpism. I think it's time to give this guy a month of peace and let the process play out.

BRAZILE: You're asking us to be --

KARL: Congresswoman?

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT, (D-TX): I don't know about giving him any peace time, but what -- but I will say because you signed up to be the president of the United States, and we are definitely at a precipice in this country, and people were hurting and they believe in him. So no. There should not be any peace over the next four years. He should be working every single day, not hanging out at Mar-a-Lago on, you know, playing golf.

He needs to be working and fighting to deliver for the American people to make sure that these prices come down, but also to make sure that we're safe because there were a lot of people that were concerned because of the wars that have been taking place around the world, and he is the guy that said on day one, I will stop this war. I will stop that war.

Now I don't know what magic wand he has hanging out in his back pocket that's going to allow him to do that, but as of right now, when we look at literally the level of competence when it comes to picking people that are competent for these positions, there are a lot of questions to be had about this. So at the end of the day, yes, we will respect what the voters decided and the voters did vote him in. We will not sit there and we won't fight.

(CROSSTALK)

PRIEBUS: Well, I got to respond to this. Hang on, I got respond to this.

(CROSSTALK)

KARL: Go ahead, Chris.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: First off is you can't have it both ways, OK? You can't criticize Trump and say, I'll have is people who are blindly loyal to him, and then when he actually appoints somebody who has been critical of him then say, well, that's bad, too. You can't have it both. Like he is appointed someone like Tulsi Gabbard and like Marco Rubio who have been --

KARL: I mean, as I said -- it's the most ideologically diverse cabinet we've seen in a long time.

CHRISTIE: Who have been critical of him. You have to give him credit for that. He's willing to look past hat. That's a good thing. Second, Democrats need to pick, I think, one. They've got three people I think that are questionable nominees. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tulsi Gabbard, and Pete Hegseth. You got to pick one because if you go after all three of them, you're going to probably go 0 for 3.

KARL: Right.

PRIEBUS: Pick one that you think has the most problems that are verifiable, and then do that. And, you know, lastly I'd say as to what Reince said about giving him some peace. I have no problem with that, but you got to give peace to get it, and I think what the president needs to show is to show that he's not going to be on the attack constantly against everybody, that he should bring some Democrats in, start to talk to them about the things where they agree because there are places where they agree.

I mean, look. He and Bernie Sanders agree on a lot of things. So I'm all for having some peace because I think we're all tired of all of the other stuff.

KARL: Amen.

CHRISTIE: But you got to give peace to get it.

KARL: So --

PRIEBUS: Let's talk about the hyperbolic nonsense.

KARL: We only -- we really have a couple of --

BRAZILE: So sad.

KARL: I want to ask one other pick that is also interesting for the reasons you just cited. This is his pick to be the secretary of Labor, Laurie Chavez DeRemer, outgoing member of Congress in the House, Republican. And this is what the "Wall Street Journal" had to say about her.

"Trump's labor choice, unions over workers," and they write, "Some Republicans think enhancing union power will help Republicans win more elections. Then why did Miss Chavez dream lose her re-election? The reality is the pro-labor agenda espoused by union honchos isn't all that popular with working class voters. Putting Miss Chavez- DeRemer in charge of labor will make labor bosses, not workers, more powerful again."

I read that because that is a conservative editorial board that is taking, hotly contesting one of Trump's major cabinet picks you. You were side by side.

(CROSSTALK)

REP. JASMINE CROCKETT, (D-TX) : We served on the Acc (ph) Committee together.

KARL: On the same committee?

CROCKETT: Yeah. I will say that she's one of the few Republicans that actually signed the Pro Act. And so, this is somebody that the Republican or that the Teamsters, for sure, wanted to make sure that they elevated. But she is a Republican through and through. I think when it comes down to it, we did see labor support fall off.

We saw where there were various labors that had supported President Joe Biden, that refused to support the vice president and her candidacy. And so there is something to be said about whatever conversations are taking place and where the unions are placing their support, and she may actually be that bridge to actually earn them more support. Now, the fact that she lost her election, she went up against somebody who has beaten her every single time --

KARL: Yeah.

CROCKETT: -- that she's run for office.

KARL: But, but I mean, there're going to be some Democrats that are going to vote for her. Probably a lot.

CROCKETT: I agree.

KARL: And you may -- you may see some Republicans vote against her. What --

REINCE PRIEBUS, ABC NEWS POLITICAL ANALYST, FORMER RNC CHAIR & FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Yeah.

KARL: Was behind the pick?

PRIEBUS: Yeah, I think you're going to -- well, I think what's behind the pick is that this is the one thing that organized labor asked the Trump -- Trump to give to them --

KARL: The Teamsters to be specific.

(CROSSTALK)

PRIEBUS: -- particular rank and file --

KARL: Yeah.

PRIEBUS: -- working-class people voted for Trump. He understands that. Now, the other thing is that the Trump folks in Mar-a-Lago realize that if the Republican Party becomes the party of the working people, they're not going to lose an election. And -- and -- and to the people who are concerned out there, Republicans about this pick, you still have Aura who regulates -- oversees all the regulations -- OMB, NEC, the National Economic Council. All the committees can be very difficult for her to do the things that some of these Republicans are afraid of.

DONNA BRAZILE, ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR & FORMER DNC CHAIR: So let me just say this --

PRIEBUS: You have five seconds.

(LAUGH)

BRAZILE: President Trump -- President-elect Trump --

PRIEBUS: That's it.

BRAZILE: -- has an opportunity to reach out, to do what he didn't do at his first term. This is an opportunity that the American people has given him to make this country great.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & (R) FORMER NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & ABC NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: This is --

PRIEBUS: But do it in a way that don't piss people off.

CHRISTIE: This is doing what I just said to you.

KARL: Yeah.

CHRISTIE: This is doing what I just said to you. He's doing the right thing here.

KARL: All right.

CHRISTIE: By trying to reach out to constituencies that are not typical Republican constituencies.

BRAZILE: Let's see how long that holds.

CHRISTIE: It's smart politics.

KARL: All right. Well, we will see. That's all we have.

(LAUGH)

KARL: Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. Thank you all very much. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KARL: That's all for us today. Thank you for sharing part of your Sunday with us. Check out "World News Tonight" and have a great Thanksgiving week.