16 Passengers Under Observation in Nebraska Quarantine Unit

26:53One of them, an IDF reservist, was even offered more than$30 ,000 to assassinate his commander. We can't confirm any links between VIP employment and the recent anti-Semitic attacks in Europe, but the one thing they seem to have in common is Iran. Here in the UK, the wave of attacks has left the small Jewish community feeling more vulnerable than ever. One of the group's targets in London, the Kenton United Synagogue, attacked, they claim, for being, quote, a centre of Zionist influence, and its rabbi, a key instrument of Zionism. Just take you in here. Oh, the smell. Yeah, it's quite, it's quite pungent, isn't it?

27:37And you can actually... Still smells of fire days after. Ten days after, and it's still quite punctured, isn't it? They came from the outside. They smashed its window in, and they threw a fire bomb in here. You can see the damage that's been caused. Wow. I mean, how did you feel when you walked in and you saw this? I was really upset, obviously. I mean, it's only a medical room. I mean, we can replace it. We can redecorate it and everything else. But what could have transpired, that is really tough. With anti-Semitism at record highs worldwide, Rabbi Black says the attacks were a shock but not a surprise.

28:19My biggest concern is that it has to stop. People have to realize that what's happening elsewhere is happening elsewhere, but what's happening over here is plain anti-Semitism. A 17-year-old British national pleaded guilty to arson without endangering life. In a written statement, he apologized. He said he has nothing against the Jewish people and said that he didn't know that this was a synagogue. Many of the suspects here and elsewhere in Europe are teenagers. Authorities are warning anyone considering getting involved in these attacks for quick cash, they will be, quote, used once and thrown away.

28:59But it seems these attacks may have already opened the floodgates, emboldening others to follow. On our way back from the synagogue, we noticed a heavy police presence. As we were making our way, we heard that people had been stabbed here. And as we approached the police lines, we could see at the time the suspect was still on the ground, surrounded by the police. Two visibly Jewish men were stabbed. From the shadows, Ashab El-Yamin claimed the attack without providing evidence of links to the suspect, who according to police has a history of mental illness and serious violence. Claim, confuse, intimidate and inspire, that's all part of their tactics, leaving so many in this community bracing for even darker days ahead.

29:50Jumana Karachi, CNN, London. And our thanks to Jumana Karacha for that report. The Iranian embassy in London denied having any link with or involvement in the London attack, saying in a statement, quote, such baseless accusations against the Islamic Republic of Iran lack credible evidence and appear to serve narrow political agendas and to mislead public opinion and distract from the real root causes of terrorism and violent extremism, unquote. It has been nearly 10 years since President Trump went to China. Tomorrow he's headed back from the Iran war to a trade war. There is a lot riding on this visit.

30:25Plus, this time, some high-profile names in technology are going to join him. What my experts are going to be watching for in this trip. That's next.

30:41Look, I have a great relationship with President Xi. We're doing a lot of business, but it's smart business. I respect him a lot, and hopefully he respects me. And our world lead, Trump leaves tomorrow for a very high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. From the war with Iran to trade to Taiwan, the leaders of the world's two biggest superpowers have much to discuss. Here now to discuss here are CNN national security analyst, Beth Sanner, and CNN political commentator, Jonah Goldberg. So, Beth, let me start with you. Trump and Xi last met about six months ago to summit in South Korea.

31:16So much has changed since then. War in Iran. China purportedly gets about a third of its oil through the Strait of Hormuz. China also has other interests in Iran. Take a listen to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on 60 Minutes last night when asked about China supplying Iran with weapons. China gave a certain amount of support and particular components of missile manufacturing. But I can't say more than that. Does that disturb you? Well, I didn't like it. Because it's apparently doing it right now. Could be. Could be. Just last month, Trump himself threatened to impose a 50 percent tariff on China if those reports are true.

32:00You might be surprised to find out he has not imposed that 50 percent tariff. Do you think he's going to ask China for some clarity on this? For sure. I mean, we just actually have had another round of sanctions that they came out on Friday from the Treasury Department that actually sanctions several small companies that are export import companies that probably are part of this component's supply. But also one of those companies was a satellite company, and they're accused of providing overhead intelligence to the Iranians, just like the Russians are also accused of. But the Russians have actually been supplying a lot more.

32:40And so, you know, so China has been put on notice. Their banks have been put on notice that they could run afoul of secondary sanctions. So the Chinese are not happy about this because it goes beyond kind of these teapot refineries we talked about a couple months ago, these small independent things. But it's actually now there are two companies that are connected to banks and to the international financial system. And so the Chinese put on blocking options where they said, no, you companies cannot abide by U.S. sanctions. So there's actually a lot going on behind the scenes here, and it will definitely be a source of conversation.

33:22But look, we're not holding Russia responsible at all. Zero percent tariffs. So I don't get it. Jonah, I want to play something that Trump said about China reportedly supplying Iran with weapons. This is last month. I hear news reports about China giving the shoulder missiles what's called a shoulder missile, anti-aircraft missile. I doubt they would do that because I have a relationship. But if we catch them doing that, they get a 50 percent tariff, which is a staggering. That's a staggering amount. To be clear, these threats are not aimed at these little teeny companies that you're talking about.

33:59It's a 50 percent tariff on China. Right. But he's not doing it. Right. Well, I mean, to me, the tell in that statement and virtually any time he's ever asked about Xi or China or any of that, He talks about what a great relationship he has with him. And that's what Trump does with a lot of these things, is he boils all these things down to these interpersonal relationships. And I think that that's something that a lot of my China Hawk friends are very worried about, is that there's a lot of talk that Xi will come up with some top-line headline number, the trillion-dollar investment in America.

34:33Trump loves coming home with those kinds of deals that who knows how reliable the actual promise is. But it lets Trump have the headline. And that's what Trump wants. Right. And who cares what happens to the Taiwanese? And who cares what happens to the Taiwanese? Who cares what happens to Jimmy Lai? I mean, it would be great. There are more important things for American national security than Jimmy Lai, but it would be a wonderful thing to get Jimmy Lai out of there. And he says he might. So we'll get to that in a sec. But let's talk about the trade war, because at this time last year, Trump was imposing a 145 % tariff on Chinese imports.

35:08So he is willing to pull the trigger when he wants to. It's long gone, of course. Last week, a federal court struck down President Trump's across the board 10 % tariffs. When it comes to negotiating on trade, does China just have the upper hand here, given the fact that Trump keeps being limited by courts? Absolutely, because the reason we don't have 150 % tariffs on China right now is because they actually played this huge card, which was they said, oh, you know those rare earth and critical minerals that you all need for everything from your cell phones to your weapon systems? sorry, we're going to be putting export controls on those.

35:43So maybe not a good idea. So he had to back off. And then now we have, you know, the legislation, the Supreme Court ruled against these major sanctions, this kind of blanket sanctions. Trump does not want to be in a trade war right now with Beijing. Beijing does not want to be in a trade war with us. Both sides, I think, want some semblance of stability because Trump has too much going on, you know, and President Xi does not, he wants more stability. But look, President Xi believes going into this that he has the cards, that he has the upper hand, and that President Trump is coming to this given the Iran war rather weak.

36:22And so to Jonah's point, we should expect them to be pushing on things that are red lines, like, you know about those arms sales that you do for Taiwan? Like, we don't want you to be doing that. And President Trump said today, out loud, I'm going to be discussing that with President Xi. And since Reagan, we have literally said, we will not, written down, we will not talk to Beijing about arms sales. That's off the table. We don't talk to you about that. So he's already given that away. So Trump's also bringing quite a tech delegation with him. more than a dozen business leaders, including Tim Cook of Apple, Elon Musk of Tesla and SpaceX.

37:02How important is the technology piece of this all? I think, look, it's hugely important. We are in a race about AI. I think we're slightly ahead of the Chinese, but not very far ahead. And, you know, at the end of the day, I would say one of the biggest differences between the first Trump administration and the second Trump administration is that in the first Trump administration, the Trump administration actually talked about China being an adversary. And in this one, they're much more of a trading partner, strategic partner kind of thing when it comes to trade, when it comes to technology. They reverse themselves on TikTok and all of that.

37:40And it's very difficult to sort of predict. I don't know what the ideological through line in this administration is when it comes to China. I think it is much more like if he could, I think Xi is going into this thinking, if I can do what Mohammed bin Salman did in Saudi Arabia and work out some big, splashy deal where Trump gets his ego stroke and comes home with some stuff, some wins, that will make Trump happy. Because I don't see a real national security strategy vis-a-vis China in the second Trump term. Jonah, you talked about Jimmy Lai. He's a journalist from Hong Kong serving a 20-year prison sentence, accused of publishing seditious materials colluding with foreign forces.

38:18Here is what President Trump said about that today. It's like saying to me, if Comey ever went to jail, would you let him out? It might be a hard one for me. Jimmy Light, he caused lots of turmoil for China. He tried to do the right thing. He wasn't successful, went to jail, and people would like him out. And I'd like to see him get out, too. I mean, what do you make of that, John? Well, the Comey thing, I think, is shameful on so many different fronts. Jimmy Lai's a hero. He was fighting for freedom. He was fighting for freedom of speech. He was fighting for democracy. He was fighting to save Hong Kong.

38:59And he's an old man who's already been in solitary confinement for almost six years. It would be a great win for Trump to bring him home and figure out how to do it. All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Just minutes ago, I spoke with the director of the biocontainment unit in Nebraska, where 16 of 18 US passengers are now from that cruise ship with the Hantavirus outbreak. She said that passengers are not required to stay at that hospital, but she's highly encouraging them to do so. Coming up, I'm gonna talk with a Hantavirus expert. What needs to happen to contain this deadly virus?

39:29That's next.

39:36Welcome to The Lead, I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, 18 passengers from that Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are back in the United States, and at least one has tested positive for the virus. Another is experiencing symptoms and is being treated in a biocontainment unit. In moments, I'm going to be joined live by a doctor who's advising on the quarantine of the American passengers as health officials try to keep this outbreak contained. Plus, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth now threatening a second investigation into Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, accusing the retired Navy captain of leaking classified information.

40:12Senator Kelly will join us live on set in moments to respond. Also, the U.S. Supreme Court deciding tonight that women can still access an abortion pill through telehealth visits and the mail as the justices weigh permanent restrictions on the drug. Are we getting any signs as to how the court might rule? Our legal experts are here to weigh in. And today, President Trump said he supports suspending the federal gas tax as Americans face rising gas prices because of the war in Iran. But this move would require Congress to act. So will they? And how much money could it save you? That's ahead.

40:53The lead tonight, 18 passengers from that cruise ship, hit with the rare but deadly Hantavirus, are now back home in the United States. 15 U.S. citizens and a British national who lives in the States are at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. where one individual who is positive but asymptomatic is being monitored in the center's biocontainment unit. The 15 other passengers are staying at the center's national quarantine unit and remain healthy as well. We got an inside look at one of those rooms from a passenger, a U.S. travel blogger who's been posting updates for weeks. He shares that he's being monitored and he's tested and says he's OK and feeling well.

41:31Two other American passengers are now in Atlanta at Emory University Hospital. That's because one is experiencing symptoms and is inside a biocontainment unit. The other is in a couple with that person. A Center for Disease Control and Prevention official, or CDC official, says precautions are in place to contain the virus, but would not offer any certainty that it will not spread. There are no guarantees in life. We're putting as many measures in place as possible to ensure that people are safe and healthy and we keep the community safe and healthy as well. CNN's Diane Gallagher is in Nebraska.

42:09Diane, what's the latest? Yeah, so Jake, the 16 people who are still here in Omaha, Nebraska, 15 of them are in the National Quarantine Unit, which is in the building behind me in the basement area. And those areas are basically, according to medical officials here, kind of like hotel rooms, except for they have negative pressure and an elite ventilation system, along with access to an incredible medical team that has been doing assessments and monitoring of those passengers. Now, it's important to note that nobody who is currently here in Nebraska has shown any symptoms of Hantavirus so far. However, there is one person who we have described as testing positive for hantavirus who was in that biocontainment unit.

42:56Now, Spanish authorities told CNN that that individual actually took two tests because they had been in close contact with one of the passengers who later died from hantavirus. Now, that goes to show just sort of this lengthy incubation period of this virus. But Spanish health authorities told CNN that the first test was a weak positive, according to U.S. officials. Spanish officials thought that it was inconclusive. When that person took another test, that test came up negative. But U.S. authorities said they wanted to act with extreme caution, so they considered that a positive test. And that person traveled in a biocontainment way back to the United States.

43:38They have since been in that biocontainment unit with testing and more aggressive monitoring than the other 15 here right now. Now, the two in Atlanta, the person who was symptomatic but had not been tested at the point they were on the plane, and their travel companion are at Emory University. What is key here is that during these assessments right now, they're going to make determinations on just how close contact they may have had with people who were symptomatic or who had tested positive, when that took place and continue monitoring them for fevers or other type of symptoms that may occur.

44:12This is a lengthy incubation period, up to 42 days. And so they're encouraging people to be able to stay here for that monitoring, but they are allowed to go back to their home if they have medical facilities that can assist with daily monitoring and can quarantine in an area of their own home. All right, Diane Gallagher in Omaha, Nebraska. Thanks so much. Let's bring in Dr. Michelle Harkins from the University of New Mexico. She's an expert in the Hantavirus who's consulting with the team at the University of Nebraska. Dr. Harkins, thanks for joining us. Talk us through the process that the medical professionals in Nebraska are going through to evaluate the passengers being monitored right now.

44:51Well, right now, they will be doing intensive histories, understanding exactly what relation each passenger had to the sick passengers. So they will find out what activities they did on the boat. They will also be taking temperature, vitals, likely doing blood work to assess that person's risk for developing the disease and to assess their current health status. How long are you recommending that the passengers stay under observation in order to keep this virus contained? Well, as you know, the incubation period is a long time. And I think following what the World Health Organization has suggested right now is appropriate to do an in-depth history, a physical assessment, and to assess how each patient or each passenger might be related to one of the index patients.

45:47So it's really going to depend on case-to-case basis. And this is what the University of Nebraska is very well known for. And I think they will make the right decisions along with CDC and World Health Organization. It can take weeks for symptoms to appear, as you alluded to, and there is no cure. What does treatment look like once symptoms start? Well, once symptoms start, it's typically a flu-like illness, fever, chills, headache. And we suggest that if you've had exposure to rodents or a passenger on this boat, potentially, you would want to seek medical attention. The treatment actually involves bringing patients to an ICU.

46:32So you want to go to a tertiary medical center that has an intensive care unit with the capability of ECMO. These patients can rapidly deteriorate and have cardiac and pulmonary failure. and sometimes at worst case scenarios need to be put on cardiac bypass machine. Not everyone is that ill when people have mild disease, though. Officials are monitoring other individuals across six states right now, folks who are either passengers who'd already disembarked the cruise or had been exposed to confirmed cases on an international flight. These people so far remain asymptomatic, we're told. Do you see a risk here at all?

47:14I think if they are connected with their public health department in each state, as is happening, and they take temperatures and they monitor their symptoms, I think following the public health measures will be key in containing this outbreak. There may be other cases that pop up. We will soon be watching over the next few weeks. But hopefully this will be contained easily by the public health department. All right, Dr. Michelle Harkins, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Joining us now to discuss CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, what do you make of the care plan laid out by the teams in Nebraska and also now the team monitoring the two passengers at Emory University in Atlanta?

47:56Well, these are what these institutions were designed to do. You know, so, I mean, I've covered a lot of these stories. You remember the Ebola patients came back to the United States, back to Emory, COVID patients to the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit. Two goals. One is they obviously want to make sure nobody else there gets sick, so that quarantine and isolation, which is really sophisticated. Negative pressure rooms, as Diane was talking about, really good ventilation. But then, you know, really incredible care should these patients need it. Typically with this virus, it can affect the lungs, as Dr.

48:29Harkins was just talking about. It can also make you more likely to bleed, cause something known as a hemorrhagic fever, and can affect the kidneys. So, you know, that's a really high level of care. Biggest question, I think, which both Diane and Dr. Harkin sort of alluded to, Jake, is who are the close contacts? You know, how are you going to really count them? What constitutes a close contact? That's going to make a big difference, I think, going forward. Since it can take a few weeks to exhibit symptoms of the hantavirus, what are the advantages or disadvantages of releasing passengers who remain asymptomatic into the public?

49:03I think, you know, if you look at the data and look historically over the last few decades, people tend to transmit this virus rarely only if they're sick. And that's a big deal because remember with COVID, people could be spreading the virus even before they knew they had it, had no symptoms. I think, you know, we reported on a woman back in 2018, Jake. She came back with the Andes variant, the same virus that we're talking about here. She took two commercial flights. She had 53 contacts in six different states. She was asymptomatic at the time and subsequently got sick and tested positive when she got home to the states.

49:38They went back and contact traced all those folks, and none of them got it. So point being that if you're asymptomatic, it seems like it's really hard to transfer. I think what's challenging, though, is, again, if you are sick, what then constitutes a close contact? Jake, we talked about this a little bit on Friday. This is the study that everyone points to. Guy walks into a birthday party in Argentina. He is a—I don't know if we can blow that up a little bit, But basically, he's sitting at a table and he infects five people within this birthday party. He's there for 90 minutes. Four of the people are kind of close contacts.

50:11They're within a few feet of him. One guy's sitting all the way across the room, Jake, and they only pass each other for just a moment when they're both going to the restroom. Or one's leaving the restroom, one's coming from the restroom. So that was enough to get that guy infected. And I think the point is that if you're sick, you can be quite contagious. and you can even spread it in a relatively short time. It doesn't necessarily take prolonged contact. If you're not sick, you're probably not gonna spread this. Do you agree with the health officials and experts who say that the risk to the general public remains so low for now, it's okay that these individuals who are on the cruise ship who are asymptomatic do not need to quarantine?

50:51Yeah, I think the risk is really low. There's no question. And I think we can say that at this point, if somebody else tests positive that was not on the cruise ship as a result of the contact, the scenario that I was just describing, that would raise the level of concern. But I think at this point, the reason people say it's low is really three different reasons, three points. One is that there's something known as a reproductive number or the R-naught. If you have it, how many people are you likely to spread it to? Generally speaking, in a general sort of outbreak, it's about 1.19 with this virus.

51:26Small window of spread. Again, this is the point. Even for people who were sick, it was when they had a fever and was about a day or a day and a half when they were actually infectious. And then again, it's been a relatively stable virus. With COVID, it's mutated a lot. But with this virus over the last couple of decades, it doesn't seem to have changed that much. That's a good sign as well, Jake. All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. As Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatens another legal review into his comments. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is here to respond next. Is he at all worried about a second potential Pentagon investigation?

52:06What does he think is behind this? Plus, Virginia Democrats now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and let them use the state's new congressional maps in this year's midterm elections, despite the Virginia Supreme courts striking them down. Will the U.S. justices wade into the fight? That's ahead.

52:31And our politics lead, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon will open a legal review into Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona for a second time. The first time, obviously, was over Kelly's reminder in a video that U.S. service members should refuse illegal orders. Now, Hegseth is threatening an investigation over these comments. We've been briefed by the Pentagon on specific munitions, actually. It's been pretty detailed on tomahawks, attackums, SM3s, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves. And the numbers are, I think it's fair to say it's shocking, how deep we have gone into these magazines.

53:16The munitions are depleted. Hegseth says that Senator Kelly was, quote, blabbing about a classified Pentagon briefing. Kelly today responded on X or Twitter saying, quote, we had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago. That's not classified. It's a quote from you, unquote. Here's part of the exchange that Senator Kelly posted. How many years specifically is it going to take to replace these systems? I mean, months and years. Fast. Years. With me now, Senator Mark Kelly, retired U.S. Navy captain, former NASA astronaut. He sits on the Senate Armed Services and Senate Intelligence Committees.

53:56Senator, what's going on here? Why is Secretary Hegseth threatening to investigate you? Well, I think it comes down to it. He doesn't want to be held accountable. They've expended an enormous amount of munitions. And I think the only investigation we need, the one we need right now, is after 15 ,000 strikes, all we got out of this. We have 13 dead Americans, got the Strait of Hormuz closed, gas prices in Arizona are $4.80 a gallon, seem to be heading up. And we have a Secretary of Defense, not only is he ill-prepared, unprepared, unqualified for this job, he doesn't want to be held accountable for the actions.

54:43But do you understand, because I don't, so I'm sincerely asking, what is it exactly that you said that he is alleging was classified? Well, nothing I said was classified. We had this discussion in an open hearing. When you are going to hit 15 ,000 targets, you're going to use a lot of munitions. Things coming off of airplanes, there's missiles that are being shot, you know, they're responding, with ICBMs, which we have to take out with air defense systems. It's not classified. I mean, 15 ,000 strikes consume an enormous amount. And by the way, he's asking for$25 to$50 billion to replenish these munitions, where he said it's going to take years.

55:29So again, what he's trying to avoid is accountability. This thing is not going the way they expected. They went into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline. Now they have no exit strategy and they're flailing. And when somebody like me starts asking them questions, whether it's I make a point on a show like yours or in an open hearing, they don't want to give specific answers because they probably at this point, they realize that they've made a number of mistakes. He in his post where he said he would open this legal review into your remarks, he addressed you as captain, in quotation marks.

56:10I guess this is a reference to his effort to reduce your military rank, which would lower your pay. He has this case against you. You sued him for violating your First Amendment rights. Where does that case stand? Well, last week I was at the D.C. Circuit Court, which is the appellate court, because they appealed. I had a preliminary injunction to stop that process. We'll see how that turns out. Bottom line, though, on this, Jake, is it's not about me. This is about two million retired service members. And for anybody who listened to that hearing last week, one of the really interesting parts was at the end when Pete Hegseth's lawyer, which is a DOJ lawyer, said that if any service member like myself who served 20 or 25 years in the military, if they want their First Amendment rights, they should give up their retirement, give up their pension, give up their health care, and then they would be free to speak out.

57:08How un-American is that? I mean, people who have given the most for this country are being asked now by this administration or told, hey, if you don't do this, if you don't shut up, you could lose your pension, you could lose your rank in retirement, and your other option is just give it all up. And then you're free to say what you want. I mean, that's not what it says in the Constitution. And there's no precedent for that in any military law. On the Iran war, I want to play what President Trump told reporters today after calling Iran's counterproposal garbage and unacceptable. Take a listen. I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support where the doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1 % chance of living.

58:06What's your take on the status of the war and how he's? Well, I think he doesn't know what to do at this point. And this is what happens when you don't listen to people around you. I think he has a lot of yes people around him, a lot of yes men. Certainly Hegseth is one. Hegseth's also unqualified for this role as the Secretary of Defense. But he does have some people that could give him reasonable advice. General Cain, I would think. Yeah, and I think so. And we saw some things reported publicly. He said something about the Strait of Hormuz being shut down. The president is like, well, that's not going to happen.

58:39This thing's going to be over in two or three days. Donald Trump thinks he knows more than everybody about everything. This is a guy who said because he went to military high school, he knows more than admirals and generals. He does not. I mean, his depth of knowledge on this stuff is an inch deep. And because of that, we've got 13 dead Americans. We've got 150 dead Iranian little kids, thousands of other innocent people. Gas prices are spiking. in my state of people that woman who can't afford to put gas in her car to take her kid to cancer treatment because it's a 300 mile round trip. She texted me about a week and a half ago about this.

59:23Doesn't know what she's going to do because she can no longer afford gas. And this president, sometimes he thinks this is a joke. A few days ago, he said something about a love tap. He's going to drop some more bombs. That's how he referred to it. He's not a serious guy. And because of that, we are all less safe. I know this is only one small part of it, but could you get that woman to do a GoFundMe and we could publicize it on the show and maybe help her with the kid and the cancer treatments? Just an idea. It's just something to talk about. I'll look and ask her about it. Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, thank you so much.

59:58Today, President Trump said he wants to suspend the federal gas tax. It would, of course, require Congress to sign off. How likely is it? How much money could he save you? That's next.

1:00:15In our money lead, President Trump wants to suspend the federal gas tax, quote, for a period of time, unquote, he told CBS this morning. This move could provide temporary small relief as gas prices hit$4.52 a gallon Sunday. Congress would have to approve suspending the tax. 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel. And lawmakers have rejected similar steps during previous price spikes. Trump also rejected the idea of a bailout for U.S. airlines as they battle with rising jet fuel prices up 84 percent from January, telling CBS, quote, the airlines are not doing badly. President Trump's comments come nine days after Spirit Airlines shut down, blaming jet fuel prices caused by the Iran war.

1:01:04And with Memorial Day and summer travel ahead, how are airlines coping with rising fuel costs? Here to discuss, David Neelman, founder and CEO of Breeze Airways, an airline that serves many smaller airports. Neelman also founded JetBlue. David, thanks for joining us. So with jet fuel costs on the rise, have you had to pass those costs on to travelers?

1:01:29Hi, Jake. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, of course. It fuels about 25 percent of our costs. I just gave you an idea where fuel prices were and where they are today. It's about ten dollars per hour of flight. So if we have a couple hour flight, our costs are up about twenty dollars for one of our guests. And so some of that we can pass along and some of that we can't, obviously, because it's an empty seat is an empty seat. So, you know, our yield management team's doing a good job. But, you know, I think the fares are still really low by comparison, you know, in times past. And because we serve so many routes that are only our, about 85 percent of our 300 plus routes, we have no nonstop competition.

1:02:16So people just enjoy going nonstop and they love going on a product like Breeze that has first class and extra leg room. And so it's, you know, we're coping. We're doing just fine. Just to be clear, when you say$10 a flight, you mean$10 per passenger a flight or$20 per passenger? No. No? Per hour a flight. Per hour a flight. Per hour a flight. So if it's a two-hour flight, yeah. So if it's a two-hour flight, then it's$20 each way. If it's an hour flight, it's$10. and so on. Today, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, said if the Strait of Hormuz isn't reopened in the next few weeks, the oil market will not be able to return to normal until 2027.

1:02:59Are you preparing for that possibility? And if so, how? Absolutely. You know, we always have to. I mean, we're obviously watching every expenditure. we're doing everything we can to you know pass along some of that increase but you know we're a really strong company with a really strong brand and you know like I said we're our revenues are good and we're we're dealing with it it's just it's no different than other it's not nearly as best COVID when we didn't have any business at all so you know this is one of the challenges you deal with in the airline business. And it's not an easy business, but the strong do okay.

1:03:40Spirit shut down in part because of the surge in jet fuel prices. Your airline, Breeze Airways, just marked its fifth anniversary. How are you managing those prices where Spirit could not? Well, I think Spirit, what Spirit did is they went to really big airplanes and they added a bunch of seats in those airplanes, which forced them into markets where they had lots of competition. and when their brand got kind of got tarnished and people would prefer to fly the big airlines introduced basic economy which were basically the same fares and people had a choice and so spirit was struggling long before february 28th it fell for bankruptcy twice and we're barely hanging on when the fuel prices went up and you know probably wouldn't have survived had it not if the war hadn't happened anyways.

1:04:28Our model's different. Like I mentioned before, we fly in markets that don't have nonstop competition. And places like Westchester County Airport to Vero Beach, we're the only airline that flies in that. So we've just got a bunch of these routes where there's been a lot of migration from the Northeast to the Carolinas and to Florida. And so we serve Portland, Maine to Raleigh, North Carolina, and so on. There's just, I guess, we have We have service to 88 cities and 300 different routes, and 85 percent, we don't have the competition, where Spirit had competition on 95 percent of their routes. All right, David Nealman, thank you so much.

1:05:07Interesting stuff. Appreciate it. The suspect accused of trying to assassinate President Trump last month appeared in court today. Well, we're learning tonight about his not guilty plea and his next court hearing.

1:05:26Breaking news in our Law and Justice lead. Major headlines out of the U.S. Supreme Court on redistricting and on the abortion pill. Mifepristone, just moments ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow Alabama to eliminate that congressional district currently being held by a black Democrat. The move tosses out a lower court's order requiring the state to draw a congressional map with two majority black voting districts. Let's bring in our legal experts to discuss. So Paula, this ruling just came down. Tell us more. Yeah, it's been a busy day for the Supreme Court and for us reporting on it. Here, this is one of the consequences that we're seeing after last month's blockbuster Supreme Court decision, limiting the extent to which race can be used to determine voting districts.

1:06:11Now here, the state of Alabama went back to the Supreme Court and said, hey, based on that ruling, we want to go back to our 2023 map, which has only one majority black district. And here, there's no explanation, right? This isn't a major opinion where they have to opine and lay out their arguments. So there's no explanation. But they have tossed out a lower court order that blocked that map. So it appears that the state of Alabama, they're clearing the way for that state to use that 2023 map. There is sort of a narrow opportunity for the ACLU or the NAACP to try to challenge this and argue that even under last month's decision, this map is still OK.

1:06:49But it's highly unlikely they're going to be able to do that in time. Tom, how consequential is this ruling? Will it have an effect on the other states that are rushing to get rid of their Democratic districts? Yes, I think it will have a pretty significant ruling. There definitely will be some districts outside of Louisiana that will be affected, Alabama being Exhibit A. And look, I don't think today's Supreme Court ruling is a huge surprise. I think from the Supreme Court's perspective, or at least from the majority's perspective, they had articulated the law when they decided that blockbuster case.

1:07:18They established what the law is, and Alabama has the right under that law to eliminate one of those districts. Alabama's request was simply to be allowed to make their change now rather than wait until after the election. And look, Alabama was ready for this day. They had already passed laws preparing for a Supreme Court ruling in that case precisely for this scenario so that they could implement their new district map, put it in time for the elections this year. So the courts keep handing Republicans wins and Democrats losses. The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Virginia redistricting gerrymandering attempt.

1:07:54And Virginia Democrats just filed an emergency appeal to overrule the Virginia Supreme Court by the U.S. Supreme Court. They're asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in. Yeah, and anyone can ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on their case. It's unclear what the Supreme Court is going to do here. It is unlikely that they're going to prevail, but this is a flurry of activity related to redistricting in congressional districts that we are seeing before the Supreme Court as both parties really try to eke out any advantage that they can ahead of the 2026 midterms. So they are asking for more briefing.

1:08:25The Supreme Court is asking for additional information from the parties by Thursday, and then we'll see what they do. But they are not expected to hand a victory to Democrats in this request. What is the argument here for the U.S. Supreme Court to get involved? Because there needs to be a federal issue, right? You got me. I don't quite know what their argument is going to be, and I don't think their petition is going to succeed. To your point, the Supreme Court hears issues of federal constitutional law, not state constitutional law. The Virginia Supreme Court's decision rested on the Virginia Constitution.

1:08:54That's not something that's going to interest the United States Supreme Court. I think it is exceedingly unlikely, bordering on zero, the likelihood that the United States Supreme Court takes this case. I understand why the Democrats did it. They want to fight to the bitter end. But in terms of likelihood of success, you have to look at this through a cold-eyed reality prism. Likelihood of success on this, zero. Yeah, although I do remember a U.S. Supreme Court overruling the Florida Supreme Court some time ago. But that's a separate issue with a separate election. Also for the Supreme Court today, access to the abortion pill through telehealth visits in the mail will continue at least until Thursday as justices deliberate restrictions on the drug.

1:09:31Tell us more. Yeah, this is the most significant abortion-related case that has come before the Supreme Court since it overturned Roe v. Wade. It's focused on mifepristone. That is one of two drugs prescribed in medication abortion. After the fall of Roe, many states, conservative states, closed their abortion clinics, which increased the demand for telehealth visits and obtaining this drug through the mail. This is something that has been debated since the fall of Roe. Now, the conservative Fifth Circuit ruled a short time ago that this medication can only be obtained through in-person visits.

1:10:08Now, the drug manufacturers, they went to the Supreme Court saying that is going to cause chaos for people that have appointments, telehealth appointments to obtain this medication. And the Supreme Court paused that ruling. That's why this is still available through telehealth and through the mail. They said, we need to figure out what we're going to do here. Right. We need a minute. They gave themselves until 5 p.m. today, and then they just gave themselves a little more time until 5 p.m. on Thursday to decide if this is something they want to really take up on the merits. It is likely something that they're going to have to weigh in on eventually because it's an outstanding question that they have in the wake of overturning Roe.

1:10:41All right, Paula Reid, Tom Dupree, thanks to both of you. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is defending his latest project, a reality show filmed with his family over the last seven months. Duffy says the backlash isn't warranted because he didn't spend any taxpayer dollars. So who paid for it? That's next.

1:11:02Our politics lead now, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy defending his return to reality TV in the new series The Great American Road Trip, which Duffy filmed over the last seven months and follows his family as they travel to iconic destinations across the country. Critics are saying that in addition to ethics questions, the project is simply out of touch. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat, posted, quote, a Trump cabinet member making a documentary about himself while regular families can't afford road trips anymore because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof, unquote.

1:11:35Here to discuss this and more, the panel. Now, we need to remind folks. I don't know how old you are, Shermichael. Thirty-five. Thirty-five. So Sean Duffy's first claim to fame before he was Secretary of Transportation And before he was a congressman from Wisconsin was he was on a little show on MTV called The Real World. I think he was in Real World Boston. Is that right? I think that's right. Yeah. And his wife, Rachel Campos, she was on a different MTV show, I think, called Road Rules. And then they met when there was a Real World Road Rules challenge. So this is in the DNA. So just a little history lesson from Gen X to Zoomers out there.

1:12:15The former Road Rules star and secretary pushing back against his critics, calling them unpatriotic. He has written, quote, zero taxpayer dollars were spent on my family. Neither myself nor my family received a salary or production royalties. The series was filmed in short one to two day production windows and, quote, career ethics and budget officials at the Department of Transportation reviewed and approved both my participation and individual travel in accordance with federal rules. Sure, Michael, your take. Look, I think if the economy was better, I think if gas prices weren't so high, people probably wouldn't care.

1:12:46If OIG said, look, ethically, this is OK, you're not getting paid for it, then I'm OK with that. But timing is always the question politically right now. My party is getting beat upside the head because of cost of living, rising prices. And I think if I were at the White House, I would want every cabinet official to be focused on addressing those issues. So I don't have an issue with it, broadly speaking. But the timing I just don't think helps. What do you think? First of all, he has eight children or something, like eight or nine, ten. Something, I mean, so he's a devout Catholic. And I just was wondering, I'm just curious because I want to see what kind of vehicle they were in.

1:13:24Is it like a bus? I mean, just out of curiosity, the entire family is going on this. It was Aerosmith's concert bus. Yeah, something. I agree with you, Michael. I think this is bad timing and a bad look. People are struggling. People can't fill up their cars. They're having to make really tough decisions. I don't care very much about this particular issue. I think ultimately, if he wants to show America with his family as the secretary of transportation, I don't think it's a huge political problem. But where it becomes a problem is what you're seeing now. Democrats pointing the finger and saying, look at all the things that have happened on your watch.

1:14:01Look at all the planes that have crashed. Look at gas prices that are so high. Look at our crumbling infrastructure. and you're on this sort of joyride with your family. I have to just point out, he has a day job, right? Like, he has an important day job. Yep. I'd also point out, look, I kind of agree with Lulu. I don't think this is the biggest deal in the world. I didn't think we needed more reality show values inserted into our politics, but apparently there was more room. But I should also just say, like, if there was a Democratic Secretary of Transportation who signed up with an anchor from MSNOW and did a reality show, someone would be pointing out about how that's a weird look, too.

1:14:43I mean, Rachel Campostuffy is a host of her. I could hear the screams from now. I mean, I could just hear them. I would absolutely critique that, Jonah. I think the whole thing's just tone deaf and weird, and it's one of these things like, sort of like, we could put the show on right here, and no one in the room said, slow your roll, this is stupid. But Jake, if I could just add really quickly. So the president, I think, made a statement on Truth Social about trying to suspend taxes. The gas tax. This could be an opportunity for the secretary to speak to Republicans with the president about like the legitimate need to do that.

1:15:17The president, I don't think constitutionally has the authority. Congress has to do it. We have a majority. This should be an easy thing. You provide a little reprieve for the American people headed into the summer so that they, too, can travel across the country. That's the way I would spend it. He's on the road showing off the world's largest ball of twine. I haven't seen that yet. So like most of President Trump's remodel projects, a lawsuit was filed today in federal court to stop Trump's makeover of the reflecting pool that we have here in D.C. The legal challenge comes, as David Farenthold for The New York Times notes, the project has a surging price tag.

1:15:49Quote, the cost of President Trump's plans to repair the reflecting pool is jumped by 88 percent to$13.1 million government records show. the price appears to include a 20 % profit margin for Trump's handpicked contractor who got the job in a no-bid contract. What do you make of that? I make that this is a travesty. Again, this is, this is, these are our monuments. These are the people's monuments. And he is doing this without any oversight. He's making decisions in ways that absolutely do not go through the proper channels. And this is just one of a series of them. I mean, look what happened with the East Wing in the ballroom.

1:16:25Now the price tag has ballooned to, you know, to massive amounts. Plus, the Republican Party is saying that they have to, that the taxpayer has to put the bill. At the end of the day, this is not his living room. So what needs to happen is that at this point, we have an empty pool, half painted blue, hideous, and we're really very, very, very a short way away from the big celebrations in this in the city yeah 250 and I think it's gonna look terrible does anybody want to defend the reflecting I mean I don't know what it's gonna look like look to me I think you pick your battles here is it really worth these guys filing a darn lawsuit over this Jake I'm not necessarily sure now like I'm not one who believes in complete executive fiat do have the hell you want that's not the argument that I'm making but you always make the argument that who is it such a big deal but DC could use some beautification I mean the aesthetics I think matter of the nation's capital and to improve it a little bit without all this nonsensical bureaucracy, Lulu, I don't think is a bad thing.

1:17:26Too much bureaucracy in this town. There is one other thing I want to squeeze in. We're going to show some video of President Trump today in the Oval Office where he appears to have his eyes closed for an extended period of time. Here's a different camera angle taken from the same meeting. Now, a Reuters reporter posted a picture of President Trump with his eyes closed significantly. And the White House responded, he was blinking, you absolute moron. But I have to say, I mean, that was those are some long blanks. Yeah, they are some long blanks. I mean, look, he probably didn't want to be there.

1:18:01I'm not a big meetings guy. I got to be honest with you. Seriously, I run a company, and we have to do board meetings every quarter. And I try to keep those meetings as quick and brief as I possibly can. Yeah, this is embarrassing, Michael. Michael. Was it important? Seriously, was it an important? It was about maternity. The meeting was about maternity. Yeah, I guess. Yeah, no, maternity. Yeah. Mortality. Who cares? Women. It's boring. Meetings are boring. If it's in front of cameras, I'm the president of the United States. Let me just take a long extended nap. The fact that he's doing this just shows his age.

1:18:30He's about to be 80. And I think it raises questions about his fitness profit. So look, two things. One, what if this was Biden is one of the lowest forms of punditry, but it doesn't mean it's not relevant. Lots of people made hay about Biden not being able to keep his eyes open. And two, I would just say the long blink sounds like an L.A. film noir kind of. I like it. The long blink. Going down for the long blink. I would say, though, when there were moments where Republicans did jump on President Biden, and there were some of those moments I made the same argument. Maybe the president didn't want to be there.

1:19:01Maybe the meeting went too darn long. And I'm going to be consistent with my framing here. The same applies to the current president. Okay. I'm just chilling out here for a second. A long blink. Blink. It's a long blink. I have to open my eyes to read the prompter. Thanks, everyone, for being here. Up next, a happy ending to a story that we have long followed here on The Lead. You don't want to miss it. Stick around.

1:19:26Our last lead, Start International Lead, where a stunning video out of the Florida Everglades shows a wall of flames burning through thousands of acres in the area yesterday. Today, local fire rescue officials said the Florida Forest Service made significant progress in containing the fire. Crews continue to monitor conditions at the scene. And we have a positive update on a story we've long followed here on The Lead. Navy veteran George Fleischman has finally been moved into a Los Angeles home built for homeless veterans after spending more than three years living in a shed without running water.

1:19:58We are thrilled for George. We can't wait to hear more about his new home. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done, of course. There are around 3 ,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles alone, waiting for the VA to build more housing, as the city has long promised, as the VA has long promised. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram threads, X, Blue Sky, and on the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can follow the show on X and the Instagram at The Lead CNN. If you ever missed an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:20:32I'm Daniel Dae Kim. I'm going to South Korea to figure out how this small nation conquered the world with its culture. Join me and meet the artists and creators behind the phenomenon. K-Everything, now streaming on the CNN app. Influential journalist Kara Swisher is taking a hard look at the longevity industry. There's so much bad information that the really good information gets drowned. The new CNN original series, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever. Now streaming on the CNN app.