Soon: Rubio Heads to Middle East to Meet with Gulf Allies

23:55He is now the sixth Prime Minister to step down in the last decade after Brexit. His resignation comes after a series of policy missteps, including his appointment of Peter Mandelson to the role of UK ambassador to Washington. Mandelson was linked to pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. CNN's Max Foster reflects on Starmer's reign and previews his likely successor.

24:18Two years ago, Keir Starmer walked through those black doors with one of the biggest mandates in modern British history. And yet, Monday morning, he announced he was walking back out again after losing the support of his parliamentary party. That is why I will resign as leader of the Labour Party. I have spoken to His Majesty the King this morning to inform him of my decision. Perhaps his best-known mistake was appointing veteran Labour politician Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington, despite failing security vetting. While Starmer said he wasn't aware of that, the scandal only compounded when the Epstein files revealed Mandelson had called the convicted paedophile his best pal.

25:03For many, in his own party, it confirmed what they already feared. Starmer's judgment couldn't be trusted. The warning signs came again in May 2025, when the hard-right UK Reform Party swept the local elections, ending decades of Labour dominance. The same month, more than 100 of his own lawmakers were calling for him to go. Then Donald Trump piled on. Keir Starmer will resign, the US president posted on Sunday, before Starmer had even said a word. He failed badly on two very important subjects, immigration and energy. We now come to Andy Burnham. The man almost certain to replace him, Andy Burnham, the former mayor of Greater Manchester, whose by-election win last Friday dealt the final blow.

25:54He now had a seat in Parliament and an eye on something much bigger. Where Starmer was a London lawyer turned party leader, Burnham's a political chameleon who built his name running Greater Manchester, speaking directly to the industrial communities that abandoned Labour for reform. Whether that's enough to win them back is the question his party now has to answer. Who is Andy Burnham? Very well known here and a certain in the UK, not internationally because he has very little international experience. He is effectively being crowned with this position. He has no opposition. And we don't know anything about his international or his national policy.

26:34We do know that he wants to bring unity. And I'll just quote you something that he said very recently when he was campaigning. He said the path we're on, if we're not careful, is a path towards the politics of the United States of America, a polarized, poisonous politics where people in communities don't work together anymore. That's all we know about his international policy so far. And we'll wait to see what he comes up with, Anderson. Max Foster, thanks so much. Joining us now is James Lyons. He was a senior advisor to Prime Minister Starmer. James, what did you think of President Trump's premature announcement about Starmer's resignation?

27:10I think there were quite a few wry smiles on this side of the Atlantic. Obviously, that's not something you would expect to see from a foreign leader, but we all know that President Trump plays by his own rules. You seem to expect Stormer's resignation, saying he was in, quote, political quicksand over the weekend. And how much did his appointment with Jeffrey Epstein link politician Peter Mandelson to the role of U.K. ambassador to Washington contribute to his downfall? What else played a part? Well, it certainly didn't help. But politics is a results based industry. And fundamentally, lots of Keir Starmer's Labour MPs looked to him and thought if they stuck with him, they were going to lose their seats.

27:57This was brought home to them in the most recent set of election nationwide elections in May. And that really is what did for him. What do you think is behind was behind that that lack of popularity? I think there were a number of missteps going back all the way to Keir Starmer's time in opposition. the Labour Party came to power without an actual program for government under Keir Starmer they had some sprawling 10-year missions that they wanted to achieve but they hadn't actually set out exactly what they were going to do in this parliament that's one of the things I was hired in to do when we produced a program for government which was called the plan for change but it meant that there wasn't that kind of full momentum when he went through that famous black door and in some ways the project seemed to have ended at that point the other thing that didn't help was a deeply unpopular announcement very early on about taking away welfare payments to pensioners to help with their winter fuel bills it was seen very much as the kind of original sin of this government.

29:20But actually, what sort of plunged the Prime Minister into political purgatory, if you like, was a mishandled attempt to curb welfare payments last summer. The former Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham seems poised to succeed Starmer. I just want to play something he said, speaking after winning his PM spot, after winning his MP spot last week. But it is a chance now. from this result tonight to build a new politics based on unity and hope, turning away from the path that takes us to a divided, dark politics of the kind we see in the United States. How do you think Burnham's approach to Trump is going to be different than Starmer's?

30:09Well, he's starting from a different place. But, you know, I think all all British prime ministers understand the importance of having a constructive workmanlike relationship. We know that many jobs, thousands, many thousands of jobs in our country depend on good relations with the U.S. So I would expect Andy to take a pragmatic approach. James Lyons, appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. Well, 15 times now, a U.S. Supreme Court agenda has included an appeal from President Trump asking justices to review the$5 million verdict in the E. Jean Carroll sexual abuse case. 15 times now, that case has been rescheduled.

30:57Why is that? What CNN is learning next?

31:06in our law and justice lead the u.s supreme court is nearly done with its current term and there are still several major cases yet to be decided the list includes one specific politically sensitive appeal that has been rescheduled on the court's agenda 15 times it's president trump's effort to overturn the eugene carroll sexual abuse and defamation verdict cns karis cannell is here to discuss. And Ellie Honig, CNN Senior Legal Analyst and a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, joins us remotely. So Kara, President Trump initially filed this last November. It's now June.

31:38Why the delays? So this case was fully briefed by the end of January, and it has been on the agenda for their private conferences beginning in February, but they have rescheduled it 15 times. This whole process is opaque. But what's fascinating is that this is not, we're not waiting for the decision on the merits. This is just whether they will even agree to hear the appeal, but it keeps getting postponed. Also, this is not a weighty constitutional issue. This appeal relates to some of the evidentiary rulings that the judge made in the trial by allowing the excess Hollywood tape to be shown to the jury, including two other women, allowing them to testify about Trump allegedly groping them.

32:17So it's really kind It's kind of unexplained. It's opaque. Supreme Court watchers that me and my colleague John Fritzi spoke to say that it could be an instance where one of the justices wants to dissent, and so they're allowing that justice time to write an opinion. But it could be because this is a case that there is another case that is heading to appeal likely to go to the Supreme Court that involves another component of this with just the defamation judgment. That one was the$83 million judgment. So it could be that the justices are thinking they will make this decision together. But it is a little unusual because that case does deal with questions of presidential immunity.

32:54This one is a pretty straightforward evidentiary. And Ellie, does the fact that Trump's appeal keeps being rescheduled does suggest justices maybe aren't discussing it at all? Yeah, you know, it is unusual to see a case rescheduled like this 15 times. Although, believe it or not, it's actually not unprecedented. Now, we rarely know why the Supreme Court does something. unless they choose to tell us, and they very rarely choose to tell us. But I think the two most logical explanations, as Kara just said, the first could be that the court has already decided we're not taking this, but it could be the rare instance where one or more justices says, okay, I disagree.

33:29I'm going to write a dissent, and that takes some time. The other possibility, as Kara said, there's a second appeal in the other E. Jean Carroll case, and perhaps the Supreme Court is waiting on that. And Anderson, we are going to get the rest of the cases from the Supreme Court in the next two weeks, but they also do sometimes hold things over to the next term. It wouldn't shock me if that happens here. Carrie, how does the delays benefit anybody? Well, as long as there is no final decision here, whether Trump has exhausted the appeals or not, it means that he does not have to pay E. Jean Carroll the judgments in this case.

34:01Now, he has already set aside more than$100 million because the interest has accrued during this process. But until there's a final decision here, whether the Supreme Court says, no, they're not taking it up, then that would cause the release of funds to E.G. and Carroll. But then if this continues to be litigated, then it means she won't see that money until all appeals are exhausted. And what exactly is President Trump arguing in the appeal against Carroll and does it have merit? You know, he had a reasonable argument in the lower courts. Donald Trump's argument is that the trial judge here should not have allowed the jury to hear testimony from two other women other than E.

34:40Jean Carroll, who said Donald Trump sexually assaulted them on other instances. Also, Donald Trump argues the judge should not have allowed the jury to hear that infamous Access Hollywood tape where Donald Trump says, just grab him by the you know what. Donald Trump argued that that evidence was not probative of the case against him and was prejudicial, was inflammatory against him. The problem is he lost that argument in the district court, and I think it was a toss up. Some judges might have let that evidence in, others might not have. He lost it in the Court of Appeals. And to me, this doesn't stand out as a case that the U.S.

35:12Supreme Court would typically take because it's an evidentiary question and there's no broader constitutional question here. So I think he had a decent argument below. I don't think he's got a great argument for why the U.S. Supreme Court can take it. And Ellie, the Supreme Court's in its final week or so of its term, there are still 17 remaining cases in which opinions have not been released, eight of them major cases. What's going on with that. It's going to be a mad dash in the next two weeks. The next batch of opinions will come down tomorrow morning, Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. And you are right, there are some big ones still waiting to come down.

35:45The biggest one that I think we're all watching for is birthright citizenship. There also is an important case about mail-in ballots and whether they can be counted if they arrive after election day. There's a big case about state laws that prohibit transgender athletes from competing in women's and girls' sports. There are cases about the president's executive power to remove the heads of federal agencies, the FTC and also the Fed. There are Second Amendment cases. So yeah, this is an awful lot of very big cases that are still on the board with just two weeks ago. So it's going to be a very busy and very important two weeks.

36:20Is it possible they would add more opinion days into July? Yeah, they try to avoid going into July. They did creep into July. I think it was two years ago when they issued the immunity ruling. I think that came down on July 1st, but as a general rule, they really try to get it done in June. But as always, they're the court and they'll do things the way they want to do it. All right, Ellie Honig, Karis Ganel. Thank you. What sources tell us about U.S. states under financial pressure by the federal government over how they conduct their elections? The same name exclusive is next.

36:57In our law and justice lead, A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from creating a centralized database with the Social Security numbers and citizenship status of Americans. In a 75-page ruling today, a U.S. district judge said the administration violated federal privacy protections when it overhauled a citizenship database to aggressively purge voter rolls. The ruling is a major setback for the administration's effort to identify foreigners on state voter rolls, which election officials say could disenfranchise eligible voters. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

37:29Turning to our politics lead, CNN's new exclusive CNN reporting shows how President Trump is ramping up his campaign to root out what he alleges is election fraud. Sources telling CNN that the Trump administration is planning to use millions of dollars in federal homeland security funds as a way to force states to make changes over how elections are run. I'm going to bring in CNN's Gabe Cohen with the exclusive. So what new rules must states adopt in order to secure this federal funding? Yeah, so Anderson, there are several of these election security mandates that are being put on these homeland security grants.

38:01First off, states must begin transitioning from electronic voting systems that use QR codes and barcodes to hand-marked paper ballots, something that this administration and Trump allies have been talking about for a while. States would also have to conduct manual election audits, but specifically using methods that are established by this administration. They'd also have to use a government-approved system to verify the citizenship of all poll workers across their state. And what could be even the most controversial detail here, states would be forced to run their entire voter rolls through the SAVE system at DHS, that system you were just talking about that the judge ruled on this afternoon.

38:41It's a citizenship verification tool that looks for non-citizens or ineligible voters. and right now the Department of Justice is literally suing 30 states to force them to hand over their voter lists to be run through that DHS system. And what's significant here with these rules, Anderson, is that if states do not comply, they would lose 20 percent of that Homeland Security grant funding, which could be millions of dollars. I mean, these are grants that are expected to distribute about$1 billion in this fiscal year. And officials across the country have told me it's critical money that goes to protect against a range of threats, terror attacks, cyber incidents, and other major disasters.

39:20A DHS spokesperson told me in a statement, quote, any recipient of federal funding should expect accountability for how taxpayer dollars are spent, which gives you a sense of how they see this issue, that if states want federal dollars, they need to be ready to comply with and implement the administration's policy objectives. I will note, though, that this administration has tried to withhold funding, federal funding, for other policy priorities like immigration issues, sanctuary policies, diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Many of those efforts have been blocked in court. No doubt if these mandates are finalized and they go out to states, as we're expecting in the next couple of weeks, some will certainly challenge them.

40:03How much would it cost states to comply with these rules? We don't know exactly, but it looks like just based off preliminary numbers and what we know about election administration across the country, it would likely be in the billions that it would cost states to implement some of these changes. I will say that these new guidelines say that states are able to request additional funding. We don't know exactly what those funding streams look like, but I think that's part of the point here. It's going to cost a lot of money, but the question is how effective of a leverage tool could this be if states also stand to lose quite a bit of funding?

40:36potentially millions of dollars if they don't implement it. But without a doubt, Anderson, the cost of actually implementing all of this is far beyond what states would actually lose here. And quickly, how likely is it that this would be blocked? Well, I'm not a lawyer, but I will say, as I mentioned, a lot of these efforts from the administration to put conditions on their federal funding have been blocked by courts. Their track record, the administration's, has been pretty poor on some of these efforts. This was a conversation, these guidelines. It came out of weeks of talks within the Department of Homeland Security, according to sources I've spoken with.

41:10But no doubt, again, states are going to challenge it. And court after court has said that really it's up to the states to handle election administration. And they've balked at some of the actions of the president and the executive branch here. All right, Gabe Cohen, thanks so much.

41:27And welcome to The Lead. I'm Anderson Cooper. And for Jake Tapper, this hour, the White House dispatching Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the Middle East as Vice President J.D. Vance returns to the U.S. after negotiations with Iran. The question is, is the, is the, well, there is still confusion and conflicting statements tonight about whether the Strait of Hormuz is actually open and questions about the future of Iran's nuclear program. I'll talk to a Republican lawmaker what he's hearing from the Trump administration ahead. Also, President Trump now threatening 10 years in prison for anyone he says is damaging federal property after he claimed without evidence that the reflecting pool was vandalized.

42:01That pool now happened to be drained again after it filled with algae just days after Trump's$14 million renovations were allegedly completed. CNN is on the national wall with the update on the progress. Plus, a federal judge today throwing out the Trump Justice Department's subpoenas of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and other Democrats calling those unconstitutional and retaliatory. Breaking down what comes next in this legal battle. and music industry titan Clive Davis has died at the age of 94. Known for producing icons from Janis Joplin, Whitney Houston, Billy Joel, Davis was dubbed the man with the golden ears.

42:37A tribute to his life and legacy ahead.

42:44The lead tonight, President Trump now claiming there's photo evidence that vandals are behind the swampy reopening of the Lincoln Reflecting Pool after his costly renovation. a multi-million dollar pet project he's been touting for close to two months ahead of celebrations in the Capitol for America's 250th anniversary. So far, five people have been arrested with more given citations for allegedly tampering with the peeling material inside the algae-filled reflecting pool so far. The president defended his project again this afternoon. I can't help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up.

43:19And we also have pictures of it. Can you release the photos? At the right time, you'll see it. You'll see it in court. CNN's Sunderland-Safadi went down to the reflecting pool today for a look at this evolving mess. You're going to have something you're going to be very proud of. Appealing bottom. It's still not fixed. And it is. It's disappointing. Arrests for alleged vandalism, a high-profile lawsuit, and one$14 million green-hued pool. The president's reflecting pool makeover is now overflowing with controversy. We did a hell of a job, but everybody's looking at that reflecting pool. And yet, 18 days after the pool was filled with water, after the initial renovation, President Trump is now saying the pool will likely need to be shut down and drained again, blaming it on what he says are vandals that have forced a new round of repairs.

44:12Administration officials say the police have made several arrests at the reflecting pool, alleging vandalism, including three-time U.S. Olympian David Hearn, who says he was arrested after touching a flap of blue material partially detached from the bottom of the pool. I took my left hand glove off and reached down into the water and sort of felt the end and bent it around a little bit. Hearn denies vandalizing the pool and says he was cited with destruction and defacing government property and disobeying a government employee. There are several citations that have been handed out to individuals, and these are cases that will be prosecuted to the full extent.

44:53On True Social, without evidence, the president wrote, they took some form of knife or blade and put a 250-foot-long gash into the beautiful facade of what took so much work, competence, and money to build and complete. He added, quote, They also poured corrosive and destructive materials into the pool. Tampering with federal property carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years in federal court. I've never seen this many National Guards in the National Park area. They came up to me and two other women asking if we've touched it and then just promoting us not to, that we would get arrested or charged with vandalism if we did.

45:30President Trump and the U.S. attorney in D.C. have been very clear they intend to push forward to penalize those accused of wrongdoing as much as possible. And earlier today, we saw several trailers come in and start unloading equipment down here at the reflecting pool. You'll see some of it behind me. These are actually security cameras that workers confirmed. There are at least six security cameras that will be now set up on the reflecting pool with 360-degree views, they tell us. Meantime, the president has convened a meeting with his contractors, not only talking about draining the pool, but making, he says, the necessary repairs.

46:07Anderson? So, Leland Serfati, The Reflecting Pool, thank you. Joining me now is Matt Weiser from The Atlantic. Matt, you have been speaking to algae experts about the growth. You've become an algae expert really yourself, but you've been speaking to algae experts about the growth in The Reflecting Pool, about the Trump administration's efforts to contain the algae. You write, after a week of combat, they have essentially killed off one type of algae infesting the pool, only to create the conditions for a new type to take over. What did you learn about what is going on? So, this occurred last week.

46:41I started to get frustrated. Nobody could tell me what kind of algae was growing in the pool. And so, we had two samples that were sent off to two different researchers so that we could test the algae and determine that it was a genus called Skinidesmus, which, as of last week, I did not know that name. So, we are all learning things here. It is a green algae that has taken over from what seemed to be a blue-green algae that can be toxic that was there earlier in the week in some of the photos and clearly identified by these researchers. And which may have led, I mean, we've seen some of the ducks and the wildlife down there killed over the past few days, which could have been from the toxic algae.

47:32So is this new algae as toxic? No, it's not as toxic, but it is rapidly growing. It's thicker than one of the researchers we consulted with had ever seen. So I think the new algae is just able to grow at a much faster rate, in part because of the hydrogen peroxide that National Park Service workers poured into the water last week, which did seem to effectively kill off the blue-green algae that is more toxic. But that hydrogen peroxide, and we saw bottles of it being poured in, that has actually led to this other algae? Yeah, it's created the conditions where now this other algae doesn't have to compete for nutrients with another type.

48:25And so it's been able to flourish in the water and create the different colors that we're seeing in the reflecting pool. The owner of the company that did the waterproof lining of the pool in the interior department deflected the blame for the algae when you reached them. Did your experts suggest any of the changes President Trump made with the paint and the lining would be contributing to this particular bloom of algae? In part, yes. I mean, Trump and this whole project have put this as like an incubator for algae to grow. The darker material at the base allows it to warm up a little bit easier in the water.

49:02So it's created the conditions for the algae through this project to have it flourish in a much more rapid environment. And in terms of the chances of fixing the algae issue, I mean, do you think the pool will be fixed up to the president's standards by July 4th weekend? No, at least according to the people that we've been talking to, it needs to be cooler weather. And the water, you know, if they drain the water, they'll need to retest and put some water in there that has fewer nutrients where algae can flourish. But really, I mean, one of the people I talked to said if you were going to create an environment for algae to grow, you would have it in just this type of environment.

49:45You have a shallow pool, a lot of water and a hot environment. And it's almost the perfect scenario to have algae be blooming in this reflecting pool. Wow. Matt Weiser, thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. I want to bring in Norm Eisen. He's the attorney representing former U.S. Olympian David Hearn, who was arrested Friday for allegedly tampering with the reflecting pool. We should note Norm investigated Trump as counsel to House Judiciary Committee in the first impeachment of the trial of Donald Trump and litigated cases involving him previously. So Norm, can you just give us a recap of what your client, what David was doing on Friday when he was arrested?

50:23What does he say he was doing? David is, as you know, Anderson, a decorated Olympian. He was on a long bike ride as thousands of people do a day as a concerned citizen. He went to check out this mess that Donald Trump has created of the reflecting pool. He did not break the law. He did nothing that in a more normal time or even a few days ago was unusual. And every American should be concerned at these kinds of crackdowns by the administration. There's been a long pattern of this administration targeting innocent individuals, Attorney General Tish James, FBI Director Jim Comey, Davey is the latest.

51:21The president said that somebody cut a 250-foot thing with a knife, that other people have been tampering with knives. Did your client use any tool to peel off anything? No. No, of course not, Anderson. And there'll be ample proof he could not have dragged a 250-foot knife line down this pool. He did nothing unusual, nothing different. It appears that law enforcement was there in order to find an excuse for the president to make these claims without evidence, Anderson. But we're talking about real human lives here. When he was arrested, did he have any large paint chips on him? I mean, these are questions I never thought I would be asking.

52:19Or any piece of the lining? No, of course not, Anderson. This is a meritless prosecution. We will get into all the details in court. Every American should be concerned about this kind of thing. And of course, as you've pointed out, there's no evidence for the things that the president has said. Anderson, is my client responsible for those horrendous algae blooms or creating this perfect storm in the pool or having a composite material that is coming up off the bottom of the pool? Of course not. He's a cyclist who was going by a concerned citizen. Curious, as Americans are, about this mess. What happened over the course of the five hours that he was held?

53:15Well, he was wrongly detained, and he was eventually released, as they must do. He was issued misdemeanor citations, and we'll be back in court to contest those. He's innocent. He's done nothing wrong. And it's terrible that they're doing this to American people with these baseless charges, Anderson. By the way, he's represented our country. He's a decorated Olympian. He did nothing improper, illegal or wrong in this situation and profoundly concerning. The president has said there are photos. He wasn't specifying, as I understand, I don't believe he was specifying your client in particular. Do you believe there are any photos which would implicate your client?

54:09There are no my client did nothing wrong. He broke no laws. There are no photos that implicate him in any wrongdoing. Anderson, people have been checking out what is going on in that corrupt mess at the reflecting pool made on a no bid contract with one of Donald Trump's cronies from Mar-a-Lago involved in the affair. and blame is being cast about. Davey did nothing wrong here. And it should be concerning to every American that someone who does nothing wrong, who goes by the reflecting pool, can be treated this way by the authorities. Like the algae, the blame is spreading. Norm Eisen, I appreciate it.

54:56Thank you. The Justice Department may soon be able to release potentially embarrassing audio recordings of former President Joe Biden soon, unless the courts step in. We'll explain that next.

55:12In our law and justice lead, new court rulings could clear the way for the Justice Department to release additional audio recordings of former President Joe Biden speaking with his ghostwriter, this time from 2016 and 2017. Republicans have argued the recordings that raise some questions about Biden's memory and mental acuity years before his presidency. Senator Galen Polance joins us now. So what are the key legal hurdles standing between these recordings and the public release? Well, Anderson, right now it is Joe Biden trying to go to the courts to somehow convince them that these tapes should be private, that he spoke about private things with his ghostwriter in 2016 and 2017.

55:51The ghostwriter, he was writing or helping Biden with his memoir, Promise Me, Dad. That was the memoir that Biden released about the death of his son, Beau, and his decision subsequently not to run for president in that pivotal election. These interviews, they came right after his vice presidency. And Joe Biden has argued to the courts that he has a privacy interest here, that a group like the Heritage Foundation, which is seeking these under a public records transparency law, that they should not be able to make this sort of argument and just get something that was personal to Biden and then collected in a criminal investigation that was later done by Robert Herr, which looked at these tapes and whether Biden had improperly disclosed national security information in them.

56:37Biden wasn't charged. But this is a moment, too, where Joe Biden can point out that he believes that not just the Heritage Foundation, but also conservatives, including those on Capitol Hill, that they want to retaliate against him, that they don't like him, that they want to expose him, and that part of this is something that he says they shouldn't be able to do because when he was president, his Justice Department was keeping these tapes secret. Now, Anderson, the judge at At the lower court here, Judge Dabney Friedrich, she listened to these audio recordings from 2016-2017 and she said this actually isn't covering that much of the sensitive topics and not only the Heritage Foundation could get them, but it's quite possible that a committee on Capitol Hill could also get them and release them.

57:26Well, also today a federal judge has thrown out Justice Department grand jury subpoenas aimed at Minnesota's Governor Tim Walz, his allies. What happened there? Well, in that case, that is a judge looking at subpoenas that were issued to the offices of essentially Democratic officials in Minnesota during the surge of immigration enforcement, federal immigration enforcement last winter. the judge is looking at those subpoenas and saying they were blatantly unlawful, they were unethical to be issued. It was an abuse of the grand jury process in Minnesota by the federal Justice Department, the Trump administration going after these Democratic officials, including the governor, Tim Walz, and that there was no plausible investigative justification for anything to be sent or for a grand jury to be looking into these officials The judge looked at what the record was publicly, what Donald Trump had said, what the attorney general had said at the time.

58:24And what the judge saw was that they wanted to pressure, coerce, harass, and retaliate against the Democrats in those offices rather than have a legitimate reason to investigate them and issue them subpoenas for documents in January of this year. All right. Caitlin Pullman, thanks very much. Appreciate it. He's known as the tiger and holds a U.S. passport. but now this Trump-backed candidate could soon be the next leader of Colombia. We'll go there live next.

58:57In our world lead, a far-right candidate endorsed by President Trump is set to become Colombia's next president. CNN's Stefano Posibone reports on the former criminal lawyer nicknamed the Tiger. He represents a dramatic political shift for the country as he prepares to succeed the outgoing president, Gustavo Petro.

59:19This is when MAGA politics meets Latin American soccer.

59:29Abelardo de L 'Esprella narrowly edged ahead in Colombia's presidential election on Sunday, thanks in part to a campaign that leaned into spectacle, flashy AI-generated content and the Tiger imagery. Petro and Cepeda, by disregarding the verdict of the ballot boxes, you are not challenging the tiger. You are challenging millions of citizens who freely gave victory to José Manuel and me. The tiger is his self-appointed nickname to signify his uncompromising approach to crime while casting Colombia's establishment as a swamp. If it sounds familiar, it is. De Lesprea is a U.S. citizen who used to work in Miami and has close ties to the Florida the Republican Party.

1:00:14President Donald Trump endorsed him ahead of the vote and has already congratulated him as president-elect, even though Colombia's electoral authorities are still counting the ballots. This vote follows the ascent of other right-wing leaders across Latin America, from El Salvador's Nayib Bukele to Argentina's Javier Milei, both Trump allies who promised the radical new image of their countries. Velesprea has no experience in office and he cultivated an image of a successful entrepreneur with a personal brand of rum and a passionate singer of Italian lyrics. His supporters are all too happy to vote for a Trump lookalike.

1:00:54I have the U.S. flag because I love this country, its order, its culture, everything about it. When I heard that Trump, our President Trump, was going to support Abelardo, I said he is the one. That's it. Why? Because there's no progress without order.

1:01:17And Anderson, you can probably understand, given the stakes here in Colombia, that this country is really edging into hours of tensions, perhaps days of tension, before the electoral authorities can finally publish the final results. For example, this morning, the left-wing candidate Ivan Sepeda announced that he has appealed the results from 57 ,000 electoral seats. Hopefully, it will not take too long of a time to get to these results. Anderson? All right, Stefano, thanks so much. I appreciate it. President Trump was asked today if he's willing to risk a worldwide economic depression by striking Iran if the agreement falls apart.

1:01:56Hear his answer next. to the strength and emergency.

1:02:04In our politics lead this afternoon, President Trump was asked if he would be willing to risk a worldwide economic depression to strike Iran again. Listen. Well, not the way I'm doing it. It's not going to cause depression. Yes, but if they don't abide by the... Well, nuclear weapon supersedes depression. Depression's real bad. Nuclear weapon will cause depression. much more quickly. The way we're doing it, we have the opposite of a depression. Join us now, Republican Congressman from Indiana, Marlon Stutzman. Congressman, appreciate you being here. What do you make of those comments from President Trump?

1:02:42Anderson, great to be with you this evening. I think that it's really a delicate balance here to be sure that we get the Strait of Hormuz secured, making sure, of course, that Iran doesn't have a nuclear weapon. And also, you know, there's things here at home that we have to address as well. Of course, the gas prices are still on top of people's minds as they, you know, are facing higher prices. Republicans have done a really good job of, of course, of focusing on affordability. But the president has a tough job, especially dealing with the IRGC, which continues to move the goalposts. But I'm hoping that this MOU sticks.

1:03:18And I believe that President Trump has done a remarkable job of bringing them to the table. The president has said he thinks that this, the current regime is less radical than the previous. Do you think that's true? Well, we'll see. You know, the Ayatollah, of course, is dead. I believe that the sun is likely dead as well, but we'll find out. You know, this is a very brutal regime, one that has continued to show that they are zealots, that they're true believers that die for their beliefs. One of the things that I think is important, too, is that we keep the relationship with Israel, that there's no daylight between the United States and Israel as we deal with this.

1:04:00Hezbollah is an extension of the IRGC, and they're all backed into a corner right now. So President Trump has them in a tough spot. We need to continue to put the pressure on and force them. ultimately, I'd like to see the IRGC replaced. But that's a very difficult task. And it's going to take one that takes a broader coalition of countries working together to accomplish that. Vice President Vance said this weekend's negotiations were very good. He said he got Iran to allow nuclear monitors in. Hours later, Iran said actually nothing will change and the United Nations nuclear watchdog will not be entering the country.

1:04:32How does this or how does the U.S., I guess, move forward with these negotiations if this keeps happening? There's daylight between what the administration is saying, what the Iranians are saying? Yeah, I think, again, we, you know, they're so good at propaganda from the IRGC and that we're going to have to continue just to move forward and do what is what it's going to take to be sure that they don't have nuclear capabilities. The IRGC is in disarray. Obviously, there's, I'm sure there's a power struggle within their entire coalition or their inside their leadership group, they've got a lot to figure out themselves.

1:05:11So I think that we've got the pressure on them. We need to continue to keep the pressure on. But making sure that the Strait of Hormuz is opened up for free flow of traffic is a really important piece to all of this as well, because it does affect our economy. And I know the IRGC knows they can use that against us. But making sure ultimately the first objective is no nuclear capability and keeping the Strait of Hormuz opened up for free flow is just as important. And the president is going to continue to put the pressure on wherever he can to make sure that happens. I wonder what you're hearing from your constituents in Indiana.

1:05:44A new CBS News YouGov poll shows 78 percent of Americans said they prefer to end the war now. I know you told Fox earlier Republicans who don't like the president's handling of this need to, quote, just relax. Seems like a majority of Americans don't want to wait this out. What are you hearing in Indiana? You know, it's really mixed, Anderson. You know, if you talk to folks who are older, you know, north of 40 years of age, they tell me we got to finish the job. This has been going on too long. Iran has been at war with us since 1979 with the West. And also, you know, younger people have a mixed opinion of it.

1:06:22And so I think that We have to do what's right and do the job that needed to be done for a long time. Obviously, it's going to be one of those things where we're going to have to walk and chew gum at the same time. We can still focus on the economic issues here at home that a lot of people are concerned about and making sure that the results are accomplished in the Middle East with Iran. We've come this far. I just hate to see us lose any sort of ground and making sure that Israel has the ability to defend itself against Hezbollah. Hezbollah is also a real problem, and Iran is using Hezbollah as leverage during these discussions.

1:06:59So the MOU is critically important. It's going to take some time, but I think we're on the right track. That discussion of what happens to Hezbollah, that's been pushed basically down the road. That can has been kicked down the road, and Iran shows no sign of in any way cleaving itself from supporting Hezbollah. Well, you know, we've known for a long time that Hezbollah is a proxy of Iran, and they continue to attack Israel. That's where I believe that, you know, Israel has to have the ability to defend itself. I was just on the northern border a couple of weeks ago and saw where Hezbollah is attacking farmers.

1:07:36They're on the northern side of Israel. And if they're going to be killing, you know, whether it's Israelis, Israeli soldiers, Israel has every right to strike back and to defend the country. So I think that that's one of the things that's important as the president goes through the negotiations. You know, as I've been told by many folks in Israel, that President Trump has been the strongest president for Israel in a long time. And so I know that we're all on the same page. We're on, you know, we want to see the outcome be favorable for all of us involved, their safety and security there. And the president's leading.

1:08:12And I know that he's going to be sure that the job gets done right. Congressman from Indiana, Marlon Stutzman, thanks so much. Appreciate your time. Thank you, Anderson. Great to be with you. As he prepares for a potential 2028 presidential campaign, California Governor Gavin Newsom is defending former President Joe Biden in a way that many others in his party are not. Our panel weighs in.

1:08:37We are back now with the politics lead. Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Maloney is now skipping the U.S. Embassy's annual July 4th party in Rome this year. Her feud with President Trump over a supposed selfie moment continuing to escalate. My panel is here with me now. Alyssa, why does this continue? Over the weekend, Trump doubled down on his claim that Maloney begged him for a picture going on in a post saying that she's, quote, doing poorly because she turned down the United States of America, a country that truly loves and protects Italy when it came to denying Iran from obtaining or developing a nuclear weapon.

1:09:12How do you see this spat going? Listen, it's a strange development because I think a lot of folks thought Georgia Malone would be somewhat aligned with Donald Trump. She leans to the right in Italy, but she's somebody who's been very pro-Ukraine, has been strong against Iran, and I think sees this new deal as a mistake. But I think the fact that she's being so forthright in her criticisms and even put out this video kind of clapping back shows that people realize Donald Trump's very close to being a lame duck president. Even European leaders are realizing that this sort of having to suck up, Tim, that we've seen for the last two years is kind of starting to end.

1:09:43And I think this is one of those first salvos in it. Is it silly? Yes. But it's points to a bigger moment that's happening. Paul, also in that message, he's taking a jab at NATO, obviously. Yeah. And I think that's the bigger message is that Trump is toxic and nobody wants their picture taken with him anymore if you want to get support back home. And that's going to be especially true in Europe, where NATO is a valuable ally and always been so strong with the U.S. And Trump continues to trash NATO over and over again. So this is an appeal, I think, to the populism and the patriotism of the people in Italy.

1:10:13But it does reflect the broader outrage that Europe has with Trump and particularly his stance on NATO. It's not a long path for him to get increased popularity in Europe. I think he's going to hear a lot more boos if he goes and visits in the day. Well, also the NATO Secretary General is coming to Washington this week. I mean, no doubt this will come up as well. One would think. One would think it'll definitely come up. And it's not like this attack against NATO is a one-off on Donald Trump. He has been beating that drum repeatedly in both of his terms. And to beat that drum and then at the same time be in a war that there really was no ever justification for, And for him to raise with the prime minister that she wasn't for getting rid of a nuclear weapon in Iran.

1:10:57Have we actually done that with this war? Right. Or didn't we do that in June, but then we didn't do it. So, I mean, in November. So I think it makes no sense. And also, let's not forget with the prime minister, Donald Trump attacked the pope. That is unpopular in Italy, whether the pope is an American or Italian or from anywhere else. You don't attack the pope. And she is also responding to that. Yeah. Well, it's interesting. You hear Gavin Newsom, potential, obviously, front runner for the presidency, defending Joe Biden in a way that a lot of other Democrats aren't. I just want to play some of what he's been saying.

1:11:39I'll never turn my back on Joe Biden. Our former president, who I think was one of the most successful presidents in the last century, and that is Joe Biden. And I will defend that to my grave. Alyssa, what do you think the strategy is here? Because Gavin Newsom has a strategy, it seems, for a lot of stuff. Gavin Newsom is not someone who does things lightly. There's polling and there's strategy behind everything. I would say two things. When you compare his numbers to other likely frontrunner Kamala Harris, he polls about 25 points higher with older voters, 65 plus among Democrats. And I think those voters are very likely to have a lot more sympathy, empathy and sort of love for Joe Biden, and someone who's been in public life for 40 years.

1:12:19I think he sees this as a way to align himself there. I also think it's potentially a way to force Kamala Harris to decide where she's going to come down on this issue. The smartest thing she could do is run as far from possible as Biden in this campaign going ahead, and he's kind of getting out out front and forcing her to do that. I think he's also trying to appeal to the middle and look less liberal, which has always been his problem. He's always going to be the good-looking California liberal, and he's going to have a really hard time reaching independents and moderate Republicans. I think this is a clumsy way to do it.

1:12:48I don't think it's going to work. I think it comes off as inauthentic. And I also don't think Biden's popularity is strong right now with independents and moderate Republicans. But I think that's what it's all about, trying to position himself consistently more moderate than he is, because a California Democrat is toast with independents in the years ahead. And, you know, Newsom has the problem that Hillary Clinton had. The independents and the right think she's think he is too liberal. But the progressives and liberal don't think he's progressive or liberal enough. So he's just losing, losing.

1:13:17So I think this I think you're right. It's about reaching out to older voters and maybe putting a squeeze on Kamala Harris. But I don't think it works out in the end, because if he ends up the nominee, that's going to be a very hard position to justify in the general election. What does Kamala if Kamala Harris runs and what does she do in that? If if you read her book, it's hard to tell. Listen, she has advisers around her saying she needs to come out and say she would have approached Gaza differently, saying she needed to break away from Biden, be more direct in what she would have done differently.

1:13:48I suppose that that's likely what she will do if she ends up running. So I think she's going to take the lane of sort of anti-Biden if she gets in. It's a terrible situation for her either way. It's a totally uncomfortable position. And by the way, to Paul's point, I don't think running, embracing Biden helps anyone. This is an interesting move. But if you're trying to get independents, young people, people who feel like this administration took them the wrong direction, embracing Biden is not the way to do that. I think if Kamala Harris runs again, what happens is she loses badly again, even more so than last time.

1:14:17Even Democrats are sick of her. And at this point, Democrats have to come up with a new playbook and new faces, especially if they want to appeal to young people and independents. There's also a report in Political about another possible 2028 hopeful Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego. A review of campaign finance records found that he, quote, has used his leadership pact to fund recent trips to Miami, Chicago, Disneyland and Disney World with his family. Gallego, according to the Politico, has tapped that pack and his main campaign committee for more than$18 ,000 in reimbursements for child care since 2019, including$400 to his wife's mother for babysitting.

1:14:52Gallego telling Politico in a statement, this is not breaking news with the rising cost of child care and the burden it has on the budgets of American families. Democrats and Republicans in Congress and the White House alike regularly travel with their wives and children, as is permitted by the FEC. should also point out the FEC candidate, they say that candidate committees can pay for child care as long as they are for personal use, but PACs do not even have that limitation on them. Do you see this as a problem, you think? I do think it's a problem because one of the things that we Democrats have as it relates to Trump is hitting him and everyone associated with him on corruption and making the swamp swampier, not less swampy.

1:15:33So if you're a Democrat, you want to be crossing the T's and dotting the I's. Whether it's legal or not, under federal election rules, I can't really say. But it does not pass the smell test. It is not smart. The Democrats need to stay squeaky, squeaky clean as it relates to corruption so we can hold on to that issue. Do you think? I mean, listen, of the issues dogging Gallego, I think this is a lesser issue than his associations with Eric Swalwell, who ultimately had to step out of the governor's race. I like Ruben Gallego, but they were extremely close. He's reportedly hired a PR firm that's supposed to help him navigate.

1:16:07He's denied any knowledge. Denied any wrongdoing. But that's going to be something that's going to continue to dog him. There's going to be more questions. And I think that's a bigger concern for his ambition. And also just being disconnected from the people. Going to the Super Bowl, having lavish parties. We're in this environment where populists and people across the country want to eat the rich. And when you look like you're hanging out at the Super Bowl and spending money on frivolous things, you look a lot like the Trump White House. And I'm sure if he hasn't already, Trump's going to pounce on this and start slamming them pretty soon and saying both sides is, that's going to resonate with people.

1:16:35They're just, this is why they hate politics. Yeah, Paul Rykoff, I appreciate it. Christine Quinn, Elisabeth Griffin, thanks so much. Coming up, remembering the man known as the man with the golden ears, legendary music executive Clive Davis, died at 94 from Bruce Springsteen, Aretha Franklin, Notorious B.I.G., the industry titan helped launch and shape generations of music stars. Look back at his remarkable legacy in the music.

1:17:03legendary record producer clive davis has died at the age of 94 he was known for helping launch and shape the careers of artists including whitney houston and billy joel c9's elizabeth wagmeister brings us more in his extraordinary legacy i never thought in a million years that i would discover artists i don't read music i don't play music it's just in the gut janice joplin aretha franklin whitney houston the grateful dead Bruce Springsteen, Santana, and the list goes on. Clive Davis, known as the man with the golden ears, either discovered them or helped catapult them into music superstardom.

1:17:43My parents died when I was a late teenager. I had no money to rise above the station. I studied law to become a lawyer. The fates were good. Luck was in my way, and the firm that I went to work for represented Columbia Records. I became their general counsel for five years, and then overnight I was made head of the company. His knack for finding talent was almost immediately evident. From the signing of Janis Droplin and Donovan and Blood, Sweat and Tears and Santana and then Chicago, and when they all hit one after another, and I was there making that judgment, and I saw them all come through, it obviously gave me confidence to keep going.

1:18:26And not only did Davis find all the right artists, he also found them the right songs. Regarding Whitney, I discovered her when she was 19. And we embarked on this odyssey, breaking every record.

1:18:44That song convinced Davis Houston was a superstar. That's a song I commissioned for the life of Muhammad Ali eight years earlier. And there's this young teenager singing the greatest love of all like I never heard it before. Davis was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1932. In a career spanning more than 50 years, he won four Grammy Awards, a Grammy trustee award, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Davis married twice and had four children. In 2013, he released a memoir called The Soundtrack of My Life. In it, he revealed that he was bisexual. I opened myself up to the possibility of having a relationship with a person rather than a gender.

1:19:30In one of his final sit-down interviews, Davis told me what he was most proud of. What do you want people to remember you by? What is your legacy? My legacy is that I discovered or nurtured an unusual array of the most gifted artists of all time. and that they felt safe. But to see that they were still headlining arenas all over the world and were not one-hit wonders was such a great feeling. Dwight Meister joins us now from Los Angeles. His legacy is somewhat complicated by scrutiny he faced later in life. Yes, Anderson. So Clive Davis, make no mistake, an absolute legend in the music industry, but he was a co-founder of Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records.

1:20:22He financially backed that label, and of course, the two shared a great deal of professional success. So as Diddy then faced criminal charges, Clive Davis faced some scrutiny. But as I said, make no mistake, he was a living legend up until the very end. Anderson, you know all about Clive Davis' Grammys weekend party. And just this year, a few months ago, he threw that party and it drew everyone from Mariah Carey to J-Lo to Nancy Pelosi, who was a staple at that party. I went and covered for a few years in a who's who was there, Anderson. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks very much. An incredible life he had.

1:21:01Later tonight, I'll speak with music icon Stevie Wonder about the career and the life of Clive Davis. I'll see you at 8 p.m. Eastern for AC360. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:21:16Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. Everything that he did and why, I realized how much he had to take on that I just wasn't really aware of. It does make me wish that I could just go back and be a little bit more understanding at that time. Her name is Michaela Schifrin. She's 31 and is considered the greatest alpine skier of all time. Her mom, Eileen, is an integral part of her team, and her dad, Jeff Schifrin, was too. He was an anesthesiologist who first put Michaela on skis when she was three. What was he like? This is maybe kind of weird, but he was really handsome.

1:21:57Since he passed away, I've actually become him. I've totally become the scheduling person in our family. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.