Trump Admin Announces Tariff on 60 Countries

25:49Coming up next, the notable Democrat who says today that the Bernie bros could spoil midterms for the Democrats. Why does he think that? We'll talk to him next.

26:04Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. The Democratic Party's current identity crisis is our politics lead today.

26:41A Wall Street Journal op-ed by former ambassador to Japan and White House chief of staff for Barack Obama. Rahm Emanuel has the eye-catching headline, the Bernie bros could spoil Democrats midterms. He's here to explain. Thanks so much for joining us, Mayor Emanuel. Well, what's your response to Democrats who say, hey, the progressives, the Bernie bros, they're the ones bringing all the energy to the Democratic Party right now? Well, look, I would say this. Look, this election cycle is setting up exactly like 06. Very unpopular war, very unpopular war. You have corruption, like under Tom DeLay, like under Abu Ghraib, and then you have corruption here under Donald Trump.

27:22It's set up perfectly to be a referendum on Donald Trump, and the corruption and also a very unpopular war. Also, in the summer of 06, gas had hit record prices and you're seeing that. We recruited a bunch of candidates that took national security, the cultural issues off the table, and made it about prosecuting always George Bush and the corruption around the administration in a very unpopular war. Here, the distraction from the democratic socialists actually adds a weight and the party doesn't have a deep bench of support. You want this to be totally about Donald Trump, his corruption in this war, and they have policies from defunding the police to decriminalizing the prison system to open borders.

28:06And we've tried that. And it's politically electorally a failure and the policies are wrong. They're not democratic party policies. Now, I just came back, as I say in the piece from Omaha, a great candidate, Denise Powell. We lost three times. This is one of the few districts, Kamala Harris won, that had a Republican congressman, and they're calling her DSA Denise, and she's a moderate. Now, she can either prosecute the race on the fact that the city council member she's running against voted against the minimum wage or take her precious resources and try to distinguish herself from the DSA. But you can't do both.

28:40And so my point is what happens in New York 13th District doesn't stay in New York 13th District, and that's a burden on us who want to see Donald have a checkmate from Congress, not a rubber stamp from Congress. So you write this about the Democratic Socialists of America or the DSA. When the DSA attempts to turn safe Democratic states and districts a darker shade of blue, Democratic candidates in swing districts are put at a distinct disadvantage. How so? How does a Democratic Socialist, a DSA candidate in, say, my home district in Philadelphia, how does that impact the Omaha race? Well, I just told you they're calling her DSA Denise.

29:21And it's a burden because one, she shouldn't have to. She should be able to spend her resources and prosecute the race on the fact that he voted against the minimum wage that was a referendum where 70 percent of the district voted in the referendum for an increase in the minimum wage. And he voted against it. One of the only aldermen to do that or city council members. To me, that's a big deal. And that's what the race should be about. It should be about the fact that he would go be a rubber stamp for Donald Trump and his corruption when, in fact, the public wants a checkmate on Donald Trump, his corruption and this war.

29:57It's a distraction for a party with only 32 percent favorable rating. We don't have a deep bench to draw on. And I, you know, I say this in contrast, Jay, in 06, we took all the problems and burdens, moved them to the side with your candidate. Your messenger is your message. Yeah. And here we have a case. We have very good candidates with now a distraction from prosecuting Donald Trump on an unpopular war and unpopular corruption. But isn't your issue really here with the voters, the Democratic voters who are voting for these individuals over more centrist Democrats? An example might be of somebody who was elected the New York mayor, Zoran Mamdani.

30:43And he wasn't just elected. I think he was elected with barely 50 percent of the vote. But his favorability rating in New York, according to a Siena poll, is 58 percent. I mean, people like what he's doing. Let's also look. Well, Jake, let's go through this. One, there was a primary in the home law race. Denise won. Yeah, it was against a very progressive candidate to go to Arizona last night. And in fact, you had an incumbent member beat back a very progressive. So it's not universal and across the board. But take it as an example. You know, in Nebraska, a candidate running for the Senate is not running on the Democratic label because it's too unpopular.

31:20Same thing in Montana. We don't have a lot of bandwidth here and a lot of cushion. So my point is, you don't want the distractions. We won 31 seats in the House in 06, and we won the Senate. That's also true. We added in 08, so we had two back-to-back very successful years. The whole strategy is to put an end to the Trump presidency, the end to this corruption, and a checkmate to a Congress that's acted like a rubber stamp. Anything that is distracting from that, that is a burden on that, is exactly that. a distraction and a burden from what we as Democrats believe. And I think, take the policies.

31:57You've got a set of defunding, decriminalizing open borders. We have run that play and gotten our butts kicked. We don't need to do it a second time to see if it turns out, if the movie turns out any different. And so I don't agree with you that's happening universally. Yes, it happened in the New York districts, et cetera, but that hasn't happened as in this case, take the Omaha race. As one example, there's other Democrats that won. And the classic example that I also say in the piece, you have a governor from New Jersey and a governor from Virginia. They both were military but national security backgrounds.

32:31Both ousted incumbent Republicans. And then both went on to become governor. The whole strategy, Jake, is to flip red to blue so you can raise the minimum wage, not deeper blue districts. I'm not into cobalt blue versus midnight blue. I like navy blue. That's the color I prefer. Former Congressman Rahm Emanuel, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. The op-ed is in the Wall Street Journal right now if you want to check it out. We're going to get some reaction to Rahm Emanuel's spoiler alert. Plus, the breaking news, the Justice Department dropping its subpoenas, targeting reporters at The New York Times and family members of them after they reported on the security concerns related to Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One.

33:10A lot going on tonight. We're back in a moment.

33:23In our politics lead today, the White House withdrew the subpoenas they had issued for three New York Times reporters after they admitted legal errors. These subpoenas would have required the reporters to testify about their sources after they reported on Trump's Qatari gifted Air Force One and security concerns about it. That's a Justice Department initiative statement saying, in part, this judge threatened our attorneys with sanctions unless subpoenas were withdrawn and blocked us from presenting the meticulous process of this investigation. Make no mistake, this investigation remains ongoing and we will pursue justice against those threatening national security by leaking classified information.

33:57Serious federal crime. The Trump administration recently withdrew similar subpoenas for journalists at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. My panel joins us now. Now, Karen Finney, the White House, which is about to be feted, the president, by the White House Correspondents Association on Friday for the makeup of dinner. They've been vigorously going after news organizations that they deem unfair, whose coverage they don't like for national security issues, et cetera, et cetera. What does today's developments tell you about how they've been waging this battle? Well, I think one of the most disturbing things is they're going after the wrong people.

34:32I mean, you know, the First Amendment is a you know, it is the framers put freedom of the press in the Constitution for a reason. And when we are trying to flout those norms that that, you know, as this president has done on many fronts, it's that is a threat to our democracy. It you know, certainly if they have concerns about the leaking of classified information, the way to pursue that is to do an internal investigation and find out who the leaker was, not to go after the journalist who made the choice to then report on the information they were given. Mark? I agree with Karen. I mean, the reality is that leaking national security is a serious crime.

35:11But at the same time, I think we protect freedom of press, and our First Amendment protects a lot of our other freedoms. And so I agree that the way to go after it is try to find those who leaked out and going after the reporters. Today at an event about data centers and AI, President Trump addressed the war in Iran. Take a listen. We're doing very well against the Islamic Republic of Iran. We're doing extremely well. They would like to do something, but I say they're not ready yet. They need more of the same. They're not ready yet. They got some evil intentions. I can't tell what's happening here or when there's any hints that anything is going to end.

35:53At this point, they're trying to get the Strait of Hormuz open. That's the big goal. And that was open before the war was launched. Jake, I think that there's probably reluctance to actually use the military necessary to ensure the straits are open. And I think that creates a situation where we're going to continue to be in this situation. Where the president is looking to negotiate publicly. There'll be, I think, more kinetic action and then opening doors to negotiation. But I don't see in that path how it ends unless actually you're allowed to finish the job that was started here. What do you think, Karen?

36:25Well, look, the problem is that Americans don't like this war. They don't want this war. And it is becoming increasingly unpopular. Gas prices are back up, but also just the strain of war. And I think sometimes we forget that we now, we have a generation of young men and women who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, and that is still a very real pain and wound in our culture. And so the idea of getting dragged into another conflict in the Middle East where there seems to be no clear plan, unless you believe that I guess it's over, but maybe it's back on again. I'm not sure. You said on the first day that we won the war.

37:03Yeah, or it's like two more weeks, I guess it's going to be. And without congressional approval. People are wary of it. and wary of it also at a time when they're being told, we can't do these, I mean, just look at the budget proposal. We can't do all these other things that people need to meet the basic needs of our own people, but we need more money to go fight this war and to continue to prosecute this war that nobody can say what the plan is. The president's other big priority in addition to the war is the Save America Act, his bill that would make it a little tougher or a lot tougher in some cases to vote, to register to vote.

37:40One of the issues in the Senate is there aren't the votes for it. There are not 60 votes to bring it up for a vote, and there aren't even 50 votes to pass it, even though Republicans control the Senate. The president is mad. He wants the Senate Republicans to get rid of the filibuster so it's only 50 votes. By the way, that still wouldn't allow it to pass because there still aren't 50 votes. But here's White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt with a warning for the Republican leader of the Senate, the Majority Leader, John Thune. The president spoke about this directly yesterday. His patience is running out.

38:14He wants to see as much of the Save America past as possible by the August recess. The House did its job. The Senate needs to do its job, too. On the Hill today, Senator Thune, the majority leader, said this to reporters about Levitt's comments, quote, well, maybe she or somebody else ought to get on the phone and get the votes, right? It's 50 around here. So instead of, you know, pointing the finger Republicans that might think about going after the people who are stopping on the floor, which is the Democrats. It's not just the Democrats, I should note. I mean, Lisa Murkowski, there are a number of enough Republicans to stop it.

38:45What is the likelihood you think that this will pass before recess? Zero. Zero. Yes, that's correct. I think there's a small. That's the right answer. And your prizes are. I think there's a small chance that post-election and a lame duck, there's it could happen. But I still wouldn't put a lot of confidence in that, Jake, for the reasons you said, I'm sitting here as a supporter of the SAVE Act. I believe you should have voter ID. I believe you should be able to prove citizenship. But the very senators that you mentioned, our holdouts, are the very ones the president himself has personally attacked, from Murkowski to Collins to McConnell to Cornyn to Tillis.

39:17And so when he blames John Thune for not getting them on board, they're the very ones that he has gone after. And so he's created a big obstacle to actually get the most prized legislation piece he wants right now through the Senate. Can I just mention, though, you know, I feel for the Republicans because Democrats were in the same place in 2021. We may you guys are old enough to remember the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Correct. And it was, you know, Kyrsten Sinema and you had Joe Manchin. And look, we we got to a point when it comes to voter I.D. You had, you know, Stacey Abrams and you had, you know, Clyburn and Barack Obama on the same page about when it came to voter I.D.

39:54We couldn't get a deal. The concern constantly, though, from Democrats is it's got to be broadly available and it has to be free because we're consistently a voter, a voter ID, meaning that, you know, because this will impose costs on people to either go and get the ID or to get the have to go wait in line to get the documents that they need to get the ID. But I do think there's another piece. I know Republicans want to talk about the SAVE Act like it's just voter ID. But it's more than that, because remember, there's also a provision in there that would force the states to provide the federal government, the Trump federal government, with sensitive voter data that they want.

40:33And they're trying to sue to get it right now from the states. They've lost 16 times in court. These are Republican and Democratic governors and secretaries of state. So when we hear that the SAVE Act is about voter ID, it's about a lot more than that. That's a big part of why we're pushing it to. All of that's not in the reconciliation bill. It's being argued, or it's in the reconciliation bill. It's simply to be funding to the states to ask them to try to comply with some of these provisions. Mark, just quickly on the filibuster, because Trump wants them to get rid of the filibuster. Former Republican Senator Ben Sasse, who I'm going to talk about in a second, he penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal entitled, Americans Need the Filibuster.

41:06He writes in part, when partisans talk about killing or reforming the filibuster, they're saying they want to turn the Senate into another House of Representatives. That would be a tragic mistake. The filibuster prevents the dramatic pendulum swings that are the natural result of simple majority lawmaking. Do you agree? I look forward to your interview with Ben on Sunday night. He's a dear friend of mine and he's a courageous fighter. I'm not probably somebody as sacrosanct on the filibuster. It was not in the Constitution. It's a rule in the Senate. And I think a lot of senators who are typically moderates have hidden behind the filibuster because they can say to their leader, hey, look, you don't need me on this vote because the threshold's 60.

41:41It's not 50. And so if you actually change that rule, I think you might find members actually voting their conscience more. All right. Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. A red alert in Trump's war with Iran today. The price of oil topped$100 a barrel. The new escalation driving this surge ahead.

42:06Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Typer. This hour of the hot mess, the Iran war getting even messier tonight. Trump says Iran has evil intentions. He's threatening more strikes. Oil prices surging. And oh yeah, an Iranian proxy jumps into the fray. Where the escalation stands now. Plus, testimony from a top banker today described as jaw-dropping. What he told Congress about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein that has lawmakers calling him a straight-up liar. Also, a nun ready to talk about having been detained by ICE. You heard me, a nun. what she said about her time in custody and the online movement spilling into the streets led by young people who proudly call themselves the Cockroach Party.

42:49The lead tonight, President Trump's plan for peace in the Middle East is getting rather confusing. Today, Secretary Marco Rubio insisted Iran is begging the U.S. for a deal. Hours later, Trump said this. They would like to do something, but I say they're not ready yet. They need more of the same. They're not ready yet. They got some evil intentions. As sources tell CNN that both CIA and Defense Intelligence Agency, or DIA, assessments show the U.S. bombing campaign is unlikely to force Iran to the negotiating table. Meanwhile, President Trump did a 180 on his nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, which had been initially criticized by nuclear policy experts.

43:29Now, he says it has a new lofty condition. The Saudis must normalize relations with Israel first by joining the Abraham Accords. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt insists this is not new. Look, this is a condition that the president has spoken about many times. Why was that condition not mentioned yesterday when the Anderson Secretary announced it? Well, look, the president is always the final dealmaker, as you know, and this is something that he has mentioned on numerous occasions. This morning, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu who applauded the new requirement. There is also ongoing turbulence in the key waterways around the Middle East.

44:07Today, Secretary Rubio insisted Iran suckered its proxy, the Houthis, into attacking Saudi ships along the Red Sea. CNN's Kristen Holmes joins us from the White House. Nick Robertson joins us from Jerusalem. Kristen? Well, Jake, it certainly seems as though it's escalating in terms of threats from President Trump. Today, President Trump told Axios that he was considering a massive attack, bigger than anything anyone had seen before. Of course, we've heard this kind of rhetoric from the president before, and we know that he hasn't as of yet, according to officials, signed off on those most extreme military options.

44:42But in addition to that, he threatened to bomb power plants and bridges every time that Iran struck a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. And as you noted, he didn't seem to have any sort of appetite for a ceasefire. What's really striking is what you mentioned, This idea that at the same time his intelligence agencies have found this kind of bombing that the U.S. is doing every single night is not likely to move the Iranians' negotiating position. President Trump is saying they need more of the same. Now, this also comes as President Trump has announced that his next cabinet meeting is going to be at Camp David, which is a secure facility in Maryland that operates also as a fully functioning White House.

45:18And it's all coming at a time in which this conflict, the war in Iran, seems to be coming at a head both on the ground as well as politically. President Trump has had a very hard time changing the messaging. There is so much focus on the war in Iran and the cost associated with it, not just the cost for the economy, but also American lives. And Nick, how likely is it that Saudi Arabia will join the Abraham Accords at a time when Israel is historically unpopular? There's obviously a very long history here. There is a long history. I think it's really unlikely. I think that's a real roadblock for the deal moving ahead, at least in the terms that we understand it at the moment.

45:58Look, there are a lot of people that thought that Hamas's brutal attacks on Israel, October 7th, 2023, came to prevent Saudi from moving ahead to normalizing relations with Israel, because that seemed to be the direction things were going in. But it's been Israel's response to Hamas's brutal attack. Israel in Gaza killing more than 70 ,000 Palestinians there, many of them women and children. And the Saudi crown prince, the de facto ruler, has really hardened his position and said, look, there's no way I'm going to do normalization unless Israel accepts a path to a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Netanyahu has pretty much indicated that's not going to happen.

46:39That seems to be an impasse. That's why it doesn't look like the deal will go ahead. Nick, Secretary of State Rubio says he heard reports of a Saudi fuel ship that has a Chinese flag, suggesting that Houthis might risk further expanding this conflict if it becomes a problem for China. Do you agree? How big of a deal could that be? look if if the huthers were to target a chinese flagged vessel even if it was carrying saudi oil which is what they say they're preventing getting out that would be that would really look like a game changer in many ways why do i say that look the huthers they're working for iran here um they're trying to block another way of getting uh saudi oil international oil to international markets What the Chinese flagships have been able to do in the Strait of Hamas is sign up to the Iranian deal there to allow them to pass through.

47:31And by the end of today, we've heard that those Chinese flagged vessels carrying Saudi oil have actually now got through Bab al-Mandab. They've got on their way to China. So the indications are the Houthis, the Iranians are operating the same deal in the Red Sea. A Saudi vessel can't get through, but a Chinese flagged one can. And that's a big problem going forward. It's a big problem for the Saudis. You know, the briefings I've been getting, the Saudis were very likely to respond to anything that the Houthis did to their shipping while their ship was hit last night. Today, President Trump says that if the Houthis do it again, he'll hit them and he'll hit the Iranians.

48:09But if you're the Saudis right now, you're wondering what President Trump is going to say tomorrow. Should the Saudis hit the Houthis? Will President Trump follow through on his word given what happened with the nuclear deal? This is part of the reason why the situation here is so complicated, is so stressful for leaders in the region. They are trying to read President Trump, and he is sending them mixed signals. All right, CNN's Nick Robertson in Jerusalem. Kristen Holmes at the White House, thanks to both of you. As Iran continues its counterstrikes on American allies, back home, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence is going after what the regime calls, quote, hostile human media.

48:48In a new sweeping anti-espionage law, the regime published a list of people, social media pages, organizations, and news outlets outside Iran and threatening legal action. Joining us now, one of the people mentioned this list of hostile human media, which is an honor, to be frank, to be targeted as hostile to an oppressive regime. It's a frequent guest on the lead actress and activist Nazanin Bonyadi. First of all, I don't know if congratulations are in order, but I don't know what I have to do to be considered hostile to a regime that kills thousands of its own people. How did you find out you were on this list?

49:22Someone sent it to me, Jake, and you're right, it's a badge of honor, but I'm less concerned about being on a list like this and more concerned about what it means for the Iranian people, who, as you know, were slaughtered back in January for demanding their rights, then were cut off from the world in an 88-day Internet blackout, the longest in history state-imposed nationwide blackout. And now there is an expansion of an espionage law that was, by the way, implemented or brought in to effect in 2019. People think it's a response to Israel and the U.S. strikes. It's not. It's existed since 2019.

49:58It is being expanded. And all it means is the Islamic Republic is fully aware that the Iranian people are its Achilles heel. Well, the thing is, I mean, I've talked to you countless times. And you're not calling for the regime to be killed. You're not calling for the regime, the members of the regime to be executed. You're calling for human rights and dignity for the Iranian people. I mean, that's basically what I take. There are much harsher critics of the regime than you. Well, I frankly am a harsh critic of the regime. I'm proud to be a harsh critic of the regime. I do want democracy for them.

50:32I want the regime to be replaced with a representative and accountable government. perhaps my rhetoric has not been as, you know, yeah, I'm not calling for them to be assassinated. I'm calling for them to be held accountable in a court of law, which is my preference. I want justice to prevail. I want the Iranian people to feel what justice is like. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying you're soft on the regime. I'm just saying like anything, like... Right. I'm calling essentially for international law to take effect. I'm just saying it's bizarre that they consider that so offensive. We have also had Iranian activist Masi Alinajad on the show many times.

51:13She's also on this list. And as you remember, in 2025, a federal judge convicted two men of plotting to kill her, to assassinate her in her New York City home. Clearly, Iran's threats don't stop at their borders. Does Masi's experience, and thank God she survived it, and she's stronger than ever, but does Masi's experience worry you at all? Look, I think all of us run this risk of, you know, what happened to Nasi was awful. Another friend of mine in the UK was stabbed, was actually stabbed. Of course, that's what happened to Salman Rushdie. We all, you know, track these things. But it pales in comparison to what the Iranian people are going through.

51:50And frankly, I feel it is an obligation, at least for me, to do all I can to echo their voices at a time where their voices are not being heard. And I just, I want to reiterate how important it is, and this is precisely why I'm on this list, so I want to make this point, that human rights should never be sacrificed. It should not be the price we pay to negotiate with this terrorist regime. It should be a condition for any negotiation with this regime. CNN's been reporting on the continued executions of political prisoners in Iran. Too many of them rounded up after the January protests across Iran.

52:27They say they were tortured into making confessions. It's clear that the regime is sending the message is dissent will be met with death. What have you heard from other Iranians about all this? You're right, Jake. It's 54 politically motivated executions in 2026. 50 of those, 50 of the 54, happened after the start of war in late February. So they have been, there's a, you know, increase of execution, insurgent executions and these laws, the expansion of the espionage laws, go to show that they are afraid of what's happening. They're more afraid of the people of Iran than of Israel and the U.S., frankly.

53:07And honestly, what they're telling me is, who is going to help us? What is the mechanism? The Islamic Republic has essentially created the perfect storm for silence and impunity. And what they're facing right now is not only the perils of war, but also crumbling infrastructure that is a result of corruption and mismanagement and neglect by the regime itself, a failing economy, 70 % inflation, triple-digit inflation on food. The people are in dire straits economically. And on top of that, intensified repression at home that is, you know, the war is being used as a pretext to escalate repression, intensify repression, and call everything espionage.

53:50And so under these conditions, how can the Iranian people rise up? People say, well, people aren't protesting. Silence is not consent in this context and under these conditions. Well, speaking of silence, I don't know where the progressive activist community in this country is on any of these issues. It's quite deafening, their silence. It's shocking. And another thing, to your point, Jake, is when Western media enter Iran and they cover what's happening in Iran, We have to understand that the Islamic Republic has ranked 177 of 180 countries in the Press Freedom Index for Reporters Without Borders in 2026.

54:28There is no press freedom inside of them. Oh, none. There is a condition for that reporting. Of course, 100%. Nazanin Banyani, you're a hero to us. Congratulations on the honor. Let me know how I need to get on that list sometime. I mean, how many times do I need to have Masi and you on the show? At least an honorary degree. A man who served as Jeffrey Epstein's personal banker testified before the House Oversight Committee today. Several members of Congress came away calling him a straight-up liar, what this means for the committee's investigation coming up. And a Secret Service agent for Vice President J.D.

54:57Vance has been put on leave. He's suspected of leaking information in the news media. What a source tells CNN about that. Next.

55:10Mr. Sealy is clearly, in our opinion, just not being truthful and flat out lying. It has been really jaw-dropping to see how the men who have come before us, and in some cases the women who have come before us, continue to lie so brazenly. Two House Oversight Committee Democrats blasting the testimony today from a former top financial executive named Jeff Staley. Democrats say he straight up lied about his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Staley was a top executive at J.P. Morgan, later becoming CEO at Barclays. Today, Democrats said Staley claimed he had no friendship with Epstein, but that isn't what the Epstein files show.

55:53In fact, there are more than 1 ,000 emails between Staley and Epstein. Staley described their friendship as profound and referred to Epstein as family in those emails. The Epstein files also include sexual abuse allegations against Staley. So let's bring in Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy of Illinois, who's also on the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, your colleagues said they're disappointed by not surprised by how much Jess Staley straight up lied to them. What do you think? How would you characterize his testimony? Yeah, I think he lied. I think he told falsehood after falsehood. And I think that it stemmed primarily from his basically denial of any kind of friendship or personal relationship with Jeffrey Epstein, despite the thousands of emails that say the opposite.

56:40And of course, he's been accused of rape. He's been accused of sex with minors. You know, as one person, the general counsel of J.P. Morgan said it, he is not an honorable person in any way, not an honorable person in any way. That was the reference to Jeffrey Epstein in an email to Jess Staley, who continued to defend him at J.P. Morgan Chase and and ended up getting his help to get his CEO job at Barclays as well. There have been allegations about Staley and Epstein, women that worked for Epstein with him. Was he asked about that? Yeah. And he just again, it's like denial of everything. And I think that at this point, I think he should be brought back under oath.

57:36He should be properly deposed. I think a subpoena should be issued to him. And I think we should potentially pursue basically charges of lying to Congress. Despite the fact that it's a transcribed interview, he has no right to lie to Congress. And I think he's now exposed himself to jeopardy on that front as well. Does the committee still have questions for other financial institutions that had ties to Epstein? Oh, absolutely. Today, me and Elizabeth Warren and my colleague Ro Khanna in the House wrote a letter to Barclays, basically questioning what kind of investigation they possibly did with regard to Jess Staley at the time that they questioned him about his ties to Epstein and then basically exonerated him.

58:25And so they have a lot of explaining to do as well. And it's yet another example of just financial institutions being complicit in this Epstein affair. The committee also raised some concerns about Todd Blanche. What were those concerns? Well, I think, you know, Todd Blanche is basically, in my opinion, the chief architect of this cover up of, you know, the Epstein files, Epstein affair. He is the one that has refused to disclose millions of pages of documents. He's the one that gave Glenn Maxwell a venue to basically lie and deny any guilt in association with the sex trafficking ring. And he's the one that recently said that he thinks that, you know, the Epstein investigation should not be a 2026 matter.

59:19And so that's why I and others have said he has no business being attorney general of the United States. and he has proven himself to be Donald Trump's attorney, not the attorney for the people. As you noted, Staley's testimony was not under oath. That has been a point of contention for several witnesses testifying. Why aren't they under oath? That is something that the Republican majority insisted on to proceed with this investigation. I can guarantee you when there's a change in gavels and the majority is taken over by Democrats, that will not be the case. These people should not be just merely interviewed.

1:00:01They should be put under oath in a deposition. And there should be subpoenas if people aren't complying voluntarily. Congressman Roger Chris DeMorthy from Illinois. Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it. Thank you, Jake. The Trump administration says it targets the worst of the worst. What about this nun in Texas who was on her way to church when ICE covered? Well, she's telling her story for the first time. That's next.

1:00:36Internationally, today, a nun from Nigeria detained by ICE while on her way to Mass is speaking out publicly for the first time. not to go to mass on Sunday, not to receive communion. It was very, very heartbreaking for me. It's still hurting me up to today. In the days since I have prayed a great deal, not only for myself, but about the fear I felt that morning and up to this moment. ICE detains Sister Leticia Igobaja, or Sister Leti, in McAllen, Texas, June 28th. She was released the next day. CNN has not heard back from the Department of Homeland Security when we called to find out what's going on.

1:01:24Joining us now is Sister Leti's attorney, Carlos Garcia. Mr. Garcia, thanks for joining us. Why is Sister Leti required to report back to ICE? What is her immigration status? Is she not here legally? Right. She has a grant of what's called withholding under the Convention Against Torture. Essentially, an immigration court found that the government was foreclosed from sending her to Nigeria and granted her case so that she could continue to exist here in the United States. So she's here. It sounds like from what you're saying is that she she's here legally, like there's some sort of legal status that she's under.

1:02:09Is that right? Right. So essentially, she did fight an asylum case that was denied. So there is a final order of removal. But an immigration court did grant her this withholding of removal, which means that the United States government could not remove her to Nigeria. But now ICE is attempting to remove Sister Leti not to Nigeria, but to a third country. And this is a separate legal pathway from the one that her protection forecloses. And it's currently the subject of active litigation in a nationwide class action called DVD versus DHS. I'm just trying to understand why on earth this would be a priority for the Trump administration.

1:02:54What does she do? is, I mean, she looks like a nun to me, so I assume she lives with other nuns and does charitable works and praise and such. How does she spend her days? Right. Sister Leti is a nun and a nurse. She was walking to church on that Sunday because she's a Eucharistic minister. She indicated this morning that she was walking with her rosary and her key, and she was going over the daily readings, preparing herself to participate in the mass, and that the agents drove up and picked her up. And she said, let me go to mass. I want to have communion because for her, that is something extremely important.

1:03:39She hasn't missed a Sunday communion in 34 years. And so that's what happened. And she was picked up and taken to a detention center. Have they said, as ICE said, which third country they want to send her to? No, we don't have that information. And this is common. This is what's been going on across the country, that ICE picks up and detains people and then maybe informs them of the country that they're trying to send them, or maybe they do not. And normally it's that they do not inform the people. But what we're saying is Sister Letty and other people like her across the country should have notice and should have the opportunity to be heard so that they can challenge whatever ICE is planning on doing.

1:04:27Did Sister Letty describe how ICE treated her while she was being detained? She was scared. She said she was scared that she tried to ask questions and they said that they were taking her to a detention center. So because she's a nun and she's a woman of faith, she said she started praying that she really wanted them to take her to have communion. But of course, I said no. And that to her was the biggest obstacle for her that day. That was what was breaking her heart. Carlos Garcia, thank you so much. Please send our love to Sister Leti. Thank you. What we're learning about a Secret Service agent on the detail for Vice President Vance put on administrative leave over an alleged leak to the news media.

1:05:18Stay with us.

1:05:25In our Politics Lead, a story that CNN broke, sources confirming that a Secret Service agent assigned to Vice President J.D. Vance has been put on leave and is under investigation for leaking information that included details of the vice president's travels. The MS Now story involved plans later canceled for Vance and one of his children to take a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter to a golf lesson. It's raising questions about whether the leak might have endangered the vice president and a larger question about morale problems among Vance's Secret Service details. CNN's Josh Campbell's here. He's a former FBI supervisory special agent.

1:06:01Josh, tell us more about this leak and what we're learning about the investigation. Well, highly unusual, but I am hearing from a law enforcement source that one of the protective agents assigned to J.D. Vance is now on administrative leave and is subject to this internal investigation and is essentially being investigated for the belief that this person had provided information to an MSNOW reporter that made its way into that story that you mentioned included details about Vance's travel. Now, in a statement to CNN, the Secret Service confirmed that this internal investigation is underway. They would not get into any additional details.

1:06:32But we've been talking to sources. And again, it stemmed from that MSNOW story that reported in detail that a lot of agents on the vice president's detail were concerned about a building morale issue. They say that they were frustrated by the often chaotic nature of his schedule that required them to then cancel their own days off. Interestingly, there was a report in there as well about their concern about Vance's personal and public travel using government resources at taxpayer expense, including purportedly taking Marine 2, the presidential helicopter, for a golf lesson for his son. I'm told that that story caught the attention of the Secret Service, as well as the FBI and White House officials, Jake, who fumed over operational details and their view of being made, making their way to the press into this story.

1:07:20So that inquiry, again, is launched. It's unclear whether this agent will face administrative or criminal penalties. Potentially, we have reached out, Jake, to MS Now for comment on this entire incident. What are you hearing about those Secret Service concerns over Vance's allegedly unpredictable personal and professional travel schedule and possible inappropriate use of helicopters or whatever? Well, quite honestly, they do mirror things that we've been hearing for quite some time. Time sources say that for several months that agents on the detail, but also the U.S. military that provides support to Vance's travel.

1:07:54In law enforcement circles and military circles, there has been concern about this chaotic nature of Vance's schedule. They say that frequently there are trips that are started and stopped and rescheduled and started over again. And sometimes his movements, as you know, Jake, you've covered Washington for a long time. That can involve hundreds of people that support these visits. And so there has been this morale concern. And, of course, for the Secret Service, they say there is zero tolerance for anyone within the service to actually provide this type of information and detail to a reporter, which is why we're seeing this very serious investigation.

1:08:26The flip side, Jake, that we're hearing from some circles as well, including people in law enforcement that say, well, maybe people should pay attention to what is being reported here. Because if the agent believed that things were so dire and there was such a big issue, they felt their only option was to go to the press. Maybe there's something there. But again, as I mentioned, law enforcement and secret service saying there's no tolerance when it comes to this. Josh Campbell, thanks so much. Coming up in our Health Lead insights into what it's like to live with terminal cancer for an upcoming report this Sunday night on CNN's The Whole Story.

1:08:54I recently sat down with former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse. Sasse, as you may know, was diagnosed last December with stage four pancreatic cancer. And he was told he had only months to live. Senator Sasse, it's been a long time. I've known Ben Sasse for more than a decade, having interviewed him many times over the years, and as you can see, cancer has certainly taken its toll physically on him. I have a great hospice doc who told me early on, she goes, when you're dying of an abdominal disease, you've got an algorithm of four variables. You've got pain from tumors. You've got nausea from drugs and tumors.

1:09:33You've got a constipation to diarrhea continuum, and you've got an energy fatigue. fatigue dimension. And she said, any of those problems, if you tell your doc you have a problem, they'll say there's a drug for that. And there's definitely a drug for that. And it might screw up the other three. So you got to manage the algorithm. So you're like an alchemist now. Yeah, I'm a druggie. But I definitely would prefer to have more energy and less fatigue. And I'm willing to endure more puking and more pain to be alive. So I do less drugs than would be normal for the amount of cancer I have. And you, in order just to do this interview, you have to modify your drug regimen, right?

1:10:15I tone down my morphine a lot. Does that mean you're in pain? I'd be giggling all the time. So you're in pain right now? A little, but it's not terrible. I mean, I'm sure we'll talk about it. My conversation with Ben Sasse and his wife, Melissa, and his son, Brack, who's 15, is the feature on Sunday's episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. Look for that Sunday night at 8 here on CNN. The next day you can watch it on the CNN app. A very meaningful conversation, for me at least. Some breaking news out of New York. Police are investigating two stabbings of possible hate crimes. Two men stabbed in broad daylight in Manhattan, apparently stabbed throughout their bodies.

1:10:53The police commissioner says that the attacker yelled, Allahu Akbar, during both stabbings. He adds that one victim is Asian, the other is Jewish. Details still coming in. Much more ahead.

1:11:15The distraction from the Democratic Socialists actually adds a weight, and the party doesn't have a deep bench of support. They have policies from defunding the police to decriminalizing the prison system to open borders, and we've tried that, and it's politically, electorally a failure. That is former Chicago mayor and possible 2028 presidential contender Rahm Emanuel just moments ago here on The Lead, defending his warning to Democrats in The Wall Street Journal that, quote, the Bernie bros could spoil Democrats' midterms and beyond. My panel's here. Kate Benningfield with Rahm Emanuel's argument that Democratic socialists are distracting on referendum on what should be a referendum on Trump.

1:11:57Do you agree? I do. Yeah. Yeah. So look, I worked for Rahm in 2006 at the DCCC in a cycle where we won 30 House seats in a big Democratic wave. And part of the way we were successful was putting forth candidates who were connected to the communities that they were nominated from and who convinced voters who were very sour on George W. Bush that Democrats weren't super far left, soft on national security. I mean, you remember that was a big theme in the 2004 election, a big challenge for John Kerry. So the short answer is yes, I do agree with him. I think that candidates who continue to stand behind comments about defunding the police and opening the border are going to have a very hard time winning what should be very winnable seats in purple parts of this country when you look at how disgusted voters are with Donald Trump.

1:12:44So in short, yes, I do agree with him. So, Karina, a new Fox poll shows 67 percent of registered voters disapprove and 33 % approve of how President Trump's handling the economy. I mean, it is also possible that President Trump is so unpopular that this Bernie bro distraction, as Rahm Emanuel calls it, won't matter. That's certainly possible. When I've been out on the road covering certain midterm races, I'm always surprised to just hear the fatigue, not just with Trump's economy, but under the Biden economy, you heard a lot of fatigue, and then people were promised reprieve. The president kept saying a boom is on the way.

1:13:20It is not coming. So I do very much think it's not just that democratic socialists are sort of branding unpopular policies as socialism that alienates especially independent voters, where socialism is not as popular of a term as it is becoming among Democrats. So that's a problem, to your point, in midterms. So I think it's just going to be a competition between voter fatigue with Trump and this unpopular term. This wild card. Senator Mitch McConnell, former Republican leader of the Senate, was admitted to the hospital on June 14th. His staff has been very tight-lipped about his recovery. Today, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat in New York, was asked if the former Senate leader should just resign.

1:14:02Take a listen. He can't give us an update. He should resign. Absolutely. We're seeing increasingly these votes are being decided by a one - or two-vote margin. and if you're not capable of, not only not capable of doing the job presently, but we need to know if you're capable of doing the job for the foreseeable future. You know, it's kind of amazing to me that two years after the Biden disaster, we still have these gerontocracy problems and lack of transparency and people just holding on to the job as long as possible. Well, I think this is a comms miscalculation on the part of McConnell's office here.

1:14:43You had that a few weeks ago that the message from Senator McConnell that he's on the mend doing his physical therapy and all of that. And the senator does have a track record of being private about his own personal affairs. So that part hasn't surprised me as much. But at this point, when it's catching up, you even have Republicans saying this is becoming a problem for us in committee. It's holding up the farm bill where votes are tied. It's it's holding up appropriations. So I think people in his own party are going to start putting pressure on the senator. And Kate, speaking of AOC, a new battleground poll shows AOC leading a pack of potential 2028 Democratic presidential nominees in New Hampshire.

1:15:20Look at that. AOC, 22 percent. Buttigieg, 21. Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, 9. Governor Gavin Newsom, at 8. Bernie Sanders, who's not running, at 6 percent. Kamala Harris at 5 percent. Now, look, it's a poll and it's early and all the caveats. But I'm surprised by that. Better you? I'm not super surprised in part because, look, AOC is an extremely charismatic candidate. Absolutely. And she's out front a lot. We were just looking. We were just watching her respond to questions. You see her out engaging. So people are seeing her. She seems very authentic. She's very authentic. She brings a tremendous amount of energy.

1:15:58She's also become, by the way, she would probably not want me to say this, but she's becoming an increasingly savvy Washington player as well. And so it actually doesn't surprise me when you have voters in New Hampshire and Democrats across the country who are so desperate for new leadership and are looking for new direction. Now, she, as we were just discussing a few minutes ago, she's going to have to grapple with some of the positions that of candidates that she's endorsed. I mean, she was standing with Abdul El Saeed just a couple of weeks ago, and he has refused to back away from. It was a few couple of days ago, a couple of days ago.

1:16:34Yeah. And he has refused to back away from comments he made about defunding the police. And so she is going to have to grapple with that, too. But she has an enormous amount of energy. I think people are looking for a change. And I can understand why somebody who's looking around right now saying, what is the future of the Democratic Party look like might choose her. And this her popularity could be playing a factor in a bill that stalled in the House right now that would let victims of nonconsensual deepfake AI pornography file civil lawsuits, asked AOC's involvement if it's a factor. The lead Republican on the bill told political quote, I do not think on any level that should be a barrier to us getting a vote on this bill.

1:17:13So the bill has broad bipartisan support. So what is going on here? Do you know? Well, it's interesting because it's also an example of how she's getting into the fray on stuff that, you know, she's, this is bipartisan action. She seems to be, and she probably wouldn't like to hear this, but she seems to be moderating a bit. And I think for Republicans in particular, the message here is that branding her as a radical, as a socialist, isn't going to work. It didn't work in New York City with Mamdani. It's not going to work with AOC. She is charismatic at a time where there seems to be a vacuum of meaning in the Democratic Party.

1:17:44Having somebody who speaks well, who shows up, who is always up front actually matters more than the term itself, especially when Republicans, I don't think, are doing enough to define the term socialism and say what's wrong with it. So just branding her a socialist is not going to be enough. And she's doing the hard work to get out there. Yeah, she is. I don't know if she shows up on my feed more than any other politician. And it's always like some remarkably human moment when she's walking in and out of the Congress. Somebody says, when's the last time you cried while watching a movie? And she stops and answers the questions.

1:18:16She seems like a normal human being. Yeah. And running for president is a lot about charisma, especially in this day and age and in an era where our media is so fragmented and people, as you say, people, you know, see candidates in these clips and bites. And so, you know, attempts to label, certainly Republicans will do it. But if you are somebody who can overcome that through force of charisma, I think the question for her is going to be, can she broaden the tent? Can she bring in independent voters who are maybe, who may be questioned, who maybe think of her as hard left, far left, can she really sort of broaden out her message?

1:18:52There's no question, to my mind, that she can bring the charisma. Can she bring a message that will really invite independent voters into her coalition? That will be the test for her. No, absolutely. But do you think she'll be able to meet that moment? Do you think that she'll be able to appeal to beyond the DSA crowd? I mean, that's a big number out of New Hampshire. It's still under 20 percent. No, I think she'll be, look, I think there was this point of overlap with AOC and Trump voters over the last presidential election. And right now, the lines are being blurred with populism surging on both sides of the aisle.

1:19:26And so if she can carve out a lane, if she can moderate a little, I think she'll be able to pull up some voters out of the woodwork. But she's still going to have to do a lot of hard work to prove that she actually moderated. And also, foreign policy, this is a weakness of hers. And also, we don't know that she's running for president. No, we don't. That too. I mean, it's also possible that Chuck Schumer retires and she runs for that seat, which could be a wiser move. I don't know. What do I know? Karina Jarre and Kate Benningfield, thanks so much. It started as an online joke, but leaders don't think the cockroach party is funny anymore.

1:19:57Why millions of frustrated young demonstrators hope they stay. Pests, coming up.

1:20:12Here's some breaking news for you and our world lead. It is already Friday in India, where there is a call for more nationwide protests. Massive demonstrations this week have called for government reform, all organized by a youth-led political party whose members call themselves cockroaches. CNN's Ivan Watson has more on that and the demands of the cockroaches. The Indian government has a cockroach problem, a youth protest movement that calls itself the Cockroach Janta Party. On Monday, thousands of these demonstrators descended on New Delhi, a rare mass protest in the heart of India's capital, defying a police ban.

1:20:55Police firing tear gas to stop the protesters from marching to the Indian parliament. I hope they listen to us, because if not now, then I don't know if it's a democracy or dictatorship. We've had bad governments, but we've never had such an evil government, because this government is only interested in power, fame, and money. They are genuinely non-biological. They don't have a shred of decency in them. The cockroach party began barely two months ago, with this social media post from Abhijit Dipket, a graduate student from Boston University, in response to a top judge who appeared to call India's unemployed youth cockroaches.

1:21:44Dipket launched the Cockroach Party, demanding reform of the country's scandal-prone education system and the firing of the education minister. That official has since called the Cockroach Party terrorists. Last month, the cockroach party began a small sit-in protest in downtown Delhi. It was joined by activist and educator Sonam Wangchuk, who went on hunger strike. On Saturday, police forcibly removed Wangchuk from the protest, taking him to a hospital. Since then, a movement that had existed mostly online suddenly burst onto the streets of Indian cities. On Monday, India's health minister met face-to-face with cockroach party representatives, asking them to end their sit-in.

1:22:39But they're still calling for the resignation of the education minister, a rare show of defiance that's put the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the defensive. Ivan Watson, CNN. And our thanks to Ivan Watson for that report. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.