AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Yesterday in Landover, Maryland, President-elect Donald Trump attended the Army-Navy football game. Among his guests - Pete Hegseth, his pick to lead the Department of Defense, and Florida Governor Rick DeSantis. And that's where we begin with NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Hi, Franco.
FRANCO ORDOÑEZ, BYLINE: Hey, Ayesha.
RASCOE: In case anyone missed it, Navy beat Army 31 to 13. But I want to ask, what's the significance of Trump having both Hegseth and DeSantis at the game?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, I mean, it's a big demonstration that Trump is continuing his support for Hegseth, you know, a former Army major and Fox News host, who has been fighting really just a bunch of terrible headlines. And Hegseth has made some progress, especially on Capitol Hill and with moderate Senate Republicans. I mean, he's kind of shifted on some of his more extreme positions, such as softening his stance on women in combat. I mean, before, he said that they shouldn't be in combat roles. Now he's saying that women are some of America's greatest warriors and that his earlier comments were taken out of context.
RASCOE: And what about Governor DeSantis?
ORDOÑEZ: Well, DeSantis is a former Navy lawyer. And according to the Associated Press and others, he had been under consideration as kind of a backup pick for a defense secretary should Hegseth get derailed. But there is also something that DeSantis has that Trump really wants. DeSantis is likely to have a Senate seat to fill, provided, of course, that Florida Senator Marco Rubio wins confirmation as secretary of state. Now, Trump has made clear that he'd like his daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, to get that seat. And she announced last week that she's stepping down as co-chair of the Republican National Committee.
RASCOE: Franco, on Friday, Senator Mitch McConnell seemed to signal to one of Trump's other cabinet picks, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., over the polio vaccine. What can you tell us about this?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah. McConnell spoke out in support of the vaccine after Kennedy's lawyer petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine. That's according to The New York Times. McConnell had polio as a young child, and to this day, it impacts his walk.
Now, Kennedy himself says he doesn't want to take away anyone's choice to take vaccines, but still McConnell, without naming Kennedy, said any efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are, quote, "not just uninformed - they're dangerous." He went on to say that anyone seeking Senate confirmation would, quote, "do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts."
Now, it is interesting timing, given Trump was recently asked about Kennedy and his vaccine skepticism during an interview with Time Magazine for the Person of the Year cover. Trump said there was going to be a big discussion about the childhood vaccination programs.
RASCOE: So finally, let's talk about those drones or the drones that people have been talking about over New Jersey and now other parts of the Northeast. Sightings have been happening for weeks. What's the White House been saying about this?
ORDOÑEZ: Yeah, the White House says there's no evidence right now of a national security or a public safety threat. But people are nervous. I mean, in places like Asbury Park, they're watching via surf cams. U.S. officials say a lot of what they're seeing are actually planes, but they don't have a good answer about who is operating the drones or what they're doing. And now Trump has weighed in. He's calling for them to be shot down, and he questions whether the government is holding back information. It all reminds me of kind of the Chinese surveillance balloon controversy back in 2023.
RASCOE: That's NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordoñez. Thank you so much, Franco.
ORDOÑEZ: Thank you, Ayesha. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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