Mattis, Nielsen Visit Troops at U.S.-Mexico Border
KING: Topping our political radar, sources say President Trump will announce this afternoon his support for a bipartisan prison reform bill engineered in large part by his son-in-law Jared Kushner. The first step back looks to overhaul the criminal justice system by boosting rehabilitation efforts and giving judges more sentencing discretion for non-violent offenses. It has the support of numerous law enforcement associations and the National District Attorneys Association. Georgia governor's race between Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp still unsettled. This morning, a federal judge ordering one of the state's largest counties to review all provisional ballots that were previously rejected. Abrams has not yet conceded to Kemp arguing there are enough votes remaining to force the race into a runoff. Georgia's Democratic Party meanwhile is taking its appeal to the airways.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This election, was your voice heard? Too many were silent.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Abrams campaign continue to push for all of the state ballots to be counted.</s>KING: The Justice Department offering several reasons why Matt Whitaker's appointment as acting attorney general is in its view, constitutional. This comes after the state of Maryland argues President Trump wrongfully bypassed the constitution by selecting Whitaker to replace Jeff Sessions. The state says Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should have been Sessions' rightful successor. But Whitaker, listen here, is in Iowa today. That's home, doesn't seem too worried about the controversy.</s>MATTHEW WHITAKER, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: I was asked, as often I am, by people that are not from Des Moines, what does Des Moines mean? Well, it's French. As you may have figured out, and it's French for Des Moines. You never know what you can do when you're U.S. attorney for the University of Iowa.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No kidding.</s>WHITAKER: You're going to go places, I know that.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess so.</s>WHITAKER: Especially with that beard.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.</s>KING: And right now, the Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen visiting troops at the U.S.-Mexico border. President Trump sent thousands of soldiers to that region ahead of the midterms, according to administration to protect the border from a caravan of asylum seekers making their way through Mexico. Secretary Mattis said a short time ago, he does not foresee those troops having any contact with the migrants and he made sure the men and women serving could ask some questions.</s>JAMES MATTIS, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Adequate</s>KING: Interesting optics there. Number one, good for them, good for them. Whether you agree or disagree with the deployment, the troops are there, we're approaching Thanksgiving, they're not at their home base, for the defense secretary, former general himself and Secretary Nielsen to go there is a good thing. Both of them also said today as we discussed earlier in the program to maybe be heading to the off-ramps. What do you make of that?</s>ABBY PHILLIP, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I think it's really important that they were there because as everyone knows, sending troops to the border means that they don't get to be elsewhere, they don't get to be with their families. They are living as if they are in a war zone even though they are not really in any kind of combat mission. But at the same time just the fact that they have been trying -- Mattis and Nielsen really have been trying to execute what the president wants without creating bigger problems is one of the reasons that President Trump wants them out of their jobs. Because there are people in the White House who were saying these are people always trying to hold you back from your priorities, Mr. President. And I think that's one of the reasons why they're in the hot water that they're in, but a lot of people would look at this situation and say this is actually a case in which there should not be 15,000 troops at the border because there is really not anything for them to do. At least not for a while now.</s>KING: Is this good leadership or is it a case of Jim Mattis saying I'm with her at this delicate moment? I'm not sure. We shall see. Up next, a handful of Nancy Pelosi detractors say they can deny her the speaker's gavel. Nancy Pelosi says good luck with that.