Trump Says Pilots Safe After Apache Shot Down Near Hormuz

23:10Zach and Kristen, stand by because I want to bring in Democratic Congressman Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts. And Congressman, we invited you here to talk about this Oversight Committee hearing about the Epstein investigation. And I'll get to that in a second. But I do want to get your reaction to the news about what the U.S. military is characterizing as retaliatory or defensive strikes on Iran. Well, Jake, I'm on a military and security and foreign relations subcommittee on oversight. We were asking, even just a short while ago, for a briefing on the details of this shootdown or crash, because it wasn't clear which one it was.

23:49I know that we did see a post by the president, but that's not verifiable in real terms. We want a briefing from the Joint Chiefs or from someone else at Defense Department. So we were waiting for that, and now we hear that there's retaliation, and we're not quite sure the scale of it or the duration of it. What about President Trump telling the Wall Street Journal that the shootdown of the Apache was no big deal because American service members were uninjured? Yeah, the president hasn't been a good communicator with Congress, to say the least. Oftentimes, our committees are the first to know.

24:32But lately, there's been a complete gap in terms. And this includes Republicans as well, where we've not been properly briefed in terms of what's going on with the situation in Iran. So I don't know what to think of this communication between the president and the New York Times. So let's talk about the Epstein hearing, because you just stepped out of that closed-door interview with one of Jeffrey Epstein's longtime assistants. The testimony is coming to a close right now. According to sources, Leslie Groff, the longtime Epstein assistant, she denied knowing about the convicted sex offenders crimes.

25:08She did describe him as a master manipulator. You're on the oversight committee leading the investigation. You said that you believe Groff was being truthful when she said she did not witness Epstein sexual behavior with underage girls. yet Groff apparently didn't see anything wrong with scheduling Epstein's massages with young women when he was already a registered sex offender so can you explain why why you think she's being honest about knowing of the crimes so she did not witness she did not witness the the sexual activity she didn't witness it that that's it that's the only thing I believe that she said truthfully she tried to deny even knowing Jeffrey Epstein she said she wouldn't describe their relationship, that they had a relationship at all.

25:54So meanwhile, you know, Jake, Leslie Groff's name is in the Epstein file more than Epstein's name is in there. She's in there 157 ,916 times, and we're only halfway done with the documents. So I do not think her testimony was truthful, except in that one narrow, you know, the massage parlors were like on the fourth floor or third floor of Epstein's mansion in New York. And Groff's office was on the first floor. So I think she's probably telling the truth about that. She did not witness anything. However, she did refer these young... Now, this was at a time when Epstein is a convicted, registered sex offender, she is still referring young women to give massages to Jeffrey Epstein.

26:55So there is complicity there. There's aiding and abetting the activities of Jeffrey Epstein. So I am not giving her a pass at all. 90 % of her testimony was not believable. So tomorrow, the Oversight Committee is going to hear from billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. His ties to Epstein are well documented in the Justice Department's Epstein files. What do you want to learn from Gates? So we think, look, there's a number of business connections there. However, there's also a multi-year relationship between Gates and Jeffrey Epstein. And I know that much as Epstein was trying to play Gates just like he did Wexner to get investments, there was also something very creepy going on there.

27:51And, you know, we would like to find out to the degree that Bill Gates, you know, knew about that. I know he's apologized to his staff, but that relationship went on for a long time after Jeffrey Epstein was convicted and was a registered sex offender. All right, Democratic Congressman Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts, thanks for joining us, sir. We appreciate it. The breaking news right now, the U.S. launching what it calls self-defense strikes in Iran after the downing of an American Apache helicopter. CNN is in Iran, and we're going to go there next with what we're hearing. Stay with us.

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29:07I am giving away a room makeover. Where's the catch? Three days to complete this renovation. You have no say in design, and we start today. Oh, wow. You're not just going to steal everything. Surprise! Ready to get your house packed? For real. A little dated. It's time to turn this over to us. You guys got to get out of here. Got to get out of here. Crashers, all new Monday at 1030 on HGTV. And we're back with the breaking news. The U.S. launching what it calls self-defense strikes on Iran after the Iranians downed an American Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman yesterday. CNN's Fred Fliken is in Iran.

29:45Fred, has there been any reaction to what the U.S. is calling proportionate strikes back to Iran? Hi there, Jake. Well, so far there's not been any direct reaction from the Iranians because obviously these strikes are still very fresh. We just got that tweet from CENTCOM a couple of minutes ago saying that the strikes essentially started at 5 p.m. Eastern. Certainly what we are hearing from Iranian media, though, is that there have been explosions or what sounded like explosions, large blasts heard in some areas in the Persian Gulf area near the town of Bandar Abbas, which of course is one of the main ports that the Iranians or port towns that the Iranians have down there.

30:22Also some of the islands in the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz, there seem to be some explosions that have been heard there as well. But of course, one of the things that we had been talking about was the statement that came from Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araqchi, who was essentially saying that the Iranians believe that if a U.S. helicopter was downed by an Iranian drone, that that must have been an accident, saying that foreign aircraft that fly around in that area, around Iran's territorial waters, around Iran's borders, can be subject to what he called their own error, getting cut in the crossfire, or simply accidents, and then saying in that post that all foreign militaries should leave that area as fast as possible.

31:03However, there's an interesting sort of sentence that not just the Iranian foreign minister, Arbas Araqshi, is using, but also the chief negotiator for the Iranians, Mohammed Bahar Kalebaf, saying that the Iranians prefer diplomacy, as they put it, but also speak other languages, meaning that the Iranians are also prepared, as they put it, for harsh responses to any sort of military action against their territory. And one of the things that we've been gleaning or we've been hearing from the Iranians over the past couple of days is that they say that the days of tit-for-tat responses are over and that they are now ready for more harsh responses.

31:40And they said that they had believed that they had shown that in the recent military back and forth between Iran and Israel with the Iranians launching missiles. Obviously, the Israelis conducting airstrikes here on Iranian territory. So the Iranians are saying that if they are attacked, there will be a harsh response. That's a general statement. It's unclear what they're going to do in this case. But certainly they will view this as an escalation, Jake. For more reaction, let's turn to CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitza. And Alex, your reaction to these new strikes that the U.S. says were launched in self-defense, but they also say that they are proportionate to the attack on the Apache.

32:18So again, that's what we're hearing, that the president had determined that we needed to respond in some form, very similar to how Prime Minister Netanyahu told the president the other day that he also had to respond based on attacks that had taken place. So much of this is about optics and saving face, which has been the case even in the lead up to the war here and the negotiations that were taking place beforehand. Heard from mediators on all sides. Face saving was a big part of this, which sounds a bit absurd, but on face value, unfortunately, that is part of the game that gets played in these types of situations with human beings' lives in the balance.

32:48So what we're seeing now is a very limited set of strikes in Iran on the coastal areas directly directly across the narrowest point of the straits from Oman, which is really striking some military infrastructure there in a limited capacity, which once again is meant to signal that the U.S. is not looking to escalate here, but that it needs to sort of respond to the incident, even though no one was hurt in this last round from Iran. So we'll see if the Iranians respond to it, but the U.S. is still hoping that this is going to help facilitate talks and that they're going to be able to put this behind them.

33:14All right, Alex Blitzes, thanks so much. We're going to continue to follow all this happening in Iran. Let's move on to the politics lead, though, because it is in another election. There it is, the election jam. Appreciate it. This is another big primary election day. Hence, while your ears are being graced with that sweet election jam, today voters in four states are heading to the polls. Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Maine, which is frankly the main event because a drama-filled Senate primary there is taking place. That's where Democrats will decide who is going to face Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins in the November general election.

33:45And the frontrunner is a man who is getting a lot of attention. His name is Graham Plattner. and despite all of his scandals, which include, just as a short list, his tattoo with Nazi symbolism that he claimed to know nothing about, his relatively recent extramarital sexting, his deleted controversial Reddit posts where he disparaged many groups of people and said some controversial things about rape victims and masturbating in a latrine, and a New York Times report from last week in which three of Plattner's ex-girlfriends accused him of unsettling behavior and, in at least one case, physically threatening behavior.

34:16Plattner denies ever getting physical. Today's scene ends, Manu Raju asked Republican Senator Susan Collins to weigh in on that New York Times report. Do you believe the denials from Graham Plattner and from this New York Times report? Do you believe his denials? The allegations against Graham Plattner are extremely troubling and serious. And he owes the people of Maine a detailed answer. And I haven't heard that yet. Now, many Democrats see Plattner, who continues to draw big crowds throughout Maine, as their best shot to oust Senator Collins. But these revelations about his past could lead some Democrats to possibly vote for Maine Governor Janet Mills, another Democrat in today's primary.

35:04Mills is still on the ballot, even though she suspended her campaign in April, not being able to match the money that Plattner was raising or the excitement, frankly. She's not expected to defeat Plattner today, but her performance could be a clue as to whether Plattner's support in the general election could be shakier than before. This is, frankly, a must-win contest for Democrats if they want to flip control of the Senate this fall. Let's discuss with our panel. We have with us former senior advisor for Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, Karen Finney, and Mark Short, who is chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence.

35:35I think everybody knows who you guys are by now. Let's look at the polling, okay? I have this tablet here. I'm going to boop. There it is. All right. So that these are these are the Democrats, Grant Plattner, David Costello and Janet Mills, who suspended the latest polling in Maine shows Plattner holding a commanding lead. It seems likely that he is going to win Plattner. If Mills gets it, what percentage of the vote do you think Mills would have to get for people to think, oh, Plattner is in trouble? I think she'd have to really be within striking distance for people, you know, 30 percent for people to say this is a problem.

36:10And the other polling, though, we should remember is that Susan Collins has been underwater. I went back and just rechecked from the spring. She's been underwater for some time. And even Republicans in the state have been unhappy with her on a number of votes, which is why Democrats thought this was a good pickup opportunity in the first place. So I think you're right. I think Plattner is going to end up victorious. I think he'll have a clear win. The question that people have is, OK, then what? Because in a general election contest, the question becomes, how much is in the arsenal of the GOP and how can he withstand it?

36:44That's the real question. So let me punch up the next thing on this device to show to you, Mark. This is a UMass Lowell YouGov poll from May, I should note. That's before at least the most recent New York Times reported scandal. I'm not sure how many scandals packed this was. But it does show Plattner with a lead, 48 percent over 43 percent with 8 percent. Don't know. He is a contender. He is getting a lot of attention. I don't want to take away from that. The reason why people are sticking behind him is because he has something. Now, I'm not dismissing the controversies. Here is some of the ad from a super PAC that is working to reelect Susan Collins.

37:29I want you to tell me what you think of it. Let's run a clip of that. Graham Plattner called Rulham Manor stupid and racist You're calling me stupid and racist? Who says something like that? Plattner said cops are bastards All of them Graham Plattner has no respect For law enforcement Graham Plattner said some law fishermen Are absolutely terrible people Graham Plattner, you got it absolutely wrong It disgusts me What do you think Mark? Is that effective? I think there's probably a lot more coming Jake I would imagine that they're holding the best material They have until after he wins the nomination And so, look, I think to watch Democrats do the mental gymnastics they've been doing to justify this candidacy has been pretty remarkable.

38:09Whether or not it's the Nazi tattoo or you went through the sexual issues, there was even the National Center for Child Exploitation, you know, commented on the fact that he has an account on it where they said it's a predator's paradise, quote unquote. And this is the nominee that they're putting forward. And I think, frankly, for Democrats, this will be a bigger news for a lot of Democrats across the country than it is in Maine. I think because they're all going to have to defend this candidacy. Yeah. Karen, Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Ro Khanna, they're behind Plattner. Today's CNN's Manu Raju asked another notable progressive Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, AOC of New York, about the New York Times report.

38:51were these three ex-girlfriends of Plattner's accused him of unsettling behavior and at least one physically threatening this here's AOC take a listen there's a lot in that behavior that's really challenging it's hard to stomach you know in some of it but but um at the end of the day I think that this is a choice if the choice on the ballot is between that and a senator who's voted to take health care away from millions of Americans. That's the situation that we have to weigh. I think that's what Mark was referring to when he referred to Democrats' mental gymnastics. Yeah, well, look, I think that's the gymnastics, though.

39:30Also, there's what national Democrats have been saying and what Democrats and folks in Maine have been saying. And some have said everything from, I'm still with him to, I'm going to hold my nose and vote for him. And at the end of the day, I think folks in Maine care more about what they've heard from Plattner than they do, and I think this is true, this is always true. I hate to say that to my national folks, But then they do about what a Bernie Sanders or a Ro Khanna actually has to say. And again, it seems to me that what is happening in Maine is that people have made peace with the fact they want Susan Collins out and they're willing to vote for Plattner.

40:01Now, when the barrage that Mark is talking about comes, let's see if that holds. I don't think we know the answer to that yet. I mean, it's amazing they paint Susan Collins as some sort of monster. You know, there's oftentimes when it's portrayed as if we have to accept this person's indiscretions because the threat is so bad. We're talking about Susan Collins. Susan Collins is consistently one of the most moderate members of the entire United States Senate who continues to have bipartisan appeal in Maine. All right. Thanks to both of you. My next guest served as acting Navy secretary in Trump's first term.

40:32What trouble signs he sees with the Bill Pulte nomination. nomination. Both Pulte, of course, is, or appointment, I should say. Pulte, the housing official with no intelligence background. Trump wants him now to be the acting director of National Intelligence. Stay with us.

40:51Is Pulte qualified for that position in your view? I think that's, that is the challenge that we have in front of us and why it has caused the complications with FISA. In our politics lead, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska renewing concerns about President Trump's move to install housing official Bill Pulte, a Trump loyalist, as acting director of national intelligence. And Murkowski's not alone. 28 former U.S. national security officials signed on to a letter also expressing their concerns about Pulte. They note that Pulte, who is a MAGA attack dog with zero national security or intelligence experience, is, quote, clearly unqualified for this role, unquote.

41:29I want to bring in someone who signed on to this letter, retired Navy Rear Admiral James McPherson, who served as acting secretary of the Navy during President Trump's first term. Admiral, thanks for joining us. The letter that you signed notes that with the U.S. at war, there is no margin for error. Why do so many people believe Bill Pulte is not qualified to be acting director of national intelligence? I appreciate being on the show with your audience. The legislation that created the Director of National Intelligence, the DNI, was actually enacted subsequent to 9-11 and upon a recommendation from a 9-11 commission.

42:04It was recognizing intelligence failures led to 9-11 and our inability to anticipate the attack and thwart the attack because the intelligence community members weren't talking to each other. They weren't coordinating. They weren't communicating. And that needed to stop. That needed to have an overarching authority of the 18 members of the intelligence community that could direct their actions, that could direct that they speak to each other and put the puzzle pieces together. And as a result of the 9-11 Commission recommendation, the statutes were passed by Congress, signed by President Bush.

42:37They created the position of the Director of National Intelligence and the office that supports him or her. And I'll quote now, one of the statutory requirements for that office, which is unique in statute, is that the incumbent shall have extensive national security expertise. Well, simply, Mr. Pulte, he was an accomplished businessman, no question there. He was a money market manager. He worked in the family business building residential homes. But he has zero experience with regard to national security. And that is the problem that so many of us feel disqualifies him from being in that acting position.

43:11So congressional Democrats are calling Pulte a national security risk. They say they're not going to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act under his leadership, which potentially would undermine the federal government's ability to monitor foreign threats. Do you think that's the right move to refuse to vote for Section 702 of FISA if Pulte is installed? I'm one of those who believe that 702 is essential to protecting our country. It empowers the intelligence community to monitor communication from foreign nationals and be able to assess the threat that they perhaps pose.

43:50It's ironic that the Republicans are behind 702, as I think they should be. And yet the president, leader of the Republican Party, has thrown this wrench into the works and given the Democrats who oppose 702 on privacy issues an opportunity to oppose 702. It makes no sense whatsoever. What about the acting title? Does that restrict Pulte's authority in any way? So for people out there who don't know, a president can appoint somebody as an acting whatever, acting attorney general, etc. for a certain amount of time. But the acting title means that they have not actually been confirmed by the Senate.

44:28Is there any restricted authority if you're just an acting DNI? Essentially, there's no restriction on the authority of an acting in any of those positions that are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. You're right in the time matter. He has 210 days by statute to be the acting. Now, there's exceptions to extend that. But if you count the days on the calendar, his term will end on 29 December unless something extraordinary occurs. Yeah. And of course, let me let me ask you, Admiral, because the midterm elections are within that period. And the DNI, the DNI, the previous one, Tulsi Gabbard, has been involved in seizing election machines in Puerto Rico, been involved in the raid in Fulton County, Georgia on election machines.

45:16Do you think that Pulte was assigned to do something having to do with the election? him? I'm concerned about that. If we were playing poker, Jake, that would be a tell. I think that the former DNI, Ms. Gabbard, was down there for a reason. And the reason was to create an argument that there is a foreign influence in the election in November. That's dangerous. And I think it undermines the integrity of the election. And it is of grave concern that the DNI was down there involved in that evolution the FBI was seizing ballots from 2020 election. Retired Navy Rear Admiral James McPherson, thank you so much for your time today, sir.

45:54I appreciate it. Thank you very much. This is CNN Breaking News. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper, and we begin this hour with the breaking news in our world lead. The U.S. military, CENTCOM, launching new strikes against Iran. This is in response to the downing of an Army Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman yesterday. Explosions have been heard this evening in several Iranian coastal areas, according to Iranian media. The news of these explosions comes as the Pentagon acknowledged that they launched the new wave of strikes against Iran just an hour ago, 5 p.m. Eastern. They said the mission is a, quote, proportional response to unjustified Iranian aggression, unquote.

46:35Let's bring in CNN's Caitlin Collins who said the White House for us. Caitlin, what is the White House saying about these strikes? Well, Jake, the White House hasn't said much beyond the CENTCOM statement, but the president signaled this earlier today when he posted about the downing of this Apache helicopter, blaming Iran, saying that they had obviously, they were responsible for this, and that he said, in his view, the United States must respond to what happened last night. And then a few hours later, we saw these retaliatory strikes begin. We heard reports on the ground in Iran, and then CENTCOM confirmed it in that post, Jake, where not only did they say this was done at the direction of the commander-in-chief, CENTCOM also said that these were self-defense strikes, as they described them against Iran.

47:14They said they started exactly one hour ago at 5 p.m. Eastern. And they said this is a mission that is a proportional response to the unjustified Iranian aggression, as we noted. Now, Jake, there have been questions earlier about whether or not Iran had done this on purpose. We knew it was under investigation earlier today. But it also just widens the questions that we already had about what is going to happen next in this conflict. Because it's been a very busy 72 hours or so, given the attacks that have been happening with Iran and Israel, given what's happening in Lebanon and the president intervening yesterday to bring that to an end.

47:48And the president also predicting that there could be a total victory in Iran, as he did to voters in South Carolina yesterday, saying that could come in the next two weeks. And now this, obviously added into that, Jake, raises a lot of questions about what is going to happen next here and whether or not Iran is going to respond to this and if this continues to move forward. Because obviously that ceasefire has been in place since April 7th. And the president has said, you know, it's not a complete ceasefire. He was saying last week to us in the Oval Office, it's a little bit different given the activity that's been happening in the Middle East.

48:19But there are real questions about what the future of this is going to look like. And also the extent of these strikes that we're seeing here from the United States that are being conducted right now. We don't know yet, Jake, the full scope of this, how expansive this is going to be. Or if the president is simply trying to send a message after that helicopter was brought down about 24 hours ago. All right, Caitlin Collins at the White House for us. Thanks so much. And of course, don't miss Caitlin on her show, The Source with Caitlin Collins. She'll be closely following the results from tonight's primary.

48:47Her guests include Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna, who endorsed Graham Plattner in Maine. That's tonight at 9 Eastern and only on CNN. Let's bring in Republican Congressman Carlos Jimenez of Florida. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee. Congressman, the U.S. military says these are self-defense strikes in Iran in response to the downing of the U.S. Army helicopter off the coast of Oman overnight. What's your reaction to the strikes? Well, I think that, you know, we should strike Iran and strike them hard. I mean, I heard your reporting saying that they were.

49:19Are you there, sir? I'm sorry. Can you hear me? Yeah, but now I've got some other. Somebody else is in the congressman's ear. So whoever's in the control room in his ear, please get out of his ear. Congressman, I'm sorry. Please go. It's OK. So, look, we have to respond for the for the downing of the helicopter. it is a big deal. And I'm not crazy about proportional responses. If you're going to hit me, I'm going to hit you harder and demonstrate to the Iranians that we're serious. And so, you know, let's see what comes from this. And I also don't believe for one second, you know, what sources, Iranian sources are saying that it was a mistake.

49:56They don't make those kinds of mistakes. It was on purpose. And they tried to kill a couple of our pilots, and that's unacceptable. Before today's strikes atop, Iranian negotiator posted on X, quote, we prefer the language of diplomacy, but we speak other languages far more fluently. Break your commitments and we'll switch to what we speak best at seemingly threatening escalation if diplomatic efforts collapse. Do you think this is a collapse of the U.S.-Iranian ceasefire? How did the U.S. and Iran come back to the table for peace talks after this? Look, I've said on another network that I'm afraid I'm starting to feel like Charlie Brown and Iran is Lucy.

50:34You know, they keep taking the football out. We're trying to kick it. We're trying to get a negotiated peace. I just don't trust the Iranians. I think that they're just trying to string us along. And I think it's going to take more action that shows the Iranians are resolved that they will never have a nuclear weapon. I don't think that they believe us right now. And the only thing that they respond to is force. We need to continue with the blockade and then do everything in our power to open up the Straits of our moves without Iranian support and show them that we can open up that strait regardless of what you do and that you will never have a nuclear weapon.

51:13But we need to show them a little bit more strength than what we're doing right now. I think we're showing a little bit too much restraint right now. And they're taking that as a sign of weakness. Well, don't you think that President Trump has been conveying for months now that he's very eager to have a deal to end this? I mean, he seemed, you know, first of all, every few days he says that we're two or three days from a deal. A deal is imminent. He said the war was only going to last four to five weeks. We're now, I think, at the beginning of week 14. He seems to be conveying, at least as far as the Iranians are concerned, but I think a lot of people think, that he's very eager for an off-ramp.

51:50Is that part of the issue here? I think that is part of the issue. You know, you can't show your hand to your opponent. And so you have to show your opponent that you're willing to take this all the way, that you're ready to finish the job, and that it's in their best interest to have an off-ramp. And we'll be listening to you, but at the same time, this can't drag on forever. And so this is what happened yesterday with the downing of that helicopter, at least to me, indicates that they're really not serious. I have never thought they were really serious. They really got to punch them in the nose, keep going and then keep maximum pressure for them to come to the table in reality and really come to the table.

52:33We've been seeing this game from them for 47 years, you know, and I'm not going to change my opinion about them until I'm proven wrong. And so far, I haven't been proven wrong. President Trump said to the Wall Street Journal that it's not that big a deal that these Apache pilots, that the helicopter was shot down because they're okay. The pilots are okay and uninjured. Do you agree? No, I don't. I think it is a big deal that they actually successfully shot down one of our helicopters and put two American lives in danger. That is a big, big deal to me. And our response needs to be swift, which apparently it is, but also has to be overwhelming.

53:16So you want to punch us in the nose? No problem. We're going to take your head off. All right. And don't do that again. It can't be proportional. It has to be more. They have to suffer more than we did in whatever we do. Whatever they do to us, we have to do it three times, four times, ten times more than what they did to us in order for them to understand. Republican Congressman Carlos Menez of Florida, thank you so much sir, appreciate it. Thank you. The world was captivated by the Artemis II moon mission. Today NASA unveiled the crew of Artemis III, aiming to get one step closer to landing humans on the lunar surface once again.

53:50And those four astronauts are going to join us for their very first CNN interview coming up to share how they found out they were selected, how they're training for launch, and what they're most looking forward to in space.

54:07And our Politics Lead, new questions today about the many ways President Trump and his family are making a lot of money in ways that are related to the president's powers. Today, a Reuters investigation dug into the playbook that the Trump family is using to build a crypto empire between the Trump meme coin launched just before the president was inaugurated in 2025 and the Trump backed crypto firm World Liberty Financial and two other crypto projects, Reuters estimates that the Trump family has added more than$2 billion, billion with a B, to the family fortune. And that Reuters reporter is going to join me to discuss in just a second.

54:45But I want to go into more on this because one example of those other crypto projects came also today from CNBC, which noted that a publicly traded company called Alt-5 Sigma bought$1.5 billion in crypto tokens from World Liberty. And the Trumps were entitled to roughly$500 million from that. This is according to disclosures by World Liberty Financial. Alt-Five Sigma, on the other hand, is not doing that well. The company, which has a new name, quote, has warned investors it may not be able to stay in business much longer. Its share price has fallen more than 90%. It faces the prospect of being delisted by the NASDAQ, CNBC reported today.

55:26A spokesman for Trump-backed World Liberty Financial tells CNN, quote, quote, biased media have conducted a smear campaign against world liberty since the beginning, but despite their efforts, we are continuing to build and deploy market leading and popular products like USD1, which helps defend the U.S. dollar as a compliant stable coin backed by U.S. Treasuries with a$4.5 billion market cap, unquote. Now, when it comes to questions about the Trump's making money, you might remember when Amazon paid$40 million for a documentary produced by and starring and about First Lady Melania Trump, a documentary critically panned, and it was a financial loss for Amazon.

56:06But most of us don't know the extent of the Trump family's less publicized financial ventures. Frankly, they're often not easy to understand. Perhaps that's on purpose. The Financial Times reported this spring that back in August, the president's the Suns via something called a special purpose vehicle run by a subsidiary of Dominari Securities, they bought a stake in a construction group called Skyline Builders. That's August. In September, a source told the Times that the president of Kazakhstan told President Trump he planned to award a major project dealing with the rare dense metal tungsten to Kovkas Capital.

56:46That's an American investment group. In October, the Financial Times reports as a filing disclosed that Skyline would invest$20 million for a 20 % stake in Kaz Resources with significant critical minerals assets in Asia. Now, three people told the Times that Kaz Resources is a subsidiary of Kov Capital, which also controls Kov Kaz, the group expected to get that major Kazakh mining project. So that's October. In November, November 6th, the announcement came, the National Mining Company of Kazakhstan and Kov Capital made a deal to develop, quote, the largest known undeveloped tungsten resource in the world.

57:26KovCas will own 70%, the National Mining Company of Kazakhstan, 30%. In April of this year, KovCas Capital and Kaz Resources agreed to merge with Skyline Builders. This whole deal, by the way, is going to be supported by the Trump administration. up to$1.6 billion through letters of interest from the U.S. Export-Import Bank and the Development Finance Corporation, both of them federally funded agencies. This project, of course, could make billions of dollars. Now, we should note, yes, there is a national security interest in American companies, not Chinese ones, controlling these rare minerals.

58:02And we should also note there's no evidence that we know of that either Don Jr. or Eric, Trump, knew that Cove was about to get the Trump administration contract or that they influenced the awarding of the contract to Cove when they made their investment in Skyline three months before this deal was done. No evidence at all. The spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr. told the Times in April, Don is a passive investor in American Ventures and has no operational involvement in the company. He does not interface with the federal government on behalf of any company he invests in or advises. The spokesperson for Eric Trump told me, quote, Quote, Eric Trump had no involvement in this transaction and has always been a passive investor with no management role in this vehicle.

58:41Any suggestion to the contrary would be both inaccurate and defamatory. We are just laying out this timeline here for you. So read their statements and what they specifically deny interfacing with the government or managing this investment. There are always other factors at play, of course. A White House spokesperson told CNN in a statement and into all our questions about a bunch of this. Quote, this is the same tired narrative that Democrats have pushed against President Trump, his family and his administration for a decade. President Trump only acts in the best interests of the American public, which is why they overwhelmingly reelected him to this office.

59:15Despite years of lies and false accusations against him and his businesses from the fake news media, there are no conflicts of interest, unquote. Now, of course, the White House declaring that there are no conflicts of interest doesn't mean that there are no conflicts of interest. Let's take a look at a report from earlier this year from the Wall Street Journal that before the second Trump inauguration, royalty in the United Arab Emirates purchased a 49 % stake in World Liberty Financial. Now, the report in the Journal says that the deal was signed off on by Sheikh Tanun bin Zayed Al-Nayan. He's called the Spy Sheikh.

59:50He not only runs the country's largest wealth fund, he is the government's national security advisor, and he happens to be the brother of the president of the UAE. This was, as the journal stated at the time, quote, unprecedented in American politics. A foreign government official taking a major ownership stake in an incoming U.S. president's company, unquote. And then guess what? A few months after that, the journal report says, President Trump committed to a deal that would give the UAE access to about 500 ,000 highly advanced AI chips a year. Despite U.S. national security concerns. about that technology potentially ending up in the hands of China.

1:00:33Now, remember, there was a time when presidents and their families would bend over backwards to avoid even the appearance of cashing in on the presidency. The most notable example being Jimmy Carter, who before he took the oath of office in 1977, placed his family peanut farm and warehouse into a blind trust managed by an Atlanta law firm. We are a long way from 1977. I want to turn in right now to Tom Bergen from Reuters, who just published that deep dive into the Trump family's developing cryptocurrency projects. Tom, people who are familiar with the Trump family's crypto ventures likely know about two of the main assets you highlighted, the Trump mean coin and the Trump family-backed crypto firm World Liberty Financial.

1:01:21But there are four that your report says, follow the playbook. The Trumps risked little up front. Trump family members, notably the president's oldest sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., hyped the venture. The Trumps raked in money as the investors piled in. And those buyers lost big when, for various reasons, the prices of their Trump-related crypto assets later tanked, unquote. How much have the Trumps won and how much have investors lost. Did you come up with an estimate on that? We did indeed. We approached this in a conservative way, Jake, and we excluded certain things that we weren't confident that we could count with accuracy.

1:02:02And just looking at the amount that we felt comfortable with publishing, which we think is a conservative one, we estimated that the Trumps have made 2.3 million, sorry 2.3 billion in cash terms this does not include unrealized gains in any shares they hold or any sort of paper gains in theoretical value of cryptocurrency this is actual cash that they will have been entitled to as a result of the sale of largely the sale of crypto tokens and and related equities now on the other side of the coin as you noted earlier most of these things have not done well. Indeed, all four of these businesses have done poorly for investors.

1:02:48The total of losses so far, actually this is up until the end of April, was$2.3 billion. The prices of those equities and the cryptocurrencies involved have continued to fall. So by this stage, the losses are probably a bit higher than that. The White House says there's no conflict of interest here. President Trump is always acting in the best interest of the American people. For this piece, you talked to 27 individual investors in Trump family crypto ventures, people who lost their savings, years of income investing in these projects. What did they tell you? Well, they told us some pretty sorry stories.

1:03:29These investments, they are, well, sorry, the cryptocurrencies, they're sold in a sort of a gray area, certainly recently, because we're waiting to get clarity as to how they would be treated under new securities rules. But basically, people that are technically being marketed as not investments, but most people who buy them do seem to hope to make money. We didn't come across people who said they bought them just to show loyalty to the president or his family. So people who are purchasing these things, and particularly the equities in the two companies that are listed on NASDAQ, AI Financial, previously known as Alphive Sigma, and American Bitcoin.

1:04:15They bought these hoping to make some money in an area they thought was hot. They thought generally that the president being involved, and he is involved, because although some of these assets are being managed by his sons, the primary beneficiary financially of this is the president himself. So they thought that, you know, given that background, that these were reasonably good bets to make. And they've been quite disappointed by the performance of the crypto tokens they've bought and also the equities they've bought. And, you know, we spoke to some, but it's a very large number. I mean, the disclosed equity shareholders of the of the two listed companies, there's over 200 asset managers, large and small.

1:05:05And indeed, even the the the Wyoming Sovereign Wealth Fund has an interest in in in one of these companies. So it is really quite wide the way which exposure to the Trump ventures has seeked out through the economy. Tom Berger, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Politicians in Washington have been talking about draining the swamp to end corruption in politics for decades. Trump used to say drain the swamp. Today, two Democrats are introducing a bill to try to make it happen. Congressman Greg Lansman from Ohio and Josh Riley from New York are here with me now. Thanks so much for being here, guys. Sorry about that long preamble to this interview, but I wanted to make sure people understood some of what we're talking about here.

1:05:45Today, you two introduced the Drain the Swap Act, a whole host of reforms aimed at ending political corruption. Like what? So it goes through almost everything that we've seen. It bans members of Congress, the president from trading stocks. No one who's getting a government salary can participate in predictive markets. It reigns in the presidential pardon power because there's been reporting that he is selling pardons. There's some evidence of that. It creates ethics reform for the Supreme Court, term limits for members of Congress and the Supreme Court, voter protections, ending partisan gerrymandering, banning dark money.

1:06:32It is arguably the most comprehensive anti-corruption bill in American history because we're seeing unprecedented corruption. And it's the kind of corruption that will destroy the country, our economy. Yeah. So with all due respect, you guys, not you too, but Congress can't even ban your own members from the stock market. Right. I mean, I've seen effort after after after the Stock Act. What makes you think you'll be able to get something like this through the House and the Senate and then have a president sign it? People want this. There are folks, you know, we just went through that long timeline of all that corruption.

1:07:11I think it's really important for everybody to remember there's a direct line between the corruption in this place and the struggles folks are having at their kitchen table. Right now, there are families who are getting hit with the utility bill, hit with the grocery bill, and having tough conversations with their kiddos about whether they've got to cancel summer vacation. People know that the challenges they have in a rigged economy are directly related to the corruption of this place. People want term limits. They don't want folks taking corporate PAC money. So we need people to get out and get behind this.

1:07:42When you talk about term limits, there's a provision in your bill that would do an 18-year term limit for Supreme Court justices. do you think there should be 18 years for members of Congress? Yeah, it's in there, too. That's in there, too. I mean, we tried to make this, again, as comprehensive as humanly possible. 18 years for members of Congress is what it is, just total? Total. Yeah. There's got to be, you know, an end. You can't just be there forever because you see way too many members of Congress there forever. And the issue is— Or they retire and they become lobbyists. Also a huge issue.

1:08:13I mean, what we're hoping to do, appreciating that this Congress is not going to act on this, I think that's fair. The president is not going to sign this into law, but we have elections. This is a democracy. If we want to keep our democracy, we have to agree to a couple things, including ending the corruption. You've got to say members of Congress, the president of the United States, they get their salary, that's it. They can't make any more money. If they have stocks, as I did, sell them, put them in a blind trust, mutual funds, this is fine. But you can't be doing the kind of business dealings that this president's doing or trading stocks the way some members are.

1:08:47then you just keep pushing and pushing with the American people to elect people who are going to actually drain the swamp. And now we have a vehicle, a bill that is comprehensive, includes everything. And hopefully every voter will ask whoever's running for Congress or whoever's running for president next, will you vote for the drain the swamp bill? Will you pass the drain the swamp bill and end corruption in America? And you also have a provision to end participation and prediction markets. There's all this stuff out there, and we don't know who it is. But, you know, they'll bet on something.

1:09:20There was one arrest having to do with the Maduro raid in Venezuela, where obviously somebody in the military is being charged with that. But there do seem to be all these reports about somebody bets on something like an hour before the president takes action. Nothing tying the president to it, but maybe somebody knows something. And people already distrust this place enough, and for good reason. I mean, we've got career politicians who are more focused on their next election than doing right by the folks at home. Policy around here gets set by the corporate PACs who are the highest bidder. And now you have this situation where the insider trading, you're an upstate New Yorker, you look at what's happening here, you're struggling to get by, and you see all the money these politicians are making using inside information, and it just reinforces that the economy is rigged and the politics are corrupt, and this is a comprehensive way to fix it.

1:10:10All right. Well, thank you so much, Congressman Greg Lansman and Josh Riley. I appreciate your time. Thank you. Today, NASA revealed the four astronauts will be on the next Artemis mission, a key flight that will pave the way to put astronauts back on the moon. Those four astronauts join the lead. That's next.

1:10:32In our Out of This World lead, the world was captivated and excited by this year's Artemis II mission around the moon. And today, NASA introduced the crew of Artemis 3, the next step towards returning humans to the lunar surface. In just a moment, I'm going to talk to the crew in their very first CNN interview. But let's start with CNN's Pete Muntean to show us how this mission is going to unfold. Pete, we learned a lot of new details today. What stood out to you? So many new details here, Jake. And NASA officials essentially gave us a big timeline of what will come in the Artemis 3 mission and what it will really entail.

1:11:05I just want to bring you up to speed here. Artemis 1 in 2022, an uncrewed mission around the moon. Artemis 2 just happened, April. A crewed mission, four on board around lunar orbit, the furthest humans had ever been from the Earth. Which brings us to Artemis 3, which was supposed to be a lunar landing. Now that's been moved to Artemis 4. This will be the mission in 2028. There will be a crewed surface landing and an exploration of the lunar South Pole region. The keystone now is Artemis 3. NASA reshuffled this timeline, and this will be a mission in low Earth orbit, crew demonstration to demonstrate the systems needed for lunar landing.

1:11:45This is what's going to happen. This is what has already been to space. This is the Orion capsule. This is the European service module. What will happen here is that the Orion capsule will dock with what will be used to ultimately land on the lunar surface. They'll do something called testing interoperability. Essentially, how the hatch will work and how astronauts will pass from one vehicle to the other. Essentially, will these vehicles play nicely with each other? This is a keystone of what is to come for these lunar missions. And also, a big competition is taking place between commercial space companies to be the winner of this competition that will pick the lunar lander.

1:12:28SpaceX has its HLS, its human landing system. Also, Blue Origin has its Blue Moon Mark II, which is currently being tested right now. One of these will land on the lunar surface first. Seems likely that it'll be the SpaceX entrant into this competition, in large part because of what happened just 10 days ago, this explosion of the Blue Origin New Glenn rocket on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. So now Blue Origin has some ground to make up. Ultimately, this will be a 14-day long mission. Blue Origin's rocket will launch first along with the Orion Space Launch System. Then the Orion will dock with Blue Origin and then dock with SpaceX.

1:13:11This is really key, a linchpin for our return to the moon the first time in more than 50 years. And Pete, what's the timeline for this mission? Well, 2028 is when the Artemis 4 mission will take place. 2027 is when the Artemis 3 mission will take place. and we will see some wet dress rehearsals, essentially test runs later this year. So this is coming on very quickly and we'll see some pretty big movements here by NASA soon. All right, Pete Muntean, thanks so much. In just moments, we've got the interview you don't want to miss. I'm going to be joined by all four of the astronauts who make up the Artemis 3 crew for their very first CNN interview since they were announced.

1:13:47Stick with us.

1:13:56They're out of this world lead in the highly anticipated announcement today of the next group of astronauts who will advance NASA's mission to the moon. And joining me now for the very first CNN interview as the crew of Artemis 3, Commander Randy Bresnik, Mission Specialist Frank Rubio, Mission Specialist Andre Douglas, and Pilot Luca Palmertano from the European Space Agency. Randy, how did you find out you were going to be part of this mission and how did your family react? we got a call from the chief of the astronaut office that uh called us all together and walked in the room said congratulations you're the artemis 3 crew and at that moment we were bonded for life uh we had a little discussion and then all you know it took a while to absorb all that and then uh starting to come together now and getting ready to start training up here in the next week for my family um certainly they were excited you know they know that i've been working in a long time in the National Office, you know, to be able to help bring our, everything that leaves low earth orbit into fruition, whether that's the suits, the landers, Orion.

1:15:00And so to be able to put all that experience and knowledge into an actual flight with, you know, a phenomenal crew like this, they were very happy. And having my kids being older this time is really gonna be special because it's a totally different perspective for them as young people. And Frank, I can imagine any assignment like this is just an unbelievable honor and thrill. But I also just wonder, like, is there any difference in reaction given how much anybody wants to be on the moon landing mission being part of a low earth orbit test mission? Or is it just all an incredible honor? Yeah, Jake, you know, it's a very natural question.

1:15:39I think obviously all humans would love to go to the moon, right? I think, well, maybe not all, but a whole lot of humans would love to go to the moon, us included. You know what's funny, though, is I think as much as we would love to be on the surface of the moon, I think the people who end up going to the surface would love to do the test portion, right? I think we're all wired in a way that we want to help design, we want to help develop, we want to help test, and then we want to go do the mission. And the reality is just not a single person can do all of those things. And so you have to attack it as a team.

1:16:08You have to pass that baton, as you've seen us do today several times. And so, no, it's honestly just a great honor to know that we are contributing to the mission. And Andre, this is going to be your very first time in space. What do you think the first moment's going to be when you see the Earth from orbit? Man, that is going to blow my mind. I've seen the beautiful pictures that these guys have taken from space. And then I heard about how, you know, there's a 3D aspect because you're going around the Earth so fast. You can see it from one angle, then another angle. So I'm just looking forward to it.

1:16:39It's going to be very awesome. So, man, it's also going to be really big. I think there's this thing called the overview effect that I've heard so much about. I feel like I got a little bit of overview effect just from the launch that we did together, just taking our minds and realizing there's something bigger than us out there, right? And when you see it physically, that's just going to be crazy. Luca, you got a little emotional during your speech at today's ceremony. What does being assigned to this mission mean to you? Well, in many ways, it's a dream come true. I'm very happy that for the past few years I've been saying that Artemis 3 would be an incredible mission for somebody with my background as a test pilot.

1:17:19And I'm glad that those words grew all really well because now that I'm here in this mission, it is a test pilot's dream mission. We have a fantastic crew with a lot of experience in testing, equipment, testing procedure. We have a fantastic spacecraft, two lenders to test with procedures to develop. And I just, I could not imagine a better way at this point to contribute to this incredible endeavor that is going back to the moon. That is true for me as an individual. It's true for me as an Italian part of the European Space Agency. and it's a very fantastic chance for us as a European Space Agency to demonstrate that we are a strong supporter, strong, reliable partner for NASA.

1:18:09And Frank, if NASA does end up being able to launch this mission next year, that's a quick turnaround time. The Artemis II astronauts got to train for three years. Do you feel like you're going to have enough time to train for Artemis III? I do. I think we have a fantastic training team. We've got a great crew. I think we're all willing to work and do whatever it takes to help the mission succeed. Because ultimately, as a nation, we have a goal to get Americans back on the moon. And our part needs to get done for that part to be the next one. And so we're going to do everything humanly possible to help us succeed.

1:18:42And Randy, I can't help but notice there are no women in this crew of Artemis III. And there is a group of female military test pilots with similar qualifications as their male counterparts. parts. I know you guys weren't in charge of who picked who, but I wonder, was it intentional not to pick women or just that's just the way the dice rolled? No, certainly not intentional. I mean, you can look at our astronaut office and see the wide, you know, diversity within the office, whether that's gender or background or nationality or heritage. And certainly the boss had to pick the crew for this flight that he had available that had the skill sets that he needed.

1:19:22But But certainly just, you know, look at our ISS missions where we had our recent crews with Anne McLean and Nicole Ayers were the commander and pilot. We've got the Crew 13 coming up with Kayla Barron and Chris Birch, you know, as the commander and pilot. So the office gets what it needs, when it needs it. And we'll certainly have all these other people that you mentioned are female military test pilots or just other female astronauts that will be picking up on the fall on Artemis missions. And we're here to carry the fire so that we can hand off the torch to them. And Andre, as has been referred to, we heard from the Artemis 2 crew today, Commander Reed Weissman officially passed the baton to you guys.

1:20:00What does it feel like to follow in their footsteps? They were so successful, so inspirational to so many of us. yeah i think their ceiling that they hit or that's going to be our floor and we're going to go to that next level and hopefully our ceiling becomes our crew four's new floor right and that's the whole thing with this baton we're just linking the chains of success together and so i mean it was great to see how that crew operated i'm very excited to see how we're going to operate as a crew we're going to learn from what they've done right and we're going to just build upon that and then pass it on to the next so it's super exciting to be able to do that with these folks And Luca, the Artemis II crew members, they named their Orion spacecraft Integrity.

1:20:42Have you guys thought about what you'd like to name your craft? We haven't had a chance to work on that yet. It's going to be fun. We have so much background. We have a lot in common. We have a lot of differences. I think it's there in that Venn diagram that overlaps, but it's also very varied that you find great ideas coming up. So I'm just looking forward to everything, creating new traditions and also carry forward the ones of those that came before us and come up with new names, a new patch, a model for us. That's all part of what's going to make this next year very, very fun. Well, it's so exciting, and we're all so inspired and excited for you.

1:21:31Randy, Andre, Frank, Luca, congratulations on your new mission. We can't wait to see you carry it off. Godspeed. Thank you. Thank you so much. Go Artemis 3. Tennis legend Serena Williams made her return to the sport today after stepping away for four years. We're going to break down her comeback performance just ahead.

1:21:57In our sports lead, the legendary Serena Williams, Triumphant return to competitive tennis after stepping back four years ago. The queen of the court, just 44 years young, and her doubles partner, 19-year-old Victoria Mboko, winning today's match in straight sets. The pair now advances to the HSBC Championship quarterfinals, taking place in London. CNN sports analyst and USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan is here. Christine, good to have you back. So, Serena looked great out there. She looked confident, aggressive, quickly anticipating her opponent's moves, it looked like from my vantage point.

1:22:31What stood out to you? 116 mile per hour serve as she had two aces and then a winner, a serve that could not be returned to finish the match. It's doubles, it's not singles, it's not Serena's bread and butter, the 23 Grand Slam titles she has as a singles player, although she has 14 Grand Slam titles as a doubles player, many with her sister, but she looked terrific. She looked absolutely great. It's the power game that she's always had combined with the savvy, combined, frankly, with every part of her game. The fact that she's been sitting on a couch, as she says, getting bored, obviously she's been doing much more than that, for four years, and comes out and looks that good.

1:23:09I mean, here comes Wimbledon, I am sure. And she, you know, obviously she chose who her doubles partner would be because when you're Serena Williams, you can pick your doubles partner. She picks a 19-year-old from Canada named Victoria Mboka. Why? That's a good question. They knew each other, and she was aware of how she's playing. I think she's the number one, Victoria's number one player in Canada. Born in North Carolina, raised in Toronto, will turn 20 about the same time that Serena's turning 45. So that's a 25 year age gap. But I think she definitely wanted a younger player. She wanted an up and coming player.

1:23:42Maboko finished, made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open. So she's a player on the rise and now in the top 10, 15 of the world in women's tennis. And I think that Serena, smart mentor that she is, looked at this and said, I can do, obviously I need a partner. I need someone who's playing very, very well right now, but also I can bring her along and help her. And that's what Victoria talked about post-match, about how important it was and what it meant to her to learn from Serena. You hinted at Wimbledon. What do you think is next for Serena? Yeah, this is obviously one of the warm-ups for Wimbledon.

1:24:16It's in London. So in a few weeks, Wimbledon gets started. I would be shocked, Jake, if she doesn't appear at Wimbledon. And I will go out there and say, I think she'll play singles at Wimbledon. And I think that will be the best thing to happen to this tournament. You know, I think with Alcarez injured, the women's game, of course, the men's game, and there's plenty of interesting characters, but no one like Serena Williams. She enters, if she does play at Wimbledon, she becomes the biggest name at the biggest tournament at a perfect time for Wimbledon with Alcarez injured, with, you know, Obviously, some of the older names in the men's game are now gone or exiting.

1:24:52I think it's a terrific boost for tennis, and it's great for Serena. And who doesn't love another Serena story? So before her return to competitive tennis, she started promoting GLP-1 weight loss medications appearing in ads for Roe. What do you think that's about? What do you think that message is about? Is it about normalizing these miracle drugs? It worked for most people but not for everybody. What do you think it's about? You know, Serena's always been so honest. She has always just showed us exactly what she looks like and what she thinks. When she gave birth, her daughter, by the way, is now eight.

1:25:25Oh, wow. Yes. So her doubles partner is closer in age to her daughter than she is to Serena. But she came right back, wore that cat suit, had obviously the weight that is being a mom and giving birth. And she said, I'm going to show people what it looks like to be a mom, a working mom, and coming back to the office, in this case, a tennis court. She's always been about honesty. And also, she's a smart businesswoman. So the fact that she's a spokesperson for another product, she's making more millions, obviously that's great for her. Good for her. We worship her here. Christine Brennan, thanks so much.

1:25:58Appreciate it. New report says your hard-earned Social Security money will be in trouble sooner rather than later. How this time could impact you and an upcoming election. That's next.

1:26:12Our last leads start with breaking news from Capitol Hill. The$70 billion reconciliation bill is on its way to President Trump's resolute desk, ending a four-month stalemate. The bill fully funds the Homeland Security Department, and notably Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. It passed along party lines, 214 to 212 in the House. It will fund DHS for the rest of Trump's second term without going through the annual appropriations process. The bill has been a top legislative priority for Republicans after Democrats blocked ICE funding over a demand for reforms in the wake of federal agents killing two U.S.

1:26:46citizens in Minnesota, Renee Good and Alex Preddy. In our Money Lead, a new report out today warns tens of millions of retirees could see smaller Social Security checks in six years if lawmakers do not shore up the program's finances. Social Security's trustees say the Retirement Trust Fund is expected to be exhausted by late 2032, meaning recipients would get only about three quarters of their usual payments. This means this could be a serious issue in the 2028 election, as the money would dry up in the next president's term. And our health lead today, the FDA approved a new sunscreen ingredient for the first time in 20 years.

1:27:23Many medical professionals believe that bemotrizanol is a safer option than many chemical ingredients that our sunscreens currently contain. The ingredient has been used safely in Europe for decades. Doctors say it's better at protecting against UVA rays, which can cause premature aging and contribute to skin cancer. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.

1:27:52This is CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam, thrilled to introduce the new CNN weather app. Be prepared for anything with comprehensive coverage from real experts like me. Download the CNN Weather app on iOS today. From the descendants of history makers involved in the Louisiana Purchase to the Lewis and Clark Expedition, discover the untold stories of American expansion in the CNN original series, This Land. Now streaming on the CNN app.