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The Lead with Jake Tapper

White House Says, Mistakenly Deported Man Won't Be Returned To U.S.; Zuckerberg Takes The Stand In First Day Of Antitrust Trial; Judge Denies Bail For Suspect In Arson At Pennsylvania Governor's Mansion; Tonight: Paige Bueckers Expected To Be Top WNBA Draft Pick; Blue Origin's All-Women Crew Flies To Edge Of Space. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 14, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, is the Trump administration just all out ignoring the order from the U.S. Supreme Court? President Trump saying today that a mistakenly deported man will not be returning to the United States despite the court order to, quote, facilitate his return. We're breaking down exactly what's happened.

Plus, what students and teachers dealing with unsafe lead levels in public schools, the city of Milwaukee asked the Trump administration for help.

[18:00:05]

So, why did they say no? And what are the health risks until this lead situation gets fixed?

Also, a massive tech trial starting today in New York with Mark Zuckerberg on the stand. What's at stake for many of the apps you use every day, including Facebook and Instagram.

And a special one-on-one in our Sports Lead today, women's basketball star Napheesa Collier is here to preview tonight's WNBA draft and how the unrivaled three-on-three league she helped create is changing the future of women's sports.

The Lead Tonight, despite a U.S. Supreme Court order telling the Trump administration to, quote, facilitate the return of a Maryland man who was wrongly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador, both President Trump and the Salvadoran president said today they have no intention of bringing this man back to the United States.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live outside the White House for us. Jeff, explain to us what exactly is going on with this man who was in this country illegally, but it had been ordered by a judge that he did not have to go back to El Salvador?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this all started where the Trump administration actually did something it rarely does, and that is admit that it made a mistake. They said, because of an administrative error, this 29-year-old Maryland father was wrongfully deported. So, that, of course, was the topic front and center in the meeting today in the Oval Office between the U.S. president and the El Salvadoran president, Bukele. And it was clear that they said in no uncertain terms, either one of them planned to facilitate the return to the United States despite the Supreme Court saying that they should.

The Supreme Court stopped just short of issuing a direct order. They said they should facilitate the return. But from the attorney general to the secretary of state to the White House Deputy chief of staff, they all responded to questions being asked to the president why they would not return this man. They said, it said the president's decision to do this because he controls foreign affairs.

But the president, Donald Trump, made clear that this prison in El Salvador is now central to his immigration policy. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: As many as possible. And I just asked the president, you know, it's this massive complex that he built, jail complex. I said, can you build some more of them, please? As many as we can get out of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: Can you build some more of them? Of course, that is the prison that has been at the center of all of this. The U.S. is paying millions of dollars to send deportees to El Salvador. The president also saying for the first time that homegrown criminals, in his words, so U.S. citizens who are convicted of crimes also, he said, could be sent there if the law allows, certainly something we've never heard before. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny at the White House for us, thanks so much.

For more on this Oval Office meeting today, I want to bring in CNN's Priscilla Alvarez, Priscilla, explain how both the president of the United States and El Salvador can say there's nothing they can do, even though the U.S. Supreme Court says that Trump has to facilitate bringing this man back?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is the exact same question that a federal judge in Maryland had on Friday, because as you heard there from Jeff, the United States is paying El Salvador millions of dollars to hold detainees. So, the question has always been, if that is the case and that is the agreement, then why can't the United States just ask to retrieve someone from that prison where they sent that person to.

Now, from the very beginning, the administration has taken the position that those who were sent to El Salvador are in Salvadoran custody. Therefore, they say they cannot retrieve them from that prison unless El Salvador were to agree. What was interesting about the Oval Office meeting today is that Attorney General Pam Bondi said that they are there to facilitate, therefore, if El Salvador were to choose to turn him over, that they could, for example, facilitate a plane.

But then when the president of El Salvador was asked about this by our colleague, he simply said that he wouldn't. And that if he were to do so, it'd be like smuggling someone into the United States, sort of disregarding that there was some level of facilitating that the administration could do here. So, really, the resounding message from the Oval Office was that neither country is interested in having Abrego Garcia released from that notorious mega prison and return to the United States.

Now, the Supreme Court did provide some wiggle room here because they talked about due deference to foreign policy, and that is exactly what they're leaning in on. And there will be a hearing tomorrow where we anticipate hearing much of the same from the Justice Department.

TAPPER: What does this mean for us immigration going forward? I mean, essentially, does this mean that the Trump administration can take anyone they want who's in this country illegally, put them on a plane, defy court orders and just -- that's the end of the story?

ALVAREZ: Jake, when President Trump won in November, the first thing I heard from many of my sources was, look at El Salvador. Look to El Salvador.

[18:05:00]

They said that that was going to be the key ally for the United States to execute on the president's immigration agenda. That is exactly what you were seeing in that Oval Office meeting today, a Trump friendly president from El Salvador and a president of the United States who is interested in outsourcing migration. That's what you were hearing from there, from him there, essentially sending migrants to another country because that, he said, is cheaper. And he has spoken fondly of that notorious mega prison in El Salvador.

So, what this means, Jake, is that, yes, absolutely there could be more migrants that are sent to that mega prison. The concern, however, is what if there are other mistakes down the road. From today's meeting, it's clear there's no interest in bringing anyone back that could possibly be sent there. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

Let's discuss with my panel and let's pick it up with immigration. First of all, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, I think the outrage is not just the ignoring of the court orders or even the deportation of this guy who was admittedly in this country illegally, but that they sent him to a prison, right? I mean, it's not just that -- but that's not enough for President Trump. It's not just wanting to send undocumented individuals from this country to that prison. He's also talking about sending Americans, criminals, but Americans. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I said it to Pam. I don't know what the laws are. We always have to obey the laws, but we also have homegrown criminals that push people into subways, that hit elderly ladies on the back of the head with a baseball bat when they're not looking, that are absolute monsters. I'd like to include them in the group of people to get them out of the country, but you'll have to be looking at the laws on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He is riffed on this before, but at this time he was in the Oval Office next to the president of El Salvador with his secretary of state present.

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I just got to say I'm really glad that this art of the deal where we've traded really healthy alliances with our trading partners, like Canada, Mexico, the E.U., Japan, for -- threw those away for more robust relationship with El Salvador. It's a real win.

Look, I think what's going on here is, first of all, I think the political issue is not as bad for the Trump administration as a lot of people are saying. As long as it's members of criminal gangs, illegal immigrants --

TAPPER: Or alleged members.

GOLDBERG: Or alleged members, that argument works better for them. But what I think is going on here is that they are trying to send more criminal gangs alleged, right, to El Salvador. They like it, they think it sounds tough, right, even though that prison is on our own State Department list as a sort of an outrageous violator of human rights.

Put that all aside. Their whole argument depends entirely to multiple judges that they have no control over this facility, that once they're out of here, they're outside of the jurisdiction of the United States, and therefore the courts. If the courts can tell the administration to call this one guy back, that means they can call them all back if they want to. And they don't want that precedent out there. So, they're drawing a line at this to be able to say it's completely out of our hands because then they think the whole thing will unravel if they concede the point.

TAPPER: You brought up the trade war. I want to raise this op-ed from James Carville and the New York Times arguing that President Trump has, quote, broken the cardinal rule in politics. Never destabilize the economy. Carville lays out his plan for Democrats writing, quote, it's time we transform our party into a projector for the economic pain of the American people. First, focus on prices. Second, it's not about the stock market. It's about 401(k)s, retirement accounts, and, third, make the message local.

Adrienne Elrod, Do you agree?

ADRIENNE ELROD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes, I absolutely agree with him. I mean, first of all, it is the economy stupid, right? That was the famous line that James Carville coined back during the '91-'92 campaign for President Clinton. And it worked. It still very much holds true today. I mean, President Trump inherited no matter what -- I mean, obviously inflation was an issue that we had to contend with on the campaign, but, by and large, President Trump inherited a pretty gosh darn good economy, and he's absolutely doing everything he can, it seems, to tank that economy.

So, when Americans are looking, and a lot of people who voted for him are looking at their 401(k)s and they're saying, man, I want to put my faith in this guy, but I don't totally know where he's going with this, and they're watching their 401(k)s go down, that's a real problem for him and I agree with Carville.

TAPPER: So, Shermichael, a new CBS News/YouGov poll finds that since March 2nd, approval of President Trump's handling of the economy, historically a strong suit for him, has dropped. In March 2nd, it was 51 percent. Now, it's 44 percent. That's -- it's seven points, but that's a significant drop because it's under 45. And while those, that disapprove of his handling, the economy has gone from 49 percent to 56 percent. What do you make of that shift and how concerned are you with --

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's certainly something to watch and I would imagine the political shock at the White House are monitoring these numbers, seeing where the shift is. What I thought was most interesting from my perspective, Jake, though, as a Republican, you look at the independents.

[18:10:02]

Republicans are going to support the president. Democrats for the most part are naturally going to be opposed to the president. What are the folks who are self-identified as being in the middle, where are they most aligned? 59 percent, give or take, said that, hey, we think Trump is using this as a negotiation tactic. We'll see where that number goes in the next several weeks. And then about 43 percent said that they believe that this will actually add more jobs to the country, to the economy writ large.

So, I think if you're watching this as a strategist, you're wondering how much time does the president actually have before you have to start announcing some of the negotiations deals with the E.U. and other countries, and what is the ultimate end goal with China? I don't think you got six months, but I would say maybe you have a few more weeks.

TAPPER: Something else in the news today, Harvard University rejected the Trump administration's demands for policy changes at the school, which puts nearly $9 billion in federal funding at risk. These are demands in including ending Harvard's diversity, equity and inclusion programs, banning masks for campus protests.

In a statement, Harvard's president writes, quote, no government, regardless of which parties in power should dictate what private universities can teach, whom they can admit it higher and which areas of study and inquiry they can pursue. Jonah, what do you think?

GOLDBERG: So, I probably have some degree of sympathy with some of the things the Trump administration says they want Harvard to do, but I'm decidedly on Harvard's side that this is -- that they would be horrible fiduciaries and guardians of their own independence and integrity if they cave to this. And if Harvard doesn't cave to -- if Harvard cave to it, what other institution wouldn't, right? So, I'm glad that they're standing up to it.

I think it's going to be a complicated -- like having the federal government dictate course materials is really, really problematic. The DEI thing I could probably give on but like actually going in and saying, we're going to police how you teach and what you teach violates a whole bunch of norms and maybe even some constitutional principles.

ELROD: And, Jake, let me just add to that. I mean, I think I completely agree with Jonah here. I mean, how Harvard handles this is going to set a precedent for the way other universities handle this. Harvard is the most well-funded university from donors in the country.

GOLDBERG: It's a private equity fund with classes.

ELROD: It's a private -- exactly. And while, sure, you could make the argument that some concessions going to be made, it is really important that our universities remain strong. And I think Harvard will set the --

SINGLETON: I mean, $15 billion endowment, Harvard will be fine.

I got to be honest, I'm kind of worried about some of the leaders these institutions are producing from Columbia to NYU. I can go down the line. A lot of these students are graduating incredibly liberal with an orthodoxy that I would argue is not in sync with maintaining the values of this country. And so if you're a conservative and you're thinking about the next generation of leaders, do we really want the next generation of leaders to be more friendly towards adversarial ideals than the ideals that have made this country great? I would certainly say no.

ELROD: Shermichael. I'll also say to that there were a lot of students at some of these universities that are typically traditional liberal universities wearing MAGA hats during the final months of the campaign.

SINGLETON: Five?

ELROD: I wouldn't -- no. It's really more than that. I would make -- I would definitely make -- I would push back on your argument there a little bit.

TAPPER: J.D. Vance went to Yale Law.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

ELROD: There you go.

TAPPER: Thanks to all. Breaking news, the court hearing wrapping up moments ago for the man accused of setting a fire at the home of Pennsylvania's governor, those details in just moments.

Plus, one of the richest men in the world, Mark Zuckerberg, taking the stand today with the future of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, at risk. What could this mean for Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp and more? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: Our Tech Lead now, quite a bit is at stake for Facebook's parent company, Meta. Its antitrust trial kicked off today in Washington D.C. If Meta loses the trial, the company could be forced to sell Instagram and WhatsApp, and it would be a warning sign to other U.S. tech giants, including Google and Apple.

With me now is Lena Khan. She's the former chair of the FTC during the Biden administration that oversaw the revised version of the complaint against Meta that is at trial now. Thanks so much for joining us, Lina.

What is the market that the FTC is arguing Meta dominates here? Is it social media in general? Is it messaging? Is it both? And how does that argument impact the case?

LINA KHAN, FORMER CHAIR, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION: Yes, great to be with you, Jake. So, the FTC's argument is that Facebook's acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were part of an illegal scheme to monopolize the market. The market, as the FTC defines it, as the personal social networking market, which they note is focused on sharing with friends and family.

And this really goes to a basic reality, which would people use different social networks for different purposes. So, you're going to log into LinkedIn for a very different set of reasons than you're going to log in or post to Instagram. And so the case is about showcasing those basic realities and how people use these different apps.

TAPPER: Now, Meta's response is they can't be a monopoly because they have so many competitors, such as TikTok, LinkedIn, as you just mentioned, YouTube, iMessage. If competitors like that do exist, significant ones, how can Meta be considered a monopoly?

KHAN: Yes, it's a good question. And it goes to this basic issue, which is how do you even go about proving that a company is a monopoly? And there are a couple different ways you can do that. One is to kind of do the math, figure out who's in, who's out, and calculate what's the market share.

But the other way you can show a company is a monopoly is can it get away with abusing its customers or making things worse for its customers? And one interesting set of evidence that the FTC has is that. Facebook has actually made its services worse for its users. And so they note, for example, that Facebook has been significantly increasing the number of ads that it pushes to users, even though that makes the service worse, and that has not led it to suffer consequences in the marketplace, which itself is a marker of its monopoly power.

[18:20:04]

So, there are different ways to make the showing and the FTC is using these different paths.

TAPPER: The FTC also used a Zuckerberg post from 2012 that was shared just among his team members, team members at the time. It said, quote, I just took a photo this morning from the Instagram native camera and uploaded it to F, meaning Facebook, and it looks so low quality compared to the Instagram shots I see. Theoretically, we could go build this technology, but I'm worried we're so far behind that we don't even understand how far behind we are, and this is going to be a huge amount of work, unquote. Explain why that private post matters.

KHAN: Look, this case is rife with documents from Zuckerberg and his top team acknowledging that Facebook was falling behind. I mean, Facebook had done well in the desktop market, but when it came to smart phones, Facebook just wasn't able to cut it organically and they started to panic as they saw companies like Instagram and WhatsApp really take off and documents like that show that Facebook was losing faith in its own ability to compete.

And a basic tenet of antitrust law is that you need to be able to get ahead in the market by competing fairly. But what we saw from Facebook was that if it couldn't outcompete its rivals, it decided to either buy them out or bury them. And this goes part of a larger story. I mean, in addition to pushing more ads on users. Facebook has been a serial violator of people's privacy. It has notoriously played fast and loose with people's data showing staggering levels of disregard and recklessness, including with kids' data. And, again, I believe that if we had more competitive checks on Facebook, we wouldn't have seen a company become too big to care.

TAPPER: There's been speculation that President Trump might try to intervene in this case. Is that a possibility given the fact that the FTC is supposed to operate as at least a semi-independent and if not completely independent agency?

KHAN: Well, look, this administration has shown a total disregard for any semblance of independence of the FTC. The White House illegally fired two Democratic commissioners, not given any reason at all. We've all seen mark Zuckerberg make its way to the White House asking for who knows what set of favors. And so that remains a constant worry that we all need to stay very vigilant about.

TAPPER: Yes. Not to mention the million dollars he gave to the inaugural in January.

Lina Khan, thanks so much, always good to have you. Please come back soon. The man accused of setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion in court just moments ago. We're going to go live to the scene of the alleged arson. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: Breaking in our National Lead, you're looking at images of the suspect in the Pennsylvania governor's mansion arson case leaving just moments ago from court. A judge denied him bail and recommended that the man, Cody Balmer stay imprisoned, quote, for the safety of himself and the community.

Danny Freeman's on the ground in Harrisburg. Danny, what did we learn today from Balmer's first appearance in court?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we learned a few different things, but, of course, the top line there is that 38-year- old Cody Balmer, as you noted, he was denied bail after he was accused of setting fire to the governor's mansion over the weekend. While the judge said that she appreciated that he turned himself into police, she still, as you noted, recommended imprisonment.

Now, as Balmer got out of the state police squad card around 5:30, he actually stuck his tongue out as if he was bored. That was as cameras and reporters peppered him with questions. He didn't say anything, even though a lot of folks asked him, why do you hate Governor Josh Shapiro? In the courtroom, he stared straight ahead, often expressionless. He would take long, big sighs, and he was shackled at the hands and feet.

Now, Jake, the hearing itself was relatively short, but the judge did ask a series of questions, notably, when the judge was asked if Balmer had a history of mental illness, Balmer said that's the rumor, but no, ma'am. He also denied any alcohol or drug abuse. But when he was asked about any medication he has taken, he said, medication that led me to different types of behavior. He kind of mumbled that as he said it in the courtroom. He also noted that he lives with his parents and he's been recently working as a welder, Jake.

Now, this is all because he's facing those charges of attempted homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson, and aggravated assault. And it all comes after we learned a trove of new information earlier today, including the disturbing ones that he brought a bag of beer bottles filled with gasoline onto the governor's residence property over the weekend as he lit fire to the property at with these makeshift Molotov cocktails.

And also probably the scariest detail that we learned Jake from court documents that we also obtained today was that police asked him, what would you do if -- what were you planning to do, rather, if you actually encountered Governor Shapiro in the home? And he said, quote, he would've beaten him with his hammer.

Now, Jake, Balmer just left the courthouse a little while ago. We're trying to figure out exactly where he's going next, but this first court appearance is in the book. We're expecting him likely in court again for a preliminary hearing next week. Jake?

TAPPER: And, Danny, there are social media posts in indicating kind of like anarchic views against Democrats and Republicans. Do we have any idea of the political motive or why he stated he hated Governor Shapiro?

FREEMAN: Jake, frankly, that's still one of the big outstanding questions. While CNN was able to find some online activity, particularly critical of former President Joe Biden, for example, a lot of that online activity was older, from a couple of years ago, and then he kind of went dark online, it seems, in recent years.

[18:30:05]

But that's one of the big questions.

Obviously, he said in this court filing that we obtained today that he harbored hatred toward Governor Shapiro. But still there's no real explanation as to what elevated that to make him actually walk to the governor's residence in the middle of the night with these incendiary devices and try to attack him also, notably, on the first weekend of Passover, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Danny Freeman in Harrisburg, thanks so much.

Let's bring in CNN's Chief Law Enforcement Analyst John Miller, who is an expert in counterterrorism from his time with the NYPD.

John, it's shocking that this person was able to get into the governor's mansion in the early morning hours, let alone that he was able to commit this kind of violent crime. There is obviously a security lapse. What happened?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, as far as we know, and I've been talking to sources about this all day, there was a light pole outside the fence that was compromised or that he pushed over or kicked over and used that to scale the fence. That puts him on the grounds from the video review.

He very quickly moves to the house, breaks the windows, throws the Molotov cocktail in, then moves to another window, breaks that, and steps through the broken window where he throws another Molotov cocktail, and now he's got a major fire going. He manages, while state police alerted by the fire, are moving to towards the house to get out, get back over the fence, cut through a parking lot and make his escape.

The question that you're asking is the one that is going to be asked of everybody involved in the security here is, there are cameras that captured him going over the fence, breaking into the house, entering the house, setting the fires, why weren't those cameras enough to alert the people at the guard booth and at the place where those cameras come into to move towards interdicting him before he got into the residence? And that's a question that they're going to be going over with everybody who was working that shift.

TAPPER: Yes, another security failure in the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Let's not forget in July of last year the assassination attempt on President Trump was also in Pennsylvania.

What are the next steps for investigators as they try to piece together what happened and the possible motive?

MILLER: Well, so, interestingly, and almost unique to this case, the next step for investigators in the investigation are fairly simple steps. They're going to be going back over his social media. I spent a lot of time looking at his social media. It's pretty much as Danny summed it up, which is you have some anti-Biden stuff, you have some misogynist material.

This is an individual who, at least by those postings, has more than passive contempt for women. You have some things involving weapons. One very interesting one where he shows a patch that says it has a picture of a Molotov cocktail on it. And it says, you know, you light the change you want to see.

So, he is somebody who spent a lot of time online. But then as Danny also said, is quieted down recently. They're going to have to see. Did he move to another platform? Has he been part of a chat room? Is there anybody who encouraged this, things like that.

But, basically, Balmer solved the case himself. He turned himself in. He answered all their questions. The investigation now just needs to be kind of a bow put on it. The real investigation is going to be into. Where were the motion centers sensors on the grounds? Did the alarms go off? Were the alarms heard? Were they responded too quickly enough or did he just move with such rapidity, such speed in and out that he got in and got out before they could get to him. And once they saw the fire, their efforts were, let's get the people out of the building and worry about somebody on the grounds after the fact.

TAPPER: And like I said, his motive still is unclear, but he admitted to hating Governor Shapiro. And today in court, he denied having struggles with mental illness, which his mother had told reporters he had. He denied substances, substance abuse. What role will his motive play now, or might this just be one of those lonely loser man lashes out stories?

MILLER: So, really interesting question, Jake, because I think you've put your thumb on it. If you look at the plot to kidnap and hold hostage Governor Gretchen Whitmer in Michigan, that was an organized plot, organized by 14 people. Nine of them were convicted. They received long prison sentences. But if you look at the plot at Nancy Pelosi's residence in San Francisco, you've got David DePape breaks in and attacks Pelosi's 84-year-old husband Paul, and reveals that he has a plot to, you know, hold them hostage and demand things from Congress.

[18:35:04]

This is much more similar to that than it is to the Whitmer plot. What you have here is a classic disorganized offender. He didn't put a lot of planning into this. He didn't build a bomb. He didn't come with special weapons. He put some gasoline in some beer bottles, hopped over the fence, ran away the same way he came in. It didn't seem like he had much of a plan at all because it appears that he got away with it and then insisted on having his girlfriend call police, say it was him, and then showing up in person at headquarters to surrender and answer the story. It appears his real motive was to get caught and get credit.

TAPPER: John Miller, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin officials reached out to the Trump administration for help to fix lead issues in their public schools. So, why did the Trump administration say, sorry, no can do? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: Our Health Lead now, Milwaukee's public Health Department needs to figure out how to manage a lead contamination crisis impacting the city's public schools without any help from the federal government. Lead, as you may know, is toxic to the human brain. It can slow a child's development, it can cause learning problems. No level of lead exposure is considered safe.

But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently denied the city of Milwaukee's request for help to manage this crisis. Why? Well, because all the CDCs lead experts have been fired. They were fired earlier this month, along with 10,000 other federal health employees as part of the Department of Health and Human Services' reduction in force led by Secretary Kennedy.

Joining us now is Mayor Cavalier Johnson of the city of Milwaukee. Mayor Johnson, you have about 69,000 students across 156 public schools. How are you going to do this without help from the federal government? How can you guarantee that hazardous levels of lead will be removed?

MAYOR CAVALIER JOHNSON (D-MILWAUKEE, WI): Well, thank you for covering the story, Jake. And it's a challenge, it's a big challenge but a challenge that our health department under my administration is working collaboratively with the separately elected and appointed public school district in order to resolve.

As you mentioned, there are over a hundred schools in Milwaukee public schools, many of those schools built well before we knew that lead posed risks, health risks for humans, and so that there's a challenge right now.

We've got some really outstanding professionals on the ground in Milwaukee with expertise in lead, but there is a higher level of expertise in there, Centers for Disease Control. But, unfortunately, when we did that outreach with the approach that the Trump administration has taken, as you mentioned, those folks are just not there. They're just not there to help out with a huge issue that we have in Milwaukee addressing this issue around lead.

TAPPER: How are you going to pay for this? I mean, first of all, it does seem like there's a whole bunch of unemployed lead experts who might be looking for work that you could now hire and bring to Milwaukee. But, I mean, cities are strapped these days. How are you going to pay for this?

JOHNSON: Yes, cities are strapped in Milwaukee, it's no different that way. Fortunately, since I've been mayor of what we've done is try to work to build partnerships here in the city. And so, as an example, after we found that there were a number of schools that had this issue. We worked with some of our partners on the ground whether it's Children's Wisconsin or children's hospital here, progressive health centers, the 16th Street Community Health Center, all of them have worked together with us and the school district in order to make sure that we could have lead testing clinics for students and families who may have been impacted by lead.

Fortunately, the vast majority of those young people who were tested did not have lead exposure. There are a handful who did though. And we still have dozens and dozens of schools to examine to work to make sure that we, you know, find out what's going on in those school buildings to make sure we have a safe environment for all of our kids to learn in Milwaukee.

TAPPER: And I'm told some schools with lead exposure have already needed to be closed for a period of time so that you can remove the lead. Do you have any idea how long the removal and cleanup process is supposed to take?

JOHNSON: Yes. We've been working with the health department in Milwaukee public schools. We have had to close some schools down. The schools that we have closed down, it's taken a couple of weeks to go through and get those schools remediated and cleaned, and we've been able to reopen some of those schools and get kids back into the classroom.

We presently have three schools that are closed, have been closed for some time. We're working to make sure that we can get those, the lead remediated from those school buildings and get the kids back in school there as well.

But, again, we've got dozens and dozens of other schools that have to be inspected. And so, over the course of the next several weeks and months we'll be taking on that process, working collaboratively with MPS in order to do that.

My health department is working with the district in order to have a comprehensive plan in order to go through that. But, again, we really wish, and I really wish, and I know that the parents in Milwaukee really wish that the federal government, our partners there, would have been on the ground in Milwaukee, able to help us to determine which schools needed the priority first and which schools we needed to go into it first in order to make sure that we can get kids back there and to remediate the problem.

TAPPER: Mayor Cavalier Johnson Milwaukee, Wisconsin, thank you so much, sir, for your time.

JOHNSON: Thank you.

TAPPER: The Ohio State Buckeye celebrated their football national championship at the White House today. I don't think Vice President Vance dropping the trophy was part of the plans. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:47]

TAPPER: In our sports lead, UConn basketball star Paige Bueckers, fresh off her recent national championship victory, is highly anticipated to be the number one overall pick in tonight's WNBA draft. And with all the talent in the WNBA, those still in college and the successful new three on three league Unrivaled, it's safe to say the future of women's basketball appears bright.

And what better way to talk about all of it than with Minnesota Lynx player, co-founder of the Unrivaled League and UConn alumna herself, Napheesa Collier.

Napheesa, thank you so much for joining us.

It's great to have you here. It must be awesome to see Paige Bueckers win UConn another national title, and see her projected to be the WNBA's number one overall pick.

What do you think her first year will be like in the league?

NAPHEESA COLLIER, PLAYER, MINNESOTA LYNX: I'm really excited.

First of all, I was so happy for the team and for the coaches. The last time we won was my freshman year, so it's been a long time, so I'm glad that they were able to do that. It was so fun to watch. And I think Paige's first year is going to be great. I think her game will translate really well to the WNBA.

She's a really smart player. She can score at all three levels. Theres always a curve. Your rookie year of just learning how the game is played, and people are a lot stronger, bigger, have been the years for the league for a lot of years, so they have a lot of experience.

[18:50:06]

But I think she'll just quickly. So, I'm excited to watch.

TAPPER: You yourself were the number six pick in 2019. You went on to win rookie of the year, so many other awards as well throughout your career so far, what was your draft experience like? And are there any prospects in this years draft who might be underestimated right now?

COLLIER: The draft experience. It's so fun. I mean, its something that you -- it's like the pinnacle of you work your entire life to get here. And then this is the moment where it feels like it's all paying off. You know, you get to start your professional career, your adult life. It's just really special.

And especially to experience that with your loved ones. It's like such a fond memory that you can look back on. And as far as underrated people, I don't know, you know, I just said that, you know, Paige's game is going to transfer really well, and I think it will, but it is really hard to predict who will and wont transfer into the WNBA. The style of play is pretty different.

And it's so competitive. We have so few spots, so I don't know, it's like trying to pick your March Madness bracket. Like there's always going to be hits and misses every year, so we'll see.

TAPPER: Let me ask you about the three on three league, Unrivaled, that you co-founded and launched this year, which has already made reportedly more than $27 million. One could argue that this league is a is a rival to the WNBA in many ways for salaries for players. Paige Bueckers, for example.

ESPN says she's expected to make more money in one year at Unrivaled than in her first four years with the WNBA. How do you think this could impact the WNBA's collective bargaining agreement negotiations with the players union?

COLLIER: I don't think were competitors at all. In fact, I think we really help each other. You know, unrivaled was created to help lift all of women's basketball, like in all the markets and especially with the WNBA, you know, we have the 30 best players in the world. And if we're doing well, it only, you know, highlights and uplifts the WNBA and vice versa.

And so, I think we pair really well together, especially because our seasons are different. But as far as, you know, using that with negotiations, I think it's just really interesting just to see, you know, that players have other options that obviously we want to be really competitive.

But again, we are using this as a tool where we really just benefit each other.

TAPPER: What are your goals for "Unrivaled's" next season?

COLLIER: To expand. You know, our business, as you mentioned, like we did really well in year one. So, we want to make sure that the experience is even better in year two. And so, you know, we are doing a tour model, where we're going to go to a couple different cities where it's going to be really fun to bring Unrivaled to a city and a full arena. So that experience will be really fun and then just improving on things.

You know, it's our first year. We were kind of everything was trial and error. So, we really want to expand on the fan experience and make sure that that's like a really VIP. We have so many people coming from out of state, so we really want to honor that by making it the best experience possible and then just stuff like that where, you know, you do your best you can in year one. But now we kind of see what we want to, what we want to improve on. TAPPER: All right. Napheesa Collier, thank you so much for joining us.

And best of luck.

COLLIER: Thank you.

TAPPER: And we should note that TNT Sports, which is owned by our parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, holds the broadcast rights for Unrivaled games and Max streams those games.

Also in our sports lead, were going to bring you a play by play on a fumble that could easily be written into an episode of "Veep", as the Ohio State football team visited the White House today to be honored for their national championship win in January. Ohio State alumnus Vice President J.D. Vance reached for the championship trophy in a handoff from the state's -- Ohio State's running back. And, well, he fumbled it. The bottom half of the trophy fell to the ground without the top half, which Henderson managed to keep in play.

Let's see the replay in slowmo, because we can. Oh, that's just awful.

The vice president later joked about this on -- on Twitter, saying I didn't want anyone after Ohio State to get the trophy, so I decided to break it. Haha.

It was a star-studded and history making trip to the edge of space today. What Katy Perry and Gayle King had to say when they returned to Earth. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:45]

TAPPER: In our out of this world lead, Blue Origin released new video of that star-studded all-female crew who ventured very briefly to space this morning. The newer footage shows the weightlessness part of the journey.

Journalist Gayle King and pop star Katy Perry were among the six women who participated in this latest blue origin suborbital suborbital launch. The roughly ten-minute flight was just long enough to provide a breathtaking view of the planet, and a few moments of zero gravity.

Listen to some of the reactions. Just after setting foot back on earth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Complete and utter joy and gratefulness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can heal. No dream is too wild.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The moon was so beautiful and it was like -- I felt like that was a special gift just for me.

GAYLE KING, JOURNALIST: You can't go through what we went through to look out for each other, to help each other and not be changed by that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will never be the same.

KATY PERRY, POP STAR: This experience is right. It's second to being a mom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This marked the 11th crewed trip to space for a New Shepard spacecraft.

Before you go, I have two books coming out. In May, "Original Sin", about President Biden's decision to run for reelection and the cover up of his decline. You will not believe what we found.

And in October, "Race Against Terror", about the hunt to prosecute an al Qaeda terrorist who killed Americans and was out to kill more. You can check them out and preorder them at jaketapper.com.

Until tomorrow, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Substack, and on TikTok @JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN.

If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show once you get your podcasts.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.