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Spirit Airlines Files for Bankruptcy; Trump Picks Brendan Carr as FCC Chairman; Trump's Controversial Cabinet Picks. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 18, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: -- what you have to do as prosecutors is piece things together that are indirect, that circumstances would be suggestive of, and when you see surveillance video of him in a specific area, that points to a problem, and that problem, prosecutors believe, would be his guilt, and that's what they're seeking to prove before a judge, not a jury.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joey Jackson, thank you very much for that analysis. We'll be right back.

JACKSON: Of course.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: New this morning, Spirit Airlines says it has filed for bankruptcy, big debt, sharp losses and more competition of all hurt the company's bottom line. But if you have a ticket for Thanksgiving next week or beyond, we are told there is no need to panic. And a statement spirit says, quote, "Guests can continue to book and fly without interruption and could use all tickets, credits, and loyalty points as normal spirit as normal."

[10:35:00]

Spirit add that -- added that it expects to emerge from bankruptcy next year. We'll have more on what all this means for travelers coming up in our next hour.

In the meantime, President-Elect Donald Trump's pick for chairman of the Federal Communications Commission is signaling that he wants to shake up that regulatory agency. In a social media post on Sunday, Brendan Carr called for dismantling what he calls, quote, "the censorship cartel." Carr also notably wrote the chapter on the FCC in the conservative blueprint Project 2025.

Let's bring in CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. He joins us now. Brian, I guess. What are Carr's plans for the FFC? Should Americans be thinking about this a bit more? People don't really focus too much on the FFC pick, but this time around, maybe a little bit more.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Normally, the FCC is all about deploying broadband across the country, making sure everyone has wireless access. That's been the focus of both Republican and Democratic chairs of the FCC for the 20 years that I've been reporting on this industry. But Brendan Carr is signaling this will not be business as usual. He is not talking about broadband in his tweets about his appointment. Instead, as you said, Jim, he is talking about the censorship cartel. He is pointing at big tech companies that are right now not under the regulatory purview of his agency. And he is saying that companies like Meta and Google need to be reined in. That is his promise.

And he wrote the FCC chapter in the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 blueprint, where he said, we've got to reign in big tech. Right now, he doesn't really have the tools to do so at the FCC, but Congress could change that in the future. And in the meantime, Carr is using his bully pulpit to challenge companies like Meta. One company he's not challenging though is Elon Musk's X. Carr is a very big ally of Musk. And now, Carr could be in a position to steer billions of dollars in government subsidies to Starlink in the future, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes. I mean, Brian, I do want to ask you about X because, you know, I mean, this is something that Carr and other folks on the right, what they like to talk about is a censorship at big tech and so on. And yet X has become very much a far-right platform. A platform -- that platforms far-right voices. And so, I mean, how does that fit into all of this?

STELTER: That's right. And liberals and academics have been moving over to Bluesky and Threads and other alternatives at the same time. Look, when we hear the word censorship, the right says censorship, and it's become a real rallying cry for Trump and Carr and Musk, what these platforms said they were trying to do was moderate content to create a better user experience. Tamp down on the toxicity.

For example, lies about the election, conspiracy theories about the pandemic. But the actions by Facebook and Twitter and other companies to try to clean up information pollution were also interpreted by some as censorship. And that is what Carr is referring to. That is what he's focusing on. It is so revealing that his first comment, after getting appointed, was to focus on censorship.

His second comment, Jim, was about broadcast television. We know that Trump has threatened the licenses of major networks. Usually it's local stations, always actually, local stations, not networks that are licensed. Carr is indicating he might go after those local stations as well. But again, he has limited power to actually do that. So, this might be a case where he's talking the talk. We'll see if he can actually implement it. But clearly, he's trying to say that he's on board with Trump. He's trying to show he's a loyalist.

ACOSTA: Right. And I mean, and the other thing that we brought up, we touched on is, you know, Donald Trump was out on the campaign trail. His campaign allies were out there saying, oh, no, we're not all about Project 2025. And here is an appointment to his administration, or one of his picks, I should say, that wrote a chapter on the FCC at Project 2025. So, clearly, this is another piece of evidence that they weren't necessarily telling us the truth about that out on the campaign trail. STELTER: Yes. As political playbook report over the weekend, Heritage Foundation now being more transparent about this and saying, you know, they actually held a party celebrating this effort last week. Now, that Trump has won, they're maybe being more honest about this, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Brian Stelter, thanks as always. Great stuff. Really appreciate it. Coming up, as Donald Trump's controversial cabinet take shape, notice anyone missing from the conversation? Where is J. D. Vance? He's supposed to be the vice president in all of this when it comes to advising the president? Is Trump's number two, more like three or four? That's next.

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[10:40:00]

ACOSTA: Donald Trump's second term in the White House is quickly taking shape. The president-elect has already announced his picks for more than a dozen cabinet positions, not even two weeks after the election. Let's talk about this. Let's bring in CNN Political Commentators Paul Begala and sure Michael Singleton. Guys, good morning. Happy Monday.

I do want to begin with the photo we saw over the weekend. I'm sure you saw this. It was on everybody's phones. It was -- people were texting it to me, Trump and Elon Musk on his plane with RFK Jr. They're all eating McDonald's food. Shermichael, let me start with you first. Kennedy has talked about making America healthier, targeting unhealthy food in this country and yet, he is eating McDonald's. And I'm just -- we're looking at a closeup picture. Is he really loving it? I'm not sure there.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I mean, look, everybody likes McDonald's, Jim. I mean, they're one of the largest fast-food chains in the country. I don't eat a lot of McDonald's, but I love their fricking French fries. And I think I speak for half of the Americans out there. I work out. I'm a physically fit guy. I do a heck of a lot of outdoors activities. And every once in a while, I want to go grab a double cheeseburger, an Oreo McFlurry and a large fry. There's nothing wrong with that.

[10:45:00]

ACOSTA: Yes. But isn't it a little hypocritical of RFK Jr. to be sitting there eating McDonald's food after what he has said about food in this country?

SINGLETON: I don't think so, because I give my friends a lot of hell about the food they eat, Jim. And I told them, guys, you need to eat healthier. You need to get your butts in the gym. And then some of my friends will say, Sherm, I just saw you on Instagram eating a three scoop ice cream.

ACOSTA: OK.

SINGLETON: So, look, you can be critical about being in shape, taking good care of yourself, eating healthy food and every once in a while, indulging yourself. Get a little (INAUDIBLE) good stuff.

ACOSTA: Paul --

SINGLETON: I don't have any issue with this, Jim.

ACOSTA: Paul, I guess one of my questions is why there was no McRib. You know, that's a big game here. You know, you would think more in line with RFK Jr.'s eating habits. What do you think? What do we make of all this?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: You know, I think it's a dominance thing. OK. Bobby Kennedy is famously fit. He's famously fastidious about what he eats. And so, he is being forced to bend the knee to the dear leader. And by the way, everybody who works for Trump has to eat a lot, and I won't say exactly what they have to eat, but it ain't a McDonald's hamburger. OK. He --

ACOSTA: Occasionally, some crow, I guess.

BEGALA: He humiliates people.

ACOSTA: Yes.

BEGALA: Some crow would be a nice way to put it. I was thinking of some of the things maybe my cows here on my farm produced. That's what he makes them eat, though. Jim, he humiliates. You know in his first term he had four-star generals he had the CEO of Exxon Mobil and he degrades and insults and humiliates all of them because he has to show some kind of dominance. Maybe I don't know what his issue is, but that's what he does.

ACOSTA: And if we can look at the photo one more time, I'm just -- you know, the speaker of the house, you can't get a seat at the table here. He's kind of leaning in. He wants to sit with the cool kids. He's just -- you know, maybe next time, Shermichael.

SINGLETON: I mean, Jim --

ACOSTA: I'm having some fun on a Monday. Come on, work with me critical.

SINGLETON: -- I'm all for being critical when it's warranted. This is a photo about people eating McDonald's. If I'm being honest, I don't think the American people care who's sitting where --

ACOSTA: Shermichael, give me a break. You're telling me people weren't texting you this -- you're telling me people were texting you this photo over the weekend, Shermichael? I'm sorry.

SINGLETON: Oh, no, I had some friends texting me about it, mostly because of RFK and the McDonald's thing, because, you know, he is known to be a pretty healthy eater. And we all sort of laughed about it in some of my group texts, some of my friends, but no one looked at this text and says, oh, my God, the sky is falling. I mean --

ACOSTA: Well, let's ask -- SINGLETON: -- text you about it --

ACOSTA: Let's talk about --

SINGLETON: -- at a political message, it was more comical than anything else.

ACOSTA: OK. All right. Well, we'll put that to the side. And I want to ask Paul Begala this. Axios reporting that there is some growing friction in the Trump camp between Elon Musk and top adviser Boris Epshteyn over cabinet picks. Musk apparently has been pushing for his own favorites, leaving Trump loyalist concerned over just how much influence he has on the president-elect.

Paul, I don't have to tell you there are folks on the on the Democratic side of things who are saying that Elon Musk is acting a bit like a shadow president or a co-president or something like that.

BEGALA: Yes, it's -- first off, in a transition, Robin is racing. OK. And again, I'm not a big Trump fan, but that's going to happen. I mean, I've been through several of these and, you know, I always say the election is about destroying your opponents. The transition is about destroying your friends, right, because they're all going to be competing.

So, I wouldn't read too much into that, but I think you're right about the Musk role. He is the richest man in the world. He is heavily dependent on government contract. He's the biggest welfare queen you've ever seen in your life. He can't go a day without government subsidies. So, for him to have his hands in selections of government officials is a huge conflict of interest.

Now, Mr. Trump -- President-Elect Trump, let me be respectful. President-Elect Trump is saying that Musk is going to play a central role in deciding what government spending we have. He's not in Congress. Nobody voted for Elon Musk. And, he receives billions of dollars of subsidies from every single viewer of this show. You are sending money to the richest man in the world and he wants more.

ACOSTA: Well, in proximity is power and per the McDonald's photo that Shermichael doesn't think we should be making a big deal out of, I mean, he is sitting right next to the president-elect there. That is a kind of a big deal.

Shermichael, I do -- I've been giving you a hard time this morning. Let me do it one more time. We've had a weekend to digest, so to speak, these Trump cabinet picks. Matt Gaetz for attorney general, Pete Hegseth for defense secretary, RFK Jr. for HHS. Is this how you would staff a Shermichael administration cabinet?

SINGLETON: Oh, you know, look, everyone's going to do things a little differently, Jim. If I were elected, you know, I'd have some different names --

ACOSTA: You're not worried about these picks? SINGLETON: But this is the point of being elected, right? You have a mandate. And one thing I will say, the president-elect was always clear about, he wanted to be a complete disrupter. He wanted to change the status quo. And he said, I want to choose people that are going to help me move forward with that mission. The American people voted for it.

[10:50:00]

Now, each of these individuals are going to have to go through a committee hearing and they're going to have to go before the entire Senate. We have no clue at this point in time who will be confirmed, who will not be confirmed. But the president-elect, as all president- elects, have the obligation and the opportunity and the onus to nominate individuals that they like. It doesn't always mean that every single person is going to get confirmed. I think most of them are going to get confirmed as Paul --

ACOSTA: Don't you nominate people --

SINGLETON: -- typically likes to give the president-elect to -- who they want, but these folks are going to have to go through a process like everybody else.

ACOSTA: Yes. Paul, don't you typically nominate people for the purposes of having them confirmed?

BEGALA: Well, yes, and typically, but I --

ACOSTA: On Earth One, I --

BEGALA: He's right about the process. I think a lot of these people can't pass an FBI background check. They can't survive a committee hearing and they wouldn't win a Senate vote. So, Mr. Trump is likely to short circuit all of that. Cancel the FBI background checks, which the president has the power to do. It's never been done in my lifetime, but he has the power to do that. And then make these appointments, recess appointments.

The Republican controlled Senate, which it will be soon, is going to face a real test of whether they will be a check and a balance on this man. And don't hold your breath, they won't. So, they're going to allow this guy to appoint these controversial people to powerful government positions to run our lives and spend our money with no FBI background check potentially, no committee hearing potentially, and no Senate vote, potentially. That's -- and that's, I think, really a problem. If you want to be a democracy.

ACOSTA: All right. Might be a couple of fries short of a Happy Meal.

SINGLETON: But I have to see -- real quick.

ACOSTA: Shermichael --

SINGLETON: I haven't seen any signal from Republicans that they're willing to allow recess appointments. I think we need to give the incoming Republican leadership an opportunity to see if they want to --

ACOSTA: Shermichael, wouldn't that be just a tad controversial to have Matt Gaetz as the attorney general through a recess appointment? I mean, can I just say --

SINGLETON: Well, I don't think that's --

ACOSTA: I know it's a different network, but that says this. But shouldn't I say, come on, man, at this point?

BEGALA: Yes.

SINGLETON: I mean, Jim, I don't know if that's necessarily going to occur. I mean, it appears to me that the Senate wants to maintain their independence as a body. I think the executive wants to maintain its independence. There will be a process. The question for the president-elect is, does he want to spend a lot of political capital here? Maybe, maybe not. We'll, have to see.

ACOSTA: All right. Well, we'll talk about over some chicken nuggets sometime. All right. Shermichael and Paul, thanks a lot. We'll be right back.

BEGALA: Thanks, Jim.

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[10:55:00]

ACOSTA: Undefeated no more. The Kansas City Chiefs were handed their first L of the season by the Buffalo Bills. Our former Bills player Coy Wire joins us now. I'm sure you were watching this with great interest and Josh Allen. I mean, I saw him charge into the end zone, I mean, yesterday. That was one that folks are going to remember for a long time in Buffalo. That was amazing.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Incredible. Josh Allen making his case for league MVP, Jim, with a statement win over the two-time defending champs. Bills and Chiefs in Orchard Park, Jim. Mahomes with a four wins, a three edge over Allen coming in and it all came down to fourth and two. Buffalo up two in the final minutes. And Bills' coach, McDermott, said field goal, give that ball to Josh Allen. He takes it to the house. He does a cheat code. 317 total yards, two touchdowns.

The quarterback led the team in rushing. Casey though, still has some time for some Mahomes magic, but the Bills defense stole that rabbit right out of his hat. Their second interception of the game seals it a 30 to 21 win. The Chiefs' defense hadn't allowed an opponent to score 28 or more in their previous 30-game.

All right. Big news this morning. The New York Giants are officially moving on from their quarterback, Daniel Jones, according to NFL Network's Ian Rappaport. The team is two and eight, and if Jones goes to the bench, it means the potential return of Tommy DeVito, aka Tommy Cutlets, the undrafted sensation who started six games for the Giants last season, taking the internet by storm with his love for his Italian roots, his mom's homemade chicken cutlets that were waiting for him at home because he lived with mom and dad in his childhood home near the Giants' facilities.

Jim, and this.

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WIRE: Still a week from Thanksgiving, but Beyonce's giving Christmas gifts. Netflix announcing late last night she'll perform at halftime at a Christmas Day game between the Ravens and Texans at her hometown of Houston. She's expected to have some special guests from her "Cowboy Carter" album, nominated for a leading 11 Grammys earlier this month. It'll be the third NFL halftime show for Beyonce. She's performed Super Bowls 2013, 2016. Only song of hers I can think right now after last night's big win over the Chiefs is "Bills, Bills, Bills."

ACOSTA: There you go. We're all going to be waiting for that one. That'll be that'll be awesome. Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You got it.

ACOSTA: And I won't say go, Bills. I mean, that game was pretty incredible yesterday. Let me bring in my good friend, Pamela Brown. Pam, we love to talk football on this show. I know you do as well. I'm a little concerned about my commanders. They've dropped to two straight and it's Cowboys week here in Washington. So, I've got a -- I'm going to go listen to some sports radio here this --

[11:00:00]