Senators Question Patel on Midterms, FBI’s 2020 Election Probe

25:56The important thing is that these people are being caught and they're being held accountable. What do you make of the$65 ,000 fine for the White House teleprompter? Yeah, I think it's quite small. I mean, we're talking about someone in the White House, and this is what he did, right? He traded in what's called mentioned markets. will Trump say a certain word? Well, he would get the speech an hour before and he would look at it if it had the word in it, he'd trade yes. If it didn't, he'd trade no. Midway through one speech, the president skipped one part and he changed his trade. So he makes like almost 40 trades and this goes on until he gets caught.

26:30And ultimately you think, well, how was he allowed to keep going? Why wasn't he on a list of insiders who would be banned from making those trades in beginning. And what this does is it brings down trust. It brings down this idea of like, these markets have really great data that people want and they want to use, but not if it's tainted. And so ultimately, getting the integrity up in these markets is going to be really important. There's a lot that is going on there. And Calci is working very, very hard to identify all of these people to the extent they can, but ensuring that they're held accountable if they do things wrong for that market integrity purpose.

27:05All right. Thanks, one and all. Appreciate it, Senator Bernie Sanders and Steve Bannon, back-to-back guests today at a conference on AI. Both of them sounding the alarm, calling for restrictions now on the fast-moving technology. Senator Sanders joins me next year on The Lead. Stay with us.

27:24My search for the scariest house in America has taken me to some unsettling places. Not by choice, but per my contract. Are you ready to go into our murder garage? The creepy. I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time down here. Me either. The spooky. Yikes. I don't like it. What is this? This is a Victorian body cooler. It's from the 1800s. I'm not feeling good about any of this. Season premiere, Scariest House in America, September 18th at 9 on HGTV.

27:58Time for the latest in our series, AI Friend or Foe, the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence or AI brought together people from across the political spectrum today in Washington, D.C. to call for more guardrails on the industry. Independent progressive Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont appeared on stage just ahead of former Trump advisor and alt-right figure Steve Bannon, just to paint the picture. Bannon even pointed out the dichotomy. I think Senator Sanders did a very good job of summarizing the risk. Obviously, he and I have a quite different opinion of the president of the United States, but we're trying to raise above partisanship, and we have to.

28:38Joining us now, Senator Bernie Sanders. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. What is it about this issue that brings together folks from across the spectrum? I can't imagine that you and Steve Bannon agree on much. That's true. Look, I think, as you just indicated, AI is moving at an exponential rate. It is in the process of transforming the lives of every man, woman and child. It will have a profound impact on the economy with the possible loss of millions of jobs. It's going to eviscerate privacy rights. Parents are very worried about the impact of AI on the mental health of their kids, on the reading ability of their kids.

29:22Reading levels are in decline. Writing levels are in decline. And then in the last few weeks, I think what people are seeing is that the leaders of the AI industry themselves and the scientists who work on the technology are saying, you know what? We are losing control over a dangerous technology. That it's only a question of time when AI becomes smarter than human beings and likely then becomes independent of human control. And what we, the industry, are saying is that could be extremely dangerous and independent AI smarter than humanity. So all over this country, whether people are conservatives, progressives, moderates, are saying, where the hell is the United States government?

30:10Where are our elected officials? We are worried. What are you doing? And the answer, Jake, is nowhere, nowhere near enough. So Attorney General Todd Blanche was asked about this today. He gave a press conference in the Rose Garden. He dismissed the need to regulate AI. Take a listen. The way this has come around today and not three months ago. I mean, I was watching the news today. Every Democrat senator suddenly races to a microphone to talk about AI, to talk about the timing of this as being nothing but an effort to to influence the midterms. I shouldn't have to say that out loud. Of course, that's what it is.

30:47Now, in your remarks earlier today, you called out the AI CEOs. They're asking to be regulated, but they're also donating to super PACs that work hard against candidates who support guardrails for AI. So that's right. Do you think this call to be regulated federally is 100 percent genuine? Is it political? Is it economic? What do you make of Todd Blanche's comments? Well, I think it's you look, everybody knows where I stand on Donald Trump's. but it is really embarrassing how little the president of the United States understands about the danger of this technology. And, you know, maybe Democrats are speaking about it now.

31:25Well, it's better late than ever. I would tell you, I've been speaking about it for a very long time. So bottom line here, I think, is you asked me about the integrity, in a sense, or the honesty of the CEOs. I think they are legitimately nervous. On the other hand, one of the points that I made this afternoon is we have an industry of extraordinary importance, the AI industry, which is controlled by a handful of the richest people in the world, Ellison, Bezos, Musk, and others, who really do not stay up nights worrying about the implications of what they are doing until very recently. And as you point out, they are contributing hundreds of millions of dollars through their super PACs to prevent, I think, Congress from doing the right thing.

32:20So they, if they're going to be honest about it, and if they're telling the American people that this is a real danger, then you should not be spending money trying to defeat candidates or members of Congress who want to do something about it. The president rattled off a series of social media posts about AI dismissing the warnings it could lead to disaster. He repeatedly calls the fear as a hoax, saying not to kill the golden goose. That's a quote. This is AI and data centers. He says the only guardrails needed is a strong and smart, high IQ president. That's a quote. He's obviously referring to himself.

32:50How concerned are you about his attitude about all this? Jay, that is an understatement. I think we have a mentally unstable president who is a narcissist, who just apparently refuses to even grapple with this issue. And it is very, very dangerous, I think, for the country. I would hope, because I know this is true, that there are a number of Republicans in the House and Senate who understand that this is a significant issue. And I would hope they have the courage to stand up for their constituents and for the American people, despite what this out-of-touch president says. House Speaker Johnson was asked his thoughts on the president's response to the AI warnings.

33:40Here is how he characterized what President Trump had to say in his dismissal of these concerns. You remember when AOC said, was it climate change? What was her stupid thing? She said, we're all going to be dead in 10 years. You know, this is this is what the president is saying is you're not all going to be dead in 10 years. OK, that's a hoax. So that's not what Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez said. She she was speaking hyperbolically and she made that clear immediately thereafter. And of course, climate change today is ravaging the entire planet. But above and beyond that, for the administration to dismiss.

34:18some of the leading scientists in the world. I've been working with Dr. Jeffrey Hinton, who was a Nobel Prize winner in physics. Sure, the godfather of AI. We've had him on the show in 75 years. The godfather of AI, right. And what he is telling us is we should be very, very nervous. And of course, he's not alone. So that you have an administration which is so dismissive of dozens and dozens of people who have studied this issue, who understand the implications of what it means if AI becomes independent of human control. To suddenly dismiss it and call it a hoax is so irresponsible that it's almost hard to understand.

35:01Stanford University's 2026 AI Index argues that the U.S. and China's AI performance gap is effectively closed. Is there a path forward to force the Chinese towards negotiations for any sort of global AI safeguards right now? Look, the Chinese are in strong competition with the U.S. in AI. But like American scientists, the Chinese scientists and leaders are not crazy. And Jake, what I would remind you of is the 1980s in the midst of the Cold War, where you had the Soviet Union and the United States disagreeing on everything. Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan came together to understand that a nuclear war would not be good for America or the Soviet Union or the world, and they reached a nuclear arms agreement.

35:50I would hope very much that the president of the United States and President Xi of China, when they meet in the very near future, can sit down and negotiate an agreement banning, for example, superintelligence. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont. Thank you, sir. Good to see you as always. Good. Thank you, Jake. Still ahead, CNN's All Over the Map series heads to Alaska, where scenic views and major policy differences are showing up for the race for U.S. Senate. Hear from the voters themselves. Alaskans, next.

36:25Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win. Not like the lottery at all, actually. Exactly. Inexplicably good. Offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. In politics, we're heading to Alaska, where a key midterm race could determine the balance of power in the U.S.

37:03Senate. The frontrunners are a two-term Republican senator and a Democrat, a House Democrat, who used to represent the entire state in the U.S. House. CNN's John King heads west and is all over the map series to see whether this could be the final frontier for the incumbent Republican.

37:22The state fair has a spectacular snowy backdrop. Rides. Games. And yes, little politics if you wish. Alaska Republicans put the president front and center as they try to promote Senator Dan Sullivan and other GOP candidates. The Democrats also feature Trump, hoping anger at the president helps their ticket.

37:50Daily celebrations of Native Alaskans and traditions many in the lower 48 might not understand. There are about 15 percent of the population now, many living in the most remote corners of this giant state. Lisa Lynch lives in the Anchorage suburbs now, but her mother is from Nome. And much of their family is still there. It is crazy to think that you could go to a grocery store here in America and there's no fresh meat, there's no fresh fruit, there's no fresh vegetables. And it gets so bad in some of the villages. A visitor gets VIP Inupiat treatment. The curved ulu used to chop slices of dried salmon and muck tuck.

38:29Well blubber. Yes, some policy disagreements with Senator Sullivan, but Lynch says her vote for Peltola is mostly because of her rural Alaska roots. He has lived here for a long time, but it's not quite the same because he never had to rely on the fish rums to feed his family. He never had to worry about if they could have a moose in their freezer or go caribou hunting. Everywhere you go, reminders of the big choice. and don't make the mistake of thinking these warnings are just for show.

39:04Rick Brown moved to Alaska three decades ago, the day he retired from the fire department back home in Kentucky. I think Michael just wrote logistics. Apparently so. Started his own adventure company 20 years ago, fishing, hiking, kayaking, panning for gold. He just turned 75. Happy birthday. So anyway, you know, if I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it. Business this summer was okay. He expected better. I think the war had a little bit to do with it, and people were unsure of what was going to happen. We get a lot of campers that come up, they drive up, and I see that changing as the years go on, as the price of fuel gets up.

39:48Brown likes Senator Sullivan and says he helped the company get access to federal land for some of its tours. For Sullivan twice before, leaning Sullivan this time, but some hesitation because of campaign support the senator receives from larger fishing operations. Our sewers used to be a little village with a fishing problem, you know. Now it's a tourism town, but I still have a lot of friends that are commercial fishermen. And I want to see what's going to happen to support some of the issues they got. Not often, Jake, you think of Alaska as the state that could decide control of Congress. If the Senate is flipping blue, that means the House has already flipped blue.

40:29So this Alaska race could be huge in that calculation. It's a fascinating race. Senator Sullivan has been there for two terms. He's asking for a third term. Mary Peltola, you mentioned, was in the House. She is a native Alaskan. She would be the first native Alaskan senator. And because costs are so high there, it comes up a lot that she understands us maybe a little better than him. It's not so much that they criticize him. It's not a very partisan state. But she's been a fisherman. She's worked with her hands. But I will say Rick Brown at the end there has voted for Sullivan in the past. I think Sullivan is too in favor of the big trawlers.

40:57But as he starts to lean into Sullivan, he says, but if Peltola gets to Washington, will all the Democrats have a majority? Will there be too many socialists? So there's a lot of local issues up there, but the national debate is creeping in. Fascinating stuff. John King, thanks so much. Breaking news tonight. President Trump says the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will close immediately. That after a judge said Trump's name cannot go back on that building. There was also a Kennedy Center board meeting today described as effing chaotic by a source. New details on all of it next.

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42:06Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, quote, it was effing crazy, unquote. The R-rated version of those words are how one source described a Kennedy Center board meeting today when President Trump phoned in and yelled about his name not appearing on the side of the building, the Kennedy Center. Moments later, the board voted to close the main building down for two years for renovations. I'm going to break down all the drama with the man leading the legal fight against Trump and his hand-picked board. Plus, elite exclusive House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer is here to announce a new bill born from the Epstein investigation.

42:44Comer's proposal comes as his committee moves to hold an alleged Epstein associate in contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with their investigation. Those breaking details ahead. And today, Pennsylvania reported its fourth measles-related death, a sad number that the United States has not seen since 1992. The latest fatality was an unvaccinated 18-year-old. How Pennsylvania officials are scrambling to get this outbreak under control and what they feel about the federal government's role, coming up.

43:22The lead tonight, breaking news. The Trump administration just appealed a federal judge's ruling. The judge's ruling found that the Kennedy Center's board's latest ploy to get Donald Trump's name on the Kennedy Center building is illegal. After this morning's ruling, President Trump says his handpicked Kennedy Center board voted to close this historic institution immediately. A source tells CNN there was a, quote, effing crazy moment during the board meeting this afternoon where Trump allegedly phoned in and screamed at Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, one of the members of Congress who serves on the Kennedy Center board in a non-appointed position.

43:59Beatty is leading the ongoing legal battle over Trump's multiple attempts to add his name to the center. Here is the congresswoman earlier this morning. We want to make sure that we keep the Kennedy Center healthy. And certainly, as you know, we have been dealing with the unlawful naming and it is being held hostage. Every time there's an issue that comes up, it has been connected. it, we will consider to do this, but or unless it has Donald Trump's name on the building. In this instance, Trump and his team say the president will not fundraise to raise the funds necessary to improve the Kennedy Center building unless the Trump name is on the Kennedy Center building.

44:47In a lengthy Truth Social post this morning, the president claimed the building is crumbling and falling concrete could have killed a security guard who was walking by and was, quote, 60 seconds away from certain death. Commerce Secretary Howard Lautnick posted this security video showing a portion of the ceiling falling down. Trump went on to insist his main concern is to quote, reveal the facts, but especially those concerning building safety. Let's get right to CNN's Sondland Serfati at the Kennedy Center. Sondland, tell us more about the Kennedy Center board's decision today. Well, Jake, the decision certainly was third time the board moved to vote to approve President Trump's desire to close the Kennedy Center for the planned two-year renovation.

45:31They have triumphed time and time again, and this has, of course, been caught up in the courts. But perhaps the biggest and most notable point of the Kennedy Center board meeting today that came out of it was the strength at which President Trump brought to the meeting to make it clear he wants his name added to the side of it. According to multiple sources we talked to who told us President Trump spoke up at the meeting and yelled numerous times at many members of the board, including most notably Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, who's lost, has stood in the way of him getting his name to the front of this building.

46:09And we saw earlier action by a federal D.C. court judge who ruled that he could not have his name in any of these inscriptions. And they tried earlier last month to have a workaround, creative ways to put President Trump's name on the front of this building, acknowledging his efforts to restore and renovate it. The judge said that was not okay. So very clear, President Trump, very angry with the ruling this morning. And he certainly brought that anger to the board meeting today. Jay. All right. Samlin Cerfati, thanks so much. Joining us now in studio, the lawyer representing Congresswoman Beatty, Nathaniel Zielinski.

46:44Nathaniel, the board's decision, again, that board is handpicked by Donald Trump. It's a bunch of his lackeys. and supporters. Their decision to shut down and not proceed with renovations unless there's a name change came down a couple hours after the judge's ruling, Judge Cooper's ruling, saying the name change was illegal. So is the Kennedy Center just going to remain closed indefinitely or what's going to happen? Well, to be very clear, they can't shut the Kennedy Center right now. Judge Cooper ordered in May that they had to stay open. And so they lawfully have to stay open right now. What they're doing is they're saying we would like to shut down, but they have to come to Judge Cooper.

47:20And Judge Cooper was very clear about this. And he has to then lift that order. So they can vote as many times as they'd like. But at the end of the day, this is up to Judge Cooper. So Trump claims he can't fundraise without his name on the building. But today the court found, quote, the renaming of the center coincided with declines in revenue and contributions. As artists canceled performances, the Washington National Opera ended its 50-year residency and ticket sales and viewership of the Kennedy Center Honors Broadcast dropped precipitously. So it actually seems as though his name on the building, his name associated with the Kennedy Center actually hurts it, despite the fact that they're claiming they have to put the name on it in order for Trump to raise funds.

48:01Yeah. And what we think happened here is that they voted to shut down the Kennedy Center way back in February of this year because they were seeing a remarkable decline as a result of the renaming. So these things are linked. They are trying to cover up their own mismanagement. And at the end of the day, as John Adams would say, facts are stubborn things. So we got to get the facts. So Lutnick, the secretary of commerce, posted the video showing part of the ceiling falling down. How derelict is the building? Look, everyone understands that the Kennedy Center needs to have renovations. The question is whether you're going to do what the Kennedy Center always planned to do, which is have what's called phase renovations.

48:38That's what every major performance art center in the country does, or whether instead you're going to have an unnecessary shutdown for two years, which does incredible damage to the institution. So am I missing something here? Because what it seems like is President Trump decided he wanted his name on this building, even though it's a tribute to an assassinated President John F. Kennedy. For some reason, he wanted his name on this building. And then he appointed his board. And then this just seems patulent. Like if I don't get my way, I'm just going to take my ball and go home. Am I missing something?

49:13Well, I think it's not just petulant, it's unlawful. He is a trustee of the center. A prudent trustee, a loyal trustee doesn't say, you know, I'm only going to do my job and fundraise for this center, which I'm supposed to be protecting if you honor me. I mean, I'm reminded of the great John F. Kennedy quote, right? In one respect, Donald Trump should be thinking about what he can do for the Kennedy Center, not what the Kennedy Center can do for him. So how do you think this latest appeal is going to play out? Is this just going to go back and forth forever? I mean, look, at a certain point, you skirt contempt too many times, but they can appeal.

49:45And, you know, we're in the D.C. circuit now and we're going to fight them. I'm an appellate lawyer by trade. That's what we do. So on the left side of the screen here is a live picture. The TARP is still on the Kennedy Center building. What's that about? It used to say Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center, they added that. And then I guess they were taking down his name as ordered by a judge. Why is the TARP up there? I mean, your guess, as good as mine, we've repeatedly tried to get answers from the Department of Justice. They have suggested that they damage the historic marble and that they're trying to protect the historic marble.

50:17That would be a travesty. The alternative explanation is that this is petulance. This is him trying to defy a court. Neither one is a good explanation. Nathaniel Zielinski, thank you so much. Good to see you, sir. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, is here next to make an exclusive announcement about new legislation he's proposing that stems from struggles they've had during the Epstein investigation to get information. Plus, new polls today giving Democrats something to cheer about as we inch closer to the midterm elections. That's all ahead.

50:52Breaking now in the Law and Justice lead, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky, is working to allow survivors of alleged sexual abuse to speak freely without the restrictions of any non-disclosure agreements they might have signed. This comes as the Oversight Committee moved today to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress for defying two subpoenas in its investigation into the sex trafficking network of dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. He was issued a lawful subpoena and he didn't show. So we have a lot of questions for him. This is an investigation that's very serious.

51:30I feel like it's bipartisan. So we've tried everywhere in the world to get him in, as well as to see some documents that we've subpoenaed. And Chairman Comer joins us now. Mr. Chairman, thanks for joining us. So one of the subpoenas the committee issued to Leon Black is over information on non-disclosure agreements. Leon Black in a statement through his attorneys to CNN denies any wrongdoing or abuse related to Epstein. Tell us how this all ties into your new proposed legislation. Well, what we've learned during this investigation is there were a lot of rules that prevented victims of sexual abuse from coming forward.

52:08One of those would be if you signed a nondisclosure agreement. So we filed legislation to allow survivors of sexual abuse to be able to come forward and talk to law enforcement and testify in Congress, even if they had signed a nondisclosure agreement. We don't want a piece of paper to prevent any bad person from getting away with any type of crimes. Part of the purpose, Jake, of this investigation is to understand how the government failed the victims of Epstein and try to figure out ways to prevent this from ever happening in the future. This legislation that we'll file today will be legislation that was born from this investigation that will allow survivors of sexual abuse to be able to testify even if they had signed a nondisclosure agreement.

52:59So it would work retroactively. It would release all of these survivors and victims of their obligations under any NDAs and you'll be able to learn a lot more about any alleged crimes that took place. Exactly. And one of the reasons that the women haven't testified, and I want to state again for the record, we've asked and offered many of the victims of Epstein to be able to testify in Congress, in the Oversight Committee. Many of these women are prevented from doing so because they had signed very strict nondisclosure agreements. So that's made this investigation even more difficult. This legislation will prevent that.

53:39And as you said, Jake, it works retroactively to where these women can finally come forward and tell their tell their stories. Let's talk about Leon Black, the billionaire that the committee moved today to hold in contempt of Congress. Have you met with House leadership about whether this vote to hold in contempt of Congress will go to the floor of the House soon, this week, next week? I see House leadership on a daily basis when I'm in D.C. I've seen him several times this week. I fully expect this bill to be voted on Thursday. We marked it up today. It has to have three readings. So if you have a reading today and we have votes again tonight, then tomorrow, then Thursday.

54:18So we're hopeful that this vote will be on the floor Thursday. And I think you will see what you saw in the House Oversight Committee, a bipartisan, unanimous vote in support of contempt. Leon Black's attorneys say they filed a confidential complaint with the Office of Congressional Conduct to request an investigation into you over the contempt resolution. Black has also filed a civil suit against the Oversight Committee. In a statement, Black's attorneys say in part, quote, This committee markup and contempt resolution is a complete abomination. The committee, under the leadership of Chairman James Comer and ranking member Robert Garcia, has lost sight of its legislative purpose and is abusing its power.

54:56This is retaliation, plain and simple, unquote. Your response? I don't have anything against Leon Black. He's being offered due process. Many of the victims that we communicate with on a regular basis have identified him as a person of interest. Again, that doesn't mean he's guilty, but we want to give him an opportunity to come in and answer questions just like Bill Clinton did, just like Bill Gates did, just like Howard Lutnick and so many other rich and powerful billionaires. None of them wanted to come in and answer questions. And many of them, I don't think, had a whole lot of liability. But they were asked hard questions by both Republicans and Democrats.

55:37That's the way this investigation has always been conducted. And I think we've conducted it with professionalism. And we're trying as hard as we can to get the truth to the American people and justice for the victims. And Mr. Black right now is obstructing that investigation. After Alan Dershowitz, through his attorneys, rejected a request for voluntary testimony in July before the committee, you sent him a letter requesting he appear on September 2nd instead. Did he appear or will he too be subpoenaed? Well, I hope he comes. Look, he went on TV. He went on Newsmax on Greta Van Susteren's show and said I was too chicken to bring him into the committee.

56:15I thought, well, if you want to come in and talk, come on in. Come on in, Mr. Dershowitz. So he agreed to come in and then he didn't show. So, you know, I don't know whether he will come in or not. That's up to him. But as you know, we're up against the clock. Leon Black is the most important person, in my opinion, and I think the Democrats would agree with that, is the most important person that we have yet to hear from. We have also information that would lead us to believe we need to look at some potential nondisclosure agreements. That's why there were two subpoenas. One subpoena was for Mr.

56:51Black to come in and be deposed. Another subpoena was for nondisclosure agreements. So that's why Mr. Black was held in contempt today. We didn't get either his deposition or any of the non-disclosure agreements. I think he offered one non-disclosure agreement, but we have reason to believe there are many more. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, Republican from Kentucky. Thank you so much for coming on, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Jake. Today, Pennsylvania confirmed another measles death, the fourth, what we're learning about efforts to stop the spread in the Commonwealth, next.

57:34In our health lead, Pennsylvania today reported a fourth measles-related death, this time an unvaccinated 18-year-old. 1992 was the last time there were four measles deaths in the United States in one year. CNN's Jacqueline Howard takes a look now at this growing outbreak, one that has sparked political clashes. Jacqueline? Jake, what we know about this fourth person who has died in this measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, they were 18 years old and they were not vaccinated against the measles virus. And they had a rare neurological complication of measles known as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

58:16We also know that this person lived in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania. Now, the other deaths that have occurred in this outbreak so far. One was in a 40-year-old woman and the other two were in infants. And so far, at least 693 people have gotten sick with measles in this ongoing outbreak. At least 133 people have been hospitalized. And the epicenter of the outbreak is based in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. But Jake, now that we've tallied four deaths associated with this outbreak, that is incredibly alarming, not just for the state of Pennsylvania, but for the country as a whole. Because the last time the United States has recorded four deaths from measles in a single year was in 1992.

59:08And if you look at recent years, since the year 2000, which is when measles was declared eliminated here in the United States, in recent years, we have seen these recent upticks of cases in pockets of unvaccinated communities. And so far in 2026, we have already reached nearly 3 ,300 cases nationwide. Now, you see on the chart here, that is way more than the total number of cases seen in all of last year in 2025 and in some of the years prior. Now, the best way to protect yourself against measles is to get vaccinated. The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is 97 % effective. And health officials say that outbreaks like the one happening currently in Pennsylvania are sobering reminders of how serious and how deadly measles can be, especially if you're not vaccinated, and how quickly the virus can spread.

1:00:12Measles is so contagious, Jake, that if an infected person coughs or sneezes, the virus can linger in the air for up to two hours, even after that person has left the room. And that's why health officials are really keeping a close eye on what is happening right now in the state of Pennsylvania. Jake. Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much. Today, Congressman Jim Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina, announced a multimillion-dollar project to help turn out voters in November. He's going to join us live to explain how it works and how he sees the Democrats' odds shaping up for the midterms.

1:00:56Politics now with less than 50 days to go until the midterm elections. A new poll shows Democrats enjoying a significant edge over Republicans, according to the New York Times-Siena poll. The Democratic Party currently holding a 51 percent to 43 percent lead on a generic ballot. Joining us now, Democratic Congressman James Clyburn of South Carolina. Congressman Clyburn, good to see you. To what do you attribute this eight point spread? And are you confident that your party will be able to meet these expectations come November? Well, thank you very much for having me. I'm very confident that we should be.

1:01:30The fact is very clear. The Democratic Party has been addressing the dreams and aspirations of the American people. We have had what I call the AAA program for the last several months, accessibility, accountability, and affordability. And we have harped on that for quite some time now. The other side has been dealing with all kinds of shenanigans, not addressing what ails the American people. They are witnessing record high prices at the pump, record high prices in grocery stores. Farmers are having a hard time getting the fertilizer that they need to plant the crops, and the people that they're planning for are having a hard time affording that which they see in grocery stores.

1:02:27But rather than address these issues, we have a Republican Party that seems to be hell-bent on all kinds of stuff that's got absolutely nothing to do with the dreams and aspirations of the American people. So I'm not surprised at those numbers. I think they're deserving. I'd like to see them get a will go better. Today, you announced an initiative called So Vote. It's a multimillion dollar plan to register and turn out young and low propensity black voters and rural voters. Why are these voter blocks so crucial for Democrats to win in November? And why do you need to introduce this? Well, I think that all of us know that in recent years, we've had all kinds of methods of voter the mobilization, a lot of it just has not worked very well.

1:03:18And those of us who think that we know exactly what needs to be done to motivate voters, to organize voters, we have now decided to launch a program and hopefully we'll be able to sustain it. And what we are doing, saying to people. If you think the prices at the pump are too high, so vote. If you think your grocery prices are too high, so vote. If you think child care is unavailable, whatever it is that you're experiencing in your everyday lives, the question is very clear. So let's vote. Let's don't keep asking the question. Let's take some action. And that's what So Vote is all about. So there's been growing concern that there is an inadequate investment in black voter outreach.

1:04:10Why in 2026 are we still seeing that? Well, I think it has been inadequate in the past, not so much with the size of the budgets, but with how you target the expenditures. I don't care how much money you spend. You've got to have a very good program of targeting those resources. I always say that we ought to really target our efforts and not just have a scattergun approach to turning out the vote. And that's what we've had. You know, I like television. I watch you guys all the time and I participate on television. But I'm not going to use television to turn the vote out, especially in rural communities and the African-American communities.

1:05:02I'm going to go more to what we call boots on the ground. In fact, that song has become so popular. It comes from a young man in South Carolina. And I think he had getting to the polls in mind when he started writing that song. Congressman James Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina. Good to see you as always, sir. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you very much for having me. Joining me now to discuss Kevin Madden, the former campaign advisor for Mitt Romney's two presidential runs. also with us, former Democratic Congressman Jamal Bowman. He has a new book coming out. It's called Unpolished by Jamal Bowman.

1:05:38What's what's tell us when does it come out? That's quite a cover. It comes out November 17th. Pre-orders start today. OK, it's a memoir. It tells the story of New York to Congress and all the behind the scenes stuff about how this thing works. All right. We'll talk more about it when it's actually out, I'm sure. Thank you. Let's dig deeper into this new poll, New York Times-Siena. Kevin, we see Democrats hold the advantage on many issues, including the top one for voters, the economy. They currently lead 51 to 45 percent. But we've also seen Democrats having an edge in various polls on issues like immigration.

1:06:13What's going on? Yeah, well, I mean, it's this. First of all, the poll tells us one thing. It's that this entire ballgame right now, the control for Congress, is all about the economy. So it helps that right now they're doing well on the economy. I think one of the things that is a sort of glimmer of hope for Republicans is that they still have a chance to sort of make some gains on that in these last 50 days, is that that spread is not as big as the president's disapproval rating on the economy. So there are a lot of Republicans that can kind of break away from the president's disapproval rating and kind of run individual tailored message campaigns about the economy and what they're doing to address affordability, what they're doing to address health care costs, food prices, things like that.

1:06:54in the sense that they may be able to survive in this environment. Congressman, are you worried at all about Democrats' message? Are you worried at all about Democrats just having faith that because Trump's so unpopular right now, this will just land Democrats back into control? The one concern is voter turnout. We have to do everything in our power to do what Representative Clyburn just mentioned. We need to put boots on the ground in rural communities and communities of color to engage the entire electorate in the process so that people are excited to participate. What we talked about off camera was that the polling also shows sort of a lack of excitement in the overall electorate, Democrat and Republican.

1:07:36I think Democrats have a slight lead now, yes, but how do we get people excited for the general and then excited going forward into 2028? Because we have to start organizing for 2028 as well. Why do you think there's a relative lack of enthusiasm among Democrats. I would think - I mean, when you flip to C-SPAN and you watch a hearing, it's like watching paint dry. I mean, there's not a lot of conversation that really pulls people in. And then it doesn't matter which parties in office, the affordability crisis continues to be an issue. Childcare, paid leave, gas prices, a very unpopular war. We keep hearing a lot of rhetoric from both parties, but nothing changes from one party to the next.

1:08:17Just to agree real quick on that, I think if you were to sit around kitchen tables around America today and you think about the problems that they'd be talking about and the issues that they're talking about, and then they do look to Washington, it just seems like there is this big gulf of understanding, a canyon of just getting a sense of what it is that's driving the anxieties of the American people right now. And that is what's creating, I think, this very sort of if you look at that poll, it looks like a very dispirited electorate. Yeah. We had John King on a little bit ago. He went up to Alaska to talk about the Senate race.

1:08:52And one of the things he talked about hearing from an Alaska Republican who might be willing to vote for Mary Peltola, the Democrat in the Senate race, is that the message that, oh, you don't you know, the socialists are taking over the Democratic Party. You don't want another vote for that, even if Peltola is not a socialist. This poll also asked how likely voters view socialism, along with their opinions of Democrats like Mamdani, the mayor of New York, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. As you can say, more than half the country is not on board with socialism. You are progressive in Congress.

1:09:26Does that concern you at all? Not really. I think there's a learning curve that needs to happen as it relates to socialism. And I think Mamdani being the mayor of New York City is going to help with that learning curve. He had a net positive approval rating on the polls, Zora Mamdani did. And so I think the more people see him governing as an elective in New York City, the more they'll lean into learning, at least learning more about what socialism is. I think the scare tactics, I don't know if that's the right path for Republicans, maybe in some parts of the country, but I don't think that's going to do it because they've made a lot of mistakes governing over the last couple of years, to put it mildly.

1:10:07I want to move to the fact that outgoing Republican Congressman Thomas Massey of Kentucky today introduced articles of impeachment against the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over his move to wage the unauthorized war in Iran in Massey's construct. He also chose to not give his party's leadership a heads up on this. Take a listen. Did you give leadership a heads up? I didn't give anybody a heads up because when they found out I was doing the Epstein discharge petition, they canceled two weeks of Congress. And I think if they found out I was going to do this, they might have canceled even more days.

1:10:41Kevin, there is intraparty strife on the Republicans, Democratic side, too, but Republicans as well. Yeah. Well, Massey, I think his sort of party discipline went out the door after he lost a primary. But I think this is probably the first sign of what we're going to see much more of, I think, if Democrats take control of the House or the Senate next after after these elections. A lot of investigations, a lot more oversight. And when you have that level of oversight and investigations, the snowball effect of moving more and more towards impeachment, whether it's Pete Hegseth or others in the administration and potentially the president, that's going to be a lot harder to contain.

1:11:22So I think this is just the first canary in the coal mine of that environment after after November. All right. So I have to bring up the weirdest thing that happened in Washington today. There was this hearing with FBI Director Cash Patel. There was a surreal exchange when the Republican senator from Louisiana, John Kennedy, asked Patel why the FBI has abandoned the policy that automatically disqualified job applicants who had allegedly committed crimes such as prostitution and bestiality. It automatically disqualified any individual who participated on either side of it. Obviously, we are never going to hire the criminal.

1:12:01The bestiality? Yes. So you disqualified the animal? In a lot of these cases, when human traffickers, who are some of the worst individuals on planet Earth, they don't just traffic you for prostitution, they traffic you for degrading acts of all kind, and they force you into that type of conduct. The person who recommended it, why didn't you just say, what planet did you parachute in from? Why do I want to lead with my chin and get into bestiality? That was my initial response, Senator. But they then explained to me and showed me cases in which people were forced into it and had applied to the FBI.

1:12:40Cases in which people were forced into bestiality and applied to the FBI. A sentence I never thought that I would utter. Yeah, I mean, you want comment on that? I mean, I had to look up what bestiality was. I didn't know what it was. I didn't know how to spell it. Again, this goes back to what we were saying before about why are people like disconnected or disengaged? It's like we're having a conversation like this at a Senate hearing with the director of the FBI. How is that helping me get tutoring for my kid or put food on my table? This is the exact thing that I was thinking as that exchange went by is that somebody right now in America paid more money for the food than they paid.

1:13:17They paid more money for their health care. They paid more money in their rent. and they're looking for answers and initiatives in Washington, and this is the debate that they see. And they see that Kash Patel is making it easier to apply for a job at the FBI if you have had sex with a chicken. All right. Interesting stuff. Thanks to both of you. Families of the 67 people killed in the collision near D.C.'s airport were on Capitol Hill today demanding more safety reforms, and one of those family members is here to explain what they're demanding. That's next.

1:13:52In our national lead story we told you about last week on Capitol Hill today, heart-wrenching pleas from the families of the deadly 2025 Potomac River midair crash right near Reagan National Airport. The family's asking lawmakers to pass a bill that would require a transmitter system on every aircraft that could have prevented the collision and saved 67 lives. One of the family members there was Doug Lane, who lost his wife Christine and 16-year-old son Spencer. He was an award-winning figure skater. Here is Doug Lane earlier today. There are still people in organizations working to make this harder than it needs to be.

1:14:27We see you. We need you to stop. If you do not believe that the NTSB's recommendations will make us all safer, say so. Say it to our faces. Say it to Chairwoman Homendy and the investigators who worked for a year to develop them. If you think the cost is too high, show us the math. Tell us what a human life is worth to you. And Doug Lane joins us now along with the chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jennifer Homendy, who told us about this hearing last week when she was here. Doug, today must have been tough. Let me start with just asking you, how are you doing? I'm doing okay.

1:15:01There is a certain level of empowerment that comes with being with the other affected family members and doing something with our grief. So today is actually a good day. A lot of days when there's less activity, it's harder. You know what you really remind me of? You really are. I'm getting vibes now of remembering like 9-11 widows coming here and like demanding changes to safety and security. And again, you have this idiotic, clueless, faceless bureaucracy willing. I'm not talking about you, Madam Chair. Thank you. Refusing to engage. Right. Just like nodding in an arrogant way, patronizing way.

1:15:41And not even. Those are good questions you asked. Yes, and I think there are, you know, we take a lot of inspiration from the people who walked this path before us. We mentioned the 9-11 families in our speech today. They just, in the last month, got a piece of what they've been asking for for 25 years with the secondary flight deck barriers. And the job is still not done, even a quarter century later. And we've had a lot of real guidance and support from other families, the Colgan families, the Boeing families. So they really gave us the blueprint for what we're doing. And speaking of blueprints, Chairman, the transmitter system that was discussed today, it's just one of 50 recommendations that you and the NTSB board made.

1:16:20Still, the FAA administrator testified today that they've been told by organization that the FAA has not addressed those recommendations. You say you're still, quote, full of hope to improve safety. He said he was willing to work hard, the FAA administrator, when he testified today. But he didn't say he was going to start to work on the recommendations. What's going on? Yeah, he said he was going to work hard to prevent it from happening again. That starts with our safety recommendations. Yesterday, the board unanimously voted that a third of the FAA's recommendations are now open and unacceptable, which means their response was unacceptable.

1:16:58I mean, we have a shared goal of safety. Our investigations shouldn't stop with just the investigation. We issue a safety recommendation for one reason, and that's to save a life. That is our whole goal. And that means in order to save that life, we have to implement our safety recommendations, all of them. So, Doug, Laura Ojon, who also lost multiple family members on flight 5342, says this is not a right issue. This is not a left issue. Did lawmakers from both parties listen to you today? Absolutely. We've had tremendous support all along from the very beginning from both Republicans and Democrats.

1:17:35I mean, the Senate passed a meaningful bill 100 to 0. It came out of committee during the shutdown. So we've had very good support from both sides of the aisle, but it only takes a couple people in the right positions to throw sand in the gears. You shared the touching story about how the events of September 11th made you realize you wanted to spend the rest of your life with your wife, your late wife, Christine. Tell us about your favorite memory of her and your favorite memory of Spencer, your son. So I think with Christine, I mean, she was just a very creative person. And she had, over the years, we were married.

1:18:10We were married for 22 years. And she just had all these different creative endeavors. She would quilt and make modern quilts, not grandmotherly quilts. And she would always just have a little, I would come home and she would have a kiln and say, hey, I'm melting glass into creative objects now. So it was really just all these little moments of her just, you know, flashes of creativity in ways that I could have never have imagined on my own. And tell us about Spencer. I mean, Spencer was just a force of nature. He was one of those people where even at a very young age, you just engage. You could just tell he was like destined for stardom.

1:18:48And he had just that it factor. And it took a lot of forms over his 16 years, but figure skating was the thing that really clicked and became an obsession for him. And he ultimately ended up training full time and went to high school online. It was his life. He just loved it. He loved the people. He loved the challenge and was just one of those people that everybody was rooting for. He shared everything he was doing on social media and just built a tremendous following, even as a 16 year old. Such a loss. I'm so sorry. Madam Chairwoman, has commercial flying gotten any safer since the crash? Well, the U.S.

1:19:22aviation system is generally safe, but there are risks in our airspace, and we have to address them. The NTSB has quite literally given a roadmap for how to make those safety improvements and to save lives. We shouldn't be here today. Christine should be here today. Spencer should be here today. 67 people should be here today. But, you know, for the safety of the flying public in our future, we have to implement the safety recommendations issued by the NTSB to prevent that next disaster. Doug, the FAA did acknowledge the families of the victims of Flight 5342 were there. He said he had them, had you in his thoughts.

1:20:04What's your take on how the FAA and the Secretary of Transportation are handling this? You know, I think early on we did have some very good engagement with them. And I do think they are intelligent and thoughtful people. So I don't think they are villains in all of this. But I do think there is a lot of corporate influence in the process of aviation safety that is kind of tipping the scales away from us here. And that's how you get these things that take a quarter of a century, like the 9-11 example, or even in this case, the marquee recommendation that the NTSB provided was to require ADSB in, collision avoidance technology.

1:20:44They've been recommending that since before Spencer was born. He was 16. They've been recommending it literally before he even was on this earth. So it's the type of thing where you can have the right things appear to be happening, but in Washington, it's very easy to stop something. It's not easy to do something. And if there are parties out there that are going to be footing the bill for this stuff, they can very easily slow roll it. And I think that's what we're seeing here. And let's remember that so many of the people who are regulators come from the corporate world that doesn't want to pay for these things.

1:21:22That's certainly one of the cases here. Thank you so much, and may Christine and Spencer's memories be a blessing. Thank you. Thank you for being here. We'll be right back.

1:21:36Our last lead start in our law and justice lead. Prosecutors say they will not seek the death penalty against Nick Reiner, who faces charges of murdering his parents, Rob and Michelle Reiner, last December. He has pleaded not guilty. According to the district attorney, the maximum sentence Reiner will face if convicted is life without the possibility of parole. In our nationally new video into CNN shows the moment before a bus crashed into a tree in an Atlanta suburb last week. Police say the driver fell asleep before the bus drifted across the road. CNN affiliate WXIA says three people on the bus, including the driver, were injured.

1:22:10Marta, which operates public bus service in Atlanta, says it is reviewing the incident. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, threads, X, Blue Sky, and on the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can follow the 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. Aaron Burnett Upfront starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.

1:22:36The news is better. We are in the toilet. Together. Hey, how do you think I feel? The Have I Got News for You crew is back to keep you safe. Do you think anyone here knows what you're talking about? Nope. Have I Got News For You? Now streaming on the CNN app.