Status Of Diplomatic Talks Uncertain Amid Trump’s Shifting Goals

26:15Thank you so much for being here, Mr. Mayor. Let's talk about some issues that are very important to voters here in California and ones that people out there care about as well, like affordability when it comes to housing, the housing crisis. A lot of people in California can't afford to live in the city where they work. Now, you say in San Jose you helped solve this problem by eliminating red tape and expediting permitting. Another problem in the state, as you know, is how much private equity firms and corporations are buying up real estate. And then what they do is they hike rents so they can maximize profits.

26:49They evict tenants or they refuse to do repairs so the tenants have to leave. Would you support legislation to limit corporate or private equity ownership of housing in California? it? Jake, thanks for having me on and for the question. The short answer is yes, I would. But let me just say that the reason I got into this race is because Undecided has been beating everybody. Voters have not heard from these Democratic candidates what they'll do to make people's lives better. And in San Jose, we have led the way in building new housing by getting government out of the way. The truth is our environmental regulations, long permitting times, high fees have become a barrier to the very thing we most need, which is housing that is affordable to working people.

27:30And by being willing to change policies when they aren't working, San Jose has led the way on housing affordability, public safety, homelessness. And I just felt voters deserved a real option, a reformed candidate who's willing to hold Sacramento accountable for better policy. Another problem when it comes to building affordable housing is NIMBY. People love the idea of affordable housing, just not near them. How do you handle that? That's right. Well, look, Look, environmental laws should not be abused to allow endless lawsuits. If you've gone through a public process and already zoned land to say this is where we want housing, it needs to be fast.

28:09Part of my housing plan on mayhenforcalifornia.com includes streamlined permitting. We should be using AI to take all of the guesswork out of permitting, setting strict deadlines where cities are held accountable for a yes or no within 30 days. We can do better, but it requires us to shake up the status quo in Sacramento and say no to some of our friends in the Democratic Party who have, frankly, imposed regulations that aren't working in practice anymore. Another big problem here in California, this is a big problem across the country, is gas prices because of the war in Iran and other factors.

28:42But the prices here are crazy because there's a 61 cent per gallon state tax on gas. And as you know, gas taxes are regressive. They actually hit working people harder because they have to travel farther to get there or they're involved in trucking or moving, which are not, you know, wealthy pursuits. That's right. Now, you have called for a temporary gas tax suspension. My question is, why temporary? Why not replace this regressive tax with one that, for instance, taxes a lot of the rich people in San Jose? Jake, I'm the only Democrat in this race who has called for a suspension of the gas tax.

29:19And I suspect that's because I grew up in a small farming town. My family was paycheck to paycheck growing up. I know what it means when gas prices go up by a dollar a gallon. That means a real tradeoff between paying rent, putting food on the table, being able to gas up the car to get to work. But why not get rid of it altogether? Look, I think we need to phase it out in favor of a fairer flat fee. That means that EV owners and wealthier communities are paying for the roads they're driving on. And we're not shifting that burden to working people. So you're right. But look, this is like a natural disaster.

29:50It's a man-made disaster. Trump's war in Iran has led to higher gas prices that are hurting people today. We should start by immediately suspending the gas tax to provide relief to the people who need it most. And then you're absolutely right. We should restructure this gas tax so that it's not a tax on working people. And we can do that. But people deserve immediate relief today. So here's the horse race question I told you would come. You jumped into the governor's race in January, pretty late, considering the primaries coming up June, June 2nd. I've seen a number of polls among likely voters.

30:21Your numbers aren't great right now. The UC Berkeley Citron Center for Public Opinion Research political poll has you at 3 percent. There is no clear leader in the race. But if you look at some of the top candidates, it seems entirely possible. If you look at, where is it, Steve Hilton and then Chad Bianco, he's there at 11 percent. But it is possible that it's going to be two Republicans as the candidates last two standing. Not necessarily, but possible. Are you in it till June 2nd? Like, what happens if it's like a month out and you're still at 3 %? No, I'm in it. And the reason I jumped in was because voters were not excited about what the other Democrats in the race were offering.

31:05They've all been in the race for a year. They're offering more of the same. They're saying their top priority is more taxes. just make government bigger? I say no to that. It is time to make government better and demand more from our political leaders in Sacramento before we ask people to pay more. That's the approach I've taken in San Jose. We have led the state by reducing crime by over 20 percent. We became the safest big city in the country, the only big city to solve 100 percent of homicides. We've reduced homelessness faster than other cities, brought thousands of people indoors, gotten thousands of new homes under construction, not by raising taxes, by looking at our policies and saying, if they aren't working, we need to change them, even if it upsets a highly organized interest groups that's part of the Democratic Party coalition, so be it.

31:53Our job is to serve the people and deliver better results in people's lives. After eight years of Gavin Newsom, what grade would you give him as governor? Frankly, not high. On the big issues, on housing affordability, energy affordability, public safety, homelessness. I think the governor has had some of the right ideas, but we have moved too slowly. We have not been willing to challenge Sacramento, especially this legislature, to impose policies that actually bring down the cost of living for people. Is that a C? Is that a D? Yeah, probably in the C range, but it's less about a letter grade, to be honest with you.

32:30It's issue by issue. We should be getting people into treatment who are currently dying on our streets, building out shelter capacity, removing barriers to building housing. We aren't moving fast enough or with the urgency that Californians deserve. And that's why I jumped in this race, because we don't need more of the same. We also don't need more MAGA. We need somebody who's focused on solving problems. And as the only mayor in this race, I've actually been held accountable for delivering results in people's daily lives. San Jose Mayor and Democratic candidate for governor of California, Matt Mahan, thank you so much for being here.

33:04Really appreciate it. Thanks, Rob. Can a Republican actually end up flipping this state red? Is it going to possibly be two Republicans facing off? Well, not if Mayor Mahan has anything to say about it. We're going to talk about it with two California insiders coming up.

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33:52And we're back with our politics lead, And we're going to continue to focus on the race for governor of California. And who better to discuss this with than CNN anchor Alex Michelson and CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, both of whom live here in Los Angeles. Alex, as I don't need to tell you, right now, several polls show the top five candidates for governor in California include two Republicans who are running. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, who's facing some legal challenges after he seized more than half a million ballots from the state's 2025 election to investigate an alleged processing discrepancy.

34:28And then, of course, there's Steve Hilton, a Fox contributor and former strategist in UK politics. Overall, there's no clear leader in the race among the Democrats, but it seems entirely possible that the jungle primary, the way they do things here is the top two vote-getters, whatever party, face off against each other so you could have two Democrats or you could have two Republicans. It seems entirely possible they could end up with two Republicans. Yeah, there's a guy named Paul Mitchell who's sort of the leading data scientist. He put together a model to look at these possibilities. He says it's about a 20 % to 25 % chance, which is not zero.

35:04And you think about it, in a state where there are two to one Democrats, the bluest state at the height of the Trump resistance, that there could be two Republicans in the final two and that the Democratic Party could be completely boxed out of leading the biggest, most populous state in the union is a remarkable thing. And it's why the Democratic Party itself is pushing back so hard to try to get some of these guys out of the race. Well, if you look at the Democrats right now, the top three Democrats are Tom Steyer, the billionaire who ran for president before, and then Congressman Eric Swalwell and former Congresswoman Katie Porter.

35:42Ron, at what point will the pressure on everybody not in that first line to get out of the race so as to increase Democratic support for some of these Democratic companies? At what point will that happen? It's growing. And there's also going to be pressure on party leaders to endorse, to kind of put a hand on the shoulder of somebody, whether it's Nancy Pelosi or Alex Padilla or even Gavin Newsom. I mean, Gavin Newsom does not want a Republican governor while he is out running for president, who would both be trying to embarrass him every day. And also, you know, it would be it would be a talking point for the right during this whole campaign that, you know, that the state turned against him.

36:20Look, it is possible there will be two Republicans here, but it is threading the eye of a needle. The total Republican vote, as you're saying, is only about 35 percent, 36 percent. So you need two Republicans to split it almost exactly in half and no Democrat get above 18 percent. Now, you look at it today, you say that might happen. But there is some consolidation already happening. Swalwell has won some big endorsements, California teachers, the SEIU. Again, it could happen. But as Alex was saying, maybe about one in five or one in six chance of it happening. And Swalwell might actually get help from Kash Patel, the FBI director who's talking about posting investigatory notes and such, even though he's not been charged with any crime whatsoever.

37:05And that really just puts a target on his back from the Trump administration, which could help him here. It's an in-kind contribution from the Team Trump because Swalwell is running on, I'm going to be the biggest fighter against Donald Trump. And in a state like California, that might work. And to show that the Trump administration is afraid of you and going after you could be a real political win for Eric Swalwell. But you look at that field of even the top folks, and most of the folks in that second tier think that all three of the folks at the top are flawed and have potential political liability.

37:38And they're right. And all of them could fall for different reasons or potential negative stories could potentially bring them down, which is why all these folks, many of whom are running the last campaign of their life and can't really have been swayed, are going that direction. I still think the circuit breaker here is the number you have to get to to get into this race as a Democrat is pretty low. Paul Mitchell, who you cite, you know, basically if any Democrat gets to 20 percent, they are certain, almost certain to be in it. Because, like I said, you have a total Republican vote of like 35, 36, 37.

38:06So the highest that two Republicans could get to would be like 18 or 19 percent. Now, could that happen? Yes. But I think if there is a real risk of it, the pressure would not only be on the lower tier candidates to drop out, it'll be on the party leaders to send a clear signal to voters with endorsements. So the Iran war is not the only priority on President Trump's mind. We should note last night on Air Force One, minutes after talking about Iran, Trump showed off several of the latest renderings of the White House ballroom. He mentioned that it's what will be built underneath it. Let's take a listen.

38:43The military is building a big complex under the ballroom, which has come out recently because of a stupid lawsuit that was filed. And the ballroom essentially becomes a shed for what's being built under the military, including from drones. I mean, I know that he's a real estate guy, but at a certain point, like, people are losing their lives. And he's holding up pictures. And even though this is like a second order, I mean, two-thirds of the country say he is not focusing enough on what they elected him to do to begin with, which is, you know, deal with their cost of living and make their lives more affordable.

39:20The war itself is seen by most voters as a distraction from that. And then even on the war, he is kind of, you know, talking about his ballroom and his bunker and tearing down the East Wing. I mean, this is a real issue that, you know, he was elected above all, clearly, to deal with people's cost of living. And so many voters see him as dealing with anything, anything else, including his own personal interests. Thanks to both of you. Alex Michelson, of course, is going to have much more tonight on his show. It's called The Story Is with Alex Michelson. You can look at that at midnight Eastern or here in California.

39:53It's at 9 p.m. Pacific right here on CNN. Come up next to hear how the White House today explained why it's letting Russia, of all countries, send oil tankers to Cuba.

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40:41Cuba's going to be next. Cuba's going to be, Cuba's a mess. It's a failing country. And they're going to be next. Cuba, they're going to be next. That's a warning from President Trump last night. What exactly the president means by that is anyone's guess, although coming after Venezuela and Iran sure seems suggestive. The president also told reporters last night that he would not oppose Russia from sending Cuba oil shipments. Today, reporters tried to press White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt about this. To clarify, why was the administration okay with Russia sending that oil to Cuba and not other nations?

41:20Look, again, this was a decision. It'll continue to be made on a case-by-case basis for humanitarian reasons or otherwise, but there's been no firm change in our sanctions policy. In this case, it's Trump giving Putin a pass and letting a Russian-flagged oil tanker with more than 700 ,000 barrels of oil reportedly reach Cuba. today as an energy crisis on that island deepens. CNN's Patrick Ottman is in Cuba. Patrick, all of this oil drama is playing out as you've conducted a fascinating new interview.

41:52Thank you so much, Jake. Yes, a member of the Castro family, the influencer, grandson of Fidel Castro, is one of the most vocal and public members of this family, decided to sit down with us. And he says, never mind about communism. We actually would welcome, he says, speaking for himself, deal with Donald Trump. I don't like his threats, is what he told me. But if he opens up the island, if he improves the economy here, then it could all work out for the best. And so let's just listen to this conversation, which was more than a little surprising. What would your grandfather, Fidel Castro, say that you're more capitalist than communist?

42:32My grandfather was a person who had his principles like everyone else. But he also respected others' opinions. That's my way of thinking. But all the capitalists had to leave Cuba. There are many people in Cuba that think in a capitalistic way. There are many people here who want to have capitalism with sovereignty.

42:54And so, you know, it's interesting to hear that because, of course, the Cuban government has said their official statements have been that they won't accept the U.S. telling them how to change their economy in their country. But then you have a member, you know, of the black sheep, definitely, of the most famous family on this island saying, you know, we are now welcome in capitalism. We are willing to make a deal. But, of course, we still have to be in control of our country. All right, Patrick Oppmann, thanks so much.

43:27Welcome to the lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, the Trump administration says its military operation in Iran is going according to plan. No changes will be made to its four to six week timeline. We're in week five right now. So why send thousands of US troops to the region, as the president is currently thinking about doing? We're going to go live to the White House. Plus, the Epstein files. Millions of documents have been released to the public, but millions more have not been released. We're going to talk to the top Republican in the Oversight Committee about the next steps to hold the Justice Department accountable.

43:58Also, the controversial influencer dividing Democrats. That's some critics call him anti-American, anti-woman, anti-Western, anti-Semitic. So why are so many other Democrats lining up to campaign with him? And talk about a comeback, the major announcement today from legendary singer Celine Dion made on her birthday.

44:21The lead tonight, mixed messages. As the White House touts diplomatic efforts to end the war in Iran, the president is claiming that the U.S. is having, quote, serious discussions, unquote, with a, quote, new and more reasonable regime in Tehran. Comments that Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson seemed to dispute at a press conference. He said, quote, we have had no direct negotiations with the United States so far. Direct negotiations doing a lot of work in that computation. President Trump also threatening to completely obliterate Iran's electric plants and oil wells and desalination plants if a deal to end the blockade and reopen the Strait of Hormuz is not quickly reached.

45:00The Strait of Hormuz is obviously the body of water through which 20 % of the world's oil reserves passes through each day before the war started. Iran may have just thrown a wrench into hopes for a quick deal, however. Its Parliamentary Security Commission just approved a plan to regulate and impose tolls on ships passing through the strait while continuing to prohibit U.S. and Israeli ships from passing through. Iran state media says that toll plan is to enforce, quote, Iran's sovereign role in that of its armed forces. It all pushed oil prices higher today. U.S. crude rising to$102 a barrel.

45:34That's the highest level since 2022. CNN's Caitlin Coyons live at the White House for us. Caitlin, did today's White House briefing provide any information about when the White House thinks this conflict might be brought to a close? No, Jake, they've still been maintaining that timeline of four to six weeks. As you noted, week six would come next week for the White House, and it remains to be seen how exactly this is going to look by then. The White House has been giving them some extra time potentially, especially as the president has been touting these talks that are playing out. And one thing they touted today, Jake, were the number of ships that did make it through the Strait of Hormuz.

46:08But as you noted, given what Iran has just done with the toll that it says it is now going to be imposing on this, we haven't yet heard President Trump weigh in on that. And it comes after his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said over the weekend that they do not see this war ending with Iran still having control over the Strait of Hormuz. Obviously, you've seen that they have wielded it to great effect here. And it mirrors an answer that the president told me last week when I asked him who he wants to control the Strait of Hormuz. And he said, potentially me. And the quote was maybe me and the Ayatollah.

46:40And so all that has raised questions about what's next here, Jake, as the president has been touting the status of these talks that Iranians have been disputing in public. Something that the White House has said they're going to do that in public. That doesn't mean that's what they're saying in private. But the question about the legitimacy of those talks, how genuine they are, has come as we've seen this true buildup inside the region. And this is what Caroline Levitt, the press secretary, said about that today. Look, the president has been asked about boots on the ground or alleged ground operations various times.

47:13He's obviously declined to rule them out. It's the Pentagon's job to provide maximum optionality to the president. It does not mean he's made a decision, nor would he ever notify the media of such decision as not to tip off our enemy. And obviously, Jake, when you listen to that, you have to think about how there were talks underway with Iranian officials when this war started. of course, last summer when those strikes happened on the nuclear plants as well. And so it does raise questions, as the White House says. Basically, this is just giving him all the options that he has available should these talks not prove to be fruitful or at least sufficient to the president's liking.

47:50Caitlin Collins at the White House. Thanks so much. And of course, Caitlin's going to have more tonight on her show. It's called The Source with Caitlin Collins. Her guests tonight include former CENTCOM commander General Joseph Votel. That's tonight at 9 Eastern, only on CNN. Joining us now to discuss CNN national security analyst Alex Plitsis and global affairs journalist Tara Kangarlou. She's the author of a book called Heartbeat of Iran. Alex, President Trump today threatened to, quote, obliterate Iran's electric plants, oil wells, even desalination plants. Not sure if that's allowed under international law.

48:23This is if a ceasefire deal is not reached soon. What do you make of this escalation of threats? Is he running out of cards, as it were? I think he's running out of time and patience. It's pretty clear with the status of the oil trade coming through, as you mentioned, there's a few boats that have made it through. We're nowhere near the volume that's necessary. We've had about 7 million barrels that have been redirected through a pipeline to the Red Sea, but it doesn't make up for the 20 million barrels of the day that usually come out of the strait. And so it's a ticking clock at this point until the economic pressure will force him to take additional action.

48:55So it's additional pressure on the regime. They still have not agreed to an in-person meeting at this point. It's been indirect negotiations, as you were talking about previously. And so we're going to see where this lands in the next week or so. And at that point, additional action may be necessary. Secretary of State Rubio was asked about the discussions the president says are happening with Iran's, quote, new and more reasonable regime. Take a listen to Secretary of State Rubio. Well, I'm not going to disclose to you who those people are because it probably would get them in trouble with some other groups of people inside of Iran.

49:24And if there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future, that would be good news for us, for them, for the entire world. Tara, yesterday the president suggested that because so many of Iran's top leaders have been killed, that regime change has already been achieved. What do you think? Has there been regime change in Iran? Do you have any idea with whom the administration is speaking with? jake there's a lot of unknowns right now but a few things are crystal clear and what we know so far is that the iranian regime has evolved into a more hardline rabid and confrontational version of what they were and by that i mean of course we haven't yet seen him or heard from him that being the son of the supreme leader mosheb al-khamenei who is closely embedded with the IRGC with the Revolutionary Guard.

50:16And of course, the man whose name has been thrown around, Mohamed Bagher Khalibov, the Speaker of the Parliament, he himself has extremely close political but also intelligence and militarily ties to the IRGC. And if at all we have a situation where this regime stays intact as is, it's going to be even more hardline than what it was before. So the idea of regime change and having more reasonable people in this current government is quite absurd. Because, again, for anyone who knows the Islamic regime, you can tell that easily it's the IRGC intelligence that's controlling the country. And that itself is to the detriment of 90 million ordinary Iranians who have over and over and over come out on the streets with empty hands telling the world that we want to move beyond the regime.

51:07The president, Jake, went in more ways than one into this conflict with the promise of help for ordinary Iranians. And right now we're left with a situation that possibly, just possibly, when that war ends, we're going to have a situation where the United States went into Afghanistan to remove the Taliban, but ultimately left the Afghan people with the Taliban. And that is the situation the day after for the Iranian people if this regime, again, in its most hotline form, will remain intact. And those are the people in charge right now. We're showing some new images right now of the damage from Friday's Iranian missile strike that destroyed a U.S.

51:44Air Force E-3 Sentry aircraft on the runway of the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. Alex, what do these images tell you about Iran's continued capabilities? That they only have to be right a couple of times in order to cause some damage. And that's really the danger with the drones, the remaining missiles, and why Central Command is still working their way through targets. So that aircraft that we're looking at there is a couple of hundred million dollars. You know, there's information that intelligence may have been provided by foreign countries for targeting purposes to the Iranians. The Central Command commander has stipulated that we've gone through about 13 ,000 targets.

52:18There's about 3 ,000 left. And that's really what we're talking about with that two-week timeline is for the Central Command forces to continue to move their way through that target deck, which would include the remaining missiles, drones, the Air Force and the Navy. The Air Force was added today in statements by the Secretary of State. And so at the end of that two-week period that should be done and potentially the nuclear program, which is what President Trump said is his number one priority What is not clear though is what the disposition of the Straits of Hormuz is going to be because that is what I'm describing as mission creep That was not part of the original objectives that US Central Command the White House or the Pentagon has laid out And to the point of my fellow panelists here She's 100 % correct at the end of this the president has stipulated he does not want to engage in nation and state building So he'd prefer to work with a member of the existing regime And it looks as though the what sources the region are describing as the Ramadan division folks have sort of taken over Which is Mustafa Hamini's folks that he worked with when he served in the IRGC or the Kudz Force Excuse me the Republican guards the Revolutionary Guard from 87 to 88 at the tail end of the war And the intelligence service has really taken a lot of power Which is why they've been working with the Pakistani and Turkish intelligence services to help bring about a deal to end this And we haven't seen the Gulf states involved And Terry, yesterday in an interview with the Financial Times, President Trump said this about Iran's oil.

53:30Quote, to be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran. But some stupid people back in the U.S. say, why are you doing that? But they're stupid people, unquote. We should note this is not the first time Trump has said something like that. I want you to take a listen to comments he just posted on his social media account. This is from an interview with Barbara Walters back in 1987. Take a listen. Why couldn't we go in and take over some of their oil, which is along the sea? How would you do that? Would you send in the Marines? Would you take a chance in a war? Let them have Iran.

54:04You take their oil. How? How? I mean, do we want a war? What do we mean we take their oil? You go in. How do we go in? You're going to have a war by being weak. So Tara, how do you think that those comments that the president himself just reposted will go over with the people of Iran, although I know the Internet is shut down there, but it's possible that the Iranian government will make sure that that is seen? and can we just say that perhaps history is repeating itself jake you and i both know that iran's oil have long been uh wanted and in ways controlled um in the earlier years of the century by russians and the brits and then 1953 the coup d 'etat that was orchestrated by the cia and the over through the democratically elected um government of muhammad mosadir who wanted to nationalize Iran's oil.

54:56And then 1979 happened, the Islamic Revolution thereafter. Of course, Iran's oil was heavily sanctioned. And today, what we have is a situation where China buys 80 % of Iran's oil at a heavily discounted price. And these tankers go in ghost vessels and circumvent the sanctions and essentially provide China with all the oil it needs at a, again, heavily discounted price. And this is precisely how and why the IRGC has not gone bankrupt over the years. So what I would say is that the route to Iran's oil is not through Tehran, but rather Beijing. And I think this is why it's extremely crucial to look at China's stance in all of this.

55:40And I know for a fact that sources have been talking about how the Pakistani foreign minister and officials may in fact go to China and talk to Chinese officials to discuss ways to end this. But again, going back to what the president said much earlier in the day in the war is it's going to be a venezuela model and again if so we will be left with the crumbles of the islamic regime that are at its most hard line and emboldened form all to the detriment of ordinary people in iran tara and alex thanks to both you appreciate it coming up next here why brandon carr the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, which is supposed to be an independent government agency, says that President Trump is, quote, winning his war against the news media.

56:31International lead FCC Chairman Brendan Carr is openly praising and rooting for President Trump in his war against what he calls the fake news media. Here's what Commissioner Carr said on Friday at the conservative political action conference in Texas. President Trump took on the fake news media and President Trump is winning. Look at the results so far. PBS defunded. NPR defunded. Joy Reid gone from MSNBC. Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd gone. Jim Acosta gone. John Dickerson gone. Colbert is leaving. CBS is under new ownership and soon enough CNN is going to have new ownership as well. Joining us now is Al Sykes.

57:16He's the former FCC commissioner, chairman under President George H.W. Bush. Al, thanks for joining us. What's your reaction to what you heard Brendan Carr say?

57:30It is amusement. You know, that's not the way you judge whether you're winning popularity. popularity, you know, the dismissal of given, you know, newscasters or whatever, you know, you judge popularity by how the polls report on the way that people appreciate or do not appreciate your administration. How did you view your job when you were chairman of the FCC versus how do you think the chairman, Chairman Carr views his job? Because he seems to think, and this is not Not the only thing he talks about. He talks about a lot of other things, including affordability. But when it comes to talking about the media, he talks about fake news.

58:11You heard him insulting Chuck Todd on a personal note. You heard him talking about President Trump winning because of individuals being fired or changing their jobs or shows being canceled. Is that how you viewed your job when you ran the FCC? Absolutely not. And more importantly, that's not the way either President Reagan or President George H.W. Bush would have viewed my job. And had I acted the way Carr acted, I'm sure they would have found a way to quickly get me out of there. Sure, it was an independent agency, but you paid attention to the White House, and the White House believed in free speech.

58:49They believed that it was foundational. And beyond that, to Congress, I mean, I had two oversight committees, one headed by John Diggle and one headed by Fritz Hollins, and I could tell you they would have been all over me. But in this case, you know, we have Ted Cruz criticizing Carr. We have Ron Johnson criticizing Carr. but we don't have the Senate doing anything about Carr or about the appropriations to the FCC. I want you to take a listen to an exchange between Brendan Carr and Democratic Senator Lujan of New Mexico. This is during a Senate oversight hearing last December. Chairman Carr, yes or no, and please yes or no, is the FCC an independent agency?

59:35Senator, thanks for that question. Yes or no is all we need, sir. The FCC is not an independent agency, formally speaking. We should note that I think after he said that, the word independent was taken off the FCC website. It had appeared there. Is the FCC an independent agency? I think the law says it is, but it's certainly not operating that way now. What did you make of the fact that when Stephen Colbert's show was canceled, Paramount, which then owned CBS, said that it was a financial decision. But here you have Brendan Carr taking credit for it, saying that it's because of President Trump's war against the fake news media.

1:00:21Stephen Colbert is obviously not a newsman. He's a comedian. But it's basically suggesting that it was an editorial decision, not a financial decision, which contradicts what Sherry Redstone and Paramount said at the time. Well, I mean, the reality is that the FCC confronts an entirely different broadcast industry than when I was at the FCC. It is shrunken. You know, it is noted now that the broadcast industry has something like 30 percent of the news sourcing, sourcing, whereas all the other news sources, particularly that that is fed digitally, has somewhere in the 70 to 80 percent range. You know, when President Trump makes a pronouncement, he makes it on Truth Social, which is obviously a digital platform.

1:01:14So, you know, my general view is that, yeah, there are going to be changes that are going to be made. I think CBS just decided to cease its radio operation, its national radio news operation. And perhaps that was forced by economics. But I don't think that because Colbert is leaving that necessarily Trump or Carr have won. Al Sykes, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it. Good. Thank you. Still ahead of the unease on one college campus when the Trump administration subpoenaed to get the list of every known Jewish person at the school.

1:02:03International lead apprehension as the University of Pennsylvania has been contacted by the Trump administration, who is trying to get a list of every Jewish person at that school, including their names and their addresses and their phone numbers, all of which the Trump administration says they're doing in the name of fighting anti-Semitism. CNN's Danny Friedman has the story now from Philadelphia. I cannot say I ever imagined that we would be at this moment. For Beth Wenger, that moment came when the federal government said it was seeking lists and personal details of members of the University of Pennsylvania's Jewish community in the name of fighting anti-Semitism.

1:02:48Everyone wants to see a safe campus for Jews and for everyone else, no matter what their identity or background. But as a historian and professor of modern Jewish history for more than 20 years at the Ivy League school, Wenger fears for her own privacy and also understands the risk of repeating history. It is important to understand the resonance of collecting names and personal information of Jews and identifying them as Jews and having the government collect that information. It's very concerning to me as someone who is Jewish, and it's concerning to me as a member of the university community.

1:03:32In late 2023, in the wake of October 7th, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, began investigating anti-Semitism at Penn. The school acknowledged concerns about anti-Semitism at the time and promised to do better, but the EEOC was not satisfied. So last summer, the Federal Commission decided to subpoena the university, demanding lists of members of Penn's Jewish community. That meant names, phone numbers, mailing addresses of employees of the Jewish Studies Program, Lists of clubs, groups, and organizations, quote, related to the Jewish religion, faith, ancestry, or national origin, and rosters of those groups.

1:04:09Even names and contact information of staff and faculty who participated in confidential listening sessions focused on anti-Semitism. The government said it wanted the information to find witnesses or victims of religious-based harassment in order to investigate anti-Semitism. The government has been clear that what they're looking for is essentially a list of Jewish employees. Amanda Shaner is a professor at Wharton and also represents Penn community members whose information is at risk. She argued the subpoena is unconstitutional on several fronts. Unlike things like race or sex or age, that people oftentimes voluntarily tell their employer about themselves, nobody tells their employer about their religious beliefs or their associations with different groups.

1:04:55The subpoena would force Penn to comb through organizations itself and create lists of Jewish-affiliated community members who work in some way for the university. Schaner says that's unprecedented. This case is about whether or not the government has the power to do that, not just with regard to Jewish groups, but with regard to anyone. Penn offered other solutions but declined to create the lists. So the government sued to enforce the subpoena, and Penn stood firm. The government's demand implicates Penn's substantial interest in protecting its employees' privacy, safety, and First Amendment rights, the university wrote in a court filing.

1:05:32This March, all parties argued in federal court in Philadelphia. You are being accused of trying to, among other things, create a central registry of Jews or a list of Jews, said Judge Gerald Papert during oral arguments. How do you respond to that? The government's attorney dismissed that as political rhetoric before arguing, I can't imagine anything more relevant in a hostile work environment case than gathering the folks subjected to that environment and finding out what went on. I have been the director of Penn Hillel for five years. There is not a single issue that I have seen such widespread agreement on until this, that this move by the EEOC is the wrong way to go about getting this information.

1:06:18Why, from your perspective, should other people who are not just Jewish pay attention to what's happening here? Every minority group should feel invested in the protection of other minority groups. It's a slippery slope. Giving too much power to governments can lead to future governments or bad actors using that information. Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia. And our thanks to Danny Friedman in response to the story. The EEOC said it does not comment on pending litigation. A judge's ruling on the subpoena is expected any day now. Will the Justice Department ever release all of its files on now dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein?

1:07:06And why are those files not already public? The top Republican leading the charge in the House Oversight Committee to get those answers is going to join us next.

1:07:20In our Law and Justice League, tomorrow marks two weeks since the House Oversight Committee subpoenaed the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, over the Justice Department's handling or mishandling of the investigation into the deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. The subpoena set April 14th for her testimony. That's two weeks from tomorrow. Lawmakers could question Bondi, theoretically, about her department's compliance with the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which required the release of all the department's files. We're joined by the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Kentucky Republican James Comer, right now.

1:07:51Chairman Comer, thank you for joining us. So the DOJ, they've released about half of the six million Epstein documents that they claim to possess. Do you have any idea if the RAS, the other three million documents or so, will be made available to the committee or to the public? Well, that's a great question. One that I probably couldn't have answered prior to Attorney General Bondi coming in last week, giving us a briefing on where we are. Well, obviously, there's a lot of frustration on both sides of the aisle in Congress as witnessed by the by the subpoena to Pam Bondi for a deposition on this very subject.

1:08:27So what she told us is that there are so many class action lawsuits. And you saw, I believe it was Bank of America settled with many of the victims last week. That's a third bank that settled with the victims of Epstein. There are many more banks that are that have ongoing class action lawsuits. And then, you know, because of the class action lawsuits, it's difficult for the Department of Justice to turn over some of the documents. And then the other issue, Jake, is that there are some women who are who are victims, but they're also victimizers, meaning that they were victimized by Jeffrey Epstein.

1:09:03But somewhere along the way, they became in his inner circle and started recruiting other girls to come in and be victimized by Jeffrey Epstein. So those who were victims and victimizers want their names redacted on everything. Many of us on the oversight committee, including some Democrats, don't want the ones who were also victimizers. We don't want their names redacted. And there's been confusion with the Department of Justice. They've released some names. And you remember some of the victims said, that's not fair. My name wasn't redacted. I wanted my name redacted. That's because they were a victim and a victimizer.

1:09:39So there's there's a lot of issues as to why all the documents haven't been released. But we're still pressing forward trying to get as many documents released as humanly possible, as many as the courts will allow us to release, because we promise transparency and we're doing everything in our ability to deliver on that promise. Right. But technically, the Justice Department for months now has not been in compliance with the law. I mean, they just they haven't released all the files as mandated. They didn't properly redact some of the released files. Not I'm not even talking about the victims slash victimizers that you discussed.

1:10:14I'm talking about hiding the names of men that were in Jeffrey Epstein's inner circle. Do you have confidence in the Justice Department as it pertains to the Epstein case? Well, I think the Justice Department has botched this. I don't think anyone in America, Republican or avid Trump supporter, would defend the way that this has been rolled out. Having said that, it's very complicated because of all the lawsuits. And here's another thing that adds to the difficulty in this whole investigation is we've met with the victims numerous times. My staff attorneys are in contact with their staff attorneys.

1:10:57I know many of the female members in both parties are in constant communication with many of the victims. And to this day, they have not given us one single name of a man who has victimized them. Now, part of the reason is because many of them have received settlements. So what they're asking us to do is to get as much information and make public as possible. And that's what we're trying to do. And I do think after listening to Attorney General Bondi that there are legitimate legal reasons as to why some of the documents haven't been released. Those being, as I said earlier, there are many ongoing class action lawsuits and there are many non-disclosure agreements that have been signed by multiple parties, not just not just men, not just businesses, but also some of the victims.

1:11:43So it's a pretty complicated mess here, but we're going to continue to do everything we can to get the answers to the American people. We want to see prosecutions. We want to see people held accountable and we're going to do everything we can to see that that happens. There are a number of men named in the files, according to people who have looked at the documents at the Justice Department. And I guess the question I have is, is there enough credible testimony in what has been released and what has not been released for, at the very least, the FBI to be engaged in investigations for potential criminal prosecution of some of the male perpetrators who raped the underage girls or otherwise participated?

1:12:37Do you think there's enough to investigate? So it's difficult. The government did a terrible job investigating Jeffrey Epstein. Going back to, you know, the Alex Acosta days when he was U.S. attorney in Miami, I believe that's 2006, 2007 and 2008, those years, the government failed the victim. And then the gap between 2008 and his later conviction in 2019. That spanned many presidential administrations, many attorney general, many different departments of justice. All along the way, the government failed. And there's not a lot of evidence lying around to prosecute some of these men. Now, we're bringing many of those men in.

1:13:17We've already deposed several of them. And I'll name a name right now, Lex Wexner. We deposed him for several hours. That was a bipartisan deposition. The Democrats and Republicans both grilled our staffs, staff attorneys who were professional deposers, grilled Mr. Wexner. And we've released those videos. And, you know, he he either couldn't recall or claimed he wasn't that close with Epstein. That's counter to what everything in the documents would suggest. but because these crimes were committed decades ago, because the federal government did a terrible job putting together hardly any evidence to prosecute Epstein, it's very difficult to prove whether or not Mr.

1:13:57Wexner was telling the truth or not. Republican Congressman James Comer of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. Critics have called the online influencer Hassan Piker anti-woman, anti-Israel, anti-Semitic. So why are so many Democrats doing campaign events with him? We're going to explore that very question next.

1:14:23Our politics lead now. Now, Hassan Piker might not be a household name, at least among adults, but ask your kids. His new role as a midterm surrogate for some Democrats is proof that his political influence is expanding far beyond the streaming platform Twitch, where he has taken up residence. He is without question an online influencer with nearly 3 million followers. His rise as a prominent voice on the left is now driving a wedge between Democrats. And for good reason. Hassan Piker's past and present is checkered with controversial, if not outrageous, if not bigoted state comments like this one.

1:15:04America deserved 9-11, dude. F*** it. I'm saying it. We f***ing totally brought it on ourselves, dude. Holy shit. The ultra-Orthodox Jews leaving Israel, f***ing hilarious, okay? If they serve in the military and then they get their f***ing untrained inbred asses shipped into southern Lebanon, again, again, very funny. It's Hassan Piker calling Orthodox Jews inbred. Piker has also posted comments such as these where he unequivocally sides with Hamas, calling them the lesser of two evils compared to the government of Israel. Piker has since apologized for his comments on 9-11, but he stood by the rest.

1:15:47He's accusing others of taking him out of context. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, the leaders of the Democratic think tank Third Way write, quote, Mr. Piker is anti-American, anti-women, anti-Western, and anti-Semitic. No Democrat should engage with him. All should seek to push him to the fringe where he belongs, unquote. So Hassan Piker has recently become an issue in Michigan. It's home to a competitive three-way Democratic primary for governor. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, one of the three candidates and a former CNN commentator, announced that Piker will join him for two rallies in April. His opponents quickly seized on that.

1:16:18Slamming the decision is unacceptable, calling Piker not somebody that you should be campaigning with at a moment when there is clearly a lot of pain and trauma across our state. Ardonio Sullivan caught up with Piker over the weekend at a No Kings rally in New York and asked how he fits into the Democratic Party's future. You have become an issue within the Democratic Party yourself. Tell us about that. I don't think I'm necessarily an issue within the Democratic Party as much as I am an issue for a lot of consultants. I don't want fascism to win in this country. I don't want Republicans to win in this country.

1:16:53We can argue on the methods. Maybe you think that my worldview and my values and and the policies that I want politicians to represent might be different than yours. But at the end of the day, I think we have the same goals. I should note I misspoke. It's a Michigan Senate primary, not governor primary. Jonah Platt is with us. He's the host of Being Jewish with Jonah Platt podcast. Peter Hamby is the founding partner of Puck News. And Peter, look, obviously he has said a lot of things that a lot of people find outrageous. And he's called one Jew a Zionist pig dog. He has called Hamas the Palestinian resistance.

1:17:30He has justified October 7th and on and on and on. What does his influence tell you about where the Democratic Party stands today? And I guess is it despite those comments or because of those comments? I think it's despite those comments a little bit. I mean, back to your first question, what it says about the party. I think Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is looking for a lane in a three-way primary. He is slightly behind in the polling. And like a lot of Democrats and a lot of progressives, after the 2024 election wants to connect with young people, connect with young men, go into the manosphere, go into the podcast space.

1:18:06It just so happens that Hassan Piker is aligned with a lot of Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's views on health care, on taxing the rich and billionaires, etc. He is a Bernie AOC Zoran guy. But with that, he has a long reputation of saying all of the things you just played here. I was just talking to you before the segment. I mean, I think it is a risk for Abdul Al-Sayed to have him come into the state. It's an obvious risk, but he is grasping for votes in a crowded three-way primary in a state, Michigan, which you remember from 2024, both in the primary, the Democratic primary and the general election, has a lot of Arab and Muslim voters outside of Detroit and Dearborn and Dearborn Heights.

1:18:54And Democrats have been suffering there. And I think he's trying to grab onto them. He's doing rallies at Michigan and Michigan State. So he's trying to go after young people. One thing I do want to point out, Jake, that you said in the intro, that he's not a household name. The Speaking with American Men project, which was launched to study young men by Democrats after 2024, polled Hassan Piker's name among young men. He's not well known at all. About half of young people don't know who he is. And then his fable rating, he's negative 9%. He's underwater with faves. Only 20 % of young men have a favorable opinion of Hassan Piker.

1:19:28And that's sort of why I say, is it worth the gamble to do this? And Joni, in that Wall Street Journal op-ed that I talked about, the think tank Third Way, they wrote, we're all for a big tent, but the Democratic Party needs to draw a line in the sand. Hassan Piker and his fellow Jew haters belong on the other side. Donio Solomon asked Piker to respond to critics who call him anti-Semitic. He quoted a few things that Piker had said, especially a Zionist dog or Zionist pig, or I think the actual quote was Zionist pig dog, whatever that means. Here is Piker's response. I've spent my entire professional media career and far beyond that combating anti-Semitism.

1:20:02I've been doxed, swatted by neo-Nazis for my consistent advocacy against anti-Semitism. I just also happen to be an avowed anti-Zionist. I believe Zionism is a very racist ideology. It's an ethno-religious supremacist ideology. And it's the underpinning ideology that has caused the genocide of Palestinians in the hands of Israel and also the United States of America. Jonah. There's a lot to unpack there. What's your response? Yeah, I mean, what Piker does that a lot of people of his ilk do is they try to inoculate themselves against claims of Jew hatred by pointing it out in places that aren't them.

1:20:40He's been very clear pointing things out on the right. Oh, that's anti-Semitism. These are the tropes they use. And then he'll use the exact same tropes and just sub Jew for Israel, which is the place where all Jews collectively have a connection to and is the homeland where more than 50 percent of Jews on planet Earth live. So it's not he would never say Jews control the media, but Israel controls the media. And, you know, the Jews didn't pull us into the war with Iran and control the American government, but Israel does. And so he's able to sort of get away with some of this stuff in these subtle ways when really his impact is just as harmful as any out-and-out anti-Semite.

1:21:19Just he's got a different name and he comes from a different wing of politics. It's interesting. Politico asked a bunch of Democratic politicians running for president or who might run for president if they would ever do his podcast. And the only two Jews thinking about possibly running for president, Rahm Emanuel and Josh Biro, both suggested that they might be willing to. I think this gets to something important with this debate in Michigan. It's different to go onto his podcast and joust over ideas. I think seeing Josh Shapiro and Hasan Piker on his Twitch stream would be fascinating. I think Josh Shapiro is smart and they would have a spirited debate, as they say in politics.

1:21:56The difference is going out to campaign with somebody and the candidate, it's implicitly endorsing his views or suggesting, why don't you come to Michigan and campaign with me. That's the difference. I think candidates should be able to go on to podcasts with people who disagree with them. But yeah, I mean, the politics of Israel heading into 2020 are going to be fascinating. You're already seeing tons of Democrats kind of come out against AIPAC, but also defending Israel. Gavin Newsom obviously had to walk back calling Israel an apartheid state. The other thing that's a factor here, the more Democrats engage with influencers heading into 2028, they're going to have to confront some views of things they might have said in the past.

1:22:35Quick one sentence, final thoughts on this. You worried about the direction of the Democratic Party? I'm worried. I agree that they should be able to debate, but they have to come in clear-eyed and know that they're there to debate and push back on these bad ideas, not to get chummy and have a fun conversation. Thanks so much for being here. Great. What a great time to be in LA to have you both in studio. Really amazing. Thanks, Jack. The U.S. Army is launching an investigation into this. Apache helicopter is hovering over Kid Rock's home. Check out that pool. What we know about this one, that's next.

1:23:10In our national lead, why were Apache helicopters hovering over Kid Rock's Nashville area home? Well, the U.S. Army is investigating this video he posted where the Trump supporting musician is seen waving at choppers that briefly hover his swimming pool Saturday. CNN's reached out to Kid Rock's agency for comment. Also in our pop culture lead, superstar Celine Dion is celebrating her birthday today. She had a big announcement. She's returning to the stage for a 10-show run in Paris starting in September. For years, Dionne has been struggling with what's called stiff person syndrome. It's a rare neurological disorder.

1:23:44Today she said she's doing great. And, of course, we all wish her the best. Erin Burnett out front starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.

1:23:58What is it about Australia that just hits different? Australia is where we shared our first kiss. Where we fell in love. That was 18 years ago now. And this is what, your fourth trip back? Australia has this incredible way of drawing you back. The ocean, the people. The oysters. So good. So briny and delicious. And the possibility of exploring something new. Learn more about Zach and Laura's journey at Australia.com and start planning the vacation of a lifetime. I'm CNN tech reporter Claire Duffy. This week on the podcast Terms of Service, there's a growing category of products aimed specifically at addressing women's unique health needs.

1:24:40These tools and services are sometimes known as femtech, and they can provide big opportunities and benefits, but they can also come with some risks. To walk us through all of this, I spoke with Bethany Corbin. Bethany is an attorney and CEO of Fem Innovation, where she advises startups, clinicians and health care organizations. In my opinion, what it really does is gives us a collective language to talk about women's healthcare innovation and the tools that are out there so that we can take control of our healthcare experiences and know how to advocate for ourselves in a system that's probably not been designed to advocate for us.

1:25:16Listen to CNN's Terms of Service wherever you get your podcasts.