Hurricane Prep, Terror Plot, New Numbers 

0:00Every day, animals across the country face abuse and neglect. And every day, the ASPCA shows up to rescue animals in crisis. But they can't do it alone. Visit ASPCA.org slash need. Become a donor today to provide the care and shelter these animals urgently need. And for a limited time, the ASPCA will send you a free gift as a special thank you. Visit ASPCA.org slash need.

0:32Pamela Brown: Happening now, breaking news. Record-shattering storm hurricane. Hurricane Isaias heads towards the Gulf Coast right now. Folks in its path stocking up and preparing for landfall. We're tracking the storm that could potentially become the country's first hurricane to make landfall in some two years. Plus, Mall of America terror plot. A Minnesota man is now facing charges for allegedly planning to carry out a mass shooting at the country's largest shopping mall. And possible pickups for Democrats in a pair of red states. The new CNN polling just out about how voters in Ohio and Iowa are feeling about their big races and President Trump.

1:18I'm Pamela Brown on the USS Abraham Lincoln and you're in the Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.

1:32Pamela Brown: This is CNN Breaking News. And we're following the breaking news. Hurricane Isaisis taking aim at the northern Gulf Coast, dead set for a weekend landfall as a possible Category 2, with up to 110 mph winds by early tomorrow. Florida and Alabama declaring states of emergency in at least parts of the Panhandle. Take a look at this gas line in Pensacola. Mandatory evacuation orders are in effect as residents prepare for the powerful storm that could potentially bring up to 10 inches of rain and destructive winds. Yes, I was running out of gas and realizing that the storm was coming up in a couple days, so I just really wanted to be prepared to fill up.

2:19Got my generator some gas, too. Took my dog, got her some food at Sam's as I was out today as well.

2:26Pamela Brown: Some Gulf Coast areas like here in Alabama, look at this, are already experiencing coastal flooding. Let's go live right now to CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchare. Allison, what is the storm's current path? Right, so the current path is to continue to the east-northeast at about 9 miles per hour before starting to make more of a due north track as it makes its way toward the Gulf Coast. Right now we've got those sustained winds at 80 miles per hour gusting up to around 100 miles per hour. It is anticipated that this will continue to strengthen over the next 24 hours because over incredibly warm waters of the Gulf, that is fuel for storms like this, likely peaking right around 110 miles per hour.

3:07That is a high-end Category 2. Keep in mind, 111 would be a Category 3, so it's going to be a close call as to exactly how strong this storm is able to get. It will make landfall late Friday. You can see right here all of those watches and warnings in anticipation of that landfall later in the day tomorrow. Storm surge is going to be a big concern for the orange-shaded areas here, essentially from Biloxi all the way over to Port St. Joe. We could be looking at storm surge of 5 to 7 feet, but even the surrounding areas, both on the east and western side, could be looking at 3 to 6 inches of storm surge.

3:42Here's 3 to 6 feet of storm surge. Here's a look at the forecast radar again by 11 a.m. So even tomorrow morning, we could be looking at some of those first outer bands beginning to impact along the Gulf Coast. It will continue to get heavier throughout the rest of the day, peaking by Friday evening as we anticipate that landfall. landfall by Saturday, though, the concern isn't necessarily the coast, but a lot of these areas inland Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, all of these areas could end up picking up significant totals of rainfall accumulation. The maximum wind threat. We are looking at those hurricane force winds around Mobile and Pensacola, but even farther north, Tuscaloosa, Montgomery still looking at 40 to 60 mile per hour winds.

4:19We talk about the heavy rain will four to six inches widespread with some areas as much as 10 inches.

4:25Pamela Brown: It looks like it's going towards New Orleans. Is Is that right? No. So it would be a little bit east of that. And then it starts to curve back once it makes inland and then curves back again in the other direction. But a lot of those details will get fine tuned as we get closer to landfall time tomorrow. All right, Alison Chinchar with the analysis. Thanks very, very much. And a note to our viewers, you can always keep up with severe weather in your area or anywhere else for that matter with the CNN weather app. It's available in the Apple App Store right now. Also happening now, new CNN polls offer a snapshot of crucial midterm races that are now less than four weeks away.

5:05Pamela Brown: And we're seeing that even in reliably red states, Democrats are riding a wave of economic wariness. And that includes the Senate battleground states of Ohio and Iowa. Here, three out of four likely voters say President Trump's policies have increased their cost of living. Keep in mind, the president won both states with double-digit margins, but economic concerns are now chipping away at the GOP's hold. CNN's Elena Treen is over at the White House for us. Elena, as Democrats clearly try to win back Congress, how is this voter dissatisfaction shaping the races in these two states? These are states, Wolf, that I think a lot of Republicans were not thinking they were going to have to spend so many resources in time, money, and energy.

5:52but you're seeing these poll numbers showing why they're so important with just 26 days to go. I want to get into the numbers here and specifically how the president is faring here, because I'd remind you, his message has been throughout his time on the campaign trail that he wants his voters to pretend that he is on the ballot. So let's look at how that might work for him. In Ohio, a state that the president won in 2024 by 11 points, only 36 percent of people approve of his, the job that he has done in office. When you go to Iowa, a state that the president carried by 13 points, 41 percent approve of his handling of his job in office.

6:29Now, the reason, you know, you're thinking, why is this? Why are these the lowest poll numbers that the president is seeing across his two terms in office? And the reason really is the economy. If you look at the views that these voters have on the economy in Ohio and Iowa, the percentage of people who said Trump policies have increased costs for them. Ohio, 76 percent of people are saying that versus 74 percent in Iowa. You get into tariffs specifically, 58 percent of people in Ohio saying they are bad for their state, 55 percent in Iowa saying the same. On the question of is cost of living in the economy a top issue, 49 percent saying yes in Ohio, in Ohio, 48 percent in Iowa.

7:09So clearly the economy really dragging down the president's numbers and raising these concerns for Republicans across the board.

7:17Pamela Brown: Elena, President Trump appeared at his third Texas rally in less than a month. Tell us about that. Yeah, look, this is the same thing. I think, you know, we just walked through the poll numbers. I think they're important to keep in mind. I'd argue, you know, in my conversations with the president and the president's team, his political operations, some of his advisers, they'll dismiss these polling numbers. They say polls have been wrong in the past. But if you look at where the president is also spending his time and a lot of the money from super PACs in these red states. That shows exactly why they are really concerned about these places.

7:48He's been in Texas now three times in less than a month. Republican super PACs are spending more than$100 million on trying to get Ken Paxson across the finish line. And the president has been very vocal that Texas is important, that Texas is going to be crucial to the entire Senate map. Now, the race there, Paxson is running against the Democrat, James Tallarico is very tight. But this isn't just a Texas thing as well. We've seen the president spend a lot of time in a lot of other red states. If you look just over the past couple days, he's also been in Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, Nebraska. He's expected to go back to Alabama, weather dependent on Saturday.

8:24So this is just showing where Republicans really in states where, you know, maybe six months ago, Wolf, strategists would argue these are safe seats. Don't waste your time here. They are needing to put their resources into these places, really seeing that the president and playing defense right now with 26 days to go.

8:41Pamela Brown: Elena Treen at the White House for us. Elena, thank you very much. Also happening now, the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and the other ships that travel with it are now just hours away from returning home to California. This will end the second longest carrier deployment since the Vietnam War. The strike group and its 6 ,000-plus sailors and Marines have been at sea since last November. Pamela is joining us now from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln. Pamela, you did extensive reporting, as all of our viewers remember, from the strike group over the summer when you're out there in the Gulf, the Persian Gulf.

9:18Pamela Brown: How has the energy changed between then and now? It's a totally different vibe on this ship. I can tell you there is a sense of just so much anticipation. This is the day everyone on this ship has been waiting for. And some of them, frankly, told me they didn't think they would get home even this year. So the fact that today is the day they're going to see their loved ones means so much to them. There are thousands on the ship right now, around 4 ,000. Some have already left. And you have new dads, about 122 new dads on the ship, including the air wing. And you have so many young sailors. The average age on this ship, Wolf, is around 23 years old.

9:59And just to think about this historically demanding deployment for them, It started off as what was supposed to be a typical deployment with many port stops. And then the page turned and they were at the center of combat on the front lines, launching strikes, doing Iranian blockades, really in the front lines in a way that you don't typically see from aircraft carriers. So this has really pushed, this deployment has pushed this ship and its crew to the brink. But I can tell you in talking to them, they have really been positive. They feel proud of overcoming the hardships and obstacles that we've been reporting on with the conditions and morale.

10:33And, of course, those dark moments of the attempted suicides. I was told that there were five on this ship alone during this ten-and-a-half-month deployment and then three others within the strike group. So there has been a lot that these sailors have overcome, and they want to be known for their resilience first and foremost. Here's what they told me about what this day means to them. It's really exciting. It's kind of like, oh, we're about to be there, really? Because of how many times we've been extended. So it's like, oh, we're about to be there. But it's like normally, oh, I'm going one day at a time.

11:10Pamela Brown: It's like, oh, so tomorrow it's that day. We're actually going to head forward. It feels like Christmas. It feels like Christmas as like an 11-year-old opening gifts. You're just so ready to get to it. Just very eager. I mentioned the dads who had never met their kids. Well, if I talked to one of them last night, Joey, he has a now 10-month-old. His daughter was born while he was on deployment. And so I asked him about that anticipation, meeting his daughter for the first time today. Here's what he said. It's a terrifying and exciting experience because first child, she's been born December 31st stateside.

11:55Pamela Brown: She was born December 31st for me. She was born January 1st when we were in the South China Sea. So I've just been meeting her through pictures. A couple FaceTimes I was able to get through. And, yeah, absolutely terrifying because I've not so much as changed a diaper in my life.

12:16And he joked with me, Wolf, that he thinks it'll be harder changing the diaper for the first time alone than this 10-and-a-half-month deployment. And in fact, for the new dads on the ship, they have classes that they go to where they learn to change diapers and learn how to take care of a baby, learn how to hold them. So there's a lot of preparation for this big homecoming today and just so much excitement. They have earned it. They have worked so hard. They have done their jobs with courage and sacrifice. And it's just very exciting for them both.

12:45Pamela Brown: Pamela, good to have you back out there on the aircraft carrier. And we'll be checking back with you throughout the morning. So don't go too far away. Thank you very, very much. Still ahead, at least 30 people are dead in the deadliest single attack this year in Ukraine. A Russian strike targets a public bus, and now officials are warning people simply to leave. And next, possible terror plots stopped. What we're learning about the teen suspect at his alleged plan to shoot up the nation's largest mall. Lots going on. You're in the Situation Room.

13:23Pamela Brown: Hey, I'm Anderson Cooper. On my podcast, All There Is, we explore grief and loss in all its complexities. My guest is Lil Jon. He's a rapper, DJ, and producer known for hits like Get Low and Turn Down for What. In February 2026, his 27-year-old son Nathan went missing near Nathan's home in Georgia. Three days later, his body was found in a pond nearby. eye. Lil Jon has a memoir that just came out called I Only Shout So You Can Hear Me. It takes time to heal and I kept myself busy that I didn't let myself mourn. I needed to laugh again. I needed to be silly and interact with people and feel other people's energy and make people happy too.

14:08Pamela Brown: We have to share so other people can see that they can get through it too. 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. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. You may have noticed gambling doesn't require a casino anymore. You can just open up your phone. It's designed to keep us coming back or maybe never even leaving in the first place. We're going to talk to Dr. Timothy Fong, co-director of UCLA's gambling studies program. You're going to learn what your brain is really chasing when you place a bet, and also importantly, how to keep the game from playing you.

14:49Gambling addiction, gambling disorder, is the hidden addiction. You can't smell it, you can't taste it, you can't see it, you can't have a urine drug test. Who are we talking about here, Professor? Who's the most likely demographic to be affected by this? Literally any single human on Earth. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

15:09Pamela Brown: happening now an 18 year old minnesota man has been arrested and charged with terrorism officials say he was planning a shooting at the mall of america in bloomington in support of isis adding he wanted to kill as many people as possible maybe 60 people let's go live right now to cnn law enforcement correspondent whitney wild whitney what more are you learning about this alleged plot. Well, Wolf, the FBI says that this investigation actually goes back to December 2024 when this defendant, 18-year-old Sheikh Doon Abdullahi Mohammed, was just 16 years old. And they say in this nearly two-year investigation, he exchanged hundreds of messages with a confidential human source where his desire and intention and planning of this terrorist attack really came to fruition.

15:59So it begins with him discussing his interest in joining a foreign terrorist organization. At some point, he's sort of shopping for an organization. He liked al-Shabaab. He was interested in al-Qaeda. He was interested in ISIS. And then as time progressed, he was more and more committed to carrying out a mass attack in the United States at the Mall of America. At one point, he had planned to try to go to Somalia and work on behalf of a foreign terrorist organization there. Then he realized he couldn't afford it. So he decided again to carry out this attack here on U.S. soil. Here's more from the FBI about the content of those messages.

16:37The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling. They document the idolization of ideologically motivated violence, a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life, a blind hatred of people of other faiths, and a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community. According to court documents, Mohammed pledged his allegiance to ISIS leaders and claimed to have joined ISIS over a year ago. Mohammed allegedly sought martyrdom in carrying out his plans to murder innocent civilians. Well, his plan was quite simple. He wanted to buy an AK-47 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition and then go to Mall of America, where he had hoped to kill between 30 and 60 people sometime this month.

17:24Here's how he was eventually arrested. An undercover FBI employee sold him an inert AK-47 and up to 200 rounds of live ammunition. Shortly after that deal, Wolf, that's when the FBI moved in, guns drawn to arrest this man. He was in court yesterday. He now has a public defender. We've reached out to that public defender. For now, he will remain in custody, Wolf.

17:46Pamela Brown: And explain, in the documents that the FBI released, they said he was wanted to have this shooting done at the Mall of America because it was owned by a Jewish family. Is that right? That's right. He believed that it was owned by, he said, because it's owned by Jews. And that was blatant in the text messages. And he said it twice, actually. And he thought that if he carried out this attack at the Mall of America, people would stop going there, Wolf. And actually, the affidavit, this 23-page affidavit from the FBI shows that he was inspired and really admired other terrorist attacks, including the attack in New Orleans January 2025, but also the Australian Bondi Beach attack, which targeted Jewish Australians.

18:30Wolf.

18:31Pamela Brown: All right, Whitney Wilde reporting for us. Thank you very, very much. Coming up, CNN exclusive reporting. ICE agents told to ramp up daily immigration arrests just weeks before the midterm elections. We have details. That's next.

18:50Pamela Brown: We have new exclusive reporting this morning. Sources telling CNN immigration and customs enforcement leadership has instructed agents to ramp up the number of daily immigration arrests. This comes as the Trump administration doubles down on immigration crackdowns, despite some Republican hesitation just ahead of the midterm elections. Joining us here in the Situation Room with me is CNN correspondent Priscilla Alvarez, who's been doing excellent reporting on all this. What more are you learning about this new guidance about ICE arrests? Well, Wolf, my sources tell me that the instruction here is not to let up.

19:23In fact, it's the opposite, to ramp up the arrests that they've been doing. To give you a sense, the average daily arrests so far have been around 2 ,000. And they want to up that to 3 ,000 and 19 ,000 weekly. Now, another comparison with that 19 ,000, in June, the high point, according to federal data, was around 12 ,500 in a week. So these numbers indicate a ramp up across the board both daily and weekly. Now, if you're doing the math there, you may see that there's a bit of a delta. And the reason for that is because typically arrests will slow down over the weekend because it's slower and because there are fewer officers on the field.

20:02But generally, what I'm being told is that they want to double down on this crackdown. And officials are describing this to me as a goal. They have repeatedly denied that there's any type of quota and that agents would be or face consequences if they don't meet these numbers. But it is another signal, an indication of the pressure that agents are under. Now, in a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said this, quote, there are no quotas on arrests under President Trump and Secretary Mellon's leadership. ICE has been supercharged to find, arrest and deport illegal aliens from the United States using every lawful tool available.

20:37Now, they have been on the up and up. They hit monthly record highs over the summer, around 46 ,000 people arrested in July, 51 ,000 in August. So there has been a trend here. But even with all of that, the instruction that they were receiving, they, the agents receiving from leadership this week, is we want more. And what's interesting in that, of course, is that it comes against the backdrop of some Republicans being uneasy, both publicly and privately, over the way the administration is doing this. And just one more data point in all of this. In a contract solicitation that we reviewed here at CNN, the department was asking for temporary facilities to basically attach to agency offices around the country for detaining and interviewing immigrants.

21:22So that is yet another indication that they are building out the infrastructure as they are delivering this message to agents to pick up on their arrests.

21:30Pamela Brown: All right, Priscilla, thank you very, very much. Excellent reporting, as I say to you all the time. Appreciate it very much. and our Pamela Brown is aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln right now as sailors and Marines are just hours away from returning home. Pamela? That's right, Wolf. I'm here on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln and as the sun rises right near the San Diego Bay, so is the excitement here on board for the thousands of crew members getting ready to see their family members they've been so anxiously waiting to see for 10 and a half months and just a few hours from now.

22:11Pamela Brown: HAPPENING NOW, AT LEAST 33 PEOPLE WERE KILLED AFTER A RUSSIAN STRIKE SET TWO PUBLIC BUSES ON FIRE IN EASTERN UKRAINE. THIS ATTACK IN KROMATORSK IS THE COUNTRY'S DEADLIEST SINGLE STRIKE THIS YEAR. UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS SAY THERE WERE ALSO 18 PEOPLE INJURED, AUTHORITIES SUSPENDED PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, AND THEY'RE URGING RESIDENTS TO EVACUATE TO SAFER AREAS. Let's go live right now to our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitkin, who's in Berlin. Fred, what more are you learning about this strike? Hi there, Wolf. Well, we know that this happened at around 10 a.m. this morning local time, and that it appears as though those two buses were fairly close to one another.

22:52Nevertheless, what we're hearing from the Ukrainian side is that the munition that must have been dropped in the vicinity of those two buses must have been extremely big. And what we're seeing in the aftermath from that incident is that one of the buses apparently was completely destroyed almost immediately. And the other bus then burned out. As you mentioned, Wolf, more than 30 people were killed. Many, many more remain injured. And as you can imagine, the folks there who are trying to come to terms with this still on the scene with the forensic teams trying to sort things out over there. And the local authorities there immediately stopped all public transport in that town of Kramatorsk and are urging people to go elsewhere.

23:29This town is extremely important for the Ukrainians, Wolf. Kramatorsk is in the Donetsk Oblast, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine. It's a place the Russians have been chipping away at, trying to get to. It's part of a fortress belt of towns that the Ukrainians still hold in that area. However, the situation there has become more and more difficult as the front line has been moving closer to there. And that town is now very much in the range of Russian drones, in the range, of course, also of Russian aerial bombs as well. That used to be pretty much in the rear echelon, used to be a staging area for Ukrainian forces.

24:04But now the local authorities are saying the situation there is getting more and more dangerous, are urging people to leave as the fighting has been getting closer to that area for quite some time now, Wolf.

24:17Pamela Brown: It looks like the Russians are simply trying to kill as many Ukrainians as they can, civilians, children, elderly people, whatever they can find. Is that right? Well, look, the situation certainly for civilians in that area has become extremely dangerous and extremely difficult. If you look at the aftermath, for instance, from this video, we can see that there's those two destroyed buses, but there's also a bunch of netting that we can see around there as well. That's because a lot of the roads, a lot of the streets in that area, those are nets against short distance against smaller drones, simply because those have become such a threat to civilians and of course also to the military that moves through there as well for the local population.

24:56And that's one of the reasons why the local authorities there are urging people to leave that area as fast as possible. The fighting there is getting closer to that area. And of course, with every day that passes, they say that the situation there becomes more dangerous for the folks who are still on the ground, Wolf.

25:11Pamela Brown: Certainly does. Fred Pleitgen reporting for us. Thank you very, very much. Also happening now, home at last in just hours, the USS Abraham Lincoln Aircraft Carrier Battle Group and the rest of its strike force will arrive in San Diego. And that means thousands of U.S. sailors and Marines are finally returning home after a deployment that lasted close to 11 months. My co-anchor Pamela Brown is back aboard the Abraham Lincoln. Pamela, what are sailors saying to you right now about the impending return? They're telling me, Wolf, that they are a changed person from when this deployment started 10 and a half months ago.

25:52They left port in November of last year. And there have been so many twists and turns during their deployment. And also, as you well know, we've covered it extensively, some dark moments as well. There were food shortages, supply shortages, eight attempted suicides across the fleet, Abraham Lincoln and the fleet, including five here on the ship, including a man overboard, one of the youngest sailors on this ship, that man overboard. And so there have been some tough times, but the sailors I've been speaking to, They're not focused on that. They're focused on the fact that they have overcome those tough times.

26:25They have overcome those obstacles, and they are much tougher now than they were when they started this journey. But the fact that they're going home today, Wolf, means more to them than words can explain. There is so much emotion, excitement, smiles right now. A lot of these sailors I spoke to said they weren't convinced they would actually be coming home this year because of the extensions and just so many unknowns and so much uncertainty along the way. Here's what one sailor told me about that. It was like a breath of fresh air, a weight off the chest. It was amazing. Once we really left this fleet, that's when we knew we were going home for real.

27:07And it felt amazing to actually tell our families, be like, hey, we're coming home. Expect us to be home this year. Because there was a lot of speculation that we were not coming home this year. We were even making bets sometimes. Really? You guys think we're coming home or not? But it was all fun and games.

27:29So they are going home. Their family members, thousands of them, will be waiting at the port there in San Diego Bay. And last night, Wolf, I had an opportunity to sit down with the captain of the Abraham Lincoln, Captain Dan Keeler. And I asked him about some of those accountability questions about the conditions on the ship, about those attempted suicides. And he did recognize the hardships along the way. He recognized the attempted suicides, like I said, eight across the strike group, which one military official said is a high number, five on this ship alone. But he also said everyone who started this deployment is going home alive.

28:05He said there were serious mental health cases. They were taken off the ship and there were many resources on board as well. I also asked him about what were the lessons learned from this long deployment. And this is what he told me about what he would do differently next time in terms of communicating with family members of the crew. I thought we did a very, very good job communicating with the crew, with me talking to the crew. I found it because of the operational security restrictions and concerns, like legitimate security concerns, when you're in open conflict for an extended period, it was difficult to communicate with families.

28:46And I think we're looking at ways to make that better.

28:53So that is a big takeaway for him and also for the Navy at large. Navy leadership is already communicating more in terms of the aircraft carrier theater Roosevelt telling them ahead of time, look, this is going to be a long deployment, setting those expectations on the front end. Back to you, Wolf.

29:09Pamela Brown: All right, Pamela Brown, don't go too far away. We'll check back with you in just a little while. Also coming up, Republican Senator Tom Tillis standing by to join us live here in the Situation Room. We'll talk about the direction of his party as he retires from Capitol Hill. That and a lot more coming up next.

29:32Pamela Brown: HAPPENING NOW. THE U.S. AMBASSADOR TO GREECE, KIMBERLY GUILFOIL, AND FORMER FIANCEE OF DONALD TRUMP JUNIOR FACES GROWING SCRUTINY THIS MORNING AFTER THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTED A FORMER TRUMP DONOR ACCUSED THE AMBASSADOR OF ASKING HIM TO PAY A$100 ,000 CREDIT CARD BILL BEFORE HER SENATE CONFIRMATION HEARINGS. According to the journal, she allegedly offered him access to Trump administration officials. Here's what that donor told ABC News. Listen. Did you think that she was asking for that payment in exchange for something? Oh, absolutely. She made it very clear, and the text messages make it very clear.

30:15Pamela Brown: She was so desperate for me to send that$100 ,000. She said, if you do this for me, and it's in the text messages, I will be your ride or die in Trump world. Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle's lawyer disputes the messages while a U.S. Embassy official says, and I'm quoting now, Guilfoyle's career in and out of public service is guided by deep and abiding values. She was fully vetted by the bipartisan Senate Foreign Relations Committee and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. The ambassador remains committed to representing the American people with dedication and integrity, end quote. Here with us live in the Situation Room right now is retiring Republican Senator Tom Tillis from North Carolina.

31:00Pamela Brown: He's the author of a very important, excellent new book entitled How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents, The Trouble with Sycophants, Courage, Outsourcing, and Partisan Group Thing. This is the book. Senator, thanks very much for writing. You're very blunt in the book, and I learned a lot just going through it. I want you to listen to what the Secretary of State Marco Rubio said about that report in the Wall Street Journal just moments ago. Listen to this. I'm not going to comment on a story that literally posted a few hours ago. I get the game, okay? I've been in this for a long time. Within hours, a member of Congress will write you a letter demanding you answer questions to something we've never seen before.

31:40I don't even know if it's true or not true. So it's just not going to work that way. And it most certainly is not going to work that way when I'm sitting in another country.

31:49Pamela Brown: He's overseas right now. When it comes to accountability in the Trump administration, does Congress need to do a better job? I think one of our core roles, I talk about this in the book, is oversight. Look, we want to make our colleagues better. When Republicans are in the White House, I think oversight is good. If we find something that's concerning, we should pursue it. You know, in some respects, I wish that like Jean Pirro maybe would spend time doing the homework before she deems somebody worthy of an indictment. I'm thinking Jay Powell. So there's a side of me that says, look, I've seen the evidence that broke yesterday on a Guilfoyle.

32:28Let's see where the Wall Street Journal. Yeah, let's see where the evidence goes. What did you think of that? I think on its face, it's horrible optic. Let's assume that it can all be above board. It's similar to this Lacevita Blair consulting with the leadership of the Republic of Serbia. From the outside, it looks awful. I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but those are very clearly legitimate questions that should be asked of members of Congress.

32:55Pamela Brown: Because President Trump is responding to that New York Times report that two of his political advisors, James Blair and Chris Lasavita, traveled to this small Russia-aligned territory to advise its government on voting issues. Trump posted this on social media. Let me read it. I do not have any idea who else they work for, but will, on reflection, ask them, and if there is a conflict, I will terminate them immediately, end quote. You told my colleague Casey Hunt, and I'm quoting you now, if the reports are true, they should get out of that relationship very, very quickly. Should President Trump fire them?

33:31Pamela Brown: What do you think? You know, I'm a go where the facts lead sort of a guy. But let me tell you about the facts of the Republic of Srpska. I've met with Dodik before. Now, Dodik's not the president now, but he's the most powerful person in this republic. And it's a tenuous relationship in Bosnia and Herzegovina with this region of the Republic of Srpska. Dodik is buddies with Vucic. Dodik, who leans towards Russia more often than not over in Serbia. Dodik is buddies with Putin. Putin has occupied Ukraine. This region is where Putin ultimately wants to go. And I'm saying, guys, and we know that Russia has tried to, we know that through hybrid warfare, Russia is going all over Europe affecting the outcomes of elections.

34:15Then they have the sham elections in the occupied territories of Ukraine. I was just over in Kharkiv a couple of weeks ago, and I'm telling you, Russia is playing us like a fiddle in terms of showing any sort of olive branch towards them. Kushner saying a win-win, really a win-win with somebody who is saying they're going to denazify Ukraine, whose president is Jewish. I mean, the way that they are trying to spin what they're doing in Ukraine and what Putin ultimately wants to do through the whole of that part of Eastern Europe is very concerning to me. We should not have any fingerprints in the Republican.

34:55Pamela Brown: He is Jewish. Yeah, 100 percent. I've spoken to him about his history. Should President Trump fire these two? I think that they need to answer questions. The problem with Washington is everybody, I can't on the one hand say what bonehead indicted James Powell for taking a picture of seashells on a North Carolina beach that said 86-47. I can't say, you know, that seems a little bit over the top, but let's the facts go where they go and not say the same thing here. But Guilfoyle, Las Avidas, Blair, they need to answer a lot of questions because on its face, it's at best horrible optics and at worst something that's worthy of a termination.

35:38Pamela Brown: See what happens. The Democrats say they plan to investigate allegations of corruption and abuses of power by the Trump administration if, and it's a huge if, they take back the House of Representatives. Would you support those oversight investigations? You know, if they're done properly, Wolf, one of the reasons I've been criticized for not even considering voting for impeachment after January 6th. I said, guys, it's unlike any impeachment in history of a president of the United States. You didn't let him sit. You didn't give him defense counsel. You did it quickly. It wasn't deliberate. If it's a deliberate and thorough and fair investigation, of course, if it's a snap one where everybody has the outcome before they even do their opening comments.

36:17And that's just another one of the things about Washington that I think is broken.

36:21Pamela Brown: Speaking of the midterm elections that are coming up very, very soon, President Trump repeated this pitch to voters last night at a Texas rally for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Listen to this. Pretend that I'm on the ballot because we get a lot more votes. We get when I'm on the ballot, we get exactly 48 percent more votes. You endorse Republican Michael Watley, who's running for your Senate seat in North Carolina. Will that message help Republicans hold your seat? No, it's a math issue in North Carolina. North Carolina has 40 percent unaffiliated voters, 30 percent even or 30-30 Democrat Republican.

37:04You can't win. If everybody in the MAGA Bay shows up, it's simply not enough to win an election in North Carolina. Michael needs to go out and resonate with the unaffiliated voters the way that I have. You know, I kept this seat. I'm the first senator since Jesse Helms to get reelected in the Senate seat. It's always a tight race there. And unless you're in touch with the unaffiliated difference makers in the state, it's almost impossible for a Republican or really now a Democrat. The thing I love about North Carolina, it is legitimately a purple state and it's a microcosm of the U.S. electorate.

37:36If Republican or Democrat candidates do not resonate with the majority of the unaffiliated, they have no path to victory.

37:42Pamela Brown: You probably saw the most recent polls. Seventy-four percent of likely voters now say Trump's policies have increased their cost of living. Twenty percent say they've had no effect. Only six percent say they've decreased. Why should voters keep Republicans in power right now? Well, I believe first and foremost, we have to look at some of these candidates. Tallarico and Texas, in spite of my issues with Paxton and the fact that the president should have had Cornyn coming back, we'd have walked into that seat. These are some pretty radical people. Tallarico has been supportive of nuking the filibuster since 2022 when Biden tried to force Democrats to do it.

38:22So I'm worried about an overreaching Congress. It's just going to continue this tumult, Wolf. The point that I'm trying to make in the book is we're an exceptional nation. And unfortunately, a part of American exceptionalism is the next administration wants to beat the last one in some of the abuses and overreaches. And we have to stop that cycle for the good of this country.

38:44Pamela Brown: You've written a pretty blunt and amazing book. It's a long one. How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents. And speaking of presidents, on the back cover of your book, and I'm sure you went. Unfortunately, my little granddaughter saw it. there's a whole bunch of quotes from Trump about you yeah he was a quitter now he can have all the fun he wants for a few months with some of his rhino friends republican in name only screwing the republican party then there's a quote from Trump he didn't run because I didn't support him senator Tillis is a loser stone cold he was forced to leave the senate because I wouldn't support him and he quit what's your reaction to Trump I mean well I you know he's brutal you see that my uh my responses they were private were pretty direct the president knows full well that i told him he needed to find a replacement before he ever talked about looking for somebody there because i documented that too the point that i made when i told him that it was time to find a replacement in a text is that i judged that between the liberation day and i quote there's some quotes from my letter to my conference members then.

39:55And his rolling this well-intended but poorly architected health care policy out was going to lead to a bloodbath this cycle. I hope that we're able to limit our losses in the Senate. But we're hitting, you know, we're getting health care messes. It's like Obamacare, well-intended, poorly executed. The one thing they have in common, they were rammed down Congress's throats on a partisan basis. We have got to get out of this cycle, get Congress to start working to better gather because the American people are getting tired of it. But the president and I will say, if you take a look at the content of that text, the president, I have continued to maintain contact and communicate.

40:35You still talk to him? Absolutely. Interesting. Yeah. And so, you know, I respect the president for that because the other people would have probably, you know, just shut down. So he's trying to deal with me and my frankness, but he needs to understand it's only because I want Republicans to succeed. There's nothing in this for me, except that I've got a party I've invested an entire adult life in, and I want it to be relevant in statewide elections and federal elections.

40:59Pamela Brown: Well, the book is amazing, How to Lose Friends and Antagonize Presidents. And you've lost some friends and have antagonized presidents, so you know the subject. You know the subject. Well, thank you very much for writing it. Thank you. I think everybody who reads this book will learn a lot. I appreciate it. Appreciate it very much. Thank you. We'll be right back.

41:27Pamela Brown: This is CNN Breaking News. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Pamela Brown on the USS Abraham Lincoln, and you're in the Situation Room. And I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We're watching lots of breaking news right now. And let's begin this hour with a homecoming nearly a year in the making. A U.S. aircraft carrier and a handful of ships that often travel with that aircraft carrier are about to dock in California for the first time since November. The USS Abraham Lincoln Strike Group was deployed for 321 days, one of the longest since the Vietnam War. Much of that time was spent fighting the war with Iran, with thousands of missions flown and dozens of Iranian ships sunk.

42:15Pamela Brown: So it's been a very emotional time for all the U.S. sailors and Marines and their families. Pamela is joining us now live from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln. Pamela, I know you spent some time with the strike group back in July when it was in the Persian Gulf area. Some of these sailors have had major life changes since they left and have been traveling with the aircraft carrier. How are they now preparing for the new adjustment that's about to take place? Yeah, many of them told me they feel like they're a different person now. You have to remember that the average age on this ship is around 23 years old.

42:52And this was a historically demanding deployment. So many of them right now are just thinking about being reunited with their loved ones. The energy is just palpable. I don't know if you can see behind me here, Wolf, but we have some of the sailors out here. This is their final meeting. I'll have my photographer, Greg, pan over now and just show some of them are gathered right here. They've been clapping. They've been seeming to give rah-rah speeches to one another because they have bonded in ways they could have never expected when they left port last November. They thought it would just be a typical deployment where they would have lots of port visits.

43:26Suddenly they found themselves in a combat zone on the front lines, launching missions, thousands of missions, as well as doing the Iranian blockade of the ports. And so this crew has been pushed to the brink as well as this ship. Now they finally get to be reunited, including new dads. There's 122 dads on this ship who have never met their child. They were born during deployment. I spoke to one of them, Joey, whose first child was born during this deployment. Here's what he told me.

43:58Pamela Brown: It's a terrifying and exciting experience because first child, she's been born December 31st stateside. She was born December 31st for me. She was born January 1st when we were in the South China Sea. So I've just been meeting her through pictures, a couple of FaceTimes I was able to get through. And yeah, absolutely terrifying because I've not so much as changed a diaper in my life. Fortunately, though, Wolf, they have classes here on board for those new dads to teach them how to change diapers and hold a baby. So that when they get to meet their child for the first time, they won't be a complete stranger to how to be a dad.

44:42And it's just a very exciting time here. This crew has overcome so much. As you know, we reported on the poor conditions, the supply chain shortages, the suicide attempts, five on this ship alone. And they've overcome those obstacles. And now they're all going back home to be reunited just a few hours from now.

45:02Pamela Brown: Let's not forget the Iranians often were at least trying to target that aircraft carrier and the destroyers and the other battleships. More than 100 times. Yeah. And so that was the sirens were going off. People were on alert. The defense secretary, as you know, Pamela, Pete Hegseth, he was also aboard the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier this week. He said all of the sailors in the strike group would receive the presidential unit citation, the military's highest unit award. What else did he have to say and how was his visit received? Well, I'll tell you that award really meant a lot to this crew that they're getting this recognition.

45:39It's a rare award to get for a unit like this. And so they were really excited about that. Some of them really liked Pete Hegseth's message. They felt like it was very motivating. They appreciated that he acknowledged all of their hardship and sacrifices they made over this 10 and a half months. A couple sailors I spoke to said that he took ownership of the fact that he did extend this deployment twice. He said, I signed off on that twice. So they appreciated that he took ownership of that. But some other sailors I spoke to said they wanted to hear more accountability from him on some of the supply chain shortages and other issues on the ship.

46:17Some of them feel like there could have been better planning, preparation, and they didn't necessarily like the fact that he was trying to pin the blame on the media rather than taking ownership of that. But, you know, Wolf, this isn't a monolith. Everyone here has different viewpoints, right, and different experiences here on the deployment, different reactions to that speech. But I will tell you one through line is they are all ready to see their families today. This is the day they have all been looking forward to.

46:44Pamela Brown: I'm so happy for those sailors. those Marines who were aboard that aircraft carrier. Pamela Brown is there as well. She's aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln. Pamela, thanks very much for your excellent reporting, and you'll be back later this hour with more. At the same time, President Trump is headlining his third Texas rally in less than a month, and protesters actually stole some of his spotlight. Listen to this.

47:13Pamela Brown: The president had to deal with at least a dozen interruptions last night in San Antonio as he stumped for Senate candidate Ken Paxton. Despite a new audio leak of Paxton questioning if Trump is hurting his campaign, the president is still supporting him. Listen to this. So you need to go and vote for Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate. If you get elected on job performance, you're going to have a blowout because there's nobody like him, right? Even Ted Cruz agrees. Vote for Ken, get him in there. It's so important. It's vital. And I think you will. I think it's, there's no way you vote for the other guy.

47:55Pamela Brown: CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is here with me in the Situation Room. Jeff, is the president's continued support of Paxton one measure of just how important he views the Senate race? I mean, there's no doubt about it. Of all the races to go, President Trump keeps going back to Texas again and again, trying to pull Ken Paxton, the embattled attorney general of Texas, over the finish line. But one of the reasons for this is he's responsible for him becoming the nominee. Of course, Ken Paxton was running against Senator John Cornyn in the primary. The White House got involved.

48:27The president endorsed him. And now they have been forced to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to try and rescue him. So that is one of the reasons the president is going to Texas again. He's likely to overturn. They're trying to get all those Trump supporters to vote for Ken Paxton. But it's hardly a sign of strength when the Republican president is going back to a red state like Texas, but more importantly, spending so much money trying to defeat James Tallarico, the Democrat.

48:53Pamela Brown: Because that money could have been spent in other states where these races are very tight as well. New CNN polls also offer a snapshot of some of those key Senate races, specifically in Iowa and Ohio. What can you tell us about that? Well, it's so interesting. I mean, the final month of this campaign, the fight for control of the Senate, is playing out in red states. I mean, it is a very unusual situation that Republicans are spending so much money in these states. But if you take a look at some of the sentiment here behind why this is happening, look at the economy and cost of living. It is the top issue that voters are thinking about in these races.

49:30In Iowa, 48 percent. In Ohio, 49 percent. Democracy, of course, is one of the issues. Immigration, the war in Iran. But the economy and cost of living is really driving everything here. But in the Senate race in Iowa, there was a debate last evening between the Republican, a candidate. She's the member of Congress, Ashley Hinson, and the Democratic state legislator, Josh Couric. They had this exchange showing why this race is so critical. I believe that we need to have safe and secure borders, and I want to ensure that every Iowan and every American has safe and secure borders and safe communities.

50:02And I'm willing to work with anyone, including President Trump, on this issue. You trashed the president during the primary, and now you're doing ads saying you're going to work with him. It's a tale of two turics. And I'll be President Trump's ally when it is important for Iowa, but I will push back on him. He knows this because I talk to him regularly on things that are wrong for our state. And that's true no matter who's in the White House. that's true no matter who is governing and who has the gavel. And our poll is showing that there's no clear leader in this race. It's a margin of error race here.

50:30But Ashley Hinson is one of the Republican Senate candidates who's been traveling across the state and distancing herself from the president, particularly on the war in Iran. But if you look at what is hanging over this entire campaign, this really frames the campaign. Take a look at this. Trump policies have increased costs. People are blaming the Trump policies for this. 76 % in Ohio, 74 % in Iowa. Trump, of course, ran for re-election in 2024 on the idea of bringing prices down. Three-fourths of the voters in both of these red states believe that his policies have increased costs. So that really explains, above anything else, why the White House is so under the gun in this midterm election and why the president is going to these red states.

51:17But people blame him for the economy and rising costs.

51:20Pamela Brown: High costs of gas and food products. And diesel and everything else. Yeah, definitely. Jeff Zellamy, thanks very much for joining us. You bet. Always good to have you with me in this situation. Always good to be here, Wolf. Nice. Still ahead, Krista Pike's first words when she woke up from a botched execution. And I'm quoting her now. Where am I and who are you? We'll have an update on her case and later the CDC weighing in after a researcher died at a Russian plague lab. What steps are U.S. officials now taking just ahead? We have details in the Situation Room.

51:59Pamela Brown: Happening now, renewed attention on the death penalty after the same lethal drug that failed to kill Krista Pike last week in Tennessee was successfully used last night in Texas. 46-year-old Jamal Howard was put to death for the murder of a convenience store clerk more than two decades ago. Howard's execution was the nation's first since the botched attempt in Nashville. Pike is still in the hospital after she survived two lethal injections. Her attorney says she woke up angry and confused and very aware that the state had tried to execute her. A direct quote. CNN senior national correspondent Ryan Young is in Nashville for us.

52:39Pamela Brown: So what happens next, Ryan? Yeah, Wolf, well, look, this has never happened before. So there's so many questions in this case. Her attorneys were fighting yesterday for the state to preserve all the evidence involved in this case. And, of course, that courtroom proceeding lasted some 90 minutes yesterday. The attorneys from Pike's side wanted to make sure, when we talk about all evidence, the needles that were left behind, the 911 call, video evidence that was from the surveillance video from inside where the execution took place. They wanted all that evidence. The state was arguing there was a lot that they may not be able to gather because some of it was transported to the hospital with Krista Pike.

53:14Pamela Brown: But then the judge ruled in their favor. But the other thing the attorneys were fighting for was more access to their client. Of course, she is still shackled to her bed inside that hospital room. The state saying that she has tried to escape before, so they wanted to make sure nothing like that happened again. But her attorneys were saying she's in no shape right now to do any of that. And also, she's still suffering from the effects of the medicine that she was given during that botched execution. Take a listen to one of her attorneys talk about her condition. I was not in the room when she woke up, so I don't want to speculate too much.

53:47Our understanding was the first thing she said was, where am I and who are you? There's still a lot of cognitive confusion and so I will say that.

54:01Pamela Brown: Yeah well if all executions in the state are on hold right now as the government goes through an exhaustive sort of investigation to see what went wrong here but I can tell you not everyone was happy in court yesterday to hear that she was surviving in fact there were several people here who thought the victim, Colleen Slimmer, has been forgotten in this case. Take a listen to one of the people who showed up here to let their voice be heard. It's disgusting and the worst part is that Colleen has been forgotten. All we hear about is Krista, Krista, Krista. Today in that courtroom as I sat in there and listened and then on the steps just a few minutes ago the attorney talked about cruel and unusual punishment and when is enough enough.

54:43I would say she doesn't know cruel and unusual punishment. Colleen is the one that knew cruel and unusual punishment.

54:53Pamela Brown: Yeah, Wolf, this is becoming very political. People on both sides are basically calling for a stop until the state figures out exactly what went wrong. We know even one of the candidates running for governor has asked for the electric chair to come back. So this will be a conversation that will be ongoing. But right now, people are wondering how Crystal Pike will move forward. And, of course, we're told even one of her arms shows very visible damage from this botched execution. So we'll continue to check in. All right, Ryan Young, we'll continue to check in with you as well. Thank you very, very much.

55:24Pamela Brown: Also happening now, Russia's health watchdog denies reports that a second person has fallen ill after a lab technician died of an undisclosed illness. The 28-year-old woman worked at a Siberian institute that studies the plague and other infectious diseases. But Russian officials say there is no risk of an epidemic. Still, global health experts are urging caution and asking Moscow for more transparency. And here in the United States, the new CDC chief says the agency is working alongside others to contain any potential threats. We're making sure that we understand exactly what that threat is. We are very confident that the threat to the United States is extremely low.

56:10There are about 200 flights that come into the United States from Siberia, that region. We are working with Department of Homeland Security, working Department of State, Department of War, and other agencies within the government to make sure that we know exactly if anyone from that area comes into the United States. We're very well positioned to make sure that we are protected from a potential threat like that.

56:36Pamela Brown: And joining us now is the infectious disease expert, Dr. Celine Gounder. She's also editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News. Dr. Gounder, thanks so much for joining us. Is what the CDC director just described there enough to prevent any unwanted diseases from actually entering our country? Well, if we really have two different questions at play here. One is, is this going to be the next pandemic? And I can say, no, this is not going to be the next pandemic. But that's a separate question from, was there something nefarious happening at this research institute? Did an accident happen?

57:15Were the measures in place to prevent accidents rigorous enough? Those are two separate sets of questions. This does not really match up very well. The response does not match up very well with a case of pneumonic plague. It's not a very transmissible infection. People don't usually transmit to others until they are very end stage with their symptoms, their disease. And so as a result, it's very unlikely for something like this because the dose of exposure you need and the closeness of exposure and the context of the exposure, that makes it very difficult for something like this to really spread widely.

57:54It's also easily controlled with and treated with antibiotics. People might point to the Black Death. Well, that was in the 1300s before we had modern medicine and very different living conditions. But the other question I think is very much of concern is what was happening at this anti-plague institute and should the U.S. be concerned for other reasons? Yeah.

58:17Pamela Brown: And for viewers who might be thinking, Dr. Gounder, back to how COVID-19 started, a lot of people would say similar to Russia in this situation, China was not very forthcoming about the initial COVID outbreak at the time. How concerned should we be that this could be, God forbid, another COVID-like situation? Again, you know, I really don't think that's what we're looking at here. If you look at what infectious pathogens they were working with at that lab, largely bacterial infections, cholera, tularemia, they were working on hantavirus, but hantavirus, people might remember from earlier this year.

59:00That's also not a very transmissible infection. Now, COVID is very different. It's an airborne infection. You have asymptomatic transmission, so people without symptoms can transmit. It's very infectious. Had this actually been, let's say, a case of pneumonic plague, pneumonic plague is not very infectious. It's highly treatable with antibiotics. If you give antibiotics soon after the exposure, you can prevent further transmission in cases. So it's really comparing apples and oranges here.

59:33Pamela Brown: I want to turn quickly while I have you, Dr. Gounder, to another story we've been following. CNN reported that the measles outbreak in Pennsylvania is the largest and deadliest the U.S. has experienced in more than three decades, with more than 145 cases reported in just the past week alone. Put this into some context for us. Just how serious is this? This is the infectious disease Americans should be concerned about right now. It's not what is happening in Siberia. It's what is happening right here in the United States with measles. And one of the things that people really underappreciate about measles is that measles virus infects your immune cells and it wipes out your memory to prior infections and vaccinations.

1:00:18So it's sort of like reverting your immune system to an infant state, infancy, and leaving you highly vulnerable to various other infections. It's similar to HIV in the sense that in HIV, you die from what we call opportunistic infections. So it's the additional infections you get because your immune system is weak. Similarly with measles, you end up getting pneumonia, diarrheal illness, sepsis, etc. And that's what actually leads to the death afterwards. And I think people need to understand this is very serious. This is not a common cold. This can be quite deadly. Dr.

1:00:57Pamela Brown: Celine Gounder, always good to have you with us in the Situation Room. Thank you very much. My pleasure. And I want to take a moment right now to urge all of our viewers to check out my co-anchor, Pamela Brown's new women's health series. It's called Body Language. The first four episodes are officially live on CNN.com, and you can watch all of them for free. The topics include egg freezing, GLP-1s, perimenopause, and breast reductions. Pamela's goal is to help all people, not just women, understand women's health and the confusing and often isolating issues within it. You can watch body language on CNN by scanning the QR code you see on your screen.

1:01:40Pamela Brown: There it is right there. Congratulations to Pamela on this very important new project. We're so very, very proud of her. Up next, the NFL gets involved in the battle over prediction markets. What the league is now asking of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1:02:05Pamela Brown: New this morning, the NFL is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let states regulate prediction apps as if they were gambling. The league notes that more than half of all trading volume on prediction markets on the first Sunday of this season was related to the NFL, a whopping, get this,$1.8 billion. CNS senior reporter Marshall Cohn is here with us in the Situation Room. So what did the NFL say in its filing? Well, this is a really big deal for a few reasons. Before we get into the legal arguments, I just want to tell you why this matters. Number one, like you said, most of the trading activity on these sites comes from sports, and football is the biggest by far.

1:02:47So when the NFL speaks, people listen. Number two, this pits the NFL against the Trump administration, which has been all in on prediction markets. And also, number three, the NFL is now breaking from some other leagues like MLB and NHL, hockey and baseball, that have partnerships with prediction markets. So this is all about who gets to regulate prediction markets. Currently, they're regulated by the federal government as if they are financial exchanges or financial markets. but states say that they think this is gambling and they want to apply their much more aggressive gambling laws. And now the NFL has taken a side and they are siding with the states and they want the Supreme Court to decide quickly.

1:03:27Let me read for you a quote from their filing that came in overnight. They said billions of dollars will be bet on NFL games through prediction markets each season and any delay from the court will result in increasing consumer harm and risks to game integrity. They went on to say that despite the NFL's urging, the commission, that's the Trump administration, and operators like Calci have thus far failed to implement appropriate safeguards. Obviously, the companies like Calci and Polymarket strongly disagree with that. They say that they take market integrity very seriously. But they've got a real fight on their hands now, too, Wolf, because it's not just the NFL.

1:04:06Look at this map. 40 states filed their arguments last night. That's a lot of yellow on that map. All those states agree that they believe this is gambling and it should be regulated as such. Well, one last note, of course, for full disclosure, CNN has a partnership with Calci. We use their data to cover major events, but they don't influence our coverage and we don't trade on prediction markets.

1:04:29Pamela Brown: Good point. Thank you very much. Marshall Cohen reporting for us. And just ahead, we're going to take you back to the USS Abraham Lincoln as the strike group is now just hours from port out in California. My co-anchor Pamela Brown is there. Pamela? That's right. Well, if I'm back on the USS Abraham Lincoln, a very different vibe here from when I was here in July. That's because in just hours from now, these crew members are going to be reunited with their family after historically demanding deployment. We'll have that for you coming up.

1:05:09Pamela Brown: Splash down for NASA's SpaceX Crew-12. The Dragon capsule just dropped into the ocean off the coast of California. The mission included two NASA astronauts, a European Space Agency astronaut, and a Roscomos cosmonaut. Crew 12 headed to the International Space Station back on February 13th. Welcome back to Earth, Crew 12.

1:05:36Pamela Brown: That happening now, nearly a year of worry and uncertainty is about to come to an end for thousands of U.S. sailors. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and its strike group have been deployed since November. But today they're arriving back in California, ending one of the longest carrier deployments of our lifetime. My co-anchor and friend Pamela Brown is live from the deck of the Abraham Lincoln. You've been talking to these sailors and Marines about the impending return. What are they saying? I've been talking to so many of them, Wolf, and the excitement is palpable. But also there's some mixed emotions.

1:06:14A lot of these crew members made bonds of a lifetime. You know, they have been on this historically demanding deployment for 10 and a half months. They've gotten through many obstacles. And it's surreal to them that this day has arrived, that they're going to be reunited with their family. Some of them didn't think they'd be going home this year because of the extensions in the deployment and the fact that this ship, the Abraham Lincoln, was such a central ship on the war with Iran, with the blockades as well as all of the missions. There were thousands of flight missions off this ship. But today is a day about the homecoming.

1:06:48And right now I am here with Taj Riddle. He is an enlisted sailor, and he has been doing a lot of work here on the flight deck throughout deployment. And he came up to me. We were chatting, and you were telling me you can't wait to see your family today.

1:07:01Pamela Brown: I can't wait to see my family. Yes, man, that's correct. And I appreciate it. I just want to say I appreciate y 'all for the coverage and the awareness bringing it to our deployment so we can get home a little bit speedily. It seemed like we were just kind of left out there and whatnot, and we didn't know when we was getting home. But when y 'all showed up, y 'all kind of made it happen. That's what it feels like. So I just want to give a big thanks to y 'all. Well, thank you for saying that. I know the uncertainty was one of the hardest parts of this deployment because when you started, you thought it would be a regular deployment.

1:07:28You'd have lots of port calls. Suddenly you find yourself in the center of the action. What has this deployment been like for you? Well, it's been a range of emotion. It's kind of been like one of those trials where you learn yourself and you kind of go through a lot of things, like core principles as far as patience, acceptance, having faith to and whatnot, and just having strength, inner strength. It's like you're finding your inner self and whatnot. But it was a disappointment, but it wasn't nothing I wasn't used to last deployment. It was like a four - or five-month deployment, and we were supposed to do a 7th Fleet then, but we got called into Action 5th Fleet.

1:08:01So I was kind of already used to it, but the level of uncertainty has been unmatched compared to anything I can't explain. I can't even compare to anything. I don't know. How did you get through it? Talk us through how you were able to keep that resilience and that mental strength through all of that uncertainty and all the obstacles you all had to face here on board. Well, now that I'm here today, or now that we're here today, and we're about to pull in, it seems like a blink of an eye. And I really don't know how I got through it. But the things I used to help me was like, you know, I'm a spiritual guy.

1:08:36So I read scripture a little bit and then I just worked out yeah kept myself physically active and whatnot and I set workout goals and whatnot and then I have friends you know and whatnot so it kind of just make the thing go by create a little bit of a distraction and whatnot and um yeah that's kind of what I did just just read scripture worked out just set workout goals and have enjoy time with my friends so you all are all amazing you've had so much courage and sacrifice I know there have been some bright moments and also some darker moments. There was a man overboard as well. I mean, that must have been a tough day.

1:09:08Yes, ma 'am. That was a tough day. I mean, really don't want to say it, but you know, a lot of people just kind of been, you know, they're on edge a little bit and the more uncertainty increased and for him to actually do, you know, what a lot of sailors could have been contemplating. It just, you know, it's one of those things that hit different and just show you like, okay, you're not the only one that's feeling like this you know you but he may be the only one that took action but so yeah you know my heart goes out to him and his family and whatnot and uh i hope he's well now fortunately everyone started okay what does that mean that means we're turning all right we're turning a few hours away from port just as we wrap up just tell us Taj what you are most looking forward to coming home after this appointment well what i'm most looking forward to is kind of So reuniting with family.

1:10:03Over the time of this deployment, I realized how important family is. Now I ain't doing nothing but getting older, and it seems like I'm growing more disconnect. So I want to appreciate land because I've been away from land for like 11 months. So I just want to, I look forward to showing gratitude to the things that's back on land. You know, that's it. You feel like a changed person in a way? Hopefully. I feel like a changed person, but when I get back on land, everything just might retract to me, my old ways or whatnot, you know, old habits. not being appreciative, overlooking things. So I feel like I'm a change man, but you know, land will test you always.

1:10:36Land will test you always, and so will deployment. And you all have done an incredible job. We all thank you. I speak on behalf of all of our viewers. We thank you for your service, all of the sacrifice and courage you had during this deployment, and all of your shipmates here as well. Thank you, Tosh.

1:10:50Pamela Brown: Yes, ma 'am. Thank you for your support. Back to you, Wolf. All right. Excellent work out there on the aircraft carrier, Pamela Brown. Thank you very much for bringing us these very, very personal and emotional stories from these sailors, these Marines, who have been gone for almost a year. Now they're about to come back here to the United States. That aircraft carrier strike group is about to arrive in San Diego, and we'll hear more from your reporting. Thank you very much for doing it. Also happening now, splashdown for NASA's SpaceX Crew-12. The Dragon capsule just dropped into the ocean off the coast of California.

1:11:25Pamela Brown: This mission included two NASA astronauts, a European Space Agency astronaut, and a Roscosis cosmonaut. Crew 12 headed to the International Space Station back on February 13th. Welcome back to Earth, Crew 12. There you see the arrival. It's coming back. And we're very happy that they're back and they're safe. The boats are picking up the astronauts, as we can see right there. Welcome home. There's breaking news. We're following a hearing is now underway as CNN, MSNOW and Politico ask a judge to extend his order that restored White House access after President Trump banned the news outlets. CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter, is following all of this for us.

1:12:13Pamela Brown: So what's the latest, Brian? Right. Well, the current court order that stops Trump's ban of CNN, MSNOW and Politico was a temporary measure, was put in place for two weeks. And that period ends today. So the lawyers for the news outlets are seeking a longer term order, something known as a preliminary injunction that will preserve access to the White House and ensure that journalists can keep doing their jobs. I've been listening into the hearing in Judge Timothy Kelly's courtroom and our colleagues are there taking notes. We're going to have a full report once the hearing ends. But so far, I can tell you the judge does seem to be skeptical of Trump and the government's arguments.

1:12:50Right now, a lawyer for the Justice Department is trying to defend Trump's ban, saying the president has discretion to kick reporters out, that he can look around that room in the Oval Office, he can choose who's there, and he can exclude certain journalists based on perceived point of view. But the judge is indicating that he is bound by precedent, dating back to the 1970s. That's a case that protects news gathering, and the judge basically has to uphold that case. The DOJ might want to challenge it, but for now it seems the judge is probably going to go ahead and reaffirm the order that he put in place two weeks ago.

1:13:22Minutes ago, Attorney Ted Boutros, representing the three banned news outlets, he called this textbook retaliation by the president. He said it's essential to have news outlets covering national security issues and holding the government accountable, and essentially Boutros rejecting the arguments made by Trump that somehow these news outlets have threatened national security. The judge does seem open to those arguments, especially to Boutros' due process arguments. Boutros said at one point, this is a unique situation. Quote, the president has said he wants to chill speech. Boutros also pointed out this ban could be extended to other news outlets in the future.

1:13:56Trump has already threatened to ban the New York Times, for example. So this is an important case that involves a lot more than just the three news outlets that were temporarily blocked from accessing the White House. This is about the ability of journalists to ask the leader of the free world questions and hold him accountable. And so far, Wolf, it seems the judge is inclined to preserve access to the White House.

1:14:16Pamela Brown: That issue, freedom of the press, which is so, so important. Brian Stelter, thank you very, very much. This month, by the way, marks 80 years since the Nuremberg verdicts were handed down, holding Nazi officials accountable for their crimes during World War II and the Holocaust. But before they could face justice, they had to be caught. That's the subject of the new nonfiction thriller, They Shall Not See the Dawn, the manhunt for the Third Reich's most wanted. Here in the Situation Room is the author, Charles Lachman. He's also the executive producer of Inside Edition. Charles, thanks so much for joining us.

1:14:53Pamela Brown: Thanks very much for writing this important book. A lot of people are aware of the significance of the Nuremberg trials. But what made you want to research and write about the manhunt to track down those war criminals? Well, thanks so much for having me, Wolf. The story really is about the greatest manhunt in history. And it really has been an untold story. It starts in April, May 1945, a time of great victory for the Allied forces. The U.S. and Red Army and the Brits had occupied or were about to occupy Germany. But there were concerns that the hardcore remnants of Hitler, meaning the SS, the Gestapo, were still at large and were organizing a resistance movement that they called the werewolves.

1:15:46And it became a matter of national priority for the U.S. to track down the leaders of the werewolves, who also happened to be the top leadership of Hitler's government and the Nazi Party. And it was organized, led by an elite, now long forgotten unit of the U.S. Army called the Counterintelligence Corps.

1:16:08Pamela Brown: What did you uncover that surprised you the most? Well, it turned out to be an amazing nonfiction historical thriller. One of my favorite books is The Day of the Jackal. And I always wanted to write a book that had that sort of dramatic chase across the country. And it turned out that this was the nonfiction version of The Day of the Jackal, if you will. All these awful, perhaps the most awful human beings ever to walk the face of the earth were at large. And it became the goal of the Counterintelligence Corps to capture them before they could turn into a fighting force of resistance that they call the werewolves.

1:16:50Pamela Brown: It's been now, what, 80 years since the verdict of the Nuremberg trials. What should viewers remember about that moment as we mark this historic milestone? Right. Well, there were 24 defendants at Nuremberg. 12 were sentenced to be hung, one in absentia, Martin Bormann. And the Nuremberg trials were historically important because it was unprecedented that the government leaders of a nation defeated in war would be brought to trial. Bear in mind that World War II was perhaps the most calamitous event in world history. 70 million people were slaughtered, killed during the war, both civilians and noncombatants and combatants.

1:17:42And the Nuremberg trials lay the foundation for what we now know to be crimes against humanity and the waging of aggressive war. But before they could be put into the dock at Nuremberg, they had to be captured. And that's the story that I tell in the book.

1:18:01Pamela Brown: Were all of them captured or were some war criminals, do you believe, still freed? Well, certainly we know the stories of Joseph Mengele, Adolf Eichmann. But keep in mind, and you perhaps probably know this already, that those were really Nazi functionaries. Back in 1945, they were unknown to the wider world. But the key people that were captured, that were sought after by the counterintelligence corps consisted of the top leaders who stood with Hitler at the podium at the Nuremberg political trials. And that's that was the they were trying to hide out. They were all over the map in Germany. One of them was found captured in a small snow hut in the Austrian Alps.

1:18:53von Ribbentrop, who was Hitler's notorious foreign minister, was captured hiding out on the fifth floor of a boarding house in Hamburg with his mistress. The man said to be the worst mass killer in history, the commandant of Auschwitz, was hiding out in a farm near the Danish border. So they were all over the place. Other than Hitler, Goebbels, and Goering, the most identifiable figure of the Nazi government was probably Heinrich Himmler. And his face was known around the world. So what he did was he shaved off his ridiculous Hitler toothbrush mustache, as it was called, and he put an eye patch over his right eye to pose as a maimed soldier of the German army.

1:19:47and he tried to cross a bridge to escape, and a clever soldier realized his identity papers were kind of questionable.

1:19:59Pamela Brown: They brought him in for questioning, and they realized it was Heinrich Himmler. Charles Lachman, thank you so much for writing this important new book, They Shall Not See the Dawn, The Manhunt for the Third Reich's Most Wanted. Really important book indeed. Appreciate it very much. And to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us this morning. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. Eastern, Inside Politics with our friend and colleague, Dana Bash, starts after a very quick break.

1:20:32I'm Adi Cornish. I'm Ari Shapiro, and it's Engagement Party. It is Engagement Party. And we get to talk about what we're obsessed with, what we're engaged with, what we need to process with a friend. Her name is Amy Odell. She is a fashion writer, blogger. But the thing is, she's a journalist who's written about the sacred cows of fashion. And yes, I mean, Gwyneth Paltrow and Anna Wintour. She has done biographies of both. And she is also the sort of rare fashion writer who, at this point, kind of outside the system. And so the question that we're going to try to tackle is... Is fashion terrible now?

1:21:02Well, no, I mean, I would phrase it as how do you develop a personal style in the age of AI slop? You know, on social media, like creators have to try a whole bunch of different things and see what catches and then they make it over and over and over again. The same thing happens with clothing. So they're sort of seeding the market, seeding the internet with all of these different ideas and then they can see what sells and then they can just make them really fast. Follow Engagement Party. Wherever you get your podcasts.