Top Intel Democrats Push DNI for Transparency on Election Security

0:00This briefing is brought to you by Easter Seals Disability Services. Real Belonging begins with all of us. Before 10 a.m., you've already covered 10,000 steps. Before most people find a mentor, yours already knows your name. Before most people figure out how to afford rent, we've handled yours. Healthcare, a housing allowance, 30 days leave, a team that doesn't let you fail. Find out what's available in the West at GoArmy.com. We are field tested. You can be too. The US Army, be all you can be. Is the president in political panic mode? The lead starts right now. The nation is exactly four weeks away from Interm Election Day, and right now President Trump is in Maryland, on official White House business. Can he help himself from veering into campaign mode? We're going to be watching plus a brand new audio recording surfacing.

1:02In the alleged gang rape case at Cornell University, what a fraternity member has heard telling the woman, known only as Jane Doe, just days after the alleged assault. And an unprecedented student protests rocking the country of France, the issue that as young people turning up by the thousands, and why it's been so difficult for authorities to control the crowds. Welcome to the lead I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with breaking news in our politics lead. You're looking at live pictures from where President Trump just spoke moments ago. Sparrow's point of shippie art in Baltimore, as his approval rating remains underwater. Trump's unpopular war and the rising cost of living have been sinking Republicans' chances in the midterm elections. Now just 28 days away, President Trump though just said, his rallies are helping. By the way, I'm going around doing rallies. The Republican party started to go right through the roof. Somebody said today, I wonder why?

2:03Well, I had to get out. I had to do it. We had to explain what we're doing. There's never been a time like this in our country. Recent polls seem to indicate that roofs across the country are largely marked safe from Republicans going through them. CNN's Kevin Liptack is in Baltimore. Kevin, Trump's message today was meant to discuss the submarine manufacturing shipyard that is set to bring new jobs. That is exciting news. Walk us through what you just heard from the president. Did he mostly stay on message? He did mostly, but not entirely. I think he's really trying to reinforce his focus on manufacturing, trying to show voters that he is still committed to that pledge he made as a candidate in 2024. He did talk about the multi-billion dollar investment in this facility. It's a former steel plant. They're turning it into a shipbuilding site to build components for Virginia class submarines. That was not the only thing he talked about. He has a way of veering well off script. He did talk about a number of other topics, including some that are very unpopular

3:07with the American people. For example, he talked about Iran. You don't really hear that much about Iran from the president a month before the election, trying to put it at the back of voters mind, but he talked about it at some length, saying, acknowledging that the war was not over, saying that the U.S. still had to finish it off. He talked about tariffs. He talked about the president of Mexico. He described her voice as beautiful. Listen to a few of the other topics that the president wound around to. We're getting along great with Venezuela. We're taking out billions and billions of dollars of oil. In my first term, we had the best economy that we've ever had. It was interrupted by COVID at the end, but we had the best numbers even without. Now we're building more car plants than we ever have in history. It's all because of my favorite word, my fourth favorite, maybe my fifth. Tariff. Now, one of the people who was partly responsible for bringing this investment to this site

4:08was the Democratic governor of Maryland, Westmore. He says that President Trump actually blocked him from speaking at this event. He wasn't here. The White House said that the president had, quote, graciously invited him here as a guest and accused him of throwing a temper tantrum because he wasn't allowed to speak. Westmore saying today that if Trump, quote, wanted to bring the circus to town, that he would, quote, let the circus be conducted and he would go back to work. Jake. All right, Kevin, let that can Baltimore. Thanks, Tony. It's now a Democratic Congressman. Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman, your reaction to what we heard from President Trump, a heralding tariffs there in Baltimore. Yeah, look, I mean the American people are not stupid and farmers in the Midwest, in Iowa, in Nebraska, and other places where the President's numbers are terrible are smart enough to understand that when you put tariffs on foreign goods and foreigners respond by putting tariffs on pork and soybeans and all this stuff,

5:12they get badly hurt, not to mention, by the fact that farmers can't find work, workers out there because of the immigration crackdown. So look, it's a bizarre political thing when you talk about probably the two ugliest things that have your numbers in the toilet. I love the way you put it. Yeah, no roofs are getting blown up by any Republicans, but to actually affirmatively bring up the Iran War and the tariffs, which are why Americans are suffering such high cost is a, well, let's just say that's a new political approach. So the midterms are coming up. Democrats are favored according to polls. You have long said that President Trump has tried to so doubt about the upcoming midterm elections, making claims of foreign interference with zero evidence. Former U.S. attorney or acting, pardon's attorney, I should say, Ed Martin, he was also acting U.S. attorney. He claims that Trump, yesterday, I think, met with infamous election denier Tina Peters from Colorado who did some time in prison for her election actions in the Oval Office this week.

6:16Take a listen to Ed Martin describing that meeting. Tina Peters, you know, from Colorado was in the Oval Office meeting with the President on election integrity and they were talking about the plans and the one thing that they know is that Secretary Mullin of the Department of Homeland Security came out in late August and conceded and said as a matter of law, a finding that there is the machines for voting, the election voting machines use parts from China and Russia and foreign places and are therefore compromised. If the Congress won't pass the Save America Act and they won't, then the President's going to have to do what he's going to do and it is not a local issue when it's national security and it's clearly national security. So there is this concern, of course, that President Trump is going to declare a national security emergency to do something having to do with voting machines, especially in states that he's not doing well in, the Republicans are not doing well in, what is your reaction to this? Yeah, I mean, I'm not one bit surprised, right?

7:18And Jake, you know, I'm an optimist in orientation, but I was also in the chamber on January 6, 2021 when the President sent a mob to stop the piece for a transler of power and we know, we just know this President has never accepted the election that he has not won. In fact, he didn't like to accept the results of the election that he did win in 2016, because he demanded people to ensure him that he won the popular vote. So he's going to say that this election was corrupt and so a lot of us are spending a lot of time making sure that the avenues he has to do that are cut off as best as we can, because there's a ton of scenarios. Yes, one of them involves him directing, you know, DHS officers to confiscate machines in sensitive states like Michigan and North Carolina. Another one, when I'm very focused on, is him saying that he's gotten information at the Iranians have compromised the machines in Florida or wherever. And so, you know, we know he's going to do that. And so all of us are just doing the best we can, along with lots of nonprofits and lawyers and others,

8:21to prepare, to be able to say that no that is not true. And by the way, you do not have the authority to compromise or to confiscate voting machines anywhere. One of the questions that I think a lot of people have in terms of how well the Democrats are going to do or not do in the midterm elections is what is the positive agenda Democrats are putting forward? Because a lot of these polls, even once it suggests the Democrats are going to do well or are favored on the generic ballot, seem to suggest the Democratic Party remains very unpopular and people don't have confidence that the Democratic Party is necessarily going to put forth some sort of popular agenda. They're just not Trump. Do you wish that there was more of a Democratic agenda being put forward for voters? Yeah, you know, Jake, you got it exactly right. And I'm worried, I am warning my colleagues that we not misinterpret what looks like it could be a big win. Again, just look at the, you know, whatever, the, you know, prediction markets out there, look at the polls, do not misinterpret a big win as the American people love the Democrats.

9:24They do not look at any of the polling. We're less popular in some instances in the president, I state. So the answer to that, of course, is the moment that we take a majority is to start putting forward those affirmative policies that are about making Americans lives easier and the bills at the end of the month smaller and convincing them that this time around we're actually going to get them done. You know, part of the story and part of the reason Americans aren't terribly excited about the Democratic Party is that we did a lot of stuff in the Biden administration, which is kicking in years later. You know, there's just not a lot of sustainable energy being built out there. And so the magic is super clear, Jake, we got to instantly, literally on day one, put forward those proposals that are going to quickly reduce the price of energy, quickly reduce the price of health care and housing, et cetera, and then dare the Republicans in the president to vote against them and then convince the American people that this isn't just talk. It's going to happen and ease their pain.

10:24From your vantage point on the House Select Committee on Intelligence, where you're the ranking Democrat, how concerned are you about what's going on at this anti-plague lab in Siberia where a woman has died and the Russians are not particularly being forthcoming? Yeah, you know, I mean, pray God that we're not seeing another episode. I mean, these were the conversations that we had when, you know, there were cases of COVID reported in Wuhan, China. The experts I've talked to tell me that this is not what we're dealing with. This is not a respiratory transmitted thing, but again, it's a little early to say, but you're absolutely right to point out that this has echoes of where we all were so uncomfortably six years ago. And I mean, one of the reasons I'm concerned now is that this president and Elon Musk and his chainsaw have dismantled a lot of the groups like the Centers for Disease Control that are there to really monitor this stuff in real time.

11:27You know, Elon Musk and his chainsaw, you know, got rid of an awful lot of the people that should be telling us precisely what's going on, should be on the ground there and giving us more comfort. But again, Elon Musk and his chainsaw have left us a lot less secure than we were even six years ago. Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut, thank you so much for appreciate it. Coming up, some of the backlash President Trump is getting today after suggesting last night in Nebraska that Iran could, quote, take out Los Angeles or San Diego, what exactly did he mean by that? But first, brand new developments coming up from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, including get another high profile investigator now looking into the 2024 alleged gang ring. Plus a new audio recording of one of the men, Jane Doe says was involved in the attack on a phone call with her. I'm Adi Cornish. I'm Ari Shapiro and it's 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.

12:29And one of the things that is everywhere in pop culture right now that I feel like we've been circling around for a while. So I'm glad we're finally doing an episode about it is sobriety recovery, drinking less. These are all related and overlapping things, getting louder and louder and louder. And we're going to have a guest, AJ Delario. He was a one time super editor of Gawker Media, which all came tumbling down in the midst of his addiction. sobriety for me is a complete psychic change as they called in 12 step. I have to figure out how to treat myself better and all aspects of my life. And that takes a lot more work than just stopping drinking. Follow engagement party. Wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life Podcast. Big question we're asking, have we outsmarted the biological clock? The big stories, you know, Anne Hathaway, Natalie Portman, what is going on with AOC's egg freezing. That gets a lot of attention in the media. We know more women are having children in their 40s.

13:29Has something changed here or is it just that those stories are getting an outsized amount of attention? I think there is this common misconception. I'm seeing it a lot on social media where people are saying, you know, we're seeing evolution in real time. Right. Our biological clock isn't ticking the way it used to and that's not true. Unfortunately, it would take thousands of years to see that type of evolution take shape. Listen to Chasing Life. Streaming now. Wherever you get your podcasts. In our law and justice, lead the launch of yet another investigation into that alleged 2024 gang rape, gang rape at Cornell's Chi-Fi fraternity house. Today, Cornell hired career federal prosecutor Sally Yates to lead an independent review of the school's handling of the case. Yates served as deputy attorney general under the Obama administration and briefly is acting attorney general under President Trump's first term until Jeff Sessions was appointed. This all comes as ABC News obtains new audio from November 7th, 2024 phone call between Jane Doe and one of the men named in her recently filed civil law.

14:34So here is a part of the conversation. I'm so sorry about all like the backlash you're getting from this by the way. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm very like. I just so bad for you, dude. According to ABC, Jane Doe responded with quote, I was completely and totally intoxicated and then given multiple sedatives and then I was surrounded by men surrounded by upwards of eight to ten men. This is classified as gang rape, unquote. Then the tone of the conversation changes. I can ask like what's the purpose for why you decided to call them? These latest developments unfolded alongside massive student and faculty protests on the campus of Cornell demanding the resignation of the university president Michael Kotlakov. Let's bring and see and ends Gloria Pasmino who's in ethical New York. Gloria, what is the latest in the investigation as this new audio surfaces?

15:34Well, Jake, two different investigations and that's important to highlight because we have two separate inquiries happening here. One is being led by the New York State Attorney General, Alicia James after she was appointed special prosecutor by the governor, Kathy Hocal. The latest development in that investigation is that the office of the Attorney General has said they are bringing in outside counsel specialized lawyers that work on these types of cases to begin this investigation. That's the first inquiry that we need to worry about. The second inquiry that we learned details about today is this investigation that Cornell itself is voluntarily agreeing to. They announced today the Board of Trustees has created a special committee and appointed Sally Yates, a former federal prosecutor, to lead this inquiry into how the university handled the Jane Doe case, but also how the university responds to incidents of sexual assault. They're going to take a broad look at everything. They're going to look at resources. What's available for students? How does the university work with law enforcement?

16:40How does the university work with outside law enforcement? Remember, the university has its own police department. So Sally Yates is going to be in charge of leading that investigation. She has a long career, significant experience, not only that she served as acting Attorney General on their Trump, but you might remember she was fired when she refused to defend his travel ban in Toronto. She was in a travel ban in 2017 and perhaps most relevant here. She also led an investigation into US women's soccer and looked into allegations there of sexual misconduct. So an experienced prosecutor that will be taking over this investigation. Gloria, you were the first to report on Cornell's faculty senate introducing this no confidence resolution over the administration's handling of the alleged assault. What do they hope to achieve with that? Look, Jake, we have been speaking with faculty over the past few days about what the fallout is inside Cornell University. What faculty members are saying to each other. And it's very clear that not only are they upset, but they're frustrated.

17:44And they're frustrated by the university's response so far. And that is the reason why they decided to submit a resolution of a vote of no confidence in the administration's ability to handle sexual assault cases. Again, they don't see this as a singular event to Jane Doe. They see this as sort of an endemic problem at the university. That Jane Doe was not the first and they don't want more Jane Doe's to come forward. So they have submitted this resolution. There will be a meeting in a matter of days. And the point of all of this is to really put some real pressure on the administration of Cornell University in this vote of no confidence for them to take action. And I think certainly the president under significant pressure. All right, Gloria Pesbino and Ithaca, New York. Thank you so much. Coming up next, a rare interview with the CEO of Delta, one of the biggest airlines in the world. What he told CNN about the skyrocketing price of airfare. And the group he says is buying the most tickets.

18:52Intermoney lead as the Iran war sends fuel prices skyrocketing to new records. More airline leaders say they still expect a steady level of travel from customers. In a rare interview, CNN's Randy Casepoke one on one with the CEO of Delta Airlines is that company faces a new era of challenges. To have your voice with all that's going on in the world, I think it's really important. Ed Bastion has been CEO of Delta Airlines for 10 years and with the company for nearly 30 years. The Wall Street community had declared us dead. They had us DOA that we weren't going to make it. He has seen Delta through bankruptcy restructuring 9-11 in COVID. And today is dealing with the effects of the Iran war, energy shock and rising airfares. You have built Delta around this idea that taking care of employees ultimately takes care of customers. Take care of your people first and then they will take care of their customers. We reward you with loyalty and repeat business and that virtue with circle that goes around is really important in a high-touch business like we are.

19:56And you're building Delta now more around that premium customer. And I'd say today over 60% of our revenues are not in our main cabin for the company. It's coming from the premium side and that's growing double digits. We're focused on the upper end of the K and our consumer demographic we talk about as household earnings a minimum of about $100,000 a year which is not an elitist definition. That's over 40% of the households in the United States fits that definition. 95% of our revenues come from that demographic. What are you seeing from customers who aren't at the top end of the K? We still see that those consumer spending and investing its younger folks, this are Gen C's millennials that see Delta and travel as an aspirational brand. When you look at the Iran War it certainly has sent gas prices higher, jet fuel prices higher, airline tickets higher. Which of your customers would you say are absorbing most of that increase? I'd say they are across the board. We expect all prices to be about $6 billion higher than they were a year ago.

21:02And that's a substantial shock to have. We're not meeting any resistance long way. The consumers understand why prices are up. At some point do you expect you would see resistance? We can see the holidays already, we can see kind of the first part of next year through advanced bookings. There's no slowdown in sight. Delta Airlines began as a Georgia crop dusting operation in 1925. Last year Delta celebrated its 100th anniversary, the first US airline to do so. The promise of the next century of flight to me is exhilarating. We're walking under the spirit of Delta airplane. Well this is the airplane in 1982 that the employees of the company purchased and gave to the company. It means everything to me. Sometimes I'll just come down to the museum and walk around. I'll kind of speak to the spirit, speak to the airplane. What do you think? It just helps me get settled on priorities. As Bastion looks ahead to the next century, that includes figuring out where AI fits into Delta's people first playbook.

22:05Our people will always be at the heart of whatever AI provides in terms of benefit. Is there any part of you that's worried that we're moving too fast with AI? Yeah, of course it does. When you hear the stories about what the AI inventors say it could do. How will AI change the Delta experience? I think it'll make our people smarter, more efficient, be on the good answers to customers sooner. Be able to solve tough problems because our company, 100,000 people, 1200 airplanes, 5,000 flights every day. It's like a Rubik's Cube trying to always get the perfect answer in response. What about AI in the cockpit? There will never be less than two pilots in a Delta cockpit as long as I'm here. And I think that's going to stand true for a very long time. You want to use the technology to make our pilots jobs as easy as possible and as safe as possible. Bastion makes a point to stay directly connected to passengers. When I reached out to you for this interview, I was surprised to find that your email is publicly available.

23:08I'm guessing you get a tremendous amount of mail. I get a lot. I hear from everybody about everything every day. I mean, literally thousands a day. So you actually respond to that? Oh, many, many, many. Many. Do you ever sit in coach? I do. I do. I want to make certain I'm seeing the product. I'm seeing all aspects of our business. I know our customers when they send me back there. They're first puzzled. They're kind of curious why I'm back there. But then they actually enjoy that I'm back there. Do they talk to you? Oh, your fellow customers? Oh, 100%. They talk to me wherever I am. Go down. And Jake, one thing that Ed Bastion is very excited about is he looks ahead to the future. Is there investment in joby aviation? That's this electric air taxi that he really believes can transform home to airport travel? He sees it as one day passengers getting on that airport, that electric taxi, that air taxi and landing on the roof of a Delta Sky Club going downstairs, relaxing a bit, maybe having a bite,

24:08and then jetting off to their next destination. Jake. All right. CNN's Randy Kay. Thanks so much. We have some breaking news for you on Chris Kapan. The Pike, that's the Tennessee death row inmate who survived two lethal injections. She is now awake and speaking, we're told. What her attorneys are now saying about her condition, that's next. Breaking news in our national lead, Christa Pike, the inmate who survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her, is awake and speaking in the hospital. That is according to her attorneys who say she continues to need critical medical care. Pike, as you may recall, was convicted in the 1995 torture and murder of her classmate Colleen Slammer. Pike's attorneys also say she suffered severe damage to her arms and she is still handcuffed and shackled to the bed. This is the first indication that Pike has actually improved it all since an ambulance carried her away from a Nashville prison last Wednesday.

25:09Pike survived two different doses of a lethal injection as officials tried to put her to death. Turning to our law and justice lead, there are a number of consequential cases before the US Supreme Court in its new term. The Court's conservative majority will tackle a slew of issues from climate change to immigration, gun rights to voting. My next guest will be watching closely. Her name is Cecilia Wong and she's the National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union. Cecilia, thanks for joining us. So you argued before the US Supreme Court and you won the birthright citizenship case against the Trump administration. What about that case might give you any insight into how they will view President Trump's mandatory detention policy or his push to deport migrants to countries other than their homeland? Thanks for having me, Jake. So I think that our victory last term in the birthright citizenship case as well as early signs from the Court's so-called shadow docket, what we call the emergency docket, give us positive signs for hope that the Supreme Court is willing to step in and stop the Trump administration when it violates the law and violates people's rights and freedoms in order to carry out their agenda.

26:30So so far I think we've seen this term that there are good signs and we're looking forward to defending due process in the immigration detention system this term. The Court's also going to look at state laws that require the 10 commandments to be posted in public classrooms, public school classrooms. How do you anticipate a conservative majority might handle this? So the Court might take that issue up. We have asked the Court to take up a Texas case that we brought challenging a state law that requires the posting of a Protestant version of the 10 commandments in every public school classroom in Texas K through 12. And I think that the Court is going to be favorably inclined toward our position. Our clients are a wide range of parents and students of various different faith backgrounds who believe that it is up to families, up to parents and their children to decide on their children's practice of religion.

27:33Faith has no place in the state. Faith has no place in public schools. And what you see here is the state of Texas not only breaking down the wall between the separation of church and state, but also trying to infringe on parents and students religious freedom rights. The state of Texas is trying to prescribe this particular religious scripture that's particular to Protestant sects. And I think that the Supreme Court is likely to take up the case. We've asked them to do that. And I think they're going to see that the state of Texas is really gone too far and violated the First Amendment by prescribing particular religious text for all students to have to stare at all day long while they're sitting in school classrooms. Yeah, a lot of people don't know that Protestants and Catholics plus Lutherans have different versions of the 10 commandments. And there are a lot of Catholics on that court. I wonder if that will matter to them.

28:33National Legal Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Cecilia Wong, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you, Jake. The highly anticipated Paramount Warner Brothers Discovery merger took place today, officially. And we should note, of course, Warner Brothers Discovery is the parent company of CNN. This larger company is called Skydance. And it is a media behemoth now. This is not an uncontroversial deal, as you know, but what you need to know is that David Ellison, the co CEO of Skydance, said today regarding CNN, quote, we believe in complete editorial independence. Our of Sir Mark Thompson, which who is our CNN boss, Mr. Ellison said, we trust Mark. We trust the team. Ellison made these comments at a town hall that was moderated by my friend and colleague Anderson Cooper, who then followed up with two Ellison, quote, you're pledging not to interfere with news coverage of CNN, to which Mr. Ellison said correct. We've been very clear, unquote. So we hear it the lead. I want you to know that we take Mr. Ellison at his word. And we will hold him to it.

29:41Still ahead, leaders in California, calling out President Trump after suggesting Iran should quote, or Iran could quote, take out Los Angeles or San Diego. Was the president serious? We'll discuss next. In our politics, lead a new firestorm, steered by a sound bite from President Trump last night in Nebraska. He mentioned two American cities as targets that Iran could quote, take out if Iran had a nuclear weapon. Take a listen. It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. Let him take, let him take out Los Angeles. Let him take out San Diego. That's this is a very small price to pay. And it's going to be a little embarrassing. We should know when he was talking about small price to pay initially, he was talking about gas prices, higher gas prices, a small sacrifice in exchange for American safety from a supposed a nuclear attack.

30:42But that's not how some people took it. The mayor of Los Angeles, for example, said this. You are the president of the United States and your number one job is to protect and defend the American people, not to invite a foreign power to attack a city. Our panels here now, Matt, you just heard the mayor of Los Angeles saying that the president was inviting a foreign power to attack an American city. I'm guessing that's not how you took the comment. It's not. And that's because I've watched a lot of Trump rallies. I've attended a lot of Trump rallies. I've been in round tables recently with the president. And he makes abundantly clear what he actually means on this. He talks about the fact that the price of gas, while it's an important economic issue, while it's obviously an important political issue, he believes it's something that has to be baked into the American psyche right now, to continue support what he's doing in Iran. And he believes that ultimately that is what is a small sacrifice to pay the price of the pump in order to ensure that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon.

31:43Anyone who's Washington has seen him talk about these issues before. He says he doesn't want Iran to actually be able to send off a nuclear weapon into the United States. I think we all knew what he meant. I'm not too surprised by what the LA mayor said, though, either. It wasn't just the LA mayor, though. It was also a Republican congressional candidate in California, the governor of California. How did you take the comments? Yeah, I mean, I agree with you. We've all heard the president say these things. And he is often way too flippant in the way that he talks about these serious issues. This war has next to no support. And he's not really brought people along with him. So being flippant at a time like this is probably not helpful. And when voters hear this, I think that they're looking for a leader who can call us to something better. I mean, he's not talking about blue cities here. He's talking about American city. I mean, San Diego has 100,000 active duty military. And this is something he's talking about flippantly. But I think it's important to note where he said it. He had this conversation in Nebraska, right? And if the president was actually concerned about talking about the cost of war and what he's trying to prevent, I mean, diesels going up in Nebraska, these are farmers who have been talking for months about how they're looking for relief from tariffs. I think that if that's the message he's trying to sell about affordability in Nebraska, it's not going to stick.

32:45So Republicans are facing some tough headwinds. And in fact, they're now sending money to Republican party to South Carolina to boost a darling Graham, the late Senator Lindsey Graham's replacement in the Senate who is running for election. And Matt President Trump is taking a cue from defense secretary Hegseth using this anti-transgender slur to attack any Andrews, the Democratic candidate there, a doctor, any Andrews, he calls her, Tranny, Annie. She's obviously not transgender. I guess he's, I don't know what he's doing. But does this work with the base? Does it also risk turning off people who might be divided? But take up the Crest language, you know the president, but I'm asking you to do that. What he's doing is he is, you know, never is willing to pass up a good rhyme, which is what he's doing. And it does illuminate a political issue. They've been attacking any Andrews over her opposition to the Save Women Sports Act. They've also been attacking her and a number of different issues where she is wanted to actually permit for transgender operat, either surgeries or for gender affirming care for miners.

33:46So it is a political issue in South Carolina. Did the president ramp up the rhetoric, shocking, yes he did. But that's what he's ultimately trying to do. And what he's done is gone everyone talk about her record on trans issues, which I'm sure is not going to pull well in South Carolina. So John, let's move to Kentucky, Democratic governor Andy Beshear is making a real push to help his former AIDZAC Dembo flip a Republican-friendly house seat. Here's Dembo's new TV ad. I'm Zach Dembo and this is my opponent. Okay, you got me. That's a cardboard cut out of Map Evan, but Ralph Alvarado is basically the same guy. Map Evan was bad for Kentucky. Ralph Alvarado would be even worse. I thought we got rid of this guy. Yeah, tell me about it. What do you think? I mean, Trump won that congressional district by about 15 points, but the sheer one at about 20 points a year earlier. Exactly. I mean, you're seeing almost a 30 point, you know, Delta here. And I think it actually yes will say something about governor Beshear's chances should he decide to run in 2028.

34:47But I also think that the thing I'm looking at in this race is does it give a roadmap for how sensible Democrats can win in some of these tough places? If you can actually look at how Beshear has kind of governed over the last few years, he's governed as a culturally relatable kind of normal Democrat who seems to be normal. Kind of normal? Yeah, I mean, he's not something that's tough in these days. That's the bar these days. I kind of know our social issues, right? I mean, when he runs, you kind of know him. So I mean, you're seeing candidates like that, like Rob Sand and Iowa, like you're seeing Roy Cooper that Democrats can, you know, fall into these issue traps, but Republicans are going to try and paint them all as socialists. And it's not going to stick when you have candidates like this. So Matt, we should note that the Republican Ralph Alvarado's campaign mocked Beshear's support for Dembo in a statement to CNN saying, quote, it's too bad, Zach Dembo isn't his own person and needs his political sugar daddy to hold his hand in the final stretch of this campaign. Is that effective? I mean, look, I think I assume at the end of the day, Alvarado is going to win. It's a Republican seat. No surprise that government shares trying to support a former staffer. That's great. I imagine Matt Bevin's numbers are probably not that good. There it's, you know, we just saw that. So that's why they're attacking him.

35:49But you notice they're attacking Matt Bevin. They're not attacking any national Republican political figure. That's because it's an overwhelmingly Republican seat and Republicans likely to win in November. Right. It's an estate that Trump won, but Matt Bevin, not that's the for people who don't know that was the incumbent Republican governor that Beshear first beat. Yeah. And I think he's having a little trouble with the law these days. I believe it might be right about that. I might be right about that. So John, a group of potential 28 Democratic presidential candidates heading to Denver days after the midterms to discuss the party's future. The group includes multiple senators, Pete Buttigieg, former ambassador and mayor, Rama manual. It's called the what next summit? What is next for Democrats? Assuming that they take the House. It's an exciting time for Democrats. I mean, you have this conference that's happening in Denver the week after that you have the new deal summit that's happening here in Washington with elected Spanitha level of governor coming together. And I think, you know, Democrats are expected to obviously make good gains in this midterm election. I think the Democrats need to do some introspection. I don't know that we're going to be totally winning just because we have an amazing proactive message.

36:51Midterms are referendums on the party and power. So I think that there's really exciting things that are coming out of these candidates. You have candidates like, you know, Rama who's clearly winning the idea's primary right now. He's proposing all of these new exciting things about what Democrats are proactively for. And I think groups like this getting together now are going to paint the picture for this new generation of Democrats. What do you make of it? I think there's a risk that Democrats run that they ran in 2022, which is drawing the wrong conclusions from 2020 from the midterm elections. You know, look, you're a OC out there talking about Abdul Al-Sahid, whether he wins. It means we can win anywhere. You have a bunch of these progressive Democrats who are I think going to draw these types of lessons about what they can do next time that don't necessarily apply. We saw them in 2022. And I love John. I think John is one of my favorite Democrats, but you know, those who were in the Biden administration might have believed that Joe Biden was somehow going to be, you know, his form of politics was going to be the future. Clearly it wasn't two years later. All right. Thanks to both you appreciate it. Expect a slew of political headlines in the next 24 hours because there is a debate tonight in Georgia Senate race. Another in main Senate race. Then President Trump, he said it back to Texas tomorrow.

37:54My next guest is a Republican in Congress. What has his attention right now? That's next. And our national leader ripple effect of California's rare heat earlier this year back in March and April temperatures near Fresno quickly hit the 80s and 90s. That's not normal for Fresno and the CNN's Julia Vargas Jones reports that whether did a number on one of the state's most popular crops. This is a little cut on the tip. No pistachios. It's a blank. This was supposed to be the year of the pistachio. American growers expected to profit from the high demands of to buy chocolate pistachio lattes pistachio across everything. But because of an early heat wave in the central valley of California, pistachios may become harder to find and as a result more expensive. It took one week of high temperatures at the wrong time to send it in the wrong direction. And as a result, roughly 60% of the nuts in about half of my fields are blank.

39:05What is that? So it's just an unfertilized pistachio and that goes in the garbage can. Coming into this year, we're estimating something like 1.4 to 1.5 billion pounds of production. Our estimate right now is between 600 and 800 million. In California alone, the pistachio industry is valued at nearly $3 billion according to the state's Department of Food and Agriculture. And because of tariffs and conflicts in the Middle East, that region no longer has the same grip on pistachio production if once did, positioned in California to really cash in. So what happens now in this moment with so much demand, you have a crop that is being hit really hard by just the elements. You have to make a determination if it's worth the harvest. And in some cases, it just might not be. Some cases you may be filing an insurance claim. And other cases you might be filing an insurance claim and walking away from it entirely.

40:09Joe and many growers like him in California are now faced with a question of how to keep farming in an era of rising temperatures, increasing competition for water, and more unpredictable weather. To have these records every year is like the hottest month ever. That's a scary thing. We need to create resilience in front of these issues so that when we see something like that in the crosshairs, we can do something about it. It sounds like there's just so many challenges that you're dealing with that like I can't. Just you listing through all of this show, it just makes me think why would you grow pistachios? Like that seems like it's such a difficult crop to grow here. You know, maybe we're glutton for punishment or it's just in your blood or there are good years and there's bad years and you have to ride them all out. Julie of Argus Jones, CNN, Fresno County, California. Welcome to the lead object tap. This hour, President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson both on the campaign trail trying to boost Republican candidates in some tight contests.

41:15But this all comes as we learned the GOP is now sinking millions of dollars into yet another race in a Ruby red state. We're heading to the White House for a midterms reality check in just moments plus thousands of people have been detained. As protests turned violent in France, tear gas filling the air in Perresteed's furniture set on fire, riot police, the batons, clashing with crowds. CNN's team is on the scene to explain why a strike over school conditions has escalated is so severely. Also, the US Army is set to execute a soldier by firing squad for the first time since World War II. Army Major Nidal Hassan and Islamist extremist was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding dozens of others in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood where he was based. But Nidal Hassan still has another chance to appeal. We'll explain why. And we're watching the Gulf for a tropical depression or storm. We'll likely form in the coming days and could threaten parts of the Gulf Coast and the South as we head into the weekend.

42:15We're going to get an update on the forecast from the CNN Weather Center. The lead tonight with just 28 days to go until voters head to the polls on midterm election day president Trump spent his afternoon in Baltimore, Maryland of all places. He was there to announce a 6.6 billion dollar investment for a shipyard facility in events sandwiched right in the middle of his midterm campaign blitz in which he is stopping at almost all red states across the country, which he was quick to bring up. By the way, I'm going around doing rallies. The Republican party started to go right through the roof. Somebody said today, I wonder why. Well, I had to get out. I had to do we had to explain what we're doing. There's never been a time like this in our country. Now, last anyone believe the Trump's appearance in the largest blue city on a very blue state was a pre midterm's effort to bipartisanship. The governor of Maryland, Democrat West Morris, as the Trump administration, blocked him from speaking at the unveiling despite the fact that he had been involved in the deal.

43:19The White House says more was invited to attend the event, but only as a guest. Let's get right to see an insati for an escorts pilot, Caitlin Collins. Yeah, Jake, obviously we're watching this dispute play out one that the White House is not disputing when governor Moore says that he was basically uninvited from this event. They said that the governor was allowed to come to the event, but only as a guest and not to have a speaking role during this event in his home state where the president obviously was today as they were announcing this billion dollar contract with this company that is going to be in the middle of the year. One of the biggest contracts is going through the Navy, obviously, to build parts for these submarines. And so I think what stands out here, Jake, is this is all coming from governor Moore saying if the White House wants to bring the circus to town as he put it and not have him on stage, that was their decision, but the White House is not pushing back on the notion that the president did not want governor Moore speaking on stage alongside him at this event today. And I think really what this speaks to is the larger picture, Jake, of where we are, the fact that we're this close to the midterm elections because yes, the president and governor Moore have had moments where they've gotten along together.

44:23We saw them at the Army Navy game a few years ago. They've also had moments where they have futed and the president has criticized his decisions as governor, but also this is all coming in the backdrop of the midterm elections coming up in just a matter of weeks from now. And the president has been criticizing Democrats, essentially every single chance he gets, whether that's on truth social and his public appearances and his campaign rally speeches that he is delivering. And so obviously he did not want to be sharing the stage with a Democratic governor today at this event, touting this big contract, even though I should note that the governor did play a role in bringing that company to his home state and touting that contract that they were awarding them today. And really speaks to the larger concern that is happening inside the White House when it comes to Democratic momentum and what we're seeing in the polls. We'll see if it actually shows up in the votes, but what we're seeing in the polls right now for the party that he very much does not want to win control of Congress in November. All right. Caitlin Collins at the White House. Thanks so much. Don't miss Caitlin on her show. The source with Caitlin Collins.

45:24Her guests tonight include what Maryland governor Westmore also Republican Senator Tom Tillis in North Carolina. That's tonight at nine Eastern only on CNN. Joining us now Republican Congressman Buddy Carter from Georgia. He ran for the Republican nomination for the US Senate earlier this year. Thanks for joining us, Congressman. So President Trump projected confidence about your party's midterm chances this afternoon, saying the country is doing better than ever. Of course, his poll numbers are not doing that great. His approval is historically low. Republicans are clearly a little worried because a lot of money is being invested in races in the United States. Races in pretty red states like Kansas and South Carolina. As a general rule, do you think his message and campaign strategy right now is helping Republicans? Or do you think he should change his strategy at all? No, I think he's got the right strategy. You look, we got a record to run on. We changed America after the Biden-Harris administration and we did our job. We secured the border.

46:24We made sure Americans are safer. We made sure we got a robust economy. All of those things are things we need to be running on. We put more money in people's pockets by passing the Working Family Stacks Code Act. We make sure that people have more of a tax refund. All those things are things that we need to be running on and not running away from. The questions asked Jay quite often, how many politicians did change a light poll? He takes two. One to change it and another one to change it back. We changed it and we do not need to change it back. We fixed this problem that we had in this country and Republicans need to be reminding voters of that. And we can do that. I'm sure and I feel very confident we can retain the House and actually gain seats in the House and in the Senate. On the subject of the Senate, yesterday I spoke with outgoing North Carolina Republican Senator Tom Tillis. He says that Trump's animosity towards him also Senator Joni Ernst and Iowa, both of them decided to retire under a lot of pressure from the President.

47:24Senator John Corden in Texas who lost his primary President Trump endorsing his scandal plagued primary rival. All of this puts control of the entire Senate at risk. Do you have any concerns at all about President Trump letting his personal relationships vendetta's feuds with his fellow Republicans standing in the House? What's best for the Republican standing in the way of what's best for the GOP as a whole? Well, again, if we run on our record because look, Jay, we're right on policy. That's what people need to remember. Look at what we've done with the Working Family and Family Stacks Good Act. No tax on tips, no tax one over time, no tax on Social Security, increased child care tax data. Something that flies under radar that's very important to me as a pharmacist by profession, we've decreased prescription drug prices by 3.1%. The most and over 60 years, that's a kitchen table issue. If people look at policy and not at personalities, then they'll see that Republicans are right on policy and that's why we need to be, we need to be electing more Republicans.

48:25Gas prices in Georgia are almost a dollar more per gallon expensive than they were at this time last year. Obviously, a lot of that is because the war in Iran, which is a policy a lot of voters disagree with. Some of the high prices that voters are seeing in the grocery stores are because of tariffs that are also not particularly popular. Are you worried, you talk about being right on the policies and you talk about a number of things that are popular policies without question. Are you not worried about the tariffs and the war in Iran dragging down those accomplishments that you've seen? Certainly, gas is too high. There's no question about that. Now, we've been very fortunate in state of Georgia. Our governor has suspended the state tax on fuel and that has helped to bring prices down. The president, of course, in his announcement yesterday about diesel. That is something that's very important as well. I think the governor is going to be having the governor of Georgia is going to be having an announcement later on today about that as well. That will help. That will help a lot. But right now, yes, the president, this conflict in Iran, I applaud the president. This is something that's been going on for 47 years. Remember, we talked about making this country safer.

49:36He is making this country safer by making sure that Iran doesn't have a nuclear bomb by making sure they don't have ballistic missiles that can reach our homeland. All of those things are vitally important. We have to keep that in mind. In Georgia's very closely watched Senate race, Democratic Senator John Assafe appears to be rather well positioned to keep his seat over Republican Congressman. Mike Collins, it's the only Senate race where Democrats have had a significant ad spending advantage in this final month. You ran for that Republican Senate nomination. You didn't make it to the runoff. What are you seeing in this race right now? Do you think if you were the Republican nominee, you would be doing better than Mr. Collins, who is frankly been dogged by questions about views on fortunate views on race and anti-Semitism? Well, you know, look, concise 2020. Yeah, I did feel like that I would have done well in the general election, but I didn't get out of the primary. So all that speculation, but nevertheless, this race is still going to tighten up.

50:43I think that it's going to get tighter as we get closer to the election day. And then early voting starts in a week here in the state of Georgia on the 13th. And I think it's, I think we're going to have a good voter turnout as long as we do what we're supposed to do, making sure that we get our voters out, making sure that we get our message out of all the things that we have accomplished in the Republican party. I think this race, the Senate race will tighten up. Georgia Republican Congressman Buddy Carter, thank you so much for joining us today. So I really appreciate it. Thank you, Jake. Always a pleasure. Let's talk more about this with our friend, Jonah Goldberg, co-founder and editor in chief of the dispatch, I guess. That's what you hear from Imbat. I mean, he'll be elected, I guess, but that's what you hear from a party that's on the mats. If only people knew about what we had accomplished. We've heard this from other parties and other members of Congress in midterms past. Yeah. I mean, it's, I mean, no offense to Carter, I think you do the perfectly fine job working through everything, but it was, I kind of felt like the far side dog listening to his owner, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

51:46You know, it's like we have, I think it's 14 states as of today already have early voting, and by next week it's going to be maybe half of the state something like that. If not sooner. with the momentum going like so much of this is already baked in. It's just very difficult to see how Trump's philosophy is what American needs is more cowbell and so he's going to go around ringing it all around the country and to the glee of a lot of Democrats who want this to be all about Trump. I mean, it's so interesting because he, as has been said about a different group, he never passes up an opportunity to pass up an opportunity. I mean, he could have had West Moore on stage with him working together, accomplishments, he's willing to work with the other side, which by the way, his base would forgive him. And that might actually be charming to some independent voters. Yeah, and also, it's not like there are any competitive races in Maryland. So it would just be a nice photo op and sort of make him seem like the reasonable guy,

52:50but he just doesn't want to do that. I think one of more interesting things, I think it's probably good for the country coming out of like this sort of snapshot moment that we're in, is it's kind of wild. Democrats are overperforming in red states and somewhat underperforming in blue states. And that I think is a good message for both parties that this just sort of like re-run the same place, turn out your base as much as possible. That's what the Republicans are trying to do. That's what that fake midterm convention was all about. And it turns out that that is not necessarily what American voters are looking for. And that would be a good thing. If the Democrats thought they could win in red states with moderate and independent centrist voters, and if Democrats realize that just leaning on their base in blue states and vice versa, that's a good thing. That's maybe nature's healing. Speaker Johnson's kicking off a campaign tour of his own today, so to boost several Republican incumbents in Pennsylvania.

53:52He also plans to head to Michigan and Iowa this week, more states later this month. Does Speaker Johnson help get out the vote? I mean, who can contain their excitement about the idea of Speaker Johnson? I think the interesting thing about Johnson doing this is there is legitimate reason to be skeptical about polls, right? And it's more important to look at the momentum of them than any single poll or anything like that. Yeah. But the Republican Party does really good polling. And the Democratic Party does really good polling. Where Johnson goes will be a really good test of what their own polling shows. And he's going to some places he shouldn't be going to this late. He's going to Montana. He's going to places red places, Iowa. Iowa that are slipping away. And that's it. Watch the feet rather than the mouth. I completely agree with you. The public polling I'm very skeptical about. But where the parties put money and where they send their big dogs, like Obama going to Michigan. Oh, that means that they need to shore up an excitement in Michigan for Abdul Al-Sahed. And all this stuff going on in Iowa and sending money to South Carolina.

54:56And pulling money out of North Carolina. Yeah. Just saying we're done here. We're done. Wattley's going to lose is basically the message they're sending. And we're going to send that money to Kansas. Yeah. So, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to send them all places. I mean, that really shows you. And again, I don't know what's going to happen. And I wouldn't be surprised by anything. But that shows you what they're worried about. For sure. And part of it is, I mean, part of it is just the actual issue environment. The problems with the economy right now in terms of diesel prices and tariffs and all that kind of stuff. They're basically designed to pinch red state rural voters, the core of the Republican coalition. When you have, when it costs you 200 bucks to fill your pickup truck with diesel, that speaks much louder than a lot of other things. And Trump is in this position. He's never been in a position where he wasn't way ahead on the issue of the economy. And that's a huge headwind. Right. People forget that even in 2018, when he had a bad midterms, he still people, I think, it was a majority, at least almost a majority, thought he was doing a good job in the economy. That's not the case now. Joe and stick around. We're going to come back to you in a bit.

55:56We're heading to France next, though. Sorry, Joe. You don't get to come. We're violent protests have erupted in the streets of Paris and thousands of people have been detained by police. Plus, Germany's former spy chief has been arrested for treason and espionage accusations. We're going to break down the serious charges ahead. In our world, ladies, just after midnight in France, where thousands of high school students have been arrested, as authorities are struggling to contain the biggest student protests in France in decades. It's now in its third week. As grievances about school conditions boil over, CNN's Melissa Bell is in France for us, where police are being criticized for their forceful response to the protesters who are mostly under the age of 18. High schoolers in France angrier than ever, and determined finally to be heard, after more than two weeks of snowballing protests over school conditions.

57:01Wondering hundreds of policemen and women, teachers and high schoolers in scenes of unusual violence. Among those wounded, a teenager who lost his hand after picking up a crowd dispersal grenade, and another who lost the use of his eye. More than 6,000 people have been taken into custody since the movement began, most of them, miners. With much of the students' anger now directed at what they describe as police repression. The strategy of the government since the beginning, without giving any answer, any political answer, any real discussion to the social movement, they are just creating violence. The difference this Tuesday, public sector unions joining the students ahead of marches across the country, saying that they are there to protect them. Lines of nurses, teachers and firemen positioned in front of the kids' barricades, and a new strategy from the police. I want to be specific or revantic.

58:01When there is a peaceful protest, the internal security forces do not intervene. To be clear, law enforcement intervenes when there is a threat to property or people, or damage to public spaces or the interior of establishments. For more than two weeks, the students have been demanding more funding, sharing the state of their classrooms on social media no longer fit they say to study in. The answer from authorities has only incensed them further. We are young enough to be kicked, to be gassed, but we are not old enough to be listened. So that's pretty crazy. And for now, there isn't a sign of the movement dying down, with many grown-ups here, now taking the side of the kids. We've also seen today President Trump take to true social Jake to speak of the fact that he believed that here in France this was nothing to do with schools, rather it was about mass-mighting. And this is a big celebration and Islam wanting to take over a once great country.

59:02To be clear, what this has been about is the French government's growing inability to fund France's very generous welfare state. And this ahead of an election cycle that looks set to pit the far right against the far left Jake. All right Melissa Bell in Paris for us. Thank you so much also in Europe, Germany. It's grappling with what could be the most egregious spy scandal in the history of that country. Its former spy chief, August Hanning, was arrested and quote strongly suspected of treasonous espionage, unquote, according to German prosecutors. CNN's Nick Robertson interviewed Hanning a few years ago. Nick, this has got to be the biggest spy scandal in Europe in decades. Jake, this is a man who would have been working with the director of the CIA with the heads of other intelligence agencies around the world from 98 to 2005. He was running the BND, Germany's foreign intelligence service. He was a critical part of the operations after 9-11 of European intelligence chiefs working with the United States to try to capture Osama Bin Laden, that interviewed him in 2010 and 2018.

1:00:11He told me that he had a photograph of Bin Laden after 9-11, still in Afghanistan, and said that there were lapses for the reason that he wasn't captured before he escaped to Pakistan. What Hanning is accused of now is dramatic treasonous espionage. That's what Germany's prosecution office is saying, the federal prosecutor. They're saying that along with his former chief of staff, a man they call Manfred D, they had essentially, and Hanning in particular, had given intelligence, political intelligence documents to a foreign intelligence service. That is a very damning accusation. The way they're framing it, the federal prosecutor is framing it this way, that Hanning and Manfred D agreed that when Manfred D went on to continue to work in government after Hanning retired, Manfred D would pass Hanning documents, some 2000 documents, the federal prosecutor says, and some of those documents, the allegation is, have ended up in the hands of foreign intelligence service.

1:01:21That is incredibly worrying because does that put other agents' lives at risk because Hanning was working at the top tier of German intelligence? It's going to raise the question of what was in those documents, are agents at risk, are state institutions at risk? What we don't know and what the prosecutors are not saying is, who, which country, those documents went to, Hanning gave them to, what motivated Hanning? But we do know from the prosecutor's office how they came to stumble on Hanning's deceit, alleged deceit. They say they were investigating a child custody case, where into a German business family, Hanning was involved in that, the children of the estranged husband and wife had been taken from the husband who was living in Denmark, Hanning was involved in that, the police had searched his house, and during that search they found the documents, which tipped intelligence agencies, that there was something nefarious going on.

1:02:28So this is incredibly serious and we'll send tremors through other intelligence agencies, what of their information might have been shared with the foreign adversary, Jake? All right Nick Robertson, thank you so much. The US Army is set to execute a soldier by firing squad for the first time since World War II. This after Major Nidah Hassan was convicted of the masquerade Fort Hood in 2009, those details next. In our law and justice lead president Donald Trump has approved a recommendation from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to have Nidah Hassan executed by US Army firing squad. You might remember in 2009, then Major Nidah Hassan was a US Army psychiatrist when he carried out a mass shooting on the Fort Hood Army base in Texas. He killed 13 people, he wounded dozens more, he was convicted in 2013. This will be the Army's first firing squad execution of a soldier since World War II.

1:03:32And CNN's Brian Todd is here and Brian, this is a rare move by the Pentagon for this, although he wasn't convicted of terrorism, he was inspired by Al Qaeda and he was convicted of murder. Very rare move Jake and with not a lot of historical president. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth according to the Pentagon did recommend death by firing squad for Nidah Hassan and President Trump approved it. The Pentagon in a post on X said quote, judgment day for Hassan has finally come end quote. Now either Pete Hegseth or the Secretary of the Army is going to set the time and place for the execution. As Jake mentioned Hassan was an Army major in psychiatrist, walked into a processing center at Fort Hood Texas on November 5th 2009, shot and killed 13 people, wounded 32 others before being apprehended by military police. Hassan had been radicalized and admitted to the killings. He said he was targeting soldiers who he was set to deploy with to Afghanistan in order to protect the Taliban and its leaders from the US military.

1:04:33Now besides Hassan, three other soldiers are on death row at Fort Levinworth, Kansas, the Army's only maximum security facility according to the Army lawyer, which is a bulletin for military jag officers. All of those soldiers were found guilty of murder. This is the first time the Army will have executed a soldier by firing squad, Jake alluded to this, that was since World War II. Now there's a picture, private Eddie Slovak, he faced the firing squad in January 1945 after being found guilty of desertion. Slovak's case has gotten a lot of historical attention. Out of an estimated 50,000 American deserters in World War II, he was the only one to be executed. According to journalist Charles Glass, author of the book Deserters and an anti-death penalty nonprofit called Reprieve, then Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower approved Eddie Slovak's execution. As an example of what could happen to deserters while the Battle of the Bulge was going on. Now while Slovak's case has been poured over by historians, the case of Army Private John Bennett has not.

1:05:33Bennett was the last US service member to be executed by any means. He was hanged in April 1961, 65 years ago, for the rape and attempted murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl. These cases, Jake, fascinating for their historical context and kind of grizzly. And the firing squad, it seems, antiquated to some people perhaps, but it's been making something of a comeback in the US. In the civilian realm, we saw the botched chemical attempted execution in Tennessee. And there might be more of a movement to bring back the firing squad, Jake. It is rare. It has been making a comeback. Execution by firing squad is only permitted in five states. Three people were executed by firing squad in South Carolina just last year. And before that, only three people have been executed in that manner since 1977, all in the state of Utah. With this case of Christophe Pike in Tennessee, we'll see if this really makes a comeback in earnest. It's got to be controversial either way, though. Yeah, I have to say that Eddie Slovak case.

1:06:33I learned about that when I was a little kid watching a TV movie starring Martin Sheen, the execution of Private Slovak. It won a lot of awards. It was a famous movie at the time. It sticks with me 52 years later. Brian Todd, thanks so much. Today's Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Russia to share more information about the death of that researcher at that plague lab in Siberia. The top infectious disease expert is here to walk us through what we know so far. And our healthily new details could emerge tomorrow in the death of that Russian plague lab researcher. That's according to President Trump, who said earlier today that he expects to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the matter very soon. Russia says Daria Shipelova died last week of pneumonia of unknown origin, but one official said it was possibly the plague.

1:07:42Russian authorities have isolated her contacts and tightened disease controls at hospitals, fueling fears that the Kremlin is not telling the false story, which wouldn't be the first time that happened. Here is the two discusses former White House COVID response coordinator Dr. Oshishja. Dr. Joggud to see you. So you posted that you'd been gathering facts about the lab researcher's death and Russia's response to it. And now that you have your concern, what have you learned and what concerns you? Yeah, first Jake, thanks for having me back. Look, there are a lot of features of this case that are concerning and let me walk through a few of them. One is a lab worker dying of potentially pneumonic plague. It's very unusual. We have antibiotics. If she had a lab accident, she would have started those right away. So that seems unusual. This fact is a couple hundred people being under quarantine, also unusual for a lab accident. And then the last thing is Russia has a very robust bio weapons program. It has been expanding in recent years. We don't know if this lab is part of that program or not and not getting a lot of information from Russia is making a lot of us, including people inside the administration concerned about this.

1:08:51You say many experts are concerned about the history of the Irkutsk anti plague research institute. What about its past raises concerns specifically? Yeah, so Russia, I mean, the Soviet Union actually in the old days had a very extensive bio weapons program. The person who used to run this specific lab was a leader in that program. There are lots of data that in the 2030 years ago, this lab was working on trying to create antibiotic resistant plague. We don't know if that was ever successful. And of course, Russia now says it's just a civilian facility, but they also have not done much in terms of opening it up and letting other people come in expected. So put all of that together. It doesn't mean it's definitely a bio weapons lab at all, but it does mean that we need a lot more information. There are enough signs pointing to that. Secretary of State Rubio addressed the situation this morning. Take a listen. It's incumbent upon Russia to obviously share more information with the world.

1:09:53Now more we can learn about what happened, then the better all of us can be in a position of responding. And maybe, you know, there's nothing there. Maybe it's bigger than we thought. We don't know. What do you make of the US response so far? What would you advise officials in the Trump administration to do? Yeah, so the conversations I've been having and what I've said, look, if I was in seed, if I was in the White House, I would do a version of what Secretary Rubio said, which is demand information. But I would also have a verification strategy because the truth is we may not get the full, you know, full unadulterated truth from the Kremlin. So what that means is I and I've called for this. I think Russia should welcome in a multinational task force of scientists and experts to come in, examine what happened, find out what happened to this young woman, see what's going on in the lab. And if there's really nothing, great. Well, I'll feel better. We'll go home until Russia does that. I think there are going to be lingering questions about, you know, exactly what happened. I think China, and we'll never know the real answer to this, but based on your informed opinion, if China had followed the advice you just gave Russia, how might have the year 2020 been different?

1:11:06I think dramatically, Jake, if we had gotten an early jump on COVID, it would have allowed us to build up testing much earlier. I think we would have had a very different response. I think we could have avoided lockdowns. A lot of that, some of that was our own kind of mishaps at CDC, but some of it was also how much things had already spread before China really share what was going on with the world. I think early detection is the entire ballgame when it comes to new disease outbreaks. And when countries hide information, it really, really makes it much harder to get on top of these things before they become a big global problem. Before you go, I want to ask you about the US measles outbreak, because New York state just declared a state emergency after 108 measles cases, making it easier for midwives, pharmacists, other healthcare workers to give shots to prevent measles. Pennsylvania has more than 1,000 cases. Is this just the new normal now? Yeah, look, we've had more measles cases in last year and a half under Secretary Kennedy's leadership, and we had in the 25 years before it. Right. So we have a serious problem here.

1:12:12I like what New York is doing. I like the way Governor Shapiro has been handling this in terms of trying to get aggressive about vaccinations, but it's really incumbent on the federal government, particularly Secretary Kennedy and HHS to be a strong partner and to be an unequivocal advocate. In a way that I don't believe he has been. Dr. Sishjah, thank you so much for your time and expertise. So appreciate it. Come up next. This decision time candidates in pivotal states go ahead to head and debates this week and the pre-election day, the insults are already flying. We'll discuss next. I see CNN election night jam and I'm still waiting for one of you industrious viewers to write lyrics for it. The main Senate race tops our politics lead because this evening, Democrat Troy Jackson and Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins are going to face off in their first debate. It's the first of four debates in 10 days. The two are in a very competitive race. The latest Marist poll shows no clear leader among registered voters in Maine.

1:13:2051% Jackson, 47% Collins, but that's what within the margin of error the debate starts in 13 minutes. I think it's on public television there in Maine. Let's talk about this with our panel at Charles Booker at a reproductive rights event yesterday in Maine. Jackson, the Democrat criticized Collins for voting to confirm Justice Kavanaugh in 2018, arguing how his confirmation led to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The main wire posted Jackson's comment, one of his comments on social media take a lesson. We're stupid. I mean, that's really what it comes down to. She thinks that we don't understand the process that she didn't know what he was going to do. I mean, everyone in the country knew exactly what she was going to do. It's not us that are stupid. It's her. That started with she thinks we're stupid, but you heard him say it's not us that are stupid. It's her. He walked that back. What does Jackson need to do in tonight's debate, do you think? Well, I think he needs to paint a clear picture of what's at stake. Are we choosing democracy? Are we choosing corruption?

1:14:21Susan Collins has shown that she is someone who can be bought and sold. She has lost her lands on the people and it shows in the hard power for herself. And he has to tell that story. And Kentucky and our Phil and that too, people all over the country are filling that because we're tired of the status quo. And I think if he can do that tonight, he'll have a good chance of making the case why he should be the next senator for me. So she bucked the, it wasn't a huge blue wave, but in 2020, Trump was a drag on the ticker that I think it's fair to say. And he lost me by something like eight and she won me by something like eight. Yeah, I mean, this is one of the advantages that Susan Collins has. If you have an independent identity or a brand, it's harder to do. It's easier to separate yourself from Trump. If you were just simply generic Republican, then the generic ballot actually applies to you pretty strongly. But Susan Collins got deep, deep roots in the state of Maine. And she's also, she's playing very, very heavily to her roles that had the appropriations committee.

1:15:24And Maine is one of these states where brain stuff home, and so I think it kind of works. And Jackson part of his problem is like, it's kind of ironic. He actually has a more actual authentic blue collar background than Graham Platner did. The guy who dropped out, but he has zero of Platner's charisma. And so he had to inherit a movement that wanted this sort of culty figure. And he's actually just more of a nuts and bolts boring main politicians. You know, it's funny. You talk about Susan Collins having her own independent brand, Darleen Graham, the incumbent senator in South Carolina does not have an independent branch. She was appointed that position after her older brother, Lindsey Graham's death. And now Republicans look like they're concerned. The top Republican super PAC in the Senate races plans to spend five million dollars to help her, Darleen Graham. Again, I'm talking about South Carolina. She faces Democratic physician Annie Andrews. And Trump's been attacking Dr Andrews is tranny Annie going after on social issues and using that kind of crude rhetoric. What do you think of this?

1:16:30Well, I don't think she's a trans person. No, but I think she supports some like, I mean, the one that I just said that was worth getting that out there. So like backcheck false. Right. Look, we were talking about this earlier in the hour. Like this is a good example of, you know, the last last Marist poll is fascinating. Unprecedented. You ask Americans whether they strongly disapproved Trump versus just somewhat disapproved. 6% somewhat disapproved. 53% strongly disapproved. That's a lot. Yeah. So it's the intensity of anti-Trump stuff. So if you don't have a separate personality, if you just are simply seen as an extension of Trump, even in some places like South Carolina can hurt you. You think you think that darling Graham's really in danger here? Absolutely. Something is in the water. The writing is on the wall. And there's a reason that they're dumping money into this race. It should be a safe seat. And just like in Kentucky, a state that Trump won by over 30 points. We're within single digits in my race. People see there's something different is happening because we're sick and tired of the corruption and the attacks on Dr. Andrews. That's sick. Instead of attacking vulnerable communities, how about attacking the gas prices, attacking these diesel prices, but know they're playing these games and people are tired of it.

1:17:44Meanwhile, President Trump's going to be in San Antonio tomorrow looking to rally support for the Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton. But if you tune in tomorrow and you don't see the governor, Greg Abbott, long time Republican governor there, according to Ben Wormand, political reporter for Hurst in Texas, he's going to be instead busy with other campaign events on Trump showing up in Texas Abbott told the reporter quote, he does a good job with getting the base organized and turning out. What do you think that means, Charles? Do you think like Abbott's who is up for reelection this year? Do you think he's worried about being seen with Trump? Of course he is. He's too busy for the president of the United States and look folks are taking Trump off their websites. My opponent is doing that too. They see what's going on. And they know that people are tired of Trump breaking promises, causing chaos, this trade war with Canada, all the devastation and Iran. People are sick of it and they don't want to be seen with it. Now these status quo politicians are trying to run from Trump, but we're holding them accountable. So we can't hide.

1:18:45Jonah, before you go, before we, with the panel, disbars, Congresswoman Alexandria Cotter Cortez would have closed door fundraiser in New York the other day. And she said, according to the New York Times, that Abdul Al Sayed's race for Senate in Michigan and how competitive it is was part of a generational project for progressives. And quote, because if you can win, if Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere. What do you think of that? I think it's nonsense. Like I remember a while ago, AOC's pack was talking about primarying Joe Manchin in West Virginia, right? As if you could get a progressive AOC type in West Virginia. Joe Manchin will be the last Democrat elected statewide in West Virginia, probably in our lifetimes. And similarly, Abdul Sayed has unique facts on the ground there in terms of the Middle Eastern community, the Muslim community, and the state. Plus huge turnout from progressive student groups and that kind of thing. It is not a lot of these DSA candidates don't do well in statewide races anywhere.

1:19:51Michigan is one of the few places with an electorate that makes it even remotely possible that Sayed could win. What do you think? Well, I do think that there's a lot of history that's possible. And what I know is anyone that's standing up for working people has a chance to win. I see possibilities in Michigan. I see it in Kentucky because people who voted for Trump, people who've never voted before are taking a chance with me. And a lot of people have said, well, don't even consider Kentucky. Mitch McConnell has ran that state for 40 plus years. Something different is happening if you finally listen to the people. And I think that's what we're seeing. All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. We're heading to the CNN weather center next for a look at the brand new forecast as a tropical system gains strength in the golf. Stay with us. A new tropical depression formed late this afternoon and it is expected to become a hurricane. CNN Stark, friend, damn is in the CNN weather center with an update on the forecast. Jake, future of East IES has got a timing issue and timing is everything with this developing tropical system, not only in its strength, but when it will make landfall across the central and eastern golf.

1:21:02The computer models are honing in on an area between New Orleans and basically Pensacola Beach. But the timing is critical on how much wind shear it encounters on its travels northward. Does it hang out down here for a little bit longer and then encounter more wind shear. That would be a slower solution bringing this in late Saturday and early Sunday. Some of the computer model showing that like the American model, but does it escape the wind shear and actually come in earlier as a stronger more powerful system, potentially a category one hurricane. That is what some of the AI models and the European model are indicating. There is one thing for sure. There is a lot of rain associated with this and it already saturated environment flash flooding to possibility this weekend and then on that right front quadrant, the potential for spin up tornadoes with the severe weather threat as we head into the weekend for the Northern Gulf Coast. Jake, thank you so much. You can follow the show on X and Instagram at the lead CNN if you ever miss an episode of the lead. You can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Brinnell out front starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.