Trump Won’t Commit to Taiwan Arms Sale

25:30As the crispy chicken sandwich from 7-Eleven, people always call me loud. And I'm like, yeah, I know. I'm crispy. Did you expect me to whisper? If you want quiet, go eat some soup and reflect. Look, I know I'm a handful. I'm bold, I'm juicy. Throw some pickles and barbecue sauce on me, and baby, I'm a whole meal. And with seven rewards, I'm just$4. Quiet? No. Crispy, saucy, and$4? Very. Only at 7-11. Value through 62326. Participating stores only while supplies last the app for full terms. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business.

26:08From designing a website, to marketing, to selling, and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your$1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer. In our national lead, 10 minutes. That's how long a witness says it took medics at a remote ICE detention center in Southern California to respond to an inmate struggling to breathe, even as his cellmates were calling for help. Ten minutes. 52-year-old Jose Ramos is one of nearly 50 detainees who have died in ICE custody since President Trump took office.

26:52An exclusive investigation led by CNN's Priscilla Alvarez reveals many of these deaths appear to have been preventable.

27:17Antonio Tovar's husband, Jose Ramos, died in March, only about a month after being detained by immigration officials. He's now one of nearly 50 ICE detainees who have died since President Donald Trump's return to office.

27:39Ramos came to the U.S. nearly 30 years ago. Last year, he was charged with theft and possession of a controlled substance and was placed in a diversion program, which meant that, if completed, those charges would have been dismissed. We know from ICE that Jose was arrested on February 23rd. His wife said they were making a stop here at the Superior Courthouse in Torrance so he could deliver some paperwork.

28:10Okay, so that's their car. Antonia told us she briefly stepped away, and when she looked back, she saw this. Antonia worried about Ramos' medical conditions, diabetes, and high blood pressure. He was sent to the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, about two hours from where they lived. According to ICE records, Ramos went through a medical intake and was prescribed medications. I don't think it really hit me until I walked into the room and I saw him. What was that feeling like? And when I walked into the room, his back was towards us. And we walked in and I walked towards him and he was just sitting down, looking down.

28:56We're driving to the Adelanto detention facility. This is where Jose was held for several weeks, and it's one of many facilities across the United States where ICE holds detainees. As you can see, in this case, it is in a pretty remote area of California, about an hour and a half or more outside of Los Angeles. Now, Adelanto had stopped accepting new detainees because of a federal judge during the coronavirus pandemic, but that was lifted in January of 2025. And since then, the population ballooned from around three people to nearly 2 ,000. A CNN investigation found that deadly outcomes in more than a dozen cases could, at times, be linked to substandard treatment at facilities where populations are rapidly growing.

29:42At Adelanto, four people in detention have died since 2025. A spokesperson for GeoGroup, the private company that operates Adelanto, did not answer questions about Ramos' death, but told CNN that the company provides detainees with, quote, around-the-clock access to medical care, and is, quote, independently accredited by industry groups. This call is subject to recording and monitoring. Press one to accept the call. We spoke to one of Ramos' cellmates, Marco Martinez, who called for help when Ramos collapsed. The guard didn't do anything at all. He just stood there and watched him shake.

30:28According to a public ICE detainee death report, a registered nurse arrived one minute after a guard first noticed Ramos in medical distress and began providing aid. Emergency medical care services arrived 10 minutes later and began administering care. Ramos was transferred to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead three minutes after he arrived. Lack of adequate health care staffing has been a theme across the facilities, including in Atalanto. The California attorney general has the unique authority, as of 2017, to inspect detention facilities in the state. The AG's office exclusively shared those findings with CNN.

31:03I think a big part of the really difficult set of results and data that we're seeing, including the deaths, is the surge in number of detainees and the complete inability and unpreparedness of the facilities. Ramos' family still has not been notified of the cause of death. The uncertainty over what happened is a living nightmare.

31:53Now a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security disputed that there has been a spike in deaths. They gave us this statement, which says, quote, consistent with data over the last decade, as of April 30th, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009 percent of the detained population. They went on to say that as bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained higher a standard of care than most prisons that hold U.S. citizens, including providing access to proper medical care. Of course, Jake Ramos's family is still trying to get answers as to what happened in his final moments.

32:27Powerful piece. Thank you, Priscilla. Appreciate it. President Trump is set to arrive back in D.C. in the next hour. Why he accused a reporter traveling with him on Air Force One of treason. Plus, the world leader who says he would advise his kids to not live in the U.S. right now if they can avoid it. Here's his reasoning coming up.

32:54In our world lead, President Trump had some choice words on Air Force One for the widely respected New York Times national security reporter and CNN analyst David Sanger. I had a total military victory, but the fake news, guys like you write incorrectly. You're a fake guy and guys like you write about it incorrectly. We had a total military victory. I actually think it's sort of treasonous what you write, but you and the New York Times and CNN, you should be ashamed of it. I actually think it's treason when you write like they're doing well militarily. This is all part of a Trump campaign. Here's a true social post from earlier this week.

33:38When the fake news says that the Iranian enemy is doing well militarily against us, it's virtual treason in that it is such a false and even preposterous statement. They are aiding and abetting the enemy. All it does is give Iran false hope when none should exist, unquote. So two important points here. One, the New York Times has not reported that the Iranians are doing, quote, well militarily, nor has CNN. The New York Times and CNN have reported, as is accurate, that despite devastating U.S. and Israeli blows to the Iranian military and Iranian leadership, the Iranians continue to have some military abilities.

34:13Three days ago, the Times reported that U.S. intelligence shows Iran retains substantial missile capabilities, quote, operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, unquote. On April 2nd, CNN reported U.S. intelligence assessed, quote, half of Iran's missile launchers roughly were intact, and thousands of one-way attack drones remain in Iran's arsenal, unquote. And yesterday CNN did an analysis noting the intelligence contradicts Trump's assertions about how obliterated Iran's military actually is. All of what the Times and CNN have reported is 100 % true. This is what the intelligence run by Trump administration agencies is assessing.

34:55Now, the second point, reporting these facts isn't treason, and it's deranged for any president to say such a thing, and potentially dangerous for the reporters he's accusing of treason, As defined in the U.S. Constitution, treason is levying war against the U.S. or adhering to its enemies and giving them aid and comfort. This has been defined in courts as concrete actions with traitorous intent, not reporting facts. Was it treason when the news media reported the fall of Saigon in 1975? Was it treasonous when we here at CNN reported that the Taliban had taken over Kabul during the disastrous U.S.

35:31exit from Afghanistan in 2021? Of course not. Of course it wasn't treasonous. Treason, of course, is punishable by death, potentially, which is all part of the point of the president's accusation. He wants to intimidate news media to not report anything that doesn't please him or adhere to what he's trying to tell the American people. Facts be damned. The president's real issue here is not with us. It is with the facts that we are reporting and with the intelligence reports that contradict his claims. His real issue is the fact that the war isn't over. And it seems his real issue is that there are still some of us willing to tell the American people these facts, despite his best efforts.

36:11Joining us now is the panel, and I just, I only want to talk about this for one more question, but I do want to share what the New York Times spokesperson said to me after Trump said this about David Sanger and CNN and Times, quote, President Trump seems to misunderstand this fundamental role for a free president democracy, and particularly its responsibility to examine the reality underlying government pronouncements and question their accuracy if the evidence points that way. It's independent reporting and the core of our responsibilities. Jamil, I'm sure that you're not a big fan of this accusing reporters of treason thing.

36:42No, I mean, it's crazy. Look, the reality is that the whole point we have a First Amendment, the whole reason we have a free press, the reason we have news media is we want them to question our politicians. We want them to question the story, the narrative. It's exactly what the conservative media that I'm on all the time does when it questioned Joe Biden and Barack Obama, when they said things that weren't accurate, when they talked about the economy and how good it was doing, that's what you want the news media doing. And calling it treasonous is actually the opposite of what America believes in.

37:09It's the opposite of what presidents should be doing. It's the opposite of what our constitution and our entire system of government teaches us. And Serena, having been at the Pentagon, when the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan was going on, I'm sure you were not a fan of a lot of what we were reporting or even the tone with which we said it, but you never accused us of being treasonous. There were, no, I didn't. And there were many stories that were reported by CNN, by other outlets that we certainly took issue with, whether it was the withdrawal from Afghanistan or whether it was the war in Ukraine and then post, you know, some of our capabilities surging in the Middle East and, you know, especially against the fight against the Houthis.

37:45I remember, you know, we were saying we're degrading their capabilities and there'd be reporting saying, well, actually you're not. And of course you can have frustrations with that, But in no means would we ever say that reporting or asking us questions was wrong or treasonous. And I think that was also the point of having those briefings and the podium. Those are the reasons why journalists are there to ask those tough questions to an administration. Yeah. Let's turn to something Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said today during a panel discussion in Germany. Quote, I am a great admirer of America, but my admiration is not growing at the moment.

38:17However, I wouldn't recommend that my children go to the U.S. today, get their education there and work there simply because a social climate has suddenly developed there, unquote. Jamil, your reaction? Well, I mean, that's ridiculous. Look, the reality is that a lot of people want to come to America because America is still the greatest country in the world. We may have our problems. We may have disagreements politically. We may have the president talk about treasoning reporters. But the reality is that Germans should come here. Living in Germany, you're not going to have a successful opportunity to grow your capabilities, your skill set.

38:45You're not going to be able to innovate. The reality is that this country is still the greatest country in the world. We're the ones developing the cutting edge AI. We're the ones with the most intellectual population in the world. We do ourselves harm, no question. But the idea that the world's population doesn't want or shouldn't come here is ridiculous, and freedom versus wrong about that. Let's talk about what President Trump said when it came to Taiwan and China today, because the president said he made no commitment either way when it came to whether the U.S. would defend China, And then also wouldn't really commit about whether or not he would sell weapons to Taiwan.

39:19I know this is a complicated issue for every president. And, you know, people thought that President Biden was over his skis when he once he called Xi a dictator. They had you guys had to walk that back. He said he would absolutely defend Taiwan if China attacked. I mean, that was I remember that causing a lot of agita, sleepless nights. But what do you make of all this? Well, what President Trump said today would essentially be a break in U.S. policy. I mean, for a very long time, and like you said, many presidents have wrestled with this, this idea of strategic ambiguity. And it's a really hard line to walk.

39:54But if the president says that we might be, or he might be reviewing the idea that we're going to hold back a weapon sales package to Taiwan, not only would that break with U.S. policy, but that would give President Xi a win. I mean, that's exactly what China wants. And that is exactly what the summit, that's what he wanted to come out of the summit, was for the United States to say, you know what, we're going to put a pause in our support. And I do think the president walked into these meetings in China with the weaker hand. The war in Iran loomed over the president. And I think what the president really wanted to come out of these meetings was China to say to Iran, you're going to open up the strait and you're going to do it now.

40:32And they didn't walk away with that commitment. They walked away with a few trade agreements. and, you know, I guess President Xi's going to send some roses back. But at the end of the day, if the commitment is that the president is going to review arms sales to Taiwan, that is a huge victory to China. What do you think? Well, look, to be clear, the president said he's looking at it. He didn't make any determinations. And let's be clear, President Trump has sent the largest package of any weapons sale ever in history to Taiwan. So the idea is not doubling down on it. Still unclear. We'll see how this plays out.

40:59If he does that, that would be a huge mistake. But it's not clear he's going to do that. and he has been very aggressive and leaned forward on the Taiwan front. I do agree that he went into this thing with the wrong idea to bring all these CEOs, not a great look, looking like we're the supplicants here. That was a mistake. He gave away, he views himself as a top negotiator, and yet he keeps giving away negotiating leverage, whether it's with the Iranians or the Russians over Ukraine or with China over trade. I don't get the play. The right play with all these people, Iranians, the Russians, the Chinese, is play from strength.

41:29Donald Trump knows how to do that. For whatever reason, he doesn't seem to be playing that out right now. He's got to go back to his normal move, negotiate from a position of strength. He's not doing it. All right. Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. In Colorado today, the governor granted clemency to Tina Peters. Tina Peters is the former election clerk. She's in prison for her part in letting people have access to election machines. After years of complaint from President Trump, the Democratic governor is letting her out of prison now. Stay with us.

42:05Welcome to The Lead. I'm Dick Tapper. This hour, President Trump set to arrive back in these here United States soon after a whirlwind trip to China. But the two days of meetings ended without any real agreements in significant ways on key issues. So is the president bringing home any wins? Plus, as the White House tried to reassure the public that the hantavirus outbreak is under control, they rolled out a physician who until recently specialized in penile implants and hosted a YouTube show called Erection Connection. Why was this doctor who has little public health experience and a history of promoting conspiracy theories given this job?

42:49Also, a new report in the Associated Press detailing how FBI Director Cash Patel spent some downtime when visiting Hawaii last summer, allegedly going on a VIP snorkel trip at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, where more than 900 sailors and Marines killed in combat are entombed. The reporter who broke this story joins us live ahead. And first on CNN, Colorado's Democratic governor reveals he is going to grant clemency to election denier Tina Peters. She's the Republican former election clerk who was imprisoned for allowing unauthorized people access to voting machines in 2021. So why is the Democratic governor doing this now?

43:27Is he caving to Trump? Well, hear his explanation ahead.

43:34The lead tonight, President Trump returning from his high stakes summit in China with no major trade deals in his back pocket, no consequential breakthroughs on tech or fentanyl or the Iran war. But the president did take time on Air Force One to post on Truth Social about other matters, such as plans for a so-called National Garden of American Heroes, another DC project, admiration for a golden statue of himself located at his golf resort in Florida, and reaffirming his desire for a new ballroom, or as he put it, China has a ballroom and so should the USA. Now, China did appear to get some wins.

44:14Trump says he is considering lifting sanctions on Chinese companies that are buying Iranian oil, as the Iran war drags on. And despite the fact the U.S. is bound to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with weapons to defend itself, the president would not commit to a future arms sale to Taiwan. We discussed in Taiwan, you know, the whole thing with the arms sales. It was in great detail, actually. And I'll be making decisions. But, you know, I think the last thing we need right now is a war that's 9 ,500 miles away. CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Caitlin Collins now joins us.

44:59Hey, Caitlin. Did the president walk away from the summit with any big wins? I think in the president's mind, relationships are everything. The interpersonal relationships that he has with world leaders. And obviously, we've seen what happens when those go south. He's walking away feeling good about that, especially with President Xi, someone that that relationship has ebbed and flowed at certain times, especially during the pandemic when he was in office the last time. And we saw that on display, you know, in public during this summit. But in terms of concrete deliverables that he's walking away with, I mean, what the president said about tariffs was that they had not discussed that at all as they were in this meeting, as she was going into it, you know, with the upper hand in terms of the Supreme Court decisions and the court rulings on the president's tariffs that had happened in that in the weeks and months before this visit took place.

45:45And then on Taiwan, you know, listening to those comments by the president there, where I was watching this entire back and forth with the reporters who were on Air Force One. And the president made very clear that he is rethinking arms sales to Taiwan and that he's looking at them differently in terms of the importance that he said President Xi attached to that, attached to that during their conversation where he said arms sales were something they discussed. But the president's comment there that, you know, a war isn't needed that's 9 ,500 miles from the United States. I believe it was David Sanger on the plane who followed up with, you know, that this was a proposal by the U.S.

46:21to have these arms sales to Taiwan, something that a group of bipartisan senators have written a letter to the White House about because they are asking questions about why it's so delayed. That obviously was a key moment there in that meeting. And then, Jake, I think the other question is that the president is returning to that's affecting Americans are the gas prices that you're seeing and the sky high nature of them that has only gone up since this war started. And what's not clear to us from what we heard from the president or from what we've heard from White House officials is whether or not Iran or China is committed to try to talk to Iran about getting any of the U.S.

46:55demands across the table. I mean, one thing they said in their joint statement was China agrees the Strait of Hormuz should be open. They agreed that Iran should not get a nuclear weapon. But in terms of actually resolving this war that many experts have likened to a stalemate at this point, it's not clear that China is going to get involved on that front and help on that. And obviously, as the president is returning to this, this war that's now in its 11th week, about to go into its 12th, that is a huge concern for Americans who are still right now paying more at the pump and paying more for everything else because of the war.

47:28Caitlin Collins, thanks so much. And of course, don't miss Caitlin on her excellent show, The Source with Caitlin Collins. That's tonight at 9 Eastern, only on CNN. Let's bring in CNN senior political and global affairs commentator Rahm Emanuel, who was the former U.S. ambassador to Japan under President Biden. Rahm, what is your overall takeaway from this summit? Who came out on top? Well, I think, Jake, I would look at it as a different question in that sense, because the president of the United States, the whole notion of this being about stability, stability in purpose of what? I mean, we know that China is a major taker and stealer of our intellectual property, involved in economic espionage.

48:13They recently, both you had the Salt Typhoon and the Volt Typhoons, big cyber attacks on the United States. That's not stability. So what is it the stability in service of? I don't think the United States, particularly got anything out of this. China got the ability to show to the president lavish praise on him, but they're dogged in pursuing their strategic interests. We have a president who acts impulsive, short-term, around him. China's not about personality. It's about strategic objectives. They're going to play the long game here, and each move is in service of one objective of making China a supreme power across the globe, and specifically in their region.

48:51Are you concerned at all? walk away in that. Are you concerned at all about Taiwan? Are you concerned at all about the president's commitment to Taiwan? Look, I mean, I take a step back and I said this when I was ambassador. What concerns me is just South China Sea where the Philippines are, Vietnam, et cetera. While we were involved in Iran, China has done something they haven't done in six years. They started building another fake island there, claiming that as their personal water. Philippines, unlike Taiwan, is a nation state and is also a treaty ally of ours. And we did nothing to defend them in this place and did nothing to log a complaint against China.

49:31In the same time, China has been on a nine-month course of economic coercion against Japan, which is our long pole in the Indo-Pacific. We have done nothing to defend them. I am concerned about Taiwan, but there's a lot of other things that I'm concerned about around the region. There are two goals here, Jake. Ours is to communicate. We are a permanent Pacific power and presence, and you can bet long on us. And that's what keeps our allies aligned with us. China, we are the rising power. America is declining. Either get in line or you're going to get the treatment. Every country in that region at the end of the Pacific wants the United States as a counterweight to China.

50:07And we are absent from that endeavor and losing allies fast who are now working on their own. Remember, there's two activities going on where both the United States and China are the destabilizer. We export our political dysfunction, as you can see around the globe. We're punching down on our allies. They are exporting their economic dysfunction from at home abroad, destroying other countries' steel mills and industrial base. The two countries that are talking about stability are the biggest actors of destabilization across the globe, one political and one economic. What is your assessment of where the U.S.

50:45is right now in the war with Iran? And do you get any sense that China is going to do anything to help the U.S., at least pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz? Listen, where I'm at right now is there's both immediate and long term. On the immediate, I'm very worried that there's an implied quid pro quo on the Taiwan arms sales to China pressing Iran on the Strait of Hormuz. Not explicit, not so any leader can say that was never a kind of trade. So they can't get caught like that with their hand on the bloody knife. But there's an implied, there's a sense in me that something between the arms sale to Taiwan is tied to what China will or will not do, actively forcing Iran to concede on the straight arms.

51:34Long term, I think in the area, you have basically a breakup, I think, that's going on. Iran has emerged stronger. We had them cornered. I think this was a bad war, a war of choice, and it was a bad choice. Iran is emerging as the Persian Empire again. They still have a lot of problems at home, which is why we should not have done this and let those play out. Second, you have a breakup in the Gulf countries. You have the UAE and Bahrain going one way. Qatar, Saudi Arabia starting to hedge against the United States and Israel in another way. And then you have the situation of the U.S. and Israel bogged down in something with no conclusion and no capacity to act on a strategic desire.

52:15All right, former Ambassador Rahm Emanuel, thank you so much. Appreciate it. President Trump says he also discussed people detained in China with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Did President Xi make any promises to release any of them? The daughter of one of those detainees is going to join us live next. Plus, a record number of permits were issued to climb Mount Everest this season, but many trips have already been derailed by dangerous conditions. A climber whose own trip inspired the film Everest, an author you've heard of, He's here to discuss ahead.

52:53We're back with our world lead. President Trump is set to land back in the United States soon after his trip to China. Earlier on his flight, Trump spoke to reporters on Air Force One, and he confirmed that he and President Xi discussed political prisoners and their potential release. I think he's giving very serious consideration to the pastor. The pastor said he's giving very serious consideration to that. The Christian pastor, Trump, did not name there, but it's likely Ezra Jin. China detained him in October 2025, along with dozens of other members of the Zion Church. This is part of a crackdown on Christians in the country.

53:32Joining us now is the pastor's daughter, Grace Jin. Drexel, Grace, thanks for being here. I'm sure it's horrible to have to talk about something like this. I'm sure you were hoping even for news of his release today, but what was your reaction to hear that President Trump is considering, I'm sorry, that President Trump said that Xi is considering releasing your father? Yeah, thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. And honestly, this has just been the miracle that we've been praying for since my father's detention. I mean, there's so many things on the president's agenda. And just to get to that level, it's been more than that we can have hoped for.

54:10So we're just so grateful to be mentioned at all. Yeah. What is the Chinese government accusing your father of having done? And have you talked to him at all since he was detained last October? My father was detained under the charge illegal use of information online for his online sermons and services. So that is against the religious freedom that the Chinese constitution even promises its citizens. But we as family members have not had direct communication with any of those detained at all. Like you said, there are now still 17 others also detained, and none of our family members have been able to meet with them, talk with them, or even have phone calls with them.

54:52Can you explain to our viewers what the Zion Church is and why the Chinese government is arresting Christians? Yes. So my father started Zion Church in 2007. It's become one of the largest independent or underground house church in China. That means we are not under the control of the Chinese Communist Party and our decision, many of the sacred decisions of the church, such as how many people can be baptized, what can we preach on Sunday, etc. And that's the only thing that separates us from the big churches, the state-run churches that you see. And because of that influence, my father's church has become one of the largest in China.

55:32Because of that influence, my father has been detained. And why is the Chinese government cracking down on Christians other than the fact that communists tend to not like religion? Yeah, I mean, like you said, part of it is because we're a religious entity. And in 2016 to 2018, we saw a first round of crackdown. And most recently in 2025 to 2026, we've seen so many pastors been sent to jail. There's been over hundreds of pastors now. Just for preaching the gospel. Just for preaching the gospel. But at the same time, we see a general tightening of Chinese society. And I think this is also part of that as well.

56:12So he's a pastor to hundreds, thousands of people. To you, he's a dad. Tell me something about him. Yes. What do you want people to know about him? Yes, so my father is just the gentlest of souls. He's not a very confrontational person. He's actually not a very stereotypical Asian dad. He would give us hugs and tell us how wonderful we are. And he was just always so kind as a person, very humorous. And even while he's in prison, he's so optimistic and encouraging everyone. And I think much of that really comes down to his faith and the calm and the hope that he has in the Lord. And we just hope and pray that his faith will be able to sustain him in prison as well.

56:56Sometimes President Trump watches the show. Other times people show him clips. Is there anything you want him to know if you want to talk to President Trump directly? Yes. President Trump, we're so grateful that you have mentioned my father. and we've had bipartisan support from members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and we're just grateful that you have mentioned my father and now we hope and pray that President Xi Jinping will also have a softening of heart and will release my father and allow him to come and join us. Thank you. Yeah, let's hope so. Let's pray so. Thank you so much, Grace Jin Drexel.

57:31Really appreciate it. Have hope. Have hope. I've interviewed other people like you and their loved ones have gotten out. It has happened. Yes, thank you so much. I'm sure it's awful, but keep praying. Thank you. CNN's K-File uncovered some new details about one of the doctors who led the federal government's Hantavirus press conference this week. Turns out this doctor has a history of promoting conspiracy theories, has little public health experience, and until recently specialized in some interesting medical devices. Those details are next.

58:10We're back with our health lead. The CDC today updated its guidance for the deadly hantavirus outbreak, saying that those at high risk of infection can quarantine at home as long as they isolate, avoid travel, and wear a mask. And as the Trump administration is seeking to reassure Americans that the risk of spread of the hantavirus is low, one of its public faces leading the government response is facing some scrutiny over his credibility. Specifically controversial, if not hyperbolic comments he's made in the past, many of them focused on abortion, COVID restrictions, transgender individuals, religion, and what he described as wokeism in medicine and government.

58:50Admiral Brian Christine is now Assistant Secretary in the Health and Human Services Department and head of the Public Health Service Corps. He took the job right out of private practice as a urologist who specialized in penile implants in Alabama and hosted a podcast called Erection Connection. CNN's K-File went through the doctor's past shows, appearances, and online posts and found Christine pushed theories of a pandemic government plot. He compared the Biden administration to Nazi Germany. He denied the efficacy of the COVID vaccine, despite the evidence that it prevented millions of deaths.

59:26The government and the left have used the pandemic to control people. And so when I say that, what I mean is, is that we have been forced as a society to take a vaccination that ultimately was proved not to prevent the disease. There is no question that the pandemic was used to influence the outcome of the 2020 elections. Oh boy. Andrew Nixon, a spokesman at the Department of Health and Human Services, told CNN that quote, Admiral Christine remains focused on executing President Trump and Secretary Kennedy's agenda to make America healthy again and deliver on President Trump's executive order to protect our children against chemical and surgical mutilation, unquote.

1:00:06K-File also uncovered Christine denying that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, which of course he did. All of this was done to scare people and to make them believe that voting in person was danger during the pandemic. And this allows ballot harvesting and the use of illegal ballots. And there's no question this influenced the outcome of the 2020 election. Just watch 2000 Mules. 2000 Mules is the long debunked election fraud conspiracy film whose distributor later issued an apology and removed it from circulation. Joining us now to discuss Dr. Ashish Jha, former White House COVID response coordinator.

1:00:46Dr. Jha, good to see you again. Based on his history, how much do you trust Dr. Christine in this new role? Jake, first of all, thanks for having me back. Look, the early parts of any outbreak are most essential. And unfortunately, that's not a good time for on-the-job training. And so he has no experience here. So even under the best of circumstances, you'd be worried. And then given his lack of understanding of infectious diseases, as witnessed by those comments, I am particularly worried that he's not the right guy for the job. We know that the COVID vaccine did indeed help prevent millions of deaths.

1:01:25It was a fantastic accomplishment by President Trump, Operation Warp Speed. What does it tell you about this administration that they would give a high-powered role to somebody who just rejects that evidence? Yeah, it's, you know, it's still a head-scratcher for me. I mean, I think it was one of President Trump's signature initiatives throughout his entire presidency, certainly during the pandemic. And it was extraordinarily successful. And not only, you know, do we have Dr. Christine in this role, but we also have Secretary Kennedy, who has bad mouthed Operation Warp Speed, has has, you know, really downplayed the actually more than downplayed, has has said false things about the COVID vaccine that were all developed.

1:02:13So it's very puzzling how it is that President Trump has tolerated all of this. And right now, we should know during this hantavirus outbreak, which thankfully so far appears to be at least somewhat contained as of now, three of the nation's most powerful public health positions are either vacant or operating under temporary leadership. This includes the Surgeon General, the CDC director. The NIH director is also the CDC director, acting CDC director. The FDA commissioner was just fired. What risk does this pose to America's medical field and overall health? Yeah, well, we're actually seeing this right now with the Hantavirus outbreak.

1:02:52Thankfully, as you said, this is not going to end up becoming a pandemic. And so it's not a full on crisis. But even here, I'm having people across the political spectrum reach out to me and say, what's going on? How do we understand this moment? Because they're not getting that information from the government, because there's no one in the government to actually give that information in a credible way. These agencies are fundamentally important to running our day-to-day operations, but certainly responding to outbreaks. And the fact that there's a lack of leadership leaves us all much more vulnerable.

1:03:21Dr. Ashish Jha, thanks so much. Good to see you again. Moments ago, Air Force One touched down at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, returning President Trump from his brief trip to China. We're monitoring to see if the president speaks to reporters when he gets off the plane. We'll bring you those updates. Also, a new report details how FBI Director Cash Patel went snorkeling. at Pearl Harbor Memorial. The reporter who broke the story joins me live to explain next.

1:03:53International lead an Iraqi man has been arrested and charged. He's accused of coordinating and planning at least 18 terrorist attacks in Europe that targeted Americans and Jews, all in the name of ending the Iran war. Prosecutors are alleging that Mohammed Bakr Sa'dawud al-Saadi was trying to, quote, further the terrorist goals of Qatayyib Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. They say in addition to the attacks in Europe, al-Saadi also coordinated two attacks in Canada and tried to coordinate terrorist attacks in the U.S., including against a New York synagogue. He appeared in court today but did not enter a plea.

1:04:29Turning to our national lead, FBI Director Kash Patel occasionally has drawn criticism for surfacing at events that for some seem like a stretch to say go with his official duties. For example, of course, when we saw him chugging beer and celebrating in the locker room with the U.S. hockey team after they won the Olympic gold medal last February in Italy. According to the FBI, Patel was in Italy for multiple official engagements. But now thanks to Associated Press national security reporter Eric Tucker and two of his colleagues, Another example of an interesting pursuit by the FBI director is in the news.

1:05:05Thanks so much for joining us. So, Eric, you discovered that Director Patel's trip to Hawaii, which is part of this Italy trip, included a VIP snorkel at the USS Arizona at the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Explain more. So what we learned was that during an official trip that Director Patel took, First, he started in Honolulu. He then moves on to Australia and New Zealand. And then on the way back, that's when this VIP snorkel took place. And what is a VIP snorkel? I mean, that's like, it's not ground, but it's a holy area. I mean, all those hundreds of sailors and Marines are entombed in those ships, right?

1:05:44That's right. So our understanding is that this took place in the waters above the memorial, in the waters above where all these hundreds of sailors and Marines are entombed. And I didn't even know people can snorkel there. I thought it was off limits to snorkeling. Certainly to the general public, it is definitely off limits. But we did learn that apparently it was not a one-off with Director Patel. There have been occasional dignitaries and military officials who have been afforded that opportunity. What kind of reaction are you hearing from the FBI and I imagine from members of the military?

1:06:12So the FBI took pains to note that he was invited to the Pearl Harbor base by top regional military officials. And they say, look, he wasn't there for a party. He wasn't there to celebrate. he was there as part of an official engagement to which he was invited. So that's been their response. Have you heard from members of the military about this trip? I mean, so they were, you know, we we certainly followed up with them aggressively following the receipt to the public records request we got from the National Park Service. And they confirmed that, in fact, you know, they did arrange this and they against it.

1:06:41It was not a not an anomaly. All of this does seem to fit into a bigger pattern for Director Patel in terms of he seems to be having a lot of fun on the job and doing interesting things, but that's not particularly what the job is. That's right, Jake, and I think that's actually one of the things that really got us interested in this story is there does seem to be a pattern in which his travels blend professional responsibilities with leisure activities, and this did in fact seem to fit into that pattern. Do we know if he was, I mean, he likes to do a lot of things with people that are friends, or his girlfriend obviously is in the news a lot.

1:07:17Do we know if anyone else was on this snorkeling trip with him? We can imagine that, you know, the team that was with him on this official trip to Australia, New Zealand might have been with him. But we don't know who else went into the water. And in fact, in the email addresses that we got back from the National Park Service, the email addresses were all redacted. So we don't know. What did the FBI have to say about any of this? So, you know, obviously they were pretty defensive. And they indicated that their belief that this was not a story in part because they believed that this was, you know, a professional engagement that he had as part of the trip.

1:07:46I should note, Jake, though, as part of our due diligence, we did canvas every former FBI director since the 1990s. And although other former FBI directors have visited the Pearl Harbor base, none has snorkeled in the area. And I thought that was an important detail to include in the story. Interesting. All right, Eric Tucker, thanks again. California's Democratic governor has just commuted the sentence. I'm sorry, Colorado's Democratic governor has just commuted the sentence of a Republican election denier. He explains his reasoning exclusive to CNN next.

1:08:22We have some breaking news for you in our politics lead. Colorado's Democratic governor, Jared Polis, just announced that he is going to reduce the sentence of Tina Peters. The 70-year-old former election clerk is now serving a nine-year sentence after she was convicted of criminal charges related to efforts to prove that Trump actually won the 2020 election that President Biden won. Governor Paul has shared this news exclusively with CNN's Isaac DeVere, who joins us now. Isaac, how did the governor come to this conclusion? Yeah, well, when I spoke to him a couple hours ago, what he said to me is that he's been paying a lot of attention to this, talking to a lot of people.

1:08:57But he was really struck by what the Court of Appeals in Colorado found, which is that the judge, in doing the sentencing, talked about her crime, but also talked about a lot of other stuff related to the 2020 election denialism. Peters was convicted of going into a room in Colorado and bringing someone in there where there were voting machines. But the judge, in Polis's mind, in the Court of Appeals' mind, made it into a bigger thing and gave her a harsher than fair sentence. And so his feeling is that his job as governor is to try to correct that. He kept saying to me that there's no problem with free speech.

1:09:32She can say whatever she wants, even if he doesn't agree with it. But that can't be used against her in making the sentence bigger for the crime. Yeah. And just to be clear, she let that individual and she turned off the security cameras, let that individual look at the election machines. But this is in May 2021. Right. The election was long over. Biden was the president. So this wasn't about trying to overturn it. It might have been about trying to falsely prove that Trump actually won. Yeah. But not part of that. Tina Peters gave a statement as part of all this. What did she say? She submitted a clemency request and in that had a statement that said this.

1:10:05I made a mistake four years ago. I misled the secretary of state when allowing a person to gain access to county voting equipment. That was wrong. Going forward, I will make sure that my actions always follow the law. Now, what you don't see in that is I broke the law or admitting guilt. I said to the governor, usually in clemency decisions, there is some search for contrition. And he said to me that, yes, that's taken into account. And he read that statement to me. He said that gets part of the way there. Uh, and, but he said, he just kept coming back. She can't be punished for this. Democrats, Republicans should have the belief in free speech.

1:10:40He said to me that I said, she doesn't seem repentant at all. She keeps talking about all this stuff. What happens when she gets out of prison? And he said to me, I hope that she's no longer a martyr, that she's just another person who believes in conspiracies on the street after this. I hope she doesn't believe in conspiracies, but I'm not holding my breath. Right. Um, and in his letter, uh, making it formal, he says that she will be paroled June 1st. So this is very soon. Okay, Isaac, stay with me. I want to bring in the panel. Ashley Etienne, what message do you think the governor is sending with this, Democratic Governor Polis?

1:11:10I think what he's doing is reinforcing what Democratic voters already think about Democrats, and that's we're weak. You know, we go around talking about how MAGA and Trump is a threat to American democracy. We've been talking about it since I ran opposition for Pelosi back when Trump won in 2016. or 2016. And every time we have the opportunity to hold these folks accountable, we actually don't. This was the same criticism of President Biden is that he didn't move fast enough, far enough to hold Trump accountable for his actions in the 2020 election. So for me, this is just sort of reinforcing not just this stereotype of Democrats or this narrative about Democrats, but it also further legitimizes and normalizes attacks on our election.

1:11:57What do you think? I think this was a matter of the law. Polis, he was, for the past couple of years now, he's been talking about this because Republicans have been pressuring him. He's gotten calls from Donald Trump, apparently. But he said that the sentencing was harsh. This is kind of more of a larger discussion that we saw with the January 6th defendants. Some of them, or a number of them, many of who were actually prosecuted on trespassing charges had those charges actually elevated and they ended up getting longer sentences. In some of those cases, they actually, those sentences were lessened or overturned.

1:12:30And so to me, this just seems like another example of that. She's already spent four years in jail. And in this case, according to what you're saying, it isn't that she interfered with the election. And I think that probably is getting conflated with some of the other cases that happened on January 6th. Yeah, what she did, it was in May 2021. But I mean, look at what happened with the folks that were released by Trump who committed the crime on the Capitol, right? The January Sixers. I mean, and so Polis is - He's the last person in prison related to anything about election denialism, which is part of why this case has taken on a bigger stature in a lot of people's minds, including President Trump.

1:13:06Although there is the bomber, the would-be RNC and DNC bomber, and they are trying to, his attorneys are trying to argue that he should be pardoned because he was part of that. Anyway, let me turn to Louisiana because tomorrow Republicans are going to head to the polls and ultimately answer the question, will President Trump's endorsement of a different candidate take out the incumbent Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, who has publicly defied Trump? Senator Cassidy was asked about his relationship with President Trump earlier today on CNN. I'm not claiming the president loves me. No, but you can work with people even if you don't love each other if you got a common goal.

1:13:42And my goal is to make my country and my state and everybody who lives here better off. What do you think? What's going to happen? Well, we don't know. You know, he's an incumbent senator. He's very popular. He has the NRC and other Republicans backing him. I think the big thing here, we saw what happened in Indiana, and there was a lot of discussion about the momentum behind Donald Trump with his endorsements Indiana. Indiana was a little different because you had state level representatives who were simply outspent. They couldn't keep up. This is a little different. So I think this will be this in Kentucky will be the first major test of whether or not Trump has long coattails.

1:14:23I suspect I'm a Cassidy guy, so I actually hope that he wins. You know, I'm kind of working with him to try to get him in the office. But I think this will be the first real test, not Indiana. This will be the first real test of Donald Trump's coattails. What do you think? But it's another reminder of how the Republican Party should function according to Donald Trump, which is not about loyalty back and forth. It's about obedience to him, right? This really tracks back to things that when Cassidy voted for the second impeachment. And it doesn't matter that he did all the things, including he's a doctor.

1:14:59He had a lot of reservations about Kennedy being at the health department. And voted to confirm? went all of that stuff and it still is never good enough for Donald Trump and that is something that the Republican Party has to continue to grapple with including thinking about how going into the midterms as the president's approval ratings are pretty low in the nation overall. Midterms and the odds. Yes but for those House members and senators and candidates running how much they distance themselves from Trump with the though it may be work better for them in the general election crowd it might kill them with the Republicans because of how Trump will respond.

1:15:34No, I mean, I think I agree with Isaac. I mean, this is going to be the test of whether or where the voters stand on Donald Trump. He is actually on the ballot in this particular race. Republicans will say, oh, well, you know, in the midterms, Trump is not on the ballot. But actually, in Louisiana, he is on the ballot. So it'll be interesting to see if voters sort of indict the president by going with Cassidy or not. If it's an indication of how people feel within the Republican Party about the direction that this president is taking the country, we'll see in this election. When it comes to November, of course, it's going to be a different crowd than a Republican primary.

1:16:10It's going to be a general election crowd, and Republicans, office holders, are grappling with how to talk about the fact that gas prices are so high in addition to some other places where there's inflation. Here's Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio. He was asked last night about surging gas prices across the country. And yeah, we want the gas prices to come down, but we don't want this country. this regime have a nuclear capability. So that's basically the Republican argument. Yes, gas prices are high. We want them to come down. But Iran was going to have a nuclear weapon, and that really would have been destabilizing, et cetera.

1:16:43It doesn't seem as though voters are buying it, though. What do you think? As a native Southerner Mississippian, that dog ain't go hunt. Yeah. So they could continue to say that over and over again. And we saw something similar in the Biden administration where they were refusing to believe that it's not what the macroeconomics are. It's how people feel. How people feel is how they vote. Even if the numbers were getting better under Joe Biden, people didn't feel it. And I think that the Republicans have to understand it doesn't matter what's happening in Iran. It doesn't matter what you do with DEI and suing all of these schools.

1:17:17People care about their pocket books and they're going to go to the polls, not on Iran. They're going to go to the polls on gas prices, food prices, and all of these other things. It's the standard when we have elections. No, you're absolutely right. And 70 % of the country right now is blaming the Trump administration's policies for their economic situation. So to your point, people live these economic conditions every day. It's not like Iran or something's happening over there. This is what's actually happening in my life. And the other question I think we should be asking Jim Jordan is not whether or not the gas prices should go down, but it's what he's going to do and his party who's in charge of both chambers are going to do to try to cut down these prices and lower prices right now.

1:17:57To me, that is the real urgent question is what is Congress going to do? They've got two branches, three branches of the government to actually do something about these issues. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it. We have some breaking news out of the U.S. Supreme Court, which moments ago tossed out an emergency request from Virginia Democrats to reinstate the new congressional maps. Those maps would have allowed Democrats to pick up as many four additional seats in the House of Representatives here, but the Virginia Supreme Court overruled those new maps. This was a widely expected decision from the U.S.

1:18:27Supreme Court. My next guest was on the tragic journey that inspired the film Everest. John Krakauer is here, 30 years since he summited the mountain to weigh in on this year's deadly climbing season and how the trek has or has not changed in the last three decades.

1:18:48Interworldly, Mount Everest's 2026 spring climbing season is underway. Nepal's Department of Tourism issued a record-breaking 492 permits this season. A total of 15 climbers have reached the summit so far, but the mountain has already seen several fatalities this season, including the death of Pura Gyaljan Sherpa, a young guide who slipped and fell into a crevice near Camp 3. Here to discuss all of this is the author of the fantastic book Into Thin Air, John Krakauer, and several other fantastic books I should note. But anyway, John, you published Into Thin Air 30 years ago, and the book details your harrowing experience on Mount Everest during a deadly 1996 climb.

1:19:29For viewers who aren't familiar with your story, briefly walk them through it so they know to pick up the book and read it. yeah it was uh one of the early guided expeditions from the best guide out there uh and uh on summit day a lot of us reached the top a very violent storm moved in on the way down um eight people died including four of the five people i reached the summit with and the it was a horrible catastrophe that can be attributed to bad luck but also a cascade of really bad decisions. And I wrote my book into the near thinking it would dissuade people from ever wanting to be guided up Everest.

1:20:14And it had the opposite effect. It actually was one of the owners of a guide service that it was the best advertising he could ever get. And it was like, it drew climbers to Everest like gamblers to a slot machine. And I suffered greatly from PTSD, the Survivors Guild afterwards. So yeah, I have very complicated feelings about that event to this day. It hasn't been a day in the last 30 years I have not thought about that expedition. It's one of the greatest books ever written by one of the greatest authors alive today. You were the 621st person in history to summit Mount Everest. This season alone, more than 400 climbing permits were issued.

1:20:59What do you make of what's going on? Do you see this just as the commercialization of Everest? Oh, yeah. It's the commercialization of Everest. And I have to say, Everest has gotten a lot safer. When I climbed Everest in 1996, the record was for every five climbers who reached the summit, one died. Now, last year was the safest season on record in terms of summits for death per summit. Last year, five people died. About 850 reached the summit. So, you know, those seem like pretty good odds. But I would warn people that if those same odds were applied to, say, the New York City Marathon, last year, 409 people would have died in the marathon, which would not be considered an acceptable number by anyone.

1:21:46Everest is still really dangerous. It's a lot safer than it was before because clients are given a lot more oxygen. They're required by law now. Each client is required to have their own Sherpa guide. Many elect to have two. Many need more Sherpas because if they use a lot of oxygen, someone's got to carry it up there for them. So on paper, Everest is safer than ever, but there's still tremendous risk from mass casualty incidents like happened in 2014 when an avalanche, one of these ice, you know, big chunks of ice the size of a mansion came down in an avalanche, struck 26 climbers, killed 16 of them, all of whom were Nepali high altitude workers.

1:22:26So Everest is still dangerous, this year especially, because you mentioned those 400 and some climbers. You've got to double that number because each of those climbers, those clients, has a Sherpa with him and sometimes two. So there will be 1 ,000 climbers going for the summit in the next, oh, 10 days, 15 days. They're sort of – the first ropes were put up on the summit only a couple days ago. and the big news is that the first two weeks of the climbing season uh you couldn't go up through the kumbu ice fall because it was too dangerous um uh hanging serac so so the whole climbing season has been delayed by two weeks it means these thousand climbers are all going to be heading for the summit in the same brief windows and that's dangerous there's going to there's likely to be a lot of crowding which makes me really nervous i think it probably makes everyone up there nervous.

1:23:20But, you know, that's the reality. John Krakauer, thank you so much. It's an honor to have you on the show. Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, Sunday at 9 a.m. and noon Eastern on CNN. Aaron Burnett, Out Front, starts now.

1:23:46I'm Eva Longoria, and I'm setting out to really experience France to savor its world-celebrated cuisine and explore the country's rich history. Eva Longoria, searching for France. Now streaming on the CNN app. Influential journalist Cara Swisher is taking a hard look at the longevity industry. There's so much bad information that the really good information gets drowned. The new CNN original series, Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever. Now streaming on the CNN app.