ICE Appears To Escalate Aggressive Tactics Amid Controversy

26:44And there's very strict rules in the app stores, whether it's Apple or Google, and they should pull them down. They haven't said a word about it. They've pulled down things for much less, actually. And so they should investigate if it's still happening there and and XAI isn't doing enough. They should pull them down until they fix them and then restore their ability to do it. But, you know, Elon's been saying it's a censorship or a free speech issue. It's simply not. These are laws that are in place all across the world. And all the regulators are reacting quite correctly, which is to remove it or ban it or whatever it takes to get him to change it.

27:21One of the victims of this, adult victims of these sexually explicit deepfake images is a woman named Ashley St. Clair. She's a conservative influencer. She's the mother of one of Elon Musk's children. Take a listen to what she said about seeing one of these images of herself. The worst for me was seeing myself undressed, bent over, and then my toddler's backpack in the background. Because I had to then see that and see myself violated in that way and such horrific images and then put that same backpack on my son the next day. Because it's the one he wears every day to school. Now, she went on to say, Ashley St.

28:00Clair, that after filing a complaint with XAI, only some of those images were removed. Yeah, that's the issue is once it gets proliferates, it proliferates. And they tried to do things like saying only paying customers would be able to do this, which it seems kind of not a great solution to that. Obviously, most of these are generated by people who don't pay, but that doesn't really matter. Nobody should be able to make these. We've had a problem with revenge porn on the Internet forever, you know, and in life. right? So, but this creates these generated images that aren't real. And then to let people be able to do things non-consensually with women and then with children, it's why people are reacting so strongly.

28:38And of course, as usual, Elon's doubling down and trying to blame everything on First Amendment when in fact, you know, he does things at will when he feels like it, he takes things down. And so it's kind of, you know, every accusation is a confession with these folks in a lot of ways. And this is all happening as the US government, as the Trump administration continues to further its ties with Musk and with Grok. The Secretary of Defense, Hegseth, announced the integration of Grok into military networks this week. So what does that say about the Trump administration's take on all this? As I said before, it's a coin-operated administration.

29:14I mean, obviously, he's back in their good graces, and so they're going to do deals with him. I'm not saying they shouldn't, but they should clean it up, you know, just like any vendor. You don't want a vendor that has this problem worldwide, and it's spinning out of control because they're not doing anything about it or not enough or whining about it. In one interview, he said he didn't know or one tweet, he didn't know about it. That's a very Trump thing to do. I never heard of that person. It's happening on his platform. And so therefore, he's responsible for it. And in this case, most authorities are pretty strict around issues around children and sexualization of children as they should be.

29:47And it's just another thing that we have to put up with that we agreed on and everybody agrees on this issue. And it should be very strict. And including the platform, the platforms like Apple and Google should also be looking into this and doing something about it or at least discussing the problem. And if there's no problem, tell us why there's no problem. It's just it's just very typical of tech running over everybody else and making us think we don't see what we see. Kara Swisher, always great to have you on. Thank you so much. Thanks, Jake. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat in New York, says his fellow Democrats are going to win back control of the Senate come this November.

30:20That seems a tall order, but we're going to tell you the states that he says he's going to win. His party's going to win to achieve that. That's next.

30:33The relationship between the FBI director and the president has always been complicated. Unravel the complex dynamic in the CNN original series, Standoff, the FBI, Power and Paranoia. Now streaming on the CNN app. We're back with the politics lead and let's let's bring back that back that election music if we can. Yeah, the CNN jam, the election jam. Yes, there it is. We're ready to talk. We're ready to talk. John King is not here yet at the map, but we are going to talk maps. Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is gaming out a plan on a map to recapture four seats that the Democrats need to win back control in the U.S.

31:11Senate. He wants to protect Georgia's John Ossoff, prevent the open seat in Michigan from flipping. And he told Axios, quote, North Carolina, Maine, Ohio and Alaska, those four were going to win, he said, optimistically. Three of those states we should know. Trump won three times. My panel is here to talk through this. So let's just go through. Let's start with North Carolina. It's always the elusive North Carolina for you Democrats. You try to get it. You got it with Obama once in an electoral. And there have been Democratic senators from North Carolina in not a while. Tom Tellis is retiring.

31:50Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper. Schumer recruited him. He has five challengers on the ballot, but he's the most high profile name on the Democratic side. On the Republican side, Michael Watley, the former RNC chair. He's running with Trump's endorsement. He faces six challengers. Slightly tougher race, particularly against businessman Don Brown and the former state superintendent candidate Michelle Morrow. David, let me start with you. In all likelihood, we're going to see a Watley-Cooper race, right? How do you think it's going to play out? Full disclosure, I'm a double max to Michael Watley, a good friend.

32:20In 2016, he ran the Trump campaign in North Carolina. I ran the Trump campaign in Pennsylvania. We've been friends since then. I think Michael Watley wins the primary easily, and I think Michael Watley will win. He's kind of the moderate Republican that will do well in North Carolina and Charlotte and Raleigh areas. So I think that you're you're you're you know, Jake, you talk about Jake, you talk about how it's very difficult for Democrats to win. I think he'll beat the former governor. And Kate, we should say the Roy Cooper's campaign. We should note he's former governor, two term governor as two term governors go pretty popular in the state.

32:53They announced they raised nine point five million dollars in the last quarter of twenty twenty five. Politico reports Watley came in five point one million. Can the Democrats keep up that momentum when it comes to money, which obviously is important when it comes to advertising? Yeah, I think they can. I think Cooper is obviously a terrific candidate for this seat. He's somebody who knows how to win statewide in North Carolina. He's well-liked in North Carolina. I mean, look, at the end of the day, recruitment, candidate recruitment is a huge piece of determining how successful you're going to be.

33:20That's probably Schumer's biggest achievement. Absolutely. And look, I worked at the DCCC in 2006 when we won 30 seats, took back the House. And a huge piece of that was a result of a really strong recruitment effort and recruiting candidates who match the districts or, you know, in this case, match their states. So I think the you know, you're looking at an approval rating for Donald Trump that is low and potentially sinking. You're also looking at in a midterm year, you're looking at an electorate that tends to be more Democratic. I mean, the way demographics have kind of flipped and party alignment, frankly, has flipped in this country.

33:53High information voters tend to vote Democratic, tend to come out in midterm years. So there's a lot of wind at the Democrats' backs. Okay, so I got three more states. Keep feeling good. Keep going. She's feeling good. I got three more states in three more minutes. So I'm just going to... Speed round. So speed round. So Susan Collins in Maine. Winner. I know you think that the Democrats are going to lose and Republicans are going to win and vice versa. So let's just get that out of the way. It's a crowded field to take on Susan Collins. Schumer's chosen candidate is the governor, Janet Mills. She is facing a progressive challenger, Graham Plattner.

34:25He did seem to lose some steam when that scandal emerged about the Nazi skull. That he's since covered up. But I have heard anecdotally that his town halls do attract a lot of people. He's a charismatic guy. Do you think, who do you think actually is the tougher challenge for Collins? He's a tougher challenge. You think so? He's much more charismatic. That's interesting. He's a fisherman. He's a gritty guy. He's a very interesting character, right? And so the governor's older. Listen, I think Susan Collins is an institution in Maine. She defies political gravity. I think she wins. If you're in Maine, if you're a Maine voter, I think you think like, this is Susan's last time.

35:06Let's vote for her again. It's the last time she'll be running, I'm sure. And so I think she gets a pass. This guy's interesting. They could be a much tougher candidate in the general election. I don't. I actually think Mills will be the tougher candidate against Collins. Yeah, I do. I mean, look, I think Plattner, there's a lot of energy for him. And certainly he has energized a section of the electorate. But I think if you look at the median main voter, if you look at the kind of voters that the Democratic nominee is going to have to peel away from Susan Collins, I think Janet Mills is probably a better fit.

35:34But, you know, look, I like to see a robust primary and we'll see where we go. All right. We only have 30 seconds left. So I have Alaska and Ohio here. I'll just ask this. Which is more likely for Democrats to pick up, Alaska or Ohio? Alaska. What do you think? Yeah, Alaska. Ohio's impossible to win. Alaska's less, it's possible but unlikely. All right. Democrats don't win statewide in Alaska. Kate Benningfield, well, except she, Mary Paltola, won statewide. Generally, right? Right, okay. As a House member. Anyway, although not last time. To Kate Benningfield, David Urban, thanks so much. Coming up, our CNN Chief White House Correspondent, Caitlin Collins, is going to be here.

36:12She tried to get President Trump to clarify comments today about deadly protests in Iran. Stay with us.

36:22In our national lead, 20 years ago, Mesfin Dollar left his small village in Ethiopia and flew to the United States to get life-saving surgery. And he was struck by rheumatic fever, which developed into heart disease, which meant open heart surgery. It's a procedure that was not available in his home country. He was only 15 years old. Mesfin Dollar flew to Atlanta where Dr. Jim Cowton, a cardiothoracic surgeon, repaired his heart valve and saved Mesfin's life. Now, 25 years later, Mesfin Dollar is a cardiac perfusionist at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and often returns to Ethiopia with Dr. Kauten to provide medical support there.

37:02Mesfin Dollar and Dr. Jim Kauten join us now. Really an amazing story, truly a full circle moment. Mesfin, what's it like to work with the very surgeon who saved your life when you were just a kid.

37:16Thank you, Jake, for having us on your media platform. And yeah, it's very humbling. Just working along with Dr. Cowten is very meaningful for both of us. The one act of compassion, it doesn't just end at that moment. It goes along into a generation and throughout the continent. Dr. Kauten, what has this experience meant to you? Well, it has very deep meaning to be able to be trusted to operate on a patient. This patient was Mesvin. And I don't believe I've ever had the opportunity to work in any manner with any of my patients years later. So it's almost indescribable. So through the nonprofit Heart Attack Ethiopia, you both offer life-saving treatments to millions of Ethiopians.

38:16Mesfin, as a cardiac perfusionist, you run the heart-lung machine for patients. During some of the most complex surgeries in the world, what does it mean to you to be able to give back to your home country? It is absolutely very meaningful to me, to my home country as well. So once I was in that, you know, operating table, now I'm actually able to help those who are suffering from the same disease that, you know, struck my life 20 plus years ago. And, yeah, it's amazing, and it gives me a full circle, and really it just gives me a total meaning for the life I'm living right now. And Dr. Cotton, you serve on the board of Heart Attack Ethiopia.

39:14Tell us more about the important work that you do and the impact this group has in Ethiopia. Well, sadly, we can't fix Area 1, but we go to Ethiopia at least two weeks out of the year. In 2024, we were there for a total of four weeks. And treating the patients that most likely would die without treatment is very rewarding. We do stents for patients with coronary disease. We do open heart surgery, valveter open heart surgery, as well as coronary bypass. And we've also done electrophysiology. So we've been fortunate to offer patients a new lease on life and a chance to be able to give back in their own communities.

40:11Dr. Jim Cowden and Mesvin Dollar, thank you so much. What an inspiring story. Really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Jake. And welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Trump is refusing to take military action by the United States off the table in Iran. After weeks of deadly protests there against the Iranian regime. But the president also announced this afternoon that he's been told the killings in Iran have stopped. Is that true? What happens next? Also, just minutes ago, we saw the start of the first ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station. Four astronauts ending their mission early set to touch down back on Earth in just a few hours.

40:55We're tracking their early return with a former commander of the space station ahead. And the White House says it was the, quote, appropriate response for President Trump to give the middle finger to a heckler who appeared to call him a pedophile protector. Now online fundraisers are popping up for that UAW factory worker who says he has been suspended from his job for yelling at the presser.

41:23We'll see you tonight. President Trump in the Oval Office addressing Iran's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, a U.S.-based rights group telling CNN that at least 2 ,400 demonstrators have been killed by the regime in recent weeks. Just moments ago, we learned that the execution of Iranian protester Irfan Soltani, which we told you about earlier in the show, did not take place today. That's according to a family member and a human rights organization. A family member cautioning the execution was not canceled either. Earlier, President Trump claimed that he'd been told the killing has stopped and Iran has no plans for executions.

42:00We've been told that the killing in Iran is stopping and it's stopped and stopping. and there's no plan for executions or an execution or executions. So I've been told that a good authority will find out about it. I'm sure if it happens, we'll all be very upset. President Trump adding that the U.S. will watch and see what happens before taking military action against the Iranian regime off the table. CNN's Caitlin Collins is at the White House for us. Caitlin? Yeah, Jake. Well, obviously, this was a key question for the president as we went into the Oval earlier today of what his briefing on Iran had told him last night when he met with those officials after that meeting had already started and where he was going to go next.

42:43After for the last, you know, two weeks, Jake, the president has been threatening that the United States would help these Iranian protesters if Iran started killing them as they were protesting in the streets. Obviously, we've seen, Jake, from our colleagues reporting body backs that have been lining the streets of Tehran. And so when the president said that he was told that Iran has stopped killing the protesters, Obviously, the next natural question is who told him that and whether or not, if it's the Iranian regime, if he trusts them. And this is what he told me inside the Oval earlier. Who told you that the killings have stopped there?

43:17And if it's the Iranian regime? We have been informed by very important sources on the other side, and they've said the killing has stopped and the executions won't take place. There was supposed to be a lot of executions today and that the executions won't take place. And we're going to find out. I mean, I'll find out after this. You'll find out. But we've been told on good authority and I hope it's true. Who knows? Who knows? We've seen body bags. So how do you trust them? You've seen that over the last few days. And they said people were shooting at them with guns and they were shooting back.

43:49And, you know, it's one of those things. But they told me that there'll be no executions. And so I hope that's true. And Jake, I tried to follow up with the president on what he meant there when he said about protesters, firing back, it seemed to say there. We know, obviously, the Iranian regime has been firing at these protesters and killing them. And we've also seen this major blackout that has been taking place in Iran, which has made it so difficult to get information out of there, which is why it's key, obviously, when the president himself is being briefed by his own team on that. But it does raise real questions, Jake, about what is going to happen next.

44:24The president kept saying a lot of, we'll see how this plays out. We'll see if what these authorities in Iran that are telling them that the killings have stopped is true. But obviously, Jake, he had encouraged these protests. He had told them to keep going and said the United States was behind them and also threatened military action if they killed protesters, which we know did happen. And so it does raise questions of what could happen next year, Jake, or if the president was looking for an off-ramp from those threats that he had made about how the United States would get involved here, something that here in Washington, some Republicans had said they supported, others had said they were skeptical of the United States getting involved overseas again.

44:59All right, Caitlin Collins at the White House for us. Thanks so much. And of course, don't miss Caitlin on her show, The Source with Caitlin Collins. Our guests tonight include Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado. That's tonight at 9 Eastern only on CNN. Let's bring in Moj Madera, co-founder of the Iranian Diaspora Collective. Also with me in studio, CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, who served in senior national security positions under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Moshe, you first, you've been working closely with independent journalists and sources who remain in direct, increasingly risky communication with citizens inside Iran.

45:36What are they telling you about what life is like in Iran right now and how they feel about a potential U.S. intervention? Thanks, Jake. I think this is a really important question to ask. The people in Iran right now are terrified. I think there's almost no one that's not been directly impacted. They're living under martial law. They've been cut off from landlines and internet connectivity to the outside world. This is terrifying to them. I think there's a real urgency around support for them. I think they are expecting some sort of external support. They've been encouraged by the exiled crown prince to hit the streets.

46:11And the president has said he has their best interest in mind. And so the question is, what does that mean? What are they living with? I mean, we're living with an extreme amount of violence. People are calling this sort of tenement square times 10. We're talking about the numbers in the tens of thousands that have been reported by various different outlets. I mean, this is essentially a massacre of Iranians who are not protesting over economic or sanctions or nuclear. They are demanding a regime change so they can have a referendum because it's quite obvious the Iranian people have been doing this over and over again for years.

46:48They want a regime change. Moj, you heard President Trump saying that he'd been told the killing in Iran has stopped, no plans for executions. Some people wondering if the president's looking for an off-ramp. First of all, what's the truth? I mean, even if that one execution was stopped, has the killing and execution stopped? And second of all, are you worried? Iran, the Islamic Republic is the leading country in the world in terms of executions. No one executes more people than them. How can you trust someone that just massacred, according to themselves tens of 12 ,000 plus people and that's just in Tehran we're not talking about the larger 30 provinces how can we trust a regime that actively supports Hezbollah and Hamas and the Houthis is brought in more importantly militias from Iraq they have brought in militias from Afghanistan they have brought in Hezbollah to come in and actually massacre their own people so how can we base a level of trust with people who have been incapable to keep their promises to their own people, first and foremost, much less to the greater world at large.

47:50I don't think we can trust a word that they say. They're only interested in not just their own power, but their own ideology, which has proven to be extremely dangerous to the world. Yeah. Brett, if it was as simple as President Trump pressing a button and getting rid of the regime and democracy flourishing, I'm sure he would do it. If it was as simple as bombing one little site as he did when he bombed the nuclear facilities, I'm sure he would do that too. I keep asking people, what action would work? Like what can the US do? What do you think? Well, that's what makes it so different from the Maduro operation or the Forto strike in June in which you had a set military objective very clear.

48:28Here it's unclear. So when talking about the military instrument of power, look, there are two forces in Iran, the people and the regime. And the regime now is staying in power solely by recressive force. It's been that way for some time. What may have just happened in the last 96 hours seems unprecedented in terms of the scale of the killing. So what should the United States do? We want to do everything we can to support the people. That means making sure they can communicate, doing things with Starlink and other mechanisms we have with our advanced technology companies. Making sure they communicate, get around this blackout.

49:00This is long term. Enforcing sanctions on the Iranian regime. These protests started in the bazaar from the collapse of the Iranian currency. And Iran is still exporting, amazingly, Jake, two million barrels of oil a day, despite a policy from the White House to drive those down to zero. So these are things, but this is longer term, recognizing that there is no push button, as you said. This is going to take some time. But after what has happened in the last 96 hours, and President Trump's statement yesterday, in which he basically declared a regime change policy, He told Iranian people, stay in the streets, take over your institutions.

49:37If what he's saying today, and we'll find out soon enough, is that a feint? Yeah. Is it Zanjun? Or has he totally backed off? I don't know. The military instrument here is very tricky because on the one hand, supporting the people, and then you want to deter the repressive apparatus of the regime from massacring your own people. How do you do that? I mean, sanctions is one tool, but some aspect of targeted military action might be effective. I think you'd have to see all the options. But it has to be an array, a kind of a broad policy. But, Jake, you're right, there's no push button here. But I think what has happened in the last 96 hours, and the information will come out as the internet gets up again, appears to be a massive killing.

50:18I would just say, you know, President Trump talks a lot about Barack Obama's red line in Syria, saying do not use chemical weapons, and the Assad regime crossed that red line. About 1 ,300 Syrians died in that chemical attack in Ghouta. Here, it appears far more Iranians have been killed after they crossed a red line that Trump himself drew. So the president has some real decisions to make here, and it's difficult. This is difficult, serious, extremely complicated business, but I think we have to make some choices. And, Moe, should Iran's regime collapse, what then? What happens next? What would you want to happen next?

50:56Listen, I think we have an incredible opportunity where we do have a transitional leader that people on the streets have been chanting and asking for, which is the exiled crown prince. He has made it clear that he does not want to return to a monarchy. But what would be ideal in this moment is to support the exiled crown prince through a transition so that people of Iran can have a referendum and they can actually vote and be their own voice. It is imperative that we give them this opportunity. They are dying for a chance to reset the Middle East, to reset their relationship with the West. There's so much that Iranian people that can contribute to the larger world.

51:33And I want to say one thing in particular that the Iranians have in Iran that's unique, which is a very passionate and powerful diaspora that is dying to reinvest and get back home and be with their families. There's a huge opportunity here, I think, to reset. And so supporting the crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, I think would be a step as a transitional leader. so we can get to a referendum. And I know that's a huge stretch, and I know that's a big ask, but I think the alternative here is an IRGC leader, or we're looking at reform, which sanctions have proven to be ineffective here. I wish they had been effective, but they're not.

52:11Let's hope and pray for a democratic Iran. Thank you. Moj Madera, Brett McGurk, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Thank you for having us. Thank you for this conversation. The FBI searched the home of a Washington Post reporter today allegedly seizing a cell phone and two computers. how top Trump officials are explaining this search tonight of a journalist who didn't do anything other than journalism, as far as we can tell. Plus, NASA's first ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station is underway right now with four astronauts on an earlier than expected return trip home.

52:39What we're learning about the emergency mission ahead. Dragon SpaceX separation confirmed. Dragon SpaceX separation confirmed.

52:52In our politics lead this morning, FBI agents seized a phone and two computers from the home of Washington Post reporter Hannah Naitensen. Am I pronouncing that correctly? Okay, great. In a Washington Post article last month, Naitensen, who had been covering the Trump administration's firings of federal employees, dubbed herself the federal government whisperer. FBI Director Cash Patel says Naitensen was allegedly obtaining and reporting classified sensitive military information from a government contractor, unquote. A person familiar with the matter told CNN that Naitensen is not the target of an investigation.

53:22Instead, the search was part of a probe into that government contractor. CNN's Evan Perez joins us now. And Evan, Attorney General Merrick Garland, as I recall, implemented a policy in 2022 banning the use of warrants to seize reporters' records. And the very first thing Attorney General Pam Bondi did, or one of the first things she did was take away that guidance. Right. And I think that's one of the reasons why what happened today is so extraordinary. And also, you know, obviously we've been expecting that this was going to be tested. And, you know, that statement from the FBI director, I think, does raise additional concerns.

53:57Now, as you pointed out, the Post and others are saying that they've been assured that she's not the target. But the extraordinary steps that they took today and that those comments from Kash Patel tell us that that could easily change. Because what, you know, seizing her devices, seizing her work computer, again, raises the possibility that the FBI could go looking around for other things and then change their mind and decide that perhaps they want to pursue things against this reporter. Again, I would not be reassured by what Kash Patel says, especially because of the memo from the attorney general from last year.

54:37She issued that memo in April, which rescinded the Garland memo. And one of the things that you look at that memo, it really talks a lot about the elites in Washington. And the whole theme of it is that reporters are being protected extraordinarily and that the government needs to be able to find leakers. And if they need to go subpoena reporters and force them to give up their sources, they should be able to do that. Now, the attorney general also says, though, that obviously she has to approve some of these extraordinary measures. But I think one of the things that is chilling about what happened today, Jake, is that they already had the contractor.

55:18His name is Aurelio Perez Lugones, who allegedly is the person who's leaked these documents. He is behind bars right now. He is subject right now to a detention while he faces the charges that they're pursuing against him. And so the question is, why do you need to do this with reporters? Yeah. And I mean, what did she report that was so such a heinous national security offense? Right. I mean, obviously, you know, the story that you pointed out there where she talks herself about being the federal government whisperer probably does not help take the attention away from her. Yeah, but I'm just saying it's not the Pentagon Papers.

55:57Evan Perez, thank you so much. Leaders from Greenland and Denmark walked out of a meeting with White House officials today declaring that there is still a, quote, fundamental disagreement over the future of Greenland, which Trump wants to become part of the United States. So what happens next? Well, we're going to go live to Greenland in moments.

56:18in our world lead amid unrelenting pressure from president trump to make greenland part of the united states including a truth social post this morning in which the president declared the united states needs greenland for the purpose of national security and anything less than that is unacceptable top officials from denmark and greenland after meeting with vice president jd Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier today made it clear that there is no agreement here. Vice President Vance. For us, ideas that would not respect territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and the right of self-determination of the Greenlandic people are, of course, totally unacceptable.

57:03And we therefore still have a fundamental disagreement, but we also agree to disagree. As soon as Nick Robertson's in Greenland for us, Nick, where do we go from here? To high-level talks in the coming weeks. That's how the Danish foreign minister framed it. Look, he's a respected diplomat, a tough negotiator by all accounts. What he's been able to do is buy a little time for the people of Greenland, where they don't have to expect the hard option from President Trump, that troops might be coming or somehow the country gets annexed. has made it very clear that Denmark Greenland is categorically opposed to that.

57:41These couple of weeks, also by Denmark, more time you have Swedish troops coming, Norwegian troops coming, German troops coming, Danish troops coming. It allows more time for the NATO allies and partners, particularly in the north of Europe, to coalesce a position to find out precisely what military options they have on the ground here, to show President Trump that NATO can give the level of security that he wants to see in and around Greenland. And that may not go far enough to meet what President Trump wants. But these talks might, with these options more clear on the table, on the ground, go in that direction.

58:22But the foreign minister, very, very clear that this clear difference exists. There's clearly a disagreement. agreement, we agreed that it makes sense to try to sit down on a high level to explore whether there is possibilities to accommodate the concerns of the president while we at the same time respect the red lines of the Kingdom of Denmark.

58:54So going into these meetings, what the foreign minister said he wanted to achieve was to take some of the heat out of the debate to put some nuance into the debate. That appears to be what he's been able to do, but it hasn't brought the two sides closer together at the moment, Jake. All right, Nick Robertson in Greenland. Thanks so much. With us now to discuss Democratic Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs of California, who's part of a bipartisan congressional delegation traveling to Copenhagen, Denmark later this week. Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. Let Let me play for you something that President Trump said about Greenland this afternoon in the Oval Office.

59:31The problem is there's not a thing that Denmark can do about it if Russia or China wants to occupy Greenland. But there's everything we can do. You found that out last week with Venezuela. There's everything we can do about things such as that. Not going to happen. We're not, you know, I can't rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off. Congresswoman, isn't that the scenario that NATO was developed to avoid? I mean, if the Chinese or Russians tried to occupy Greenland, Denmark would invoke, what is it, Article 4? Article 5. Article 5, and an attack on one is an attack on all, and the U.S.

1:00:10would get involved. That's exactly right. If Russia or China were to try and attack Greenland, that is exactly what NATO is for. Denmark would invoke Article 5, and all of the partners in NATO, including the United States, would then come to Greenland's defense. It's why it makes no sense for President Trump to be doing this. This is just another one of his vanity projects, like putting his name on the Kennedy Center. There is no real strategic reason for this. We have a treaty with the Danes, a 1951 treaty, that actually allows us to do basically whatever we feel we need to do militarily in Greenland.

1:00:44And so there is literally no military purpose for what Donald Trump is trying to do with Greenland. So what are you looking to accomplish on this trip to Denmark? Yeah, so this is a bipartisan congressional delegation. And we feel like it's important to go and show that on a bipartisan basis, the members of Congress do not support President Trump's plan, that the majority of Americans do not support President Trump, and that we stand with our ally, the Danes. and with the people of Greenland who should get to decide for themselves who governs them. You know, Denmark actually was one of the countries that after 9-11, they sent their own troops to Iraq and Afghanistan and actually were one of the highest per capita losses of life in Afghanistan.

1:01:31That's Danish soldiers that were killed instead of American soldiers. That's what we're talking about here. That's the kind of partnership we've had. And we want to make sure that they know that there are many, many of us on both sides of the aisle who appreciate that and respect that are going to do everything we can to make sure that that alliance is preserved. In America today, the country is so divided. You know, 40 % of the country automatically supports everything President Trump says and does. 40 % of the country automatically opposes everything President Trump says and does as a general rule.

1:02:04But this new Reuters-Ipsos poll shows that when it comes to U.S. efforts to acquire Greenland, only 17 % approve of the effort to acquire Greenland. And in terms of whether or not it's a good idea for the U.S. to take Greenland using military force, that goes down to 4%. I mean, these are numbers that you just don't see in Poland. Well, that's exactly right. And, you know, there's estimates that it would cost about$700 billion to buy Greenland. Think about all of the things we could do here, investing in America in housing and health care and child care for the American people with$700 billion.

1:02:45So, you know, I think the American people are right. I think there's a bipartisan consensus in Congress that this doesn't make sense. And hopefully that will be enough to stop Donald Trump from this vanity project. All right, Congresswoman Sarah Jacobs, Democratic California. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Have fun in Denmark. Four astronauts just began their return to Earth weeks ahead of schedule because one of them is having a medical emergency. We're tracking their journey with a former commander of the space station next.

1:03:19Some breaking news on this fiery crash of a UPS cargo flight last November in Louisville, Kentucky. The NTSB says the exact part that failed was a three-inch metal housing around a bearing. It's a key part to keep the left engine attached to a wing. The crash killed three pilots on board and 12 people on the ground. In our out of this world lead today, for the first time ever, an International Space Station crew is coming home early. In just the last hour, four astronauts undocked from the International Space Station to begin the return trip to Earth. According to NASA, this unprecedented early departure was the result of medical issues.

1:03:56This exodus leaves behind only three crew members, two man, the ISS, two Russian cosmonauts, and NASA astronaut Chris Williams. Joining us to discuss is former NASA astronaut and International Space Station Commander Leroy Chow. Leroy, thanks for joining us. So NASA has not released any details about the medical issues, citing privacy concerns. But how serious of a condition would it have to be to require this extreme measure here of returning to Earth? Well, clearly this was a somewhat serious event because, as you pointed out, It would have to be in order to have the crew come back. We are very well trained for these kinds of things.

1:04:37Each mission has at least one crew medical officer, not necessarily an MD, but someone who's been trained up to kind of be able to stabilize and, you know, talk to the doctors on the ground. We have an extensive medical kit on board, diagnostic tools, including ultrasound. And so, you know, we don't want to speculate on what this is, but NASA has emphasized that the patient is absolutely stabilized. There's no cause for immediate concern and pretty much out of an abundance of caution. They want to get this person back to the ground so they could do a full workup and make sure that there's not anything else that needs to be worried about.

1:05:12So obviously, you know, fairly serious in order to warrant this kind of action. Never been done in the history of the station. And so, you know, it'll be interesting to see. I think everything will go well. You know, I think they're just being overly, not overly, but abundantly cautious. And they don't want to they want to make sure that they don't miss something. So the International Space Station has lost more than half of its staff with this move. Will those three astronauts left behind, two cosmonauts and one astronaut, will they be able to keep the ISS running? Sure. They can keep the ISS going, doing the scheduled and, you know, and repairs of anything that happens.

1:05:54Three is plenty to be able to do that. The thing that will suffer will be experiment operations, particularly in the U.S. segment. And of course, you saw that the spacewalk that had been planned for the other day was canceled because of this. So, you know, but it's these are things that just get delayed. And so the planners are very good at their jobs. They'll be able to plan all of those items that get missed or don't get executed now. And they'll be done later by other crews. A fellow astronaut, Clayton Anderson, wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post yesterday saying that this situation illustrates how unprepared we are for major missions.

1:06:29He writes, quote, we must treat medical resilience with the same urgency as rocket reusability. NASA's catchphrase of we are going to the moon and Mars is inspiring and ambitious, but it's only meaningful if in arriving we ensure humans can survive the journey. Unquote. Do you agree? Do you think not enough information, not enough emphasis is being placed on astronaut safety? It's the key to the ISS. I don't agree with that because, you know, we are very well screened medically before we go and we're very well trained. But things do happen. And of course, there's risk in exploration. So you've got to accept a measure of risk.

1:07:08I mean, if you look at, you know, the Apollo missions, the amount of risks that those pioneers were willing to accept and take. And in a way we kind of got away with, you know, using equipment that's a lot less sophisticated and reliable than the equipment we're using these days. You know, you look at going to Mars and we're going to have to accept risks because they're things that we haven't anticipated or couldn't have anticipated. And not least of which is the extreme radiation environment the crews will be in once they get out of the magnetosphere. And just, you know, not far away from the air.

1:07:43If you're outside of the magnetosphere and you're exposed to all that radiation for a half year journey each way, plus your stay on the surface. So a lot of things to be worked out, but, you know, you can't explore without accepting some risk. All right, Leroy Chow, thanks so much. Appreciate your time. New fallout today from that video by the six Democratic lawmakers where they reminded members of the U.S. military that they had a duty to disobey any illegal orders. That story's next. Former CIA officer. Former Navy. Former paratrooper and Army Ranger. Former intelligence officer. Former Air Force.

1:08:20Back in our politics lead, four Democratic lawmakers say they have been contacted by U.S. Attorney Janine Pirro's office. This is related to the video they filmed in November reminding U.S. members of the military that they were obligated to disobey any illegal orders. Michigan Senator Alyssa Slotkin, Colorado Congressman Jason Crow, New Hampshire Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, and Pennsylvania Congresswoman Chrissy Houlihan have all confirmed that the U.S. attorney contacted them. It's not yet clear what crime this investigation could be focused on. Senator Slotkin posted a message on X earlier today.

1:08:57To be clear, this is the president's playbook. Truth doesn't matter. Facts don't matter. And anyone who disagrees with him becomes an enemy. And he then weaponizes the federal government against them. I want to bring in my panel. Mike, before the administration started seeking retaliation or whatever you want to call it, an investigation or the Pentagon going after Mark Kelly, etc., etc., I was hearing Democrats complaining about the video that the Democrats made. They thought it was a distraction. They thought it was a stunt. They thought it was silly. They thought it was. But now the subject, now the focus is the retaliation.

1:09:36Well, I think now the focus is for other Democrats. They're seeing the amount of money that these four or five Democrats are raising off of this controversy. After the retaliation, not the video. Well, how long has this story been going on? Well, it started in November. Right. So you'd say pulling out, this is the president's playbook. They played into the president's playbook. They knew that this was going to get a reaction. Trump also fundraised off of that. Yeah, but they knew this was going to get a reaction from him. I'm saying they baited him. That's what I'm saying. They baited it. Usually it's the other way around.

1:10:08Usually Democrats take Trump's bait. This was the opposite. And this was like the early, I keep calling it the Gavin Newsom-ization of the party. They are taking the president's playbook and they're trying all these different aspects to try to bait him into something. It helped with their fundraising. The other Democrats are now jealous. I think that's where we're at. What do you think? I mean, I think there was disagreement in the party about the video. But you can agree with the timing of the video, the substance of the video, everything that they said in the video. They're just reciting the UCMJ, which is the Code of Military Justice.

1:10:39I think what we were talking about earlier is I think this is just such a gross use of the Department of Justice's resources to investigate these lawmakers for basically exercising their free speech. I'd rather, you know, Jeanne Perino, others, the DOJ, be focused on real cases that matter, like getting criminals off of our streets. So I think going after these members of Congress, I mean, what are the charges? What are we talking about? Well, as a D.C. resident, there's some criminals that I'd like them to take care of. What do you think? That's what the National Guard is here for. So just to underscore what you said, what they said in the video was repeating the law.

1:11:17The notion that they are under investigation for this is ridiculous. Point two, earlier today, I got a fundraising email from Mark Kelly, so it's still working. Oh, I think he's, I mean, if he runs for president in 2028, this is really a big boost for him. Just in some news, a measure to limit President Trump's actions in Venezuela. It just failed in the Senate. This is after an intense pressure campaign from the Trump administration, specifically targeting two Republican senators that had been in support of the measure to limit President Trump's power in Venezuela. Senator Todd Young of Indiana and Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri.

1:11:57They were originally going to join with the Democratic-led War Powers Act vote. Vice President Vance broke the tie on Capitol Hill 50-50. So what does this mean when it comes to Venezuela? Well, I think what it means is that you're seeing some, you know, stops here and there. But big picture, whether it's Venezuela or Greenland or Iran, you know, President Trump is not going to stop. He feels emboldened. Sure. And so I am not sure that these little pushbacks along the way are going to make a big difference. Do you agree? I do think they make a difference. And here's why. I think we're in a different spot than we were in the first year of the presidency.

1:12:48We're coming up on January 20th and celebrate the first year of Trump 2.0. But now we're looking at the midterms. And I think members of Congress are now looking through that prism. The midterms, they're also looking through the fact that most of these folks have already filed for their reelection campaigns. so they're not as worried about the Trump White House running somebody against them. And I also think that we're hitting some of the bedrock issues here. NATO is a bedrock issue for most Republicans. I think Greenland is an example of that. Sabrina, I want to get your take on the, because we're getting a lot of reaction to this video of the president yesterday.

1:13:33We paid for use of this, so we're going to show it. This is President Trump flipping the bird and saying F you, except he didn't say F, to an autoworker while he was touring a plant. The autoworker apparently called him a pedophile protector, a reference to the Epstein scandal. This is at a Michigan Ford plant. The Washington Post caught up with that worker. He's a 40 year old line worker named T.J. Sabula, I think. Anyway, he told them, quote, as far as calling him out, definitely no regrets whatsoever. However, I don't feel as though fate looks upon you often. And when it does, you better be ready to seize the opportunity.

1:14:10And today, I think I did that. He has been suspended from work pending an investigation. What's your take on it all? I'm sure Trump's DOJ is also going to launch an investigation into this individual. Look, I mean, obviously, would President Biden, would President Obama, would President Bush ever do something like that? They have been heckled. They have been protested before. I don't think so. Is that the reaction that I like to see from a president? No. This person was obviously exercising their free speech and First Amendment rights. I don't love the idea of, like, you know, interrupting every single rally or event that a president is going to.

1:14:47And this person was a worker there. So it was a bit odd. You know, you knew that the president was going to be there. But look, you know, you can exercise your free speech and that's what this individual is doing. Two quick points. One, it is clear the Epstein files still get a reaction out of President Trump. I think that's the headline. Headline number two, two people, one a friend, one someone didn't know, started a GoFundMe for this Ford worker who was suspended. It is now, I was just doing the math of the two accounts, more than$810 ,000 has been donated. Holy smokes. Democrats are raising money.

1:15:25You got Ford workers raising money off of President Trump right now. I mean, he is just an economic machine. But also that that that ICE agent, there was some there was a GoFundMe raised for him as well. It's kind of a new way that Americans can vote for their team in real time, I guess. You don't have to wait. Yeah. Our new CNN poll out today and Americans' responses to the Minneapolis ice shooting showed a real partisan divide on the issue. To highlight one example, 82 % of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say ICE is making cities less safe. 67 % of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say ICE is making cities more safe.

1:16:07But it is a bigger margin on the Democratic side. And 17 % of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents sided with the Democrats. So what does that say to you? So the polling question, I wonder if it was more specific about these ice raids we're seeing, would change those numbers even more. But I think the reality is I've spoken to law enforcement officials, former DHS law enforcement officials, who, by the way, are Republicans, and they are appalled by what they are seeing in these ice raids. They feel that the agents have doubled down and are really emboldened and they're worried. Thanks one and all.

1:16:48Appreciate it. And good luck with Buffalo. Go Bills. Good luck against those Broncos. We'll be right back.

1:17:02In our national league, it has been one year since the Palisades and Eaton Fires destroyed neighborhoods across the Los Angeles region and killed more than 30 people. A brand new book captures a journalist's personal firsthand account of the chaos and devastation that unfolded. The book is called Firestorm, The Great Los Angeles Fires in America's New Age of Disaster. And the author, MSNOW senior political and national reporter, Jacob Soboroff, who joins us now here in studio. Jacob, thanks so much for joining us. Good to see you. Good to see you, Jake. Thanks. One thing, obviously, to cover a natural disaster as a journalist, it's another to witness your home, The place you grew up in, in this case, Pacific Palisades, burned to the ground, your childhood home itself destroyed.

1:17:42What's the main thing that you want people to take away from your book? Well, first of all, I still can't quite put to words what it was like to be there and have to report live on television as I watched not just my neighborhood, but my childhood home carbonize in front of my eyeballs. I didn't have the mental capacity to process in real time what I was seeing. How did it happen? Why did it happen? Is it going to happen again? Is there somebody to blame? And those are all the reasons that I set out to write Firestorm. It turns out that, you know, I thought I was looking at my past. This is the fire of the future.

1:18:13And I think that while the book, you know, at times reads like a sci-fi thriller, what it really is is a minute-by-minute account of what it is like to be there in one of these fires in America's new age of disaster that we will all be experiencing soon. And that is what I want people to understand, is that this is coming for all of us. So this is one moment that was very remarkable where you're covering the Palisades fire and you get a phone call from Katie Miller. I sure did. The former White House aide married to Stephen Miller, the White House aide. And this is a source of you've had a contentious relationship with Katie.

1:18:50She and her husband, Stephen, are forceful figures, to put it mildly. She asked you to check on Stephen's parents' home in the Pacific Palisades, and you did. And unfortunately, the House didn't make it. Very sad for the Miller family. But about the same time, you're having this very personal, very human interaction with her. Her once and future boss, President-elect Trump, is posting misinformation on social media about the fires and attacking the governor, the Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom. I thought a lot about whether or not I was going to include this story in the book. And as you said, Katie and I have had, I think it's fair to say, an adversarial journalist-source relationship.

1:19:29But we were friendly. I mean, she let me into the detention centers when I was covering family separation. She wanted me to see what the administration was doing the first time around. She obviously saw you as a person. She reaches out for help. She did. And I think, you know, I was shocked when she called, to be honest, because she had cut off communication with me after I wrote my first book, Separated, about the separation crisis. I don't think she liked it. Probably also fair to say. But I said to her, I would be happy to go by and check on the house. And as you said, I found that the house had burned down.

1:19:55I did the same thing for her that I did for the kids I drove in high school carpool or my own brother who lost the home that he was living in and many other people. Yeah, I just, I had a CNN friend look at my cousin's house also. I mean, like, that's what we were all doing. Well, the thing about it, nobody was there. You know, it was firefighters and us, basically. It was part of the reason why I couldn't process it. No neighbors or no friends were around. I knew Stephen Miller was from Santa Monica. I didn't know his parents lived in the Palisades. And I was happy to go by and I was devastated for her and for the Millers that they had lost their home.

1:20:24But within minutes to see that Donald Trump was tweeting about non-existent sources of water that he thought would somehow stop the fire or blaming one politician or another or Elon Musk, her future boss at Doge, echoing those sentiments. It made clear to me part of what the new age of disaster is. It's not only the global climate emergency. It's not only our infrastructure falling apart. It's not only changes in the way we live electric car batteries It's the politics of blame and misinformation and disinformation that poor rhetorical fuel on very real and literal flames and that I mean What her bosses were doing were hurting her very own in-laws at the time?

1:21:03She asked me to go check on the house. Yeah, and for people who aren't old enough to remember there was a time when Natural disasters would unite people regardless of party Christie and Barack Obama hugging after Sandy Yeah, but that was used against Chris Christie. The book is called Firestorm, The Great Los Angeles Fire, and America's New Age of Disaster. The author, journalist Jacob Savaroff. Thanks so much for being here. Thanks so much, Jake. Appreciate it. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett, Outfront, starts now. Aaron, take it away.

1:21:30I'll see y 'all tomorrow.

1:21:37I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm setting out to really experience France to savor its world-celebrated cuisine and explore the country's rich history. Eva Longoria, Searching for France, premieres April 12th on CNN and next day on the CNN app. I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast, Terms of Service, there's a growing category of products aimed specifically at addressing women's unique health needs. These tools and services are sometimes known as femtech, and they can provide big opportunities and benefits, but they can also come with some risks. To walk us through all of this, I spoke with Bethany Corbin.

1:22:14Bethany is an attorney and CEO of Fem Innovation, where she advises startups, clinicians, and healthcare organizations. In my opinion, what it really does is gives us a collective language to talk about women's healthcare innovation and the tools that are out there so that we can take control of our healthcare experiences and know how to advocate for ourselves in a system that's probably not been designed to advocate for us. Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts.