Trump Taps a Leader of Retribution Tour as Acting Intel Chief

25:48And that was exposing the election machines that allow the votes to be flipped. So two things, Governor. First, I'd love your reaction to what she said there about Colorado's voting machine flipping votes to help Democrats cheat. And second, I guess your decision to grant her clemency didn't rely on any sort of repentance as sometimes is required. Well, first of all, what she said is silly. I would call it a lie, but I think she actually believes it. So I don't think lie is the right word. It's just wildly inaccurate. Obviously, Colorado is a gold standard for elections. We have all paper ballots that can be counted and recounted.

26:34There is no flaw that any of us have been notified or aware of. No reason to believe there's any issue in the counting. We have a lot of checks in the system to avoid that. Here's the important thing, Jake. Saying things like that in our free country is absolutely not a crime. And that's where people are conflating things. Now, she committed an illegal act, to be clear, right? Accessing a room and getting illegal access to the computers themselves because of her, presumably because of her various beliefs as a motive, incorrect beliefs. and the appeals court found, and I agree, that there was a disparate sentence for that.

27:12Nine years. First time offender, nonviolent. And of course she committed a crime. Had she gotten two years? Had she gotten one year, three years? Nobody would have blinked an eye. She got nine years. I cut that in half, which I think is still a very tough sentence for that. Does she still believe and say things that I think are completely wrong and inaccurate? She does. I hope she doesn't, but she does. That's her right as an American like anybody else. We spoke with the Colorado Secretary of State yesterday, a fellow Democrat, and she obviously strongly disagrees with your decision to provide this early release for Tina Peters.

27:45Take a listen to what the Secretary of State had to say. Granting clemency to her was a grave injustice to Colorado, our democracy, and election workers all across this country. It was a bad idea, and I am hoping for the best, But Tina Peters shows herself time and time again. She has no remorse. And if I would guess, she would do her actions again. Now, one of the arguments that Secretary of State Griswold is making is that this is not just people exercising free speech, people exercising their God-given right to say stupid and believe ridiculous things, that people have died because of these beliefs in light of Donald Trump's inciting of people who have been convinced that these lies about the election are true.

28:33What's your reaction? Well, first of all, I would say that, of course, the president has encouraged people to believe in inaccurate information. He still, to this date, tries to undermine the validity of the 2020 election with zero evidence, zero facts. This, you know, in terms of fair justice administered at the individual level, which is what we're talking about here with regards to this person, partisan politics should not enter that. Right. Whether somebody believes in the left or right, a Republican or Democrat, somebody could say Democrats or somebody could say Republicans are trying to steal elections.

29:08That doesn't mean they deserve a harsher sentence than they would get for the same crime as somebody who says, you know, birds aren't real or the earth is flat. I mean, these are all things people can believe. I don't believe they happen to be accurate and objectively, according to the evidence, they're not. But we have to make sure that this sentence is a result of the actual crime committed. In this case, it was out of whack. She still got a harsh sentence. She's a convicted felon for the rest of her life. And I think, you know, did she learn her lesson to follow the law? I sure hope so. Certainly didn't change her mind on her crazy viewpoints, nor is that the goal.

29:42We don't have a reeducation camp, right? We're not Maoist China. We don't reeducate people. But I hope that she certainly follows the law going forward. Democratic Governor Jared Polis of Colorado, thanks so much for your time today. Appreciate it, sir. Always a pleasure. Sure. Let's bring in the panel. Karen Finney, your reaction to Governor Polis and his reasoning for commuting the sentence of Tina Peters. Well, obviously, I disagree. I'm with the Secretary of State Griswold on this one, because it's not, I hear his perspective. He's the governor. He gets to do what he wants. But remember that at the time she was sentenced, part of what was happening in this country was a feeling that the sentencing needed to reflect just the harshness of and the seriousness of what was happening across the country, the damage that that did.

30:30And we're still living in the reverberations of the damage of what Donald Trump did denouncing the 2020 and from January 6th on. There's still people, as we heard from her, who don't believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 election falsely. So I think you can say the damage was done. And certainly, I think part of the goal in the sentencing was to indicate how wrong that was. And so I just disagree with the governor. What do you think? I mean, he made an argument that, you know, we shouldn't judge crazy beliefs based on whether they're of the left or of the right. A counter argument might be that I didn't offer because I wanted to get to you guys was, well, what if they're, you know, the silly campaign of that birds aren't real, right?

31:14Nobody's dying because of that. No one's getting physically attacked because of that. It's kind of like a silly meme out there. Or the belief in aliens getting into our brains. No one's actually, it's not a threat. But there There are crazy things on the left and the right that do constitute, that have a way of ending up in actions, whether it's anti-Semitism on the left or racism on the right or whatever. Well, I don't believe saying that there's allegations of voter fraud or that there's somebody flipping votes means automatically that there's going to be violence. Look, among Jared Polis' commutations and pardons, I had problems with a lot of them, but I think we're missing a few really key factors here.

31:51During the sentencing, the judge said the reason for the harshness was because she was unrepentant in her belief in voter fraud and the stealing of the election. Her words were the reason for more punishment. That's not acceptable. That's not acceptable to go above and beyond what the law dictates for sentencing. In fact, three Democrat-appointed judges just recently said she needs to be resentenced. This is not fair. In Georgia, a similar case popped up and the woman was just paroled. So it's way out of whack done by an activist judge. And it's good on Jared Polis to call out judges of his persuasion to say, hey, look, this is over the line.

32:32I agree. She did bad stuff. She should have. She deserved jail time. But nine years at 70 years old is crazy. Yeah, I mean, I will say whether you think that the decision by Polis was a good one, it was a gutsy one. because it does do something to piss off his own party, his own base. Let's turn to the Senate primary in Maine on the fallout over the latest story about Democratic candidate Graham Plattner. We should point out that Maine Governor Janet Mills, who suspended her campaign months ago because she wasn't getting any money, she wasn't getting any traction in her race against Plattner, she notes that she didn't drop out.

33:09And she's reminding voters that she is still on the ballot. She is still an option ahead of the primary election in one week. She told the Portland Press-Herald, quote, I'm still on the ballot. Now, a lot of supporters of Mills want her to revive her campaign and take on Plattner over fears that he'll win. What about you? Do you want Mills? Do you want Mills to win next week? What do you think? So I think we're missing the point on the Graham Plattner piece. I think it's less about the texting and more of unless there is some violence that occurred or something. There's not just the sex thing.

33:41I'm getting there. There's also the Nazi tattoo. That's what I'm getting to. And actually, it's deeper than that, because the way he responded to those issues, he was very frank and open. I've listened to several of the interviews he gave, and I really appreciated his conversation about what he was like in his 20s and the process he went through. It's that lack of candor around this. That's what I think is hurting him, because people are saying, wait a second, what's going on here? You're not able to just say, hey, my wife and I went through a time. It's not your business. I think it's smart for Janet Mills to remind people that she could still be, you know, she's still on the ballot.

34:14And by the way, Maine state law suggests that they could actually remove Plattner up until July. So we'll see what happens next week. Look, I think they should keep her as a viable alternative. No question. And T.W., I want to ask you about the Senate primary race in Montana today. Today, in March, minutes before the filing deadline, Republican Senator Steve Daines, the incumbent, he abruptly announced that he was retiring. And then minutes later, before the deadline, Kurt Almey, his handpicked successor, Democrats did not have an opportunity to field a legitimate, serious contender. And there are a lot of Republicans in Montana who are pissed off about this.

35:00We covered this when Congressman Chewy Garcia did it in Chicago. So now we're covering it when Steve Daines does it in Montana. What do you think? Yeah, it doesn't sound good, right? It doesn't look good on its face. I don't know the full details of why they did it, aside from trying to box everyone else. It's pretty much it. It might be. But I'll let Steve Daines talk on behalf of himself. But no, I don't think it was good when Chewy Garcia does. I don't think it looks good when Senator Daines does. And it's funny that Senator Daines does it right after the Chewy Garcia thing, as if there wasn't a lesson learned.

35:29But look, Montana's a competitive state. The Democrats should have fielded a good candidate regardless of the fact that whether Danes ran or not. So that's just a lesson to everybody. Run everywhere. Do you have any thoughts? I agree. Run everywhere. Contest every race everywhere. I didn't love when Chewy Garcia did. I don't love that this is what's happening. I mean, can I also say, going back to Maine, this is why primaries matter, right? That is our opportunity as voters to vet these candidates, see what they're all about, kick the tires. you should allow the voters to have that opportunity.

36:00We have a few seconds left. What do you think of the Graham Plattner situation? Well, I think a few things. First of all, the two wrongs don't make a right maxim still hold a lot of weight for people. So when they see Democrats attacking Paxton, but then turning a blind eye to Graham Plattner, they're like, what the F is going on? And also, we're missing a part of this equation. Her name's Susan Collins. And people don't think Susan Collins is the MAGA evil person that is made out to be in the press. And I feel like we're going through a moment here where it was the binders where she convicted Trump.

36:38She worked across the aisle. She's approved a lot of judges. This reminds me a little bit of Christine O'Donnell in 2010. Grant Platt is going to be there, Christine O'Donnell. All right. Thanks to both of you. The Trump administration had the audacity to create this$1.776 billion anti-weaponization fund, so-called anti-weaponization fund. A lot of Republicans hated it. Courts ordered the plans to be paused. And now the Justice Department is saying, just forget it. We're not going to do it. No more fun. So here's the question. Do you believe the Justice Department? This latest chapter in what's been a wild ride.

37:09That's next.

37:15You ever have somebody offer to come home with you from the hardware store? I am giving away a room makeover. Where's the catch? Three days to complete this renovation. You have no say in the design, and we start today. Oh, wow. You're not just gonna steal everything. Surprise! Ready to get your house packed? For real? A little dated. It's time to turn this over to us. You're gonna be the best. You guys got to get out of here. Got to get out of here. Crasher's series premiere Monday, June 8th at 10 on HGTV. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, the acting attorney general, a gentleman named Todd Blanche, was up on Capitol Hill just a few minutes ago.

37:55He said that the Justice Department is currently not moving forward with President Trump's$1.776 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund. But does that mean it's dead just for now or dead for good? I'll ask a Republican and a Democrat who were in today's hearing in just moments. Plus, today, Florida sued OpenAI. That's the company behind ChatGPT, alleging that the company knows its chatbot is not safe, especially for children. This comes just a few months after Florida also launched a criminal investigation into OpenAI. And the man behind both of those actions, the state's attorney general, is going to join us live to explain his concerns and the changes that he wants to see happen.

38:39Also, we, of course, are watching primaries across the country on this election night, including a race in New Jersey, where President Trump endorsed Republican Congressman Tom Kane Jr., who's running unopposed. Trump said in his Truth Social post today, Kane won't let voters down. despite the fact that Cain has not been seen in three months, hasn't voted since March, and has yet to explain his absence to his constituents. We're live on the campaign trail ahead.

39:09The lead tonight, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch says the plan for that$1.776 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund, well that plan is off. We're not moving forward with the fund. You're right that there's a date that, in the case in the eastern Virginia, in June, but we are not moving forward with the fund, period. There were a lot of people in this country who had their government weaponized against them. The reasons for the fund, I think, remain as important as they were before, but we are not moving forward with the fund. That statement to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. We, emphasis, are not moving forward with that fund.

39:51That comes just one day after a judge ruled to temporarily pause the creation of the fund. Let's get right to CNN's. Paula Reid, Paula Reid, you know, I'm skeptical by nature. We are not moving forward with the fund. Doesn't mean that they're never going to. How are you taking this? Yeah, that is how I take it, actually, Jake. And speaking with sources, this is a rare example where you see the Trump administration backing off of a controversial initiative. And what makes this all the more surprising is that for two weeks, Trump administration officials have been insisting that not only is this legal, but this is something that taxpayers would want.

40:24It was just a little over a week ago. Todd Blanche told me in a sit down interview that he believed, quote, this is something that taxpayers would want their tax dollars spent on. And in speaking with lawyers who worked on this, both outside the administration, inside the administration, Jake, it was clear that they are so shaped by their experience with the Biden Justice Department that they really did believe, not only legally, but also morally, that this was necessary. Clearly, though, Republicans on Capitol Hill were hearing something different from their constituents. but even face a blowback from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

41:00They were still committed to this. But I'm told over the past week or so, it became clear to political advisors that this was going to be a political liability that could continue to hang over Republicans through that critical midterm period. And it was that, the potential political price that eventually got them to back off. And Paula, what about the other part of this agreement having to do with Trump's IRS audits? That's a really important point, Jake, because this fund was part of a larger settlement to resolve Trump's$10 billion lawsuit against his own IRS. And as part of this, the government agreed that the IRS would not look into the president, his family, or his businesses to retroactive protection.

41:45And here's what Blanche had to say about that part of the agreement. But you are moving forward with this second order. It's not moving forward. There's a settlement. There's a settlement that the IRS entered into with President Trump and others, his family and his companies. As part of that settlement, as is customary in IRS settlements, there's a separate AG order. So this part of the settlement was announced quietly the day after the fund was announced, a day after Blanche appeared before a different group of lawmakers, it has not gotten the same amount of political blowback. And that is probably because it's more opaque in terms of the cost potentially to taxpayers.

42:30With this protection, Trump could, depending on how those audits panned out, reportedly maybe be on the hook for up to$100 million. Again, that has not received as much attention as this$1.8 billion fund that would then be open to anyone who has been investigated by the Justice Department and is not happy about it. So it's clear there would have to be a considerable political blowback, including for Republicans, to get the administration to back off of this, because my sources say they are still committed to this part of the agreement. All right, CNN's Paula Reid, thank you so much. And later in the show, we're going to have two lawmakers, one Democrat, one Republican, who are in that hearing with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche.

43:11Now let's turn to our politics lead. We're going to continue to track key races in today's primary elections. The race for governor of California, Los Angeles mayor. There's an Iowa Senate seat that's open and more. Candidates right now are making their final pitches to voters. Well, most of them are. Not one candidate in a Jersey House race who's running unopposed in the primary. But beyond that, he has not been seen publicly for nearly three months. Republican Congressman Tom Cain Jr., he's running unopposed. As I said, President Trump endorsed Cain today saying, quote, he will never let you down.

43:42Even though Cain has missed more than 100 floor votes and given no real reason for his absence, he hasn't been seen in almost three months beyond his office vaguely citing some sort of medical issue. The mystery continues to bloom in the Garden State because it's still unclear where Congressman Cain is or how he is or when he might return to work. CNN's Danny Freeman is at a polling place in Westfield, New Jersey. That's where Congressman Cain Jr. lives. And, Danny, we're just now getting a new statement from the congressman? That's right, Jake. Just in the past hour, we got a new statement from the congressman.

44:21I should say the congressman's campaign. I'll get to part of what he said in just a little bit. But, Jake, you really laid out the big question that has been captivating both Washington, D.C. and this area of New Jersey where I am for months. Where is Congressman Tom Cain? Now, voters today, Jake, they had their first opportunity to make their voices heard on this mysterious illness and lack of presence in his job. And I can tell you, Jake, they had a lot to say about it. But let's just recap where we are. Congressman Cain, as you said, has not been seen in public for nearly three months. He's missed several votes on Capitol Hill, and there's no official date yet set for his return.

44:58In April, the congressman put out a statement saying he was dealing with, quote, a personal medical issue, but gave no more details than that. Then last month, he told the New Jersey Globe that he'd be back in, quote, the next couple of weeks. Again, without more information, and still, Jake, he has not resurfaced. Nevertheless, as you noted, he ran unopposed in today's Republican primary, got a big enthusiastic endorsement from President Trump. But there has been frustration here in Westfield from voters. Democrats, Jake, they were pretty aligned. They want him gone by the fall. But Republicans, Jake, they're very conflicted, too.

45:31Take a listen. He could be MIA for six months. He wouldn't be as bad as half the people that are in it on the other side of the aisle there. Those people are a disgrace and shouldn't be in office. We have to have people who stand up for various issues. And he wasn't there. Do you currently feel represented well by Congressman McCain? No, not at all. He's not there. And when he is there, he's not doing anything. That's not good enough to get your vote in a primary. No, I mean, none of us could do that. You couldn't just take a job and not show up and then not tell anybody what's going on. It's it's disrespectful to the country.

46:14Sorry, he's not well enough to vote in Congress. But quite frankly, when he was voting, again, a lot of his votes, I think, were against the interest of District 7.

46:28Now, Jake, as you noted at the top, just in the past hour, we got a new statement that came posted to his Twitter account or his ex account. Rather, I'm going to read it in part, which says, quote, right now, I am focused on my recovery. And under the advice of health care professionals, I will transition from virtual work to in-person work within a matter of weeks. At that time, I will be completely transparent as to the nature of my medical condition. Jake, I'll note almost every voter we spoke with very much wished the congressman well. They just wanted that transparency that the congressman addressed right there, especially when there are so many important issues on their mind, like affordability.

47:04Jake. All right, Danny Freeman, thank you so much. Let's go back to our top story tonight. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanch, saying that the Justice Department is not moving forward with President Trump's$1.776 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund. Joining us now from the House Appropriations Committee, Pennsylvania Democratic Congresswoman Madeline Dean. Congresswoman, what is your reaction to the news from Acting Attorney General Blanche that the Justice Department is not moving ahead with this fund? And do you believe that he's parsing it all? Like, might they move forward with it in the future, just not now?

47:39I'm pleased with that decision, but how absurd does it sound? Just two weeks later, ten days later, this big agreement, this big settlement with the president suing himself and suing our government and then coming up with this$1.8 billion slush fund for criminals, basically. Pardon people and then pay them off as well. So I'm pleased that that is dead. It was very strange that Mr. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche would not commit to putting that in writing because, of course, the agreement is in writing. So it's very important that that not remain open with the slush fund in writing. But he wouldn't, for whatever reason, come up with that.

48:22What do you make of Blanche's assertion to the ranking Democrat Rosa DeLauro that the provision that would bar the IRS from probing Trump or Trump's family or Trump's business's tax returns, tax filings, that will remain in place? That's not going anywhere. Well, it shows just how absolutely conflicted this man is. And that was my line of question. Of course, it went toward justice for Epstein survivors. But an absolute absurd agreement. If you read that very brief agreement, which he is the signer on, it offers amnesty to the president, to his family, for all of their enterprises in terms of tax liability.

49:03Forbes and others have estimated that for this year alone, that would be more than$100 million in tax freedom. Jake, I have a simple question. Who asks for such tax freedom? Who asks for that kind of amnesty? And by the way, all my family and all my businesses too. This is a very corrupted Department of Justice when they're signing up agreements like this. And of course, Blanche said he was not going to rescind that one. You noted that you asked the acting attorney general about the Justice Department's handling or mishandling of the Epstein case. Because you'd had a conversation with him prior to the public hearing, I want to play some of the exchange because it was pretty heated.

49:46Is your obligation to the victims and survivors of Epstein's heinous crimes and all his perpetrators, or is your first obligation to the President of the United States? So, without a doubt, we want to bring justice to every victim. When will you bring that justice? Can I please finish? He told me that the victims didn't give good names. Let me be crystal clear that this Department of Justice will always protect victims and will always prosecute anybody we can. Full stop, no ifs, ands, or buts. What you are showing in a game of showmanship are redactions because of victims. What else did he tell you privately that you're able to share with us that you would have brought up today if time had allowed?

50:38Well, he actually did blame the victims to me, to my face, when I said, when are you going to begin the prosecutions? Because after all, we have one dead guy and we have a lady in a summer camp and that's it for more than a thousand children, girls and women who were trafficked, raped, sexually assaulted by Epstein and the other perpetrators. And you know what he said to me at the Department of Justice, just privately between us? He blamed the victims. Well, they didn't give us the names. I said, you're the top prosecutor in the United States. I would think you'd be chomping at the bit to get to prosecuting.

51:13When what I walked away with was the cover up is complete. He blames the victims for not giving names. The victims have said, please meet with us. And the Department of Justice has not met with them. And of course, there is 20 years of investigation. The names are known to this Department of Justice, to this acting attorney General. But remember, he was paid nearly$10 million a year or so ago to defend Donald Trump as a private attorney. He then hung a 30-foot banner on the Department of Justice, which I think is grotesque and revealing of the failure of independence of the Department of Justice, a menacing Trump face as the face of the DOJ.

51:54And then do you know what he said when he was asked if he doesn't get to be completed or to be approved as attorney general. He said, I would say to the president, I love you, sir. The guy is under terrible conflict. You could see he was quite dismissive and agitated in our conversation, both at the Department of Justice privately, but then publicly before the American people. He has no interest in pursuing justice, and that's what I'm going to keep pushing for. Democratic Congresswoman Madeline Dean from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, thank you so much. I appreciate your being with us today.

52:31Coming up, we're going to have more reaction to the Justice Department announcing that it is dropping its plans, at least for now, to create that$1.776 billion fund. I'm going to talk to the House Republican next, who also questioned Blanche in that hearing. Plus, over the last seven days, gas prices have seen their largest weekly decline since the 2008 financial crisis. So will the prices keep dropping as we head into the summer? Stick around.

53:05We're back with more in our top story. The acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, telling lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the Justice Department is not moving forward with the nearly$1.8 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund. Let's bring in Congressman Mark Alford, a Republican from Missouri who questioned Attorney General Blanche, acting Attorney General Blanche last hour. Congressman, what is your reaction to the news about the fund? Well, look, I'm glad, Jake. Thanks for having me on. I think members on the other side of the dais there were a little shocked when Todd Blanche kept saying, hey, we're not going forward with this weaponization fund.

53:39And they wouldn't take yes for an answer. It's the answer that they wanted. The administration's not going to go forward with it for whatever reason. And, you know, then they wanted him to put it into writing. I mean, he just said it under oath in front of Congress. What do you need, a blood oath from the acting attorney general of the United States of America? He said the administration is not going forward with this fund. Case closed. Well, a Democratic lawmaker was on the show a few minutes ago, not Madeline Dean, a different one, Senator Slotkin. And she said something along the lines of that, you know, the administration had previously said that the ballroom at the White House would be paid for by entirely by private funds.

54:18and now they're seeking up to a billion dollars in security for that same ballroom, and you can't take the administration at its word. That was her argument. What do you say to that? Well, I can get into the specifics of the ballroom if you want to talk about that. Look, the private donations are going to build the ballroom. The money that was requested through the appropriations process was going to pay for security funding, a secure bunker, a drone platform on top. If you've been to the White House lately, Jake, you know that in the north end, or the, I guess that's the north end of the White House now is the visitation center where you have to come through above ground.

54:53And it's not a great security situation for the biggest target in the United States of America of potential terrorists. The Supreme Court has asked for money. We went over and met with them to build a similar security structure for the Supreme Court so people visiting the Supreme Court don't have access to the building. They have to go through another portal to get there. Congress has it. For goodness sake, you've been here at the visitor center, and they're adding other structures to make sure that we're safe here. Why should the president of the United States not be safe? And the foreign dignitaries who are going to use this ballroom, it is much more than a ballroom.

55:30That all got convoluted, and I get Slotkin's argument for this. That is what the Democrats go back to all the time. But Todd Blanche was very clear, and you can go back and look at his soundbite on this, that this fund is not going forward. Case closed. Before you go, I wonder about your reaction to President Trump's decision today to name Bill Pulte the acting director of national intelligence. He obviously doesn't have experience in the intelligence space. And a lot of people, including Republicans in the Senate, are blanching on this because, no pun intended, because he has been something of an attack dog for the president from his perch at the housing authority.

56:11Well, look, this is the president's prerogative. He is the executive. He can appoint whom he wants to these positions. Of course, it's up to the folks behind me in the Senate to confirm these choices. We'll see what happens there. President Trump has famously picked people who are leaders for these positions, typically business leaders, because they have the business acumen. Now, I don't know the level of intelligence that Mr. Pulte has or his concentration on that or his experience in the intelligence world. I'm not on the intelligence committee. I don't really have the level of intelligence that we needed for something like that anyway.

56:50But there are others like Mr. Pulte who are leading in our nation in different cabinet positions that I think the ordinary American would say, what are they doing there? Well, they're there because the president of the United States wants them there to help carry out the America First agenda. And I believe that Mr. Pulte has proven himself in other areas and he'll prove himself in this area as well. Missouri Republican Congressman Mark Alford, thank you so much for your time today. Coming up next, our newest installment in our series, AI, Friend or Foe. The attorney general of the state of Florida will join us live to explain why he's just filed a lawsuit against the company behind ChatGPT.

57:26Stick with us.

57:38We're back with our series, AI, Friend or Foe. President Trump signed an executive order earlier today requiring tech companies to give key government agencies in the Trump administration early access to new artificial intelligence models before they're released to the public. The executive order is the biggest step toward regulating regulations of AI in the U.S. on a federal level. And it's a total reversal of the Trump administration's previous hands-off approach to any AI regulation. Today, we're going to take a look at the risks of this developing technology, specifically the role that it allegedly played in last year's shooting at Florida State University.

58:19Florida is now the very first state to sue OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman, alleging that they know that ChatGPT is not safe, especially when used by minors. The lawsuit builds on the first ever criminal investigation into OpenAI, which was launched by Florida Attorney General James Uthmeyer over whether the company bears criminal responsibility for the FSU shooting. We have previously reported on the lead that the accused shooter in that case had extensive conversations with ChatGPT in the lead up to the shooting about how to disengage the safety on a gun, when the school student union might be busiest, and on and on.

58:59Here to discuss is the Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeyer. General Uthmeyer, thanks for joining us. OpenAI responded to your lawsuit by saying, quote, we built safety for minors directly into our products, including a more protective experience specifically for minors, an age prediction tool, defaulting users whose age we are not confident into our more protective experience and giving parents tools to monitor their kids' use of AI. We know pointing to this work will not bring a child back, but we're committed to getting this right, unquote. What's your response? Well, it's a fluffy sounding statement that it sounds like chat GPT wrote.

59:37Unfortunately, it's just not true. People are getting hurt. People are losing their lives. Here in Florida, we're seeing countless cases where conversations between chat GPT and human beings are educating, facilitating, and empowering people to go out and hurt themselves, commit suicide, violently attack others, and in the worst of cases, commit murder. We even have a case here in Florida where a guy kidnapped students at the University of South Florida, murdered them, and was asking ChatGPT how to dispose of the bodies. The reality is the algorithm here, It is designed to be addictive. It is designed to mimic empathy and human emotions, to solicit more conversations, emotions, and ultimately lead people to do some dangerous things.

1:00:28So we've suffered a lot of harm here in Florida. We're going to hold them accountable. They need to pay for their damages, and they need to redesign their program to protect kids. I want to get to that change their programming in a second, but explain how you counter the argument that ChatGPT makes. For example, the Florida Southern example that you just gave. Somebody could theoretically go on Google and say how to dispose of a body. What's the difference between that and ChatGPT giving the answer? Well, the big difference is that there are designs to make this addictive, and it's designed to mimic human responses.

1:01:08So people are having conversations. We have evidence that over 70 % of teenagers have turned to chatbots for companionship, relationships. It's acting like a human and encouraging behavior. The problem is it's encouraging behavior that's also illegal. It's encouraging crimes. And at the least, it's gathering significant evidence about plans and detailed information that somebody's providing leading up to an attack. So at the least, they ought to be flagging for law enforcement what information they have. We know they have it. They're the best in the business at storing, analyzing, and processing data.

1:01:45Our law enforcement needs to know somebody's looking at pictures of guns and asking a robot, which one should I use to kill a bunch of people? You just said that OpenAI needs to change the programming. What do you mean by that? What changes do you want to see? Well, they certainly need to design it where it's not encouraging illegal activity. It's not facilitating people that want to create child pornography or design pipe bombs or go conduct mass shootings. They also need to have parental controls. Right now, young kids can go on and they advertise to kids that you can have conversations and they will keep it a secret from your parents.

1:02:24This is wrong. It violates Florida law and it needs to stop. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeyer, thank you for being with us today. We're going to be covering this for the long term, so I'm sure we'll have you back sometime soon. And OpenAI is, of course, welcome to come on the show to give their view at well. Thank you so much, sir. Thank you. Coming up next, CNN has exclusive reporting about a new investigation launched by the House Ethics Committee into a sitting member of Congress. The reporters who broke the story are going to join me on set in moments.

1:02:59In our Law and Justice League exclusive CNN reporting, revealing that the House Ethics Committee is investigating Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez of California over allegations of sexual misconduct. Sources tell CNN that the panel attempted to follow up on a New York Post story, which alleged that Congressman Gomez kissed an aide who worked for a different member of Congress at a party in 2023. Now, at the time, a spokesperson for Gomez told the Post that the accounts were, quote, not true, and the makeout session, quote, didn't happen. Let's bring in CNN's Annie Greyer and Lauren Fox to discuss.

1:03:31And Annie, first of all, to both of you, congrats on the scoop. Annie, how did this investigation come together and how is the congressman responding to this news? So, Jake, what started with the Ethics Committee following up on that New York Post story that you mentioned turned out as they were reaching out to people, they did come across a separate allegation of sexual misconduct against Congressman Gomez from California. And that is what they're investigating now. And I read. So not the makeout session, something else? Something separate. Okay. That's correct. And Congressman Gomez gave us a lengthy statement in response to our reporting.

1:04:06I'm going to read for you some of that statement now where he says, quote, years ago, I made personal mistakes outside my marriage that have caused real pain to my wife and family. Although my actions were consensual in nature and haven't violated the law or house ethics rules, that doesn't diminish the impact that these mistakes have made on those I care about the most. I take full responsibility and I've committed myself to working through the pain privately with my wife and family. I'm deeply sorry for the pain and embarrassment that I brought into our lives. That's just part of the statement from Congressman Gomez, where he also says that he will fully comply with whatever inquiry House Ethics Committee continues to pursue.

1:04:43And Lauren, you and Annie spoke with more than a dozen current and former female staffers who say they faced harassment for House members or senior congressional staff. This is separate from the Gomez incident. Their accounts were shared anonymously for fear of retribution. Walk us through this reporting. Yeah, I mean, essentially, this was a month-long investigation that me, Annie, our colleague Allie Gordon, and our colleague Jeremy Erb undertook. And in the conversations that we were having with women, we learned a couple of things. One, sexual harassment is pervasive on Capitol Hill, not just from members, but also senior staff.

1:05:17We also learned that if you are a woman and you are thinking about coming forward, the process is extremely intimidating. There's a number of doors that you can knock on, a number of groups that you can go to, offices you can go to. And yet each one has its own hurdles, whether that's the House Ethics Committee, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights, other offices that give you lawyers or access to counselors. But really, when it comes to getting accountability, the process is fraught. It's unclear. And it takes a very long time, Jake. And so in the conversations that we had with these women, oftentimes women just decide it's not even worth it.

1:05:52And Lauren, a former staffer sought therapy available on Capitol Hill after she was allegedly harassed by her chief of staff. And a counselor warned her that the system rarely provided accountability and came at great personal and professional cost. Tell us more about that. Yeah, so during the course of this counseling, this woman was told by the counselor that if she did eventually want to report this, that she should record the incidents and write them down. And she said that as she was really weighing whether or not to come forward, she said that she felt like she really got the therapy and she worked through this emotionally, but she never was going to get the accountability.

1:06:30And she decided she wasn't going to come forward because she did believe that the process was going to be so difficult, so opaque, that it ultimately wouldn't really be worth it to come forward. And Annie, one staffer detailed the uncomfortable text messages she got about her underwear from a sitting lawmaker. Is Congress trying to do anything to improve this system? I mean, that chart you put up, we put up a second ago. I mean, that looks like a Pentagon chart. And I don't mean that as a compliment. in the sense of just bureaucracy, almost as if they don't want there to be accountability. It's a very complicated process, but there is a bipartisan effort underway where leadership in both the Republican and Democratic parties in the House have established a task force to try and work through the labyrinth of offices and try and streamline the process.

1:07:20But fixing the actual nuts and bolts of this is just, I think, one piece of this. One thing that we really learned in our reporting is that there is a cultural bedrock issue here as well, that you can streamline this process as much as you want. But if people do not feel comfortable in that they can come forward and not feel fear of retribution, feel fear that they won't get a promotion, fear that their anonymity won't be protected, it doesn't matter how many changes you may make to the system. So there's sort of a two-pronged approach going on here where you have lawmakers really trying to make changes happen, but larger questions about how to address the cultural issues up on Capitol Hill.

1:08:00Great reporting by Annie Greyer and Lauren Fox. Perush, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. It is election night in America with voters in six states casting their votes. Two of the biggest races, California. We're live on the campaign trail in Los Angeles in just moments.

1:08:25Yes, the election jam. We're rocking out to it here in the CNN studio. Several major primary races happening tonight across six states, including a wild governor's race in California. Voters in the Golden State will narrow down a very crowded field to just two candidates of either party who will advance to the general election in November. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Los Angeles at the watch party for one of the candidates currently leading in the polls, Democrat Javier Becerra. Arlette, what is the messaging from these candidates in these final hours? Well, Jake, this crowded field in this California governor's race is really leaving so many of these campaigns guessing, with one Democrat tied to one of the Democratic campaigns telling me that it's, quote, a jump ball.

1:09:10Now, this race has seen a lot of twists and turns throughout this contest, as these candidates have tried to distinct themselves from a very crowded field. Javier Becerra, the former HHS secretary, has had a lot of momentum on his side. He has surged after Congressman Eric Swalwell's exit from the race amid those allegations of sexual assault. But Tom Steyer's team, a source tells me, believes that they could try to capture some of those late-breaking voters who have yet to make up their minds. Many Democratic voters, or a sizable chunk of Democratic voters, have been holding onto their ballots, suggesting that they are making their decisions at the final minute.

1:09:46And then there's that Republican who is backed by President Donald Trump, Steve Hilton, the former British political advisor turned Fox News commentator, who is trying to capture the Republican vote within this primary. So lots of questions still heading into tonight about how this will all shake out, whether this will turn into a Democrat on Democrat contest come November or if it will be a Democrat on Republican contest. But many are also anticipating that this could take a long time to figure out. California is notoriously slow with their vote count, and this crowded field potentially extends the possibility that this race could extend into the early hours of tonight or maybe even potentially days.

1:10:24Arlette Saenz in Los Angeles, thanks so much. Let's bring in our panel, a couple of California experts, Joe Garofle of the San Francisco Chronicle and CNN senior political analyst John Brownstein. We're going to talk more about the governor's race in a second, but I want to start with this. There's been this redistricting that happened. So two incumbent Republicans are forced into a race against each other in California's 40th congressional district, Congresswoman Young Kim and Congressman Ken Calvert. They're fighting for this seat, and it has gotten very, very nasty. And part of their appeal to voters is proving which one is more MAGA than the other.

1:11:02First, let's take a listen to this ad from Congresswoman Kim. Ken Calvert caught faking President Trump's endorsement. He begged for it like a dog, now lying through his teeth. He's lying. The real Trump conservative. Young Kim, thank you. Congratulations. Great job. I love that lying. Begged for it like a dog. Only Donald Trump or people trying to copy Donald Trump talk that. And now here's Calvert's ad.

1:11:42Ron,

1:11:45what do you make of the strategy here? Well, you know, this is, as you say, in redistricting, sometimes this is what part of the dominant party does. They put two city members of Congress together and watch them have a, you know, kind of a cage match. We saw in Houston, for example, with Al Green and Christian Menafree. Look, Donald Trump's overall approving in California is around 30 percent. It could hardly be lower. But this is a 55 percent Trump one district in 24. So they're battling it out. Interestingly, there is money being spent by a shadowy group to promote the Democrat in the race in the hope that they will finish in the top two.

1:12:23She will finish in the top two and basically guarantee the Republican win. So as often with this top two primary, the geometry, the kind of the angles get very strange and somewhat convoluted. Joe, what do you think?

1:12:37Young Kim is someone who knows that district very well. She worked as a staffer, even in the parts of the new district since it's been redrawn. But she is a very fierce campaigner. And she, as you saw, she's fearless and swinging, throwing punches. Calvert, Democrats tried to beat him a couple of different times and weren't able to. So I would not. He's going to be tough to route out. So I'm very much looking forward to see what happens in that race. That's that's the wrong part of the state, though, from where I'm concerned. I know. I know. Let's go back to the California governor's race. So the top two finishers, regardless of party, are going to advance to November's midterm elections called the jungle primary.

1:13:18Joe, how do you see this playing out, given the Trump-backed candidate Steve Hilton polling pretty well as a top three contender? Yeah, and sort of alluding to what Ron alluded to a couple minutes ago, Hilton lives by Trump and he's likely going to die by Trump in California because there's a Trump time bomb that's going to go off at about midnight tonight. Trump is the one who, his endorsements, very much why Hilton's may get into the top two. But the campaign will be after tonight will be entirely about how Trump endorsed him from the Democrat side, whether it's Becerra or Steyer in the top two with him.

1:13:59And that's as a proven formula for victory for Democrats in California over the last decade. And Ron, given the Republican to Trump, Ron, given the sheer number of people running for governor, how engaged are voters when it comes to this rather consequential primary? We've seen lots of columns about how wanting, how second tier the candidates are. Yeah, this election has never really engaged voters in California very much. It's hard to do to begin with. It's a huge state, hard to get noticed. But, you know, once some of the big names, Kamala Harris, Alex Padilla, decided not to run, I don't think any of these Democrats really connected with voters.

1:14:41And that, I think, you know, is an important dynamic here. I mean, it's sort of it's sort of ending up, I think, like the 2020 Democratic primary where, you know, again, none of the candidates really took off. And in the end, Democrats just wanted someone who was going to be Trump. In this case, someone who's going to beat the Trump acolyte. Once Eric Swalwell fell out and it looked like Becerra was the best bet to get into the top two, much like voters kind of had a flight to safety with Biden in 2020. I think we've seen the same thing with Becerra here. The difference is Steyer has had so much money and so much ability to kind of force himself into the conversation that he's remained in the mix.

1:15:17And there is now at least the outside possibility that whereas a few months ago, Democrats feared being shut out with a one to Republican finish. Now there's at least some risk of Republicans being shut out with a Becerra Steyer finish and what, 500 million more dollars of anti Becerra Steyer ads between now and November. That's something to look forward to in California. And Ron, then there's the contentious race for Los Angeles mayor. Recent polling has Mayor Karen Bass essentially neck and neck with both L.A. Councilmember Nithya Raman and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt. Despite Pratt's lack of political experience and questionable past embrace of 9-11 conspiracies, it seems like voters are taking him seriously.

1:15:57There is this anger against Bass because of her handling of the Los Angeles and the Palisades fires. I wonder if he were to advance, do you think it would be foolish to completely write him off from being able to win in November? I think it would be tough for him. You know, look, the alignment is a lot like the governor's race, right? You got like an older mainstream Democrat who doesn't inspire a lot of enthusiasm. That's Bass and Becerra. You got an insurgent to their left. That's Steyer and Rahman. And then you've got kind of a gadfly to their right, which is Hilton and Pratt. Pratt, you know, is raising issues.

1:16:31People are very frustrated with not only the initial response to the fire, but how difficult everything has been since dealing with the insurance company, dealing with permitting, dealing with getting things rebuilt in the Palisades and Altadena. But in the end, I think that Pratt, as a Trump voter and Trump supporter, does face a ceiling, even though I think he is tapping into some genuine discontent here in Los Angeles. Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. Coming up, the new lawsuit today against something in many of our neighborhoods. Ring doorbell cameras. The new privacy concerns.

1:17:03That's next.

1:17:09Our last lead, starting our national lead, New Jersey is suing the private operator of the Delaney Ice Detention Center in Newark, which has been the site of protests against Trump's immigration policies for more than a week. The lawsuit asks a court to grant the state of New Jersey Health Department access to the center over allegations of inhumane conditions and treatment there. The Department of Homeland Security has pushed back against the allegations of poor conditions in the facility. In our money lead, gas prices have fallen more than 20 cents in just one week. Today's national average is at$4.29 a gallon compared to last week's$4.49 a gallon.

1:17:46This price drop is the largest weekly decline since the 2008 financial crisis, but it can slow or even go back up as the situation in the Middle East remains volatile and uncertain between the U.S. and Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz and more. And our tech lead, a Virginia man, is suing Amazon over the facial recognition software and the company's Ring doorbell cameras. According to Reuters, the plaintiff, who is seeking class action status, filed the suit in federal court claiming Ring's familiar faces feature collects and stores images of people walking by without their consent seeking five million dollars in damages for the class.

1:18:24Amazon has not commented. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:18:36This 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. Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. As Ken Burns said on an earlier podcast, the half-life of grief is endless. Mariska Hargitay knows that very well. Jane Mansfield was killed in a car crash in 1967. Mariska was in the car with her. After decades spent coming to terms with her past and wanting to learn more about the mother she doesn't remember, Mariska has made a remarkable documentary called My Mom Jane.

1:19:21Our vulnerability is our greatest strength and our greatest connector. And so in telling the story, I don't feel vulnerable. I feel free. We all have a story and you never know what somebody else carries. 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.