Congress Returns To Renewed Fight Over Epstein Files

26:31Lessons in reading, writing, arithmetic, and gun safety as students go back to school this year.

26:44Our national lead now with so much recent attention on school shootings, it did catch our attention. The Tennessee public and charter school students must now take firearm safety lessons this year in an effort to protect children from gun violence. Joining us now is Mary Joyce. Her daughter lost three of her third grade classmates in 2023 when a former student opened fire at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you for joining us. According to the Tennessee Department of Education, this new curriculum includes, quote, safe storage of firearms, school safety relating to firearms, how to avoid injury if the student finds a firearm, to never touch a found firearm, and to immediately notify an adult in the location of a found firearm.

27:27The curriculum also instructs teachers to remain, quote, viewpoint neutral on political topics such as gun rights, gun violence and the Second Amendment, unquote. What do you make of this? Do you think this is going to keep your daughter and other children in Tennessee safe? I think that we need to do more than this. My initial reaction to this curriculum is I would like there to be a parent choice. I know what my daughter experienced on March 27th, and she looked at her executor in her face. And luckily, she walked away, but three of her friends did not. But what her and her classmates experienced was horrific.

28:12And so a parent should have a choice of what else their child is exposed to, especially around firearms. and knowing what she went through and what that could trigger in her by talking about guns yet again in school. And you said it's not enough. What more do you want? What would you say to lawmakers if they were here right now in terms of what you think should be done to protect kids, children like your daughter? Well, I think it is interesting to try to, again, put the burden of gun safety on a child who is still learning how to tie their shoes. I think it's important to teach kids safety protocol for all kinds of things, but to not have the choice to know what lessons are being taught to your children in school around such a life-threatening machine, I think is really sad.

29:14So I would like to see safe storage pushed in our state and a law around that. You can get a free gun lock in the state of Tennessee if you are a firearm carrier. And I would like to see that implemented from our lawmakers. All right, Mary Joyce, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time. Thank you. Let's talk about this with our August panel. also Republican Tennessee State Representative Chris Todd, who introduced the bill requiring school firearm safety lessons, told The Washington Post, these inanimate metal objects are not the problem. It's basic common sense things that many of them probably aren't taught in their homes.

29:55What do you make of this, Soshi? I think that the interview that you just did there says it all. She says the burden should not be put on the child. You should allow and provide the child with any sort of drills and anything like that, but to really examine and do exams on sort of like how to pull a trigger and teach them how a gun should be stored. Kindergarteners should not be learning that. And I do agree that there needs to be some sort of parent choice. And I think these are important conversations that are happening in our country, but we need another option besides putting this on our kindergartners and first graders and second graders and small children who should be learning their ABCs and how to count, not necessarily how to pull a trigger.

30:39Yeah, and Mary said safe storage would be an answer for her. And there are efforts in some states to require, if you have a firearm and you have children in the house, you have to store it safely, whether it's a gun safe or a trigger lock. Brian, take a listen to what State Senator Jeff Yarbrough, a Democrat, says about the new law. He says, quote, there's something absurd about mandating safety classes for children in a state that's expressly abolished safety classes for adults who want to carry concealed weapons. What do you think? I think they're right, right? I mean, at the end of the day, you know, this additional course that these kids would have to take, that's not going to stop school shootings.

31:12That's not going to stop some sicko, you know, finding the gun, walking into school, looking for the weaknesses and do these things. But, you know, there is some value to be said. You know, I remember there was, growing up, there was academics of, you know, of kids finding guns all over Southern California, certain neighborhoods where guns are. And certainly those kids understanding what to do in those situations is valuable. It's life-saving. But this proposal is not going to stop school shootings. While we're talking about safety, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a new op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.

31:42This is after nine former CDC leaders said that the way he's running the agency, the CDC and HHS, is, quote, endangering every American's health. He writes, RFK Jr., quote, most CDC rank-and-file staff are honest public servants. Under this renewed mission, they can do their jobs as scientists without bowing to politics. Yesterday, President Trump posted about COVID vaccines, quote, many people think they are a miracle that saved millions of lives. Others disagree. With CDC being ripped apart over this question, I want the answer, and I want it now. Brian, I have said on the show many times that I think one of the greatest achievements of President Trump was Operation Warp Speed, rushing that vaccine into manufacture and the Biden administration getting it into arms.

32:25That saved millions of lives. Millions. Tons of millions. And I don't understand why President Trump doesn't embrace that. You know, listen, I think from his standpoint is, you know, with this Maha movement, they see a concern. Make America healthy. Make America. They see a concern with respect to the CDC. I think by every measurement, the actions, you know, some people will say the actions that took place during CDC, during COVID, were heavy handed. Were not factual. Were not complete data. We're doing things that actually weren't pushing forward to solving the problem. and that's why they feel they need to perform.

32:59Now, RFK firing all the scientists or the doctors related to this, I hope that he brings other experts that can do this, but by every measurement, the CDC has very little credibility with half the nation's population and that's bad for everybody. So, Sochi, Dr. Richard Besser was one of the nine former CDC leaders to speak out against RFK Jr.'s leadership. Take a listen to what he had to say on the lead yesterday. We now have an acting secretary, an acting head of the CDC, who has absolutely no experience with the agency or in public health response. So, you know, I really worry what the consequences will be if we have a public health crisis in the near future.

33:39What should the role of Democrats be right now? Obviously, the minority in the Senate, the minority in the House. What should Democrats be doing? Well, first on Operation Warp Speed, I actually think Republicans and Democrats together should have come together and talked about how successful it was. And I think that was a bad part. Not everything Trump does is terrible. There are some terrible things. And I think that it was also his administration that because of the misinformation that they kind of put out there on vaccines and other and the COVID pandemic, this is why people distrust the CDC.

34:07If you continue to hammer the CDC, distrust is going to, you know, obviously the trust of the CDC is going to fall. I think Democrats here also need to be very careful when it comes to health. I think they need to continue in their district, especially members of Congress, encourage people to get vaccinated. They should be running sort of their own campaigns locally. What you find often in polling is that your constituents and people in states don't necessarily trust Congress. They don't trust D.C., but they trust their actual elected officials, their own member of Congress, their own state representative and state house members.

34:41And so if we can get our local leaders to sort of speak out and not necessarily bash Trump, but talk about the importance of vaccination, then I think that that would help a lot in communities. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. A lot has changed since many big cities built elaborate subway systems, including the climate. So how can those cities keep up? We'll show you some of the subtle upgrades that can make a major difference. Stay with us.

35:06In our Earth Matters series, more frequent and intense storms hitting the United States raises the question as to whether major cities can handle them. You've seen it. Flood waters pouring into subway stations, drenching trains, passengers alike. As CNN's Bill Weir reports for us now, for infrastructure more than 100 years old, this water is more than just an inconvenience.

35:31120 years ago, when New York subway was new, few could have imagined it would give over a billion rides a year. Despite days like this, when air vents become catchment bases and stairs turn into waterfalls, when the London Underground was new, chimneys still had sweeps and England was three degrees cooler. So now, when temperatures top 90 for days, 60 % of tube cars have no air conditioning. When they were first built, they didn't necessarily have sufficient tunnel ventilation to cope with air conditioning. So we've been using other novel methods such as fans and super fans to reduce the heat.

36:15And even this new subway in China shows the perils of under-engineering on an overheating planet. When eight inches of rain fell in an hour, 14 people died in a subway line less than a decade old. Through climate change, because the warmer and hotter air can hold much more moisture, we're just getting intense rainfall events. New York's antique system of pumps removes up to 14 million gallons of water on dry days and many times more during a storm. But while better pumps are part of the MTA's new$700 million improvement plan, keeping water out in the first place means raising hundreds of little sections of the city.

36:58You'd probably miss this if you weren't actually looking out for it. But this is actually about a six inch, five to six inches of an elevation. So it's not just a step, it's a flood dam. It's a flood protection mechanism. In one part of Brooklyn, riders take two steps up before heading down. And elevated air vents are spreading, designed to stop those cascading waterfalls so viral on social media. This little elevation right here prevents that from happening and still allows for fresh air flow to happen with subway vents, just as it would be if they weren't covered. But ultimately, a subway is only as resilient as the city around it.

37:40So a hotter climate demands working with nature to build shadier, spongier cities. Here we have four sections of permeable pavers. And the idea is, as the water is coming downhill and going towards the combined sewer, we're actually capturing it again on site and holding it in place. So just instead of this being blacktop asphalt, the water seeps in. That's right, between the pavers. At nearly 500 acres, Greenwood Cemetery is one of New York's biggest green spaces. With a weather station attached here, it anticipates the amount of rainfall that we're going to get, releases water to the combined sewer before the storm happens, and then shuts off our access plant.

38:20And with the help of the Nature Conservancy on a few upgrades, can now keep 55 million gallons of stormwater out of streets and sewers. And if you think about how many acres of New York City alone are held within cemeteries, if they're able to make slight changes to the way they operate, how much stormwater could be captured on those sites? It's just a different way of thinking about private institutions, private green spaces, and trying to say, despite being private and despite having this fence around our perimeter, we are part of this community.

38:54And meanwhile, while cities, counties, states are trying to adapt, at the federal level, the Trump administration has been systematically dismantling a generation of American climate science. So today, over 85 veteran climate scientists put out a scathing rebuttal to the Department of Energy's sort of climate denial memo that went out back in July. They call out errors, misleads, cherry picking. They say it's enough not sound science with no peer review that stand up to a congressional mandate for sound science to back up policymaking right now. Jake, just the latest example of very earnest scientists trying to warn the public in the face of outright denial from the Trump administration.

39:40All right, Bill, we are in New York. Thanks so much. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're just hours away from a massive military parade under the watchful eyes of three world leaders who are not at the top of the United States friend list. Here's what President Trump said today when asked if he was worried about this nuclear display. Plus, members of Congress officially returned to work today and immediately had to address the fallout around dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and the lack of his files being released. There is a bipartisan push, however, to get even more files around this convicted sex offender released to the public in a searchable way.

40:19But do these members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans, have the votes? And parents will soon get more control over how their children interact with ChatGPT. what we're learning about the new features the company's rolling out amid allegations that chat that it's chat GPT and other chat bots are contributing to self-harm among children and teens

40:44and we start with our world lead and in just a couple hours this massive display of military might in China and a warm show of unity from countries leaders who are decidedly not U.S. allies. China's Xi Jinping is hosting this carefully choreographed parade meant to show off his vision of a new world order. Xi recently lamented about the chaotic world that Trump's tariffs have created. Also in attendance at this event, North Korea's Kim Jong-un. Kim has also recently stepped up his rhetoric against U.S. ally South Korea. And there is, of course, Russian leader Vladimir Putin capitalizing on this so-called axis of upheaval as he drags out his brutal war on Ukraine, one that President Trump tried and, as of now, failed to end during his historic summit with Putin in Alaska two-plus weeks ago.

41:34We're covering this from China to South Korea to the U.S. Let's start with CNN's Mark Stewart in Beijing. Mark? Jake, what's about to happen here in China is going to be an exercise in optics. Very soon, we will see Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un all standing together shoulder to shoulder, most likely, in front of Tiananmen Square as Chinese rockets, as tanks and other weapons pass through the streets of Beijing. There are really two messages to look forward to here. Number one, this is a chance for China and these other leaders to really put the West on notice, to let leaders know that alliances often led by the United States, such as NATO, don't necessarily have the same strength or teeth as they've had in the past.

42:28The other message is for China to establish itself as the leader of this new world order, this alternative to the West, and to really depict itself as a strong, stable and predictable leader, especially as we see so much political turbulence in the United States. Over the last few days, we've seen a number of world leaders pass through China. It was just yesterday that Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin met here in Beijing, a way for them to again further this no-limits friendship, as it's often been described. Putin said some very nice, warm words to Xi Jinping, as China, again, has failed to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.

43:14Jake, though, looking forward, the real story, the big story in all of this is going to surround the symbolism. And let's bring in Mike Valerio in Seoul, South Korea. Mike, North Korea leader, Kim Jong-un, also got a warm welcome on a rare trip out of his own country. Yeah, Jake, that's right. And you know, the why we care factor about this story, especially when there is so much happening back home in the United States, is because we're looking to see how it's conveyed that this is a new era for North Korea, stronger and with more friends than ever. And that relays back to how Kim Jong-un interfaces with the United States and with President Trump.

43:53It's important to keep in mind that this is a country that has been kept at arm's length for years and is now embraced by its closest geographic neighbors. When we're talking about Russia, you got to remember back in 2006, UN resolution 1718, Russia voting for UN sanctions against North Korea's nuclear program. Three years later, also voting for UN sanctions to punish North Korea for its nuclear program. Hard to believe that right now in this day and age. China, when we look at its rapport with North Korea, you know, Jake, China has its only formal military alliance with North Korea, signed by a mutual defense treaty back in 1961.

44:34But as we saw the relations between Pyongyang and Moscow get warmer with the war in Ukraine, we saw a chilling of relations between China and North Korea. As soon as we got the word in this newsroom a couple of days ago that Kim Jong-un was invited to Beijing for this party, that turned all of our heads and we said, OK, this is definitely a warming of relations. And what is being conveyed here by this parade, as Mark was alluding to, is this is Xi Jinping saying to the world that China and its friends are not afraid to challenge the United States base world order. And he's trying to say here that Kim Jong-un is an integral part of this.

45:14So going back to the White House, you know, if there is a new Trump summit with Kim Jong Un. He's going to what real eyes when he is backed by both China and Russia. It could be a rocky road ahead for the president as he tries to reengage Kim Jong Un. Let's go to Caitlin Collins at the White House. Caitlin, President Trump spoke about this parade today in the Oval Office. Yeah, Jake, because, you know, we're talking about the pomp and the circumstance around this elaborate parade. But the real question here in Washington is whether or not there are deeper concerns about the alliance that we've known existed but are seeing, you know, being played out, being displayed in front of the cameras, and what exactly that could mean for the United States here, as, of course, the president has very much tried to get that war in Ukraine brought to an end, one that is being assisted in part by several of the leaders that you're seeing here, at least bolstered when it comes to Russia.

46:08And so Trump was asked about this in the Oval Office today and if he's worried about these warmer relations between these three nations. And this is what he told reporters.

46:19China needs us and I have a very good relationship with President Xi, as you know, but China needs us much more than we need them. No, I don't see that at all. No. And I had actually a very good meeting with President Putin a couple of weeks ago. We'll see if anything comes out of it. If it doesn't, we'll take a different stance. Obviously, Jake, so far you and I were both there in Alaska. Nothing has come out of that summit yet. Certainly not a follow-up meeting with President Zelensky and President Putin or an end to the Russian strikes in Ukraine. The president today said he was very disappointed in Putin over that and that his administration was going to be taking some undisclosed steps that we don't know the details yet of to bring down the deaths when it comes to what we're seeing playing out in Ukraine.

47:03But obviously, you know, there are real policy decisions that are also being made here at the White House when it comes to tariffs, for example. They're putting tariffs on India, which the White House says is because they're importing Russian oil. But that is not similarly applied to China, for example, who is buying more Russian oil than India is. And so there are real questions about what this means and these dynamics that are playing out here with Xi Jinping, Kim Jong-un, and Vladimir Putin as well. All right. Thanks to all of you. Appreciate it. And don't miss Caitlin on her show this evening, The Source with Caitlin Collins.

47:33It's tonight and every weeknight at 9 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN. Moments ago, the House Oversight Committee released more Epstein documents. Our teams are going through them right now. We're going to bring you more details in a moment. Stay with us.

47:49Breaking news on our Law and Justice lead. The House Oversight Committee just released some of the Epstein files sent to them by the Justice Department. Let's bring in CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. Manu, I know these documents were just dropped. What do we know about the release? Yeah. In fact, roughly 33 ,000 pages have been released by the House Oversight Committee as a result of a subpoena that was issued, a bipartisan support for this subpoena that came out by this Republican-led committee last month, calling for the Justice Department to provide this information to the committee. Now, we're still, of course, going through this information.

48:29It just came out from the committee moments ago, and it's unclear how much new information ultimately will come to light from all this information. We do know that they had been working on redacting sensitive information involving some of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking ring. So it's unclear how much of that information ultimately has been redacted and what we'll actually learn that's new. Democrats had reviewed this information beforehand. They contended 97 % of it or so was already in the public domain. A small percentage of it was not. So ultimately, we'll see what this reveals here, Jake.

49:05But this all comes amid a push by a bipartisan group of House members to force a vote to compel the release of all the Epstein documents. That push led by Congressman Thomas Massey, a Republican of Kentucky, joining with Democrat Ro Khanna, who are trying to get enough support in the United States House to circumvent the Republican leadership and force this vote on the House floor. The Republican leadership has not wanted to have this vote. They said it is not necessary. They say it is a moot point. And they're trying to make the case that the release of those documents essentially means there's no reason to have this vote now.

49:41Now, the ultimate question is going to be if Republicans are satisfied, particularly the Republicans who have demanded for years the release of more information relating to this case, if they're satisfied by the release of this information or if they do decide to buck the speaker and buck the president who has pushed back against this vote that could be coming in the House within a matter of days? Will they buck the president of the United States, particularly some of the more Republicans who are aligned with him politically and ideologically? That's going to be a big question now, now that this has now been released by the committee.

50:15Are they satisfied with this? Are they not? Or will they demand a lot more? Big question, but a significant moment here, Jake. This is something that members on both sides have been demanding for some time. More than 33 ,000 pages released by the Justice Department. We'll learn, hopefully soon, what new this reveals. All right, Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much. Let's bring in Republican Congressman Mike Flood from Nebraska. He's on the House Financial Services Committee. Congressman, do you think that this release will quell any of the concerns or calls for transparency from some of your colleagues like Congressman Massey and others that are trying to force a vote through a discharge petition on releasing as many Epstein files and documents as exist?

50:56Well, when we left Washington in July, the speaker and the leadership team on the House Republicans basically said, we're going to get to the bottom of this. And this is just the beginning. I met with a speaker just a little bit ago. He said he just met with six victims of Jeffrey Epstein. He said it was horrific to hear what they went through and that some of these victims are as old as 50 years old. This has gone on for 30 years. Listen, this release today is just the beginning. What Thomas Massey and the Democrats are doing is just all out reckless. They do not have victim protection in their bill.

51:29It was written in a very sloppy way. And when this comes to the fore for a vote, if it does and if it passes, that's not good for victims. The House Republican leadership, together with the Rules Committee, we're going to be putting together a bill that will be voted on this week that will handle this. And I think it will meet with the favor of almost all Republicans, maybe not Tom Massey. And if you're a Democrat, this is what you've been asking for. I'm sure they're going to vote for it as well. At least I hope. If there was something in the bill from Congressman Massey saying that no victim should be identified, would you have any issue with releasing everything that exists?

52:07Well, unfortunately, the way the discharge petition is written, it's not in there. The other thing that the House Republican version is going to have is essentially support for the subpoenas to have the force of law for the Oversight Committee. And listen, this is a bipartisan issue. That meeting with victims was with Democrat and Republican leaders. We're working together in a bipartisan way on the Oversight Committee. I don't support discharge petitions. I support regular order. I don't believe that a discharge petition is any way to govern when you're in the majority. We have a plan. It's going to get implemented, and it's going to happen this week.

52:41Just for people out there who don't know what a discharge petition is, it's when more than 218, a majority of the members of Congress that you need to pass the bill, signed a petition to force something onto the floor of the House for a vote if they're having trouble getting that legislation introduced through regular order, as the congressman referred to. You said at one of your town halls in August last month, quote, at the next pro forma session of the Congress, you will find my name as a sponsor and a resolution from the House Rules Committee to release the Epstein files to protect the victims and not re-victimize them.

53:12Again, is this legislation that Speaker Johnson is pushing forward enough? Well, I asked that question today when I had a chance to talk to the speaker. I said, hey, I'm supportive of what the Rules Committee came up with in July. Tell me about what we're going to vote on this week. He said, well, we're voting on this week. We'll meet with the favor of all the Republicans on the Rules Committee. That gave me a lot of reason to be optimistic that we're going to vote on something that's going to move the ball. Hey, a lot of Americans want this out there. We want to be transparent. We want this to be in the public domain, but not at the cost of re-victimizing the people that went through this terrible tragedy that has unfolded over decades.

53:54And so hopefully this week we'll be able to pass that. The Senate can act. We can get it to the president. We can move forward. Everything that they're doing is working in sync with the Department of Justice, working in sync with the White House. The president wants this to pass. We are answering the call from the American people, and it will be done hopefully in the House this week. So you know that you don't need to have this legislation if Attorney General Bondi and President Trump just released all the information with the victim's identifications redacted, of course. The grand jury stuff, that's obviously up to a judge, and judges have said, no, we're not releasing it.

54:30But everything else in the U.S. attorney's offices in New York, in Florida, the FBI, the Justice Department, internal communications, all of that stuff, in the same way that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is just going through documents and releasing stuff that she wants to on the separate issue of the Russia investigation, all of that stuff could be released and the administration isn't. Do you know why? Do you have any understanding as to why that is? Well, I don't work at the Department of Justice, and I'm not at the White House on this issue. I do know that this landed in Congress's lap.

55:02We listen to our constituents. We want transparency. And now we're acting. I think that the United States House Republicans are committed to getting this out there. The last thing I want is a bill basically written on the hood of a pickup that exposes victims, puts people in bad situations, maybe even targets the innocent. We want a process that is respectful to the victims, that is transparent and that moves quickly. And there's no one I'd rather have leading this charge than Jamie Comer, the seasoned veteran running our oversight committee, who's been in this business for a long time, understands subpoenas, understands leverage, understands the need to go through all of these documents and make sure that this is a transparent process.

55:47We've got the best in Congress on top of this, together with our Democratic counterparts, who are just as talented in this case as the Republicans are. So we'll get to the bottom of it. Let's hope so. Republican Congressman Mike Flood from Nebraska, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me on. We're staying on top of this breaking news as our teams are reading through these Epstein documents that were just released by the House Oversight Committee. More details in moments.

56:15In our tech lead today, OpenAI, that's the company behind ChatGPT, announced parental controls are coming to the popular AI chatbot within the next month. This comes just days after parents of 16-year-old Adam Rain sued OpenAI, alleging that ChatGPT contributed to their son's suicide. CNN's Rask Gold is here with more. Anas, what kind of parental control features is the company rolling out? Well, they're hoping that they will help in cases like Adam Rain's. In this lawsuit, the family alleges that ChatGPT, when they looked over the chat logs, that the ChatGPT at times offered to help the 16-year-old write his suicide note and even set up a noose, and at some points even discouraging him from trying to talk to somebody about what he was going through.

56:56Now, after that lawsuit was filed, OpenAI did say that change was coming. And so today they said that over the next month, they will roll out these new parental controls. Now, you should already be, they say that users should be 13 years old before they even use ChatGPT. And under these new parental controls, OpenAI say that now parents will be able to link their account with their teens. They'll be able to control for age-appropriate model behavior rules. They'll be able to disable features like memory and chat history, receive notifications when the system detects that their teen is in a moment of acute distress.

57:25Now, OpenAI says that also over the next 120 days, they'll be rolling out even further guardrails to help people in moments of distress. They say they already have sort of timer notifications. And if you're spending a really long time talking to ChatGPT, a notification will pop up saying, hey, maybe you should take a break. And this is important because one thing that OpenAI has acknowledged is that their guardrails that they already have in place, they work well when you're having a short conversation with the chat GPT. But these guardrails become unreliable when you're having a very lengthy conversation with chat GPT.

57:58And I've spoken to a lot of people who have entered these sort of, they call them AI delusions, and these people are having days-long, weeks-long conversations with chat GPT. So it's really notable that OpenAI is acknowledging this because it goes to show you even the companies themselves, they still don't fully understand exactly how these AIs work. Jake. All right, Haraskol, thanks so much. Brand new video shows the U.S. military striking an alleged drug vessel in the Caribbean. What we're learning about who was allegedly operating the boat. That's next.

58:31A lethal strike. Breaking news. Brand new video. You're looking at the moment. that President Trump said the U.S. military struck a suspected drug boat tied to the Carten Tren de Aragua. Trump said 11 people, drug traffickers, he says, were killed in this strike in international waters. Here to talk more about this breaking new CNN national security correspondent Natasha Bertrand. Natasha, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, called this a lethal strike. What more can you tell us? I mean, this is a really significant escalation. I can't recall another time when the U.S. military conducted this kind of operation against a drug cartel operating in the Caribbean.

59:08They're operating in international waters, as the president has said. But still, you know, this is obviously part of the president's broadening campaign to go after these drug cartels, particularly Trandoragua, which comes from Venezuela. And according to the president, he said that, you know, early this morning on his orders, U.S. military forces conducted this kinetic strike against terrorists. he says, that were positively identified by the U.S. military. So he's suggesting that they knew who these people are, they knew they were carrying drugs to the U.S., and they took action. Now, what we don't know is exactly what kind of military asset was used to actually carry out this attack, although the president did say that 11 people on board that boat there were killed.

59:50Now, another question, of course, is just what authority was used to actually carry out this operation. The president has been saying, of course, that he has wanted to use this kind of military action and lethal strikes against cartels in the past, but it's still unclear what kind of authorization was actually provided as a legal basis to do this. And Marco Rubio, who's the National Security Advisor, Duhl had as the Secretary of State. He said, look, the White House Counsel's Office, lawyers have looked into all of this, not going to get ahead of them. But suffice to say that that work was done behind the scenes.

1:00:19But we should also note the U.S. military right now has a ton of assets around Venezuela. More than 4 ,000 Marines and sailors are based there right now. So they're clearly building up a very robust military presence to do exactly this. And it was February of this year that Secretary of State Rubio designated Trender-Aragua as a foreign terrorist organization. So, I mean, presumably the authority that the president has to go after terrorist groups might have been what he was invoking? The question that legal experts have is, is that more of a sanctioned authority in order to limit their movements and limit their ability to do business?

1:00:52Does that actually provide the legal justification to take military action against them, that is still up for debate. All right. Natasha Bertram with all the latest breaking news. Thanks so much. Let's go to our politics lead now. Republicans in the Missouri state legislature are expected to join this congressional redistricting fight as soon as tomorrow. This is the latest Republican-led state anticipated to take up President Trump's demands to redraw congressional maps mid-decade so that Republicans have a better chance of keeping control of the U.S. House of Representatives by creating more Republican-leaning seats.

1:01:22Vowing to take this to court is longtime Missouri Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who is now at risk of losing his Kansas City area district congressman. Thanks for joining us. I do want to get to all this with you in a second, but I do want to touch on this breaking news about the House Oversight Committee releasing more than 30 ,000 pages of records related to the Jeffrey Epstein case. I'm not sure if you even know this news. It just happened. But what exactly is your reaction to the the house oversight committee releasing more of these documents well everybody's been calling for transparency uh...

1:01:55i think that uh... the more information has a more comfortable i think they will be uh... with uh... where we are and what we need right now other than millions of americans uh... and probably uh... more than just a few million want to have all of the information uh... that is available and all of it frankly should be available Absolutely. On redistricting, what legal grounds are you relying upon to challenge this potential effort in Missouri to redraw the congressional districts, potentially excluding you from the current safe Democratic seat that you have? Well, you know, it's one of the stinkiest things that's going on.

1:02:41And legally, we're going to make sure that somebody can answer the question of why we would do this in the middle of the decade, as opposed to waiting till the end of this decade to provide the census report, which would tell whether or not we have 800 or so thousand people. But right now, it's just being done blindly and arrogantly because we have the power and we're going to do it. And to make it even uglier, think about this. They're going to pass this. They have a super majority in Jefferson City, the Republicans. We're going to even eliminate initiative petitions. In other words, if the people around Missouri doesn't like it, we're going to prevent them from going out collecting signatures to put it on the ballot.

1:03:30They're just saying, we are going to do this. It's the great replacement conspiracy. We don't like the way the people in Missouri's 5th district have been voting, so we're going to move them out and replace them with voters that will, in our likelihood, vote the way we want them to vote. And I think that is so ugly. It is so un-American. And the tragedy on tragedy is that they're not ashamed. and people if there's no shame people can do almost anything what would be the next step if your lawsuit does not succeed well we're gonna do everything we can you know I may fall down they may knock me down I will not lie down we're gonna do everything we can do and and we'll we'll go to the Supreme Court if we have to we're if they win they're gonna win and and say boy they were really difficult to get out of the way.

1:04:27And then we'll run to win in the district. They may be making a mistake. Instead of an 8-2 or 7-1 district that they want, it could end up 5-3. If you put water in a balloon and start squeezing it, it'll go just about anywhere. So if you start moving people around, some of the other members of Congress might end up getting a little uncomfortable with the size or the breakdown in their districts. Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it. President Trump was asked today to respond to social media rumors over the weekend, ones that asked whether or not the president was dead.

1:05:07Breaking news, he's not. We'll bring you his response next.

1:05:16How did you find out over the weekend that you were dead? Did you see that? No. People didn't see it for a couple days. 1.3 million user engagements as of Saturday morning about your demise. Really? I didn't see it. You know, I have heard it's sort of crazy, but last week I did numerous news conferences, all successful. President Trump explaining that he had not heard about the bizarre conspiracy theories circulating over the Internet about him being dead, which he is thankfully not. My panel joins us now. Okay, first of all, raise your hand if you got any crazy texts from friends of yours about whether or not, I'll start, whether or not there was anything to the crazy stuff on the internet about the president.

1:06:00I did. No, shockingly not. I tried to stay out of this particular conspiracy theory, but maybe the reason that the president didn't know about it is because he's on True Social. Oh, right. And this was, you know, ruminating in other social media venues. Where was it? I got a few. It was on Blue Sky. Yeah, Blue Sky. And I got a few posts shared from X. And I mean, immediately I was like, this can't be true. Because when you see it, you look at it, you're like, you know, there's no way. But yes, it did go around on the group chats. It just goes to show, by the way, how amazing Trump is for his age and the energy levels.

1:06:33The guy's away for like two days and everyone freaks out. Well, that's the thing, because people are so used to seeing him. Every day. Especially when juxtaposing it to President Biden. But look, these social media companies want you to push certain things and jump on trends. they're monetized now. People are making money. So we have a bunch of liberals trying to make a buck off rumors. Well, you don't know where it started from, whether it was a liberal or a conservative or whoever it was that started it. It's still a conspiracy theory that spread, and that is the problem. There's not many conservatives on blue sky.

1:07:00Yeah, but I'll just... It was on X. Let me just point out that the only reason that we're talking about these conspiracy theories is because there's a lot of them out there. Yes. Which is not good for our world. No, I mean, I wouldn't... The truth is I wouldn't have even brought it up except that somebody from Fox asked Trump about it, and he commented on it. Democratic Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said this yesterday about this false conspiracy theory. Although I will say this, the last few days you woke up thinking there might be news. Just saying, just saying, there will be news sometime, just so you know, there will be news.

1:07:38Well, I think there he was talking about the fact that Trump had said that he was going to have a press conference today, right? I think that's what he was talking about. That there was going to be big news. I know what he's... That's not how conservatives are interpreting that. I know, I know. But I'm saying that that's where it began because Trump said earlier today or yesterday that he was going to have some big news today. I'm not agreeing with the interpretation. I think the governor is going to get himself in trouble by saying that it means something else. You took it the way that Scott Jennings took it earlier, which is that he was jokingly talking about...

1:08:07I did. I find the whole thing disgusting. The man was shot in the ear. Many other people tried to kill him. There was just a shooting in Minnesota just a few days ago. We shouldn't be joking about it. It's disgusting to see from him, but his political future is dwindling. So other political news, Democratic New York Congressman Jerry Nadler announced he's not going to seek a re-election. There were there are challengers who were going to face him in the primary. In an interview with the New York Times, Congressman Nadler said, watching the Biden thing really said something about the necessity for generational change in the party.

1:08:41And I think I want to respect that. He added that a younger successor could, quote, can maybe do better, can maybe help us more. And that's interesting that he did that. And that it was about specifically, you know, maybe taking a lesson from what the party should have learned last year. And I think he also saw the writing on the wall. It's going to be a crowded primary. Jerry Nadler, someone that's served over three decades. You can't say that he hasn't dedicated his life to public service. And the fact that he did cite President Biden. I mean, I think there are still many people that have served in Congress that are much younger than him that have careers and futures ahead of them.

1:09:14But he saw the writing on the wall. He thought this was the right time. And at the end of the day, it is a good thing that I think our party is coming and coming to the table with new leaders, new perspectives and some generational change. I think that's a good thing. Nadler said he didn't name any other names, but he said, I'm not saying we should change over the entire party, but I think a certain amount of change is very helpful, especially when we face the challenge of Trump and his incipient fascism. There are a lot of, I think there are more members of Congress over the age of 70, and a lot of them are Democrats, than ever before.

1:09:43Yeah, and three Democrats have died this Congress already. So this is something that they're obviously thinking about. But I think it's a little bit of a conundrum for Democrats if they're thinking about retiring, because we've seen what happened in the New York City Merrill situation, where you have a much younger candidate, which may be a good thing, but he's a socialist. So I think one of the things that could happen if more moderate Democrats are going to retire is that what could become popular is the left fringe of the party and younger people coming to the fore. And that may be one reason why they may not retire if they're a moderate.

1:10:17I want to switch gears really quickly because I'm not sure how many of you saw this controversy involving Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg, according to reports, Snoop Dogg's representative said that there's an apology out there for comments criticizing Disney's Pixar movie Lightyear. He criticized them for having a same-sex couple, a lesbian couple. There's this apology out there, but his representative said, no, that apology's fake. The backstory, Snoop took his grandson to see the movie. This is what he recently said about the film on the It's Giving podcast. My grandson, in the middle of the movie, like, Papa Snoop, how she have a baby with a woman?

1:10:51She a woman. Oh, shit. I didn't come in for this shit. I just came and watched a goddamn movie. Hey, man, watch the movie. Uh-uh. They just said she and she had a baby. They both women. How does she have a baby? Shh. The movie ain't over with. So it's like, I'm scared to go to the movies. I'm like, y 'all throwing me in the middle of shit that I don't have an answer for. He's getting a little backlash for that, including from media personality T.S. Madison, who said, why is it OK for Snoop to have women kissing in his videos, but not in the Buzz Lightyear film? But I'm sure you have an answer to that.

1:11:26No, first of all, a lot of love to gay and lesbians everywhere. A lot of friends. But I don't know. First of all, I think the bar for outrage is quite low now. And I want to say also on a side note, Papa Snoop, great nickname, A+. But look, he was expressing that sometimes when uncomfortable topics or different topics come up with your child, you don't have all the answers. He even goes on to say, I don't have the answers. That, I think, is ownership of what he was trying to say. Look, there's been a lot of talk of Hollywood shoving social change down our throats. I don't know if that's all true or not, but I do know that a lot of parents probably feel just like Snoop does.

1:12:04We don't need to jump down his throat. I do. As a former Sunday school teacher from young kids all the way up to 6th and 7th, which was the most challenging, you know, the Bible, I'm just going to tell you, it has a lot of sex in it, okay? And there were many times where I would get to a particular passage and I'd be like, I'm actually maybe not going to say this right now. And then I'd say, go home and ask your parents about it. So, I can relate to Papa. Well, I unfortunately have not seen this movie, but I do think, you know, movies are supposed to represent and bring in all communities. And it's meant to be entertaining.

1:12:34And so maybe it's just a conversation that you have after the movie, but it's meant to be entertainment. Thanks one and all for being here. Let's go to our Money Lead and our Business Leaders series. We're checking with small business owners coast to coast to see how Trump's tariffs are impacting them, if at all. Day Owl transforms plastic bottles from landfills around the world into backpacks and tote bags. CEO and founder Ian Rosenberger joins us. Now, Ian, what parts of your company have been impacted by tariffs, if at all, and how significantly? Well, what parts haven't been impacted by tariffs, Jake?

1:13:08It's been a crazy couple of months for sure. President Trump says that one of the goals of his tariffs is to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. is that something that's possible for your company? You know, I wish that were the case. We actually looked at making our bags. I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a proud son of Pennsylvania, I think, like you. And we examined making our bags with women and men in my hometown of Pittsburgh. And the problem wasn't that they didn't make a beautiful bag. The problem was that they made it slowly. It takes a long time to develop manufacturing. And so the bag just got more expensive.

1:13:44And instead of offering incentives to small businesses to keep manufacturing in the States and to develop programs that allow us to manufacture things, it was really all stick and no carrot. And it's just been a really difficult time for that and several other reasons. Have you had to raise prices on your customers?

1:14:08We haven't raised prices on purpose. We've eaten it. And unfortunately, you know, as a small business, you know, you probably know this, but in the United States, small business makes up about 40 percent of GDP and about 80 percent of small businesses are under 20 people. So most of the businesses that are affected by tariffs don't necessarily have the ability to eat the increased cost. We've done it and we will do it because it's the back to school season. I'm sitting in my daughter's school right now. And, you know, the simple truth is, is that if we want, you know, people to buy our bags, we need to keep prices low.

1:14:45It's very difficult. You know, our price, our bag is about$130. We're already at the upper edge of what the average American is able to spend. And to increase prices anymore would make it difficult. Unfortunately, that means it hits our profits, hits our bottom line, and ultimately it hits the number of jobs we can create. So you noted that back to school is this critical sales period for you. Have you noticed any difference in customer behavior this year? Yeah, you know, I think that's actually the thing that not as many people are talking about with tariffs is the actual tariff number is one thing.

1:15:19But immediately we saw a decrease in demand, not only with the average consumer, who I think is keeping those bucks in their pocket in favor of a rainy day or for Christmas. but you know about 75 percent of my business actually comes from wholesale and corporate sales so you know we sell bags to brands like pinterest and google and netflix and things like that immediately those companies all said you know what we're going to take a beat we're going to wait and see what happens here and those orders are placed 9 10 11 12 months in advance so we saw our most immediate hit happen immediately not necessarily just in the increased cost but in the decrease in demand.

1:15:58And back to school has been no exception. All right. Again, the company is Day Owl. And you can find their backpacks and bags on their website. Is it Day Owl? What is it? Dayowl.com? You got it. Yep. Dayowl.com. Ian Rosenberg, thanks so much. Matt Rosenberger, thanks so much for your time. 80 years ago today, World War II officially ended. Next, we're going to go live to Honolulu where ceremonies to mark the anniversary are underway on the USS Missouri.

1:16:29In our world lead, this was the scene 80 years ago today, September 2nd, 1945. Japanese officials signing the formal surrender documents aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay. It ended World War II. Today, the USS Missouri is in Hawaii. And the state hosted ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the war's end. CNN's Stephanie Elam is there, and she spoke with a surviving veteran of the war who served on the USS Missouri. Ed Buffman. How old were you when you were on the Missouri? 18. Gunner's mate, third class. I was in charge of a battery of 520mm, five guys on each gun. Tell me about the first time you got on the USS Missouri.

1:17:21Just walking down to the dock and they were just still building pieces of the Missouri. So you're an original? That's right. I volunteered to go in and land on Japan. We went up in the mountains. We were up there and told to sleep in the cave, which we did. If anybody comes up that valley and they have a white band on, Japanese, a white band, don't shoot them. If they don't have any band, shoot them. The kamikaze attack on the USS Missouri, did you see anything that happened? The kamikaze came in on the starboard side, came in low, the ship shook, and it was just tremendous. The pilot was cut right in half and all sprawled all over the deck.

1:18:11There was smoke and flames. It was just terrible because we were worried about the ship going under. So I walked back, so my 25 guys, believe it or not, I remember like it was yesterday, all looked at me and said, Buffman, what's it like over there? What happened? I said, we got hit, but everything's fine. Tell me about when you found out that the Japanese were going to surrender. We were at battle station and the captain, Callahan, came on and said the war is over. I had such a great feeling there, a thrill. And, you know, most of these guys, you know, they don't want to be staying on the Missouri.

1:18:55They want to go home. And I just said, guys, the war is over. You're going home.

1:19:06What's really noteworthy of the five gentlemen I spoke to who are of the eight remaining shipmen who were here on this USS Missouri during the Battle of World War II from the Navy, they all say the same things. They don't see themselves as heroes, but they were very much, it was important for them to be back here today for this commemoration. For some, it was the first time they've been back since 1946. And if you look down here, This is Pearl Harbor. Just up that way, just a little bit, is USS Arizona, where we saw the attack in December 1941 by the Japanese that got the U.S. into World War II.

1:19:44And here on the ship is where the signing happened, ending World War II. A lot of history right here, Jim. All right, Stephanie Elam in Hawaii. Thank you so much. I have a brand new book coming out next month. It's called Race Against Terror. It tells the true story of investigators following clues around the world to stop an Al-Qaeda killer who had killed troops in Afghanistan and was determined to kill as many Americans as possible in a horrifically spectacular fashion. Lives literally depending on their sleuthing. Race Against Terror is available for pre-order at jaketapper.com or wherever you get your books.

1:20:19You can follow the show on X at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show once you get your podcasts. Aaron Burnett Upfront starts right now.

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