Hearing In Charlie Kirk Assassination

23:53What do you think is going on? Well, what I think is that Minnesotans are overwhelmingly being well within the law, operating within their First Amendment rights. But I think, you know, the ICE agents are are pursuing a policy of, I'll call it, provocation. They're reckless. They're not reasonable. They're clearly not trained well. And that is the situation. Now, it seems to me that everyone I talk to and listen to has been urging caution and restraint by protesters, but also saying that people have a right to protest. It's in the First Amendment. And so I wasn't there. I can't comment on any specific act.

24:38But I can tell you that overwhelmingly people are peaceful and disciplined and are protesting well within their rights. And ISIS is provoking them or trying to. And I do think that they're provoking. They would love a justification to invoke the Insurrection Act because I think that would give them an advantage in the election, namely to maybe suspend them, which we know that we've heard talk about that as well. So these are some of my concerns. So thanks for asking. So something else interesting happened. So there was an ABC News report, and others have reported this too. I'm just reading this tweet.

25:16Two children, including a six-month-old, were hospitalized last night after federal agents deployed tear gas during Wednesday night's protests. The Department of Homeland Security responded to that tweet and wrote, It is horrific to see radical agitators bring children to their violent riots. Please stop endangering your children. They later deleted that post. DHS tells me they deleted the tweet after concluding that these parents did not bring their children to the protest. They were bystanders. What can you tell us about this incident? And what's your response to DHS tweeting that and then deleting it?

25:51My response to DHS is just more example of their callous disregard of the lives of Americans and Minnesotans. the facts that we have are that this was a family of taking their kids from, I guess, some sort of an athletic event and ended up getting caught in the middle of the ICE behavior and protesters. And then inexplicably, they shot tear gas too close to the car. And that caused the infant to have some respiratory problems, breathing. I understand from what I've been reported, CPR had to be administered. And people should know that these chemical irritants are highly effective and damaging to the lungs of a developing child.

26:39But to deploy this this this sort of thing in the middle of a crowd, not knowing who's there, I think I think is arguably reckless behavior. and I think that's why they took it down. They knew they were wrong, but the thing that bothers me is that they shot first and asked questions later. They shot out their tweet. They made their statement before they even got to the bottom of what actually happened. The reports I get are that the family was not bringing their children to a protest, but instead they were just bystanders trying to get from one place to another. So again, go ahead. I'm sorry. Yes, sir.

27:21No, it's all right. So there's also this disturbing video of a woman in Minneapolis being pulled from her car by ICE agents. She's screaming that she is trying to get to a doctor's appointment. She's screaming that she's autistic and disabled. Pretty alarming that she's screaming that she's autistic and disabled and still being treated the way she is. What happened there? Is your office collecting information about this incident? Yes. As a matter of fact, we opened up a portal so that we can collect information. If you are received, go to our website, which is ag.state.mn.us and share these incidents with us.

27:57We're collecting them right now. This video that you're showing was very painful to watch. It didn't seem necessary at all. Like so many things. I mean, there's so many stories of people thrown to the ground unnecessarily. People who are people having, I say, just demand showing their papers as if we're in like apartheid South Africa or something. We've the stories are just mounting. We've had stories of people who are in the free independent press. Jake, like yourself, telling us that they've been gassed and they've been disregarded and their status is the press has been abused and not treated within constitutional norms.

28:41It's sort of all over the place. And quite frankly, it's deeply disturbing. But we are resolute. We're going to protest. We're going to protest in a disciplined manner. And we're not taking the bait. I want to read something President Trump said today on Truth Social. In Minnesota, the troublemakers, agitators, and insurrectionists are, in many cases, highly paid professionals. Is there any truth to that? How do you respond to that? that is i would say that is an untrue statement i have never met such a person as paid to be an i mean it's just it's just a lie i mean i think you could put it in the category of haitians in ohio eating pets or something like that it's just made up nonsense that we hear from trump all the time there i will say it i will answer the question this way jake we have no information that that is true.

29:34We have information that that in fact is false. And if he is going to make such a claim, maybe he should bring some evidence of it. We've seen no such evidence of it. People are outside because they're upset. They're outside because their neighbors are being hauled off and being arrested. People are upset for the reasons that people tend to be upset, like the death of Renee Good and the shooting that happened in North Minneapolis. And people being yanked out of their cars. That's why people are protesting. That's why they're upset. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, thanks so much for your time today.

30:10Appreciate it. Thank you, Jake. Up next, presidential pardons and a woman granted clemency, not once, but twice now by President Trump.

30:25The president's unprecedented and unapologetic or shameless use of the pardon power to reward people who support him, people who have been convicted of sleaze and corruption. Well, that clemency continued unabated today with, as far as we can tell, the only apparent MAGA supporter to ever receive this clemency from President Trump twice, Adriana Camberos. In 2019, during Trump's first term, she was sentenced to 26 months in prison, convicted in a scheme to sell millions of dollars worth of a fake energy drink, and Trump commuted that sentence on his way out the door in 2021. In 2024, she was convicted again in a different scheme.

31:06The New York Times reports that Canberras enlisted the help of lawyers connected to President Trump, including one who represented Rudy Giuliani in his defamation case. And once again, President Trump pardoned her. Her attorney tells CNN, quote, Ms. Canberras was wrongfully convicted. She's home now and very grateful to the president, the White House and Alice Johnson, for their support. Also pardoned today, a banker facing charges including felony bribery. The Times reports that his daughter just happened to have donated three and a half million dollars to the MAGA Inc. Super PAC. What a coincidence.

31:37Here now is the panel. Notice White House correspondent Jasmine Wright and Wall Street Journal reporter Maggie Severins. Am I pronouncing that correctly? Severins. OK, thank you so much. It's your first time here, so I just wanted to make sure. So the former Puerto Rico governor, Wanda Vasquez, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations last summer, is also expected to get a pardon, according to a White House official. So, Jasmine, you have covered what happens behind the scenes before President Trump offers these clemencies, pardons, commutations. One key component seems to be people having face time with the president.

32:09Yeah, so much of who can get a pardon right now in this new administration is based on who you know. And that could be somebody close to the president. That could be somebody close to the folks who are put in these pardons office like Ed Martin, Alice Marie Johnson, who is the pardons are. Somebody close to somebody like Daring Warrington. basically trying to get their cases pushed perhaps by lobbyists, perhaps by people who used to work for Trump or in the kind of orbit in front of the folks who are making these decisions and ultimately bringing the cases to Trump. Susie Wiles is very much so involved in who is, what cases Trump is looking at.

32:45And so it is incumbent upon people to really try to push their cases, which aren't going through the normal DOJ process, right? We know that - There is a pardons office. There is a pardons office who typically does this work. People apply through the website. These are folks who have typically gone to prison or have served some of their time and admitted fault in these ways and are then put into that pardon system. They're not going through that process anymore. They're really kind of going to people in this kind of transactional way. And so a lot of it is who you know. And some of these people have actually gotten themselves in front of the president, like at Mar-a-Lago or other places to plead their case.

33:21And one official told me, like, yes, that has happened. But then the president will say, OK, go talk to this person. Go talk to this person. But again, it's who you know, not necessarily that you were sorry for something that you did. And Mackie, this really creates a cognitive dissonance when you have President Trump railing against fraud in Minnesota and then pardoning fraudsters. Picking up Maduro for drug trafficking, bombing those drug trafficking votes, pardoning the former president of Honduras for drug trafficking. I mean, there's no consistency. Yeah, I think it really underscores the Journal has done some reporting on how the president sees himself as someone who can make a judgment or be an arbiter of justice, right?

33:59As opposed to going through DOJ, going through someone else's process. Sometimes he'll see these cases and decide he thinks someone should be pardoned, right? And so it's more he sees himself as someone who is capable of delivering that. One other interesting story this week, the Pentagon is looking to seize control of Stars and Stripes, which is an independent newspaper for service members and their families. It goes back to the Civil War, Stars and Stripes. Yesterday, a Pentagon official posted that the paper would no longer cover, quote, woke distractions and instead, quote, will focus on all things military.

34:32No more repurposed D.C. gossip columns. No more Associated Press reprints. Now, Jasmine, critics say that this overt attempt to turn the paper into a mouthpiece to the Pentagon squares with pretty much Pete Hegseth's attitude towards the free press, any sort of accountability, any sort of oversight. I mean, yeah, this isn't happening in a vacuum. This isn't the first instance in which we've seen the Pentagon try to take more control over what is being reported about the defense industry and the Defense Department. Obviously, we know that they were trying to make some of the reporters sign a pledge that in a lot of ways people felt that went against their First Amendment right to actually report the news that they, I will just say, are continuing to do and break the biggest stories on, not some of the folks who have come in after them and that are basically been kind of, you know, rubber stamped by the DOD.

35:23A lot of them are MAGA influencers. Who can be reporting? And so, you know, this is not the first instance from the Pentagon or really the White House, right, who have tried to take control over some of what the press are reporting or who is in the position to actually do that reporting. Is there anything that Congress or Stars and Stripes can do to preserve the paper's independence and not have Pete Hegseth be the de facto editor-in-chief? Not that I'm aware. I mean, Stars and Stripes is mostly run out of, I guess now it's the Department of War. This isn't a normal independent publication, right?

35:54If Trump announced he was taking over CNN, there would be a whole different conversation to be had. Well, stay tuned on that. No, I'm sure he would like to. This is a military publication that is basically a trade publication inside the military. So they made this announcement, and we'll see if they find any tools to fight back. Speaking of pro-MAGA voices, Maggie, I do want to ask you about this great report you had in the Wall Street Journal that you worked on. highlights how Trump-aligned social media stars and influencers are raking in huge sums of money. They're being paid by corporate interests, foreign interests to lobby the administration, try to sway public opinion.

36:28But unlike actual lobbyists, they're not required to register. They're not required to disclose what they're being paid or even if they're being paid. You used last month's executive order directing the reclassification of marijuana as an example of how this works. Walk us through it. Yeah, so in that case, there was a Trump aide that was paid, or I should say a Trump campaign aide, he doesn't currently work at the White House, who was paid$300 ,000 by a PAC that's funded by the marijuana industry. Now, that payment was not public until far after that person started posting a series of tweets about how Trump should really reclassify marijuana and how the public supports it and how that's a great idea.

37:07He gave interviews on the topic. And so this is really a story about how what you see happening online, what you see happening from social media influencers might not be quite what's going on. You know, in this case, we dug up this payment that showed that this person had to take a lot of industry money right before he started going out and talking about this. Now, I should say that people we talk to for this story, they say, I never say anything that's not authentic. I might get paid by a company or an industry, but I'm not making points that aren't what I believe in. And I think that's something that, you know, the audience isn't quite aware that they're getting paid in the first place.

37:41Yeah, well, that's the thing, right? I mean, it's like any of these influencers, left or right, if they're being paid and they say, well, I believe that anyway, it doesn't matter because we still don't know. Their viewers don't know. Their listeners don't know. They deserve to know. Yeah, they don't have to advertise it. I mean, I think so much about this administration is about perception. And the administration has been utilizing these influencers to spread their message to the base and to others when they want to correct something, when they want to push a point. And so I think you're seeing this real network, this kind of economy of influencers, be able to both tap into their sources in the administration, but also tap into this outside bank of information, which is providing them a lot of money.

38:24And I think you're kind of seeing that go across the spectrum of issues that the White House is really dealing with because this all is so intertwined and because they've utilized these influencers basically since the campaign. Jasmine Wright, Maggie Severance, thanks so much. Appreciate you both. We're monitoring a hearing happening now for the man who's been charged in the assassination of Charlie Kirk. His defense team is pushing to get the entire prosecution team disqualified from the case. Stay with us.

38:58Breaking news on our Law and Justice League. A hearing is underway right now, and it could have a big impact on the case against Tyler Robinson. That's the 22-year-old man accused of assassinating Charlie Kirk back in September. At issue, his defense team is claiming that there's a conflict of interest among state prosecutors, and they're requesting that all of the prosecutors be thrown off the case. CNN's Nick Watt is in Provo, Utah. Nick, what exactly is the defense claiming here? And why could this be so consequential? Jake, it has been drama here in this courthouse behind me this afternoon.

39:33The prosecutors have accused the defense of laying an ambush, of stalling, and of trying to get all of them thrown off the case so they can maybe get a state prosecutor in who might be a little bit more lenient and might not be seeking the death penalty. The county prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. We've had two hours of arguments over whether the county prosecutors can even argue whether they have a conflict. We've had more discussion about whether this should be closed or not. Anyway, the crux of it is the defense says that one of the deputy prosecutors, his daughter, goes to UVU. She's 18 years old.

40:13She was there that day when Charlie Kirk was killed. She was in the crowd of about 3 ,000. And they say that that means this deputy prosecutor is going to be emotional, is tainted and should be removed. And because he shared this info with other people in the office, they should all be disqualified. Jake, how is the prosecution responding? They say nonsense. This woman was looking away at the time. She just heard it. She didn't even really know what was going on. And she hasn't suffered any lasting trauma. You know, the other issue they're debating right now is TV access to this trial. Now, the defence does not want it.

40:52Erica Kirk, Charlie's widow, does. She said Charlie was shot in public. This should be in public. Right now, they're arguing over the cameraman apparently zooming in too close on Tyler Robinson's lips, which would allow lip readers to figure out what he's saying. That is the debate right now going on. So they haven't even really got to the meat of this as to whether these prosecutors will be removed from this case or not. If everything goes according to plan May 18th, Jake, we should hear those prosecutors laying out their case against Robinson, which the crux really DNA on the alleged weapon and also an alleged confession on a discord chat by Tyler Robinson.

41:35We'll just see if we're going to stick to that timeline. Jake.

41:41Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, a renewed threat from President Trump today as tensions continue to escalate at the protest site in Minneapolis. And now the Trump administration is facing a new lawsuit. It claims that immigration agents are violently arresting U.S. citizens in Minnesota based on their appearance. The White House calls the allegations disgusting and false. I'm going to talk to one of the lawyers behind the lawsuit in just a moment. Also, California launching a new investigation into Elon Musk's Grok. After controversy erupted this week over what's called digital undressing, users could upload a photo of a real person, and Grok's AI tool would generate a version of that person wearing much less clothing, and sadly, it was being used also on images of children.

42:24Elon Musk claims he's putting guardrails in place. Is he? How much will that help? And a new college football champion will be crowned in just a few days, and one high school is gearing up to watch seven of their alumni take the field. So are they picking sides or headed down to Miami ahead of Monday's big game?

42:45The lead tonight. Tensions continue to escalate between federal law enforcement personnel and protesters in Minneapolis. Today, CNN crews saw agents forcefully taking down a costumed protester who was dancing in the street. Last night, tear gas and percussion grenades were deployed at protesters outside the Whipple Federal Building. These protests, of course, all stemming from last week when a federal agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. That area now a flashpoint for broader protests against President Trump's sweeping immigration crackdown. Yesterday, President Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the U.S.

43:20military to Minneapolis against the wishes of the governor. But today, the president suggested that he won't necessarily go that route, at least not for now. It's been used a lot. And if I needed it, I'd use it. I don't think there's any reason right now to use it. But if I needed it, I'd use it. It's very powerful. CNN's Shimon Prokopos is on the ground in Minneapolis for us. Shimon? Yeah, very cold Minneapolis. And I think the weather is part of the story here tonight. We're certainly not seeing the crowds that we saw last night. Jake, we're at another side of the Whipple building, the federal building.

43:58I just kind of want to show you what's happening here. As federal agents are leaving, this is what we've been seeing over the last several days. As they try to leave here, this is where the confrontations start. Some of the protesters will walk in front of the vehicles as the agents are leaving. And we saw that last night. Last night, when there were a lot more people here. Some of the protesters were walking in front of the vehicles, but not only that, they were also attacking the federal law enforcement vehicles that were coming out, and that's why we saw that escalation. Certainly, as things stand right now, any talk of bringing a military here would be ridiculous because not much is happening.

44:38And certainly, I think the weather will help keep things calm here. There's probably, on the other side there are more people there but so far since we've been here tonight it's been very peaceful and just small pockets of confrontation as vehicles are trying to leave but I do also want to point out quickly that people in the community around Minneapolis it's really striking to see how sad people are and just how afraid they are and really they are just hoping that whatever is going on right now comes to an end and they could go back to living their lives. And I think that's such an important part of this story for the folks here.

45:18There's just a lot of fear right now, Jake. Shimon, are the protests that you're seeing, are they widespread across the city or are they confined pretty much to the area where you are outside the federal building? No. It's all right here. It's this one small area. It reminds me, Jake, you'll remember when I was in Portland, the attention, all of that, you know, when the president was claiming that it was a war zone, It was all centered around one small street outside of that federal building. And it's the same thing we're seeing here right now. These protests are not extending outside of this one particular area, Jake.

45:53All right, Shimon Prokopos in Minneapolis. Stay safe and stay warm. Joining us now, Catherine Allen Halverson, staff attorney at the ACLU of Minnesota, which filed that lawsuit I told you about against the federal government, saying that federal agents have been violently stopping and detaining U.S. citizens based on their appearance. Catherine, how many of these cases are cited in your lawsuit? And tell us about one of them. For example, you say one man was shoveling snow with his mom when masked federal agents pulled up in unmarked vehicles. That's right, Jake. We have brought a lawsuit on behalf of three named plaintiffs and an entire class of Minnesotans who are being terrorized by federal immigration agents in Minnesota.

46:35Our client, Mr. Adrus, who was finishing an overnight shift working as a home health care aide, was shoveling snow to get his car out when masked ICE agents stopped him and his mother. They accused them of not having valid ID when they showed them their valid U.S. citizenship ID and detained them for a lengthy period and criticized them for speaking Somali to one another in the conversation. And this is happening all over the cities. We have put in many statements from individuals who have been stopped, arrested, brought to the Whipple building, who have our U.S. citizens and have other immigration statuses that make this a totally inappropriate violation of their rights.

47:36And as you said, Jake, many are using significant force against these individuals. So a DHS spokesperson said in an email to CNN that the allegations in your lawsuit are, quote, disgusting, reckless and categorically false. What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the United States, not the skin color, race or ethnicity. DHS law enforcement uses reasonable suspicion to make arrests, unquote. What's your response to that? Well, first of all, reasonable suspicion is not the law, Jake. The law says that to make arrest and arrest without a warrant, an agent has to have probable cause.

48:17And that's a high bar that they have to show. And they're not meeting it here by the president's and Secretary Noem's own admission. But beyond that, it's clear that that's not happening because people are offering their IDs and there is no basis for stopping them. Individuals are being stopped for buying groceries, you know, shoveling snow, driving down the road, going to work, and then they're not allowed to show their ID. They're detained physically. They're put in cars and driven around the city while the officers do facial recognition checks on them. And then they are dropped, often in a different location from where they were picked up.

49:06Sometimes they're brought to the detention building itself for hours before they're released. You have asked the U.S. District Court of Minnesota for an emergency order to stop ICE and other federal agents from continuing to violate Minnesota's Fourth Amendment rights, which protects Americans against unreasonable search and seizures. If you succeed, how might that change the way ICE is operating in Minnesota? Well, we filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and a motion to certify a class this afternoon asking for that emergency relief. And we are asking the court to issue an order that requires these federal agents to not only honor the rights that are set forth in our Constitution and in our law in their conduct, but also to document what they're doing.

49:56And that is something that we can ask for, the court can order, and then we can find out what's happening so that we can enforce that order and ensure that federal agents respect the constitutional rights of everyone in Minnesota. Catherine Allen Halverson, thanks so much. And while Minneapolis is currently in the spotlight, other reports of ICE arrests across the country continue to gain attention. A new ProPublica reports examined some disturbing incidents saying, quote, we found more than 40 cases of immigration agents using banned chokeholds and other moves that can cut off breathing. ProPublica also has a piece this week titled, quote, we found that more than 170 U.S.

50:34citizens have been held by immigration agents. They've been kicked, dragged and detained for days. Let's discuss with ProPublica investigative reporter Nicole Foy, who wrote both of these important stories. Nicole, thanks for joining us. So back in November, CNN's Victor Blackwell spoke to the subject of one of the cases you profiled, a gentleman named Arnaldo Bazan. I want to show a small portion of Victor's interview with him along with the video of the arrest.

51:16We're not that legal. My dad works for a reason. He came to the U.S. to help out my family. They're doing this shit.

51:26I mean, we're not doing this. I was going to school. When they pulled your dad over, Arnaldo, was it clear that these were ICE agents? No, sir. The cars were on mark, and it didn't say nothing about anything. So DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told us that ICE did not assault Arnaldo and his father. She said that when ICE attempted to pull over the father, he, quote, recklessly rammed his car into a federal law enforcement vehicle and fled, unquote. What have you learned since about Arnaldo as it relates to the physical impacts of that arrest? Well, we've learned that this is still something that obviously a 16-year-old boy who's a U.S.

52:12citizen and has no reason to expect to be arrested by immigration agents is still really struggling with. Not only has his father been deported, but he's an athlete and he had a number of physical and mental struggles to overcome. And it's still something that is really difficult for him to recount today because the effects of a chokehold, they're dangerous and they're really difficult for someone to go through, especially when you're a 16-year-old kid. DHS told us that in the face of violent behavior and death threats, quote, our officers have behaved with the utmost professionalism and followed their training to use the least amount of force necessary, unquote.

52:54Your reporting, however, says, quote, we reviewed footage with a panel of eight former police officers and law enforcement experts. They were appalled. This is what bad policing looks like, they said, and it puts everyone at risk. Did the officers you spoke with indicate how they might have handled things if it had been one of their officers? All of the officers we spoke with when we showed them these videos, particularly many pointed out this case of what happened to the Bazans. And one former official who had decades of experience in Border Patrol and in ICE said that they've arrested human traffickers, drug traffickers, people with really serious criminal backgrounds.

53:31And they never found cause that they could remember to use a chokehold in this way. They've all the officers that we spoke to, including many former law enforcement, said that this is the kind of thing that for normally for a police officer would get you disciplined, possibly fired. And certainly this was something that federal trainers for immigration agents said they were never taught. This is not something you were supposed to do. And it is explicitly banned in DHS policy unless there is a threat of a deadly force of a serious, dangerous threat to life. Let's turn to your other piece on ICE detaining more than 170 U.S.

54:10citizens. Your reporting says more than 20 of those citizens reported being held for more than a day without even being able to make a phone call to their loved ones or an attorney. In some cases, their families didn't even know where they were. Yeah, this is something, too, that I think we're still, we're already seeing reports of come out of Minnesota and Minneapolis as there's been a surge there, and this has continued across the country. Many U.S. citizens have reported being arrested in sometimes very violently, forcefully and suffering serious injuries. And then they've simply disappeared off the map.

54:42Their families have struggled to find out where they are. They're then often released two or three days later without any charges, despite being held for this period of time, without access to a lawyer, without access to a phone call. And some have alleged even access to sufficient medical attention. Nicole Foy, thank you so much for your important reporting. Appreciate it. President Trump confirming that he did take that Nobel Peace Prize medal from the award's actual winner, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Karina Machado, when she offered it to him. Despite that gesture, he still says he's not supporting Machado to lead Venezuela.

55:19We'll hear why ahead. Plus, Jimmy Kimmel offers to give Trump any of the awards he's won if the president goes through with one thing that Kimmel wants him to do. What is it? That's ahead.

55:34And we're back with our breaking news in our national lead. A source tells CNN that the Justice Department is now investigating Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Let's get straight to CNN anchor and Chief White House Correspondent Caitlin Collins. Caitlin, what exactly are they being investigated for? It's not totally clear yet, Jake. This is just breaking, and we have confirmed that the Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry. A source familiar has told me that. That confirms what was reported earlier by CBS. And essentially, Jake, as we're still trying to figure out what exactly the contours of this investigation are, we have a pretty good idea so far.

56:16And we heard from the deputy attorney general Todd Blanche earlier this week after we had heard these comments from Mayor Fry, from Governor Walz, following the shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minneapolis. Earlier this week, Todd Blanche was saying that ICE operates in a bunch of different counties without incidents going on. He referred to what's happening in Minnesota as an insurrection and said it's the direct result of a failed governor and an all caps terrible mayor who he accused of encouraging violence against law enforcement. something that Todd Blanch called disgusting. And he said, I'm focused on stopping you from your terrorism by whatever means necessary.

56:51So, Jake, I think that gives us a pretty good sense of what exactly it is that the Justice Department is at least trying to base this investigation off of. Where it goes, it's not really clear right now, but this does come as the FBI director and the deputy attorney general were seen in Minneapolis today as they've been surging law enforcement to the area as those tensions have only continued since the shooting of Renee Good. But it does show you, Jake, who the Justice Department is focusing their targets on when it comes to the aftermath of the shooting of Renee Good here. And right now it is the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and the mayor here, both of whom have been criticized by multiple White House officials for their comments, including Mayor Frye telling us to get the F out of Minneapolis the day that she was killed, and Governor Walz as well making multiple public comments talking about the massive federal presence in their state.

57:41And so now it's an investigation by the Justice Department. It's not clear yet, Jake, that either of them have actually been served subpoenas as a result of this and where this is going to go. It seems to be in the very early stages of whatever investigation this is. But that is what we have learned so far, Jake. Just to just to underline this, there is this horrifying incident in Minneapolis where an ICE officer kills a woman. At the very least, it's an ambiguous situation as to whether or not it was a justified shooting. I'm not saying that it wasn't, but I am saying that I can't think of any other instance where there wouldn't at least be a basic investigation on something like this.

58:23The Justice Department immediately almost says, we're not going to investigate this. But now they are investigating the mayor and the governor? where this took place? Yeah, and it was the same person, Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, who confirmed, Jake, that there would not be an investigation into the actions of the ICE agent here. They said that there was no basis for a civil rights investigation. That's the only investigation that would be prompted as a result of this. And so that was our clearest indication we got yet earlier this week that that was not happening. And now we're learning here tonight that they are investigating, apparently, comments made by the governor and by the mayor.

58:59Whether or not that leads to anything. Obviously, Jake, we don't have any idea yet. And I should note, we just learned about this a few moments ago. I reached out to Mayor Fry's office to see if they have any comment. We haven't yet actually heard from them their thoughts on this either. But obviously, Jake, to your point, this is what the Justice Department is focusing their investigative efforts on as this has continued to go on. And they've been very critical and said that the comments by the mayor, by the governor, they believe are impeding law enforcement and the actions that have been playing out in Minneapolis ever since.

59:31Kaitlin Collins, thanks so much. Don't miss Kaitlin Collins on her show, The Source with Kaitlin Collins. Her guests tonight include Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. That's tonight at 9 Eastern, only on CNN. California just sent one of Elon Musk's companies a cease and desist letter after its chatbot was, quote, digitally undressing actual people. California's attorney general will join us next to explain exactly what he's demanding and what comes next in his fight against Moscow.

1:00:04Back with our breaking news, a source telling CNN that the Justice Department is now investigating Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry. Turning us now is California's Attorney General Rob Bonta. General Bonta, we have you on to talk about a different story, but I do want to get your reaction to this news first. What do you make of this? It appears that the Trump administration is doubling down on their political weaponization in Minnesota and in Minneapolis. They've doubled down time and time again, threatened the Insurrection Act. Of course, one of their officials is responsible for the death of an American citizen, and they keep leaning in and doing more and increasing the attack and turning the screws.

1:00:53But the problem is they do it without basis, without facts, without evidence, without any receipts. So they go on the attack all the time, but they do it without any basis very often. So we'll see what happens here. Of course, I'm always open to evidence, interested in argument, but this administration has earned no trust. They've politicized the U.S. DOJ. They've gone after their enemies list. And this could be another example of that. Let's go back to why we booked you. Former first buddy Elon Musk is facing mounting scrutiny, along with a new investigation into his artificial intelligence chatbot that's on X or Twitter.

1:01:32It's called Grok. And the controversy center is around what's known as digital undressing. Grok has been allowing users to upload photographs of real people, including children, and then take off their clothes. Not naked, but sexualized, putting them in bikinis, lingerie. In some cases, using AI to post fully nude images. You just sent the company a cease and desist letter. What are you asking for? What are you demanding? Yeah, we launched an investigation two days ago and sent a cease and desist letter earlier today demanding that XAI end the non-consensual sexualization of children and women on their platform using their chatbot, Rock.

1:02:20And it needs to end immediately. We've asked that all laws be complied with, including child pornography laws and child sexual abuse material laws and California's laws, and that they tell us by the end of the day on Tuesday exactly what they've done to comply with those laws. So this is urgent. We're moving at speed and we're demanding action from Elon Musk and XAI. Have you heard back from Musk or anyone at the company? Not directly to us at this point. We do know that they've got some attorneys to start working with us. So we hope we'll get to a good place immediately. I have seen Elon Musk's public posts, which don't seem to be consistent with actual facts.

1:03:09But we're interested in what the facts are. We're going to get to the bottom of this. If any laws are broken, we're going to hold Elon Musk and XAI accountable. Earlier this month, Musk posted on X that anyone using Grok to make illegal content will suffer the same consequences as if they upload illegal content. Is that true? Are they abiding by that? Do you have confidence that he can actually address this issue or that he will address this issue? You know, it seems like a deflection. he's pointing the finger at users when other AI companies are able to put guardrails in place so that you cannot create such material because it's illegal.

1:03:48And so this isn't an intentional choice. It's a decision. It's by design that Grok can create these sexualized, non-consensual images of children and women. And he needs to use his ability to stop it immediately. California Attorney General Rob Bonza, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Much more in our breaking news just ahead. The Justice Department launching an investigation, we're told, into top Democrats in Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry. For what? We don't know. Stay with us.

1:04:23Back with the breaking news and our politics lead, a source telling CNN that the Justice Department is investigating Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, both Democrats, allegedly for obstructing law enforcement. Moments ago, I received a statement from Governor Walz. It says, quote, two days ago, it was Alyssa Slotkin. Last week, it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous authoritarian tactic. The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her, unquote.

1:04:57And a source in Governor Walz's office also tells me that they have not been notified of anything. My panel is here. Archie, your reaction? I think it's troubling, but it is a pattern that we have seen. And in some ways, it feels like it's, you know, I mean, Governor Walz and the mayor have really been upset about not being kind of bred into this investigation. So it's almost like a strong offense is a good defense. And so we clearly we see the Trump administration going after these folks because they really wanted its seat at the table on something that they are at the front lines of in terms of the shooting.

1:05:34Your reaction, T.W.? Yeah, I'm not a lawyer, so it's hard for me to say the validity and how much legs this case has. But I've been very troubled by the attitude that both Governor Walz and the mayor of Minneapolis have had toward I get the F out of our city, encourage them to videotape them peacefully. The problem with encouraging people to at all impede or be even on the near sidelines of any law enforcement operation is that bad things can happen in these high tense situations. And what I'm most disappointed at is when you read the rap sheet, the people picked up from ICE in Minnesota, you had multiple instances of convicted rape of minors, multiple homicides, deportation orders dating back to 1996.

1:06:17That's older than my 28-year-old sister. Happy birthday test. So those are really what's troubling me the most and what I think troubles people across the country. I want ICE to behave responsibly. With great power comes great responsibility. They need to tighten some things up, but encouraging people to interfere with law enforcement is bad. But there has not been one, you know, talk or thought about, okay, maybe some changes that need to happen in terms of training, in terms of the masking, in terms of all these pieces, and I think that's the challenge. I think there's no way this works with ICE unless there's a strong partnership at the local level and that partnership doesn't exist so until that happens i think you're i agree with you in terms of respecting what ice is trying to do it's a really difficult job but you're putting folks on the ground training somebody kills somebody point blank and then calls them an effing b i mean that's that that's clearly there is a problem i'm not trying to get ahead of the investigation but that aspect of it is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed.

1:07:16Yeah, no, I am all for making sure that the situations are in place, that our law enforcement and ICE are behaving responsibly. But what you saw with Ms. Good is she was there trailing and videotaping these law enforcement operations that we can go back and forth about. I don't really care. It's a tragedy all the way around. But I think the fact that she was there and thought it her duty to be there and sort of put her body between law enforcement and their activities, I think is dangerous in and of itself. So you have a legal background, right? Are you an attorney? I am. A non-practicing attorney.

1:07:54But you have a legal background. So let me just game this out because I'm not a lawyer either. So if the idea is that they are impeding, if the charge is, and again, we haven't, not only have we not seen any subpoenas, Governor Walz's office hasn't either, according to a source there, but if they are accusing Walz and Fry of impeding law enforcement's ability to do their job, what would Fry and Walz have had to do for that to be a legitimate charge? It is true that Walz and Fry have encouraged protest, which is protected by the First Amendment, protected by the U.S. Constitution. Where is the line between saying you have every right to go protest, you have every right to videotape ICE officers, et cetera, et cetera, and illegality?

1:08:48I mean, Jake, just taking a step back, though, I think, if anything, there has been the sense that they're not giving them any information at all. So in terms of the state and local. So I think I'm not sure if you've seen Walls and the mayor take the tone down. Literally, the mayor made an impassioned plea on TV saying folks who are protesting, they are making things more difficult and more challenging on the ground. So I think, if anything, they've tried to take the temperature down. And we've seen this administration take the temperature up at every level. So the issue has been at hand as more has been there's no state and local involvement in this investigation right now.

1:09:28So I'm not sure how they can be impeding anything. I would contest Tom Homan's made a number of impassioned police to let them have access to their jails and let them have access to the immigration records. These people with deportation orders dating back quite literally to 1996 had no business being in this country after they received their deportation orders for these most heinous crimes. They should have been released. Had they been given that information by the authorities in Minneapolis and Minnesota, we might not be in this full situation we're in now. And look, you know, this has led to that officer who'd been got 30 stitches on his leg in a previous ICE mission who there's claims he might have had internal bleeding.

1:10:08These have real world implications on both sides of this fence. And I wish that the people, the local officials in states across this country would play ball with federal law enforcement to make sure we don't have these people on our streets who are dangerous and here illegally. But there are examples of ICE working well with state and local officials. And going back to your point, Jake, in terms of what would be impeding the investigation, we don't see any evidence of the Trump administration asking for certain things. So it's hard to see where that line is. We haven't seen that, where we have clearly seen the mayor and Wall say, listen, we should be a part of this investigation, because ICE can only truly function if there's trust, transparency, and also a strong partnership at the local level.

1:10:54I agree with that. Do you have any concerns, just to go back to the comments of Governor Walz, he talked about the investigations into the Fed chair, Jerome Powell, into Mark Kelly. I mean, I could go on and on, but we only have 19 minutes left on the show. So do you have any concerns that the Trump administration is using the Justice Department for retribution? I have concerns that a lot of administrations in the past have used it for retribution. I think each one of these cases is remarkably different. I see the Kelly case different from the Powell case, different from this case. And I'll just take each one as they come.

1:11:34I'll wait and see what this looks like when we get more information from that reporting. And I look forward to making a judgment call when I see it. I would just push back a little bit in the sense that I know coming up, there have always been concerns from the White House about even contacting DOJ on these types of pieces. You're talking about during the Biden or the Obama administration. Exactly. I mean, from the beginning of my career for many years, there have always been concerns about keeping that line because of trust and transparency and confidence in the process. Well, I think Donald Trump would say that that confidence was shattered during the Russian gate investigation in the Obama years and all the subsequent investigations of Donald Trump that came later.

1:12:13All right. Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. Yesterday, she addressed the United Nations and directly called out the Iranian regime. And in moments, Iranian activist Masi Alinejad will join us live to share what she's heard since delivering that powerful message at the UN. Stay with us.

1:12:33We're back with the world lead and President Trump's response today to CNN when asked if he's backing off any kind of U.S. military strike on Iran in response to the deadly protests in that country.

1:12:46You urged protesters in Iran earlier this week to keep fighting in the streets and said that help was on the way. Is help still on the way or has your bar for intervention been? As you know, Iran canceled the hanging of over 800 people. They were going to hang over 800 people yesterday. And I greatly respect the fact that they canceled that. On Tuesday, President Trump wrote on Truth Social, Iranian patriots keep protesting, take over your institution, save the names of the killers and abusers, they will pay a big price. In all caps, he added, help is on the way. But the next day, Wednesday of this week, President Trump claimed that he'd been told in good authority, he said, that the killing in Iran had stopped and that there were no plans for executions.

1:13:28Let's bring in Masi Alinajad. She's an Iranian journalist and activist and bravely confronted Iran's UN representative yesterday about would-be assassins who tried to permanently silence her. Masi, I'll get to the UN appearance in a second. But first, on these anti-government protests in Iran, there are reports of some 2 ,800 people having been killed, maybe even more. President Trump says he respects that Iran called off some 800 executions yesterday. I guess, is he being told everything that's going on? Because at least two separate human rights organizations say Iran carried out more executions last year than it had in decades, and that the killing is continuing in Iran.

1:14:06So what's your reaction to all this? Massacre unfolded in Iran. More than 20 ,000 people, up to 20 ,000 people have been killed. We don't know the real number. Right now, people inside Iran telling me that it's like a war situation. the military rules, like they see the cars every corner, military cars, every corner of the streets. They storm into people's house and shooting people. They storm into hospital and finishing the injured, the wounded. So this is the situation. The Islamic Republic doesn't understand the language of diplomacy. I strongly believe that this is the good news, that if they stopped, because of the pressure of President Trump, they stopped hanging and executing 800 people.

1:14:53But let's be very, very clear. The Islamic Republic uses diplomacy to buy time. We know that very well, that during Obama's administration, they used the same tactic, buying time and cheating to rebuild the nuclear weapons. That's the same. They always use diplomacy to cover their—you know, to tell the rest of the world that, you know, we're going to reform. But this regime cannot be reformed. They are treated their own people like ISIS. What is different between Islamic Republic and ISIS, Jack? The Islamic Republic hang people. Last year, more than 2 ,000 people were executed by the same regime.

1:15:36So ISIS behead people. They actually hang people. ISIS bring people on TV, force them to do false confession and then kill them. This is the Islamic Republic. It's in the DNA of the Islamic Republic. So I strongly believe that President Trump is man of action. If he put pressure on the Islamic Republic to stop executing them, but at the same time, the Europe should join President Trump because the only way that we can stop this regime to kill innocent people is actually treating them, treat them like ISIS. So I want to play that dramatic moment when you confronted Iran's UN representative yesterday.

1:16:17You have tried to kill me three times. I have seen my would-be assassin with my own eyes in front of my garden in my home in Brooklyn. My crime? Simply echoing the voice of innocent people that you killed them. Had to take a lot of courage to say those words to him, to his face. It was not easy for me to sit down and listen to the lies of this regime that we have been hearing for years and years. Jake, this was the same regime at the United Nations that they brought my sister on TV to disown me publicly. This was the same regime representative that they put my brother in prison to punish me. This is the same regime that they brought more than 50 people on TV to denounce me, to do false confession.

1:17:08This is the same regime that they sent killers here in New York to kill me, the same regime that now using the same AK-47 to kill innocent people in the street. To be honest, I am very pleased that the U.S. government invited me. They gave me an opportunity to face-to-face telling them that they are the killers of innocent and unarmed people. But at the same time, I want to call Europe to take actions as well, join the United States of America. be strong in the face of these killers. They are not a legitimate government. They are slaughtering people in Iran right now, and my heart is broken. Masi Alinajad, thank you so much.

1:17:48Really appreciate it. Only one team is going to be crowned college football champions on Monday night. But for Miami High School, it's a win regardless, with one school leader comparing their situation to Haley's comment, something that will never happen again in their lifetimes. What am I talking about? Well, I will explain next.

1:18:08In our sports lead, millions of Americans will be tuning in Monday night to watch college football's next champion be crowned between the Indiana University Hoosiers and the University of Miami Hurricanes. Perhaps none of us will be watching any closer than the students and staff at Columbus High School in Miami. CNN's Bryn Gingraths travel down to Miami to find out why.

1:18:31Go 25 miles south of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where college football's biggest showdown is set for Monday night, and you'll land here. Columbus High School, a school that's, well, got some skin in the game. We have seven people with Columbus or Columbus alums that are all tied to this game. Welcome back. Oh, thank you. That's Columbus's football coach, Dave Dunn. We first met last year when we came to chat about Fernando Mendoza, Indiana's breakout quarterback, a Heisman winner who played for Dunn. Last time I saw you, wait, Fernando hadn't yet won the Heisman. IU hadn't yet won the Big Ten.

1:19:06They certainly weren't playing for a national championship. Yes. What a rise. Yes. What do you think? It's been an unbelievable month. A fairytale season that will be capped off when Fernando and his brother Alberto, his backup quarterback at IU, return home to take on Miami. They'll face friends. Three high school teammates play for the Hurricanes. Miami's head coach Mario Cristobal and assistant coach Alex Mirabal round out all Columbus High alumni who will be on the field. I coached with Coach Mirabal here. He was an offensive line coach here at Columbus, and Coach Cristobal's nephew was on our staff, and his two sons are on our team.

1:19:43All five players played for me here. What is it that just feels a coach? It's like a proud father moment almost. How many times do I get a chance to see seven of our people compete for a national championship in our backyard. Are you getting text messages from friends saying, hey coach, you should brush your shoulders off. This is pretty cool that you got this many players playing in a national championship game. A few of those, but probably more ticket requests. I've got more of those than I have accolades, but it goes with the territory. Let's go way back. Yeah. This is 1986 and 1987 school year.

1:20:13The connections to this school run even deeper. The Mendoza brothers' dad also played football at Columbus alongside Mario Cristobal. Fernando was an offensive lineman, and there's Mario Cristobal leading the team onto the field. It's always special when you get to play against, with or against guys that you know or knew growing up. This is Haley's Comet. This will never happen again. A Heisman Trophy winner from Columbus High School playing his hometown university, which he was a fan of, coached by two guys who played with his father in high school and the game is in Miami. Figure that. What makes this school so special?

1:20:54It becomes part of your DNA and I think it is passed on from generation to generation. So do you cheer for the person that thanks you in their Heisman speech or do you cheer for the side where you're friends with the coaches and you coach some of those players? It's like trying to pick your favorite kid. It's not an easy question to answer. So I'm just I'm there to root both everybody, both teams on. Do you have a shirt that's like split in half? No, I don't yet. Someone asked me what color you're wearing, red or green. I go, I'm wearing blue. Jake, come on day night. This entire football field is going to be transformed into a giant watch party.

1:21:26And whether it be Mendoza and IU or University of Miami that comes out on top, this high school says it doesn't matter. It's a win-win situation for them. It's going to be a great game. Jake. Thanks to Brindian Grass for that report. Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, I'm going to talk to former Vice President Mike Pence and Democratic Senator from Arizona, Ruben Gallego. That's Sunday at 9 a.m. and noon Eastern. Only on CNN. Until then, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, X, and on the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram at the lead CNN.

1:21:57Ever miss an episode of The Lead? You can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. I will see you Sunday morning. Thank you.