Former defense secretary reacts to Hegseth allegations

(CNN) — With 2024 winding down, it’s time for the annual “of the year” story barrage to begin. Among the first out of the gate is the Cambridge Dictionary’s word of the year. Hint: It’s all about thinking positive.

Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• Some of Donald Trump’s Cabinet selections — including Pete Hegseth for secretary of Defense and Tulsi Gabbard for director of national intelligence — could force Republicans to choose between their allegiance to Trump and their growing concerns that some of his nominees might not be up for the job. Follow live updates.
• Former Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, who withdrew from consideration as Trump’s pick for attorney general, said he will not return to Congress. Gaetz resigned from the House before the Ethics Committee could release a report about its investigation into him, including alleged sexual misconduct, which he has denied.
• The world agreed to a new climate deal at COP29, with wealthy countries pledging to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 to poorer countries to help them cope with the increasingly catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis — a figure many developing countries criticized as vastly insufficient.
• Public schools in Texas now have the option to use a new, state-written curriculum infused with Bible stories after the state’s school board voted in favor of the material. Some say it’s unconstitutional.
• Chuck Woolery, the affable, smooth-talking game show host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble” who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the government of lying about Covid-19, died at age 83.

The week ahead

Monday
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will attend the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Italy. Topics to be discussed include conflicts in the Middle East, Russia’s war in Ukraine, Indo-Pacific security and the ongoing crises in Haiti and Sudan. The countries that make up the G7 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US. Following the gathering, Blinken travels to Vatican City to meet with Pope Francis.

President Joe Biden will utilize his presidential pardon power to spare the lives of two turkeys on the White House’s South Lawn. Turkeys have been given as gifts to American presidents for about 150 years, but the first documented turkey pardon was given by President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

Tuesday
The Thanksgiving holiday travel period officially gets underway with nearly 80 million travelers heading 50 miles or more from home, according to AAA. The auto club is projecting a record 71.7 million people will travel by car, while 5.84 million people will fly domestically.

Thursday
Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s an encore presentation of CNN’s look at 10 decades of Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons.

Friday
Black Friday is the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, but big box bellwether Target set off alarms last week when it said that it’s expecting a surprisingly weak holiday shopping season, a potential warning sign for the retail industry as a whole.

Listen in

One Thing: 🎧 ‘Trump-proofing’ Ukraine?
In this episode of the “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reports from Kyiv on the unprecedented steps the Biden administration is taking to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia — and how Russia is responding. Listen here.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
Amazon Prime Video will begin streaming a new docuseries Tuesday about one of the most iconic video games of all time — “Madden NFL.” The four-part series, titled “It’s in the Game,” chronicles the rise of Madden NFL from its archaic 8-bit origins to its eventual success as an annual “must-have.”

Two new music documentaries arrive Friday, covering two distinct eras.

“Beatles ’64” on Disney+ centers on The Beatles’ first visit to America and the ensuing hysteria that came to be known as “Beatlemania.”

HBO’s “Yacht Rock: A Dockumentary” chronicles the rise of the West Coast, soft rock pop culture epitomized by the likes of Michael McDonald, Christopher Cross, Kenny Loggins, Steely Dan and Toto. (HBO, like CNN, is a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

In theaters
“Moana 2,” the sequel to Disney’s huge 2016 hit, arrives on the big screen Wednesday — just in time to sail into the long holiday weekend.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
The NFL serves up a trio of Thanksgiving Day games including Bears vs. Lions — featuring a halftime performance by Grammy-nominated musician Shaboozey — followed by Giants vs. Cowboys and Dolphins vs. Packers. And on Friday, Amazon Prime Video offers a second helping with the Raiders facing off against the Chiefs.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to CNN Sports as well as Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s weekly news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 77% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘What a Fool Believes’
If you’re not familiar with “Yacht Rock,” there’s no better introduction than this Doobie Brothers classic, featuring the godfather of the genre, Michael McDonald. (Click here to view)

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