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Florida Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D) joked with CNN's John Berman Thursday about his love-hate relationship with House Judiciary Chairman James Comer (R-KY) while discussing the potential confirmation of Florida's former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Berman began, "You are switching committees. People got used to watching you on the Oversight Committee, you know, going after, in some cases, the Chair, James Comer. Now, you're moving to Judiciary, and you talk about Florida — politics in Florida — Pam Bondi, who will likely be the next attorney general from Florida, what do you see as your biggest concerns, vis-à-vis, with the incoming attorney general?"

Moskowitz quipped, "Well, first, John, don't talk negatively about my friend James Comer, okay? And, just because I'm leaving Oversight doesn't mean I'm leaving James, I promise you!"

Moskowitz has been known for sparring with Comer during House Judiciary Committee hearings, once trading barbs about who takes more medication during a hearing called, "A Legacy of Incompetence: Consequences of the Biden-Harris Administration’s Policy Failures.”

ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife

“You need to take your medication and leave,” Comer said when Moskowitz challenged him to impeach President Biden. Moskowitz then shot back, “Mr. chairman, you’re several decades older than me, we know who’s taking more medication."

In reality, Comer is 52 to Moskowitz is 43.

Moskowitz also recently posted a photo of Comer's new book next to a public toilet with the caption, "The subway tile work in this bathroom is lovely."

When Moskowitz finally answered Berman's question about Bondi, the congressman called her "very capable."

"You know, as far as Pam Bondi is concerned, obviously, I know the incoming attorney general. I was in the legislature when she was the attorney general of Florida when the shooting happened at my high school, at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas six years ago," Moskowitz said.

"She was the attorney general at that time and was involved in not just the response, but when we put together the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas School Safety Commission to investigate what went wrong that day, and then to work on legislation to make sure something like that never happened again. And, so, I know her fairly well. Obviously, we have many political disagreements, but she is very capable, and I think she'll wind up serving well as the attorney general."

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But its cash flow woes are even worse than previously aired in public. The national hospital chain operator owes more than $1 billion to more than 100,000 creditors, but has just $3.4 million cash on hand, Paul Rundell, Prospect’s chief restructuring officer, wrote in testimony ahead of a federal bankruptcy court hearing in Dallas on Tuesday.

“It is my understanding that, without post-petition financing, the Debtors will be unable to meet their next payroll cycle,” Rundell wrote in the Jan. 13 filing.

Prospect declares bankruptcy, says sale of Roger Williams and Fatima hospitals will continue

Even Chris Callaci, who represents the 1,200 United Nurses & Allied Professionals members who work for Prospect’s Rhode Island facilities, was taken aback.

“That was more grave than we thought in terms of a brush with disaster of not making payroll,” Callaci said in an interview on Wednesday. “We thought they had access to a little more capital.”

The 12,500 Prospect hospital employees, including the 2,500 in Rhode Island, will get their next paycheck, after a federal bankruptcy judge in Dallas authorized a $100 million line of credit on Tuesday.

Not that it offered much assurance to Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha, whose office has been keeping close tabs on Prospect’s management of Roger Williams and Fatima for the last decade. Anticipating the potential for bankruptcy, Neronha’s office also brought on New York bankruptcy attorney Andrew Troop last year; Troop attended the hearing in Dallas Tuesday on the AG’s behalf.

“We wanted to be ready,” Neronha said in an interview on Wednesday.

In search of investors

But the proactive approach may not be enough to save Rhode Island’s safety net hospitals, whose fates hinge on their cash-strapped owners’ ability to drum up the money to sell the facilities. The $80 million sale to The Centurion Foundation was expected to close this month, following a yearslong application and review process, which included a set of 85 conditions set by state regulators.

Both Prospect and Centurion insist they still intend to go through with the deal, using a clause in federal bankruptcy code that allows debtors to sell certain assets through private sale, according to court documents.

But first, they have to finish securing the $160 million in financing — $80 million for the sticker price of the sale plus another $80 million injected directly into hospital operations — required by state regulators. Neronha said Wednesday the companies had not finished raising the funds required.

Callaci doubted Prospect would be able to entice investors, given its bankruptcy declaration, and feared the company would ask state regulators to ease up on the financial strings attached to the sale.

Neronha maintained that his office did not intend to change its conditions. Joseph Wendelken, a spokesperson for the Rhode Island Department of Health, said in an email Wednesday that the agency was “committed to ensuring the hospitals have new ownership.”

Dr. Jerry Larkin, state health director, stressed the importance of keeping Roger Williams and Fatima open in pre-filed testimony to the federal bankruptcy court. The two hospitals, with 500 beds between them, account for more than 50,000 emergency room visits per year. Together they have 104 beds for behavioral health patients, representing more than 20% of behavioral health beds available statewide.

“It is certain that an abrupt closure of RWMC and/or OLF will disproportionately impact vulnerable and underserved populations, creating deeper inequities in access to care,” Larkin wrote. “The closure of these RI safety net hospitals would overwhelm RI’s healthcare system and create significant barriers to care for individuals already facing profound health disparities.”

Surgeries rescheduled

Not that operations have been running smoothly now. Rundell testified in bankruptcy court Tuesday that the company also owes millions of dollars to vendors at its 16 hospitals, forcing delays in surgeries, according to news reports.

Otis Brown, a spokesperson for CharterCARE Health Partners, Prospect’s Rhode Island subsidiary, confirmed in an email Wednesday that two spine surgeries scheduled for that day in Rhode Island had been moved to Monday, Jan. 20 because a vendor “unexpectedly requested pre-payment.”

“We are actively working with them to resolve it,” Brown said of the payment problem, adding that the rescheduling of surgeries was “without incident.”

It’s not the first time the hospital operator let bills at its Rhode Island hospitals pile up. In November 2023, Neronha’s office sued Prospect for missing $24 million in payments to vendors at Roger Williams and Fatima, forcing elective surgeries to be canceled due to lack of staff, supplies and equipment. Paying its bills on time and keeping day-to-day operations running was one of a host of conditions set by Neronha’s office in 2021, when Prospect’s ownership composition changed.

A Providence Superior Court judge sided with Neronha, demanding Prospect fork over the longest overdue vendor payments — $17 million — and blasting the company for using its Rhode Island hospitals as a “line of credit” to pay off debts elsewhere. A Prospect executive confirmed it had paid the $17 million balance as of July, but in November, filed a new affidavit that the company again let bills pile up beyond the 90-day payment deadline.

Prospect intended to rectify the late payments by the time its pending sale of Roger Williams and Fatima to The Centurion Foundation closed at the end of January 2025, George Pillari, Prospect’s senior vice president and chief performance officer, wrote in the Nov. 15 Rhode Island Superior Court filing.

“For years, they’ve been playing this game of slow walking on paying their bills, gimmicks like that to save a buck,” Callaci said. “Our guys consistently, for years, have been telling us it’s a struggle to do their jobs in a timely fashion.”

Union members who work at Roger Williams and Fatima had not indicated that daily operations had worsened in recent weeks, Callaci said.

While the union railed against the pending sale to Centurion, citing the debt financing used to fund the deal and Centurion’s lack of experience, Callaci now considers hospital closure a worse outcome.

McKee ‘missing in action’

Potential buyers were few when Prospect first sought interest in 2023. And Neronha isn’t hopeful that the pool will be larger now, given Rhode Island’s uncompetitive reimbursement rates relative to neighboring states, and his criticism of Gov. Dan McKee.

McKee attempts to rally his team in 2025 State of the State

McKee in his 2025 State of the State Tuesday night acknowledged Prospect’s financial crisis with a single line, saying he was “in conversations” with Prospect and Centurion executives.

Neronha, who sat in the front row for the packed State House event, called McKee’s statement “meaningless.”

“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Neronha said Wednesday. “He’s not involved in any talks with Prospect.”

Callaci blasted McKee for being “missing in action.”

“He ought to be making unequivocal affirmative commitments to the 2,500 to 3,000 people who work in that system and the tens of thousands of people who use those facilities,” Callaci said. “He’s chief executive officer of this state. It is his job to do the job.”

Olivia DaRocha, a spokesperson for McKee’s office, offered further explanation on McKee’s State of the State remarks in an email Wednesday.

“Discussions have centered on a potential carve-out for Prospect’s Rhode Island facilities and ensuring that the sale of Roger Williams and Fatima moves forward,” DaRocha said.

She did not respond to requests for comment on criticisms of the governor made by Callaci and Neronha.

A second hearing on Prospect’s request for short-term financing is set for Feb. 12 in federal bankruptcy court in Dallas.

Updated to include comment from Gov. Dan McKee’s office and from the Rhode Island Department of Health.

President-elect Donald Trump may have claimed that he would hire "the best people" to work in his incoming administration, but one thing's for certain — he is hiring the richest.

In fact, the combined wealth of Trump’s richest nominees and transition team officials "amounts to over $313 billion," according to a report from Americans For Tax Fairness.

Trump's pick for treasury secretary, hedge fund executive Scott Bessent, is set to answer questions at his confirmation hearing on Thursday. Bessent "has hundreds of millions of dollars in assets and owns property from North Dakota to the Bahamas," CNN reported.

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CNN national political writer Fredreka Schouten pointed out the irony in an article for CNN.com Thursday, writing, "Trump is returning to the White House after making appeals to working-class voters in last year’s election, but he has assembled one of the wealthiest administrations in history – turning to nearly a dozen people worth at least $1 billion on their own or combined with their spouses’ assets – to oversee the nation’s policies and represent the US overseas as ambassadors."

Some of the more high-profile multi-millionaires and billionaires ready to take their place in the Trump administration are Elon Musk ($300+ billion), Vivek Ramaswamy ($1 billion), Doug Bergum ($100 million), and, of course, Trump ($5.4 billion) and incoming Vice President J.D. Vance ($4.8 to $11.3 million), themselves.

Americans For Tax Fairness broke out the names and net worths of some of the other wealthiest nominees and office holders. They include:

Linda McMahon, Education Secretary Nominee, $2.6 billion; Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary Nominee, $2 billion; Scott Bessent, Treasury Secretary, $1 billion; Steven Witkoff, Special Envoy to the Middle East, $500 million; Chris Wright, Energy Secretary Nominee, $171 million; Robert F. Kennedy Jr. HHS Secretary Nominee, $15 million; Lori Chavez-DeRemer, Labor Secretary Nominee, $9.6 million; Michael Waltz, National Security Advisor, $9 million; Pete Hegseth, Defense Secretary Nominee, $6 million; Kristi Noem, Homeland Security Secretary Nominee, $1 to $5 million; Marco Rubio, Secretary of State Nominee, $3 million; Brooke Rollins, Agriculture Secretary Nominee, $3 million; Elise Stefanik, UN Ambassador Nominee, $1.8 million; Pam Bondi, Attorney General Nominee, $1.8 million.

During his farewell speech Wednesday, President Biden warned Americans about allowing the super-rich to control the government.

“I want to warn the country of some things that give me great concern. And this is a dangerous concern. And that’s the dangerous concentration of power in the hands of a very few ultra-wealthy people,” Biden said. “Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

View the list of the wealthiest nominees and office holders here and read the CNN Politics article here.

On CNN's newly launched "Table for Five" with host Abby Phillip, journalist Cari Champion butted heads with attorney Arthur Aidala during a heated discussion over companies abandoning their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies.

Conservative complaints about DEI has led to unfounded and unjust attacks on a multitude of government and corporate employees who are not white and male and Champion pointed out that if one if not white with an Ivy League education you become a target.

"You think about Ketanji Jackson, our [Supreme Court] Justice and I think of this woman and how hard she worked and they said she was a DEI justice," she stated. "And I thought to myself –– or like when you look at Kamala Harris or people who have went to Harvard and Yale and have the same exact, the same exact resume as their white counterpart, their white male counterpart, DEI is so trendy."

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"And when it comes from someone from a conservative side and they label that, it becomes this truth," she noted. "I often ask my question when I look at [Fox News personality] Pete Hegseth, I wonder, if they say he's a DEI candidate, would that be unfair to say? I don't know why we can't use them? Cha cha cha cha cha. Why we can't use the same words?"

As attorney Aidala leaned into herto reply, she added, "I know, I'm gonna let you get to it. But why can't we use the same words that they use on us? "

"But it comes from the United States Supreme Court," the attorney interjected. "The decision last year about the Harvard admissions, and they just said it violated the 14th Amendment and it really had to do with, I think, Asian students who were being excluded from going to Harvard because there were too many Asian students."

"Their grades were very high and so that's where this all comes from," he added. "Corporate America is basically following, well, if they did it to Harvard –– don't worry, I can't even spell Harvard so, you know, I'm not from Harvard –– if they're going to rule there the next stop is corporations because you're only hiring this person because of the DEI.''

"That's just not true!" Champion exclaimed as CNN host Phillip stepped in.

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Donald Trump is being warned he needs to tap the brakes on some of his most prominent initiatives lest he find himself alienating voters who gave him the benefit of the doubt.

In a blunt editorial from the Wall Street Journal opinion page editors, the president-elect, who will assume power on Monday, was admonished that "half the country still dislikes him" and that he is on a short leash.

According to the editors, "Mr. Trump has political running room, though it’s not unlimited. His victory was solid but no landslide," before adding, "... the GOP majority in the House is so narrow that a couple of willful Members can kill anything. Mr. Trump could quickly find himself in trouble if he exceeds his mandate from voters."

ALSO READ: Fox News has blood on its hands as Trump twists the knife

Applauding his plan to expel criminal undocumented immigrants, the editors stated he runs the risk of overreach if his plans also "means midnight raids on busboys, or separating mothers from children," in which case, "the politics could turn fast."

"The biggest risk in our view is Mr. Trump’s desire to court adversaries in search of diplomatic deals for their own sake. He won’t settle the Ukraine war in a day as he promised, but an ugly deal that favors Russia could be his version of President Biden’s flight from Afghanistan," the editors warned before suggesting, "Most important will be his courtship of Chinese dictator Xi Jinping. Former Trump security adviser John Bolton writes in his memoir that Mr. Trump said in his first term that a U.S. defense of Taiwan was implausible, and Mr. Xi can read. China could react to Mr. Trump’s tariffs with a blockade of Taiwan, or perhaps by taking nearby islands now controlled by Taiwan. How would Mr. Trump respond to avoid the risk of war? Would he cede Taiwan to Mr. Xi?"

They concluded, "If Mr. Trump focuses on settling scores rather than raising incomes, Democrats will sweep the 2026 midterms and progressives will return to power with a vengeance in 2028," before cautioning, "A second presidential chance would be a terrible thing to waste."

You can read the entire editorial here.

According to one columnist, Democrats have nothing to fear in the future with Donald Trump unable to run again in 2028 and, therefore, they should bedevil him at every turn and make the next four years unbearable for him.

In a column with the none-too-subtle headline of "Shove the Presidency Down Trump’s Throat," Jason Linkins of The New Republic suggests heaping problems on the president-elect to the point where they "Wake him up early and keep him up late."

Pointing out that Trump's extremist agenda precludes any reason to call for national "unity," Linkins wrote, "Rather than exert so much energy trying to thrust Trump out of the presidency, liberals would be well served to spend their time thrusting the presidency upon Donald Trump. Instead of searching for illusory quick fixes for the existence of the Trump administration, start demanding the Trump administration fix everything quickly."

ALSO READ: Inside the parade of right-wing world leaders flocking to D.C. for Trump's inauguration

According to the columnist, Trump proved in his first term that he doesn't handle stress well, fumbling every crisis, and that Democrats should make him a punching bag for everything happening in the country that is headed south.

"They [Democrats] need to raise a hue and cry over everything under the sun that’s broken, dysfunctional, or trending in the wrong direction; pile line items on Trump’s to-do list," he wrote before suggesting, "Every day, get in front of cable news cameras and reporters’ notepads with a new problem for Trump to solve and fresh complaints about the work not done."

"It’s always been something of a mystery why someone who was making it in America as an idle rich celebrity a--shole abruptly changed course and decided that what he really wanted to do with his life was to become responsible for an entire nation and its problems," he wrote and added Trump should be spending his golden tears enjoying life.

"In this universe, liberals would do well to find creative ways to make Trump regret his choices," he advised.

You can read more here.