Trump Drags Down GOP with 48 Days to Go Until Midterms

25:03Also, it's not perfect, but perfect is not what we deal in around here. It's significant progress. The fact that it's bipartisan creates much more potential for us to fix what doesn't work as well as we hoped it would. I think this is a good deal better than the status quo, where you'd have the intense concentration and you'd have the Olympic sports, you'd have the small schools totally left behind. Senators Peter Welch and Eric Schmidt from Vermont and Missouri, respectively, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Thanks, Jake. A rare unanimous vote today to hold in contempt. Leon Black, the billionaire linked to Jeffrey Epstein, who's accused of giving the dead pedophile$180 million, he says for tax advice.

25:45Why is this censure resolution? Why this push going on right now to hold him in contempt of Congress. The pressure this vote might now put on the Justice Department is next.

26:05My search for the scariest house in America has taken me to some unsettling places. Not by choice, but per my contract. Are you ready to go into our murder garage? The creepy I wouldn't want to spend a lot of time down here. Me either. The spooky. Yikes. I don't like it. What is this? This is a Victorian body cooler. It's from the 1800s. I'm not feeling good about any of this. Season premiere, Scariest House in America, September 18th at 9 on HGTV. New today in our Law and Justice lead, in one of its last votes until after the midterm elections, the House of Representatives, the whole House, voted to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress because Black defied two congressional subpoenas in the Oversight Committee's probe of dead sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

26:56It's now up to the Justice Department as to whether they will criminally prosecute Black. The investor is currently suing the Oversight Panel and its Republican chairman, James Comer of Kentucky. In a statement, Leon Black's attorneys say in part, This committee markup and contempt resolution is a complete abomination. The committee under the leadership of Chairman James Comer and ranking member Robert Garcia has lost sight of its legislative purpose and is abusing its power. This is retaliation, plain and simple, unquote. Here with me now is one of those two members, the House Oversight Committee Democrat, leading Democrat Robert Garcia of California.

27:33Thanks so much for joining us, Congressman. So what do you expect will happen when this referral hits the Justice Department under Attorney General Todd Blanche? Well, I think Todd Blanche is going to have to take action. This is a unanimous vote of the House. It was a 41 to 0 unanimous vote out of the committee. It was bipartisan. And we need to know why Leon Black gave Jeffrey Epstein$180 million and how, as a billionaire, he was able to take so much of his funds, give them to Epstein without a real accounting of what that money was for. We have legitimate questions for Mr. Black. We have real questions about the NDAs that he had women sign.

28:18He refused to produce those NDAs. He came to give us testimony and then walked out. And so now he's going to be held accountable. And subpoenas need to mean something in the Congress. And so we expect that the Attorney General will have to take action. This is a bipartisan effort. Quite frankly, it's rare where we can meet alignment on this investigation. And this needs to be the beginning of a real serious look at those powerful men of which we need to get answers from about what Jeffrey Epstein was doing and where he got his money to do so much damage and harm to so many women and children. Survivors of Epstein's abuse and their family members wrote a statement today supporting the committee's vote to hold Leon Black in contempt.

29:00The survivors also want this investigation to continue. They specifically mentioned Alan Dershowitz, who has so far failed to appear for a scheduled transcribed interview this summer. He was invited to reschedule on September 2nd, but he did not come. The survivors also mentioned Attorney General Todd Blanche, whom was responsible for the Justice Department's mishandled release of the Epstein files, mishandled according to the vice president, at least. What are your intentions for this investigation if Democrats win the House and the Oversight Committee then falls under your leadership, will it continue as is?

29:35Will it change in any way? What do you think? I mean, there's definitely going to be some change. We're going to take a very aggressive approach to ensuring that we get justice for the survivors. There have been zero public hearings, zero public hearings on the Epson investigation. We've had numerous witnesses come in and not be put under oath in their testimony. We need to hear directly from survivors and them to be able to tell their stories in public and in a way that is recorded in the public record. There's an enormous amount of documents that we still need from a variety of sources. And of course, as Democrats in the majority, we will have the power of subpoena.

30:12We will have the power to ensure that folks like Alan Dershowitz actually come in front of our committee and testify. We will have the power to ensure that all the documents, whether they're from the Epstein estate to the financial institutions that were so much of this money came in and out of that we get all this information. We've had to bring Republicans essentially kicking and screaming in many cases to actually do work, to send out subpoenas, to get documents from the Epstein estate. And I'm glad that we had this moment of bipartisanship. I commend Chairman Comer on this contempt charge, on these contempt charges.

30:46But there's an enormous amount of work to do. And I've told folks that our work on Epstein is just getting started. I want to ask as well as about the information you're seeking on this Russian oligarch who footed the bill for Donald Trump Jr.'s second wedding expenses. In your letter to Donald Trump Jr., you say, quote, this may be the most serious allegation against you to date. What do you want to learn from Trump Jr. and the White House about this wedding and its funding? I mean, this is just a crazy story that, of course, was not disclosed by the Trumps, or certainly Don Jr., but through good reporting.

31:21It is crazy that a Russian oligarch with ties to Vladimir Putin, who hasn't known, by the way, Don Jr. since childhood, they weren't best friends, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to rent all of these extravagant fireworks shows, the Private Island, the 50 Guests, the parties. Why did this happen? Who made these asks? Why is this connection to Putin? This is the president's son. And this just reeks of another level of corruption that Trump's love to engage in, whether it is these lavish weddings paid for by people close to Putin, whether it is sitting on boards of companies like Don Jr.

32:01does and then getting contracts for these companies through the Pentagon. on, all of this has to be investigated. And we have a lot of questions. This is basically the red wedding. I mean, this is crazy that we found about this through reporting and that the Trumps believe that they are not accountable to the public, that they're not accountable to doing the right thing. And so this will be a big part of our investigation. We're already getting a lot of information that we think is important to really understand what happened here. Red wedding, is that a Game of Thrones reference? I mean, that was a pretty horrific scene, the red wedding?

32:35It's certainly a reference to the connection to Putin. I see. The red Russian wedding. Got it. OK, just needed some clarity there. California Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. Thanks so much. Thank you. Let's bring in Sky and Amanda Roberts, the brother and sister-in-law of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was outspoken about her abuse from Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. Sky, how are you and Amanda doing today with this news that Leon Black is going to be held in contempt of Congress for defying these two congressional subpoenas?

33:13Well, Jake, thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it. We're doing good. I appreciate that question. We're both hopeful, but we're also still very frustrated. Obviously, just as a very slow moving wheel sometimes. But, you know, us, the survivors, we're all very relentless in this. It's why we continue to kind of pound the door, if you will. And, you know, I think we're pushing this a much farther than it's been before. And I hope that people are really seeing through the lines now. So we're hopeful, but we're also still very frustrated. Amanda, do you have faith that the Attorney General Todd Blanche will pursue criminal prosecution against Leon Black related to this referral?

33:53Well, I certainly hope so. I mean, when we sat in that meeting and we asked those questions on whether he was going to pursue, you know, we asked if he had gotten a referral from the House committee and he kind of skirted around that. But he said he would if he had gotten a referral that that it would be his job to do so. So, I mean, you petition for this job, even though we've vehemently opposed and tried to get through to Senate, they put you in this position. So I really hope that Congress is watching. We need to know that Congress has its rights and authorities. And so I'm I'm hopeful. I'm doubtful of Todd Blanche.

34:32But this is his time to prove himself. Are you really going to do your job and get justice? Sky, Chairman Comer announced yesterday on our show that he's introducing a bill that would let survivors of sexual abuse speak freely about their experience, regardless of any nondisclosure agreements they've signed. This comes on the heels of Black defying two congressional subpoenas, one of which is over the information in these NDAs. Leon Black told members of Congress he did not know the extent of Epstein's crimes and that he did not abuse any women or minors. It's not yet clear how this legislation might fare in the full House.

35:08What are your thoughts on it?

35:12I mean, my initial thoughts on it is that, I mean, we would be incredibly supportive of any legislation that's brought forward to help prevent potential perpetrators out there from hiding behind a piece of paper. I mean, a piece of paper shouldn't prevent survivors and victims from being able to come forward to law enforcement to speak in front of Congress and tell the public that they've been sexually abused. And I think, you know, Chairman Comer really, as Amanda noted, sat in that meeting, really heard those concerns directly from survivors. And I want to be clear that this piece of legislation wouldn't just affect Epstein survivors.

35:42The whole point of us coming forward is to affect real change. I think this is a piece of legislation that can actually do that so that it can prevent any other Epsteins out there that might be abusing people from today to to be able to hide behind a piece of paper in the future. Amanda, we just heard from the ranking Democrat on the Oversight Committee, Congressman Garcia. Are you feeling confident that this investigation will continue to be a priority if Democrats win control of the House in November, even as Democrats also make clear they want to ramp up investigations into Trump and his family?

36:17I am feeling confident. I mean, I think since day one, we've gotten an overwhelmingly amount of support on that side of the aisle. the Republican side of the aisle. I think what's true is that no matter what party, this is an issue that the American public care about because it speaks to the entirety of corruption and it all aligns. And so I still believe that it will be a top issue and we're going to make sure that it is. I think they've only seen a little bit of us on D.C. and I think it's become a second home for us and our survivor sisters. And we're committed to this journey. Again, like Sky said, that it's not just about us, but it's for every survivor moving forward.

37:01So we're hopeful. We've been on the road with other Democratic potential nominees who have also said that this is a very large part of why they're running and have gotten commitments from them as well. So I do feel hopeful that this will be a top issue. Sky and Amanda Roberts, thank you. And as always, may Virginia's memory be a blessing. Thank you. you. The Fed say corruption and fraud diverted nearly 18 million dollars of taxpayer money from programs supposed to help the homeless in the Los Angeles area. The overnight operation to make some new arrests. Next.

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38:13See terms. And we're back with our continuing series, Homeless in America. And a major fraud case announced in Los Angeles. The feds say in total, three people schemed nearly$18 million out of programs meant to help ease the homeless crisis, instead spending that money on real estate, a nightclub and a bingo hall. Agents, pardon me, agents wanted to make an example of this case, inviting cameras along for the early morning arrest. CNN anchor Alex Michelson has more. Come to the front door with your hands up. Federal agents arrest Lakia Malone, who they say abused taxpayer dollars meant to help people experiencing homelessness.

38:57This arrest, part of a larger effort to try to tackle fraud. CNN, along with several news organizations, invited to embed with federal law enforcement before 5 a.m. in Los Angeles, as they prepared to make a series of arrests. Officials say they're doing all of this on camera to send a message. If you commit fraud, we're coming. On hand, U.S. Housing Secretary Scott Turner, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Asaley, and Assistant Attorney General Colin McDonald. There's no population that fraudsters won't steal from. The elderly, the sick, the hungry, and now the homeless. According to a federal indictment, Malone is charged with taking bribes and fabricating ghost participants while working for Special Service for Groups, a non-profit which receives millions of dollars each year from the U.S.

39:47Department of Housing and Urban Development. The feds say she was working with Alexander Sufer and his organization, Abundant Blessings from Above. In her position of trust, she accepted bribes and funneled money to fraudsters who then misused the money for their personal use. Special Service for Group said in a statement sent to CNN that they have strengthened their prevention protocols and have, quote, been working with the U.S. Attorney's Office and will continue to do so to ensure that any responsible individuals are held accountable. Malone is just one of multiple defendants facing corruption charges.

40:19On the same day, Alexander Sufer's plea agreement was released outlining admissions of wire fraud and money laundering. He bought a house. He went on vacation. He bought a Range Rover. He did everything other than help the homeless. Also arrested, Michael Young, a founder of the group Home at Last. A federal criminal complaint charges him with wire fraud, involving spending millions of taxpayer dollars intended for the homeless on a car and even opening his own nightclub. Michael Young's organization was called Home at Last. Instead, he created a home of last resort with a nightclub. We have an arrest warrant.

40:57Some critics will see this and say it seems like you're targeting blue cities run by Democrats as a way to make them look bad politically before an election. You say what? They're wrong. We're going wherever the fraud is. California has really led in the amount of homelessness over almost two decades. And it's been record funding, Alex. Record funding, but yet record homelessness. That has to come to an end. Corruption is not Democrat, it's not Republican, it's not blue, it's not red. Corruption is wrong. Period. Of course, Jake, as you know, most of the local leaders in California are Democrats.

41:33None of them were present at the press conference today. I asked about that. Are they working with them? They said there's an open invite to work on this issue. Those Democratic leaders not issuing any statements about this so far today. CNN reached out to Home at Last and Abundant Blessings from Above. We have not heard back from either of those nonprofits either. Jake? All right, Alex Michelson, thank you so much. And Alex is going to have much more tonight on his show. The story is with Alex Michelson, look at that midnight Eastern or for our West Coast friends. It's at 9 p.m. Pacific right here on CNN.

42:07Let's go live to Gastonia, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte. You see the crowd ready. It's a rally for President Trump and the Senate candidate there, the Republican. Ahead, see the numbers that help explain why here, why now, and the Republican who could greatly benefit from this visit.

42:29Best thing that's ever happened to you financially. Go. Easy. Sold my car on Carvana. Amazing offer. Really? I hit 200 on a scratcher. Did the scratcher come to your house and hand you a check? No. How many scratchers did you hit to get that? I hit a button on Carvana.com once. Okay, that's fair. It's like the lottery, except you always win. Not like the lottery at all, actually. Exactly, inexplicably good. Offers worth bragging about. Sell your car today on Carvana. Pickup fees may apply. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Taffer. This hour, President Trump is on his way to a campaign rally tonight on the heels of some bad economic news.

43:09Today, the Fed ignored President Trump's demands and actually raised interest rates for the first time in three years, causing the Dow's worst day in nearly a month. How will President Trump try to sell this to voters in the crucial battleground state he's in right now? Plus, a stunning indictment out of New York alleging a group of Russian intelligence officers tried to recruit people inside the United States to carry out murders, assassinations on behalf of the Kremlin. Those suspects still at large tonight. We're going to break down the charges ahead. Also, mounting pressure on singer Ed Sheeran after he kicked one performer off his tour and all the other opening acts quit in solidarity.

43:49Will Sheeran be able to take the stage on Saturday night? And did he do the right thing initially? The free speech debate about what Macklemore said and the repercussions, that's coming up. And Democratic Senate nominee Abdul El-Sayed fires back at Vice President J.D. Vance after Vance told Republicans to use El-Sayed as something of a boogeyman on the campaign trail. Hear what else El-Sayed told CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill this afternoon.

44:20The lead tonight, President Trump on the campaign trail. There you see his attorney general, Todd Blanche, which is a rather untraditional thing for an attorney general to be doing, speaking at a political rally just weeks before a midterm election, but I digress. Trump heading into the headwinds stage in North Carolina you're looking at right now. Trump is set to speak there in the next hour. This is one of the key Senate races that could tip the balance of power in the Senate. It is an open seat. And a recent Elon University poll shows former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper with an 11 percentage point lead over former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Watley.

45:00With just 48 days until polls close, new nationwide polls show Trump's party needs help across the board and fast. One national poll shows voters prefer a generic Democratic candidate over a generic Republican in their district by a 13-point margin. A different poll by nine points. Republicans trying to solve the problem by throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at it. Two PACs affiliated with Trump's political operation have now spent$138 million on campaign ads to support candidates in tight races, including more than$8 million on the North Carolina races alone. CNN's Betsy Kline is in Gastonia, North Carolina.

45:37That's just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Betsy, what are you hearing about Trump's messaging tonight? What's he going to say? Well, Jake, President Trump is here making his way to battleground North Carolina. And as you laid out, that polling shows Roy Cooper in a position of strength against the Republican Michael Watley, handpicked by Trump. But strategists and observers on both sides of the aisle do expect this race to tighten in the coming days as that GOP spending ramps up. And Watley is making the calculation, one of the rare battleground Senate candidates, to hold President Trump and his policies very close.

46:15And President Trump is going to help motivate and turn out his base here. That is going to be important for Republicans. But I talked to one Republican strategist who made the point that 40 percent of North Carolina voters are unaffiliated. So he has to make the case, Watley has to make the case, that he can help provide some economic relief with a very sharp economic message. But that is not the thrust of the discussion tonight. President Trump is expected to focus on crime. You can see the signage behind me. It says making America safe again. The president, according to a White House official, going to talk about restoring law and order and decreasing violent crime.

46:54And crime has been a very big message for Whatley, specifically attacking Roy Cooper as governor on a court-ordered settlement that he ordered to help reduce the prison population during the COVID pandemic. Cooper, of course, has defended that move, but he's also really made a strong affordability pitch. We also heard from Watley a few moments ago trying to cast him as woke and radical. We'll have to see if that lands with Cooper, who has won statewide four times, Jake. All right, Betsy Kline, thank you so much. Appreciate it. And if you're wondering about the glare on the glass, there's obviously bulletproof plexiglass there making the images of, in this case, Attorney General Todd Blanche, a little hard to see.

47:35Joining us now here in studio, CNN's Kaitlin Collins. Kaitlin, talk to us about the White House strategy here. Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, talked about putting Trump on the campaign trail as part of the midterm strategy. Trump has been telling voters to pretend he's on the ballot. Pretend he's on the ballot. I mean, he has like a 38 percent approval rating. Yeah. Republicans who don't have a great approval rating either right now might say, actually, please don't pretend he's on the ballot and don't pretend he's here at all. It's going to be an interesting next few weeks. I was just talking to White House officials today about what this level of travel is going to look like.

48:04And they are really going to ramp it up. That's what they're projecting right now and previewing. And we've seen before when the president has done that. I mean, I remember being out there with him during the 2018 midterms, and the president was making two stops a night for rallies in some states where he felt like he could help those candidates. And we saw, I was talking to Bill Stepien, who ran his political operation the last time he was in office, about this then. The numbers were much better on the economy, on the president's approval, on Republicans' approval, and still they lost a lot of seats that midterm.

48:33It's just the way the political headwinds were going. And so the question really is how it's going to work for them this time, given the Iran war, given inflation, given interest rates, given all of these headwinds, tariffs that are going against them, you know, the price of ground beef, for example. And so I think that they do realize this is an uphill battle, but they still want to have the president out there fighting it. Some Republicans may not want him in their district helping him, though. Yeah, this is not the kind of economy Republicans want to be running on. The average gallon of gas is$4.37 today, according to AAA.

49:06The Fed just today announced they were hiking interest rates. Trump is going to talk about crime tonight, we're told. Does the White House have a realistic view of everything? I have a feeling he's going to be talking about the interest rates as well. He actually had not posted on Truth Social all day long, which for those of us who monitor this at the White House was pretty remarkable. I thought they stole his phone. Or he was a little bit busy. Shortly before he left the White House, he weighed in on this. What stood out to me, though, is we didn't, obviously it's no surprise he responded to Kevin Warsh hiking interest rates.

49:36What's notable is he does not mention Kevin Warsh's name in that post. And obviously before, you know, Jay Powell wouldn't even touch the interest rates, and the president was assailing him at every opportunity he had and trying to get him under investigation for the renovations to the Fed's headquarters. He doesn't mention Kevin Warsh's name. He also doesn't mention, though, Jake, his own policies here, including the trade war, including what's going on with the Iran war. and how that's affecting what is happening at the Federal Reserve today. And so the president a few weeks ago had threatened to cut off all trade if interest rates were not lowered.

50:09He didn't go that far in his post today. He just said if we cut off all trade, we'd get a trillion and a half dollars back in the United States. Obviously, that's not likely to happen. But it does give you some insight into where his mind is, even with his own handpicked guy, running the Federal Reserve. We know that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who's an advisor on the Middle East, unofficial at least, met with Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader who might be the next Speaker of the House. Is the White House preparing at all for Democrats to take over the House and maybe even the Senate?

50:46Because this, to be polite about it, this has been a pretty deferential Republican-led Congress. They have not objected to quite a few things that normally one would think they would. Are they preparing for a Democratic House? Yeah, they are. I mean, they've been through this rodeo before. There are a lot of new White House staffers, but a lot of them served for the president in his first term. And they are bracing for what that congressional oversight is going to look like. I have a hunch, based on my reporting, that they're going to treat it differently than they did when Democrats took control in the first term, should they take it this time?

51:21and we don't know. We'll find out in November. But the White House is preparing like they are. They're changing the White House counsel's office, the staffing. White House officials themselves are getting attorneys or they have attorneys that they know. And they're thinking of it in that regard because they know what it's like to be on the other side of this, many of them. And they're preparing for that to potentially happen yet again. And the president has been telling people, should Democrats win, he believes that he will be impeached. Caitlin Collins, thanks so much. And of course, don't miss Caitlin on her fantastic show.

51:50It's called The Source with Caitlin Collins. And that's tonight at 9 Eastern, only on CNN. Coming up next, the new details revealed in the shocking indictment out of New York alleging Russian agents tried to recruit people inside the U.S. to carry out assassinations. Plus, a health update from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who announced she had early stage breast cancer in March of this year. Her latest news from her health team ahead.

52:21In our world lead, a chilling alleged assassination plot right here in the Washington, D.C. area. The Department of Justice has charged five people. The DOJ says we're part of a Russian intelligence network accused of targeting Russian dissidents. Prosecutors say one dissident in the D.C. area was surveilled as part of a plot to kill him with a$40 ,000 payday offered for the assassination. Joining us now, CNN's Kara Skano. Kara, what do we know about that plot? So, Jake, this plot was underway as recently as last month, according to the criminal indictment filed against these five officials working with Russian intelligence, including three high-ranking officers.

53:02And as alleged in the indictment, the men were looking to recruit someone. They were in talks with a U.S. resident, a man from Venezuela in the U.S., about surveilling this prominent Russian dissident, as he's described in the indictment. And according to the allegations, the Russians were specifically asking him to identify the home. They gave him the location, telling him how to shoot the video, that it needed to be at least 30 seconds long, how to make sure the house was prominent in it to conduct surveillance, and then saying they wanted him to make this dissident disappear, meaning murder him, and were offering$40 ,000.

53:37So this person did not take them up on the offer, but the Russians allegedly were continuing and trying to see if he knew of anyone else who would be willing to take the job, because they said they had some Mexicans who would be willing to do it, but they couldn't get here for quite some time. But this is just one aspect of the case that the authorities unsealed yesterday, in which they said that these Russians not only were involved in these conspiracies to commit murder for hire, but also involved in conspiracies to finance terrorism, say that they were working with people overseas on identifying targets in NATO member areas or places that they believed were pro-Ukraine or were actually out there openly pro-Ukraine, and trying to identify targets and then financing travel for there to be explosions and attacks on military installations.

54:23And authorities say that they were involved in these activities in 2024 in Prague and in Lithuania. Now, all five of these individuals, though, do remain at large, so they're not in U.S. custody. but it's certainly a case that the authorities wanted to bring some attention to, Jake. Yeah, I could think of at least two Putin foes who died in Washington, D.C. under suspicious circumstances in the last decade. Are investigators concerned that there might be other operatives or potential targets out there? You know, Jake, in this indictment, they specifically went through a number of these people that have been targeted by Russians through either Novichok poisoning.

55:02In the U.K., There were some pretty infamous episodes there. Also people who mysteriously fall out of balconies. So this is something that the prosecutors actually highlighted in their indictment and are tying to Russian intelligence. So it's something that they want to put on the public stage that they are aware of this. They are investigating this and they will bring cases when they can. Jake. All right, Karis Kanell, thanks so much. A debate over free speech after a singer was kicked off of Ed Sheeran's tour. We've got both sides debating this issue next.

55:39And our pop culture lead, Ed Sheeran, is supposed to take the stage in Philadelphia this Saturday. The big question tonight, will the show go on? Because as of today, every other act, every act scheduled to perform with him, has now dropped out. It's all in solidarity, these artists say, with the rapper Macklemore, who was removed from the tour this week after this moment. I wanted to stand up here on stages and stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart, free Palestine. Robert Kraft was the first to bar Macklemore from performing at the Gillette Stadium.

56:23Kraft said the decision was not due to the rapper's comments about saying free Palestine, but mainly because of his long-running history of criticizing Israel, even seemingly opposing its existence, and also putting up videos during his concerts that offend some people in attendance. Then there's this from 2014, Macklemore dressed up in what looks like a hideous offensive Jewish caricature outfit, black wig, beard, fake hook nose. He denied that that's what the costume was, but I mean, come on. In recent years, he's released multiple songs that condemn Israel's military action in Gaza. Earlier this year, he was dropped from a music festival in Vegas.

57:02Now, Kraft describes the artist's past behavior and comments as, quote, offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, unquote. Other stadium leaders followed suit. Let's talk about this. Seth Mandel is the senior editor of Commentary magazine, and Greg Lukianoff is the CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. So, Seth, I want you to listen to what Macklemore said the night following the clip that we ran a second ago. To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, in no way is a criticism of you.

57:45My message is for peace, love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect and equality. Seth, what's your response to this? Well, if he says so, you know, I believe him. I think this is what the artist Hink, who is Jewish, was talking about when she responded by saying Macklemore made a choice to make his show about a certain topic and went full force in that topic and then tried to tell the Jewish community this is not about you or this is how you should feel. and Pink's response was, you don't really get to tell us that. You don't get to dictate that. What I wish is that Macklemore would listen instead of speaking when he's told that something hurt people in the audience.

58:35It would be nice to have a conversation, which I think Robert Kraft also offered him about it, but he's not really listening. He just continues talking. So that's my response to the idea that he can then just say, no offense. Greg, is there a free speech issue here? Macklemore says this, and then Robert Kraft says, you can't perform at my venue. Although Kraft says it's not just because of that event. It's a number of things, including the caricature costume from before. Yeah, I'd say there's three different free speech angles. And I'm going to distinguish this from the First Amendment. The First Amendment is our law in the United States that protects freedom of speech.

59:19And when it comes to the First Amendment, the First Amendment is on Kraft's side, that he can decide not to have someone at his venue if he wants to. But I also care about a culture of freedom of speech. And it's important to remember that the Hollywood blacklist was overwhelmingly enforced by private companies. So we shouldn't really celebrate when an artist gets barred from a concert because of his political opinion. But the final point is the most important one. I am very pro-Jewish. I care deeply about the anti-Israel sentiment that started on campus and it just kind of spread outwards. But every time someone gets in trouble for saying something that's critical of Israel, it makes the matters worse.

59:57This is like the Streisand effect, if you guys know what that is, on steroids. Sheeran argues that it's the promoters and venues who made the decision, not him. He added he does have views on the conflict, but he chooses not to share them. He's getting attacked, Seth, by the pro-Palestinian crowd for not standing up. What's your take on the Sheeran role of all this? Well, first of all, I just want to say I don't think that I celebrated anybody getting kicked off the tour. I hope that wasn't the tone of my post on it. But I will say that in terms of what's happening to Ed Sheeran, I think people are being unfair to him too.

1:00:40I think that he was put by McLemore in a really difficult situation. First of all, McLemore is the opener, right? So the thing that set people off the most was the fact, at least Jewish fans and Israeli fans, of which of course in MetLife Stadium there are going to be many, especially over two nights, were the scenes from the Gaza war interspersed with videos and scenes to make Israeli soldiers look monstrous and dangerous and all that stuff. And I think that that puts Sheeran in a very difficult position because Ed Sheeran always says that he likes to be apolitical, at least in his shows and his tours and his music.

1:01:21And so he's put in a situation where he either has to intervene on what Macklemore believes is a free speech issue, or he has to go against Robert Kraft, who believes that he's got a free speech issue, which is that he should not be compelled to host and produce this artistic expression that offends him so much. And so Ed Sheeran is just kind of caught in the middle, pulled both ways. I think the people, although I'm no fan of, certainly no fan of Macklemore, and I think Bob Kraft has a very strong free speech argument here, probably the strongest. I would say that I kind of feel bad for Ed Sheeran because I don't know what exactly he's supposed to do that will satisfy everybody.

1:02:05Greg, how do artists who want to exercise their right to free speech and talk about issues they care a great deal about do it in a way where they don't risk losing their platform? Or is that the deal? If you take a position, you pay the price. that's the deal but it didn't used to when we i'm very glad that i grew up in the 80s and 90s because we went through a period where it wasn't against the law to say someone couldn't play this concert because we didn't like some obnoxious and often and sometimes genuinely horrible things you know like a 80s performer might have said um instead we said listen uh i don't like this guy I wouldn't buy a ticket to him.

1:02:47You're entitled to, if you want to, none of my business. And I do think that that's oftentimes a healthier response to say, like, listen, if you don't like the show, don't go to it. Yeah. All right, Greg Lukianoff and Seth Mandel, thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. And this just in, McLemore says he will donate$1 million to organizations serving Palestinians in Gaza. And he's now challenged Robert Kraft to match his gift. and Kraft released a statement that Ed Sheeran has asked him to commit$2 million to match to help in the humanitarian crisis. Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners, and our plan is to continue to work together to build bridges, Kraft says.

1:03:27President Trump just spoke when he landed in North Carolina. Let's take a listen. Lowest interest rate anywhere in the world because we're the best credit. The Press. No, they're raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do. The problem they have is that we have the greatest economy in history. We have over$21 trillion being invested in this country, which is five times more than we've ever had before. So they're raising that only for political reasons. And that's a raise against Trump. The Press, Mr. President, how does the president come to the president of Iran right now?

1:04:05How is he going to drive more states? The President Well, hopefully we're toward the end of the war. They want to make a deal, and we'll see how that works out. They're very much wanting to make — Iran is very much wanting to make a deal. We'll see how that works out. The Press, Mr. President, would you do extra deficit directly? The President Yeah, we deal directly. The Press, Mr. President, how does the president make a deal more states? The President We lose deficits. For instance, if we lose$50 billion a year with a country, and we say we're not going to trade with you anymore, we don't lose$50 billion a year.

1:04:36It's very simple. Right? The Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure on the Pressure No, I think it's laughable. Look, the whole thing with Canada. Canada has been a terrible trade partner. And, no, I don't see that. And if they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things. So if they do that, if Europe does that with a bad intention, if it's a good intention, that's fine. If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.

1:05:10Which is a possibility.

1:05:19Well, it's a very easy question to answer because it's a mess. It's lost. The Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a loser financially. And many of the places like that, you know, like Carnegie Hall and the various places throughout the country, they lose a lot of money. For me to go and fix it, I'm the one capable of fixing it and then have to subsidize it for years to come. Because you will lose with the Kennedy Center. They were losing hundreds of millions of dollars and sometimes hundreds of millions. This is before I got involved.

1:05:56So for the Trump administration, for me to get involved and to take that on long term and to carry it or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It'll end up being ripped down. It's in very, very bad shape, very dangerous shape. You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers. It's been very badly maintained for 25 years.

1:06:29I'd like to be able to save it, but it's going to take a lot of subsidy into the future. And for us as an administration to want to do that, I think the Trump administration should be recognized.

1:06:46All right. President Trump speaking ahead of his rally in the crucial battleground of North Carolina, a crucial state in the fight for control of the U.S. Senate. And speaking of the U.S. Senate and his pep talk to Republicans on Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance told Republican members running against Democrats who are, quote, not that crazy, unquote, to just start instead talking about Abdul Al-Sayed instead. Abdul Al-Syed, the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee, has become a real target of the Trump administration as they try to deflect voters' attention away from the current issues plaguing the GOP, like the economy and the Iran war.

1:07:19CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. And, Manu, you spoke with Abdul Al-Syed about this today. What did he have to say? Oh, Jake, he's essentially saying bring it on. He's willing to have that debate with the Republican Party if they want to try to tie him and his very progressive politics to the more moderate members who are running all across the map. He calls that a distraction in his words. He says that, in fact, that their focus should be on affordability and on the issues of gas prices and the like. And I also asked him about the concern a lot of Democrats have, that he may be too progressive in a purple state like Michigan and whether he should shift to the middle ahead of a critical general election that could determine the next majority of the United States Senate.

1:08:03He pushed back on that suggestion, saying that at the end of the day, affordability matters, and voters don't really care if you're left or if you're right. They'll talk about anything not to have to talk about gas or groceries or whether or not you can see a doctor or the ability to send your kid to a good, dignified school. So, yeah, if the whole Republican caucus meeting is not about what we can do to actually make lives better, but instead what we should talk about so that we can change the subject from what lives are because of their policies. Fine. Talk about me. But you know what I'm going to be talking about?

1:08:39Gas, groceries, how hard it is to see a doctor. And I asked him if he needed to disavow his association with that very controversial left-wing streamer Hassan Piker. He would not go that far. He said people don't care, in his view, about what actual Hassan Piker has said, even though he did campaign with Piker during the primary campaign, he said he would not campaign with him during the general election, but that his campaign did announce today, Jake, that he will be campaigning next week with Kamala Harris. And he also told us that he's in talks having Barack Obama on the campaign trail as he was up here in Washington trying to make amends and trying to meet a lot of Democratic senators, including Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, whose super PAC he essentially needs to put in a lot more money, his team is suggesting, in order for them to compete with an enormous amount of Republican resources and money that's being spent across the airwaves in Michigan.

1:09:33And, Manu, House Speaker Mike Johnson shocked a lot of people when he sent members home from Washington, D.C. today, earlier than expected. They now have a seven-week recess. Obviously, a lot of them are going to spend it campaigning. Why? Is this simply to stave off the impeachment vote against Secretary Hegseth? Well, a big reason why is they're concerned about losing the House, Jake. They want to get back to their districts. as soon as possible. They were supposed to be in session all month, all September. A couple weeks ago, they gave up back the last two weeks of September, saying they would only be here until this Thursday.

1:10:06Now they're headed out of town tonight. And there are some controversial votes that are coming, an impeachment vote that Thomas Massey of Kentucky is pushing, forcing the Democrats and Republicans on the record on that issue. That would have happened tomorrow. That's not going to happen anymore. And also, Massey has a separate effort. He and Ro Khanna, the Democrat from California, are trying to force a vote, circumvent the Republican leadership to put a bill on the floor to essentially empower individuals and empower states' attorney generals to try to go after the Justice Department if it is not releasing the Epstein files.

1:10:40And that, of course, has the opposition from a lot of Republicans, including the Republican leadership. And Massey spoke about that issue just moments after the speaker made clear the House would not be in past tonight. Clearly the two weeks he sliced off already here in September, he canceled those a week or two ago. That was clearly due to the Epstein files. And he said, and I believe with all conviction of his heart, he said when I predicted that he would call off more of Congress to avoid the Epstein issue, he said we're going to be here every day on the calendar. We are going to work every one of those days.

1:11:20And then 48 hours later, he canceled those two days. That must have been a staggering defeat for him to get that phone call from somebody above his pay grade and tell him, do not let Massey and Kana get to 218 before the election. Oh, yeah, true. Yeah, definitely. The Speaker has rejected Massey, suggesting that they're trying to avoid these very difficult votes. But what is very clear is that there are just so many Republicans who are nervous about losing their majority, so narrow their majority. These races and a couple of dozen of toss-up districts in particular are very, very close. They're getting hammered back home on the Iran war, on tariffs and on costs.

1:12:01And many of them think it would be beneficial to be back home in their districts rather than here and having to cast controversial votes, Jake. And the speaker, of course, listening to his vulnerable members, which is why the House is headed home early tonight. All right, Manaraju on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much. And some good news in our health lead. Susie Wiles, President Trump's chief of staff and the first ever woman chief of staff at the White House, announced today that she is officially cancer free. Earlier this year, Wiles revealed that she'd been diagnosed with early stage breast cancer and would undergo treatment while still working at the White House.

1:12:32In a post on X earlier today, Wiles wrote, quote, Thank you to my family, friends, doctors, and everyone who prayed for me, checked in, and supported me along the way. A special thank you to President Trump for his unwavering support. She says she is cancer-free. We all send our best wishes to Susie Wiles and her family. A growing number of conservatives calling out the rise of anti-Semitism in their own party. How they're trying to confront the problem next.

1:13:05In our politics lead, since the civil rights movement of the 1960s, political figures espousing hatred of entire groups of people have been little more than a fringe element in our system, with the exception of gays, lesbians, and the transgender community. But in recent years, that has changed with anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry increasingly considered mainstream within some elements. And on the Republican side, many prominent conservatives are now sounding the alarm. I have seen more anti-Semitism in the last 18 months on the right than at any point in my lifetime. And it is growing and it is gaining real purchase, especially with young people.

1:13:48Texas Senator Ted Cruz sounding the alarm earlier this year about the rise of extremist voices in the Republican Party, a disturbing trend playing out for several years and exacerbated since President Trump returned to office. In Georgia, Congressman Mike Collins' campaign for U.S. Senate has repeatedly drawn scrutiny over associations with white nationalism and anti-Semitism. Former Collins staffer, 24-year-old Preston Parra, posted this image of a swastika, as well as a picture showing him wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. The Washington Post reported Parra told the paper the content was satirical and that he considers himself a provocateur.

1:14:28In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Collins said Parra's views, quote, are absolutely abhorrent and they don't represent my values or the values of our country. This is not the first controversy involving the congressman or someone close to him. In addition to Collins' own Twitter comments that some interpreted it as racist and anti-Semitic. America is inherently a white Christian European creation. A CNN K-File investigation found that Colin's son-in-law, David Allen Scheer II, has repeatedly promoted white nationalist ideology, Nazi imagery, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. I don't believe in an alliance between Christians and Jews.

1:15:09In a video posted to his YouTube page, Scheer invoked the, quote, Jewish Bolsheviks conspiracy theory, a bizarre anti-Semitic narrative embraced by Nazi Germany that portrayed communism as a Jewish plot, blaming Jews collectively for atrocities committed by the Soviet Union. In response to CNN's questions earlier this summer about his son-in-law's social media posts, a spokesperson for Collins said, quote, his lifelong support for Israel is unquestionable and backed by his consistent record in Congress of standing up for Israel and her people. As for the congressman's own comments on Twitter, his office denies that they were bigoted.

1:15:46In July, Congressman Collins replaced his chief of staff, Kip Talley, after it was revealed Talley participated in a group chat with notorious anti-Semites and white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer. More recently in Ohio, Republican Senator John Husted's campaign parted ways with its political director, 25-year-old Stephen Wojtek, after the Washington Post found Wojtek once used a photo of Nazi SS soldiers as his Facebook profile picture. And he promoted songs celebrating Rhodesia, the former white minority-ruled African state that's been romanticized by white supremacists. In a statement to the Post, Wojtek said he rejects anti-Semitic and racist ideology, saying that his interest was purely historical.

1:16:31Senator Husted's campaign said the Post showed, quote, a complete lack of judgment and that the senator made an immediate decision to part ways with Wojtek after learning of them. But unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. They're part of a pattern or trend taking place within the GOP for several years. In 2025, leaked messages from a young Republican group chat revealed participants using racist, anti-Semitic, and sexist language, including praise for Hitler and jokes about gas chambers. Some of those involved held political or government jobs. After the controversy erupted, Vice President J.D.

1:17:08Vance defended those involved. The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys. They tell edgy, offensive jokes. Like, that's what kids do. The kids, described by the 41-year-old vice president that took part in the offensive chat, range in age from 18 to 40. These are just some examples in a long line of episodes that suggest the Republican Party has a real problem on its hands, with bigotry and anti-Semitism within its midst. But there are at least some signs that many conservatives are taking this problem seriously. This week, after the Texas Republican Railroad Commissioner nominee posted a racist tweet, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn posted in response on X, quote, This is how great political parties self-destruct.

1:17:56Sad. Previously, New York members of Congress Mike Lawler and Elise Stefanik, both Republicans, both publicly denounced the sentiments from the young Republican group chat and demanded immediate resignations from those involved in leadership. And in a post earlier today on his sub stack, conservative talk show host Eric Erickson lamented the growing extremism, writing, quote, A group of white guys have subtly inserted themselves into conservative institutions and church organizations. They all embrace racial grievances. To varying degrees, they embrace white nationalism, anti-Semitism and even Nazi sympathies.

1:18:33But Republican leaders such as President Trump, Vice President Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson have so far declined to seriously publicly confront the bigotry metastasizing within the Republican Party's ranks. Tucker Carlson in that group there. Let's get back down to that race in Texas. We're joined now by the Democrat in the race, John Rosenthal. We should reach out. We reached out. We should know we reached out to Republican Beau French. We mentioned the piece we have not heard back. Mr. Rosenthal, I want to put up Beau French's social media post from the past weekend. She has a group of University of Texas students who appear to be of South Asian descent, we think, celebrating during UT's come from behind win against Ohio State.

1:19:15Beau French wrote, quote, I heard UT graduation this year looked like this. He went on to write the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined, unquote. This is not the first time he has said something bigoted. But what was your reaction when you saw that? Well, so first, thanks for having me on the show today. My reaction was the same as a lot of other folks. I'm a proud graduate of the University of Texas, and the only color that matters in that stand to us is burnt orange. So in a moment when the University of Texas Longhorns have just had a historic win, coming from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the number one team in the nation, Ohio State Buckeyes at this football game.

1:20:00And all of us are rejoicing across political spectrums and boundaries. And this guy looks at that and all he can think of is his hate towards a section of students because of the color of their skin. Truly shameful. There were a lot of Republicans, Texas Republicans, voicing opposition to this. Karl Rove says that he's going to vote for you for the first time I think he's ever going to vote for a Democrat. I want to play for you what French, Beau French, told conservative radio host Mark Davis on Monday after his racist post created a furor. I don't have anything against the people specifically in that picture.

1:20:36The bigger conversation is, are we going to have policies to prioritize Americans and the exceptionalism that I believe Americans have? Or are we going to have policies to prioritize foreigners? And I think most people in the America First movement think we ought to be prioritizing Americans. So I know what I think about that, but what's your reaction? So I'm oil field trash. I'm an oil field engineer. I swear a lot. And y 'all are trying to get me to swear on national television. You're allowed to. It's cable, you know. I call BS. I call BS. So the University of Texas, by rule, 90 % of the students admitted are Texas residents.

1:21:19And we take the top 5 % of the high school graduates from public schools in our state. So those are all citizens. They're all residents. They're Americans. They are the future of our country. No matter what color their skin is, there's great diversity at the University of Texas. And as a graduate, I say it's the greatest university in the state of Texas. Yeah, I mean, some local press has tracked down some of those students, and they're American. They're American as you and I. One question about your political contest. You and Beau French are running for the Texas Railroad Commission, which, unlike its name implies, it actually oversees the Texas oil and natural gas industry.

1:21:59Beau French is promising to cut regulations. What will you do if you're elected? So first, across the political spectrum, I don't think people believe we are overregulated when it comes to oil and gas in Texas. I actually believe we should enforce the regulations we have. But let's not forget, Republicans have been in charge and had the reins of power in this state for 30 years. So whatever regulations we do have were enacted by Republicans. I happen to think most of them are sensible. And so if you want someone who's got 25 years of experience in oil and gas, I did everything from upstream to downstream.

1:22:38I literally worked on drilling rigs and production platforms. I have worn out plenty of steel-toed boots. Let's just say that. So if you want someone who actually knows how to tackle and solve real-world problems, I'm the guy. My opponent has no real-world experience in this. I don't know what he's thinking. John Rosenthal, thank you so much. And again, Beau French has been invited to this program. A new graphic novel brilliantly illustrates American democracy in crisis. But no, it's not about today. It's a disturbing and fascinating part of American history that you might not know. That's next.

1:23:20War, anarchists, jingoism, a government suppressing the free press. I'm not talking about the present day. In a brand new graphic novel, famed cartoonist Durf Backdurf tells a largely forgotten but incredibly important part of American history with stunning parallels to so much of what's been happening in America in the last few years. Durf Backdurf is an award-winning cartoonist and political satirist whose beautifully drawn, deeply researched stories bring forgotten chapters of American history to life. I sat down with him to talk about his latest graphic novel, a story he says he's wanted to tell since college.

1:23:56The Dissidence is a suspenseful spy thriller starring cartoonists. It was set in 1917 during the Great War and it was a period of time when the First Amendment was put on ice by Woodrow Wilson who was a thin-skinned autocrat. Merely criticizing the president of the government could get you a 15-year prison sentence. These cartoonists were working at this magazine called The Masses, which was also closed by the government. These cartoons, political cartoons, so terrified the U.S. government that these cartoonists were harassed, hunted, spied upon, and finally put on trial for conspiracy and sedition and faced 15-year prison sentences.

1:24:40So this is their story. I had no idea this happened. And I'm an amateur cartoonist, and I'm a scholar of cartoonists. I've been a fan of yours for decades, and I had no idea they were locking up cartoonists. It's a bit of lost comics history, a bit of lost American history. We don't really talk about this era a lot, but it was so catastrophic in so many ways. Bachter includes in his book the original cartoons that got these artists in trouble, images considered at the time so threatening that the Wilson administration went after the people who drew them. And while the story takes place more than a century ago, the themes are quite relevant.

1:25:18There are so many things in this book that are resonant with what's going on today. First of all, anti-immigrant sentiment, except in this case it's not Latinos or Haitians or Venezuelans, it's Germans. My grandmother's family were German immigrants during World War I, and so I heard these stories for years from my aunts and uncles and my grandmother about the kind of prejudice they faced on a daily basis, suspicion being followed, being threatened, that kind of stuff. The other thing that's quite resonant is a powerful leader using faux patriotism and jingoism to suppress speech he does not like.

1:25:59That's something that we've seen a lot of in the last few decades. Yes, except Wilson was successful at it. I mean, he put most of these publications out of business and sent thousands and thousands of people into prison for sedition under something called the Sedition Act, which basically meant whatever the government said it did. And it was just like if you opposed entering World War I. Yes. That's it. Or said, God, the draft isn't a good idea. Boom. You were indicted. The cartoonists of the masses refused to play ball. And so it's really a story of artistic courage in the face of authoritarianism, which is very appealing.

1:26:38And yet, the First Amendment still endures. The good guys ultimately won, or the First Amendment ultimately prevailed. The cartoonists won in the sense that they stayed out of jail, well, mostly. But they did pay a really hard price, because most of them were blacklisted and never really recovered. And what do we owe them? A lot. I mean, they held the line, and no one else was. And I think even though people have forgotten them, you can draw a straight line from the cartoonists of the masses to, you know, the great underground comics of the 60s to the indie comics of the 90s to what people are doing today in graphic novels.

1:27:19I mean, it's a straight line. More than a century after the cartoonists of the masses were targeted for their political speech, Bachter says their story offers a warning and a reminder of the role artists and journalists can play when that speech is under threat. The Dissidence is out this week. If you like American history or you appreciate thoughtful political cartoons, as I do, you'll enjoy it. Check it out. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

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1:28:21Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guest on the podcast is NASCAR champion and Hall of Famer Kurt Busch. He's grieving the recent death of his younger brother, NASCAR champion Kyle Busch. I'm trying to grieve in ways to help people. I want your mom, my dad, and I try to do it where I'm not biting off more than I can chew and back off a little bit. I'm trying to help everyone get through this and share stories. It's not going to get any easier, but time will help heal. I have a nice therapist that I worked with towards the twilight of my career.

1:29:00Has therapy helped? It has. I embraced it a few years back, whereas the young Kurt, you know, teenager, 20-year-old, 30-year-old, nah. Talking grief, building community. That's what the podcast is all about. This is all there is. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.