How the War & U.S. Blockade Affect What We Buy

25:17These are stars and directors, including some who are in business with Paramount or Warner currently. Yesterday, advocacy groups said that about 1 ,000 entertainment professionals had signed on. And today, that number has doubled. I'm told as of this afternoon, the number is upwards of 2 ,000, with more Hollywood types adding their names, including Florence Pugh and Pedro Pascal. So here's a portion of that letter from BlockTheMerger.com. It says, the result of the merger will be fewer opportunities for creators, fewer jobs across the production ecosystem, higher costs, and less choice for audiences.

25:50In response to the letter, Paramount has repeated its commitment to Hollywood artists, including the commitment to make a lot of movies at those two studios. And it says a combined Paramount WBD will offer, quote, more avenues for their work, not fewer. Of course, Paramount's the only remaining bidder for WBD, including CNN, now that Netflix dropped out of that bidding race back in February. A key shareholder vote on the matter is coming up next week. What we're seeing forming is a growing coalition against the deal, and many U.S. politicians have also weighed in. Senator Cory Booker, for example, announcing he's going to hold a shadow hearing about the deal tomorrow.

26:25And there's a big question mark about California and whether the California Attorney General Rob Bonta and other state AGs will weigh in, whether they will try to block the deal. There's an expectation those state AGs are thinking about doing so and could take action this summer. That open letter, now with 2 ,000 signatures, is intended to pressure the state AGs to take action. Phil. Brian Stelter with the latest. Thanks so much, my friend. Well, in our politics lead, President Trump is weighing in on perhaps his administration's strangest controversy. High bar. You may recall CNN's investigation last month into FEMA official Greg Phillips and his outlandish rhetoric, specifically his claims of teleportation.

27:08I was going to go to Waffle House and get Waffle House. And, and I ended up at a Waffle House, this is in Georgia, and I ended up at a Waffle House like 50 miles away from where I was. When asked to explain this and several other examples, Phillips said these experiences happened while undergoing treatment for metastatic bone cancer, and he was heavily medicated on a self-prescribed experimental regimen. Despite this, Phillips stands by his teleportation saying, quote, haters going to hate. In a brief interview with CNN, the president commented on the controversy asking, After being told that Phillips was, in fact, not kidding, Trump responded, I don't know anything about teleporting.

28:01It just sounds a little strange, but I know nothing about teleporting or him, but I'll find out about it right now. Now, according to a source familiar with the situation, since CNN's reporting, Phillips has been quietly sidelined from parts of FEMA's operation, pulled from a scheduled Capitol Hill hearing and directed to stop posting about teleporting on Truth Social. People close to Phillips say he has grown agitated and suspicious that Trump officials are working against him because of his comments. Many of those same officials say that in spite of these questionable claims, Phillips is actually doing a pretty good job at FEMA and that if you can look past the absurdity, he really cares about people and being prepared for hurricane season.

28:43Phillips did not respond to CNN's requests for comment. And with that, I want to bring in the panel. Sorry. Social Michael. All you, babe. I don't really have a great question here. I just, I'm still trying to, first off, the K-Files story was like amazing. The fact the president picked up the phone. Yeah. I often wonder if the president's best use of his time is picking up the phone every time a reporter seems to call over the course of the last month. He'll answer any questions. But I am very, I feel like this was a good use of the time. I was interested in his perspective. What say you're sure?

29:18I mean, look, first I'll say I hope Mr. Phillips beats the cancer. 100%. Devastating thing. Absolutely. That said, when I read the story, I was a bit surprised. I believe maybe he is doing a good job, but we all meet interesting people with interesting beliefs. And I'll put Mr. Phillips in that category. That's very generous. Very diplomatic. Yes. That's a professional answer. Yes. Yes. My people don't teleport. I'm going to just say that right now. I don't know a Democrat. You don't know that. Maybe they just don't talk about it. That's possible. That is possible. That's better. Politically, that's a smart strategy.

29:55My question is, so there was a White House official who told CNN back when K-File first reported this story, quote, everyone's thoughts were, what the hell is this? This guy has to go. He's still there. Yeah. Look, I mean, the question is really about whether or not this person is doing a good job. I mean, let's be honest, though. It goes back to something we talked about a little over a year ago when the president first came in, when the government was being doged and people were being put into positions based on their loyalty to the president. And in the K-Files story, they talk about the fact that he is very loyal to the president.

30:29And so this is what happens. I mean, like we saw with Christine Ome and her husband, when you don't do actual vetting of people to know what might be in their background, you're going to have these kinds of things happen. And it's a disservice, frankly, to the country. Again, if he's doing a good job, that's one thing. But, you know, it's such a the president of the United States of America was asked about teleportation. Can we go any lower? Oh, yes, we can. Because then the president, you know, posted a picture of himself as Jesus. I mean, we're just in a, you know, if you are someone in this country who is struggling, you are probably thinking, what the hell is going on?

31:07What's wrong with these people that they're not trying to lower my costs and end this war and make my life better? It's actually, it's an interesting segue to something I was watching yesterday. And I actually thought about Sir Michael when I was watching. Oh, boy. It's a compliment. I just didn't know where we were going. Because the president ended up having kind of a press event yesterday with a Grubhub driver. I saw that. And the point of it was to talk about tax on tips, one of the cornerstone policies of the one big, beautiful bill, the cornerstone legislative achievement, domestic policy priorities for this administration that every Republican I talked to was like, God, I wish we could talk about that every single day.

31:50The president was doing that. I want you to take a listen to this. This doesn't look staged, does it? They're all your favorites. I'll put this over here. And why don't we have a news conference with the president? It turned into a news conference, which, obviously, we're in the middle of a conflict right now. It turned into a conversation about Iran and a few other things I'll get to in a minute. But that idea of this is a policy that Republicans want him to talk about, they believe is successful. And it turns into a press conference with the Grubhub driver standing next to him and occasionally getting questions asked of her by the president.

32:27Yeah, look, I think it is what the party wants to focus on, cost of living, affordability. When you look at the slew of special election races that my Democratic friends have been successful the past several months, those individual candidates have talked a lot about rising prices, cost, education, health care, affordability, broadly speaking. and our party, unfortunately, we haven't been able to be on the same page with that message. And so to have the president focusing on that, to have a Grubhub driver, I'm assuming this is someone who works her butt off to provide probably for herself, maybe her kids or grandkids.

32:58I think the image is the proper image that I would want out there to the American people. But I think the question is, was it just a one-off or can we see the persistence of this over the next couple of months? Can we also point out, so since she went and did some interviews on the North Lawn, And the president during the press conference said she got$11 ,000 back. When she was asked on the North Line, she admitted, no, it wasn't that much. It was more like$3 ,000. So, I mean, he stepped on really his own story and his own message because he was trying. He also wanted to talk to this no tax on tips and how you're going to get all this money back.

33:31And it also leads to another point, which is also a woman, a person like that. So you've got that$3 ,000. You may have run up your credit card debt trying to keep up with rising costs. So does that money actually even cover the fact that all of your costs are going up? It's not like people necessarily, if you're low to middle income, are going to have more money in their pockets and more money in their wallets. It's really going right back out the door to pay for these high costs. Just really, really quickly, that is the argument that you're hearing from a lot of Democrats. And they'll point to the war.

34:03They'll point to other conflicts. And unfortunately, we're on the negative of that, having to defend the conflict in the Middle East versus talking about these issues. we got to wind down this Iranian conflict, get back to the issues, that kitchen table stuff that people care about so that we don't see that advantage. So my friends on the other side, because as Karen just articulated, it is working. Yeah. That was why I was thinking about you when I was watching. That point that you made, which we've talked about a lot. You guys are sticking around. We'll be right back. Next up, the birth rate debate and an argument that the U.S.

34:33needs more babies to help the U.S. economy. Stick with us.

34:42In our national lead, Americans are having fewer children. That's according to recent CDC data. Last year's U.S. fertility rate dropped to a record low, about 3.6 million births in 2025, compared to the peak 4.3 million in 2007, a difference of about 700 ,000 fewer children. Joining the panel now, Melissa Kearney. She is the director of the Aspen Economic Strategy Group and economics professor at Notre Dame University. Melissa, it's like a stunning drop from 2025 back to 2007. What are the factors? What's driving it right now? It's not any one specific easy to point to factor like an increase in the cost of child care or an increase in women's wages.

35:26This is a decline that's been happening for 18 years. We've seen it in other high income countries as well. The way I've made sense of the data and the studies and the evidence is really to point to a broad shifting of priorities, a reprioritization of what people are choosing to spend their time and money and effort investing in in their 20s and 30s. And what we're seeing across the board, across basically all groups, is delayed family formation, a foregoing of marriage, and having children in the 20s and 30s. And it's really that decline among younger people today that's driving this reduction in fertility.

36:01This is a debate that gets people very fired up, very, very quickly. I guess I would ask, one, why do you think that is? And two, kind of how do you think about what could change things or send things back the other direction? It gets very fired up because, of course, the decision to have a child is a very personal decision. And even when I say something like shifting priorities, people hear judgment in that, which is not what I mean. It's just a reflection of what are people doing? They're not getting married. They're not having kids. They're doing other things. That's not saying that people are making mistakes from their own well-being or anything like that.

36:36It's not saying people owe it to the economy or the U.S. to have babies. But it is saying that these low fertility rates in a sustained way fundamentally are going to change our economy and our society going forward. And we should be able to have a rational conversation about that. And also ask, are there things we could be doing as a society that would make it such that people who would want to have children feel more readily equipped to choose to do that. I mean, that feels like sort of on the political part of this conversation. It is something that we've been talking about for a long time, which is a lot of people are deferring because they can't afford it.

37:13I mean, think about, I mean, you can't buy a house. How are you going to pay for child care? How are you going to have a baby, which is very expensive? Do you have the right health care to be able to guarantee? Because we also know in some states in this country, maternal mortality rates are abysmal. So, again, I mean, I know for a lot of black women, there's a real fear, actually, of having children because of the health issues. I mean, so I think that's the other piece of this. When we think about policy, it has to be kind of a holistic look, which we never really do, to say, how do we for people who want to have children?

37:45How do we make it easier? What policies do we need to support people and not just sort of brush it off in terms of, you know, thinking it has real impact. If you feel like, look, I just can't afford it and I'm just not sure that's the right choice for me until I have more money in my pocket. Sure, Michael. What's interesting about that point is the Republican Party and you can listen to J.D. Vance. You can listen to top Republicans constantly talking about more kids, bigger families. This is what we need to be doing. But on a policy basis, there has actually been an interesting break from kind of conservative orthodoxy on helping in the care economy.

38:22I mean, not necessarily in the ways Democrats would like by any means. But, you know, I think about Mitt Romney and Josh Hawley on tax credit. Tax credit. I was going to say that. Hawley has been a leader, I think, in really breaking with how Republicans traditionally viewed these issues from a policy perspective. Where do you think that is in the party right now? I mean, I think tax credit is certainly one that I think is palpable for most people. I agree with Kieran, though, on having a broader, wide look at this. I'm a conservative. I have some traditional perspectives on this. but I think Democrats do make a lot of great points on women in the workplace and women who decide to get advanced degrees.

38:58How do we allow those women to move forward with their visions, their dreams while saying, hey, you can still do this. And we as a society will make sure you can still become a mom and we'll make sure that the support is there financially. It's in the benefit, I would argue, long term of the country. And even looking at our workforce, we want to have a strong, vibrant next generation coming up through the ranks. Professor, I would imagine that's critical when we look 50 years from now. And so I think there are some ways we could see some bipartisanship on this, Karen. If only we didn't have a war to worry about and a whole list of other things that are taking up the time.

39:30This should be a big tent issue. Oh, absolutely. It should be. You do have social conservatives saying, hey, we want to be a more family-friendly, pro-natalist society. And you've had Democrats long saying we need to spend more money on kids and bolstering families and helping people navigate the conflict between work and parenthood in this country. That means that there should be broad support for recognizing that this is an issue that we need to be investing our policy resources and our money and time to. Not a concept. We had the conversation and no one was fired up at all. We actually agreed.

40:00We all had an interesting conversation. Thanks. Thank you very much. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you. Well, up next, did allies of Eric Swalwell know about the rape allegations and not act on them? Hear from a Democrat who called himself a close friend of the now former congressman. That's next.

40:19Yeah, right?

40:27Welcome to Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly. In for Jake Tapper. This hour, two members of Congress now out of their jobs. After getting engulfed in sex-related scandals, Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez officially resigning today, just moments before their colleagues started the process to try and kick them out of the House. But there are still many more members, or maybe more members, forced out. What we're learning tonight about those efforts. Plus, a Kuwaiti-American journalist has been detained in Kuwait six weeks after he posted a video of a U.S. Air Force fighter jet that crashed inside his country.

41:01Now his friends are going public about his case, hoping the pressure will convince officials to release him. Also, as we head into the busy travel season, a new report reveals the head of United Airlines pitched President Trump on a mega merger between United and American Airlines. But what would this actually mean for your travels and your wallet? And Buckingham Palace just revealed details about King Charles' upcoming trip to the United States. What we're learning about the pomp, the circumstance from a garden party to a fancy state dinner and a trip to New York City.

41:39The lead tonight, bipartisan resignations from two scandal-ridden congressmen rocking Capitol Hill. Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez, both resigning this afternoon under the threat of an imminent expulsion vote. Last month, Texas Republican Tony Gonzalez acknowledged an affair with a former staffer who later died by suicide. He's also facing allegations of sending a former campaign staff member lewd text messages, which to this point he has not addressed. Swalwell's resignation and withdrawal from the California governor's race comes following varying sexual misconduct allegations from several women, including sexual assault accusations from a former staffer who describes instances of non-consensual sexual contact with him after nights of drinking.

42:25Swalwell denies the allegations. We start things off with CNN's Manu Raju, who is on Capitol Hill, where he's heard this afternoon from a former close ally of Eric Swalwell's. Manu, what are you learning? Yeah, this comes in the aftermath of the stunning news that just not only shocked some of his closest allies on Capitol, including Senator Ruben Gallego. He's an Arizona Democrat, someone who actually chaired Swalwell's presidential campaign in 2020. And there had been a lot of questions about whether any of this was known ahead of time, particularly to some of his closest allies like Senator Ruben Gallego.

43:04But Gallego called in a group of reporters into his office this afternoon and furiously denied having any knowledge whatsoever about some of these very serious allegations of sexual assault, including an alleged rape, something that Swalwell denies. But Gallego said he saw no evidence that this happened during the course of their relationship, but he did say that there were rumors about flirtatious behavior that Swalwell was involved with over the years. We all heard rumors in Washington, D.C. about Eric Swalwell for many years. And my family, again, was with him all the time, with his wife, with his kids.

43:45And we saw a different side of Eric. Should you have acted when you first heard these rumors several years ago? The rumors I heard were that he was just a flirty social guy. That's it. When you're out with a man, when he is, you know, taking his kids to baseball games, when you see them together, you know, you start creating it in your head like that's not the person you're here. And again, I was lied to. And, you know, it clouded my judgment. Our friendship clouded our judgment.

44:16Now, I asked Hakeem Jeffries, his Democratic leader in the House, if he had urged Swalwell to resign. He declined to comment on that, saying that he would not talk about his private conversations. And I asked him why not call for him to resign publicly. All Jeffries would say is that he made the right decision. Now, the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, did not call on Tony Gonzalez to resign in the run-up to his decision to step aside today. He did not call for him to step out of this race for re-election, which Gonzalez ultimately did. But the decision by Swalwell and Gonzalez to step aside after a couple of special elections, which we expect to go a certain way, means that Johnson could still only afford to lose one Republican vote on any party line vote, which shows you how significant every resignation is in this narrowly divided GOP-led House bill.

45:05Yeah, no question. Imanu, kind of on that point, there was also efforts or discussion about potentially expelling two other members of Congress, Republican and Democrat. Where do those stand right now? Yeah, that's Congressman Trifolis McCormick. She is a Florida Democrat, and Trifolis McCormick has been indicted on federal charges alleging embezzlement, alleging stealing COVID relief money, something that she has denied. But she has faced a House ethics probe that actually had a public hearing just a couple of weeks ago, and that ethics committee has found her guilty on several charges. Now, the ethics committee meets next week to actually make a formal recommendation in the widespread belief here on Capitol Hill is that it will indeed recommend her expulsion.

45:50Mike Johnson told me today that he supports seeing her expelled from the House. Now, Corey Mills is a separate, different case. He has a laundry list of allegations that he is facing that the House Ethics Committee is investigating right now. And I asked Johnson whether he supports seeing Mills expelled from the House. He said that that House ethics probe still needs to conclude. He said he would look into it further before deciding whether to comment. But that threshold, Phil, as you know, very high to expel a member of Congress requires two-thirds majority in the United States House, which explains to you why only six members of Congress in the history have been expelled, the most recent of which was George Santos, of course, and that happened just a couple of years ago, Phil.

46:30Mahanir Raju with all the latest from Capitol Hill. Thank you very much, my friend. Well, Eric Swalwell's resignation today comes as one of his accusers is speaking out on camera. Allison Marco, who was named in Friday's CNN report, told CNN's Pamela Brown that she connected with Swalwell on social media in 2021. She admired his politics and was surprised when he replied to her messages. He offered to help her with her own political career and invited her to visit the U.S. Capitol. She says they began texting and his messages there and on Snapchat soon crossed a line. The messages gradually became more inappropriate and they became later into the night times that nobody should be talking to a congressman or a congressman should be talking to a young girl.

47:18And he would say things like, what are you doing? What are you wearing? Send me a photo of what you're doing right now. And then eventually one night we were talking and he just sent me a photo of his genitals. Unsolicited. Unsolicited, yeah. Samarco says that she sees telling her story as the only way for Swalwell to face accountability. I will say we are not paid. We're not working with anybody. I didn't know any of the women before I came forward to tell my story. He never should have ran for governor to begin with, knowing what he knows. And nobody else is responsible for what happened to him.

48:06Eric Swalwell is responsible for Eric Swalwell, not the media and definitely not the women. And a statement on behalf of Swalwell, he categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him. The California Democrat and his legal team also vow to continue to fight what they call baseless accusations against him through every available legal remedy. That, as another new accuser, is now coming forward with claims that Swalwell raped her in 2018 at a Los Angeles area hotel. Lana Drews said she met the congressman socially while working as a model and entrepreneur, and he'd offered to connect her with investors.

48:48She says the two were supposed to go to a political event together before the alleged assault took place. CNN's Kyung Ra spoke to Long Drew's today after the news conference. Kyung, what did she say? Well, she sat down with us because she wanted to talk more fully, saying that she felt that the time to speak was now because of all of the women who you've been showing here on your program just now. She is another accuser who is coming forward, and she is detailing something that happened in 2018. We have just heard from her lawyer that she has now filed a report, an official police report with the L.A.

49:28County Sheriff's Department that has jurisdiction over the area where she claims this assault took place. Again in 2018, she says that she met Swalwell three times, and on the third time they met for dinner. She believes that he put something in her drink. That is her accusation, and she says after holding the press, conference, she sat down with CNN to detail a little bit more about what she says happened that night. I can't believe that he felt so cavalier that he would just drug me and then rape me and then choke me.

50:10I couldn't move my arms, so he was on top of me choking me. and all I could do was just watch.

50:21And I passed out. I thought I was dead. I thought I died. And then I woke up at like 4 o 'clock in the morning and he was next to me and I left.

50:35Our lawyers have not provided corroborating information directly to the media, saying that they are first going to go with law enforcement, providing that directly to law enforcement. And again, that report has now been filed with the sheriff's department. And we did reach out to Swalwell's campaign, his team. We have also reached out to his lawyer. We did not get a direct response, but we did get that response via social media from his attorney. That is, again, quote, Swalwell categorically and unequivocally denies each and every allegation of sexual misconduct and assault that has been leveled against him.

51:15Phil. Pyongyang Law with the breaking news, all the latest. Thanks so much. Well, today, President Trump is hinting that talks with Iran could restart in the next few days, but how close is that to a reality? Plus, what new inflation data out today says about the rising costs facing American businesses and how those costs could be passed on to you. Stay with us.

51:46Let's get back to our top story. Today's resignations of Representatives Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzalez from Congress. Joining me now is Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz from Florida. Congresswoman, really appreciate your time. I want to start with something that your former House colleague, now Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego, said about rumors that he'd heard about Eric Swalwell. There's a lot of reporting or a lot of people saying that they had heard rumors about behavior in one shape or another. Had you heard those rumors? Did you have concerns at any point? I have never heard any rumors about relationships that Eric Swalwell had.

52:24And those are outrageous, unacceptable, disgusting. And I'm thankful he did the right thing and resigned. And frankly, Tony Gonzalez resigning was also appropriate, but should have happened several months ago when the allegations against him that he essentially admitted came to light. You're a member of the Crime Survivors and Justice Caucus. Works in a bipartisan way to improve services and rights for crime victims. Swalwell was also a member of the caucus. He's been a vocal advocate for the Me Too movement against gun violence. You know, a lot of things that ideologically align with what you have been working on.

53:05I think one of the questions is, you know, when you think about it, is there a reckoning needed for that to even be possible? For somebody like that with these allegations coming out to be in the same spaces trying to act like he's an advocate? I mean, the fact that he could put himself in the same space shows you what a megalomaniac he obviously was. When someone gets so drunk with the power that they have that they're perpetrating sexual crimes, alleged sexual crimes, and acting in a sexually wildly inappropriate way with young staffers, that shows you that they've separated from reality and let the trappings of the job go to their head.

53:48Really convincing himself that he was invincible, seemingly. You mentioned the young staffers. Congressman Gonzalez was facing the same issues. I'm not naive. I don't think the Hill has been some pure place that's different from society over the course of its time in existence. But like this is abhorrent and young staffers being taken advantage of by members of Congress is something that like it's it's mind blowing to me that it could still happen. It's infuriating on some level. And I'm wondering what when you talk to other members, are there discussions about what could be done to prevent stuff like this from happening with younger staffers from being preyed on here?

54:31You know, Phil, besides that I am a member of Congress who employs young staffers, I'm a mom of two 20-something-year-old daughters who are also both young staffers in D.C. And so, like, the idea that they could be potential victims of this kind of abhorrent conduct makes my skin crawl. We have a process where members have to take sexual harassment training every year. It's an in-person class, and we are walked through what is appropriate, what's not appropriate. That's something clearly that needs to be reviewed, because it's obviously not fully penetrating what the consequences are and how wildly unacceptable coming on or having any kind of relationship with your young female staffers or young staffers at all is.

55:32And we also need to make sure we take a look at the consequence structure because the ethics process takes way too long to, and a number of women members have been talking about this, when you're dealing with an urgent emergency situation, which clearly some of these young female staffers have been in, there needs to be a process to make sure the member accused gets due process, make sure that those young women are not going to be in harm's way any longer than they had already been exposed to. That's a really important conversation. Please keep us updated as those conversations move forward. Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, really appreciate your time.

56:10Thank you. Thank you so much. Turning now to our world lead, President Trump says, quote, something could be happening over the next two days in Pakistan as the U.S. and Iran try to come back to the negotiating table. Separately, Iran's news agency quotes a lawmaker there as saying Iran will continue taking part in negotiations even though it doesn't trust the U.S. I want to bring in Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois. She's an Iraq war veteran, Purple Heart recipient, and is also one of a group of six senators that has been pushing for legislative action to rein in President Trump's war powers.

56:43Senator, really appreciate your time. Just to start with the resolution, would terminate hostilities against Iran unless Congress passes a declaration of war and authorization for use of military force. Your conversations behind the scenes or over the course of the Easter recess, have you gotten a sense that bipartisan support may be starting to coalesce behind this? I do think that my Republican colleagues have become more and more uncomfortable as the chaos of Trump's war of choice has reached new heights. I'm hearing from colleagues that, you know, this process that we're going through of forcing a vote every single week is really putting them on the spot.

57:27Basically, we're asking them to choose between their loyalty and their oath to the American people and the Constitution of the United States or their loyalty to Donald Trump. Congress has to exert its power over the executive branch when it comes to issues of war. And so we're going to continue to call up these war powers resolutions every week until they choose the nation above Donald Trump. Mine is going to come up tomorrow. But yes, I'm starting to see Republicans become very uncomfortable with what is happening. You know, we basically Donald Trump, who ran on America first as his promise to the American people, has engaged us in a war that has made things worse for the American people.

58:08Gas prices are through the roof. We haven't, there's a new Ayatollah in Iran that's worse than the old Ayatollah. And now we're blockading the Strait of Hormuz when there were, you know, ships could pass through it freely before. So something has to happen and we're not going to wait for Republicans to grow a backbone. We're going to force them to vote on this every single week until they realize that their loyalty is to the United States before it is to Donald Trump. Do you have any optimism with the ongoing, obviously there were talks over the weekend, there were separately talks between Israeli officials and Lebanese officials today in Washington, that there may be a diplomatic path forward here?

58:50Well, here's the issue, right? What happened in Washington was talks between the Israeli ambassador, the Lebanese ambassador, that's what Marco Rubio was going to. That is not a high enough level when it comes to international negotiations. And by the way, Israel's problem is is this Hezbollah. And so I don't think that we're really getting true negotiations that's happening. And it's not something that can happen in a single day, for example. Frankly, Donald Trump launched this war of his choice. And, you know, a second lieutenant in her first weeks of training would tell you this is the consequences of what would happen if you launched attacks on Iran.

59:33When you were back for, again, the Senate's been out of session for a couple of weeks, what are you hearing from constituents right now? How are they feeling about either the war itself or kind of how it's having a direct impact on them? Well, number one, they don't want the war. They want us to get out of this war. Number two, they're telling me that they cannot afford to put gas in their cars. You know, we went from gas being$1 to$2 a gallon to now it's well over$4. And at least in Illinois and in other parts of the country, it's even higher than that. But they still have to get to work. They still have to drive their kids to school.

1:00:06They still have to put gas in the gas pump. My farmers are in planting season right now, and they're seeing their input costs go through the roof. That's going to affect the harvest come this fall. And so the consequences of Trump's war of choice is going to be hurting Americans for the long term. You know, heating bills are going up, going through the roof. And yet Donald Trump has also, in addition to launching this war, proposed to eliminate the low-income heating program, LIHEAP, in his next year's budget. And so they're really feeling the pressure. They're saying that, you know, their lives, they're just hanging on when it comes to bills that they have to pay.

1:00:39And what are we doing in Iran? And, you know, we have 13 service members and hundreds of wounded Americans. They do not support this war at all. Senator Tammy Duckworth, appreciate your time, ma 'am. Thanks so much. Thank you. Well, a journalist is behind bars in Kuwait just weeks after posting video of a U.S. fighter jet crash inside the country. Is that the reason behind his detainment? And what happens next? Stick with us.

1:01:10And our world lead, a journalist who posted this video of a U.S. Air Force fighter jet crashing west of Kuwait City six weeks ago is apparently behind bars right now in Kuwait. Now, friends and allies of Kuwaiti-American journalist Ahmed Shehab Eldin are going public with his detainment, hoping it will help with his release. I want to bring in CNN's Clarissa Ward is in south of Kuwait in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. And Clarissa, when was he detained and what's he been charged with here?

1:01:42That's right, Phil. This is some really alarming news coming out of Kuwait. Ahmad Shahab al-Din is well known to many of us, a journalist who has written for HuffPost, made films for the BBC, for Al Jazeera, for Vice News. He's also well known for his passionate advocacy and activism around the Palestinian cause. He has a huge following on social media. From what we understand, he went to visit his family in Kuwait at the beginning of the war and has not been seen in public and also has not posted anything online since March 2nd. So that is now six weeks. Now, if you look at some of his recent posts, and I should add that his X account and his Instagram account have been taken down, but if you look at his substack, it appears the thing he shared most recently before his arrest was, ironically, a video verified and put out by CNN that showed a U.S.

1:02:47fighter jet as it was downed by friendly fire in Kuwait. He didn't offer any commentary. There was nothing incendiary explosive about posting this CNN clip. But what this speaks to are these kind of draconian security restrictions that we have seen here in the Gulf since this war began. Hundreds of people have been arrested. Strict laws have been introduced about filming things, showing intercepts, things of that nature. because of all the security concerns in the Gulf. But the CPJ, the Committee to Protect Journalists, is saying that some of this is really just an excuse to round up people who they think potentially are dissenting voices, although I should say we have absolutely no record of Ahmed speaking out against Kuwait in any way, shape, or form.

1:03:41It does appear that he was just there to visit his family. He now faces charges, Bill, potentially of spreading false information, harming national security and misusing his mobile phone, which could be very serious indeed. Again, the CPJ saying, calling these charges vague and overly broad accusations that are routinely used to silence independent journalists. And the CPJ and all of Ahmed's friends and journalists are calling Kuwait to release him. Phil? A very important story. Clarissa Ward, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much. Well, could two of the United States' biggest airlines soon become one?

1:04:22A new report claims the head of United Airlines floated a merger with American. The potential impact for travelers, that's next.

1:04:36And our money lead, Treasury Secretary Scott Besson says not so fast. Through those interest rate cuts, President Trump has been pushing for. The reason? Uncertainty, because of the Iran war. At an event with Semaphore, Besson said, quote, do I think rates should be lowered? Eventually. I think now that we have, or I think now that we have to wait and see. CNN's Vanessa Gorkiewicz is here. And Vanessa, correct me if I'm wrong here, but that sounded like weirdly in line with something I heard from the chairman of the Fed, which can't possibly be true with a Trump administration official. Am I remembering that correctly?

1:05:12Phil, you are on to something. But after so long of a full court press by the president and his administration, since the beginning of his term, really, for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which they did three times last year, you are hearing correctly one administration official, a secretary of the president's cabinet, Treasury Secretary Scott Besant, actually looking like he is on the same page with Jerome Powell. Jerome Powell at the last Fed meeting in March very much said that it was too soon to make a call about where interest rates may go this year because of the war with Iran.

1:05:51Listen to what we heard from Jerome Powell in March and see if you can pick up on the similarities on what he said with the Treasury Secretary just today. The truth is it's completely out of our hands and we just like everybody else We have to just wait and see what happens. And it'll come down to how long, you know, the current situation lasts and then what are the effects on prices and then how do consumers react and that kind of thing. OK, so he said wait and see. That is pretty much exactly what we heard from the Treasury secretary. But, Phil, listen, most investors on Wall Street do believe that the Federal Reserve, at their next meeting later this month, are going to hold interest rates steady.

1:06:38Just a very small percentage of investors believe that there could be a rate cut. And at the last Fed meeting, Jerome Powell and other members of the board did pencil in one cut for this year. But even Jerome Powell at the time said it was nearly impossible to make that prediction just because of all the uncertainty, especially with the Iran war and what it means for inflation going forward, Phil. Yeah, it's all about duration of the conflict at this point. Very complex picture. Thank you for explaining it to us. Vanessa Urkevich, you're the best. Thanks so much. Thank you. Well, also on our money lead, from heated rivalry to mega partnership, Reuters is reporting that United Airlines CEO pitched a major proposal to President Trump earlier this year, merge United with American Airlines.

1:07:27And while this potential deal is far from official, hasn't actually started yet at this point, it would create, hypothetically, the biggest airline in the world. So what exactly would that mean for you and your bottom line, particularly at a time when the Iran war has sent jet fuel prices skyrocketing. Obviously, we're going to ask the points guy, Brian Kelly, who's going to tell us all of the answers to something that hasn't actually happened yet, but does raise a lot of questions about what it would mean for the marketplace. And again, I'm being very serious when I say caveat with all the things.

1:07:59This is not a process that has started. If it does start, it would take a long time. There'd be all sorts of things going on. But in terms of consolidation in the industry, One of the things that I think naturally comes to mind is, OK, if you merge these two airlines and create the mega airline, do consumers benefit? What's your sense of things? I have a very simple answer for you. No, we've seen a lot of consolidation in the industry and in general, you know, less choice for consumers. What we've seen with the U.S. airlines is, you know, increase in fares, but also devaluation and loyalty programs.

1:08:34You know, American and United have two of the biggest loyalty programs. So combining them into one does not mean more value for the consumers. So overall, this would be awful for consumers. What about, are there more flight options? Does this expand route opportunity on some level? What are the pluses here to the extent there are any? Yeah, I'd really struggle because right now United has the largest route network of any airline. And I'd also like to mention it's not just U.S. regulators that would have to give approval. Certainly, EU regulators would probably have a really big issue with this tie up.

1:09:10And really, as you know, what I'm hearing is what's more likely is that United will eventually buy JetBlue. And, you know, my personal opinion on this is Scott Kirby's, you know, this got leaked to create us talking about it right now so that when they actually want to acquire JetBlue, which would be much more likely, it seems much more normal. Like, OK, they won't do that crazy thing, but JetBlue, it makes sense. And I will say for the smaller carriers like JetBlue, Spirits almost out of business has been in bankruptcy twice. There is something to be said instead of letting carriers go out of business to to have them live on, you know, through a merger acquisition.

1:09:47So I think that's the most likely outcome here is that United is actually angling for JetBlue. But this will help get that approved. I love the 8D chess to the extent neither of us are saying that's what happened here. But possibly, which brings the question, you know, it's interesting because you've heard from Trump administration officials who've made some comments about the potential for some type of M &A in this space. They seem supportive of it, which I think raised my ears a couple of days ago. I think Sean Duffy was talking about that. Talk to me about a JetBlue merger. What would be the benefit for consumers?

1:10:22Why would that make more sense? Yeah, so United had made a pretty, you know, a calculated misstep, in my opinion, of leaving JFK. JFK is a really important international hub for airlines where JetBlue has a huge presence. And once you leave an airport, it's very hard to get back in. So strategically for United, this would allow them to get back to JFK, arguably the most important market in the U.S. You know, I love JetBlue, but JetBlue has struggled for a long time to be profitable. and they pushed off investment in their planes. JetBlue's reliability is pretty bad. So if United, which is a much better run airline, took over JetBlue, we could argue that instead of JetBlue going out of business or death by a thousand cuts, that it could live on and actually benefit consumers.

1:11:07So I would just like to say, I think Scott Kirby had mentioned that a reason to do these mergers are because international airlines have an outside share of long haul travel. And I would just push the US airlines, there might be a reason for that. Invest more in the actual product, the seats. You know, American Airlines doesn't even have TV screens on most of their planes. So I would advise these airlines, if they want more consumers, invest in the actual product. Yeah, I say this in the most unbiased, just purely observational way. It is different when you're flying. Especially Asian carriers.

1:11:43Oh, my goodness. It is different. Guys, invest money. It makes a lot of sense. Brian Kelly, I always appreciate you, my friend. Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. Well, a new chapter today in Democratic efforts to push back against President Trump. Our panel weighs in next.

1:12:09And our politics lead, Georgia Republican Congressman Clay Fuller is about to be sworn in as the newest member of Congress, replacing Marjorie Taylor Greene. It gives Speaker Mike Johnson just a little bit of breathing room in the Republicans' very narrow House majority. That majority may not last too long after a special election in New Jersey on Thursday to replace the seat held by Democratic Governor Mikey Sherrill. I'm back now with the panel. Speaking of balance of power, Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzalez, both resigning. Here's what Speaker Johnson said today about the possible expulsion of two other members that's being discussed.

1:12:45I do think certainly on Sheriff Alice McCormick, the Ethics Committee has gone through all of its processes and they've found some alarming facts. I think the facts are indisputable at this point. And so I believe it'll be the consensus of this body that she should be expelled. With regard to Mills, I'm not sure the status of the Ethics Committee investigation. And that's one of the things I'll be looking into today. So just for context, last month, the House Ethics Panel found Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Sherphilis McCormick guilty of 25 counts of ethics violations for embezzling millions from FEMA.

1:13:19Corey Mills is a reference to a Republican congressman who was accused by his ex-girlfriend of threatening to release sexually explicit images and video of her. Both members deny any wrongdoing. I think, sure, Michael, my question is if ethics comes back with a similarly damning outcome for Corey Mills, what does Speaker Mike Johnson do? I think the speaker is going to be consistent with his personal moral and ethical values, and that is to ask the congressman to resign. I think the speaker clearly understands the political ramifications of losing another another member but one thing i think mike johnson has been very clear about is that he does have a christian ethos and i know some folks have not always liked where that leads him on some issues but he tries i would argue to stay in sync with those values and i think corey mills is not an exception hakeem jeffries has not called the expulsion has not there have been democrats in the house who have particularly frontline members um why not yeah i don't know why not but i i agree Look, I think you've got to let people have their day in court or their day with the ethics committee and make that decision for themselves.

1:14:26Obviously, I think the two gentlemen who just stepped down, I think that was the right decision. And it's not just about me. There's two things, right? There's the balance of power in the politics, like we saw with George Santos, where he kind of got to skate a little bit in order to keep the numbers where they were on the same by the same token. We have to be mindful that also the public is looking at this and saying, wait a second. If you're doing these things, how can you be leading this country? And I think it becomes particularly important, given that we have a president who acts so immorally at times, to have people in Congress who are holding up those values and holding up that oath, actually.

1:15:04So, look, I think if the facts lead to someone's guilt, then you should call for them to resign. OK, I want to I've been wanting to ask you about this. This isn't the same as last hour when I was recounting thinking about Schermichael in my office. Again, I had a point. I just didn't actually get that. You didn't get it right, but we got there, Phil. We got there. I feel like we did. We did. Jamie Raskin, top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, introduced a bill setting up a 25th Amendment process to remove President Trump from office. If the bill passes, it would set up a new commission that would determine if a president is fit for office on the following conditions, physical illness or disability, mental illness or deficiency, alcohol or drug use, any other condition or contingency, rendering the president unable to execute the powers and duties of the office of president.

1:15:52There has been a shift for Democrats publicly on both 25th Amendment and the idea of pursuing impeachment if they retake power that I never thought I would see after the first term. Why? What we have been witnessing over the past almost two years is unprecedented in ways that are such are contributing such deep damage to this country. I think Democrats have felt we just can't ignore it anymore. The kinds of behaviors that we're seeing, these late night screeds that get posted, and the fact that it feels like there's no check on his power. I mean, he's particularly, just think about the way he's conducting himself around the Iran war.

1:16:33I think that is forcing people to a point to say, wait, maybe we need to take this more seriously. I worry that it not become, though, a distraction. Look, I think the president's mental health and his health in general is a whole issue that's worthy of consideration. At the same time, we've got to figure out how do we do that and make sure you keep the main thing the main thing, which is what the people are most concerned about, their costs, their health care, their lives. So I want to see that balance. The thing that's won Democrats like 15 or 16 or 20 special elections in a row. The funny thing is, funny is probably not the right word for it.

1:17:09When you view the Raskin, what I just read off, it kind of makes a lot of sense. Like, sure, that sounds good. Obviously, nothing's happening in isolation here. And everybody will immediately think about it through the Trump lens. But, like, it's not a terrible set of conditions to, like, maybe the leader of the free world. Broadly speaking, I don't disagree, right? But I think we know why, whether it's impeachment. Democrats have tried this before. and the successes that you just highlighted in the 20-plus special elections, state legislative victories, the governor's mansions that they have won from Virginia to New Jersey, it's because they focused on the things that many voters, a lot of independent voters, hell, maybe even some Republicans might think we haven't quite delivered on.

1:17:56And that goes back to, can I go out to the grocery store and afford everything? When I'm pumping gas and putting it in the car, do I have enough money to take my kid to their special activity and say, here's a little extra money to buy the snack after the fact. People are factoring those things in and they're saying, okay, Democrats, we didn't like what you guys did over the last four years of the last administration. We thought we were going to give Republicans and President Trump an opportunity because we remember the first term. We don't like what we're seeing, so we're going to give you another shot again.

1:18:22Now, don't go back to the past stuff. Just focus on my now, the immediate. If they do that, I think they'll do well. But to go back to what they've tried before, Karen, I think, would just be a political mistake. Well, here's the thing. We have to remember we're talking about this in the context also of Joe Biden and what we learned after the fact. And I think it does it has raised real questions about maybe we need to think about this and maybe we do need to set some standards because now we're seeming to have this back to back and we got to do better. And important points. Nothing tops the teleportation Waffle House story.

1:18:55But fair. I appreciate it. Thank you, guys. Very much. For Michael Singleton, Karen Finney, thank you both. Well, despite pressure to cancel his trip, King Charles is set to visit President Trump in just a few weeks, and the palace just revealed exactly what is on the agenda for that trip. That's next.

1:19:15Breaking news in the National League. A nasty pileup on I-70 in Colorado. This is near the Loveland Ski Resort, about 50 miles west of Denver. The sheriff's office estimates more than 75 vehicles are involved. Authorities have the interstate shut down while they search for anyone injured to try and clear all those cars. Well, turning to our world lead, Buckingham Palace just revealed details of King Charles' upcoming visit to the United States, including a joint address to Congress and a state dinner at the White House. CNN's Max Foster has the details. Phil, the key moment in this visit will be King Charles' address to a joint meeting of Congress.

1:19:52only the second time a British monarch has had that honour. The last one was given by his mother, Elizabeth II, in 1991. The only insight we've had on the King's speech this time is that it will address the challenges both countries face. One of those challenges you might think is the state of the so-called special relationship between the US and the UK after weeks of repeated attacks from President Trump on Prime Minister Keir Starmer in particular for not offering more support to the offensive against Iran. Some British lawmakers even questioned whether Charles should go ahead with this visit to the US, but that's politics.

1:20:29And we've been reminded the king has a constitutional duty to stay above politics and out of the mudslinging. He'll focus instead on the shared history of the two nations, including the 250th anniversary of US independence from British rule under Charles's predecessor, George III, which was, of course, the ultimate low in relations between the two countries. So when they arrive in the US, Charles and Camilla will meet away from the cameras with the president and first lady. There'll be a garden party, a formal welcome ceremony featuring some ceremonial military reviews, we're told. There will also be a state dinner where both the king and the president will say a few words.

1:21:10And the royal couple will then travel to New York where they'll commemorate those killed in 9-11 and other events as well there. and they'll finish up in Virginia where they'll meet the area's indigenous communities, we're told, and conservation groups. Bill. Max Foster, thanks so much. Well, I hope you'll join me for my new video series, CNN Breaks It Down. We're tackling the most pressing questions in business and politics. You can find the episodes on CNN.com slash watch. You can follow this show on X and Instagram at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app.

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