Sources: Bongino Returns To Work At FBI; Unclear If He Will Resign

26:27Senator Jean Shaheen, Democrat from New Hampshire, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate it. Thank you. Moments go in Texas. New information just in from Governor Greg Abbott on the devastating flooding in that state. The new questions about evacuation orders when deadly floodwaters moved in, plus the search to find those still missing 11 days after the tragedy.

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27:49Back with our national lead where Texas Governor Greg Abbott just held a news conference on the ongoing response to the deadly July 4th flash floods. Officials are asking the public for patience during the ongoing search and recovery efforts following the devastating floods over July 4th that killed at least 132 people. CNN's Julia Vargas-Jones is in Kerrville, Texas. Julia, what is the latest on the ground there? Well, we did hear this update, Jake, from Governor Greg Abbott, where he gave an update on the numbers. The statewide deaths now at 132 missing people, still 100 people missing. 95 of those are here in Kirk County.

28:27Now, the governor also went out of his way to thank all of the agencies that have helped here. And we have seen agencies from Florida, from Georgia, and also the 13 ,000 volunteers that have showed up to help as these searches become more and more difficult, Jake, with the brains over the past couple of days. And those missing are still out there for these search and rescue teams to try and recover. Earlier today, the Kirk County commissioners had a meeting. How do they address some of the scrutiny they've come under for their preparedness or lack thereof, and then the response or lack thereof to the deadly flooding?

29:06Well, Jake, I spoke to the county judge here today. He said he's not authorized to speak to media, but he did look at me in the eye and say, look, if I had known that this would be this bad, I would have acted differently. They sustained that they did not have the information that this flood would be as bad as it was. And we're also seeing that reflected in reporting first by The Washington Post of how Camp Mystic received this. Now, we are learning that the Camp Mystic director, Dick Eastland, received a 114 flash flood alert on his phone and about an hour later started evacuating campers to higher ground between 2 and 2.30 a .m.

29:47Now, that initial alert did not have an evacuation order, Jake. That only comes in at around 4.03 a.m. Now, I have to mention that Eastland lost his life trying to save campers from a bubble in the one that housed some of the youngest campers there. And his family says that all of the leaders of the camp acted promptly with the information they had at the time. Now, if we are hearing from officials here that the people in charge of emergency management did not have the proper information for this, It's hard to think of who would actually know and who would have been responsible then for warning all of these people who were then in harm's way, Jake.

30:30But that search and rescue operations now continue in even more difficult conditions as the rain has been coming down hard here in Texas over the past couple of days. And the search for those missing continues. All right, Julia Vargas-Jones in Kerrville, Texas. Thanks so much. Also in our national lead, Arizona's Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs is calling for a federal investigation into the National Park Service's decision to not aggressively fight a wildfire near the Grand Canyon. It was started by lightning back on the 4th of July and allowed to keep burning. It flared up over the weekend, destroying between 50 and 80 structures and forcing the closure of the entire north rim of the park for the rest of the 2025 season.

31:09Sadly, the Grand Canyon Lodge is among the buildings destroyed. It opened back in 1937 and held many historic artifacts and archives, also all presumably destroyed. The only good news in all of this is that, as far as we know, no lives have been lost. In Massachusetts, new details ahead about the deadly fire at an assistant living facility and the unbelievable scene as firefighters tried to save other elderly residents, plus what the U.S. State Department is now saying about an American who was killed by settlers in the West Bank and dramatic encounter for a CNN team who showed up to cover the funeral.

31:54In our world lead, the family of a Florida man, an American citizen who was killed on Friday while visiting relatives in the West Bank, are demanding that the U.S. State Department and Israeli officials investigate his brutal death. 20-year-old Saif Musalat's family says he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers. Musalat's funeral was held Sunday. CNN's Jeremy Diamond and his crew were there to cover the funeral when they had their own dramatic encounter with a group of settlers. In the back of an ambulance, Saif Musalat's aunt says one final goodbye.

32:32She is far from alone. Hundreds in this West Bank town have come to honor the American son, who was deeply rooted in his Palestinian community. Saif was killed on Friday, just two weeks before his 21st birthday, beaten to death by Israeli settlers, according to his family. Those settlers also shot and killed another Palestinian man in the same attack, according to eyewitnesses. It is a senseless yet all too common outcome in the West Bank. Today, it is an American citizen being put to rest here. But over the course of the last 20 months of this war, nearly 1 ,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations.

33:19But today, Saif Musalat's family is demanding an American investigation into his death. We want justice. His father, Kamel, was home in Florida, where he runs an ice cream shop with his son, when he got the call that Saif had been attacked by settlers. You never think that it's your son or anything. that who is this happening to. And then I got word that it was my son. He was hit, he was beaten, he lost conscience, but nobody could get to him. Ambulance couldn't come in. Why? Because the IDF restricted that. The IDF blocked that. So you hold the Israeli military? I hold the Israeli military just as responsible as the settlers and the American government for not doing anything about this.

34:15The State Department said it is aware of Saif's death, but declined to comment further on calls for an investigation. Israeli authorities say they are investigating, but have not made any arrests. For two months now, Palestinians here say Israeli settlers have been encroaching on their land and terrorizing Palestinians who try and access it. This was the scene on Friday as Saif and other Palestinians tried to reach their farmland. Hafez Abdel-Jabbar said he saw settlers chase after a man he would later learn was safe. They ran up the hill, they caught Muslim, they started beating him with sticks.

34:56By the time he reached Saif's body, he was already dead. As we head to the location where Saif's body was retrieved, a white vehicle suddenly appears behind us. We have a group of settlers who are now following us in their vehicle. They've put their masks on as well, which is a concerning indication. At an intersection, the settlers get out and try to pelt our vehicle. We managed to approach a nearby Israeli border police vehicle, and the settlers turn around. But minutes after the border police head out to search for the settlers, we are ambushed. Everyone okay? Yeah, yeah. Go, go, go. Drive, drive.

35:37Drive. Keep driving. The masked men smashed the rear windshield of our car, but we managed to speed off unharmed. No, no, no, no. They turned, they turned, they turned. It is just a small window into the reality here. If it would have took us five more seconds, we all would have been beaten with these things. You think they would have beaten us? Yes, sir. But your son was also killed. In January 2024. By a settler. Simply just being there barbecuing. What does that feel like to have to constantly try and tell the world what's happening? You scream into the whole world, and the whole world is watching.

36:12Simply silent. Seeing all these mothers put their sons down. They worked so hard to raise them up for 20 years, and you pick them up and you put them in the ground under the sky and the silence go on and on and on. Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Sinjil, the Occupied West Bank. And our thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that report. Again, CNN has asked the U.S. State Department whether the United States will open its own investigation into the murder, apparently, of this American citizen by settlers. We have not heard back. Next, new emergency calls for help as tragedy unfolded at an assistant living facility overnight in Massachusetts.

37:01In our national lead, at least nine people have died and dozens more injured after a fire broke out at a senior living facility in Fall River, Massachusetts. That's about 60 miles south of Boston. The Fall River Fire Chief called the incident at Gabriel House an unfathomable tragedy. CNN's Jason Carroll has more.

37:23Fall River firefighters arriving at the facility Sunday night were met with screams of panicked elderly residents calling out for help. All the smoke from the hall went right in my face and all I could do was just stand there and choke.

37:42And I thought it was going to be the end of everything. Albert Omanzad lives at Gabriel House Assistant Living Care. He says he was almost overcome by smoke until a firefighter found him. He says to me, walk this way and I couldn't even see the door. And he says, grab a hold of my hand and I couldn't even see that. So he grabbed my arm and him and another officer helped me down the stairs. 71-year-old Lorraine Ferreira says it was about a quarter to ten Sunday night when someone banged on her door on the second floor of the facility. I got up in the door and the smoke just overtook me. It was so smoky, I will never forget the smell.

38:35Ferreira says the smoke was so thick she couldn't make it out her front door, so she tried escaping through her bathroom. I thought I was going to die there. I did. Then I opened the window. I got the window open and I started yelling, help, help, help. Out of the bathroom window? Out of the bathroom window and the firemen were there and they put the ladder up to the window. The Fall River Fire Department says 70 residents were housed at the facility. rescues made more difficult because many were immobile, needed wheelchairs, while some needing help were on oxygen tanks. You know that rescue is going to be 10 times harder than it would have been in a normal situation.

39:15So it's a very difficult scene. It's a very challenging scene. Investigators say it appears much of the fire was contained to the front entrance of the care facility, the same area where fire officials say the blaze may have started. Was there a sprinkler system, a fire alarm system? It was fully equipped with sprinkler and fire alarm systems per code. Gabriel House Assisted Living did not return calls or reply to emails about the incident. The website says it has 24-hour staffing and that assistant living facilities in Massachusetts must always have sufficient staff to handle emergencies and meet resident needs as required by resident service plans.

39:53Residents who live there now trying to come to terms with all that has happened. I survived for a reason. I'm meant to do something with my life. I don't know what, but something.

40:09And Jake, we are learning more about the victims. One of them, 78-year-old Richard Roshan. He was a Vietnam veteran. He was a sharpshooter in the Vietnam War. Behind me right now here at Gabriel House, they've boarded up the building. Investigators now trying to work on a cause of this fire, the district attorney releasing a statement saying at this point, the cause of the blaze does not appear to be suspicious. Jake. All right, Jason Carroll in Fall River, Massachusetts. Thank you so much. Coming up, the deep divide at the Justice Department and beyond sparked by what the public knows about a dead pedophile and sexual trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein.

40:47Will the feds ever release more information about his case? We're asking that very question to some key folks. That's next.

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42:03Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour trumps MAGA base at odds with Mr. MAGA, the president himself. And all in on calling for the Justice Department to release those long-hidden files about Jeffrey Epstein and say publicly, who else helped this pedophile commit sexual crimes against children? Plus, a deadline approaching tonight for thousands of Afghans living in the United States, the urgency by the Trump administration to end their special temporary protected status. One Afghan told CNN if he's deported, he and his family will be killed. Also coming up in just minutes, the NATO Secretary General will be here live on the lead just hours after sitting next to President Trump as the U.S.

42:44pledged new weapons for Ukraine and imposed a new deadline on Russia.

42:51The lead tonight, the Trump administration's refusal to release any of the as yet unreleased files related to convicted pedophile and sexual trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. It's causing the MAGA faithful to lose faith. The political firestorm also spreading within the administration, infuriating President Trump, sources tell us. And despite repeated calls from some of the president's own ardent supporters to fire U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for not releasing more information, Trump is sticking by her for now, at least for now. CNN's Kaitlin Collins is at the White House for us. Kaitlin? Yeah, Jake, not only is he sticking by the attorney general, he has been firmly on her side as this controversy has continued and only had grown over the last several days, including when there was that ultimatum from Dan Bongino, the deputy FBI director last week, where he essentially told the White House either Pam Bondi has to go or he is going to leave as the deputy director.

43:48Now, I should note this morning started with officials texting each other and reporters, including me, asking whether or not Dan Bongino had actually showed up for work today at the FBI after he did not go into the office, basically as a form of protest on Friday for how things had handled. And this blow up that he had with the attorney general in the halls here of the West Wing last week when she was questioning him about whether or not he was leaking information about the Epstein files and about what the FBI was advocating for in that. And we did find out and confirm this afternoon, my colleague Kristen Holmes reported that Dan Bongino did indeed actually go to work at the FBI today.

44:25He is still on the job as the deputy FBI director. But that was an open question just yesterday, Jake, when I was talking to officials who were talking about not only whether or not he wanted to stay in the job, but also how the president felt about this, because essentially it had become this huge dramatic moment where he wasn't speaking to a lot of people. leadership at the Justice Department. White House officials had not really heard from Dan Bongino since last week, and so there were real questions about what he was going to do here. But also, Jake, what I was told is that the president was incredibly angry with how he had handled this situation and also with the FBI director, Kash Patel.

45:00There had been some reporting that he might also consider resigning. He put out a statement over the weekend saying that was not true and he was going to stay at the FBI as long as President Trump will have him there. But, Jake, really to just kind of encapsulate where the president came down on all of this, Yesterday we saw him attending a soccer game in New Jersey. By his side was the Attorney General Pam Bondi. So despite the MAGA backlash that she has faced, and it has been quite a lot of it from his supporters, the president says he is sticking by her for now. All right, Caitlin Collins at the White House.

45:28Thanks so much. Caitlin's going to have much more on her show, The Source, with Caitlin Collins. It's tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN. Over the weekend, President Trump's MAGA base made it pretty clear they very much care about getting more information regarding Jeffrey Epstein. the drama making headlines at a conservative conference in Florida. And that's where CNN's Donio Sullivan spoke with some Trump supporters who want the Epstein files to be released. And this is the first topic that all of us as Americans, not as Democrats, not as liberals, not as Republicans, are actually lining together and saying we all want the Epstein files.

46:06And I say, come on, Donald, give us those files. We are here at the Turning Point USA Summit in Tampa, Florida. It is a big gathering of Trump supporters. And one thing everybody seems to be talking about here this weekend, Jeffrey Epstein. We need to get to the bottom of Epstein because Epstein is the key that picks the lock. Let me just ask you, make some noise if you care about the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

46:34What do you think is going to happen? I think they're going to maybe give us pieces and maybe not the whole thing and think that that's going to suffice. And I don't think people are going to be quiet about it until they really do it. But who knows if we'll ever know the true story. Can Trump just say, look, release everything? If you know anything about him, he can do and say whatever he wants. Do they have to listen? I don't know the legalities of that or the policies and procedures. This is Turning Point USA's Student Action Summit. It's an event aimed at mobilizing young conservatives. Ultimately, I mean, how bad do you think it would be for the MAGA movement, for young people's trust in Trump, if by the end of his term they don't release everything they know about Epstein?

47:23Well, I think that if they don't release the Epstein files, whatever J.D. Vance says then is irrelevant, because it's like everybody's going to take it as like a lie because of what Donald Trump did. But I think J.D. Vance wants these files released as well. And I think that Donald Trump, he promised them, so he needs to do it. No matter who's on them, we need to have released the Epstein files. Because right now, the whole debate's about Bongino versus Bondi, but ultimately, it's Trump's decision, right? I mean, he has the power. It's Trump's decision. It's Trump's decision. I think, again, and I'm not going to make the decision for the president.

47:53It's not my job. It's not my place. But I do think the way that I'm seeing it played out is that Bongino will be here and Pam Bondi will be the fall guy. You think that's fair? I don't think anything's fair politics. And Trump, I've, sorry, Jake, I've never seen Trump supporters at odds as much with the president as over this issue at the weekend. In fact, on Truth Social, which is basically a pro-Trump echo chamber, that post at the weekend, the boys and gals post, has 47 ,000 comments under it. You'd be doing really well to find one that agrees with the president. It's overwhelmingly negative.

48:31That's on Truth Social? Correct. Oh, wow. Word never is heard a discouraging word about President Trump. Shocking. Donia Sullivan, thanks so much. Joining us now to discuss Democratic strategist Karen Finney, former Trump White House Communications Director during the first term, Mike Dubke. So, Mike, sources tell CNN that President Trump has been calling some of the most vocal critics of Attorney General Bondi over the weekend, including Charlie Kirk, who runs that Talking Points or is what's it called? Whatever it's called. Anyway, and it looks like it might have worked because here is here's Charlie Kirk today.

49:06You know, this is just one day after sitting with Megyn Kelly talking about how important this is for everybody. I'm done talking about Epstein for the time being. I'm going to trust my friends, the administration. I'm going to trust my friends in the government to do what needs to be done. Solve it. Balls in their hands. Good boy. Good boy.

49:30Look, this is a classic. By the way, not to pick on Charlie, let me just also say Matthew Gertz from Media Matters notes that Fox News today, 85 mentions of Biden, zero mentions of Epstein as of 4 p.m., according to Matthew Gertz. So, I mean, people are taking orders. But here at CNN, we're continuing to have this discussion. Because it is something that they promised that they were going to do. It's a story that, by the way, we had Julie Brown on the show years ago to talk about this. This is a legitimate scandal. It's a totally legitimate scandal. I think this is a classic example of overpromising and underdelivering.

50:10There were, along the way, there are legitimate questions that have to do around the handling of the files, the handling of him in jail, all of these things. They were exercised during the campaign. And now that the powers that be are in power with Pam Bondi at Justice Department and Kash Patel and others at the FBI, there is an expectation of these files being released. And they fumbled it terribly out of the gate, especially talking about the files are on my desk and all of this. But the politics of this are that this could actually be one of the first areas of misstep within this administration, and it's of their own making.

50:57And by that I mean we've got the midterm elections coming up. There is immense worry amongst Republicans that without Donald Trump on the ballot, how are we going to turn out his base? Well, you turn out his base by keeping the base happy, and this isn't one of the ways that you keep the base happy. And I agree with that. I mean, I think part of what's interesting here, this is that there are I mean, there are people who are unhappy with the president for lots of different reasons. Right. We're seeing that in the polls, whether it's the way he's handling immigration, whether it's tariffs, whether it's anxiety around inflation and costs.

51:27What's different about this is this is the first crack we've really seen in that one third of the party that is solidly in Trump's corner that when he threatens candidates and says, I'm going to primary you. that's who they're worried about is whether or not those voters will turn. I do think he can come back from this, though. My biggest surprise, just to be blunt on this, was the post that the president put out on Truth Social. There is a disconnect here that I think he will realize that there is something that needs to be done for the base on this issue. And I do expect him to right the ship on this.

52:09others have stopped talking about it he needs to address it and i think he will can i just talk one thing that we haven't mentioned here and i'm not blaming you guys it's it's it's on me but like there are victims yes there are dozens and dozens of of now women then girls who were sexually at the very least abused by jeff by jeffrey epstein and and trafficked by jeffrey epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell and possibly others. And like, they have stories to tell and they deserve justice and they did not get justice. I agree with that. And I think that's one of the things that endures. And, you know, there's sort of the conspiracy theory and then there's really the tragedy of those women and these survivors, I think we need to call them because they survived something horrible and do deserve justice.

52:54And they didn't get it in the form of a Jeffrey Epstein trial, whether you believe he committed suicide or not. Ghislaine Maxwell obviously cut a deal. So we don't know what we're doing. There's no trial, really. No, so there won't be that sort of public accounting. But what I also think is important, I mean, what does riding the ship look like? Because let's be honest, when you traffic in crazy conspiracy theories, don't be surprised when the crazy conspiracy theorists go crazy on you because you didn't give them what you promised. And he's not only trafficked in it, but this has been, you know, part of the way he has stirred that part of his base for years.

53:34And so you're right, they mishandled it. But what hubris to think you were just going to say, we're not talking about it anymore, and that was going to make everybody go away. And I think this is where the realization after this weekend at Turning Point. Turning Point, sorry, Turning Point. I knew it was TP. Yes. I knew it was TP. But then what was Laura Trump talking about today when she suggested that there might be more to come? I think at some point they are going to, whether it be flight logs or whatever else comes out. That's already been out, Fred. But there are other lists. There's a lot of information.

54:08That doesn't have to be his list. There's a lot of information that needs to come out, that could come out. We have covered this story for years, not just this week or last week. And, you know, I'm going to continue to cover it. I mean, I'm sure other stuff is going to take it up. But, like, these women deserve some justice and some closure. Sure, we're all agreed on that. Karen Finney and Mike Dubke. They should bring you back to the White House. Then you could tell them what's what and who's who. I would offer all of this advice. Here it is, free. They don't even have to pay you. I had to hear that suggestion today from Laura Trump, President Trump's daughter-in-law, that there is probably more to come.

54:45Does she know what she's talking about? And we will speak to the head of NATO about other issues, such as President Trump's new tone on Russia and weapons to Ukraine and a new deadline for Vladimir Putin. Stay with us.

55:03I don't know what truly exists there, but I know that this is something that's important to the president as well. I believe that there will probably be more coming on this. President Trump's daughter-in-law, Laura Trump, saying today that the Trump administration might release more information related to convicted pedophile and sexual trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Not sure if that's actually the plan, though. Sources tell CNN that the number two top official at the FBI, Dan Bongino, did return to work today. It's notable because he did not show up at the office on Friday amid this fallout with U.S.

55:36Attorney General Pam Bondi over her handling of the investigation and refusal to disclose more information. Let's bring in the former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, as well as CNN Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. Evan, Bongino's appearance at work today is one thing, but his long-term future as FBI deputy director, that remains uncertain, yes? Yeah, I think uncertain, perhaps unlikely, Jake. I think everyone, including at the FBI and the Justice Department, thinks that this is not tenable long-term. You can't have the deputy FBI director basically being insubordinate to his boss, who is the attorney general.

56:16And in the end, you know, someone pointed out an attorney general is expensive, right, for an administration. The amount of political capital that goes into getting an attorney general confirmed, especially with Tom Tillis, you know, now where he's at politically, as you pointed out in your interview with him, you know, it makes it a lot more difficult for you to replace Pam Bondi than for you to replace Dan Bongino, who is not in a Senate-confirmed job. So for those basic reasons, people at the Justice Department and at the FBI believe that Bongino is going to leave at some point, perhaps after this dies down, after a few days or weeks.

57:04And Andy McCabe, I mean, is this tenable at all as a former deputy director of the FBI? First of all, is it not just stunning on its face that we know that the deputy FBI director is mad at the attorney general for how she has not released more information related to this? I mean, I've never known anything like that about any other deputy FBI director and attorney general. Of course you haven't. Right. This has never happened to this level before. I can tell you, Jake, I worked for a lot of attorneys general, full attorneys general, acting attorneys general. the idea that as deputy director, I would go into the White House and get into a shouting match with one of them in front of the president's chief of staff.

57:43I would have left the White House expecting to be fired before I got back to my office. I'm kind of shocked that that hasn't happened yet. Men and women in the FBI are standing back and looking at this. First of all, they're embarrassed. They don't like this kind of controversy about their organization. And to have their deputy director engaged in something that is really clearly insubordinate, in the least case disrespectful, it's really head spinning. So you and I were talking about this at the commercial, like the Epstein case has stunk from the very beginning, from the moment that Palm Beach law enforcement came in with a search warrant and they'd been tipped off by somebody, probably somebody in the state attorney's office or the U.S.

58:25attorney's office, who knows, but that the warrant was coming and they'd already stolen computers. I mean, this is a well-connected guy, and the fix has been in from the very beginning. But there is stuff that the FBI could do to release information that could at least satisfy those of us, like me, presumably like you, who do care about this story. You know, to be clear, I'm sure there's information in that file that they can't release. 60-persected material, Privacy Act material, material from sources. The names of victims who don't want to be named. Yes. Of course. that sort of thing. But they could go through that material.

58:59They could redact out that information and they could explain their redactions, explain why they're releasing things when they are to try to be as transparent as possible. The problem is they've backed themselves into such a corner by fanning the flames of the conspiracy theories that I think it's unlikely that those folks who believe those conspiracies will ever accept anything they say about it. And Evan, there's so much about Epstein that's still secret. For example, the investigation over his death, his autopsy, those were never made public. We had Julie Brown on the show earlier, the Miami Herald reporter, who's won a lot of awards for her coverage of this.

59:38And she notes that the family's forensic pathologist did not believe that he committed suicide. Why not release this is it even possible that there are other people that could be charged in this case? So you know that's actually a very good question. That last part is something that I asked over the weekend, Jake, because you know obviously this is coming to a head and you know one way to resolve this is to you know I thought maybe someone at the Justice Department or at the FBI would say look we're going to take another look and see if there's any other crimes that could be prosecuted and I was told no.

1:00:13There is nothing else. There is nothing in these files that remain under seal, that remain not public, that indicates a prosecutable case against anyone. And so that's what I was told is part of the reason why, you know, if you have information and, for example, people's names are in these files, right? People who were clients of Epstein's financial clients, right? These are people who he helped invest their money and so on. You know, the question is, is it fair for their names to be put out there when they're not being accused of crimes? They're not being associated with some of the horrible crimes that Epstein committed, right?

1:00:59And so that's part of the consideration that is going on inside the Justice Department and lawyers and so on. And, you know, so that's a hugely important thing that I think will continue, though, to reverberate in this case, Jake, because you're asking the right question, which is, you know, what about these other people, right, who were on his plane, who went to the island and so on? And the Justice Department is kind of caught in a place where they believe that there's no more information they can release without doing other damage. All right. Evan Pettis, Andrew McCabe, thanks to both of you.

1:01:33Coming up, a deadline quickly approaching for a group of Afghan nationals while the Trump administration wants them out of the United States, despite the fact that so many of them risk their own lives to help American service members during the Afghanistan war.

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1:02:50In our national lead, as of one minute before midnight tonight, the lives of thousands of Afghans living in the United States could become more uncertain and more endangered. They came here to get away from the Taliban. But as CNN's Diane Gallagher explains, the Trump administration is ending what is called their temporary protected status. Just west of Charlotte, the spices of Kabul drift out of SB Afghan Market and Kitchen. We have these from Afghanistan. For decorated former interpreters Zia Ghafouri and Behros Mohman, this is their American dream. Over here, it's a land of opportunity. Now U.S.

1:03:32citizens, they've worked to help hundreds of other Afghan allies and their families with resettlement through their non-profit, the Interpreting Freedom Foundation. We have to keep our promises that we made, and we need to help those who help us. But today, the Trump administration's rapidly changing immigration policies are making the IFF mission feel impossible. It's a big chaos right now. New refugee admissions paused indefinitely, leaving Afghans overseas in limbo. Special immigrant visas for interpreters and allies are still being processed, but their resettlement support programs have been suspended, altered or eliminated.

1:04:10And many legal avenues for Afghans already here are stalled or ending, including temporary protected status on July 14th. In her termination explanation, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem cited notable improvements in the security and economic situation in Afghanistan. DHS says the situation in Afghanistan has improved. Has it? No, that's funny. That's really, really funny. Last month, President Trump included Afghanistan in his new travel ban, citing security concerns. I'm scared for myself. I'm scared for my family. We spoke with Afghan refugees who fear retribution, both back home and here, so we're protecting their identities.

1:04:51Mohamed, a former Afghan commando with temporary status who worked with the U.S., began to worry in April that his family would be deported after DHS sent an email saying, it is time for you to leave the United States. They want to deportation us to Afghanistan. We can go to Afghanistan. They say, OK, you work with the U.S. government for a long time. And then they kill us. They kill our family. It was not a legal order, but it went out to thousands. An Afghan Christian who says he was tortured by the Taliban for his faith got one too. If I go back to Afghanistan, it is like I sign my suicide mission.

1:05:28In a statement, DHS pointed out TPS is supposed to be temporary and noted, quote, anyone who was here on temporary protected status can still apply for asylum and other programs. As more aggressive immigration enforcement tactics play out across the country, legal cases are backlogged for years. JOSEPH MAHMAD, President of the United States, Some of them, they can't even step out of their house right now to go grocery shopping, because they think that the ice is waiting there for them. And as soon as they go out, they will grab them and deport them. BERUZ MOHAMMAD AND ZIA GRAFOURI. In his first term, President Trump mentioned Mohman Angafouri by name at a Medal of Honor ceremony.

1:06:06Last year, believing his tough talk about the way the U.S. left Afghanistan would mean better treatment for Afghan refugees, they say they voted for Trump. We did have the assumption that when President Trump becomes the president, he might make this process even faster. He might even give more support to Afghan interpreters. They still want to believe that if the president hears their pleas... Our president, Donald J. Trump, please help our Afghan allies. ... maybe he'll reverse course. I want U.S. government to fix this. You know, you promised. Stand on your promise. Diane Gallagher, CNN, Charlotte.

1:06:47Our thanks to CNN's Diane Gallagher for that report. The Department of Homeland Security added there are Afghan nationals with TPS who have been investigated for fraud, public safety, and national security. DHS did not offer us any examples. The IFF and some veteran groups have offered to help with vetting if needed. Over the weekend, President Trump launched a brand-new round of tariffs on countries, 30 percent on Mexico, another 30 percent on the European Union, How small businesses here in the U.S. are dealing with Trump's tariff tactics, we'll ask in our Business Leaders series. That's next.

1:07:28Back now with our Small Business Leaders series, where we speak with small business owners from coast to coast about the impact of President Trump's tariffs and threats of tariffs on their businesses. Village Lighting in Salt Lake City, Utah, specializes in holiday lights and displays, everything from remotely controlled decorative lights to storage solutions to keep lights and artificial Christmas trees safe and dust free for the rest of the year. Jared Hendricks started the company more than 20 years ago. Jared, thanks for joining us. First of all, tell us more about Village Lighting and how the president's tariffs and threats of more tariffs are affecting your business, if they are.

1:08:07they are very much affecting our business i've been doing this for a long time as you mentioned over 20 years and this is the hardest year by far we specialize as you mentioned in christmas we do christmas um in a very quick time frame so we do most of our sales happen in three months and so when you start talking about um tariffs and in issues like that it really hits us hard because we have a very small window of time to make our entire year worth of revenue. And in this case, where we have placed orders a year in advance for our product to start production and then to go through the production process and move into shipping, we don't have room to absorb any additional fees.

1:08:50And so for those of you who, I would hope by now everyone understands what the tariff situation is, but basically if you hear some kind of tweet or message from Washington that says China has a 30 that will pay a 30 % tariff. That is not true. They don't pay that. It comes to us, the importers. In fact, when those letters and tweets go out, I could guarantee you that there's tens of thousands of small businesses in the USA who are having a very bad day because what that means is they're trying to figure out how to pay for their payroll, how to keep the lights on and how to keep the business going because their cash flow has just been hijacked by a new tax that wasn't in the budget.

1:09:30So there's many layers of complexity, but boy, this unexpected cost, the uncertainty, the cash flow problems where you have to pay for it up front, not to mention all of the other logistical ripple effect it has, extremely difficult for businesses like mine. So what have you done to keep up with your cash flow needs? So in my case, because we do bring everything over in such a short, compressed timeline for short compressed sales cycle, I honestly didn't have enough resources to pay the tariffs. So I've had to leverage loans against my home or a loan against my home. I will be going into debt to pay for a fairly substantial tariff bill.

1:10:12Of course, I don't have the margins. We don't function on margins to cover this particular tariff bill. And so I'm going to have to figure out a way to pay that loan back. It's leveraged against my house. My wife very much wants me to pay it back. So I'm going to try. And the only way we can pay it back is to pass those costs forward and to cut costs anywhere we can in our own organization. Have you raised prices? We are in the process of raising prices. We've got them all mapped out. However, However, because of the uncertainty of the next times up phase of the tariff situation, we are going to wait and see what happens.

1:10:52Anything can happen in the next 30 days and it's extremely uncertain, extremely troubling. We want to make sure that we raise the prices to the correct amount because it will greatly affect our season. So we're just letting things unfold a little more and then we'll move forward with the change. Utah is a pretty pro-Trump state. Are people in Utah mad at the president at all for any of this? Anyone I talk to sure are concerned, especially when they hear my story. And earlier when I was talking about how tariffs work, I try to just mention it as often as I can. I still feel like people don't understand what tariffs are and that somehow they believe the messaging that the country pays for it.

1:11:38So as I talk to people, they very much will become frustrated. And I'm seeing in my very republic state more and more frustration with Trump, certainly. All right. Again, Village Lighting. It's in Salt Lake City. It's also as close as your phone or your computer. Village Lighting, all one word, VillageLighting.com. VillageLighting.com. Jared Hendricks, thanks so much for joining us today. If someone had to sum up your character in one sentence, what would it be? what one historian made of the qualities of modern-day U.S. presidents and character and the importance of character, next.

1:12:24In our Worldly Today, President Trump rolled out a new U.S. approach for him to Russia's brutal war on Ukraine, in addition to threatening another round of punishing tariffs on Russia if Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn't reach a peace deal in 50 days. Trump also announced a new arrangement to get U.S. weapons into the hands of Ukrainian troops. Listen to President Trump this afternoon. We had a great meeting with NATO, the secretary general, and we're going to do something a little different for this country. We're going to supply weapons to NATO at a large amount. They're going to deliver the weapons and they're going to pay for 100 percent of the weapons.

1:13:04Back on the lead right now, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte. Mark Rutte, Secretary General Rutte, thanks so much for joining us. So, NATO doesn't have a centralized bank account, but Trump says you're going to pay for 100 % of the weapons. Is that right? How's that going to work? Quite simple. So, European allies will buy from the defense industrial base in the U.S. That can be Patriot systems or missiles or ammunition. And then we will make sure that the U.S. will be reimbursed for whatever European allies are buying. So Trump says Putin has 50 days to make a peace deal or face these punishing trade consequences.

1:13:40Why do you think Trump's giving Putin 50 days? I mean, this war has now been going on for years. Why not just impose the economic punishments? Now, you may know in the U.S. Senate there's a bill supported by 85 senators to sanction Russia. Yes, I will have dinner after this with Senator Graham of Blumenthal and others who are working on that bill. But I think what President Trump announced today is a real smart way to move forward. Because what it basically says to India, to China, and to Brazil, so countries still buying from Russia, hey, pick up the phone, call Vladimir Putin, and tell him he has got to get serious on peace negotiations.

1:14:16And if he doesn't, then we will be targeted, of course, Russia itself, but also all these countries still buying from Russia. So I think it is a very smart move. So you just praised President Trump. You've given him a lot of credit for getting NATO allies to spend more on defense. Credit he without question deserves from the first term and the second. But last month you had some criticism because some flattering texts that you wrote to the president that he shared to everybody were released. You appeared to call them daddy, daddy's home or something about like about time to get serious. I said to get serious about Iran and Israel.

1:14:56And I said sometimes daddy has to be tough. And I should have said the grown up in the room or father. But the good thing about President Trump is that he then immediately, coming back into the U.S., made this video, Daddy is Home. And this is also not for reasons why I like the man. He has that humor and that light touch, which is great to work with him. Do you think it's also important to be flattering to him that it serves... Your job is to keep NATO together and is the strongest military alliance in the history of the world. Do you really care if you get criticized for what you need to do in order to keep it?

1:15:32I'm a politician for many years now. I was for 14 years prime minister of the Netherlands. I can assure you Dutch politics is brutal. You get your criticism. I don't care, but here it is rightly deserved because Trump 45 was really pushing allies to spend more. He was successful. Now Trump 45 has led to a trillion extra spend in Europe. And now Trump 47 got the eight countries not yet on the old 2 % to move to the 2%. And the outcome of the The Hague summit is historic. Europeans stepping up, being able collectively with the US to defend ourselves against the Russians. So he deserves this. So this is not thinking, oh, I need to flatter somebody.

1:16:10No, this is when somebody is doing great stuff, why not say so? So last time we spoke, you said you didn't think President Trump trusted Putin too much. But here's what President Trump said today. We thought we had four deals, Howard, right, with Putin. Somehow they end and we get off the phone. Oh, that was a very nice conversation. And then he sends missiles into buildings someplace. I said, what was that all about? Now this comes a few days after Trump accused Putin of peddling quote bullshit last week It sounds like Trump is admitting that He did trust Putin too much or at least Putin is is full of crap I mean, that's what he's saying.

1:16:51Well, I see it like this President Trump became president again in January He picked up the phone on the 12th of February for the first time to cool to call Putin He was the one who had to do this. This was breaking the deadlock testing Putin whether he was serious And then he got the Russians to Istanbul in May for the first round of talks with the Ukrainians. But clearly, the Ukrainians sending a senior team. Russia was sending a junior team with some historian leading the team discussing the history of Ukraine and Russia since 1950. So not really seriously taking these talks. And then there was the sixth phone call now 10 days ago, followed up by 700 drones into Kiev and many missiles.

1:17:31So what he has been doing is really testing the waters and this is what the American president has to do And now he came to the conclusion. Okay, that phase is now over We will do more in terms of weapon delivers into Ukraine We will do more in terms of sanctions and in tariffs on countries still trading with Russia I think this is exactly what you expect them to do. Ukraine says it needs 10 new Patriot missile systems Do you think that target can be met and and how soon by the end of the year? Well, this is step by step. So today Boris Pistorius, the German defense minister, was here having talks with Pete Hexat, the defense secretary, secretary of defense.

1:18:08And by the way, Germany now more than doubling its defense spending in only a couple of years. So this is also evidence of Europe stepping up, taking the outcome of the The Hague summit serious. But when it comes to the Patriot systems, but also when it comes to ammunition and missiles, we will work on this from now on, every hour, making sure that the stuff gets into Ukraine. But of course we know it's not only patriots. It is also Patriots against ballistic missiles you also need to air defense systems against cruise missiles So this is really discussing everything the US can still deliver without hurting the defense of the US itself Native Secretary-General Mark Rutte.

1:18:44It's always great to have you here. Thank you so much to be on the program Thank you good to see you sir. We'll be right back

1:18:54And our politics lead, grace, resilience, optimism, humility, giving back, doing good, doing what's right. Depending on your political persuasion, those are qualities you may or may not attribute to the current resident of the White House or the previous resident of the White House. But a new book argues those qualities do apply to some former occupants. Joining me is Mark Updegrove, president of the Lyndon Johnson Foundation and author of the new book, Make Your Mark, Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents. So it's so cool, you interviewed all seven of these presidents, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Bush, Clinton, Obama, and the underlining theme of the book is character, and how each president tried to find the very best of himself in the White House, usually in times of a crisis?

1:19:40Well, generally speaking, there's a major pillar of their legacy that speaks to a certain character trait. And a perfect example is Gerald Ford doing what's right. Pardoning Nixon was politically expensive for him, but he did it to heal the nation. It cost him the election probably to Jimmy Carter in 1976, but he knew that was the right thing to do. So that underlies a major portion of his legacy. You describe Reagan as an optimist and how he changed the dynamic of the Cold War and restored the nation's battered confidence after the Iran hostage crisis and the 70s, the economic challenges of the 70s.

1:20:15How was he able to make that turnaround? You know, part of it's the dynamic that he had with Mikhail Gorbachev. And interestingly enough, you know, Reagan was a product of Hollywood. So he could play the role of president really brilliantly. And I think he made us believe in our country again by playing the president. and instilling the notion that we could be better. But that relationship with Gorbachev, I think, made all the difference in the turnaround in the Cold War dynamic. And part of that was humor. He used humor frequently, not only with Gorbachev, but with others. And it was sort of the elixir of an optimist.

1:20:50So you use the word resilience when you're talking about Clinton, Bill Clinton. Although, obviously, many of the obstacles he faced, he'd put there. Right? I mean, there was self-inflicted wounds. But you also note that he was rarely bitter. How did he make his mark, do you think? You know, I think it's by the longest sustained period of economic growth in American history. And he did that by putting his nose to the grindstone. Every time there was great scrutiny or great controversy around his presidency, he showed the American people that he was working for them. And it speaks volumes that after the impeachment, the Monica Lewinsky impeachment, Jake, his approval rating was at an all-time high of 73 percent.

1:21:34The American people said, look, we know this guy has character flaws, but we can see him working for us. And the proof is in the economy. He's creating opportunity. When he left the White House, he had the highest approval rating of any outgoing president in modern history, 64 percent. And grace is how you describe President Obama. And there's this great story in the book that I remember. There's the photograph right there. That's five-year-old Jacob Philadelphia in the Oval Office after asking the president, is your hair like mine? Obama invites the young boy to touch his head. I believe Pete Souza took that picture.

1:22:06That was up at the White House. I just know from being White House correspondent during Obama's first term, that was up in the halls there. Explain the significance of that moment. You know, that was about three months after he came in as the first African-American president. It's a big moment in history. And there was an outgoing, there was an outgoing member of his security council, and they were getting the requisite photo and visit with the president. And as you said, this young kid asked, is your hair like mine? President Obama answered by bending over at 90 degrees and saying, feel for yourself.

1:22:37And the kid felt his hair. And you know, there was great symbolism in that. You know, that there were so many people in this country who could not relate to the occupants of the Oval Office. And then there's the first African-American for a young kid like this, see it hair like the president that spoke volumes about the significance of Barack Obama. So you're one of the few people I know who's interviewed all seven presidents that are in the book. Again, Ford, Carter, Reagan, both Bushes, Clinton, Obama. I only had one Bush, Clinton, Obama, not to mention the last two guys. But is there one thing that they all have in common?

1:23:09I mean, is there any sense of charisma or anything that you could detect from all seven of them? Or are they just all completely different? Not a lot of commonality. But the one thing I would say, Jake, is they passed the most important test. They loved our country. They put its interests above their own, and they did their best. And I don't think we can ask a whole lot more from the occupant of the Oval Office than that, than those things. They did them. Some succeeded more than others. Some will get more vaunted places in history. None probably belong in the presidential pantheon with Washington and Lincoln and FDR, but they did make their mark in significant get ways.

1:23:47Again, the book is Make Your Mark, Lessons in Character from Seven Presidents. Mark Optigrove, thanks so much. Great to have you here in studio. Say hi to everybody back in Austin for me. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, ThreadsX, and on the TikTok at Jiktap. You can follow the show on X at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show once you get your podcasts. Aaron Burnett, Outfront, starts now. Handing it over to you a little early, Aaron. Have a good show.

1:24:16Thank you.

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