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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Dow Drops After FedEx Warns Of Worsening Global Economy; Judge Names Special Master To Review Mar-A-Lago Docs; Migrants Flown To Martha's Vineyard Now At Cape Cod Base; Ukraine: At Least 440 Unmarked Graves At Izium Burial Site; Company Discontinues Nicotine Gummies After FDA Warning; Iranian Woman Dies While In Custody Of Iran's Morality Police. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired September 16, 2022 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:10]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I grew up in a "Jeopardy!" household. I'm going to say, mistakes happen. I barely made it through Larry Abrams' name, OK?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Yeah.

BLACKWELL: So, things happen.

CAMEROTA: You're right. I won (ph) this show.

BLACKWELL: So, I'm going to shed him some grace.

CAMEROTA: You're right.

BLACKWELL: All right.

CAMEROTA: OK.

BLACKWELL: THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Will Donald J. Trump versus the United States of America end up before the U.S. Supreme Court?

THE LEAD starts right now.

The question of the hour, will the U.S. Justice Department appeal in the Trump Mar-a-Lago case as a Trump-appointed judge sides with the former president and cuts off access to classified documents for prosecutors, while a special master is given time to review the material.

Plus, mounting calls for a separate investigation after immigrants are hoodwinked, promised shelter and jobs, only to end up at Martha's Vineyard because of a Republican governor's immigration protest stunt. How volunteers have come to the migrant's rescue.

And the CEO of FedEx delivering a dire warning about the economy with his company on the front line of the supply chain crisis.

(MUSIC)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we're going to start with that CEO's gut punch on our money lead today. The head of FedEx warning that not only does he think that the United States is headed for a recession, but business, he says, is starting to slow around the world. That message created a lot of anxiety on Wall Street today. FedEx stock tumbled. The Dow is closing this hour after spending a day in the red.

Let's bring in CNN's Alison Kosik.

Alison, we often come to you at the top of the show when the markets are either substantially up or massively down, but this time, it's this comment from FedEx that is getting the world's attention.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And FedEx's CEO, Jake, was pretty direct about where he thinks the economy is going. In a CNBC interview yesterday, when he actually blindsided investors, he gave a pretty ominous warning that he thinks that the slowdown in his business shows we're on a path towards a worldwide recession. And FedEx believes that things will only get worse as we head towards the end of the year.

In a pre-earnings announcement, FedEx said it missed revenue targets by half a billion dollars. Research analyst Ken Hoexter with Bank America told me that FedEx's announcement shows that the U.S. economy is decelerating and there's one more example of the drum beat getting louder and louder about where the economy is headed.

Hoexter says other companies over the past few months, they've noticed a slowdown in the economy, too, like Walmart and Target indicating they have too much inventory and Amazon closing warehouses because they overbuilt. So FedEx is just another canary in the coal mine. We saw this cause a major frenzy here on Wall Street today where the market was pretty volatile, because FedEx is seen as a barometer for the big economy, and the thinking is, if it's doing poorly, then what does that mean for the economy as a whole.

Though, Jake, it is important to appoint out, the other part of FedEx's weak pre-earnings announcement is self-inflicted. It lost share in Europe and the U.S. It's got a contractor -- Jake.

TAPPER: This drop came after FedEx said it will be implementing cost- cutting initiatives as the outlook for the global economy worsens. Why is the warning from this one company so important?

KOSIK: Yeah. First, I want to point out, these cost-cutting measures, because FedEx is actually going to park some of their cargo planes. They're going to close some offices, there's a hiring freeze. The company is going to cut worker hours.

All of this happening as the company dramatically and quickly tries to reverse all of this. And you put it out this morning, this warning is so important because FedEx is a global shipping giant. It's an economic bellwether or a leading indicator of how businesses are doing. So if they're healthy or not. FedEx's business activity is sensitive to overall economic activity and basically provides information about the state of the U.S. economy -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Alison Kosik, thank you so much.

Turning to our politics lead and another legal victory for Donald Trump, a federal judge has selected the person who will review the material the FBI seized from Mar-a-Lago and it is a man originally put forward by Trump's legal team. Judge Aileen Cannon appointed Raymond Dearie, he's a senior judge from New York, to review the documents taken from Trump's Florida resort and he's been given more time than Justice Department would like, until November 30th, to complete his review.

Judge Cannon also rejected the Justice Department's bid to resume its criminal investigation into those classified documents and as CNN's Jessica Schneider reports for us now, this could set up a legal fight that could reach all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Former President Donald Trump's lawyers doing a victory lap.

ALINA HABBA, TRUMP LAWYER: It was a major win.

SCHNEIDER: Celebrating a judge's decision to name a special master to sort through more than 11,000 documents the FBI seized from Trump's Florida state. The stage now set for a legal showdown with the Justice Department, which is expected to appeal.

JOHN YOO, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: On appeal, the 11th circuit will look at what power did Judge Cannon have to undertake this remarkable and extraordinary step, which is to introduce a third party, this special master into a type of situation where we rarely ever see them.

SCHNEIDER: Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, standing by her decision to put the DOJ's criminal investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago on hold.

YOO: I'm not surprised that judge canon did this, because the Justice Department was basically asking her to reverse much of her decision.

SCHNEIDER: And rejecting DOJ's argument that national security is at risk as a result of her order, pausing the review of documents, writing: The court does not find it appropriate to accept the government's conclusions on these important and disputed issues without further review by a neutral third party.

DAVID PRIESS, FORMER CIA OFFICER: She is saying, I don't trust you that they're actually classified. Who do I trust? A designatee of the court, a special master who is going to determine more than the executive branch which handles classification issues, what is classified and what isn't. It actually does have an impact on intelligence collection. It has an impact on national security. SCHNEIDER: Cannon giving Brooklyn-based judge and Reagan appointee,

Raymond Dearie, now special master in this case until the end of November, after the midterm elections to conclude his review, delaying the criminal probe six weeks longer than DOJ had wanted.

HABBA: They delayed it until November 30th. Sorry about that, guys, but you shouldn't have been so far-reaching.

SCHNEIDER: Cannon also ordering Trump to pay the costs rather than split it 50/50 with the DOJ. As for Trump, he said Thursday, even if he were indicted, that wouldn't prohibit him from running for president again and he issued this warning.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: You'd have problems in this country, the likes of which perhaps we've never seen before. I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCHNEIDER (on camera): And those words from Trump really reminiscent of the tone he took just before the Capitol attack.

Now, Jake, as for those court proceedings, the special master has to work pretty quickly here. Within the next ten days, he has to confer with Trump's team as well as DOJ prosecutors to come up with a review schedule. And Judge Cannon also indicated in this order that he must prioritize reviewing those 100 classified documents and after he does that, there's that potential that DOJ can once again resume using them in their investigation.

But regardless here, I mean, this is going to be a relatively quick process. This entire review of these 11,000 documents need to be complete by the end of November, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Jessica Schneider, thanks so much.

Joining us now, January 6th committee member, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California.

Congresswoman, do you think that the Justice Department should appeal this ruling by Judge Cannon?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): Well, I don't know, Jake. I mean, that's up to them. I do think, speaking not as a January 6th member but as a lawyer and Judiciary Committee member, that the decision is not in the mainstream. And the question is, should they appeal it, that's a question about timing, as well as precedent, but, you know, the classification of documents is thoroughly invested in the executive branch, not in the judicial branch.

So, this is kind of out there, but they've got to make strategic decisions that I'm not going to second guess.

TAPPER: Earlier this week, I interviewed former U.S. Attorney Geoff Berman who said that this is a very serious case. An obstruction of justice, the attempt of the Justice Department to get these documents back cannot just be shunted away, as a lot of the president's defenders have attempted.

We just learned a few minutes ago, "The Washington Post" is reporting that months before these classified documents were found at Mar-a- Lago, Trump's lawyers were telling the national archives that the only thing Trump had at Mar-a-Lago were 12 boxes of news clippings. Not the hundreds of classified records that were eventually found down there.

I mean, I guess it's not a shock that some members of the Trump team would lie, but what's your reaction?

LOFGREN: Well, that's a shocking report, the question is, you know, did the ex-president's lawyers lie for him or were they lied to and then represent those lies as true? Either way, I think they're in big trouble. Once again, a lawyer that's become involved with the ex- president end up in legal trouble themselves.

Obviously, what they represented was not correct. The ex-president himself is now talking about the classified documents that he had, claiming somehow that he had a magic wand where he verbally declassified them.

[16:10:02]

Obviously, what was represented to the department was false.

TAPPER: The chairman of the January 6th committee, Bennie Thompson, told CNN said that the goal is to hold the January 6th committee's next hearing on September 28th. What should we expect to learn? Do you have new testimony, new witnesses, any shocking new information?

LOFGREN: Well, as you know, Jake, the rules don't allow me to go into the evidence, but we've been working throughout the summer, we do have new information, we have had additional witnesses. So, you know, it's not for me to say what's block busting, but I think we'll have useful information to present to the public. And, of course, we're working on our recommendations for changes in the law, changes in procedure that would make our country safer, as well as putting together the report that we will be issuing before the end of the year.

TAPPER: I know your committee is also debating whether or not to ask extending formal invitations to Donald Trump or Mike Pence to formally appear before the committee. It seems pretty clear that Trump is a "no," but former Vice President Pence has not ruled it out, at least publicly. So why have you not yet made that request?

LOFGREN: Well, there have been discussions underway. I will say this, that the former vice president said publicly that he was, you know, open to the idea, then that was sort of later walked back.

We're cognizant that if we were to issue subpoenas that were resisted, that would -- that legal fight would extend beyond the end of the year, which is, you know, select committees last only for the duration of the Congress.

So we've got to make an assessment of where our energy is best placed, given the former president's comments about the committee, I would guess it's unlikely that he would come in to talk to us, although if he were to volunteer to do so, we would welcome him.

TAPPER: Speaking of Donald Trump's comments, take a listen to something that the former president told Hugh Hewitt about what might happen if he were ultimately indicted.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

TRUMP: If it happened, I think you would have problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we've never seen before. I don't think the people of the United States would stand for it.

HUGH HEWITT, RADIO HOST: What kind of problems, Mr. President?

TRUMP: I think you'd have big problems. Big problems.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: How do you interpret those remarks?

LOFGREN: Well, they're concerning. They remind me of the comments made leading up to the riot on January 6th. I'm sure the ex-president is well aware the impact his words have on those who are adherents to him.

I've noticed that on his web page, he is increasingly re-quoting and re-posting things from QAnon. So I think -- I worry and I would guess he understands that this could incite individuals to violence and I would hope that he would curb those types of comments.

Certainly, he's aware of what his comments led to on January 6th. There's some evidence it was his desired outcome. So, let's hope that's not his desired outcome this time.

TAPPER: The January 6th Committee told the judge that you need an additional 3,600 pages of e-mails from John Eastman, one of the people that came up with some of the grand conspiracies to steal the election. You need those documents so you can finish your report by the end of the year.

So, you know, just to remind our people, Eastman specifically pushed the idea that Mike Pence could stop Congress' certification of Joe Biden's win, which he could not.

What else do you need to finish this report in the next two and a half months?

LOFGREN: Well, we would like that. We need -- I mean, we've gotten a huge amount of information from the Secret Service, finally, and the staff -- I mean, it's such a huge amount, we need to go through that. There's additional information we would very much like from Mr. Meadows, as you know, he has defied us, but now appears to be at least giving the Department of Justice what he gave to us.

We're hoping that if he gives additional information, we should also get that. He is clearly a key figure in this entire plot. We have other asks out, that, as you know, we're not at liberty to disclose until the committee votes. But we have a huge amount of information right now. And a little bit more that we would like.

TAPPER: All right. Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California, thanks so much.

I'm going to take a deeper dive into Donald Trump's and his allies to overturn the 2020 election in a brand-new CNN special report.

[16:15:01]

One of the people I sat down with is Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers. Bowers detailed the phone call that he got from Trump and Rudy Giuliani and their attempts to throw out Arizona's legitimate election results.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSTY BOWERS (R), ARIZONA HOUSE SPEAKER: We're in my office. This is the speaker's office.

TAPPER (voice-over): It's not every day a statehouse politician gets a call from a U.S. president, but that's what happened to Arizona Speaker Republican Rusty Bowers after the 2020 election.

BOWERS: Came home from church. My wife and I were sitting in the driveway.

TAPPER: The White House popped up on his screen.

BOWERS: So, I take the call, I sat there in my little Prius and had a chat with the president with bad phone reception and backed out in front of the house where I get better reception.

TAPPER: Rudy Giuliani was on the line, too. And Bowers says it was Giuliani who began making crazy claims about voter fraud in Arizona.

BOWERS: I can't give you the exact numbers, but -- I'll throw out numbers, but they're kind of the audacious numbers. Like, 200,000 illegal aliens voted, 6,000 military ballots were stolen and used.

TAPPER: Bowers says Giuliani wanted him to hold an official Arizona House hearing to air these claims publicly.

BOWERS: And then I said, but what's the whole purpose of this? What are you trying to achieve? And they said, well, we've heard that there's an arcane law in Arizona that if you have sufficient cause that you can throw out the Biden electors and put in Trump electors.

And I said, that's a new one to me. I have never, ever heard of that. And so, now you're asking me to do something that's against my oath and I'm not -- I'm not going to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Hear from other voices telling their versions of what went down. Don't miss "American Coup: The January 6th Investigation". That's Sunday night at 9:00 Eastern here on CNN, and only here on CNN. Coming up next, immigrants from Texas used as political pawns, critics

say. Ron DeSantis is not the only Republican governor trying to get attention with this kind of tactic. Now the White House may respond.

Plus, she was arrested in Iran, accused of breaking the country's severe head cover rules for women. Two hours later, she was dead. The outrage and questions for the Iranian regime as new video of the incident emerges.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:21:22]

TAPPER: In our national lead, today, the migrants who have been shipped to Martha's Vineyard on planes by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arrived at a military base on Massachusetts' Cape Cod, where they will be given shelter. This comes as we're learning more about how that group of immigrants ended up on that island.

CNN reporting that DeSantis essentially hoodwinked the group by having individuals lure the migrants on to planes with false promises of jobs in New York or Boston.

CNN's Miguel Marquez is on Martha's Vineyard as one Massachusetts prosecutor is calling for the Justice Department to now get involved.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After less than 48 unexpected hours in Martha's Vineyard, nearly 50 Venezuelan migrants were given a warm sendoff. Volunteers embracing each person as they boarded buses, then ferries and on to the next part of their long journey.

Their unannounced arrival Wednesday all part of a campaign by Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to send migrants to so-called sanctuary cities by surprise.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: All we're trying to do is offer transport to sanctuary jurisdictions, free to the alien, but certainly not mandatory. And that way, they're able to go and these sanctuary jurisdictions can put their money where their mouth is.

MARQUEZ: These immigrants were picked up in Texas. A lot of them say they were taken to a hotel to wait and then boarded planes.

Well, we didn't know until the last minute our destination, such as New York, where our relatives reside, he says. We came with, as I say, the idea of reuniting with them.

Yang Pablo Mora and other immigrants we spoke to here say they were promised all sorts of things, including jobs and housing, things that never materialized. We were told it was humanitarian aid by a foundation that in this case

remains unknown, he says. They didn't tell us the benefactor. They just told us that the person wanted to help us.

While volunteers and officials in Martha's Vineyard promptly responded and cared for their unexpected guests, lawyers assisting the immigrants say the stop did nothing but detour already desperate people.

RACHEL SELF, LAWYER ASSISTING IMMIGRANTS, MARTHA'S VINEYARD: It is sickeningly cruel, throwing obstacles in the way of people fleeing violence and oppression, some of whom walked through ten countries in the hopes of finding safety. It is shameful and inhuman.

MARQUEZ: The incident, which Governor DeSantis proudly took credit for, slammed by some Massachusetts officials.

JULIAN CYR (D), MASSACHUSETTS STATE SENATOR: If this were about sort of alleviating capacity in border towns or in helping migrants seeking a better life, you don't do it by essentially a surprise unannounced transport, right?

MARQUEZ: You guys obviously stepped up, but how much more complicated was it because they were sent here?

LISA BELCASTRO, VOLUNTEER: My heart breaks for them, because they were not the first priority. I hope they feel exceptionally loved. They're in my heart forever. I don't know what else to say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUEZ: Now, look, the bottom line here, Jake, is that there was no panic, there was no chaos, there was no fear here on Martha's Vineyard.

Places like this can certainly handle 50 migrants, but the bottom line for them is that this really complicated their situation. Many of those migrants we spoke to, they are, obviously, applying for political asylum. They have meetings with immigration officials in California and in Washington state and in Cincinnati and back in Texas in the days to come.

[16:25:04]

They're now going to have to figure out that extra step in how they get themselves legal here, which everybody wants, here in the U.S., and so this trip, this side trip really complicated things -- Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah, and just a reminder, these Venezuelans fleeing Marxism.

Miguel Marquez, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Florida and Texas appear to be ramping up political stunts like those related to immigration ahead of the midterms. Today, the Biden administration officials met to discuss how to respond to Republican governors who are sending migrants north. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House.

And, Kaitlan, this meeting had been on the books before the moves of governors of Florida DeSantis, but there now seems to be an increased urgency to come up with some sort of response.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake. The White House has been very clear in saying this was a meeting scheduled before this actually happened, before these flights went to Martha's Vineyard, before these busing incidents happened with these Republican governors, but, obviously, you know, this certainly adds a twist to that meeting because what they need to discuss is coordinating the administration's response to this, as you've seen how they've handled it.

Immigration has always been a challenge for this administration. You've seen the overcrowding at the border, you've seen the issues with asylum seekers, something they've been dealing with ever since Joe Biden took office and that past presidents have also dealt with.

But this is a different aspect of it, and they have been harshly critical of these governors moving these migrants to these places. They're going to be via bus or by plane. They've said it's abhorrent, they have said it's inhumane.

Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary, earlier today going on an extended thing about this, Jake, basically saying that they believe they are using these migrants as political pawns.

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, California Governor Gavin Newsom is asking the Justice Department to investigate whether these migrants were lured to Massachusetts under false pretenses, which is what many of the migrants are telling journalists.

I don't know the legality of all this, but could -- could there be criminal or civil violations here?

COLLINS: I don't think there's enough information known to make an educated statement on whether, yes, that is going to happen or no, it's not. I think there are a lot of questions about what these migrants signed, what they were told. You know, that is not a question just that Governor Newsom has raised. You've seen other governors raise it as well, including Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker, after Governor Abbott in Texas sent migrants to Chicago.

The question that they've been raising is, you know, were these people misled? Were they transported illegally, because, of course, they were not told where they were going?

Those have been the questions that they've raised. Newsom has asked the Justice Department to investigate. The Justice Department, Jake, I'll tell you right now is not weighing in, and the White House is referring things to the Justice Department.

But certainly, you see the argument that he's making there. You also have to keep in mind, Jake, the political aspect of all of this. Certainly, that is what's fueling Governor DeSantis and Governor Newsom is potentially going to be a 2024 candidate for the presidential race, Jake.

TAPPER: That's right. Kaitlan Collins, we'll see you again in the next hour.

Coming up, Russians may have been chased out of some areas of Ukraine, but what they left behind is nothing less than atrocious. The grim discoveries found in the town of Izyum that our team could smell from far away. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:32:46]

TAPPER: The world is telling Vladimir Putin to stop, but he is not listening.

In a rare summit of leaders, Indian Prime Minister Modi told Putin face-to-face, now is not the time for war, but Putin insists there's no need for him to change the direction of his brutal campaign.

And now, more of Russia's horrors have been unearthed in the recently liberated Ukrainian town of Izyum. More than 400 civilians were found in a mass grave site, with signs of torture on their body, according to Ukraine.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh takes us there now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Here is where the horror gets names and numbers. Russia's unprovoked invasion killed many, we knew, but only now in liberated cities like Izyum are we finding out who and how.

And even this rain cannot erase the smell of how death haunts these pines. It's important to point out that this was a military position. These are tank positions around the city, presumably for the Russians when they occupied it. Burying these bodies where their troops would lay to rest and defend the city.

Ukrainian officials have said over 400 bodies were buried here, even children, all showing signs of a violent death. Through the day, they have been exhuming dozens of bodies, most individual graves, numbered and orderly, one bearing a number as high as 398.

But this, we are told, and can smell and see, is a mass grave, where 17 dead were found, a policeman here told us. Ukraine officials said bodies found included a family killed in an air strike, Ukrainian soldiers shot with their hands bound and bodies showing signs of torture.

Some of the graves are marked just by a number and others have someone's full history. Zolovtare Alexie Naziyovich (ph) who looks like he died age 82, buried here. This investigator tells us what he found in this spot.

[16:35:03]

Here are civilian bodies and military ones further along, he said. Over 20 have been examined here and will be sent for further investigation.

It seemed to be the hurried extension of the long-term cemetery nearby. Wreaths, coffins, candles, some people knew who they were burying, others next to this invader's camp site, likely not.

Nadezhda said the Russians first hit the graveyard with an air strike and then moved in.

NADEZHDA KALINICHENKO, IZIUM RESIDENT (through translator): We tried not to go out, because it was scary. Where they brought their special machines, they drug some trenches for their vehicles. We only heard how they were destroying the forest.

When they left, I don't know if there was fighting or not. We just heard a lot of heavy trucks one night a week ago.

WALSH: We saw multiple refrigerated lorries leaving town, but were asked not to film the contents of this one. Part of where the history of Russia's brutal occupation will be written and nothing can wash this site clean.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH (on camera): Now, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy today making comparisons to the apparent war crimes that we've seen in the outskirts of Kyiv, in the district of Bucha, saying essentially where they uncover after the Russia occupation, they find this continued pattern. I should say what we saw at that mass burial site after talking to investigators shows certainly signs of people who may have died during the Ukrainian defense of Izyum or during the Russian occupation of it and Russia is ultimately to blame for launching this invasion.

But I think it's fair to say, investigators didn't know at the time of the exhuming today, necessarily, when these bodies that people had died. They didn't know how. And so, there's still a lot of investigation to be done about quite what happened to these 400 people, staggering, though, those scenes are -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Nick Paton Walsh in New York, thanks so much.

Coming up next, gummies intended for adults, but why health officials need to stress these flavored edibles are a danger if they get in the wrong hands. Their warning is next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:41:12]

TAPPER: Our health lead now. A company that sold nicotine gummies claimed that they were for adult smokers to kick their tobacco habit, quote, on their own terms. But the gummies look like candy and come in flavors like blue razz and cherry bomb and pineapple and to many critics seem a health crisis just waiting to happen. That's at least according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which also says just one of those gummies, one, could be severely toxic if taken by a young kid.

CNN medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula joins us now.

Dr. Narula, nicotine, in any form, is bad for anyone, especially for kids and teens. How much damage can be done if a kid got hold of these gummies and how common is it for kids to use products like these?

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, it doesn't take a lot of gummies to reach a toxic level. In fact, the FDA sent a warning letter recently to one company that was selling a 12-pack of gummies. Each gummy contained about a milligram of nicotine and as you said, toxicity can happen between 1 and 4 milligrams, and that's just a handful of gummies.

And by toxicity, we're talking about things like cardiovascular arrest, respiratory failure, coma, and seizures. Unfortunately, as well, there's no real antidote for nicotine toxicity or poisoning, it's supportive care, and the symptoms can happen very quickly, within 30 minutes to one hour. So, that's one issue.

The second issue is potentially the addictive potential for nicotine, the concern for withdrawal, is it going to be a gateway to other combustible tobacco use or other drugs?

And finally, the effects on the adolescent brain. The brain develops until the age of 25 and nicotine can cause learning problems, mood problems, attention problems, and impulse control issues down the road.

So these are all extremely concerning and should be to parents. Now, as far as the prevalence, we really have no idea how prevalent this is in the country. There isn't a lot of data. There was one study published in the "journal of pediatrics," recently, where they surveyed ninth and tenth graders in southern California and about 10 percent reported use of e-cigarettes, about 3 percent reported use of these oral nicotine products. So, probably a lot more prevalent than we think, Jake.

TAPPER: So this product was on the shelf for months before the FDA took action. Why did it take so long?

NARULA: That's a great question that a lot of parents are asking. And I think a lot of kids, too. In fact, last night, when I was discussing this with my 6-year-old, she said, mommy, isn't there a mayor that's supposed to watch over kids and protect them?

Well, that mayor is the FDA. And a lot of people are saying it seems like the FDA is behind the eight ball consistently, very slow to take action, sporadic when they do, and with a very light hand. Now, the FDA was given authority to regular utility synthetic nicotine

back in April and over 200 companies submitted about a million applications by May, which was the deadline. If those applications did not receive authorization by July, those companies could not legally market those products. And the FDA essentially told there are no FDA approved nicotine gummies.

So, for parents who are finding these and thinking, it's on the market, they must be FDA approved, that's just not the case. And while the FDA is saying they're planning to take swift action to enforce this, I think a lot of this burden is going to fall upon families and parents to really have conversations with their kids, where they educate and health care practitioners, as well.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Narula, thanks so much.

She was pulled out of her family's car, accused of breaking Iran's severe rules about women's dressing. Two hours after her arrest, she was dead. How did that happen? The growing questions for the Iranian regime, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:49:09]

TAPPER: A young Iranian woman is dead after being held by Iran's morality police. That's according to an Iranian media.

The woman Masha Amini was traveling with her family to the capital of Tehran. Her family was stopped by a group of officers looking to enforce Iran's severe dress code for women, such as forcing women to wear a head scarf. The family says Masha was grabbed by police and forced inside of a police vehicle for, quote, re-education. Her brother says two hours later, Masha was transported by police to the hospital. She was in a coma and she later died. Police told the family that she suffered a heart attack while in their custody.

Joining us now to discuss is Iranian journalism activist Masih Alinejad.

Masih, it's good to see you again. I'm sorry it's under these circumstances.

So, Iranian state TV released video of Masha in the reeducation center.

[16:50:02]

The clip is two minutes long. About 20 seconds into it cuts and through a small crack it goes from daylight to night time meaning time has passed.

Later in the clip, you see Masha talking to a woman who touches her clothes, and moments later she collapses on the ground.

Do you trust this video, which the Iranian government has released? MASIH ALINEJAD, IRANIAN JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST: Not at all. They

actually showed this on Iranian state television to say that we didn't -- but today Iranian women were frustrated and furious. They were in front of the same hospital that Masha was there and then the morality police was there, beating women, attacking women.

But let me tell you something, Masha's family members, they risked their lives and they tell journalists outside of Iran that Masha was beaten by the morality police. It is clear for all Iranians that she was murdered.

TAPPER: The interior ministry and Tehran's prosecutors say they're launching an investigation into her death.

Do you have any faith that anyone will be held accountable for her death or that the investigation will be remotely credible?

ALINEJAD: This is ridiculous. They actually are asking another killer to do an investigation about another organization who killed Masha. This is not going to, you know, this is not going to achieve anything. We're not going to achieve anything through that. And that is why Iranian people took to the street.

Look, it is not just that. Right now, other women are in prison because of just in 21st century they went to be their true self. In 21st century, Masha was murdered just because of a little bit of her hair.

So, people of Iran actually asking that how come that the Islamic Republic has a sit at the United Nation, in a top women's body, to monitor human rights globally. And the murderer of our country, Ebrahim Raisi, is going to be welcomed very soon at the United Nations for general assembly.

And that is why Iranian people are furious and they don't have any hope that by making an official complaint they're going to receive anything. So they took to the street. They were actually calling the Islamic Republic like ISIS. Can you believe that?

TAPPER: Yeah.

ALINEJAD: They know they risked their lives but people of Iran are fed up. They want freedom and dignity.

TAPPER: Well, they deserve it. That's for sure.

Over the past few months you have been urging women to remove their veils which could result in their arrest by the morality police. Tell us more about the morality police and do you think they're trying to send a message to other women through what happened to Masha?

ALINEJAD: Exactly. Exactly. That's the point because the government right now are, you know, they know that they cannot control women. Women are brave enough to practice their civil disobedience.

Maybe Americans who are listening to me because CNN don't cover Iran, so mostly covering nuclear, many don't know what I talk about when I say morality police. It means that if I go out like this, with my hair, like this, I would get beaten up.

But forget about that. From the age of 7, if I don't cover my hair, I won't be able to get an education. I receive lashes if I show my hair. This is their reality of Iran. Not the one that you see from some of the apologies or those that going to my beautiful country and say look, let's talk about as a tourist, let's talk about how beautiful the city -- no, women are being treated like second class citizens. Do you see "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood, (INAUDIBLE) in America, it is an entertainment.

But this is the reality of our lives.

TAPPER: Yeah.

ALINEJAD: But what breaks my heart that I see a lot of, western politicians from European country, they go to my beautiful country and they obey compulsory hijab laws so they legitimatize my oppressors, our government, to put more pressure on us.

I want them now -- all of my sisters in America who say my body my choice, we say the same, my body my choice. But we go to jail.

TAPPER: Yeah.

ALINEJAD: We get lashes. So support us and show your solidarity.

TAPPER: Well, we're going to keep covering the story. Masih Alinejad, thank you so much. Really appreciate you bringing attention to shining a light on the way that Iran treats its women and girls. Thank you so much.

Coming up next, Putin's invasion in Ukraine, his defiant tone and the uproar of resistance he's hearing at home in Russia.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:58:55]

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, it is that time of the year. The kids are back in school and temperatures are starting to drop and politicians are doing the general election pivot which might explain why is this some nominees have a case of short-term memory loss about wild statements they made just a few days ago.

Plus, people from around the world now waiting more than 24 hours in line to pay their final respects to the queen as London prepares to pull off the biggest security feat the world has ever seen for the royal funeral.

And leading this hour, the haunting discovery in Ukraine's recaptured northeast. Ukraine's defense minister says more than 400 unmarked graves have been discovered in the newly liberated city of Izium. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed some of the bodies found at the site showed, quote, signs of torture. He posted graphic pictures of the graves on his social media accounts and wrote, quote, the whole world should see this, a world in which where there should be no cruelty and terrorism but all of this is there and it's named is Russia.

And for the first time since Ukraine began its successful counter offensive to reclaim Kharkiv, Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly commented saying there is no need to change or adjust the Russian plan.