Trump And Mamdani Meet In Friendly Oval Office Chat

25:45hope to end tens of millions of Americans from all walks of life, as well as hundreds of millions of people worldwide, should be of concern to us all. In our money lead today, that's actor Ben McKenzie from the hit TV shows The O.C. and Gotham and Southland. That's him warning U.S. senators back in 2022 about the dangers of cryptocurrencies. And now he's spreading that message in a new documentary called Everyone is Lying to You for Money. It just had its New York premiere last weekend. And here now, actor, director, producer Ben McKenzie. Ben, congratulations on the film. You obviously started speaking out about and against crypto during the pandemic.

26:21You wrote a New York Times bestseller called Easy Money. Now you're making this case in documentary form. Why is this issue so important to you? It's so important to me because I think the stakes are high. Crypto really only has two use cases, gambling and crime. And the gambling is one thing, but the crime is very, very serious. To give you an example, in the most recent Epstein emails, we learned that Jeffrey Epstein was funding Bitcoin development in 2015 via the MIT Media Lab. So some of the worst people in the world are involved in this, and it's a very dangerous thing that we're playing with.

27:03As crypto creeps ever further into our regulated financial system, I worry that not only is it funding an enormous amount of crime, but that if it crashes, as it has done repeatedly over its brief but sordid history, if it collapses again, it could impact the rest of our entire financial system. You spent three years filming this documentary. You traveled to New York, London, El Salvador. You spoke to victims of crypto fraud and celebrities. You interviewed Sam Bankman-Fried, who's in prison. He's appealing his 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy. Let's roll a little clip.

27:43How much have you donated to politicians? So I don't remember the latest. I can get back to you. I don't remember the latest figure. I'll put off my head. Like a round number? Ballpark. I think. So you really need to. Okay, got it. Yeah. What's one of the most surprising things you learned while making this film? Just how much money the cryptocurrency industry has spent influencing our representatives, sadly, on both sides of the aisle. The answer to the question that he refused to give is$100 million. He was allegedly running a$100 million straw donor scheme, donating outwardly to the Democrats.

28:32He was one of Biden's largest donors. But secretly through cutouts, his employees at FTX, he was donating to the Republicans. And unfortunately, the amount of money the cryptocurrency industry has thrown at politicians has only increased. It was one hundred and thirty five million dollars in twenty twenty four. Well, that's why there's no regulation of it. Right. Cryptocurrency scams are costing Americans millions of dollars. just last month, CNN reported that, quote, Americans, often retirees, lost around$240 million to crypto ATM scams in the first six months of this year, unquote. That's a lot of money for retirees, especially in crypto.

29:11It's a very complicated issue, but we're hearing about it more and more each day. I was honored to see I made a cameo in a montage clip explaining what crypto is. I have to say, though, this is not like other documentaries because it's funny. It's enjoyable. You even opened the film saying this is a film about cryptocurrency. It's pretty stupid. Did you intend this to be amusing at the same time it's so terrifying? I just turned the camera on and what I saw was hilarious slash terrifying. I mean, I'm sitting with supposedly the head of the entire industry, Sam Bankman Freed. This is months before he was arrested for the crimes that you mentioned.

29:53And so he's supposedly, you know, king of the world, right? He's the boy genius kid from California whose parents are professors of law at Stanford who went to MIT and worked at Jane Street, the storied Wall Street firm. And I'm asking Sam Bankman-Fried, I'm asking him, what does crypto do? Tell me one thing that it does. He struggled with that question. He struggled with the question, clearly, of how much money he'd given to politicians. I went away worrying that this could potentially be even worse than I feared. And sure enough, five months later, everything fell apart. He was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in jail.

30:35The documentary is called Everyone is Lying to You for Money. The filmmaker is Ben McKenzie. Ben, great having you on the show. Thanks so much. Come back soon, please. Thanks, Jake. I'd love that. In the pop culture lead, there is a little more than an hour left to join the celebrity auction that I'm co-hosting with George Clooney and Winona Judd. It benefits the group Homes for Our Troops, which builds specially adapted custom homes for severely wounded veterans. Host George Clooney is putting up this custom Sammy Davis Jr. guitar that he signed. He'll sign it to the winner. Winona has an autographed Yamaha acoustic guitar.

31:10Other celebrity items include a Zoom call with Alyssa Milano, 2026 Green Monster Red Sox tickets, lunch for two with Henry Winkler, the nicest man in the world in California, plus some signed books. There are more than 100 items to bid on. I can't list them all. The auction starts closing in about an hour or so, in about an hour. So go to ebay.com slash HFOT, Homes for our Troops. Check out the items. Again, it is all going to an amazing cause. Up next tonight on the latest serious question that could signal a rather sizable political shift. Is Donald Trump a lame duck president? We'll debate that.

31:46Plus, the advice Vice President J.D. Vance has for Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post. We'll be back in a moment.

31:59I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. Dr. Darby Saxby is a psychologist at USC who has been researching what happens to men as they become dads. How do their brains change? How do their hormones change? What happens to their mental health and to their other relationships? Men are built with the brain architecture that can adapt to parenthood. I think of caring and parenting not just as traits that you're born either being good at or not, but as skills that you can hone through time and repetition and practice. And so women are really socialized to expect to occupy a primary parenting role.

32:43And we don't necessarily raise our boys with that objective in mind. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now wherever you get your podcasts.

32:54Back in our politics lead, President Trump caved into reality this week in a major reversal on releasing the Epstein files. The president also got some bad numbers on one of his signature issues after a Fox poll found 46 percent of voters say the White House is doing more harm than good on the economy. The political setbacks and public feuds with members of his own party have some asking if the president is losing his grip on the GOP. Here now is the panel. Jonah, here's what Republican Senator from North Dakota, Kevin Kramer, said about the president's grip, current grip on elected Republicans.

33:32Oh, he says the closer you I'm sorry, I thought it was a soundbite. The closer you get to the midterms and then beyond, everybody is measuring their own state or congressional district. And maybe people are a little more independent. You and your colleagues at least at the roundtable today at your podcast debated whether or not Trump's a lame duck. Is he a lame duck? I think there are two things. There are two phenomena going on that are mutually reinforcing but slightly different things. One is the pull of him being a lame duck, right? He's just getting old. He has no interest in working with Congress.

34:06He got his one big beautiful bill. He doesn't have an agenda to work with Congress. And if you're not working with Congress, that's historically what a lame duck means. The off-year elections were very bad for Republicans. So there's that feeling. But there's also this parallel crack-up of the MAGA coalition, which can feel like part of this lame duck process. Marjorie Taylor Greene charting her own course, not afraid of the president. Republicans voting against him. Him having to turn to support the Republican position rather than forcing a Republican position on the party. And those two things in conjunction make it feel like he's a little out of his depth right now.

34:42Interesting. And meanwhile, the vice president, J.D. Vance, is out there quite a bit. He's gave some advice to Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos about who should run his newspaper's political coverage. Take a listen. There was this big conversation in the Washington Post about what do we do to actually get in touch with the other half of America? How do we actually make our journalism more appealing to the half of the country that doesn't agree with far left politics? And I actually I think I texted Jeff Bezos and I said, if you're really serious about this, you should just hire Matt Boyle and make him run your entire political reporting shop.

35:17That's a Breitbart factotum. What do you think of that? Speaking of wanting somebody to be a lame duck, that guy would like somebody to be a lame duck. I'm just going to say it right here. And that's one of the many examples. I want to go back to what Jonah just said, because I think it ties the two together, is if the economy is going good, if prices actually were to come down, he'd have a lot more say. The more that gets out of whack, the more folks are going to want to distance themselves to prepare for 28, but also to salvage 26. And I think that's what we're seeing right now. What do you make of J.D.

35:47Vance, first of all, appearing at a Breitbart event, but second of all, saying that he told Jeff Bezos to hire a Breitbart person as a political editor or whatever? Yeah, I don't find it particularly shocking. J.D. Vance has a lot of things to say about the media when it reports things that he doesn't like to hear, and he likes to heap praise on media that is essentially loyal to him. So he was sucking up to his interviewer. So one thing I would never do with you. On Wednesday, a group of anti-Israel protesters gathered outside an event promoting migration to Israel, a prominent New York City synagogue.

36:19The protesters reportedly chanted, globalize the intifada, resistance, you make us proud, take another settler out. Quote, in a statement about this anti-Semitic demonstration, Mayor-elect Mamdani's spokesperson wrote, quote, The mayor-elect had discouraged the language used at last night's protest and will continue to do so. He believes every New Yorker should be free to enter a house of worship without intimidation and that these sacred spaces should not be used to promote activities in violation of international law. Unquote. A lot of people said, what? And then Mamdani's team said the last part was specifically in reference to the organization's promotion of settlement activity beyond the green line, which would violate international law.

36:58What was your reaction to that? I mean, I think a lot of Jewish, he did not win the Jewish vote in New York, Mr. Mamdani, and I think a lot of Jewish Americans were chilled when he said that. Yeah, I think this is just one of many data points that show that he's going to have a very difficult job holding together the coalition that got him elected. There are a lot of people who voted on affordability, but there's a lot of passion around his perceived animosity towards Israel and towards Jews. His views on law and order were seen by the left to be the correct ones. And it turns out that governing is a lot harder, and there are a lot of other considerations involved, and we'll see if he's up to it.

37:40He spoke to this today in the White House when he said every Jew in every borough of New York in front of the camera is in front of Trump. And then at the the end of there, after he said that, and he really was out front about saying, look, we're going to protect all the Jewish people of New York. And then he backed up, and Trump turns and goes, that was really good. That was a good answer. Like he was proud of him. One other very interesting thing that happened in the Senate, Senator Lindsey Graham blocked this attempt by the House to repeal this provision that was in the government funding bill that uniquely benefits Lindsey Graham and other senators investigating after the January 6th Capitol riots.

38:12Graham, among those whose phone records were sought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, Graham said this yesterday on the Senate floor. I'm going to sue. I want to let you know, I'm going to sue Biden's DOJ and Jack Smith. I'm going to sue Verizon. It's going to be a hell of a lot more than$500 ,000. And the crime is being friends of Trump, being supporters of Trump. This was an abuse of the law. The entire House wanted that provision removed and Lindsey Graham wouldn't let it be removed. Yeah, it's the politics we've seen. It was interesting that We've seen the Senate and the House leadership get along, which normally doesn't happen, almost too good this was when it starts falling out right now because the House didn't want to do this at all.

38:53They're suing because they were investigated. Right. Not that they were charged. I think it is a scheme for one level of enrichment for senators, and it's totally bogus. On the other hand, I think Lindsey Graham thinks that if he's suing over this, it's a great way to get more TV time, and it's a great thing to campaign on. Right. Thanks to both of you. From a woman berated, a judge called a racist, even a contestant falling off the stage, the pageant drama that came full circle for the new Miss Universe. That's next.

39:28And our world lead Fatima Bash of Mexico has been crowned Miss Universe 2025 after one of the most controversial pageants in years. What started with a walkout mid-competition led to racist anti-Asian remarks by a former winner, judges stepping down over allegations of rigged votes, and even more drama, a contestant falling off the stage during a preliminary round. Poor Miss Jamaica. She went to the hospital. She is OK. CNN's Christina McFarlane looks now at the dazzling highs and dizzying lows of this year's biggest beauty pageant. Let's do it! Miss Jamaica! A crowning moment in Bangkok as Mexico's Fatima Bosch was named Miss Universe 2025 in a competition overshadowed by scandal.

40:15Speaking to reporters after her victory, Bosch says she wasn't afraid to be herself. And I would like them to remember me like a person that changed a little bit the prototype of what is a Miss Universe. Mexico, where are you? The 25-year-old was publicly scolded by the Thai pageant director, Nawat Isara Grizzle, during a live-streamed pre-pageant meeting earlier this month, accusing her of not posting enough content to promote the host country, Thailand. When Bosch pushed back, Nawat threatened to call security and to disqualify anyone supporting her. Then came this. A mass walkout of contestants in solidarity with Miss Mexico.

41:03The confrontation went viral, sparking global support for Bosch, including Mexico's president Claudia Sheinbaum. Women look more beautiful when we raise our voices and participate. Nahuatl later apologized in a live-streamed welcome ceremony and declined to further comment on the incident to CNN. I have not intended to harm anyone. The Miss Universe president distanced the organization from Nawat's behavior, limiting his role in future events. But the scandals didn't stop there. Former Miss Universe winner Alicia Mercado was accused of making racist comments against Nawat over the incident. Mercado did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

41:47Then, days before the final, two judges abruptly stepped down. One judge was composer Omar Hafuc. He claimed the contest was rigged, saying that finalists were pre-selected, a claim the organization denied. Finally, on Thursday night, the Miss Universe crown was awarded to Miss Mexico. And for fans in Bosch's hometown of Villa Hermosa, the win is all that mattered. Christina McFarlane, CNN, London. And welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. this hour, the major choice President Trump is pushing to Ukraine and pushing for a decision in a matter of days. What do the people of Ukraine want nearly four years into their defensive war against Russia?

42:32We're going to get some insight. Plus, the holiday rush begins less than one week out from Thanksgiving. We're going to take you inside one airline's nerve center as the FAA braces for this next week to be its busiest in 15 years. Also, real life exorcisms on the rise across the United States. This is nothing like the 1970s horror film. What CNN learned about the practice happening in many Catholic communities. And the Major League personal news just hours after the Washington Nationals named its new manager.

43:09The lead tonight, Ukraine at a major crossroads. Either lose, quote, dignity or U.S. support. That's according to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky after President Trump issued an ultimatum connected to a proposed 28-point peace plan, widely seen as favoring Russia. This afternoon, President Trump seemed surprised that Zelensky wasn't immediately on board. You mean he doesn't like it? It's unclear. He'll have to like it. And if he doesn't like it, then, you know, they should just keep fighting, I guess. Republican Congressman Don Bacon, an Air Force general retired, reacted to the moment, calling Trump's view a, quote, ugly perspective.

43:54Earlier, he called the proposed deal, quote, the worst appeasement seen since 1938, referring to the Munich Agreement, which attempted to appease Hitler by giving him some land, an effort that failed spectacularly. Here are some of the key points of this proposal. Ukraine would give up not only territory that Russia has conquered, but some territory that Ukraine currently controls. Ukraine would agree to limit the size of its military. They would commit to not joining NATO. Russia would agree to not invade neighboring countries. Sanctions would be lifted on Russia. And Trump would oversee a peace council, similar to the Gaza plan.

44:29Now, Ukrainian and European leaders say they weren't involved at all in drafting this proposal. Now, Trump says Ukraine needs to respond by Thanksgiving. Today, Zelensky says he spoke at length with Vice President Vance, adding they agreed to, quote, Maintain constant contact. New Hampshire Democratic Senator Jean Shaheen joins us now from the Halifax International Security Forum. She's also the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. There are leaders there from Europe with a huge stake in Ukraine's future. What conversations are you hearing on the sidelines about this Trump led peace proposal?

45:06Well, this is a Putin plan for Ukraine, not a plan that really contemplates real negotiations. What I'm hearing from people who are here in Halifax from Europe and around the world is that they have panned this proposal as being nothing but a complete cave into Vladimir Putin and Russia. What the United States needs to do is to put pressure on Putin to provide those long-range weapons, to put sanctions, secondary sanctions on the companies that are fueling Russia's war machine, and bring Putin to the table to really negotiate. We should not be representing Russia in this deal. We are a partner.

46:00We have been a partner of Ukraine, and we need to continue to support the courageous people of Ukraine. Ukraine. So I agree with Representative Bacon and with the others, my other Republican colleagues, Roger Wicker, the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who has put out a strong statement in opposition to this proposal. Turning to domestic issues, you were part of that coalition of eight Democrats who broke ranks and worked with Republicans for that deal to end the government shutdown. Affordable Care Act subsidies expire in just a few weeks, as I don't need to tell you, Senate Leader Thune agreed to a mid-December vote in the Senate as part of your shutdown deal, a vote to extend those subsidies.

46:45Have you seen any inklings of a plan that you think could pass both chambers and would keep these subsidies in place for at least a year or two? Well, I think there's a fair amount of agreement on substance on both sides of the aisle. But the question is whether we can deal with the fine points of what that agreement might look like and do it in time to get a bill through. There's real concern that whatever we do in the Senate is not going to be taken up by the House unless President Trump recognizes that it's in his interest and in the interest of those Republicans who are responsible for the fact that these insurance rates are going up so dramatically to actually get something done.

47:31Are you going to get that vote, though, that Thune promised? We are. I believe that we will get the vote. Senator Thune is good as his word, and he promised the vote. We're working on the Democratic side. People are working on a bill. I know some of my colleagues on the Republican side are working on a bill. And there are people on both sides of the aisle who want to get this done and provide the real relief that people need. And there's urgency about it, as you point out, because the marketplace is open. So people have already seen their insurance rates more than double in many cases. and it's unaffordable.

48:09We're going to have 4 million people who are going to lose their health insurance if we don't address this. I interviewed somebody who disagreed with what you did in terms of that government funding deal. She wanted the Democratic Party to still fight for these subsidies. Her name's Stephanie. She's running for a house seat in New Hampshire. She's your daughter. Here she is Monday. She is, and she's going to be a great congresswoman. She's independent. She's worked in health care. I want you to listen to this clip of her on the show earlier this week? Well, sure, I understood where she was coming from.

48:43She knew where I was coming from. And ultimately, she did what she believes is right, and I'm doing what I believe is right. So I know you've endorsed her. She mentioned she was so focused on health care because of experiences with her daughter, your granddaughter. How is Thanksgiving? Who has type 1 diabetes. How is Thanksgiving going to be like at the Shaheen household? Is it going to be tense, you think? Absolutely not. We we are fortunate because we have three very independent daughters who and we have robust conversations. Our Thanksgiving dinner, it will be just like it always is. All right.

49:18In fact, she's even going to feed me. Her husband always cooks. All right. Well, I hope you have a I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving. Thank you so much, Senator Jean-Jahim. Thank you. You too. And Kira Rudik, a member of Ukraine's parliament, joins us now. Thank you so much for joining us. This afternoon, President Trump said Ukrainian President Zelensky is, quote, going to have to like the peace plan. You just met U.S. Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll in Ukraine. What did what did you have to say to him?

49:51Hello, Jack, and thank you so much for having me. Well, that Ukraine wants peace most than any other nation in the world. But we want it not at all cost. and we did not accept capitulation in 2022 when the situation was really dire and we will not accept it right now. We have already paid an ultimate price and we are looking forward to a really just peace that will ensure that Russia would not attack us again. Unfortunately, what we see right now at this 28-point plan, there is no confirmation and no pass on how to make sure that Russia would not attack us again? What would be the security guarantees?

50:33And what is also important, what does Russia give up to bring the peace closer? The survival of Ukraine as a sovereign state was, of course, not a given in those first few hours of the war in 2022. Is Ukraine prepared to make some concessions to guarantee its sovereignty? First and foremost, we need to know, again, what are the security guarantees, so then we can discuss if that is something valuable that will push us to some concessions. However, we are a sovereign state, and sovereignty means that we are deciding the size of our army. Sovereignty means that our borders are not changed. So I think we are right now at a very difficult situation where we should be looking at this path, this plan as a first draft that will be discussed further, where Ukraine's part and Ukraine's position will be also taken into account.

51:39Because I'm sure it is understandable that something that is drafted by the United States, together with Russia, without Ukraine, about Ukraine, is not something that we can accept. Neither is it something that our European partners can accept, given that we are talking about the security of the whole Europe. Let's talk specifics, because point 21 of the plan of this potential proposed peace plan states that Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk will be recognized as Russian territory. When looking at the Donbass area specifically, Luhansk and Donetsk, CNN's Nick Payton Walsh points out, quote, Luhansk is almost all Russian occupied now, but Donetsk is key to Ukrainian resistance.

52:26Moscow has lost stupendous amounts of troops fighting for it, and the parts Kiev retains are important bulwarks against further Russian advances. Politically, Zelensky cannot give them up either. It would be wildly unpopular, and his polling is not good now, unquote. Do you think that Zelensky risks losing his job if he were to agree to this plan?

52:52there are also limitations of what ukrainian president can and cannot do and uh whatever if there was a person who would ever want to give up on any ukrainian territories it cannot be done by the president it should be done by making changes to ukraine's constitution which cannot be changing during the war time. And again, you're absolutely right that it's just a bigger question not only about the territories, but about the people and about our ability to defend ourselves without the security guarantees that are not being given right now. So we cannot be discussing anything about the concessions, about the plans moving forward before we learn, OK, so how do you ensure that Russia would not attack us again?

53:47Kira Rudik, thank you so much. Thank you. And glory to Ukraine. Coming up, the must-see moment of the day. After throwing insults just weeks ago today, it was all kindness and sweetness and pleasantries between President Trump and New York City's New mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani in the Oval Office. It was odd. Was it sincere? We're going to talk about it. But first, CNN is going inside one airline's mission control, just as the Thanksgiving holiday rush gets underway.

54:23In our national lead, the government shutdown is in the rearview mirror, and the FAA predicts this will be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period in 15 years, with next Tuesday being the peak day for flights. So who's going to be watching all those jets and trying to make sure that you get there on time and safely? CNN's Pete Muntean just met some of those folks at Southwest Airlines' big control hub. Hey, good morning, Southwest. This is mission control for your Thanksgiving trip from storms. Some scattered showers with isolated thunderstorms. To software snags. We'll keep you updated if that status changes.

54:58300 workers here inside Southwest Airlines Network Operations Control in Dallas are diving headfirst into the biggest travel rush of the year. Justin Laban is helming what's called the bridge, and reporting to him are about a dozen different divisions on the floor, all monitoring everything from cruise schedules to space launches to keep 800 airplanes moving. We move about 500 ,000 to 600 ,000 people a day, and you never know what's going to walk through that door with a problem. Thanksgiving is this team's latest challenge after the government shutdown forced Southwest to cancel hundreds of flights a day.

55:30That's about what you'd see from a very bad winter storm. Andrew Watterson is Southwest's chief operating officer. So it wasn't that bad. Not easy, but it did not stress the network at all. Southwest says even still, 83 percent of its flights arrived on time, a testament to improvements it made after its massive schedule meltdown of 2022. We have redundant technology, we have better staffing, better decision making, and so we're able to handle these large-scale events very well. These numbers are the flights that Southwest is monitoring in real time. There are about 500 flights in the air right now, but the day is still pretty young, and the airline still has about 2 ,500 flights left to complete for the entire day.

56:07On the biggest days of the Thanksgiving rush, that's like moving the population of Minneapolis. That's our goal, is to complete the schedule. Steve West heads the command center and showed me the scope of the work that goes on here. On this day, teams are monitoring bad weather coming for Las Vegas and Phoenix, both major bases for the airline. The goal here is to maintain what's called A30, that's getting flights to their destinations no more than 30 minutes late. Is this stressful? It seems kind of stressful. It can be, but these guys have been doing it for so long that it becomes natural for them.

56:41For Justin Lebon, he says just 10 people not making their connections becomes personal. It's why he's confident Thanksgiving for the airline will be something to be thankful for. It's looking pretty good. I think the weather next week is looking pretty good. We always kind of stay, you know, about a week ahead looking at general trends and everything. Pretty good spirits and everything, so we're looking forward to it. Pete Muntean, CNN, Dallas. And our thanks to Pete Muntean for that report. Coming up, why it's worth watching out for more big-name businesses mixing it up with right-wing media.

57:16In our Money Lead, we're seeing a trend in Washington. More big companies cozying up to right-wing media outlets like Breitbart. Breitbart, which Trump's Bengali Steve Bannon once called the platform of the alt-right. And it's not just any companies. It's blue-chip companies. Yesterday, for example, Bank of America, Meta, and Microsoft all co-sponsored Breitbart's event, showcasing their desire to do whatever it takes to protect their interests in this second Trump term. Even if that means underwriting an event put on by a MAGA propaganda engine that spreads anti-immigrant hate and vilifies the news media, and in fact, might vilify some of those very own companies.

57:59Vice President Vance spoke at the event, and true to form, he began on that theme. I'm being dead serious that this is the most well-sourced journalist in Washington, D.C. And if you remember, maybe six months ago, maybe it was actually a year, year and a half ago, when there was this big conversation in the Washington Post about what do we do to actually get in touch with the other half of America? How do we actually make our journalism more appealing to the half of the country that doesn't agree with far-left politics? And I actually, I think I texted Jeff Bezos and I said, if you're really serious about this, you should just hire Matt Boyle and make him run your entire political reporting shop.

58:40Oliver Darcy, author of the Status Newsletter, which covers media, joins us now. So Oliver, the thought of companies such as Microsoft and Bank of America aligning themselves with Breitbart just a few years ago was frankly unfathomable. What's changed? I think Donald Trump 2.0 is totally different and these companies are approaching it in a much different way. You're right. Ten years ago when Donald Trump was first elected, These companies would never have associated their brands or even put money behind a company like Breitbart. And even a few years ago, if you remember, Jake, after the January 6th insurrection, companies talked about not supporting politicians and other entities that had been responsible for spreading election lies.

59:20But now, a few years later, these companies are desperate for insulation in Donald Trump's Washington. And so what you're seeing is them supporting companies like Breitbart. I mean, I was still a little surprised, to be honest, to see a blue chip company like the Bank of America or Microsoft or even Meta get behind Breitbart. But I think that they think that they need to in order to dodge regulatory scrutiny, given that Donald Trump has weaponized government in an unprecedented way. A lot of people watching might not know who Breitbart, what Breitbart is, might not know who Matt Doyle is. Um, explain why not only a vice president, but these, these big companies associate him themselves with Breitbart is so shocking to you.

1:00:04Well, they're basically underwriting MAGA propaganda, Jake. That's what Breitbart is. It's a MAGA propaganda machine and it pumps out, you know, support for Donald Trump on a regular basis, but it also has done what he has done, which is vilified the news media, cheered on as he's warped the department of justice. I've been happy to see Robert F. Kennedy Jr. take a baseball bat to our nation's health centers. You know, on and on it goes. That's what they're supporting when they support Breitbart. When they sponsor a Breitbart event, they are basically underwriting the destruction of a lot of our institutions.

1:00:40And, you know, I wonder actually how many Bank of America customers want their dollars to go toward such efforts. And, Jake, we should also note these companies, I don't think they're very proud of this. This isn't something that they're going to brag about on their website. Frankly, they wouldn't know about it or people wouldn't know about it had we not reported it in status yesterday. Because I think these companies want to put on the face that they're socially responsible. They all talk about corporate responsibility on their web pages, in press releases to the media. But in Trump's Washington, they are, you know, quietly cozying up to the powers that be these days.

1:01:17Yeah, I mean, this is a site that used to have a black crime vertical, meaning it's a bunch of bunches. If you want stories about African-Americans committing crime, they have a whole section for it. This week, we also saw Trump give a full throated defense of the Saudi crown prince, MBS, despite MBS's murder or he ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Trump rolled out the red carpet for him. That included a lavish dinner. And many of the CEOs of these companies were there. What message do you think that sends to journalists around the world? It's alarming, Jake. And it shows, I think, that these leaders, these business leaders, who, again, portray themselves as somewhat guardians of democracy, or at least they have over the years, they really have no principles.

1:02:05I mean, the principles of these companies and these leaders say they stand by are apparently non-existent if there's regulatory scrutiny or political pressure on them, which there is now. And so you're seeing them abandon what they've claimed to support over the years in favor of keeping a good relationship with Donald Trump. And so the fact that you have David Ellison, for instance, the head of Paramount, who owns a news organization at a dinner celebrating a man who, according to the U.S. intelligence, ordered the butchering of an American journalist is, frankly, pretty shameful. There was some right wing journalists there as well, I should note.

1:02:46Oliver Darcy, thank you so much. Appreciate it. When you hear exorcism, do you think of that terrifying 1970s horror film? That was on-screen fiction. Exorcisms are a real occurrence in the United States, and they are happening more. We have an eye-opening report from CNN's David Culver next.

1:03:11If a person is, you know, possessed by a demon or something, how do they get an exorcism? Well, the first thing, I'd have to get them into a time machine and get them back to the 16th century. That was a clip from the 1973 thriller The Exorcist. And while you might think demonic possession is fiction, there are lots of people all over the world convinced that it's real. CNN's David Culver went to one of the fastest growing Catholic communities in the United States. And David, you found that exorcisms, or what some call deliverances, are often a last resort for vulnerable people.

1:03:50Jake, what struck me right away was how different this is than the Hollywood image that we all have when we hear the word exorcism. Now, we shot this story over several months, and we focused in on Arizona. It's a state with this really unique mix of cultures, traditional faiths, and New Age spiritual practices. It's also home to one of the fastest-growing Catholic communities in this country. And on Sunday night, we're going to introduce you to several exorcists. Some are very public, others extremely private. One Catholic exorcist who asked us to hide his identity told us that he's doing more exorcisms now than at any point in his 25 plus years in that role.

1:04:27Now to see whether that extended beyond Arizona, we reached out to all 196 Catholic dioceses and archdioceses across the U.S. Of the 48 that responded, more than two dozen told us that they have seen an increase in inquiries for exorcisms over the past two decades. across other Christian churches, ministers that perform deliverances, which essentially is another word for exorcisms, they say that they're seeing more people show up as well. What stood out to me, though, wasn't the spectacle of this. It's the vulnerability. People tell us that they turn to deliverances or exorcisms because they feel like they're out of options.

1:05:05They're dealing with depression, addiction, grief, fear. Some are folks that you might never expect would seek this out. Here's a look at some of our reporting. A tunnel! You got a tunnel? I got a tunnel! Okay. Oh, that's my favorite one. Who is that? I did that. And you will answer me. I had reached desperation in my life countless times before. I had tried in the past to take my life. Like, I just was broken, and there was a spirit who had such a strong hold on me. Go in the name of Jesus Christ, come out of her. The spirit was a demon. Go, come out of Abbey. No! Leave her all the way. See, demons come into trauma.

1:05:53They come into the trauma in your life. Go! Go! I was beaten up as a child. Go! Go! We'll have to fight all our lives because Satan's always going to come against us. Get out of here. We're infected by the demons. A lot of folks told us that they feel unseen or unsupported elsewhere, and that's where this gets a bit complicated. Misreading symptoms can be dangerous. But in this journey, we also saw real community, real belief, and people who said that this gave them hope when they didn't have much left. We wanted to understand all of it, the faith, the fear, the risks, and why this spiritual searching seems to be growing, even as fewer Americans identify with organized religion.

1:06:45That's the world we take you into this Sunday night, Jake. All right, looking forward to it. David Culver, thanks so much. Look, first reporting on an all new episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper this week. It's titled The Exorcists. That's Sunday night at 8 Eastern here on CNN. and the next day you can watch it in the new CNN streaming app. Some pretty stark reaction coming in from Republican Congresswoman and New York gubernatorial candidate Elise Stefanik to something nice that President Trump said about Zoran Mamdani when they were meeting in the Oval. That's next.

1:07:21In our politics lead, New York Mayor-elect Zoran Mamdani visited the White House today to sit down with President Trump. the mayor-elect requested the meeting with one word top of mind, affordability. Both leaders have talked about bringing down prices and made it a central focus of their campaign pitches. We spoke about rent, we spoke about groceries, we spoke about utilities, we spoke about the different ways in which people are being pushed out. Fas Shakir is former campaign manager for Senator Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential run. David Urban, a former senior Trump advisor. Faz, obviously it was a rather stunning meeting in terms of how nice they were to each other.

1:07:59How optimistic are you that what they discussed today actually will come to some sort of policy fruition? Well, I'm not one to usually say nice things about Donald Trump, but commend President Trump for starting on the right foot. You know, they had an alignment on goals, on structure, say, hey, affordability is your thing. You want to bring down rent, you want to bring down electricity rates, count me in on the effort to make New York City great. We start there. To your point, it's going to, we're going to hit some bumps when we start talking about, okay, how does a rent freeze go into effect?

1:08:27How does a bus fast and free go into effect? How do grocery stores get established? How do some of the things that Mamdani campaigned on when they come to that point, he's going to need some support. And I think he knows there's now an open line between the president and Mamdani. And that's, that's a good start. Absolutely. David, Mamdani is 34. That makes him the youngest New York mayor in more than a century. Trump is 79, the oldest person to ever be elected president. Talk a little bit about, if you could, about the dichotomy of these two leaders, two men with completely different philosophies on how America should be run, and both with very loyal followings and some TV and charisma skills.

1:09:03Well, Jake, you know, as the kids say, game recognizes game, right? So I think both on Mondami, it recognizes and respects the president, what he's done, his following, what he's built. And I think Donald Trump, as you heard in that meeting, recognizes what what the mayor elect has done to get where he is. And I think he respects it. And and look, you're right about my colleague. There's right about everybody wants the same thing. Everybody wants the same goals. How we get there, however, is going to be a little bit of a bumpy road. Everyone wants cheaper housing, more affordable groceries, heating bills to go down, more jobs created.

1:09:42But how we get there ultimately is two distinctly different visions between a Democratic socialist and someone who's kind of a free market Republican. So we will see. I hope that I hope for the 10 million people that live in New York City and for our country just writ large, I hope that the mayor succeeds and the president succeeds together and can help lift our country to a better place. Elise Stefanik is a Republican congresswoman from New York. She's running for governor against incumbent Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul. President Trump was asked today in the Oval Office if he agreed with Elise Stefanik, who's trying to make Mom Donnie the lightning rod of her campaign, if she agreed that Mom Donnie is a jihadist.

1:10:24And President Trump said, no, I don't. Talk about a bad day. Elise Stefanik, she posted on social media, quote, we all want New York City to succeed, but we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. If he walks like a jihadist, if he talks like a jihadist, if he campaigns like a jihadist, if he supports jihadists, he's a jihadist and he's Kathy Hochul's jihadist. Bad day for Elise Stefanik, David. Well, listen, that's not going to be the first disagreement that she's going to have with the president. But listen, Elise Stefanik is a rock star. I suspect that she's going to have plenty of ammunition when she's running to use in campaign ads.

1:11:05Just from Kathy Hochul herself, she doesn't need the mayor. Kathy Hochul herself as governor has done a lot of very questionable, weak things. So I think that Congresswoman Stefanik will run a very stout campaign. And I think you're looking right there at the next governor of the great state of New York on your screens. All right. President Trump continues to rail on late night TV hosts. I mean, it's just incredible. Not just late night TV hosts. No, of course. But I mean, it's one thing to rail on politicians when you're a politician. But this guy really goes after, just in the last week he's done Seth Meyers and Jimmy Kimmel.

1:11:43Last night, Kimmel responded in kind. Take a listen. You tried to get me fired in September. It didn't work. Mr. President... I admire your tenacity. If you're watching tonight, which I presume you are, how about this? I'll go when you go, okay? Let's... We'll be a team. Let's ride off into the sunset together like Butch Cassidy and the suntan kid. And until then, if I may borrow a phrase from you, quiet, piggy. No one's endorsing the character and conduct of the president. But I do want to take the... Where's the commonality? Why is Trump acting the way he is with Mamdani? And I think part of it is that there's a desire for disruption of the status quo.

1:12:33There is quite a Trump has campaigned on this for a decade, as has Mamdani. Not only that there's a disruption of the status quo, that people feel an affinity and emotional attachment to your style of politics. There's a constituency of people who are saying, you got a vision, I agree with it. It takes on the elites and the status quo. And that with, I think, Mamdani, he senses somebody with depth. There's integrity. There's integrity. I think of it with Bernie Sanders. I think of it with Zora Mamdani, that when they campaign, it's not nonsense of bumper sticker slogans. It's a desire to do right by people who desperately need a change.

1:13:07And I think Trump, to his credit, recognizes that in Mamdani. David, Kansas City Chiefs Special Teams Coach Dave Toob is dismissing Trump's recent comments on the NFL's new kickoff rules. The league implemented this new rule in an attempt to make the play safer for those on the field. When asked about what Trump had to say to, who's usually pretty reserved, he had this to say. He doesn't even know what he's looking at. He has no idea what's going on with the kickoff rule. So, I mean, I take that for what it's worth. And I hope he hears it. What do you think, David? Yeah, well, listen, back real quickly to Jimmy Kimmel.

1:13:46I think he needs to break out that book that he had, Winners Aren't Losers. Remember that from about a decade ago, the Dr. Seuss-Donald Trump collab. I think Trump may like that again. And then, look, one thing that Donald Trump does know is the former owner of the New Jersey Generals, as you remember, Jake, just across the river there. He knows football. He knows him some football, whether it's Tom Brady, Hershel Walker, this kickoff role. I got to sit next to, I went to Dublin and watched the Steelers play the Vikings and sat with the commissioner and had a little chat with him about the role myself.

1:14:20I think it's a little odd. If you grew up your whole life watching the game played and then you watch that, it seems like people are frozen in time. I agree with the president. There's still as much collision and the ball gets advanced. The ball starts on like the 40-yard line now all of a sudden. So I'm not quite sure what the overall objective was. If the president wants to continue on the NFL, let me ask him, wade in on AstroTurf fields. Let's end the AstroTurf fields. Bring back grass. Better for player health and safety. All right. Thanks, everyone. Have a great weekend. My guest coming up Sunday on State of the Union, National Economic Council Director at the White House, Kevin Hassett, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Democratic Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett.

1:14:57That's Sunday at 9 a.m. and again at noon Eastern, only on CNN. Some incredible news for the man who just became the youngest Major League Baseball manager in more than 50 years taken over for our home team here in D.C., the Washington Nationals. His news came just two hours after he signed his new contract, and the MLB manager will be right here on The Lead next.

1:15:25In our sports league, tomorrow's National Women's Soccer League Championship match is expected to be an epic showdown. Gotham FC versus Washington Spirit, two rivals going at it for Gotham, a chance at revenge against the team that knocked them out of last year's semifinal. For the spirit, redemption from last year's championship loss. Both teams ready to lay it out all on the field. Also in our sports lead, 33-year-old Blake Batera, the Washington Nationals new manager, is not only the youngest Major League Baseball manager in more than 50 years, he signed his contract the same day that he became a dad.

1:16:00There's baby Blair with her parents, sporting a Nats jersey, of course. Blake Batera joins me now. First of all, Blake, double congratulations to you and your wife, Caroline, on the birth of your daughter and then becoming the new Washington Nationals manager at the tender age of 33. What a month. How are you handling these major life changes? Yeah, I think still trying to get acclimated. Just really excited, really fortunate to be in the spot we're in and just really excited for what's ahead. So these are two new jobs that you have limited experience in, no experience in the dad part of it. What's your message to those who might, there are a lot of Nats fans in this building I'm sitting in.

1:16:41What is your message to people who might be a little trepidatious about the youngest Major League Baseball manager in more than 50 years? Yeah, I think I've been really fortunate to be surrounded by some pretty impressive people, you know, the last 11 years with the Tampa Bay Rays. and have had some different opportunities and experiences, you know, managing in the minor leagues with the Rays, overseeing player development, and also some time with the World Baseball Classic and, you know, around some pretty special people. We all remember the 2019 World Series, the Nats won, but the Nats have had six consecutive losing seasons since then.

1:17:18Gone are they of the days of Bryce Harper and Juan Soto, but you do have players such as James Wood, C.J. Abrams, Jake Irvin, and Pitchin. What goals are you setting for this team? Yeah, I think what was just really fascinating right away and exciting is the fact that a lot of the players I've been talking to, they're all just really hungry. And they have a drive and a motivation to be great. And they're excited to get a staff in here that's going to help push them. And I think they think the sky's the limit. And we absolutely agree with that. What challenges do you think the team needs to tackle right away?

1:17:53You know, I think it's a young team, right? I think there's a lot of talent on this team. There's a lot of young talent when you look across the roster. So, you know, I think just building some experience, you know, having some people to lean on in the clubhouse, and that's what we're doing as we're building out our coaching staff. So, you know, obviously always challenges come about, but excited about the direction we're going to go. And tell me about the birth of your little girl. I mean, I know firsthand it's a pretty amazing experience. experience. Have you been getting any sleep? No sleep.

1:18:25Fortunately, you know, my wife's a champ and she's been taking on a lot of it. And, you know, our in-laws as well have been awesome. So just really thankful for the family support we have around us. But the sleep is very little. And you're going to have to handle these two jobs. I know I assume that your wife and your in-laws will handle most of the tough work, but you're in there too. That's going to be a challenge. Yeah, absolutely. It's always a challenge. You know, going into a new opportunity here with Washington, plus our newborn Blair. But yeah, just, you know, fortunate to have some supportive people around us.

1:19:01They're going to help make this a little bit easier. And what do you make of the dominance of the Dodgers these last couple of years? I mean, it's not a common occurrence to have back-to-back World Series victories. Yeah, what they've done is really impressive. Like you said, it's not easy to go back to back. It doesn't matter how talented your roster is or how much money is on the roster. You know, hats off to the job they've done. It's a long season, right? 162 games plus playoffs. And it seems like the offseason gets shorter and shorter. So, yeah, it's pretty impressive to watch as a baseball fan.

1:19:37All right. Well, Mr. Butera, we appreciate your time and congratulations on everything, but especially on your daughter. Thanks for thanks for joining us. Thanks, Jake. Thanks for having me. So we are closing in now on literally the final minutes of this celebrity auction that I've told you about. I'm co-hosting with George Clooney and Winona Judd at Benefits Homes for Our Troops, this top rated charity. All of the proceeds help build specially adapted custom homes mortgage free for severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. I want you to right now go on your Web, the Web site, eBay dot com slash at H.F.O.T.

1:20:17H.F.O.T. Homes for our troops. eBay dot com H.F.O.T. There are tickets. There are events, autographs, collectibles, Zoom calls, meals, coffee. You can bid to win a Zoom call with James Marston, the actor, or a conversation with Weird Al Yankovic or TV host Jeff Probst of Survivor. CNN's very own Phil Mattingly or Kate Baldwin or Casey Hunt. You can also get a video message personalized to you. You can get one from, if you're a fan of The Office, Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fisher from The Office will do a personalized message for you. There are more than 100 items to bid on, and they are all ticking down.

1:20:55These are the last few minutes the auction is closing. 7 p.m. Eastern. You can still sneak in a bid. Find out more. Once again, ebay.com slash HFOT Homes for our troops. And I'll stop talking about it until next year. After such an intense week of news, how about this for you? Pandas. Two giant twin pandas in China rolling around, enjoying lunch. That's it. That's the news. Enjoy this moment of zen. Have a great weekend. Aaron Bernat, Upfront, starts now. Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. Everything that he did and why, I realized how much he had to take on that I just wasn't really aware of.

1:21:42It does make me wish that I could just go back and be a little bit more understanding at that time. Her name is Michaela Schifrin. She's 31 and is considered the greatest alpine skier of all time. Her mom, Eileen, is an integral part of her team, and her dad, Jeff Schifrin, was too. He was an anesthesiologist who first put Michaela on skis when she was three. What was he like? This is maybe kind of weird, but he was really handsome. Since he passed away, I've actually become him. I've totally become the scheduling person in our family. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about.

1:22:20This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts.