Supreme Court Backs Trump’s Order to Curb Mail Ballots

27:28How is business going for you now? Bad, very bad. Yeah, now my debt is$100 ,000. Things are not getting better. Things are getting worse. The inflation, the war, and whenever ISIS in Charlotte, ISIS in Central Avenue, people are not buying way in case. There are no quinceaneras. People are spending less money. So, yeah, this is worse than 2008 recession, worse than COVID. And nobody cares. There's too much silence in our country. And nobody's paying attention to us, to the small business of this nation. Manolo Betancourt, thank you so much for taking the time today. We appreciate it. Thank you so much.

28:12Appreciate it. And ahead, what I source tells CNN about a discussion between House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Hear from the first journalist to report on that meeting up next. Plus, Vice President J.D. Vance with his own dig at Canada brushing it off as a Freudian slip. We'll let you judge for yourself.

28:40I continue to support Congressman Jeffries and his bit to become the leader. That's New York City Mayor Zoran Wamdani today saying that he still backs House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his bid for House Speaker. Now it comes after Jeffries met with President Trump's son-in-law and close advisor Jared Kushner recently in New York. A source familiar with that meeting says the two discussed ways that the White House could work with Democrats should Democrats take back power after the midterms. Here now is one of the reporters first to report on this meeting, New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman.

29:15She is co-author of Regime Change. Maggie, it is great to see you. It's been a while, my friend. We'll get to more reaction on this meeting in just a second, but first, Republicans and Democrats agree on very little. So what areas could Democrats and the White House actually compromise on here? Yeah, so according to our reporting, Biana, and Annie and I heard about this meeting a couple of weeks ago, and it took us a while to get even what we were able to learn. There are still things we don't know, like who hosted this meeting, among other things. But the main ones would be cost of living, housing, and immigration.

29:52As you said, the possibilities of compromise on those are remote. in our reporting what Kushner was telling people. And Kushner is not working for the government. Kushner has been working outside the government on foreign endeavors, as you know well, and we've both been covering. But this is unusual because he is one of the only people who has a relationship with Hakeem Jeffries in this current White House. And this is not a White House that has developed real relationships with Democrats. The chances, as you say, of there being some kind of a compromise on most of those issues are pretty remote.

30:24the president tanked a bipartisan housing bill earlier this year. And on immigration, they're pretty far apart. However, it is impossible to ignore the backdrop of the fact that Democrats may retake the House, that polling shows that Republicans are really in trouble. And Jeffries is going to have to make a decision about exactly what he wants to do in terms of oversight and investigations of a White House that Democrats and the left of his party are very angry at. And as you noted, these two men do go back, that they do know each other. They've worked together in the past on issues like criminal justice reform.

30:59Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about the meeting yesterday on Fox. Here's what he said about it. Jared is a smart guy and he hedges bets, but I'm telling you what, you better not bet against the House Republicans. I know Jared has interest in lots of other things going on. He's not really directly involved in the admin, at least in the day-to-day in the White House. So he just picked up on what you pointed out, that most of Jared Kushner's focus has been on foreign affairs, in particular the Middle East. Is he trying to downplay this meeting? Are you surprised by the outrage that you're seeing on both sides here?

31:35I'm definitely not surprised by the outrage that I'm seeing on the left. I think it's pretty revealing about Mike Johnson and how he views this White House and how much he does not want to anger the president or people around the president because he did not go further than that. That was a pretty tepid response considering that, you know, he is downplaying it. He is sort of distancing himself and Kushner from anything here and saying, you know, don't bet against the Republicans. Republicans, well, the polls are all betting against Republicans right now. And again, that could change. But I think that the next two years, at least from how some in the White House are approaching it, could end up looking fairly different than what we saw for the first two years.

32:20But Democrats get a vote in that, too. Let's talk about how the White House could physically look different in the next few years. Before we go, President Trump had this to say about his White House ballroom project. This was during a White House event, we should note, on School Choice. Now, I don't know if anybody wants to do this, but I'm going to be walking down here in about two minutes to meet with the people that are building the heliport. And you'll see right alongside of it the great structure that's rising right next to the White House, and that's going to be the ballroom slash military complex.

32:53It's incredible. Maggie, he is very focused on this ballroom, You recently said the president spends about 70 percent of his time on construction projects. The Washington Post appears to undercut the president's argument that the White House needs a secure structure, noting, quote, more than a decade ago, federal officials built a highly protected bunker embedded deep underground that can shelter the president and his top aides in a national security emergency, according to three former officials. So what is your reaction to that? Look, the problem for the White House with all of this has been that they have changed their arguments over and over and over.

33:33It has been, we need a ballroom because people don't like using the porta-potties outside the tent set up. And that is true. I mean, there have been complaints from foreign leaders about that over other administrations. But then it became, well, we need it for security. And then it became, actually, it's going to be a drone port. You know, this goes back to the White House demolishing the East Wing or having the East Wing demolished without notifying anybody, without going through congressional approvals. And so it isn't that people are just objecting to what the president is doing. The question of who has legal standing to sue over that is a different issue.

34:12But it's not really a surprise that people feel like they weren't informed of what was happening. The public was not. So, Maggie, as you noted, if the president is spending 70 percent of his time consumed by construction, what does that say about the amount of time he's putting into policy, both domestic and foreign? So a couple of things, and also just to the last question about the bunker that The Washington Post reported on, that is absolutely going to further undercut their argument, but I don't know quite what the court's going to do with it. In terms of what the president is spending his time on, Jonathan and I report in our book just about how much time the president is spending on these monuments to self and these renovation projects and making sure that he is leaving a permanent mark on Washington.

34:59There are presidents who have done both. But, you know, the economy bores this president. That was something that came up with people who talked to him, around him, over and over in 2024. That clearly has not changed. And things are not going well at the Iran war. So I don't think he wants to spend a whole lot of time on that. And it's an intractable problem that he has of his own making that he can't quite get out of. But these physical projects, Vianna, just underscore to people who are hurting economically out in the rest of the country that the president's mind is on something else. Someone who had a pulse on where the nation was feeling over the past decade seems to be out of touch, at least as it relates to these construction projects.

35:40Maggie Haberman, thank you. Well, also in the politics lead today, Vice President J.D. Vance in Maine today, defending the administration's escalating trade war with Canada. We have to remember, Canada is a state. Sorry, Freudian slip. That was actually an accident. Canada is a country. All right. One Republican noticeably absent at a speech today, Senator Susan Collins. She is in a tough reelection fight and critical of new 50 percent tariffs on Canada. Let's jump in with the panel. From Michael to you first, here's why Senator Collins says that she skipped today's speech. I always welcome anyone coming to the state of pain.

36:32I am already scheduled on Monday, so I will not be able to join the vice president. Now, the senator did find time to post, quote, if the administration proceeds with these tariffs, they will increase costs for Maine families, as most businesses will have no choice but to pass on the tariffs to their customers through higher prices. So, sure, Michael, could this escalating trade war cost Republicans a key Senate seat? Perhaps, but I don't think it's going to cost them Maine. I mean, you look at the more recent numbers, and it does appear that despite the competitiveness of the race overall, that Senator Collins appears to be in a good position.

37:12I think the White House is taking the right position here, including the vice president, by allowing the senator to have distance. They all understand the same numbers that we debate every single day on our network, which is that there are some challenges that will make some of our candidates more vulnerable. And so they give them the opportunity to distance themselves, be critical where necessary to run their state-specific or, in the case of congressional, congressional-specific races in order to win those seats so that we can, at a minimum, maintain our majority in the Senate and be as competitive as possible in the House.

37:44You're not going to find a strategist on the Democratic side or the Republican side who would objectively disagree with that. Well, Alyssa, to that point, take a listen to this shout out by the vice president for his, quote, good friend, Susan Collins. And I'm going to give Susan a little bit of crap. She comes to work every single day and she fights for the great people of Maine. And I've seen it, which, by the way, is a very hard job. But she does it an amazing job. And so please give it up to our very independent friend, Susan Collins. So, listen, we know President Trump is not so charitable to Republicans who don't support him 100 percent.

38:23What does Vance's approach say about how important this particular race is? Listen, that was probably the best message the vice president can deliver, because to Sherbichael's point, Susan Collins needs some distance from this White House right now, and she needs some distance from Trump and J.D. Vance. So I think a sort of tepid endorsement, acknowledging that she's independent at times from the administration, is actually quite helpful when he's in her local media markets. At the end of the day, Maine actually looks like a much stronger hold because of all of the drama with Graham Plattner and having to change up candidates last minute.

38:58And Susan Collins is a political heavyweight. She is somebody who has come back from worse numbers than she has now and claws her way back and ends up winning in her state because she doesn't. She knocks on every door she needs to. She shows up in every union hall she needs to in every GOP event. So I think the White House knows they want to keep this seat. They know that it's an uphill battle and more of one than it should be to maintain control of the Senate. So they're going to embrace Susan Collins in the smartest way they can right now, which is by creating some distance. Yeah, and all of the drama that the Democrats created in this particular race seems to have helped her as well.

39:32Chuck, let me bring you in the breaking news story that we covered at the top of the show. The Supreme Court just moments ago siding with President Trump's executive order that restricts mail-in voting. This ruling comes just 71 days, I believe, before the midterm election. How do you think voters will interpret this ruling? Does it just add to confusion? I think it does. And there's a reason why each state runs their own election and their state government should run their election. We shouldn't be federalizing our elections. And to all my Republican friends out there, mail-in ballots is paper.

40:04Mail-in ballots is verifying signatures. And I spent the primary in Alaska during the Alaska primary. And guess how those folks up there, mainly Republicans, vote by mail. Guess how all of our military votes by mail. We don't need this confusion days before these things are supposed to go out. And it's literally days. We're going to start sending out these ballots to our military overseas in the coming weeks. We don't need this kind of confusion just because somebody's hurt because they got their butt whooped in an election and they want to say there's election fraud when there was not any. The American people are focused on gas prices and the price of ground beef, and they don't need another distraction.

40:41And that's what they see this as. Sure, Michael. This is definitely a win for the president. But we know that historically mail-in voting has been popular with both Democrats and Republicans. So longer term, does this actually hurt Republicans' chances? You know, this is a bit vague. I read through the decision in terms of the mandates from the United States Postal Service. I read through the notion that some states will have to provide these lists. I wish they would have made a ruling one way or another on this. I think this is going to confuse a lot of people, unfortunately. If you look at the current iteration of my party, we do teeter more older and more rural.

41:19And so as a strategist, and Chuck and Elissa know this very well, you're constantly thinking about maximizing your turnout, particularly in an environment where there are very few competitive races. And so when you're looking at that reality, if there's mail-in balloting, et cetera, you want to maximize, you want to take advantage of it, you want to use it because you're trying to find any edge you can get in an environment where there aren't many, to be quite honest with you, Brian. And I'll quickly add here, keep in mind, a couple of years ago, many Republicans advocated for mail-in balloting because we were looking at the projections of our voters.

41:53They were getting older. They live in far places. We wanted to make sure that those people had an opportunity to participate. And so I view this a little differently from the president. I would encourage him to strongly reconsider this because on the other side, their voters are younger. There's an enthusiasm gap as well. And those folks appear to be willing to turn out in higher numbers. Yeah. And Alyssa, going back to 2024, the election the president won. I mean, I remember that Republicans were successful in persuading him to lay off of this particular issue. And yet here, this is a win for him.

42:26Longer term, what do you think the consequences are? Yeah, the president is a dog with a bone on this issue. I remember in summer of 2020, campaign advisers trying to get him off of the issue of mail-in voting, despite the fact that he himself has voted through mail-in voting. I don't think you're ever going to convince him of this data that Shermichael just rattled off there, which is actually incredibly helpful with Republicans and the demographics of our party to make it accessible. Military voters, older voters, rural voters, etc. etc. But this, I think, is just going to confuse a lot of folks ahead of the midterms.

43:00This is Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, is already out with a statement saying he's going to challenge this ruling. So you're going to see more lawsuits. You're going to see more states that push back. And I'd also remind folks, as a conservative, we believe that states should run elections. We've never believed in federalizing elections. So this is a push from the White House I've never quite understood, and it could end up biting them in the back. Chuck, let me ask you, as we wrap up here. How do you think Democrats should respond to this ruling? I think we should talk about everybody having a right to vote, whether they're old folks who live way out in the country or where they live in the city.

43:34Everybody should have access to that. We were just talking about Maine. Guess what? A lot of voters in Maine mail in their ballots because they live in the upwards of Maine. And Susan Collins knows that. Susan Collins can try to distance herself from this decision and Donald Trump, but Democrats will continue to attire to it. I want to be 6 '5 and have a flat stomach, but I don't. She's like she can want to be distanced, but she ain't going to be. Chuck. All right. Well, with that thought in our heads, we'll have to leave it there. Thank you, panel. Appreciate it. Thanks, Brad. Much more on the breaking news this hour.

44:06A big legal win for the president. The U.S. Supreme Court backing his executive order restricting mail-in voting. The significance of this ruling coming just 10 weeks before the November midterms. That's next.

44:26This is CNN Breaking News. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Bianna Golodriga. In for Jake Tapper, we are following breaking news tonight. A significant win for President Trump at the United States Supreme Court. It just granted the president permission to implement his executive order overhauling and restricting the mail-in ballot system. This isn't over, though. Additional legal challenges could stand in the way of this plan before the November midterm elections. Still, this ruling brings new uncertainty about voting rules for the midterms because it keeps open the possibility that Trump will impose policies outlined in the order, which gave the U.S.

45:04Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented roles in the running of elections. Let's go straight to CNN's Caitlin Collins at the White House. So Caitlin, walk us through how the White House is viewing this ruling and the practical impacts that it could have on U.S. elections. Well, Biana, there's no formal response from the White House yet to this ruling, but I'm sure the Truth Social Post is coming any moment. Because obviously the White House is viewing this as welcome news, given it's a win for them in the executive order that the president signed, and a loss for these Democratic-led states who are challenging several provisions that are in this actual order.

45:40are essentially arguing one against the substance of it, but also in the implementation of it this close to the midterm elections. And so that is really going to be a key question here in terms of the merits of this ruling and what that means going forward. Because just because the Supreme Court is saying that for now, provisions of this can be carried out, it doesn't mean they will, because obviously we do anticipate further legal challenges to this from several states. One of the provisions that's related to what the post office can send out when it comes to these mail-in ballots is still being challenged in a separate court and so that hasn't yet been ruled on and then of course the provision of this that requires and wants the department of homeland security to have basically a list of people that they believe are eligible to vote in conjunction with these states i mean there are major questions when we are just about 10 weeks out from the midterm elections in terms of how that would be carried out even if it does move forward without these legal challenges this close to early voting and mail-in voting that so many voters in so many states, including a lot of the president's own supporters, have used in the past.

46:44I mean, the president himself has used mail-in voting as well. And so I think that's still a question, even though the White House is viewing this right now in the immediate aftermath of this decision by the Supreme Court against the dissent, of course, of those liberal justices on the court. They are viewing it as a win, but it's still a big question mark over what this is going to look like when we're getting this close to the midterm elections and what kind of chaos and potential uncertainty is going to be injected into that as a result of this and this decision by the Supreme Court. All right, Caitlin Collins at the White House for us.

47:16Thank you so much. Don't miss Caitlin on her show, The Source with Caitlin Collins. Her guests tonight include the Canada U.S. Trade Minister, Dominic LeBlanc. That's tonight at 9 Eastern on CNN. For more on the Breaking news. Let's bring in David Becker, CEO and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, and Jessica Levinson, a Loyola Law School professor. Welcome both of you. David, let me start with you. What is your reaction to this ruling and its timing? Well, it's shocking. The administration asked for a stay about a month ago, and the Supreme Court waited and sat on this for a month and now seems to want to almost own and own the chaos they're bringing to the election process.

47:58But I also want to stress this ruling appears to be made on very, very narrow technical grounds based on standing and ripeness, based on the finality of a postal service rule that actually was issued last week, despite the fact the Supreme Court didn't recognize it. There's another injunction against this executive order that appears to still be standing and that hasn't been addressed by this order. I expect and I should also add that in the order, the Supreme Court almost invites an additional lawsuit from the states once this issue is ripe for review, which it is now thanks to the Postal Service rule being final.

48:32I expect a new lawsuit to be filed very soon. I expect very clearly the injunction that stands from the district court in the other case to stand as well. I think it's very unlikely this executive order will be implemented for November. But it's unfortunate the Supreme Court embraced the chaos that this executive order would bring and took so long to render their decision after the administration requested a stay. Jessica, do you agree with what David just said? And what do you think the Supreme Court or how do you think the Supreme Court should have ruled here? So I think the important thing to emphasize about what the Supreme Court did is that it is just procedural.

49:14Exactly as David said, this is not about the merits of this argument. We know that there were states who challenged whether or not the Trump administration had the power to issue this executive order that deals with how we vote and mail-in balloting and specifically different rules with respect to the Postal Service and the Department of Homeland Security. What the court did today is say that the challenge was brought too soon. Now, I think that's no longer the case, again, for the reasons that David pointed out, which is that the Postal Service has now issued final rules. The court today did not say we think the Trump administration has the power to implement this executive order or it doesn't.

49:58This is all about timing. It's all about these procedural hurdles. And of course, for people watching wondering, what does this mean for me when it comes to voting in November, which we're hurtling towards? I also agree that the answer is very likely nothing changes. Again, because of how close we are to the midterms and because there is an injunction in a separate case that is preventing at least some of these rules from going into effect. So, David, just to pick up on that, we're about 71 days away. How would this even be implemented this close to the midterms if this was allowed? And it does appear that the administration itself doesn't really have a plan.

50:43No, I don't think they do. And there's no way to implement this. This would be a sweeping seizure of election power from the states under any circumstances. It would be hard to do this with two or four years of advance notice. It is impossible to do that with about 70 days of advance notice. Ballots are literally going out to voters in some states starting next week. And I think what the Supreme Court failed to recognize is that the states were acting really diligently. They were trying to say, hey, look, this is going to cause chaos in our process. We have very little time between when you implemented the executive order at the end of March of this year after primaries had already started.

51:24The Postal Service didn't even put its proposed rule out until the end of May. And the state said, look, we need to resolve this because we need to plan our elections. And the Supreme Court now just said, no, we're going to wait until the last minute to resolve this from a merits-based consideration. And now the states are going to have to bring a new lawsuit, even though the ripeness of this issue has been resolved prior to the release of this order. The Postal Service finalized their order last week. States are preparing to send mail ballots out. I agree with Jessica 100 percent. I think there I think that the other injunction that currently still stands.

52:04And I think the new lawsuit that is undoubtedly going to be filed probably tomorrow by the states will likely render this executive order completely irrelevant for 2026. We'll deal with 2027 and 2028 afterwards. Jessica, do you think this blindsided states and what sort of legal challenges do you expect to see? Oh, I don't think the ruling itself blindsided them in the sense that they did, as David said, they were diligent. They saw the executive order. They challenged the executive order. And we should note, as we've been talking about, there are different cases that are working their way through the system.

52:42And this is very typical in the sense that much of this is atypical. But it's very typical in the sense that a lot of times the fighting over executive orders is initially speaking all based on these procedural matters that we're talking about right now. Who has standing to sue? Can you bring the case? Do you have to wait for something to bring the case? And then later you get to the merits. When it comes to the harms in this case for the merits, I think, as David and I have been saying, it's very unlikely that any rules will change prior to voting in November. And so when it comes to is this an emergency circumstance for the states, I think the answer is at this point, no, because they won't be asked to change anything or forced to change anything.

53:29I suspect, again, because of the litigation posture, because we're 71 days out. And then, of course, the question becomes what to do next. And this is litigation that will absolutely continue. This is not the end of this case, not by a long shot. Yeah. And the hypothetical, though, is what would be the result of this in 2027-28, David, as you noted. and President Trump himself, he acknowledges that he votes by mail and he defends it by saying that it's because he lives in Florida but lives in D.C. and the exceptions for illness, disability, military or travel remain. Trump argues that universal mail-in voting should not be allowed, though, because it's highly susceptible to fraud.

54:12Is it? I mean, that's just false. I mean, he knows it. He's voted twice by mail already this year. at least the first time he voted by mail. He was physically present in Palm Beach County, where he resides and could have gone in person to an early voting site and chose not to. So this idea that he was unavailable to vote in person is false. But look, we've been doing mail voting since at least the Civil War. The states have a really good record of this. We know how much fraud exists. It's very, very little, if any. And states that use mail voting are not just blue democratically led states. There are states like Utah and Montana and Idaho and other states where Republicans have been using mail voting quite a bit.

54:58And we see the president himself using it, of course. We know it's secure. We know our election system overall is secure thanks to so many checks and balances and thanks to paper ballots and audits and other things we have in place. And yet we continue to see the federal government try to seize power from the states to run elections, which is where the Constitution gives that power to the states. We'll see if there are challenges when they're filed. Thank you both so much. A series of controversial arrests put the Trump administration's immigration crackdown back in the spotlight. Over the weekend, DHS detaining the father of a Navy sailor serving in the Iran war and a mother and daughter who were injured in a car crash and had legal status in the U.S., according to family members.

55:41We're breaking down both cases in just a moment. Plus, the Republican Party today marking three years since this photo right here, President Trump's mugshot taken at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta. The GOP says there's one lesson you should take away from this. We'll tell you ahead.

56:06In the national lead, high-profile ice arrests rattle families across the country, casting more scrutiny on the forceful tactics the Trump administration continues to use in communities nationwide to carry out its immigration agenda, a top priority for the president. As CNN's Rafael Romo reports, family members say some of those detained actually have legal status here in the U.S.

56:34Sheriff deputies in Polkani, Florida, handcuff a woman while her daughter lies on a hospital bed, crying hysterically while trying to hold on to her mother.

56:51The mother and her 19-year-old daughter were detained at a hospital where they were both being treated for injuries suffered in a car crash. DHS says that two women overstayed their visas, but in a GoFundMe post, family members say both mother and daughter had legal status in the United States. The mother, Grace Calero Cabanilla, relatives say, has a pending asylum case and a work permit, while her 19-year-old daughter, Juliana Carriel Calero, has a visa valid through 2030. These arrests highlight the aggressive tactics being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement during the current administration going to lengths they rarely went to before, detaining immigrants inside courthouses and hospitals, and even taken into custody the father of a U.S.

57:39sailor currently deployed in a war zone. Joshua Aviles, who's currently entering his ninth month of active duty with the U.S. Navy on the USS Abraham Lincoln, says his father, Luis Manuel Aviles, was detained by ICE over the weekend, even though his son says his father has a driver's license, social security card and work permit. This is heartbreaking for me, the sailor said in a post on Facebook. I don't know how I can mentally continue working 12-plus hour days knowing that my dad is somewhere possibly being treated like a criminal. My dad's only crime was coming to this country to give my siblings and me a better life.

58:19The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement his father will remain in custody while the government seeks to deport the Nicaraguan native. Another ICE detention that has gone viral, a father and young son who were detained on the way to a soccer match in Texas on August 16th. The five-year-old boy, identified by his family as Liam Tadeo, appears to be crying as he tried to hold the hand of his handcuffed father, Victor Martinez Nieto, from Mexico, being escorted to an unmarked vehicle. VHS said parents have a choice if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates.

58:59And Liam should be starting kindergarten this week. But instead, he's sitting in a trailer prison right now in Dilley, Texas. The Trump administration is looking to increase the speed of its deportations and is casting a wider net about who can be arrested. That includes meeting the administration's goal of around 2 ,000 arrests every day. Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta. Our thanks to CNN's Rafael Romo. I want to now bring in Democratic Congresswoman Luz Rivas from California. Congresswoman, thank you so much. So the five-year-old Liam Tadeo that we just saw in that report and his father were sent to the Dilley Detention Center in Texas.

59:41And according to a GoFundMe post from the family, you visited that facility at the end of July. What can you tell us about the conditions there? So I visited the Dilley Detention Center with Democratic colleagues in July. What we saw, it's a detention center in a hot area where over 100 children are being detained. There's over 500 detainees at this center. It's no place for children to be. We were able to talk to some adult women. They only met with one child because we were limited access on who we could talk to. But these are not conditions, especially for a five-year-old that should be starting kindergarten this week.

1:00:33He should be getting ready for school with his family. Instead, in this very hot area, no playground, limited classrooms, or nonexistent instruction. So what do you make of the DHS statement that the onus and the responsibility here lies with the parents who are aware of the consequences? Look, we have millions of hardworking immigrants that are in the process of getting legal, you know, their status, their legal status. And they're being pulled away from courthouses where they're doing the right thing from, you know, in unmarked vehicles and with, you know, ICE officers that are not identifying themselves.

1:01:24These are hardworking immigrants that are looking for a way to make a better life for their families. Let me ask you about the other family there that we heard in the report, the father of Joshua Aviles, that is the sailor aboard the USS Lincoln. There is a policy in the military called Parole in Place that allows spouses, children and parents of active duty members to obtain legal immigration status so long as they have not overstayed their visa. Given that Avila says that his father has a work permit, does this detainment seem lawful to you? You know, it doesn't. All of these stories are heartbreaking.

1:02:04We have seen so many of these since last year when these raids were aggressive and started here in Los Angeles. And these are people that are working hard towards staying in the country that they love, that their children are growing up in. And we should have a process for them to get legal status. What is your reaction to how immigration enforcement officials were able to operate within a hospital like the case that we saw in Florida? I believe that immigration officials should not be allowed into a hospital. A poor woman and her daughter that were recovering from an accident let the medical professionals care for them.

1:02:51I signed on to a bill that would not allow ICE into sensitive locations like hospitals, churches and schools. And I believe that they should not be allowed to go in and arrest someone while they're on a hospital bed. California Democratic Congresswoman Luz Rivas, thank you. Thank you. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth facing growing criticism that he's trying to manipulate news coverage after firing three top officials from the military's newspaper. One of those ousted reporters will join us live up next.

1:03:32In our politics lead, the Defense Department is continuing its major overhaul of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes. On Friday, the Pentagon, which partially funds the paper, forced out the publisher, editor-in-chief, and a reporter focused on the Middle East. The editor-in-chief, Eric Slavin, told CNN this morning that this is what he heard. I can tell you that I received a notice of proposed separation on Friday afternoon, which stated that because of a CBS interview I gave, I was up for separation. What I stated was that, in my personal opinion, censorship would be a red line. Slavin and reporter Lara Cordy spoke to CBS earlier this summer about their efforts to continue reporting despite the Pentagon's pressure.

1:04:23And joining us now is Lara Cordy. Lara, welcome to the program. You explicitly stated in that CBS interview that you didn't work for the Pentagon or any administration. You cover the military community. Were you worried about your job security after that interview aired? Honestly, I was not worried about my job security because I believed that I was stating what has been Pentagon policy and tradition for a long time, which is that Stars and Stripes is editorially independent. What were you told was the reason for your firing? Similar to the email that Eric received around the same time on Friday evening, I received a proposed notice of separation stating that my actions and my comments during the CBS interview were insubordination and that was cause for separation.

1:05:13On Friday, you told my colleague, Laura Coates, that things were still fresh and that you weren't sure about what your next steps would be. Are you going to pursue any legal options or appeal this decision? I can't speak to what happens next. You know, there are a number of options we could pursue and we're looking at everything possible. I can say that I think what's most important is that there continue to be good and honest coverage of U.S. military members. You know, there's a war going on with Iran right now. There are sailors who have been at work for a very long time. There are families who are still facing a lot of hardships.

1:05:50So my hope going forward is that those issues continue to get attention. Did you feel any pressure from the Pentagon while you were reporting about your reporting? No, absolutely not. And this is what I told CBS. I said, you know, especially up to that point, I had not felt any pressure to kill a story or to alter a story or to run a story that the Pentagon wanted me to run. My understanding at that point, giving that CBS interview, was that there was no interference from the Pentagon in our editorial process. Let's talk about what you were reporting the day you were fired. You published an in-depth report titled Navy Families Evacuated from Bahrain Facing Uncharted Territory and Bureaucratic Confusion.

1:06:36Now, it notes that military families are in limbo because of the collapsed ceasefire. Do you think that it's that type of reporting that ultimately led to your firing? You know, it's hard to say. I will say the notice of proposed separation didn't mention any specific articles or any specific reporting. That being said, you know, me and my colleagues have been doing our job over the last six months like we've always done it, trying to focus on the issues that are important to military members and their families. Covering the families who have evacuated Bahrain has been very important to me. You know, they faced a very scary evacuation in the first weeks of the war.

1:07:13They continue to face financial and emotional hardships, being in limbo, not knowing where they're going to live. And, you know, my colleagues have also reported on challenges on the USS Abraham Lincoln. These are important stories that we feel like are vital to covering the military community. But I can't speak to whether or not that played a role in the recent firing decisions. Well, Navy Captain Bill Urban recently was appointed as military deputy to the editor. And in an open letter, he said that Stars and Stripes is in need of, quote, modernization and said that he received multiple assurances from Pentagon leadership that they are committed to do the outlet's editorial independence.

1:07:54Do you buy that?

1:07:58I'm really glad to see that editorial independence continues to be something that Pentagon officials say that they are committed to. I believe that that is a commitment that we need to see play out in practice. I'll be really interested to see in the coming weeks and months how that comes into play. Well, Stars and Stripes is one of the most revered and respected publications covering military stories that impact American families and the world. So I want to thank you for all the work that you've done and thank you for taking the time to join us. Sarah Cording, appreciate it. Thank you. Well, firefighters say they are making slow progress on containing a wildfire that is threatening neighborhoods, but incoming high winds could quickly worsen the situation.

1:08:43We'll get an update on those efforts up next.

1:08:55in our national lead in the reno nevada area tens of thousands of residents are being urged to evacuate their homes as a fast-moving wildfire rips through the area when we came through it looked like a movie scene like you don't expect to see something like that in real life and then We looked over the overpass so we could see the top of the flames and then the smoke overhead. This afternoon, fire officials said they have made some progress in preventing the fire from spreading. The cause of the Hawk Fire, which erupted on Saturday, is unknown. But officials do say it is related to human activity.

1:09:33Joining me now is the Sheriff of Washoe County, Darren Ballam. The city of Reno is in Washoe County. Sheriff, thank you so much for taking the time. Now, we know the high winds coupled with the dryness will be major factors in tackling this fire. How are you navigating this element? You know, we're doing it one step at a time. We're working with our first responders and our communities to try to make sure that we can get everything for the first firefighters in there, both aviation and ground crews. but then taking care of our community and making sure we've displaced now almost 20 ,000 people and making sure we're giving them the resources and reassurances while they're away from their homes from the law enforcement side that we are protecting their neighborhoods so that when they return, hopefully their home is still there and everything else is intact.

1:10:21How are your firefighters holding up? How are they responding? You know, I would say everybody is tired. This is our second major wildfire in two weeks. And so, you know, what I would say is all the men and women from firefighting, aviation and from law enforcement, each day they are answering that call. And I couldn't be more proud of what they've done. They put the needs of others ahead of their own and they are out there. The firefighters are doing everything they can to stop that and contain the fire. And then law enforcement, we are doing everything to allow them in and then keep our community safe.

1:10:57And of course, residents have to do their part by heeding warnings. What is your message to those that are not? You know, we're telling them, please, please, please, when you are in a get ready, get your go bag, all your medications and please get out. Because what we faced in this fire was within 45 minutes, that fire came up hill and it was in a neighborhood. So as we're trying to get into that neighborhood to get citizens out that waited till the last minute, we're also trying to get fire apparatuses in so they could fight that fire. and it makes it dangerous for everybody. And you had flames coming up and over, fire trucks, law enforcement vehicles, citizens trying to get out.

1:11:35So for our community, it's please leave. And if you could leave early, we know that causes a lot of anxiety. It's a lot of stress, but it makes everything else safe because at the end of the day, the most important thing is your safety. And then as we're repopulating, we're telling people, because we've already experienced it, do not go hike into those burned areas just because you think it is cold. It's still an act of fire and stay out of those areas so that firefighters can do their job. You can't reiterate enough how important it is to follow warnings and heed them for those residents. As we noted in the introduction, it's been confirmed that this is a human-caused blaze.

1:12:13What is the process now of trying to find the person or people responsible for igniting it? So we're working alongside a fire and we're going on to the neighborhoods. This area that the fire started is out in the middle of a mountain range. And so there's a lot of dirt roads that from the neighborhood to access it. So we're going around. We're asking our community for support. Did you see anybody out there? Did you see anybody around the fires that took off? So we are going out into the community. We're looking for any evidence that we can find with fire to hopefully find this person to determine was it accidental, wasn't intentional.

1:12:50And so if it is intentional, we can take the appropriate law enforcement actions. And if it's accidental, then we can determine that as well and let the community know. And, of course, the focus right now is containing this fire. What do your crews need most right now? You know, they need Mother Nature, hopefully, to just remain calm for just a little bit. We have winds this afternoon. They were supposed to be a little higher. Hopefully they stay low so that we can get in there. We can have the aviation units drop the water, the fire retardant, and they can make both those lines so the fire cannot spread.

1:13:27And so what we need is just a little bit of cooperation from Mother Nature and a lot of great work from all the first responders. Well, we are so grateful for those first responders. It has been a brutal summer for wildfires, especially in the western part of this country. Sheriff, thank you for everything you're doing. Thank you for taking the time. We appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Well, the fight for Senate control just got even more confusing now that a third Dan Sullivan is inserting himself into the U.S. Senate race in Alaska. That's right. Three politicians with the same name talking about the same election.

1:14:02Bring you those details next.

1:14:11All right, breaking tonight, a significant but preliminary win for President Trump and his efforts to restrict mail-in voting. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court says the Trump administration can move forward with a proposal for the Department of Homeland Security to compile state-specific lists of people it believes are eligible to vote in the Democratic-led states that had challenged the plan in court. All right, our panel is here for more of this. Essie, this spells new uncertainty about voting rules for the midterms. I had experts on earlier today that said that the timing here most likely would not impact the midterms, but potentially has consequences for elections after that.

1:14:53I'm specifically looking at the 28th presidential election. Yeah, but I actually think even just like having this conversation today impacts the midterms, right? Because you said it, the U word, uncertainty, is what this is going to create. It's the last thing that voters want is more uncertainty. And it's, I think, the main thing that Trump wants, even more than the logistics of this ruling and whatever it means years down the line. He's getting what he wants in the moment, which is more uncertainty around these elections. He's been trying to sow that uncertainty for a really long time. And now when you have the Supreme Court weighing in what appears, at least in the short run, to be a victory for him, he views that as a positive.

1:15:39But, Chris, you are running, a Democrat running for Congress. How are you responding to this? What concerns do you have now following this ruling? I mean, this is every opportunity that Donald Trump has taken to disenfranchise voters. And so it's creating a serious concern. I mean, when I talk to voters across the district, they're worried about having a free and fair election at the end of the day. But the idea is that, I mean, we live in America and we should have free and fair elections. And so, I mean, what voters are really talking about, they're talking about the kitchen table issues. And, you know, that's really what the conversation is.

1:16:12It's like, you know, we're in a war now. We're trying to put gas in our car and food on our tables. Those are the conversations that they're having. And, you know, being afraid about having being able to go vote now, just adding to the pile of worry and concern is just a problem. Joe, the president used primetime real estate in giving a speech talking about election insecurity here just a few weeks ago, now this ruling from the Supreme Court. How do you feel about this? Well, it's not an issue just because Trump is talking about it. Democrats spent the entire first term of the Trump presidency convincing people that Russia interfered in our election and somehow it wasn't unsafe.

1:16:46Poll after poll after poll over the last eight years have shown that Americans, by and large, even bipartisan Americans, feel that elections aren't as secure as they need to be. And no, you can't say that every mail-in ballot or every paper ballot is a fraudulent ballot. That's not true. But almost every time where you find validated cases of fraud, you are seeing it being done through some sort of paper ballot. So this is an issue that Trump has taken up. He campaigned on it. He vowed to do it. And now we're seeing some of the fruits of that. Trump votes by mail. There's no question about it.

1:17:18And again, this is not to eliminate all paper ballots. This is to make it more secure. But the other thing is, too, there hasn't been any statistics that actually have shown. Census Bureau came out this week saying that 24 ,000 noncitizens voted in American elections in 2020. And that's the Census Bureau. That's not a Republican, right-wing, not exactly known to be a conservative organization. This is the Census Bureau saying 24 ,000 noncitizens voted in 2020. Okay. Joe, just stick with me because I want to ask you something that we saw there for a moment. three years ago, President Trump flew to Fulton County, Georgia, and became the first U.S.

1:17:53president with a mugshot. There you see it right there. The official Republican account on X posted, quote, they did everything they could to stop him and they failed. Now, while the official account for Trump's political operation posted, let this be a lesson to every American when your back is against the wall and life gets rough, you must never surrender. Is that something the Republican Party should be celebrating? This was supposed to sink Donald Trump. Instead, it resurrected him. If you think about where we were when this happened, Trump was not winning in any poll, right? You had this thing come out.

1:18:25It was supposed to be humiliating. And it served, it ended up serving as a rallying cry for a lot of Republicans. Now you combine that with what we just heard from Michael Cohen, with the J6 case against Trump collapsing, with the Manhattan document case collapsing, it gives a lot of runway to what Republicans and what Trump has made the case of that there's lawfare against him. That's what that picture symbolizes, and that's what led him to win re-election. Chris, I see your signs throughout Long Island. I was just telling my son, hey, you know that Chris Gallant who we always see his signs for?

1:18:58Well, he's going to be on the show. When voters come to you, maybe they're undecided, even some Democratic voters, and raise some of those concerns that they have, how do you respond to that? Are they valid at all? The end of the day, you know, we were promised that Donald Trump in 2015, when he decided to run, said he was going to drain the swamp. And what happened? He turned around and created a swamp of his own. The idea is that we've been lied to constantly. We've had promises made and none of them have been kept. Life is not easier. Groceries are more expensive. I use the example, I was deployed in 22 to 23.

1:19:31And before I left on that deployment, you could fill a shopping cart for a hundred bucks. I came back and I'm telling you the sticker shock was unbelievable. Just grocery prices, and now look at gas prices. Gas prices, this was a choice of the reason why gas prices are continuing to rise. Voters want to make life more easier, and they want to be able to go and vote in November. This is going to be the most consequential election of our lifetime. I know we say this every year, but this is the year that it's really going to matter and make a difference. Perhaps a consequential election like no other in Alaska either.

1:20:02There is a lot of confusion here. A new wild wrench in the U.S. Senate race there. Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan has backed Senator Dan Sullivan to beat challenger Dan Sullivan. Now, the all-party primary was held there last week. It looks like both Dan Sullivans will be on the ballot in November, with only a middle initial differentiating them. Democrat Mary Paltola did pretty well, winning 48 percent of the vote compared to current Senator Dan S. Sullivan's nearly 43 percent. All of this name confusion probably isn't helping Sullivan. Well, Sullivan, number one, S. Sullivan seems to be doing pretty well.

1:20:44I don't think J. Sullivan is eating too much into his count. If that was the intended goal, we don't know if that was the intended goal. There's been some suggestion that that was the intended goal. We don't know. But the fact that this race in Alaska is competitive is really remarkable. I've been to Alaska a number of times, and every time I go, I'm reminded that it's incredibly expensive to live there in any time, right? Because they have to import so much from the lower 48. It's very expensive. Well, now it's even more expensive because of dumb decisions like tariffs and a war that no one wanted.

1:21:22And Alaska voters are really paying attention to this issue of affordability. They don't like the way that Trump and Republicans are talking about it. Like it's a hoax. It's not a hoax for them. For them, it is deadly serious. And that's why I think Mary Piltola is doing so well. So Joe, how worried are Republicans about Alaska? How much money are they willing or having to spend now for this race? And do you think Republicans are responding to concerns about the economy and the price at the gas pump and at the grocery store adequately enough. Look, certainly the economy, broadly speaking, is the biggest vulnerability that Republicans face in the midterms.

1:21:59But, you know, you don't get this Dan Sullivan dirty trick because Democrats feel like they're in a good place. And there is some metadata tying the new Dan Sullivan back to some Democratic consultants. I think what you're seeing is Mary Patola, who came out with a lot of steam, now the onion is getting peeled back. You're finding out that she fought for middle class tax increases. Her campaign is falling apart. Her campaign staff is leaving. She's out there begging for Kamala Harris's endorsement. She's ahead. But all these things are starting to come out against her. And I think you're seeing some desperate moves by Democrats in the state.

1:22:33All right, panel, we'll leave it there. Good to see you. Thank you. All right, our new measles outbreak was declared today just as kids head back to school. We'll bring you those details ahead.

1:22:52Our last leads start in our national lead. Jed York, the principal owner of the San Francisco 49ers, was arrested Sunday for, quote, engaging in prostitution in Ohio. Court documents show York spent the night in jail and paid just over$1 ,000 in fines connected to the charges. CNN has reached out to the 49ers and York's legal team for comment. In our national lead, Massachusetts police believe they found the body of a woman who was wanted in connection with her police officer husband's death. Police say they found Karen Solomon's body in some woods today near a gun she likely used to kill herself.

1:23:29Her husband, Officer Kurt Solomon, was found dead at their house last week. Karen Solomon was the co-founder of a group that advocates for women, for officers, for officers' mental health. And in our health lead, Maryland just declared a measles outbreak across three counties. The Maryland Department of Health says most of the 14 new cases happened in households and among people who are unvaccinated. The latest Centers for Disease Control data shows there have been 36 new measles outbreaks this year, resulting in nearly 3 ,000 cases and nearly 200 hospitalizations. All right, you can follow me on X and Instagram at Bianna Golodriga.

1:24:11You can follow the show on X and Instagram at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett Out Front starts now.

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