Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Five People Pulled From Hudson River After Helicopter Crash; Planes Bump Wings On The Ground At D.C. Airport; Rep. Josh Gottheimer, (D-NJ), Is Interviewed About Planes Bump wings In D.C.; Stocks Tumble As Trump Clarifies Higher Tariff On China; U.S.-Russian Citizen Released In Prisoner Swap With Russia; "MisinfoNation: Extreme America" Airs Sunday At 8PM ET/PT; Gabbard Voted In Hawaii After Declaring Herself A Texas Resident. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 10, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:44]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we do have some tragic breaking news right off the top. A helicopter has crashed into the Hudson River in New York City. Authorities on the scene are telling CNN that there are fatalities.

It is unclear how many were killed at this point. Earlier today, a law enforcement official told CNN that crews had pulled five people from the water, three children and two adults, and that at least one person was missing. CNN's Brynn Gingras just arrived near the scene of the crash.

And Brynn, what can you tell us from your vantage point?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, let me get it right out of the way because you can see behind me there is a fire rescue crew here in the water and we have actually just saw another one drop off a bunch of that dive team here again, the Manhattan side of the Hudson River. You can see the crew there on board. Right now, a rescue effort from our understanding is underway trying to find a sixth person that was on that helicopter. According to our colleague John Miller's reporting, there were three children, two adults, possibly a sixth person that they are looking for. It's unclear of that group which fatalities are involved with this, but we do understand that there are fatalities.

We're also understanding more about this helicopter. We're hearing right now it might possibly be a tourist helicopter, but we're still working to confirm that. But according to analysis this -- by CNN, this helicopter took off from the Manhattan side near and it did a circle around the Statue of Liberty before flying up to the Hudson River. So going north to the George Washington Bridge at about 1,000 feet and at some point it turned back south, ultimately crashing into the Hudson River closer to the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. So right across from us is Jersey City.

So it crashed into the water somewhere there. So that's where you can see in the video. Rescue crews are more focused right now again as they continue to search for this possible sixth person that was on board this helicopter. Right now again, we're just seeing all these dive teams come back to this side. We saw a number officials here from the NYPD, the FDNY come in and actually go into this building that's right behind me and they're doing a quick briefing amongst them.

We're hearing it's possible we'll get an update at about 5:30 from city officials, possibly including the mayor here in New York City. So, that is the latest we are hearing, Jake, a very chaotic scene here, of course, by the Hudson River. And again, what we're understanding is all those people on board, it's possible they were tourists. This is obviously a very tourist area that a helicopter would be flying to get all those views of Manhattan like what we're seeing in this flight path. But certainly tragic news here, Jake, by the Hudson River in lower Manhattan.

TAPPER: All right, Brynn, Brynn Gingras, thank you so much. Stand by.

Let's get right to CNN's John Miller, who's joining us on the phone near the crash scene.

John, what are your sources telling you right now?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, as Brynn said, we have two adults recovered and transported to the hospital, three children. But having listened to the people who were there at the scene, they talked about rescue workers pulling people from the water, frantically performing CPR on them on a pier as ambulance crews moved down with stretchers and baskets to move them out, which is why it appears it is likely that we will have fatalities. It's a question of what is the number going to be. It is a place that is right on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, north of the Statue of Liberty. And it is a place also where this response in New York City, the fire department has boats in the water on patrol.

They don't have to be called out. The police department has boats in the water on patrol, including a scuba team, which is generally on patrol. So the response was very quick in terms of getting people there. There were also tour boats and ferries that moved into the scene to assist in whatever way they could. Very much like what you'll remember from the time when Sully Sullenberger had to put a, a jetliner down in the Hudson River, the response is immediate.

So these recoveries were made very fast.

[17:05:01]

Right now, as we speak, they have located that sixth individual, possibly the pilot, inside the wreckage under the Hudson River. And they're in the process of cutting him out from seat belts or whatever else is holding him in there and bringing him up. After that, they say the helicopter will be clear of any other victims. So it looks like we're going to have six people.

TAPPER: And, John Miller, any word on the condition of the five people, three children, two adults who were pulled from the river alive? Obviously, a helicopter crash like this can be devastating. Even if one lives, they could be seriously wounded.

MILLER: Yes, but I mean, when you hear the frantic calls of people being put on the pier, CPR being given, it telegraphs that when they were removed, they were in very serious conditions. So they were transported to the hospital. And that is where whatever other efforts could be made to save them would have gone to a higher level of care. But we have not heard confirmed numbers on the number of fatalities yet.

TAPPER: OK. John Miller, thank you so much. Standby.

CNN's Gabe Cohen is also standing by.

Gabe, there is video of this crash. We want to warn viewers before we show this video that it is tough to watch.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely right, Jake. Just a warning for everyone out there, this video is upsetting, it is disturbing, but it really is a stunning vantage point of just those final seconds before the crash. If we can queue up that video, I want to walk you through what we can see in it. There you can see the bulk of the helicopter, the body, the cockpit of the helicopter falling from the sky, splashing down into the Hudson River. And if you look, if -- we've looked at it frame by frame, and if you look at that video, Jake, you can see what appears to be a piece of the helicopter that's broken off as the cockpit is falling from the sky.

Could be the rotor blades. We don't of course, know what exactly went wrong here, but that video is certainly going to be something that investigators from the FAA and the NTSB are going to be looking at as they try to piece together what exactly happened here. You also heard Brynn mention the flight path. We have learned that helicopter took off from the southern tip of Manhattan right by the Statue of Liberty, flew by the statue, all the way up the Hudson to the area around the George Washington Bridge, and then back down to that area just off Jersey City, where it ended up splashing down in the water, as you could see in that video. That, of course, is a route where you could see sightseeing helicopters, as Brynn mentioned, although we have not confirmed yet what exactly the nature of the helicopter's trip was.

But we know that helicopter safety in New York has been a hot topic for many years now. There was a deadly crash of a sightseeing helicopter back in 2018 that killed five people. And so just a tragic scene out there right now on the Hudson, Jake, and certainly a really disturbing video that helps tell the story of what happened.

TAPPER: Yes. All right, Gabe, thank you so much. Standby.

The Hudson River crash came just hours after another air flight incident, this one at Reagan National Airport, where two American airlines planes bumped wings on the ground. Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey is with me. He was one of multiple federal lawmakers one of the planes.

Congressman, first of all, we're glad you and everyone on board both the planes is OK. Tell us what happened.

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (N-NJ): Thanks, Jake. Thanks, Jake. And first and foremost, my heart breaks for those families in the helicopter. And I'll tell you, it is -- it was today scary for everybody on our plane, but thank God everyone's OK. We were -- we had pulled out.

We were waiting on the runway. We were told we would take off in about 15 or 20 minutes. And as were sitting there, suddenly the plane shook violently. We were hit by another plane. At first you had no idea what was going on, and then it was -- it was clear pretty quickly.

And the pilot came on and said, our wing had just been hit and it looked like a piece had broken off and the FAA was coming out. So, that's what happened. We all eventually went back to the gate, but thank God everyone is safe. Not something that should happen ever, especially at Washington national, where we've had so many incidents lately.

TAPPER: Yes. And obviously, most tragically, Reagan National had that crash just a few months ago --

GOTTHEIMER: It's awful.

TAPPER: -- in January that killed 67 people. It was a military flyover that hit a plane. Also, there was a military flyover last month that came within seconds of hitting a departing plane. There was a fistfight --

GOTTHEIMER: Right.

TAPPER: -- in the control tower. Yesterday we learned that the airport's air traffic control managers have been replaced. Obviously, that didn't stop today's incident. What -- I mean, I'm sure you get this question all the time, and it must be top of mind for you, especially right now, having been through a plane clipping, the plane you were sitting in.

[17:10:05]

What's going on?

GOTTHEIMER: That's exactly what were all asking each other after it happened, what's going on? Because as you said, we're sitting with a bunch of lawmakers and who've been very focused on investigating that horrific crash in January. And as you pointed out, Jake, all these incidents since then, not just in Washington, but across the country, there's been all these near misses lately, you know, 25 major incidents so far this year at least. And you know that 90 percent of our air traffic controllers, the towers are understaffed, right? So you've got huge staffing challenges across the country right now when we've got more incidents.

So what we all want to know, what we've been focused on is what's going on at the FAA? How do we make sure we have enough staffing there? And obviously concerned about cuts that have come to the FAA and this administration. And people need to feel safe in the skies and of course, on the runways.

TAPPER: I don't -- I don't want to say that bad behavior should be mimicked, but if this were happening during a Democratic presidency, I can't believe that there wouldn't be calls for the secretary of transportation to be impeached at this point. Do you -- do you have confidence in Secretary Duffy and the Trump administration and how they're managing what it seems to be increasingly unsafe skies?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, I think if this is not a wakeup call overall for everybody involved in air traffic, then I don't know what is. You see what happened, of course, as you're pointing to in New York, but you look at all these airports and we know what the problem is. We know we have huge staffing issues. We know that these have to be addressed urgently. And so I'm going to be, as I know my colleagues are continuing to hold everyone's feet to the fire at all levels of the administration to make sure that we find out not just what happened in January, but what's going on right now that this could happen on a runway where you've got two planes right next to each other and then no one sees they're about to crash into one another, right.

I mean, I think that's why we have all these procedures in place. And so I think investigations need to happen here, obviously in New York immediately for that crash and that tragedy and all these incidents and get to the bottom of it and no more delays in an answer here. We need answers and the public deserves answers, right? In our great country, this shouldn't be an issue that people have to worry about.

TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, thanks so much for your time today. We appreciate it. We're glad you and everyone on those two planes is OK.

Let's go to our other breaking news story. U.S. markets tumbling again. Yesterday at this time were looking at a massive jump in the markets. It was a rebound after Trump paused most of the tariffs he had initiated except for those on China. Today, a different story for a couple reasons.

First, investors are assessing how this massive trade war that continues with China could impact every corner of the U.S. economy. And second, we found out some new information. The White House today clarified that what it had called a 125 percent tariff on China is actually on top of the 20 percent tariff that was already in place, meaning that it's actually a 145 percent tariff. Yet another messaging blunder. After that the Dow tumbled more than 2,000.5 percent.

Another time of massive wealth just erased from Americans 401ks. This afternoon, Trump acknowledged there will be economic pain as a result of these tariffs he is initiating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There'll be a transition cost and transition problems. But in the end it's going to be a -- it's going to be a beautiful thing. We're doing again what we should have done many years ago. We let it get out of control and we allowed some countries to get very big and very rich at our expense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What the president calls a transition cost could come to the tune of $3,400 a year per middle class family, $3,400 per middle class family, according to new research from the budget lab at Yale University. That analysis was done before the Trump administration today clarified that it's actually 145 percent tariffs on China.

We should note also the mercurial, dare I say seemingly fickle and impulsive and importantly, without question, unpredictable nature of all of this tariff regime is not exactly reassuring to a business world and a business community that thrives on stability and predictability. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House for us.

And Kaitlan, President Trump today held a cabinet meeting. He got some questions about the trade war from reporters. He and his cabinet officials say they're feeling good about things, but how are they actually feeling behind the scenes when the cameras aren't there?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, the president himself certainly is, especially after watching how the stock market responded to his announcement yesterday that there was going to be that 90-day pause on those reciprocal tariffs. But when the president was asked today during that cabinet meeting about the wild swings that were happening inside the stock market after the White House, it did clarify that, yes, it is 145 percent tariff on goods coming into the United States from China, not 125 percent, given that 20 percent tariff that, as you noted existed beforehand.

[17:15:13]

The president was asked about that earlier today what his reaction was and he kind of deflected a bit, saying that he had not seen it because obviously he had been inside the Cabinet room at that point for more than an hour at least when the cameras were inside the room. And then you heard him turn to his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent and ask for him to respond. Scott Bessent argued that a little bit of a downturn in the market was to be expected after seeing the rally that happened yesterday given the president's announcement.

But obviously this is something that they are watching closely here at the White House, Jake, even as they are arguing that it is not driving what they are doing here. Now the question turns to what happens next because of that uncertainty that you just mentioned there. You know, the White House has been making the argument that these tariffs were meant to drive manufacturing up inside the United States. But of course, if these companies don't know that there is any certainty to these tariffs that they are coming on in 90 days, it raises a lot of questions about what's going to happen there. And so the White House has been arguing that they are now in the deal making mode, that they are going to be leading these negotiations with these countries. Of course, those are many deals to get done in just the next 90 days that are often incredibly complex and have to do with certain products in certain regions. As for China, on itself, the president said he would be open to making a deal, that he would like to do so, a sentiment that was echoed by the press secretary, Karoline Leavitt. But don't expect something on that anytime soon, Jake. Based on my reporting and what I've heard from White House officials, the president views the trade war with China much differently than he did the reciprocal tariffs. And so obviously a lot of questions, a lot of uncertainty and you're seeing that in the stock market today, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. Kaitlan is going to join me tonight for a special CNN event. We're going to moderate a town hall with four lawmakers from battleground congressional districts, two Republicans, Mike Lawler of New York and Ryan Mackenzie from Pennsylvania, two Democrats, Johana Hayes of Connecticut and Derek Tran of California. That's tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN. Me and Kaitlan facilitating voters asking some tough questions of lawmakers.

Coming up on The Lead, much more on the tariffs and the economic turmoil that the tariffs are causing. We're also following the breaking news in New York that helicopter crashed in the Hudson River, five rescued, including two children -- three children and two adults, at least one person still unrecovered. We're back in a moment. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:38]

TAPPER: Our money lead now. U.S. stocks tumbling again as Trump clarifies that the tariffs on China are even higher than anyone previously realized. They're actually at 145 percent. Let's bring in Jonah Goldberg. He's the co-founder and editor in chief of the Dispatch. Also with us, Peter Hamby, founding partner of Puck News and host of Snapchat's "Good Luck, America."

Peter, there seemed to be a sigh of relief yesterday when Trump paused some of the tariffs. But today, people in markets seem to be sobering up to the idea that the 145 percent tariffs on China could really cripple parts of the economy. Not to mention just the overall issue of the unpredictability of this administration.

PETER HAMBY, FOUNDING PARTNER, PUCK NEWS: The posture from the White House yesterday, Jake, after Trump hit pause on those tariffs, the markets popped a little bit after that was. This is the art of the deal. Everyone was wrong. Wake up this morning, you realize we're still in a trade war with China, 145 percent tariff rate that impacts so many goods in this country. Individual companies are worried about this.

It's showing in the Markets. I mean, for all of the bragging that the Trump White House is doing or was doing yesterday that the markets are back, just step back a little bit, S&P, Dow, NASDAQ, all down. Apple down like 20 percent since Trump's inauguration. Nike down 30 percent since Trump's inauguration. These are big American companies that manufacture products overseas. And these companies are worried.

I know for a fact, I know two Fortune 500 companies, people that work there that I've talked to just today, that they're taking this week by week. And Trump in his cabinet meeting today, didn't lend any certainty to this. He was asked would he make exceptions for individual companies, but he make exceptions for individual countries that people don't know. And like you mentioned, uncertainty feeds volatility in the markets. But more to the point, China is like the second biggest exporter in the country, first or second in the world, and the second -- first or second biggest importer in the world.

TAPPER: Yes.

HAMBY: This isn't showing signs of slowing down.

TAPPER: And Jonah, your publication that you co-founded, the Dispatch, you did something you seldom do. You published a House editorial called "Slouching Towards Tyranny." And it reads in part, "As long as Trump's machinations continue to cause confusion and uncertainty, access to foreign markets is going to dry up. Goods will become more expensive, and a policy sold as an effort to secure the American dream will have the result of putting it further out of reach for millions of Americans. Those trade policies don't put Americans first.

They put his pet theories of global scorekeeping first," unquote. So you argue that this could go beyond a recession. This could isolate or kill the American dream.

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, look, I mean, part of the point of the editorial and to keep it on this issue of trade, is that too often we tend to silo the different conversations about what Trump is doing, whether it's going after law firms or political enemies or doing this stuff with trade. And the common denominator in all of them is that Trump is running the presidency by whim, by whatever he thinks his pet theory of the moment is or should be, rather than by any plan, any sort of coherent argument. It's really just sort of all about his feelings and vibes on a given day. And his feelings and vibes are kind of weird.

[17:25:03]

And so on this trade stuff -- I mean, one of the things -- you know, I agree with everything that Peter said, but one of the things that gets left out in a lot of this, if the point of this is to bring -- is to help American manufacturing, about half of our trade isn't for consumer goods. It's for the stuff that manufacturers in America need to put into the things that we manufacture here. But half of the ingredients of an American made car still come from across the border. We've made all of that more expensive. And even in that press conference yesterday outside the White House where Scott Bessent said this was the plan all along, this proves what a genius Donald Trump is.

Donald Trump came out and undermined that and basically said, you know, I kind of went with my gut on this. Some people are getting the yips or getting yippee. This is he wants to basically run the presidency, what political scientists call as a personalist regime, that he just gets to do what he wants to do regardless of the law, regardless of the constitutional order. And it applies to economics as much as it does to everything else he does.

TAPPER: All right, Jonah Goldberg and Peter Hamby, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

In just hours, a Russian-American ballerina released in a prisoner's swap will be -- a prisoner swap with the Kremlin will be back on American soil. What we're learning about how this deal came together, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:46]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: We're following the breaking news on that tragic helicopter crash, a helicopter crashing into the Hudson River in New York City. At any moment we're expecting a news conference and we'll take you there live when it happens. Until then, in our World Lead after 15 months behind bars in Russia, dual U.S.-Russian citizen -- U.S.-Russian citizen and amateur ballerina, Ksenia Karelina, is free and heading back to the United States right now.

Karelina, as you might recall, was arrested in Russia. She faced treason charges because she made a $50 charitable donation to a U.S.- based charity for Ukraine. Karelina's fiance says he's quote overjoyed about her return. He credited President Trump and UFC chief, Dana White, for helping to secure her release. CNN's Matthew Chance has the details of the prisoner swap now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the first images of Ksenia Karelina being set free and handed over to U.S. officials in Abu Dhabi to be flown home.

The dual U.S. Russian citizen, a beautician and amateur ballerina from L.A. was serving 12 years in a Russian penal colony for treason after donating just over $50 to a charity supporting Ukraine. Her nightmare is now ended with the latest U.S.-Russia prisoner swap.

She was wrongfully detained by Russia for over a year, the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X. And President Trump secured her release, he added.

Back in Russia, the swap was breaking news too. Another sign of the warming relations between the Kremlin and the Trump administration. One Russian source tells CNN the deal was advanced last week with a key Kremlin envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, playing an important role during his visit to Washington.

The source tells CNN that an earlier prisoner exchange involving U.S. teacher Marc Fogel in February, quote, created additional trust and enhanced cooperation in prisoner exchanges with President Trump's team. And this is who the Kremlin got in exchange. Arthur Petrov, on the right, a dual Russian-German citizen being held in the U.S. for allegedly smuggling banned microelectronics to Russia that could be used to build weapons.

The FBI said his arrest in 2023 showed it was resolute in its commitment to stopping Russia from rearming its military with U.S. technology. But the war in Ukraine continues to rage. And while the Kremlin says talks with the United States are now multi-tracked focusing on diplomatic normalization, economic deals and prisoner swaps the long-awaited ceasefire demanded by President Trump has yet to be agreed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: Well, Jake, tonight Russia has been unleashing a new wave of strikes across Ukraine with the Ukrainian authorities saying at least six people have been killed and dozens injured. And while the Trump administration and the Kremlin continue to say they're negotiating a ceasefire, the commander of Ukrainian forces on the ground there says that he believes Russia has started a new spring offensive to conquer even more areas, more territory inside Ukraine, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Matthew Chance, thanks so much.

And our National Lead, some really unique reporting CNN's Donie O'Sullivan looked into the kind of content online and on television that makes some people in this country so extreme. He traveled the country, he met with extremists on the far left and the far right. Here's one conversation he had, this one with a MAGA activist at a news conference for those pardoned January 6th rioters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: You mentioned Pelosi, what do you think she would be charged with in this scenario?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, simple statute. This is treason. Treason, yes. Absolutely. And I would like to see at the end of the due process, lawful capital punishment.

[17:35:07]

O'SULLIVAN: Would you be disappointed if in 12 months from now somebody hasn't been executed for treason?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the nation will be furious.

O'SULLIVAN: He says even I could be a target.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not sure yet if you are or are not on the deep state target list because I haven't consumed all of the information that you've put forth to determine what your status should be.

O'SULLIVAN: But we've been hanging out a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we ruin you.

O'SULLIVAN: As you what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like you ruined us. An eye for an eye look up Leviticus as a Christian man.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: That's chilling. And Donie is here with me now. You call this series MisinfoNation.

O'SULLIVAN: Yes, and as you saw there, Jake, this gentleman is a sort of MAGA influencer in the MAGA space online and calling for retribution as he -- as he sees it for Trump's political enemies and as he sees it, enemies of the American people.

And, you know, a lot of this sounds quite absurd. But of course, we just saw in the last 24 hours or so, Trump yesterday targeting former administration officials, Chris Krebs and then Miles Taylor. And also, you know, some -- some of these guys we met were -- have been campaigning for J6 pardons.

So they're getting sort of what they want, as extreme as it sounds. And really what we've seen in this episode, it's -- it's difficult to see where the online extremist rhetoric ends and the Trump administration and power begins because they're starting to meld together so much.

TAPPER: Yes, and -- and we saw this in -- in -- earlier. We saw this in 2015, 2016. Mike Flynn, who went on to become the national security advisor, was retweeting all sorts of crazy stuff in 2016. And -- and then there's obviously all the QAnon stuff. And it started, for me, I -- I saw, oh my God, this is a really serious threat to people's safety. In December 2016, when that guy went into the Comet Pizza looking for the dungeons where the kids were being tortured, which obviously didn't happen. They don't have basements at Comet, et cetera, et cetera. This is life or death stuff.

O'SULLIVAN: Massively. And look, actually we're airing, this month is the 30-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. And Timothy McVeigh, of course, was inspired in part by the white supremacist and anti-Semitic novel, "The Turner Diaries."\

And really, if you look at just how far the role, how -- how much more opportunities we have to be radicalized today compared to 30 years ago, McVeigh had to go to some effort to try and get a copy of that book.

TAPPER: Right.

O'SULLIVAN: But now the equivalent of "The Turner Diaries," and worse, is being served to hundreds of thousands, if not millions of Americans, particularly young men, through their social media feeds, through algorithms every single day.

So really, and -- and also, of course, extremists can find one another and organize online now. One other piece we looked at, this is the issue of 3D printed guns. Again, something that is available to download online --

TAPPER: Yeah.

O'SULLIVAN: -- printed guns at home. And of course, it was allegedly used in the murder of Brian Thompson.

TAPPER: Yes. Donie O'Sullivan, thank you so much. And -- and please tune in to see Donie's reporting, featured on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. That will air Sunday night at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN. Thank you, Donie.

[17:38:29]

We're expecting an update from authorities on that helicopter crash in the Hudson River. We have been told there are fatalities. Keep it here for more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, questions raised about the Director of National Intelligence, former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, over where she says is her main residence and where she actually voted in the 2024 general election. Months before Gabbard cast her ballot in her home state of Hawaii, Gabbard and her husband declared under oath that their residency in Texas, after buying a home in the Lone Star State and claiming a homestead, tax break.

CNN's Kyung Lah examines Gabbard's actions by taking a look at the voting laws in Hawaii and the property tax laws in Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Months before Tulsi Gabbard was sworn in as a Director of National Intelligence, in the midst of her transformation from independent to Trump supporter.

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Thank you.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Tulsi, congratulations.

LAH (voice-over): In March 2024, she bought a home in the politically red state of Texas. Soon after, the background on some of her frequent Fox News appearances changed from the slope of Oahu's Diamond Head Crater.

GABBARD: You see them outpushing the so-called woke agenda.

LAH (voice-over): To a view of the Texas State Capitol.

GABBARD: This is personal for me, this endorsement of President Trump.

LAH (voice-over): A CNN investigation found that Gabbard declared herself a Texas resident, but voted in Hawaii in the presidential election last November. Experts say that raises questions about whether she voted improperly.

GABBARD: Voter integrity is a serious concern and a serious issue.

LAH (voice-over): On the campaign trail for Donald Trump last year, Gabbard talked about election security on stage.

GABBARD: We need to be able to have trust and confidence in the fact that when we cast our vote, that our ballot will be counted in the way that we have cast it.

LAH: It's where, Gabbard, cast your ballot. That's the issue here. Gabbard rents a home in Hawaii. She's lived in Aloha State for many years. In March 2024, Gabbard bought a home in a suburb of Austin, Texas. In June 2024, she and her husband declared under oath that we are residents of the state of Texas, and their Texas home was designated as the family homestead.

[17:45:06]

And she also claimed a homestead tax exemption on the house. But in the 2024 general election, Gabbard cast her ballot in Hawaii. And that's potentially a problem. Under Hawaiian election rules, an individual can only have one residence for voting purposes. And if the voter has more than one home, there is a presumption that the property that gets the tax exemption is the person's residence. Now, remember, Gabbard designated her Texas home as the family homestead months before the general election.

What is the problem here?

PROFESSOR JUSTIN LEVITT, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL, WH SENIOR POLICY ADVISER 2021-2022: The problem appears to be that Ms. Gabbard is claiming that she's a resident of Hawaii, that she is eligible to vote on Hawaii races in Hawaii because that's where she lives. And she's also, at the same time, claiming that she's a resident of Texas.

LAH (voice-over): Gabbard's office tells CNN that she took the Texas homestead exemption as a first step to hiding her address because of security concerns. In a letter to CNN, her attorney said, Director Gabbard was, is, and intends to remain a Hawaii resident. That is where she lives, pays taxes, and, of course, votes.

Any suggestion that she is no longer a resident because she took the advice of local officials to register at a homestead exemption to protect her and her family's privacy is flat wrong, factually and legally.

LEVITT: Sometimes there are these disconnects between where you're laying your head most of the time and where you're registered to vote. But it's very different to claim a tax exemption on a primary residence. That's an indication that that's where you really live and, therefore, that's where you should be registered.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: So what's the bottom line here for Gabbard? Well, we spoke with a Hawaiian election lawyer who's handled multiple election residency cases. He says, theoretically, she could face a challenge to her Hawaiian voter registration, Jake, but someone would have to file that challenge with Hawaii officials. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Kyung Lah, thanks so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:51:47]

TAPPER: We're back with our World Lead. More on that prisoner swap that freed a U.S. Russian citizen, Ksenia Karelina. Let's bring in special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler, whom Karelina's fiance thanked for his role in helping to get her released.

Adam, congratulations. What can you tell us about how long this prison swap was in the works? You heard Matthew Chance earlier in our show cite sources that it really came together when the Putin envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, was in D.C. last week. Is that -- is that accurate?

ADAM BOEHLER, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR HOSTAGE RESPONSE: That is accurate. I know a few weeks ago, the president instructed Steve Witkoff to talk to Putin. Kirill did a phenomenal job at bridging this together. And I think it was a really great job. It is a gesture of goodwill, this exchange. And so I want to give credit to the President and Steve and the team. President

TAPPER: Trump is also, of course, attempting to broker a ceasefire deal with Russia and Ukraine. Was that part of this at all, a goodwill gesture by Putin? Did -- did it play a role?

BOEHLER: It did. I think everybody here is trying to lean in. And the President of the United States has been very clear that he wants to be a peacemaker. And so when people release Americans, that's a very good sign. We like it. And so we're appreciative of that. We're appreciative in other places where people release people.

In fact, this president, President Trump, has had 45 Americans released since he started within 90 days. That's compared to the prior administration, which is zero. So we encourage it. We like it. And this is a goodwill gesture.

TAPPER: Zero in their first 90 days. But they did obviously get a lot of people out.

BOEHLER: Yes.

TAPPER: The U.S. is tracking more than half a dozen Americans detained in Russia. Among them is 72-year-old Stephen Hubbard, who has been officially declared by the U.S. to be wrongfully detained. He was sentenced last year to six years and 10 months in a Russian prison for allegedly fighting as a mercenary on the side of Ukraine. Can you share anything on his case or any others?

BOEHLER: I know this is the second Russian that we've got back. It's the second in two months. It's a great sign. But I will tell you, this President and I, personally, in my role, do not rest until every single American is home.

And so that includes Hubbard, it includes any Americans anywhere. We're not done until they're all home. So trust me, I don't sleep well at night.

TAPPER: "The New York Times" reported on an interesting background detail leading up to Trump's address to Congress last month. They write that you, quote, wanted Hamas to agree to the release of the last living American-Israeli hostage in Gaza so that President Trump could announce his freedom during a speech to Congress. The two sides were still haggling as Mr. Trump arrived at the Capitol and they failed to meet the deadline, according to four people familiar with the discussion, leaving the President to make only a passing reference to hostages in Gaza, unquote.

Adam, I know you work so hard at getting people home. So the failure of that to -- to materialize, I don't blame on anybody other than Hamas. But -- but is that true? Is that an accurate story?

BOEHLER: I think what you said is exactly correct, which is we are going to talk to anybody. Look, at the end of the day, bad guys take hostages. So we'll talk to bad guys. But we walked away once. Steve Witkoff tried again. And at the end of the day, Hamas didn't live up to it. And now they're seeing what hell is like, just like the president said.

[17:55:02]

TAPPER: Adam Boehler, thank you for coming on. And congratulations again on another hostage being released. We appreciate it.

BOEHLER: Thanks so much. Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: We have some breaking news from New York. Authorities just confirmed the tragic news that all six people involved in that Hudson River helicopter crash were killed. Three adults, three children, tourists and a helicopter operator. We're going to have much more from the scene next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. In this hour, we're following breaking news out of New York where a helicopter tragically crashed into the Hudson River. Officials announced just moments ago that all six people on board, including three children, were killed. We're going to go live to the scene in just moments.

[17:59:52]

And President Trump admitting there may be some, quote, transition problems as this trade war leads to another brutal day for U.S. markets. How long could these problems last? How much damage will they do in the meantime? And what about the people who can't afford to just --