Europe Struggles To Define What Comes After Trump

26:23And we have heard the concerns regarding C-Dance 2.0. We're taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likenesses by users, unquote. Do you believe them?

26:37Jake Tapper:Well, it doesn't matter whether I believe them or not. It matters whether they do that or not. You know, OpenAI had a similar issue, and they very quickly reinforced the idea that they had an opt-in policy, even though they were sort of in an opt-out modality, meaning performers can see themselves. Brian Cranston can see himself and say, you know, hey, you're not supposed to have that. And they go, oh, sorry, take it down. Or they can say, hey, Bryan Cranston, we want to use your image and likeness when I get your permission. And he'd have the opportunity to to make that decision and get compensated for it and and so forth.

27:11Jake Tapper:So I hope that they see the public outcry to not abuse people's rights. And I hope they choose, you know, to do what they said they're going to do. In the meantime, we have an important piece of federal legislation called the No Fakes Act, which is in the Judiciary Committee now in the Senate. And it would enshrine that right, that right to our own voice and likeness. And, you know, you're a journalist. Your job is to make sure that the First Amendment is protected and is respected and observed. And in the entertainment industry, both the companies and the talent have the same sense of reverence for the First Amendment.

27:58Jake Tapper:But you shouldn't be able to make me say something I didn't say or do something I didn't do or depict me in a way that I wouldn't, in a setting I wouldn't put myself. That's just basic fundamental fairness. It goes not just to the professional entertainment industry. It goes to kids who are abused in this way. It goes towards anyone in our country and around the world who is, you know, when they post stuff on social media, when they find themselves, their images captured in whatever ways that they are subject to this same sort of abuse. So it's time to put real guardrails in place that protect us.

28:38Not to mention all the AI companies that don't really design these cityscapes or whatever. They just plagiarize them from the work of other people. Sean Astin, thank you. Please come back. We want to be talking about this and making sure artists are represented in this debate. We really appreciate it. And we're all huge fans. My director just showed his kids the Goonies over the weekend. Just FYI. Just FYI.

29:00Jake Tapper:Goonies never say die. Yeah, exactly. Thanks so much, Sean. CBS Late Show host Stephen Colbert is responding after his network strongly urged him to not air an interview, at the very least to know what likely would happen if he did. why the comedian calls the statement from network lawyers crap. That's next.

29:23In our politics lead, Stephen Colbert is again blasting his own network, CBS, after CBS released a statement denying that it had prevented the late show host from airing an interview Monday with Texas U.S. Senate candidate Democrat James Tallarico. CBS disputed Colbert's account, writing, quote, The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Tallarico. The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal time rule for two other candidates, including Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled, unquote.

29:57This is how Colbert responded to that official statement on his show last night. I am well aware that we can book other guests. I didn't need to be presented with that option. I've had Jasmine Crockett on my show twice. But here's where I do want to tell the lawyers how to do their jobs. They know damn well that every word of my script last night was approved by CBS's lawyers, who, for the record, approve every script that goes on the air. Between the monologue I did last night and before I did the second act talking about this issue, I had to go backstage. I got called backstage to get more notes from these lawyers, something that had never, ever happened before.

30:43And they told us the language they wanted me to use to describe that equal time exception. And I used that language. So I don't know what this is about. I don't even know what to do with this crap. Hold on.

31:10Let's discuss with our panel, including former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, Nico Perino, Nico Perino, who is Executive Vice President for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and CNN's Arlette Saenz. So, Alvaro, let me start with you. Colbert points out that CBS's lawyers approved a script saying the network told him in, quote, no uncertain terms that he could not air his interview with Tallarico, which he put on YouTube. Then hours later, CBS released a statement disputing that. How do you make sense of what's going on here?

31:39Jake Tapper:I think when you zoom out the panel, the panel pattern, pardon me, is really clear. You had Bari Weiss pull down coverage of Seacott on 60 Minutes at the last minute. You had David Allison, Larry Allison promise the White House changes in coverage in this network if their purchase was allowed through. And so if it were just some one-off dispute between Mr. Colbert and the lawyers at CBS News, maybe it would be a he said, he said, she said kind of thing, but that's not where we are. We are in a different place. So, Nico, I want to play what the FCC commissioner, Brendan Carr, said today about this.

32:11Take a listen. I was highly entertained.

32:15Jake Tapper:I think it was probably one of the most fun days I've had on the job, watching sort of the hilarity of how this story played out. I mean, look, anybody that's, you know, not suffering from a terminal case of Trump derangement syndrome could see right away yesterday the exact story arc and how it was going to play out. What's your reaction? Well, the confusion is the result of the FCC. Going back to 2006, the FCC has issued guidance that equal opportunity rules do not apply to the news interview portions of these late night talk shows. And then back in January, they decided they were going to issue new guidance.

32:53They were going to apply to daytime and nighttime interviews, not, by the way, to radio interviews on broadcast. So conservative talk radio is in the clear, at least, based on this guidance. And then after that guidance is issued, there's a probe into the Views interview of James Tallarico. And you could see why CBS's lawyers were getting a little bit skittish about interviewing James Tallarico. All you have to do is show me the incentives and I'll show you the outcome. The incentives here are for the network to just lay off anything that goes here. And this is why free speech advocates have long criticized the content regulations that come from the FCC on broadcast communications.

33:35It's like this bizarro world where the First Amendment doesn't apply. You have First Amendment rules for newspapers. You have First Amendment rules for books, cable television, free speech applies. But in broadcast, you have all these content regulations. And these content regulations can be easily weaponized. Happened during the JFK administration. It's the reason that the Reagan administration got rid of the fairness doctrine. And now we know that President Trump doesn't like these late night shows. And so they're being weaponized, in my opinion, against these shows. He doesn't like criticism, I guess.

34:06Arlette, the controversy is taking place within the context of this Democratic primary in Texas for the Senate. Tallarica is locked in this tight race with Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. and early voting is just beginning in Texas. Listen to what Congresswoman Crockett said about all this. Look at what happened when they tried to censor Seacott. We found out that you could get a lot more views. So I think it probably gave my opponent the abuse he was looking for. So I think it's probably better that he didn't get on and that they went straight to streaming. Last time I looked, the YouTube interview had more than six million views, which is a lot more than late night gets any show.

34:48And Tallarico says he's raised more than two and a half million dollars since this controversy began. Yeah, there's no question that James Tallarico is trying to use this moment to his advantage. And it really could not have come at a better time for him. This video really ricocheted around the Internet on the very day that Texas voters started their early voting process down in the state. So he is with those millions of views on YouTube, Google searches going up for Tallarico. He's really bringing in brand new eyeballs onto his campaign at a really critical stretch. Now, Jasmine Crockett, she's no stranger to viral moments.

35:26She's really built a lot of her prominence on the national stage from tangling with these GOP lawmakers. And she acknowledged right there that this is something that will help Tallarico. The big question is, is what kind of impact this will have on the race? Crockett has been leading Talarico in the most recent poll back from January. She was up eight points among likely voters. And so there's just under two weeks to go until the primary. We'll see whether this might shake things loose a little bit. So one of the things that's interesting is so we've seen, I think Talarico suggested that it was Trump and the Trump White House that shut this down.

36:01And there's actually no evidence that Trump or Brendan Carr played any role. But there's also, as we've seen, no need, right? It's like that old story of who will rid me of this turbulent priest, the king says, and then the Archbishop of Canterbury gets assassinated. Like once you've established what you want as a rule, people have, if you're powerful, people have a way of doing your bidding.

36:25Jake Tapper:The common thread is these massive media mergers. When Colbert got canceled, Paramount was about to buy Skydance. When Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air, Nextstar was about to buy Tegna. And right now, Paramount has this brief window where the Warner Brothers board said, you can give me another bid. And so it's re-upping its show of loyalty to this president. And until we get these massive mergers in check, it's going to keep on happening, in my view. What do you think? Well, I do think that the administration has come out for these late night talk show hosts. We saw that with Jimmy Kimmel. Colbert, his run, I think, ends in May.

37:00And Brendan Carr has his marching orders. He attended government meetings with a pin of Donald Trump's face on it, a gold pin. And President Trump repeatedly truths out criticisms of these hosts. And these hosts are perceived to be left-wing. I think they probably are majority left-wing. And so that's why he's going after late-night and daytime talk shows and not conservative talk radio. Thanks to all. And we should disclose the current owners of Paramount want to buy Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns us. I had the urgent search after a terrifying avalanche in the California Sierras. Here's some of the 911 calls for help.

37:39That's next.

37:46Rinse knows that greatness takes time, but so does laundry. So Rinse will take your laundry and hand deliver it to your door, expertly cleaned. And you can take the time pursuing your passions. Time once spent sorting and waiting, folding and queuing, now spent challenging and innovating and pushing your way to greatness. So pick up the Irish flute or those calligraphy pens or that daunting Beef Wellington recipe card and leave the laundry to us. Rinse. It's time to be great. Breaking news on our national lead. The urgent search is on right now for a missing skier after an avalanche in Northern California.

38:23We learned today that eight other skiers tragically were killed while six were rescued. They were all returning from a three-day backcountry trip near Lake Tahoe when a wave of rocks, ice, and debris came crashing down on them. CNN's Stephanie Elam has more on this devastating accident. It was the final leg of a three-day cross-country skiing trip when the avalanche hit. 11 skiers and four guides were traversing the backcountry at Castle Peak, a more than 9 ,000-foot summit in the Sierra Nevada Mountains near Lake Tahoe, when catastrophe struck. There were nine women and six men. We were able to rescue one man and five women.

39:07Eight people died on the mountain. All six were rescued off of the mountain. Two of the six were not mobile. They could not walk. One was a Blackbird Mountain guide and five survivors were clients on that tour. According to the sheriff's department, the survivors said the group was trying to get out when someone saw the deluge of snow and yelled avalanche. An avalanche of snow, ice, rocks and debris about as long as a football field, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The local sheriff's office received a 911 call around 1130 Tuesday morning saying much of the party was trapped. Castle Pete.

39:46reported as 9 to 10 people buried, three others attempting to dig them out. There were storm warnings to avoid the area as early as Friday. The National Weather Service in Reno issued a haunting forewarning. Will you be able to make it home? With forecasters predicting that the storm would drop several feet of snow when all is said and done. And on Sunday, the Blackbird Mountain guys, the company leading the trip, forecasted a weak layer of snow that could create unpredictable avalanches. Then on Monday, the powerful winter storm began pummeling the Sierras before Tuesday's tragedy struck. Now, as recovery efforts continue, an urgent plea.

40:24Jake Tapper:Please avoid the Sierras. Stephanie Elam, CNN. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This is our Big Tech on Trial. Facebook founder and Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg testifying in a California courtroom today about claims that his social media platforms harm children and teens. In moments, I'm going to be joined by a father who lost his son, who participated in a social media challenge and is now pushing for more protections for kids online. Plus, officials on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are on the lookout for clues tonight as Nancy Guthrie's location remains unknown. We're going to go live to Arizona for an update on the search for Savannah Guthrie's 84-year-old mother, now in day 18.

41:07Also a push for a new investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. This one in New Mexico, where lawmakers are creating a bipartisan committee to look into allegations of criminal activity on a ranch that Epstein owned in that state. What do they think they could find? I'll ask one of the lawmakers involved ahead.

41:27The lead tonight, social media on trial. Right now, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is inside a Los Angeles courtroom where he has taken the stand to testify in a landmark social media addiction trial that began last month. Meta and YouTube are accused of intentionally designing addictive features that hooked a now 20-year-old woman as a child and harmed her mental health, she says. Zuckerberg's testimony will give him a chance to defend the efforts the company says it has taken to protect young users. This lawsuit is the first of more than 1 ,500 similar lawsuits to go to trial. Over the years, we have sadly brought you countless stories of families who said that their children were hurt or died as a result of social media.

42:07In just a moment, I'm going to talk to another one, a father who lost his 12-year-old son. Other grieving families have traveled to Los Angeles in hopes of securing a courtroom seat to watch Zuckerberg's testimony. Let's go to CNN's Claire Duffy. Claire, get us up to speed on what happened in court today. Yeah, Jake, there were some really heated moments. Zuckerberg, of course, a key witness in this trial as the CEO and majority owner of Meta. And at the heart of the questioning here was really whether Zuckerberg did enough to address the risks that this platform has known there were for young users.

42:37He was asked, for example, about under 13 users accessing Instagram in violation of its policies, also asked about beauty filters on Instagram, which experts that Meta consulted said could be harmful to young users. And Zuckerberg pushed back. He talked about the need to balance safety with considerations like privacy and free expression. He ultimately said that he believes he has navigated protecting young users on his platforms in a, quote, reasonable way. And Meta has denied the claims in this lawsuit. They say that this 20-year-old woman, Kayleigh, experienced mental health challenges because she had a difficult childhood, not because of Instagram.

43:14Ahead of Zuckerberg's testimony today, a meta spokesperson told me, quote, the question for the jury in Los Angeles is whether Instagram was a substantial factor in the plaintiff's mental health struggles. The evidence will show she faced many significant difficult challenges well before she ever used social media. And interestingly, Jake, this plaintiff, Kaylee, was actually in the courtroom today for Mark Zuckerberg's testimony. And at the end of her lawyer's questioning, he unfurled this multiple feet long banner full of hundreds of little pictures that she had posted on Instagram in an effort to really hammer home how reliant and how addictive they say she was to this platform.

43:52Claire, lots of impacted families are at this trial. What are they saying? Yeah, families, as you said, have flown in from across the country, parents who say their children were harmed or died as a result of social media. And interestingly, among those parents are people who were in the audience back in 2024 on Capitol Hill when Mark Zuckerberg turned around an apologize to parents for the harms that they say their children have faced on social media. Among those moms is Julianna Arnold. She blames Instagram for the death of her 17-year-old daughter, Coco. She talked this morning on The Situation Room about what she was hoping to see out of Zuckerberg's testimony today.

44:27Take a listen. We want the truth. We want the truth. We want transparency and we want these companies to be held accountable. That's why we're here today. They need to see. Mark Zuckerberg needs to see again. We already faced him once in January 2024 in Congress at a hearing where he was forced to apologize to us. And now we really want to hear the truth because that day we did not hear the truth. And Jake, one of the other things that parents are hoping may come out of this trial is they're hoping that Congress is watching this closely and may finally be motivated to pass some more comprehensive online safety legislation.

45:02All right, Claire Duffy, thanks so much. Joining us now to discuss is Todd Miner, His 12-year-old son, Matthew, tragically died in 2019 after participating in a viral social media challenge. And Todd, let me start by saying how sad we all are and sorry for your loss. I'm sure this trial is a lot to take in. How are you doing? Thank you, Jake. Yeah, a lot of times my wife and I were just speechless. that we thought everything just made sense, that the algorithms were harmful, but we are thankful that everything is in court now and everything is coming to light. What do you hope comes out of this current trial?

45:52Well, I can't even say justice. Maybe to a small extent justice, this. But I think it would be in a big tech would have to at least officially would have to admit or show it would show that they were liable in the deaths of young people. You've been a proponent of the Kids Online Safety Act, which would require platforms to provide safeguards for minors, including restricting access to minors' personal data, providing parents with tools to supervise minor's use of a platform, a version of it passed the Senate, but it has faced delays in negotiations regarding its final version in the House of Representatives.

46:35What about that act do you think would be most beneficial to kids? I think the duty of care would probably be the biggest thing, or at least that they design it to keep young people in mind. Most of the time when they're designing this software, they design it to be addictive to young people, not taking into account their mental health. But with this legislation, it would force them to have to keep mental health in mind and also online harms that would be directed toward young people. What do you want people to know about Matthew? Tell us about Matthew.

47:21Matthew, he was a wonderful child, a beautiful smile.

47:26Jake Tapper:He lit up the room wherever he went.

47:31And he meant so much to us. And the love that he had for us was so strong that that's why we continue to fight for everyone else's children, so they don't have to go through the pain that we've experienced. What's your message? What's your message to other parents out there who are trying to navigate their kids using social media? Well, the I kind of look at it as the we were out. We're outgunned. The algorithms beat us to the punch. We never knew that social media applications were so strong that they could just send these harmful information to your children. and you're thinking, you know, if you check on them every couple minutes that you would be able to keep them safe.

48:17But you can't do that if it's sentenced to them every 20, 30 seconds or even less than that. It's a program. It's a, I guess, AI or some kind of computer-generated algorithm. And there's not a parent in the world that could keep up with how fast they can send information to your child. If you could say anything right now and it would be heard by any of these tech CEOs putting out these social media platforms that kids use, whether Mark Zuckerberg or anyone else, what would you say to them?

48:56You designed this and knew that this software or your applications would harm children.

49:03Jake Tapper:You've always known and you just didn't care. It's so harmful, you don't even allow your children to use your own social media application. So what does that say? That says that our children are in danger and that you just didn't care. You put profits before our children's safety. Todd Minor, I know it's not easy to talk about this, but we really, really appreciate it. May the memory of Matthew be a blessing. Thank you for talking to us today. Thank you, Jay. Thanks for having me. A source telling CNN tonight that authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border are looking for leads in their search for Nancy Guthrie.

49:45We're going to go live to the Guthrie home outside Tucson for the latest. That's next.

49:56Our national lead now, the search for Nancy Guthrie, is now well into its third week, although Guthrie's whereabouts remain unknown. Due to Tucson's proximity to the Mexican-U.S. border, investigators have briefed authorities on both sides of that border to be on the lookout for any clues that might assist in finding the 84-year-old. CNN's Ed Lavender is outside the Guthrie home in Pima County, Arizona. Ed, what's the latest? Well, investigators have been talking about or answering questions about this, the question of Mexico and if the geography here could play a role into where she might be.

50:36And we've learned today from sources saying that the U.S. has informed U.S. Border Patrol, as well as Mexican border officials about the Guthrie situation and alerting them to it, obviously. But we've also heard, Jake, from local officials at the state level and the local level in Mexico who have also told us that there has been no request for assistance in that investigation as well. But clearly, with the lack of answers, we're now 18 days into the search and investigation of Nancy Guthrie's disappearance. You know, there's just no real clear definitive answer as to where she might be. And obviously with Tucson's close proximity to the border, that has always been an issue and a question that has lingered over this entire case for some time.

51:24So we're kind of, you know, asking questions about that here at this point. It also comes as we're still awaiting any kind of clear indication from investigators about the DNA that was discovered here at the home. Investigators say that that is being put through more analysis, including genealogical analysis. But that is evidence that could take some time. But now this far into the investigation, the sheriff is asked about whether or not at this point, if they still believe that Nancy Guthrie is alive. Has there been any evidence so far that Nancy is still alive or is it just hope of investigators and the family?

52:03There's been no evidence that she's not.

52:08And that's ultimately the conundrum that so many investigators are under here is that with no clear answer one way or the other, they continue operating with the hope that they will find her alive, even as all of the questions surrounding this investigation continue to swirl. All right, I love it. Darren, Pima County, Arizona. Thank you so much. And again, if you out there have information, any information you think could help this case, please call the Pima County Sheriff's Department at 520-351-4900 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI. You can also reach the agency online at tips.fbi.gov. A New Mexico ranch owned by Jeffrey Epstein is the latest target of investigators.

52:49I'm going to speak to one of the lawmakers leading that charge ahead.

52:58In our Law and Justice lead today, the House Oversight Committee interviewed billionaire retail magnate Les Wexner in Ohio. Wexner, the former owner of Victoria's Secret and Bath and Body Works, was subpoenaed for testimony in 2009 after Jeffrey Epstein was arrested and charged with sex trafficking minors. DOJ records show that Wexner's lawyers described a decades-long business relationship between the two men. That Wexner ended after Epstein stole money from the Wexner family. Democrats accused Wexner of downplaying his close relationship to Epstein. Les Wexner gave Epstein the ability to handle his children's and his family's money.

53:40So at least that part of it, that part of it makes it hard to believe Les Wexner's testimony. We should be very clear that there would be no Epstein Island. There would be no Epstein plane. There would be no money to traffic women and girls. Mr. Epstein would not be the wealthy man he was without the support of Les Wexner. After Epstein's death, an FBI official described Les Wexner as a, quote, secondary co-conspirator. Wexner's lawyers say he had no knowledge of Epstein's illegal activities with young girls. New Mexico's State House of Representatives is now creating a bipartisan committee to investigate the property that Jeffrey Epstein once owned in the state, known as Zorro Ranch.

54:30They're investigating it for allegations of criminal activity. The committee plans to partner with the New Mexico Department of Justice for this deep dive into allegations of abuse and sexual assault possibly committed at Zorro Ranch. And joining us now to discuss is Democratic State Representative Andrea Romero, one of the bill's sponsors. Representative, thanks for joining us. So no one opposed this measure. So the committee, the Truth Commission, will be created. How does it feel to have this over the finish line? Well, it feels like we're just beginning, really, truly. You know, we have been thinking about this for a while, trying to find the mechanisms in place to make sure that we can be apolitical and ready to do business.

55:12The reality for this commission is something that our community desperately needs and needs to know about. You know, this is information that we're all trying to put together nationwide and worldwide about what went on and how it went on. And for us in New Mexico, it is so critical that we get this story straight. Well, it's great to see it happening in a bipartisan way in New Mexico, if not here in D.C. There's an email in the Epstein files released by the Department of Justice that mentions Zorro Ranch. It's an unverified claim that two women are buried there, two women who died by strangulation.

55:48The sender of this email has been redacted by the DOJ. It was sent to a local radio host who told CNN he believes it came from someone who worked on the ranch. She passed the email on to the FBI when it was sent in 2019. Does your committee intend to push the Justice Department for more answers regarding that email? Yes, we do. And we will go to the fullest extent of the law to get those answers. The reality that we understand is that that email was sent and our then attorney general requested that the federal government investigate these claims. that there was a request to do that back in 2019.

56:30But unfortunately, those requests went unanswered by the federal government. We feel very challenged that we have to be forced to do this ourselves in New Mexico when those requests went unanswered. Then here we are seven years later trying to pick up the pieces. Are there other claims about Zora Ranch and the Epstein files that you intend to look into further? Yes, absolutely. I mean, the claims are absolutely sprawling and certainly very concerning. We have allegations of everything from sex abuse and trafficking to harming children of very young ages. It's horrifying what we're learning, it seems, every single day.

57:11But we're committed to telling the truth and making sure that there is a record. And if needed, it would be pursued in the court of law. There was an unusual report in The New York Times in 2019 that mentioned Zorro Ranch. Jeffrey Epstein at one point, quote, hoped to seed the human race with his DNA by impregnating women at his vast New Mexico ranch, unquote. The New York Times report says there's no evidence this plan ever came to any sort of fruition. But is this some sort of scientific scheme of Epstein's that you plan to investigate as well? Absolutely. These allegations are horrifying about what went on.

57:49We have heard from victims that they may have woken up in very strange places. It's a really difficult process to understand. And that's so critically why we need to know what the truth was. Who were the folks in the room? Who knew what happened? And why were these never investigated, especially if victims came forward? This is what's so critical about the public understanding how this happened. And certainly if folks came forward on a crime, why was this never investigated? So, yes, we are looking to these various records. And again, every single day, learn something horrifying about what went on or allegedly went on.

58:29Well, it wasn't investigated for a lot of reasons, but one of them is that the alleged perpetrators are very, very powerful, wealthy people. Are you ready for that? You know, this is unfortunately why we are a bipartisan commission. You know, we're not here to play politics about anything. We're really here to go on a fact finding mission. Who was involved? And we understand even in our state that it was the highest echelons of people who are being named in these files. And so for us, it's about making sure that no stone is unturned. Whoever it is that we find that may have been a perpetrator in these crimes will be named.

59:10They will be named and we will recognize what went on here. And so, yes, the stretch is very wide and potentially very deep, but we will make sure that the public knows what happened. New Mexico State Representative Andrea Romero, thank you so much. Please keep in touch with my team and come back when you find find some facts. Appreciate it. Thanks. Appreciate you. The U.S. overhauled its childhood vaccine schedule earlier this year, a vaccine schedule earlier this year, putting it closer in line with countries such as Denmark. But health officials there say not so fast. Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled to Denmark to find out why.

59:58And our health lead, the Trump administration's health officials have spent much of their first year fixated on upending the childhood vaccine schedule, with sources saying that Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. wants a plan that more closely resembles that of Denmark. The new U.S. schedule now recommends 11 vaccinations compared to the previous 17. Denmark recommends 10 vaccinations. However, experts say Denmark's health model should not be imposed internationally. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta went to Denmark to find out more.

1:00:32Denmark has long recommended fewer childhood vaccines than the United States. Babies here leave the hospital without any shots. By the time they're 12 years old, most Danish children have received vaccines against 10 diseases. Now compare that to the United States. Until recently, American officials recommended children get vaccinated for 17 diseases. Now, six of those are still available, but no longer recommended. Hepatitis A and B, meningitis, rotavirus, flu, and COVID-19. Some of those, like hepatitis B, are still a serious threat in certain parts of the United States. But not so much in Denmark.

1:01:13About six in every 100 ,000 Americans are diagnosed every year with chronic hepatitis B. Compare that to less than two per 100 ,000 in Denmark. That means around 18 ,000 Americans diagnosed every year compared to about 100 in Denmark. So this is a referral hospital. That's right. Dr. Jens Lundgren is a specialist in infectious diseases. He sits on the panel that decides which vaccines to give Denmark's children. Did it surprise you when you heard that the United States is trying to emulate their vaccine schedule on Denmark? Yeah, I certainly didn't see that coming. You cannot just take what has been carefully thought through in one geographical location and just extrapolate that and generalize that.

1:01:59I think part of the reason that they emulate Denmark is because Denmark has the fewest vaccines on the schedule. But you see, that's not a good argument, right? So why do you want to condense your vaccine program against the fewest vaccine? You want to have the right vaccines for the public health that you have in your population. You believe these vaccines that we're talking about on the childhood vaccine schedule, you believe they are safe and effective. Correct. That's not the concern here. That's not the debate here. So what is it fundamentally about? We have come to realize after we have made some mistakes also early on in the vaccine program that it's entirely based on trust.

1:02:41Trust. The trust, parents need to trust when we come with a new vaccine into the program, they need to trust that that's very sensible to do. And they would therefore adhere to that. Lundgren and his colleagues are now considering adding another vaccine, the one for chickenpox. Most Danes trust their government. Of the world's most advanced economies, it ranks near the top. And here's the United States. Dead last, just 28 % of Americans trust the government. Danish trust in government goes far beyond vaccines. Even after parents leave the hospital, child-rearing looks a whole lot different here.

1:03:25I want to show you something pretty extraordinary. We've come to visit two-and-a-half-month-old Esther. Of course, we expected to find her inside the house, given how cold it is. But instead, here she is in a stroller. outside, freezing cold temperatures. You'll see this everywhere in Denmark. Parents swear by the fresh air for their heavily swaddled babies. The family is waiting for a home health nurse to arrive, who will come, free of charge, five to six times during the baby's first year of life. Oh, you're so strong. Yeah. Oh, should we start with the way or should we start with the movement?

1:04:06What? I'm going to smile. What I'm struck by is Denmark is so different than the United States. You're here. Parental leave. Nationalized healthcare system. Obviously, there's a lot of people in the US who are not that fond of the government actually running anything at all. It's two completely different countries, right? and it's run differently and politically, governmentally. I would want for the people in the U.S. to have some of the benefits that we experience because I do believe it benefits me as a parent. I believe it works. So I basically trust the system, right, that they have decided it for me and it works.

1:04:47Vaccination isn't the only reason that outbreaks are less common here in Denmark. The National Serum Institute, or SSI, here in Copenhagen, keeps meticulous medical records of all Danish citizens, helping them track illnesses to help predict and even prevent outbreaks. What makes Denmark's superpower, this data tracking? Whenever someone is tested for something, it goes into one database. Whenever someone is vaccinated, it goes into one database. It doesn't go to all kinds of places. It's one place. And then it's quite doable to link all this together. Americans might be uncomfortable with that level of tracking, but it is one of the many factors that makes the Danish system work.

1:05:32It's easy to see reflections of the Maha movement here. Danes emphasize personal health to ward off disease, and they are skeptical of too much medical intervention. But the success of the Danish system is based on so much more than the number of vaccines parents give their children. nationalized health care, high trust, and a lot of strong co-dependence on one another. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Copenhagen, Denmark. And our thanks to Sanjay for that report. It's the boss versus the commander-in-chief, why Bruce Springsteen is taking on the Trump administration and the reverse. That's next.

1:06:17And our politics lead Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are facing new questions today after the Wall Street Journal reported that an Emirati-backed firm linked to an Emirati royal family member spent$500 million to acquire a 49 % stake in a Trump company, World Liberty Financial, which we've mentioned before on this program. The timing of this, of course, is what's particularly interesting because the purchase was made after Trump was elected to a second term and just months before the United Arab Emirates won access to tightly guarded American AI chips.

1:06:54Jake Tapper:A, my father has nothing to do with B, it has nothing to do with AI chips and C, we met in the Middle East the first time. There's not a person in that room. There's not a banker. There's not a fund manager that doesn't go to the Middle East and to the, you know, whether the sovereign wealth funds of the world. They're some of the biggest investors in every fund in America. To critique the one here and not talk about the others would be nonsense. It's literally what they do. Earlier this month, CNN reached out to World Liberty Financial regarding that Wall Street Journal report. The company replied with a statement that read in part, quote, neither President Trump nor Steve Whitcoff had any involvement whatsoever in this transaction and have had no involvement in World Liberty Financial since taking office.

1:07:33The statement went on to read, quote,

1:07:49With me now, David Kirkpatrick. He's written extensively on the Trump family and how that family has profited since the president's time in office. And he has a new piece in The New Yorker that examines how those profits have grown to$4 billion in Trump's second term. and we're only one year into it. David, what do you make of Donald Trump Jr.'s defense there?

1:08:11Jake Tapper:Yeah, it was a remarkable non-answer. You know, the question is, did the president know that four days before the inauguration, he had just received a huge financial payment from the Emiratis, an investment that is so hard to value, it looks very much like a gift. That's what would constitute a conflict of interest. And he didn't really speak to that. The other striking thing about this is that it wasn't disclosed. In fact, the company seems to have taken some actions to keep it hidden. Almost all of the other Trump investments, which, you know, in many ways have raised a lot of questions about potential conflicts of interest or exploiting the presidency of a personal profit.

1:08:51Jake Tapper:He announces those with a press release. This is the only one, to my knowledge, that they have tried to hide. And you have to wonder why. In your new piece of The New Yorker, you write in part, quote, quote, he and members of his family have signed a blitz of foreign mega deals shadowed by conflicts of interest, and they've launched at least five different cryptocurrency enterprises, all of which leverage Trump's status as president to lure buyers or investors. Ethics watchdogs say that no other president has ever so nakedly exploited his position or on such a scale, unquote. So you mentioned crypto.

1:09:24Is that the industry that the family is making the most money off of right now, or is it something else?

1:09:31Jake Tapper:That is where they're making the most money. And you can kind of see the recipe broadly. You know, crypto is a field that a lot of people don't understand and distrust for obvious reasons. And if you add to that the credibility, the prestige of the president of the United States, you can add value almost immediately. And that's what they're trying to do, especially through this enterprise world liberty. A recent trademark filing has some state lawmakers questioning if the Trump family is looking to profit off the potential renaming of the Palm Beach International Airport. Florida legislators are currently ramping up efforts to change the name to honor the president, the sitting president.

1:10:07These kinds of things are usually done after a president leaves office. The Trump organization released a statement earlier today that reads in part, quote, to be clear, the president and his family will not receive any loyalty, licensing fee or financial consideration whatsoever from the proposed airport renaming unquote where do you see that going

1:10:27Jake Tapper:uh... i i don't think you know i take them at their word i don't think they plan to get paid for the renaming of the palm beach airport at the same time you know it's clear that ever since president trump first appeared on the apprentice and became a celebrity what that family is done is sell his name they're in the business of licensing his name the presidency is sort of stepped in is a new engine of that fame to run that licensing machine. So of course, they're going to protect the trademark. That's what they're all about. Republicans complained a lot about how Hunter Biden and President Biden's brother were profiting off of proximity to then the vice president, then the president.

1:11:05How does this relate on a scale wise?

1:11:10Jake Tapper:I think you would agree that they are similar in kind, right? That we've seen many times a relative of a president or other public official trying to profit off that connection. In scale, it's totally different. You know, it's a mouse and a dinosaur. Yeah. And a mountain and a molehill. David Kirkpatrick, thank you so much. Yeah, exactly. Appreciate it. My panel joins us now. Doug, hi. I guess the question I have is, do voters care? No. I think we've learned that lesson over and over again. And they don't care. That doesn't mean, by the way, that we shouldn't. But, you know, how often do we see things disappear in, say, the Health Ethics Committee, and it makes news for a day or two, and then we've forgotten that person's been investigated for months.

1:11:51With Donald Trump, they're so open and brazen about this. One, you can't really concentrate on whatever it is. He may then tweet something that distracts us as well. And voters have factored all of this in. Once Donald Trump won after the Access Hollywood tape, I think we know that the rules are different for him, whether they should be or not. So this is definitely different in terms of scale. The first term, there were questions about the hotels and people renting rooms in the Trump Hotel in D.C., just a curry favor, et cetera, et cetera. But now it's just a shamelessness that I've really never seen.

1:12:23I've talked about this with you on this program before. I'm one of the few Democrats who give Donald Trump credit for the prowess of him politically tapping into the anxiety of the American voter in the last presidential race while Joe Biden was old and weak, perceived by the voters. You know why he won? There's a couple reasons. One was the border. Another one was the perception that he was going to fix a rigged system. And what this seems like to the voter as somebody who runs campaigns every day is the system is rigged for him to win. Now, what does that have to do with the midterms? Doug is right.

1:12:52They're not running to that because somebody's rigging the system. But what they see is what's going to motivate them to show up in a midterm when normally 35 to 40 percent of the electorate don't show up in a non-presidential year. This is just another thing showing no matter who they vote for, the system is rigged. Let's talk about the boss, Mr. Springsteen, taking on the president. Bruce Springsteen just announced the North American leg of his tour. The venues are sending a message. The tour kicks off in Minneapolis. It ends in Washington, D.C. Take a listen.

1:13:21Jake Tapper:We will be rocking your town in celebration and in defense of America, American democracy, American freedom, our American Constitution, and our sacred American dream, all of which are under attack by our wannabe king and his rogue government in Washington, D.C. So I know that like the Hollywood elite or the celebrity elite gets dismissed, not only by Republicans, but by Democrats, too. They're like, it just doesn't work anymore. But this is the boss. Is it any different for him? First of all, I don't see how he continues to get younger every time he goes on tour. That bothers me a lot. But as a voter, does this matter?

1:14:04Somebody is not running to vote because of the boss. But here's what it does do, Jake, is that when he's in a town or we're covering him talking about Minnesota, we haven't talked about Minnesota in a week or two because the president saw that this was horrible, sent in Tom Holman, they sent some of those folks home, they quit killing Americans in the street, and it's kind of died down. Every time he pops back up and talks about it, it's just a reminder, and that helps the Democrats. And here's... I gotta tell you, I'm in a lot of text chains about the concert. tickets go on sale on Saturday. One of the discussions we're having is of my Republican colleagues.

1:14:32Which ones are going to feel that they're going to be able to go to the concert in D.C. and risk being spotted by their colleagues and maybe put in playbook? It's a very real conversation that Republican comm staffers are having right now. Well, and I'm sure made worse or exacerbated by the White House responding in a statement to Politico about this. It says, quote, when this loser, Springsteen, comes back home to his own city of ruins in his head, he'll realize his glory days are behind him and his fans have left him out in the street, putting him in a 10th Avenue freeze out because he has a severe case of Trump derangement syndrome that has rotted his veins.

1:15:07So first of all, Stephen Chung there, White House Comms Director, a remarkable knowledge of the Springsteen catalog for somebody who claims to hate this icon. But do you think that this is actually going to become like a cultural thing where Republicans won't? You'll go. You don't care. Oh, tickets go on sale Saturday at noon. I'm bought in. It's still Springsteen. He's still singing Thunder Road. Absolutely. And look, whenever we see the tortured sort of quotes where they use the song lyrics and all this, Republicans, Democrats do it. It's always painfully awkward. So I'll make it a little more awkward.

1:15:37I think if we learned anything over the past few years, it is very hard, especially in this administration, to be a saint in the city, especially if that city is Washington, D.C. Nice. Nice. All right. So let's turn to 2028. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is visiting two potential early voting states, Nevada and New Hampshire. That's in less than a week. Meantime, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who's gone toe-to-toe with Trump over the years, he delivered his annual State of the State address today. Another potential White House hopeful Maryland Governor Westmore was on CNN earlier today with Casey Hunt.

1:16:10You have no idea whether or not you might run for president or not.

1:16:14Jake Tapper:No, I'm not running for president. I'm not. Because I love what I'm doing. And remember, You know, four years ago, I'd never held an elected office in my life. I don't come from a political background. I'm not one of these people who's been spending 20 years, you know, going from job to job. Anyway, Chuck, of those three, who do you think is most promising right now as a potential candidate? Look, I'm one of the few people in this town who's actually run a campaign for president. And there's one thing that we've learned as Democrats is that there's parts of the demographics that we have to win back and we have to find a candidate.

1:16:48Your question to me is which of those three would help bring back Latinos, bring back working middle class guys who work in steel mills in Pittsburgh and in Ohio. And I don't know. I don't know of those three which one can. Is there another one out there that you kind of like? Money and votes. Sure. Everybody knows I work for Ruben Gallego and he's a Latino and very working class. That's one. But Ruben doesn't have the money that Pritzker does. But Pritzker has a whole lot of money. They all each have their own like bona fides and their strengths, but a lot of them have weaknesses. Well, you can't Frankenstein it, man.

1:17:19You're going to have to pick one guy. Who worries Republicans the most? I think the bigger challenge for Republicans is what comes after Trump. And they've got to sort that out, knowing that Donald Trump isn't going anywhere anytime soon. But to sort of answer your question, I don't think there's a Democrat that has more pure political talent than Wes Moore. It's a long way to go, but he is that talented. And if you're around him, and you guys have been, you get sucked in like it's Bill Clinton-level charisma that he has. All right, well, I don't know if this is charisma. It's something. It's a video from HHS Secretary RFK Jr.

1:17:50with Kid Rock. Apologies ahead of time for showing you this. This is supposed to inspire Americans to get fit.

1:18:12I don't know. Doug, thoughts? I didn't mean to leak my home videos. I needed the money at the time. That's my story. I'm sticking to it. Look, anybody that follows my social media for 20 minutes knows that I work out every morning. I take health very seriously. You do not work out in blue jeans. I don't care who you are. Thanks to both of you. It was do or die for Team USA's men's hockey team this afternoon, and it came down to a nail-biting finish, and we're going to head to Milan Cortina for an update next. Stay with us.

1:18:45in our sports lead it has been a big day for team usa at the winter olympics skier michaela shifrin won gold in the slalom ending her eight-year olympic medal drought and upping the team's medal count to 24 she is now both the youngest and the oldest woman to win olympic alpine gold winning at age 18 and now age 30 also an electric overtime win for the men's hockey team over Sweden, sealing a place in the semis. CNN's Koi Weyer somehow pulled the worst assignment in news. He's over in Italy covering the Winter Olympic Games. Koi, what happened in the rink today?

1:19:18Jake Tapper:Hi, Jake. Team USA and Sweden in an epic quarterfinal down to the wire. Sweden's Mika Zabanijad of the New York Rangers scoring with a minute 30 to go to tie it. Team USA's coach is the Rangers' head coach, Jake. Both teams have a whopping 25 NHL players rostered. Pumped to be back in the Olympics for the first time in 12 years in overtime. Olympics goes three on three. Quinn Hughes of the Minnesota Wild hammering home the winning goal. Team USA one step closer to gold. They're headed to the semis to face Slovakia. I was on those slopes to see the winningest alpine skier of all time in Cortina.

1:19:56Jake Tapper:Team USA's Michaela Schifrin get back to the mountaintop. Gold in slalom. Her last individual Olympic gold was 2018. She'd failed to get any Olympic medal the last eight years. You could hear a pin drop ahead of her final run, but Mikayla, at 30 years old, put on a master class, winning by one and a half seconds. She posted a long, I did it, I won message on Instagram afterwards, but Jake, she'd written it the night before, manifesting the comeback, overcoming injuries and mental blocks. Mikayla Schifrin is an Olympic champ again. It's not always easy. Sometimes it feels impossible, but in the end today it was to take away the noise and to just be simple with it.

1:20:39There will always be criticism, but I am here to earn the moment. And that is going to require some risk. Not the easiest thing to do, but in the end today we could do that.

1:20:52Jake Tapper:Finally, Jake, we had a streaker during a live event on the cross-country course. A fur baby, a local dog busting out of his doghouse at a B &B nearby, giving competitors, spectators, and officials a few moments of pure chaos. A wolf dog, one of the competitors, said she thought she was hallucinating. Officials eventually leashed him. Everything was fine. No gold medal for the pup, but we did get a doggone epic photo finish from the official Omega Scan-O-Vision. One of the best highlights of the day, Jake. Back to you. All right, Koi, thanks so much. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Blue Sky, and on the TikTok at Jake Tapper.

1:21:31You can follow the show on X and on Instagram at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. Take it away, Aaron.