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The Lead with Jake Tapper

FBI Arrests Wisconsin Judge, Accuses Her Of Obstructing ICE; Trump Backs Down In Legal Fight Over Canceling International Students' Visa Status Records For Now; Russia Launches New Attacks On Ukraine; Trump: U.S. "Pretty Close" On Russia-Ukraine Deal; Trump: "Crimea Will Stay With Russia." Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 25, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: To pick the next pope. Clarissa Ward, thank you.

And do be sure to tune in Saturday morning at 3:00 a.m., that's tomorrow. CNN's special live coverage of the pope's funeral.

Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead," which I think is going to have much more coverage from Clarissa Ward and a look ahead to the funeral. Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Indeed, we will. Thank you so much, Kasie. We'll see you back in "The Arena" on Monday.

HUNT: Thank you.

[17:00:23]

TAPPER: A sitting Wisconsin judge arrested for allegedly standing in the way of a deportation. The Lead starts right now. The FBI versus a Milwaukee county circuit judge. When immigration officials tried to arrest an undocumented immigrant in her courtroom, Judge Hannah Dugan allegedly tried to help him leave the building. Certainly an escalation in the battle between the Trump administration and the judiciary. All the latest coming up.

Plus, ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis, President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump landing in Rome as the president voices his frustration on the faltering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. Plus, big news in courtroom today. Disgraced former Congressman George Santos, a Republican from New York, has been sentenced as United Healthcare CEO alleged assassin Luigi Mangione enters his plea. We're going to have all the developments in these two high profile cases.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we're going to start this hour with major breaking news on today's arrest of a Wisconsin state judge. The FBI says it has arrested and charged Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan for allegedly helping an undocumented migrant avoid getting arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Judge Dugan is facing two charges for obstruction and concealing the individual from arrest.

Today, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on social media post, quote, "We believe Judge Dugan intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject to be arrested in her courthouse, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, allowing the subject, an illegal alien, to evade arrest. Thankfully, our agents chased down the perp on foot and he's been in custody since." U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had even more to say in an interview on Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: Shame on her. It was a domestic violence case of all cases and she's protecting a criminal defendant over victims of crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's go straight to CNN's Whitney Wild, who is outside the federal courthouse in Wisconsin where the judge made her initial court appearance and was released. Whitney, how did this all unfold?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, this began April 18th when according to this FBI complaint that was unsealed today, this man, Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, was supposed to appear in front of her in her -- in the county circuit courtroom when she learned that there were six federal agents there to try to arrest him because, as the FBI says, he was an undocumented immigrant who they believe should go back to Mexico after previously being deported once she became very upset and left her courtroom, and in fact, she pulled some of those agents aside.

She arranged a call with the chief judge where the chief judge insisted that these agents only arrest someone in the public area of the courtroom. And this is important, Jake, because when she went back into the courtroom, according to the FBI complaint, several people heard her basically stop Flores-Ruiz and his attorney from leaving through the door that would have led to the public area of the courtroom, and instead said something to the effect of, wait, come with me.

And instead led them through the jury door, which is a private area of the courthouse. And they say that this caused a major hurdle as they were trying to arrest him because later on, when these federal agents were trying to put him under arrest, they were having trouble, you know, catching up with him and finding him.

Eventually, they did catch up with him. He tried to flee. There was a foot chase. They did bring him back into custody. But what the Trump administration has made very clear from the outset is that they are not going to allow anyone, local or state official included, stop them from conducting these immigration actions. Here's more from Attorney General Pam Bondi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONDI: I cannot believe, I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law, and they are not. And we're sending a very strong message today. If you are harboring a fugitive, we don't care who you are, if you are helping hide one, if you are giving a TDA member guns, anyone who is illegally in this country, we will come after you and we will prosecute you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Jake, Flores-Ruiz was deported from the United States the first time in January of 2013. He made his way back to the United States. And now law enforcement says he's facing a list of not only now federal charges, but state charges, which included the battery charge that he was going for Judge Dugan on. In addition, the DHS spokeswoman, Trisha McLaughlin said this. "He has a laundry list of violent criminal charges, including strangulation and suffocation, battery and domestic abuse.

[17:05:02]

Ruiz illegally entered the United States twice." Jake.

TAPPER: What happens next in the case, Whitney?

WILD: Well, Judge Dugan is doing federal court later next month. For now, her court is trying to figure out how to rearrange her court schedule. They say that other judges are going to be picking up those cases as needed. There is a statement released on her behalf today that says this, "Judge Hannah C. Dugan, has committed herself to the rule of law and principles of due process for her entire career as a lawyer and a judge. She has retained former United States Attorney Steven Biskupic to represent her. Judge Dugan will defend herself vigorously and looks forward to being exonerated." Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Whitney Wild in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where it sounds as though protesters are gathering.

Let's bring in CNN Chief Legal Analyst Laura Coates.

Laura, as a former federal prosecutor and somebody who's been covering all these deportation and --

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF LEGAL ANALYST: Yes.

TAPPER: -- due process issues, does this surprise you?

COATES: This hits actually very close to home because I myself have been in a situation where, as a prosecutor, having been aware of somebody with an arrest for deportation and wondering what the steps must be taken in order to, on the one hand, fulfill my ethical obligations to the court and do what feels right in the moment.

You cannot, as a sitting judge or a prosecutor or an attorney, frankly, comply with your ethical obligations and facilitate somebody's evasion of the authorities. Now, it might seem odd to people that you would be in a position to do, but this judge could have very well set the terms of deciding whether it happened inside of her courtroom, but she can't facilitate an exit if the intention was to evade authorities.

That's the rub here. And for a lot of people, it might seem very, very wrong to, in some ways, be in compliance with due process and on the other hand, suggest that somebody is removed and could not necessarily have due process later on.

But she cannot be in this position and choose what she did according to the allegations.

TAPPER: You know, it's actually six years ago to the day, just looking at this headline in CNN.com, judge accused of helping an undocumented immigrant escape an ICE officer.

COATES: Yes.

TAPPER: This happened in Massachusetts, and he was arrested, indicted, the judge and an officer of the court, although in the Biden administration they dropped the charges 2022 but it was the same basic thing. What does the U.S. government need to do, the Trump administration need to do, to prove that Judge Dugan was actually helping this undocumented migrant evade arrest by ICE?

COATES: It will come down to the intention. If, for example, the scenario is that she said, I want you to go through this particular area to avoid having chaos inside the hallways and actually facilitate the person's dignified release to the actual ICE agents, that's one thing.

If, however, the intent was to circumvent them and delay their ability to obtain this person, it's a very different scenario. So it's going to come down to her intent. Whatever word she may have said, witnesses who were there who could shed some light on what her intent would be, will be useful to this.

But ultimately, there is this ethical obligation. You can have due process, but you still have to sometimes hand over the person to the authorities for them to secure the appropriate mechanism and the appropriate forum to do so. This is a domestic violence defendant. There is probable cause perhaps. There is not beyond a reasonable doubt at this point in time, but they're very separate matters.

Pam Bondi is talking about this person having been convicted as judge, juror, and executioner. But at this juncture, it's about what the judge's ability to do is in terms of facilitating or evading. And they are alleging that she did the wrong thing, which is if she did, to allow this person to avoid lawful authority. And as lawyers, as judges, you cannot do that.

TAPPER: You cannot do that. And from her statement, it sounds as though she did help him evade. I mean, she's leaning on the, whoever gave that statement on her behalf, she has a long record of standing up for due process. So theoretically, the argument, as I'm reading into the statement, is I was doing this because this undocumented migrant was not being given due process by ICE. That's what it sounds like she's suggesting.

COATES: Well, it could very well be that term mindset, but we don't know. And it could be that -- remind you, ICE agents do help to further the due process scenario if they're putting the person in front of a court and an immigration judge should decide what should happen next. You know, I'm not going to speculate on who her intention is, but certainly --

TAPPER: Here's a new photo of the -- of the undocumented migrant, the alleged domestic abuser we're discussing.

COATES: Yes. And it could be the case that the judge was perhaps trying to remove the spectacle of the hallway arrest or inside of her courtroom and put it in an area where it would happen in a more discreet manner. I'm waiting to see what the information is. But as the information we have today, if any officer of the court is intending to evade authorities and knowingly harbor somebody who should be turned over to authorities, they've got a world of hurt in terms of ethical obligations.

[17:10:03]

TAPPER: Yes, you can't do that. You can't be like, well, I think he's innocent. I think this is --

COATES: Right.

TAPPER: -- your kangaroo court, therefore, here's the way to get out of here. You're a judge.

COATES: That also evades due process.

TAPPER: Yes.

COATES: It undermines it.

TAPPER: Yes. All right. Laura Coates, thank you so much. And of course, you should all join Laura on her show, "Laura Coates Live," an excellent show. It's tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only here on CNN.

We got someone else here who has an excellent prime time show on CNN, Kaitlan Collins.

And Kaitlan, speaking of courtrooms, there's a major development with the Trump administration's cancellation of the international student visas. They're backing off this?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Just to give everyone some background in case. I mean, there's so many stories around this circulating around. Obviously, there's been the cases that we know about where you can name the people that have been affected by this. Secretary of State Rubio, people like Mahmoud Khalil, who have been detained and held as they are trying to remove them from the U.S. for the protests that we saw organized on campus. The White House argues they were hurting foreign policy. They haven't been accused of any crime.

But there are also hundreds of international students here in the U.S. who have had their visas suddenly revoked and their ability to be able to study inside the United States with almost little to notice. You can see all of the students there across the United States.

TAPPER: One's not accused of even involving themselves in a campus protest at all.

COLLINS: No, no. Some of them had maybe minor traffic violations. Some of them had no discernible reason for their visa to be revoked. And they got almost no notice. I mean, there were questions, could they leave the United States -- did they have to leave immediately?

Could they stay and finish their studies, their research? Some of them were weeks away from graduating. There were a ton of lawsuits that had been caused by this. And we found out in court today a Justice Department attorney said they are essentially restoring all of those visas that have been canceled. Mind you, some of those students have left the United States already because they're reviewing the process by which they do this, because a lot of the courts and the judges you saw in this case saying that they didn't understand why this was happening.

There seemed to be no reason given for this. And they were essentially going through a database and they say they're reviewing that process. And for the time being, these students will not be affected. This is a huge reversal by ICE that is happening. And we don't have a lot of context for why they're suddenly changing this policy, but it seems to be what was happening inside courtrooms.

I mean, there were massive lawsuits that were being thrown against the White House because of this rule, because there was no real explanation for why these students were having their visas revoked.

TAPPER: So much of the policy, whatever people think about the policy goals, so much of the policy seems to have been this like reckless wielding of an ax when, as President Trump has said, a scalpel might make more sense. Perhaps this is another example of that.

COLLINS: But also, these are students who are here on visas. These are not people who are here illegally that the president promised to deport --

TAPPER: Right.

COLLINS: --- and was elected on that. He wasn't going to rallies and saying he was going to remove students studying in graduate programs or whatnot. And so, that was also the real question for the legal basis of how these decisions are being made.

TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. And Kaitlan is back in a few hours on "The Source" tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

A stunning scene here in Moscow today. A senior Russian general was killed in a car blast just as Putin met with Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff. What we're learning about that deadly explosion, who might be behind it and that meeting, that's next. Plus, new video from Rome where President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have just landed to attend tomorrow's funeral with Pope Francis. CNN's Clarissa Ward will be live for us from Rome with a powerful story of one of the pope's last acts on earth before his death.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:17:31]

TAPPER: Topping our world lead today, a senior Russian general was reportedly assassinated by a car bomb this morning just east of Moscow. So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Right after Russian officials confirmed the general's death, Russian leader Putin met with Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff for their fourth meeting. As European officials tell CNN, there are two very different peace proposals on the table. CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Moscow for us.

And Fred, President Trump said today, quote, "I think we're pretty close on a peace deal." Is that view, is that optimism shared with the Russian officials with whom you speak?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I think that the Russian officials certainly ones that we're speaking with, think that there is progress, but they don't think that they believe that they are that close to a deal or at least not as close as the U.S. president letting on. Certainly, the talks today, the Russians say we're in a good atmosphere, were very important.

But also, if we look at what would happen at those negotiations, you had Steve Witkoff there, who was essentially on his own, and then Putin lined by some of his top negotiators, Senior Kremlin Yuri Ushakov, and then also the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. So certainly the Russians there in full force. Afterwards the Russians were saying that, yes, progress had been made in some areas, but especially bilateral relations between the United States and Russia that could also lead to the U.S.

And Russia tackling international issues together. And the Russians also saying that one of the other things that could happen now in the future is direct talks between Ukraine and Russia. But of course, that would still leave a lot of the problems between these two countries pretty much unsolved.

One of the interesting things that we heard from the Russians today sort of sheds a light as to how much a meeting like this, Jake, can actually achieve. The Russians were saying that for them, these meetings essentially mean that they are passing messages on to Steve Witkoff for those messages to then be passed on to President Trump. So how much decision making could actually happen there? Probably not as much as most people think. But the Russians certainly are saying right now the vibe between these two countries is very good, and there certainly has been some progress as well, Jake.

TAPPER: So, Fred, at the top, I talked about two different peace proposals. Walk us through what we know --

PLEITGEN: Yes.

TAPPER: -- about the specifics of them?

PLEITGEN: Yes, yes. So essentially what sources are telling us is that there's two proposals that are on the table. There's one that sort of comes from the Europeans and the Ukrainians that would cause a call for a cease fire to be in place immediately, and then for issues to be worked through. A lot of those have to do with security guarantees for Ukraine that are supposed to happen from the Ukrainian NATO allies or from Ukraine's NATO allies. And then there's another proposal that is the one that's put forward by the U.S. and by Steve Witkoff that essentially calls for the U.S. to de facto recognize Crimea as Russian territory, give robust security guarantees.

[17:20:10]

However, it's unclear where exactly those were -- would come from, more from U.S.'s allies than from the U.S. itself. But then also, and this is, of course, something that the Russians are looking at, lifting sanctions against Russia, which is something that they've been gunning for. One of the things that we're getting, the vibe that we're getting on the ground here in Moscow, Jake, is that the Russians are essentially saying for them, the Ukraine issue is obviously very important. But in the end, their main goal is a reset of U.S. Russian relations, where they want business ties between the two countries and, of course, sanctions relief as well, Jake.

TAPPER: All right Fred Pleitgen in Russia's capital, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

I want to bring in Evelyn Farkas. She was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia under President Obama. Thank you so much for being here. Good to see you.

EVELYN FARKAS, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECY, OF DEFENSE FOR RUSSIA, UKRAINE, AND EURASIA: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: So, overnight, Ukraine was hit by another round of deadly Russian strikes, despite Trump's Vladimir stop plea on social media. You have a lot of experience dealing with Russia. Why do you think that Putin seems to be escalating attacks at this critical time in negotiations?

FARKAS: Well, I can't get in Putin's head, but what he does when he thinks he's ahead is he keeps pushing, and it's essentially demonstrating to the Ukrainians and the Europeans. Ha, I have Donald Trump -- it seems I have the United States on my side. So, he has a tendency to demonstrate that he thinks he's on the top, that he thinks he has the advantage through his actions.

TAPPER: So this afternoon, one of the highest ranking Republicans in the Senate, Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, posted on Twitter, quote, "I've seen enough killing of innocent Ukrainian women and children. President Trump, please put the toughest of sanctions on Putin. You ought to see from clear evidence that he is playing America as a patsy." That's from one of the top Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Do you agree with Senator Grassley?

FARKAS: I do, I do. And Senator Grassley, he's not a young man. He's been around the block a few times. He knows what Vladimir Putin is capable of and how he operates. And unfortunately, these discussions with Steve Witkoff, the envoy, the U.S. envoy, you know, they don't look like they're bearing any real fruit.

And if anything, the Russians are saying things that they think that President Trump wants to hear about business, but there's a huge obstacle in the way which is the war.

TAPPER: We should note that Nikki Haley, the former Trump U.N. ambassador who ran against him for president and lost, obviously, retweeted what Grassley wrote and wrote -- said something like, amen. Well, I mean --

FARKAS: Yes.

TAPPER: So there is a big chunk of Republicans who know something about foreign relations who think that Trump is being too nice to Russia, and yet those voices aren't really not that loud at all.

FARKAS: Well, they should be quiet and in the room with Witkoff. They should be in Moscow with the Trump officials advising them, really. What we need there in the room are experts to say, OK, Putin said this before in -- on this date and he didn't actually follow through. And then to come up with ways to verify if he's going to make a promise and get it all written down. And this takes time. You can't do it overnight.

We are not close to an agreement.

TAPPER: While he was on his way to Italy for the Pope's funeral, President Trump posted on Truth Social that Ukraine, quote, "has not signed the final papers on the very important rare earths deal with the United States. It is at least three weeks late. Hopefully it will be signed immediately," unquote. This has to do with the rare minerals --

FARKAS: Yes.

TAPPER: -- that Trump says he wants Ukraine to give the United States, basically as a payback for the aid that the U.S. has given Ukraine. Trump says he might meet with Zelenskyy while they're both in Rome. What's your take on this? I mean, there was an optimistic interpretation of this that we've heard from Rebeccah Heinrichs and other conservatives that this was kind of like a sideway into security guarantees by having the U.S. invested in Ukraine's sovereignty. But others have said no, this just looks more like a -- like a ransom.

FARKAS: It looks like a deal, some kind of business deal.

TAPPER: Yes.

FARKAS: And if you're Ukraine, what are you really getting out of it? First of all, it's retroactive. You already got what you wanted from the United States and the allies. And at that time, they told you it was not for free because your people are dying fighting this war.

TAPPER: Right.

FARKAS: And the war they're fighting, let's not forget, is for the international order. It's in the U.S. interest. We don't want war spreading throughout Europe. We don't want to get into a war with Russia. So Ukraine is fighting a war to stop Putin.

It's very clear. So the Ukrainians don't get anything from this deal in the future. And they're in the middle of a life, you know, life threatening, urgent negotiation. So why would they give us, why would they give the United States or anyone, anything until they see what they're getting?

TAPPER: And lastly, Trump was asked in a Time magazine interview that -- was published today if Ukraine should give up any hope of ever joining NATO. And he answered, quote, "I don't think they'll ever be able to join NATO. I think that's been from day one. I think that's been, that's, I think what caused the war to start was when they started talking about joining NATO."

[17:25:00]

FARKAS: Well, the Russian government has said the reason they invaded and took Crimea was because they were afraid Ukraine would join NATO. But Ukraine actually wanted to join the European Union at that point in time. That was 2014, over 10 years ago. Ukraine wants to be a democratic state. Unfortunately for Putin, that's on his border.

He does not want a flourishing democratic, strong economic state on his border to show his people that there's another way to live, a better way.

TAPPER: Yes. Evelyn Farkas, thanks so much. Good to have you here.

FARKAS: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up, we're going to meet a woman who says it's too painful to watch the Pope's funeral on T.V. Instead, she's going to keep a picture of their meeting in her memory. Her powerful encounter with the pontiff, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:04]

TAPPER: In our faith lead, you are looking at live pictures from St. Peter's Square where tomorrow world leaders and royalty will gather to pay their final respects to a pope for a man who wishes to be remembered for leading the church with humility and acts of service. CNN's Clarissa Ward brings us now the story of female prisoners in Rome who had their feet washed by the Pope last year to talk to them about how they're going to remember Pope Francis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Behind the high walls and barbed wire and Rebibbia women's prison, it's easy to feel forgotten. But that changed one day in late March of last year with a visit from Pope Francis. Sitting in his wheelchair, the Pope engaged in a centuries old pre-Easter ritual, washing the feet of 12 inmates.

Dorota, who has spent a decade behind bars, was first in line.

DOROTA, INMATE (through translator): When I got on the stage and the Pope got close to me, I felt a very strong emotion. I was shaking. And the thing that really struck me the most was that I felt a true warm kiss on my feet. Something that can't be described. It will never happen again in my life.

WARD: Did you feel that you were in the presence of someone who's close to God?

DOROTA (through translator): Yes, I could feel a lot of humility in him. I saw that he is good, a man with a big heart that is close to us. A very religious person, an extraordinary person.

WARD (voice-over): The foot washing ritual seeks to imitate Jesus Christ washing his disciples' feet the night before his death. This was the first time a pope washed the feet of all women. A striking departure from his predecessor Benedict, who only washed the feet of men and later only the feet of priests.

WARD: And what do you think made this Pope special or different? Why do you think it is that he had the ability touch so many hearts?

DOROTA (through translator): Because he was truly a good Pope. The pope of the people, of all the poor, of everyone in need, prisoners, the homeless. He was there with his heart.

WARD (voice-over): I ask if the other women felt the same way.

DOROTA (through translator): Yes. In fact, here I have a paper with some thoughts from the other inmates. For us inmates, the Pope's visit was very emotional. Through Pope Francis, we felt as though our hearts had received true forgiveness. We felt seen and understood.

He never abandoned us, not even in the final days.

WARD (voice-over): Returning to her cell, Dorota said she won't be watching the funeral on T.V. It would be too painful. Instead, she'll carry the memory of that meeting when Pope Francis brought warmth to the hardest of places.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (on camera): And Jake, you can probably see behind me now in St. Peter's Square, this is pretty much the emptiest we have seen it all week. They have completely shut down this area. Workers here will be going through the night now trying to prepare everything to make sure that nothing goes wrong, that everything goes off without a hitch tomorrow as we prepare for this historic event, Jake.

TAPPER: What an amazing story. Clarissa Ward in Rome, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

President Trump is coming up on marking 100 days in his second term. From the chaos to the legal challenges to the bold strokes, what will define his next 100 days? Well, CNN's Abby Phillip will be here with that story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:38:27]

TAPPER: In our politics lead, it may seem like 10 times this, but Tuesday is going to mark President Trump's 100th day back in office. And in such a short amount of time, his administration has really had a huge impact from upending global trade to issuing a record number of executive actions. CNN Anchor Abby Phillip explores just how far President Trump has been willing to go to try to reshape America and expand presidential power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY: Some people say that this is a constitutional crisis. Is it?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, AUTHOR, "THE PARDON: THE POLITICS OF PRESIDENTIAL MERCY": Donald Trump's first hundred days have tested the Constitution in ways that we have never seen in generations.

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: What people fear is that we're going to get to a moment where the Trump administration will defy a court order. The president himself has said that this administration will not defy a court order. That remains to be seen.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have great respect for this court. The answer is I always abide by the courts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: With us now is Abby Phillip.

And, Abby, there's been a lot to cover since Trump took office. As you look back since day one for your special that's going to air Sunday night, what stand out as some of the biggest moments?

PHILLIP: Well, you know, Jake, one of the interesting things is as were producing this hour, the number of things that happened in the time between when we started and when we finished is extraordinary. Just in the last month --

TAPPER: Or even today.

PHILLIP: Or even today.

TAPPER: Right.

PHILLIP: You know, in the middle of the process of putting this together, the trade wars began.

[17:40:01]

TAPPER: Yes.

PHILLIP: And that very quickly became, I think, one of the biggest elements of the Trump 100 days because it almost touches on virtually everything else in terms of what he promised the American people, in terms of his view of the United States and its role in the world.

And the significance of that decision in the eyes of a lot of the people that we talk to was that it was essentially a legacy defining moment for this particular president. And we're in the middle of it. We still don't know how it's going to go, how it's going to turn out. But so many people agreed that this could be the defining decision that Donald Trump made, Liberation Day.

On top of that, I think there's a consensus among the journalists, the experts, the pro-Trump voices, the skeptical of Trump voices in this hour that Trump is trying to reshape what America is in the world and that the 100 days that comes after this one could be just as significant as these first 100 days in terms of looking at whether he will be successful in literally turning the world on its head. The international order, the trade order, and also the relationship between the presidency and the legal and legislative aspects of the United States of America as well.

TAPPER: Fascinating stuff. Abby Phillip, thanks so much.

And Abby's 100-day review is the focus of Sunday's new episode of "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper." Look for that Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern in Pacific only on CNN. Congratulations, Abby. Can't wait to watch.

Voters also have a lot to say about Trump's first 100 days. CNN's M.J. Lee took the temperature of one group who has a history of voting conservative to gauge what they think of the job President Trump has done so far.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

M.J. LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These crispy fried rice flour shells stuffed with shrimp and pork are one of the dishes "TyTy" Truong cooked when President Donald Trump campaigned at her restaurant last fall.

LEE: What was it like to have him here?

"TYTY" TRUONG, OWNER, TRUONG TIEN VIETNAMESE RESTAURANT (through translator): I found him to be very friendly. It seemed like he really wanted to visit a restaurant that truly captured Vietnamese culture and cuisine.

LEE (voice-over): Truong Tien is tucked away in one corner of Eden Center, a sprawling strip mall at the heart of the Vietnamese-American community in suburban Virginia. In 2024, the majority of Asian- Americans voted for Democratic candidate Kamala Harris, but the electorate shifted to the right by five points compared to 2020.

And Vietnamese-American voters tend to lean more Republican than other Asian ethnic groups, with 51 percent of them identifying as Republican, compared to 34 percent among all Asian American voters. Almost 100 days into Trump's second term, the community here remains divided about the president. On a recent rainy afternoon, Sam Hua says Trump is to blame for high prices.

LEE: You're not happy with him because prices are going up.

SAM HUA, VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN HARRIS VOTER: Yes, every price -- everything up now. Eggs too expensive too. I come 1979, almost $1, the egg.

LEE (voice-over): 1979 is the year Hua came to the U.S. He's part of an entire generation of Vietnamese-Americans that settled here after the fall of Saigon. Hua recently retired, but at 69 years old, had to start working part time again at a restaurant for extra cash. He voted for Harris. Two of his brothers did not.

LEE: Why do they like Trump?

HUA: Because he make no, no too mane, illegals come to United States.

LEE (voice-over): On this issue, he happens to agree with his brothers.

LEE: You think too many people are coming in illegally?

HUA: Yes.

LEE (voice-over): Richard Nguyen also came to the U.S. after the Vietnam War as a refugee.

LEE: What did you buy today? Just coffee?

RICHARD NGUYEN, VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN TRUMP VOTER: Coffee. Yes. Today it the thing that on sale.

LEE (voice-over): Nguyen supports Trump on immigration and trimming the federal government. His backing for the Republican Party has much to do with his own memories of escaping communism.

NGUYEN: I escaped my country because the communists in my country. After the 1975, right? Henry Kissinger, they sell my country.

LEE (voice-over): Inside the shopping center, Huy Pham (ph) owns a prepared food store.

LEE: How much is this one bag?

HUY PHAM, VIETNAMESE-AMERICAN HARRIS VOTER: Bags is $15 for 10 pieces.

LEE: OK.

LEE (voice-over): Pham voted for Harris, and he sees a clear generational divide in his community when it comes to politics.

LEE: The shop owner across the hallway was wearing a Make America Great Again hat. So, I mean, you see that all around you here, right?

PHAM: Yes.

LEE: Yes.

PHAM: We good neighbor. I like him a lot.

LEE (voice-over): One issue that's top of mind for Pham recently is immigration.

PHAM: We have a big population of immigrants, right? Migrants. They are good people. You know, they try to make a living here.

LEE (voice-over): A few doors down, florist Huan Vo declined to say who he voted for in the last election.

HUAN VO, FLOWER STORE OWNER: As a business owner, we're not just only, you know, tailored to this party or the other party.

LEE: Yes.

VO: We would like to serve everybody equally.

[17:45:02]

LEE (voice-over): As he braces for tariffs.

VO: These, you know, daisies is right here, they come from Colombia. Big rose's right here, they just come from Ecuador. Flowers is also could be, you know, from 10 percent up to 20 percent from the tariff.

LEE (voice-over): Vo says he's not entirely sure how to make sense of Trump's second term so far.

LEE: Do you feel like life is better?

VO: It's hard to tell. Everything is really uncertainty at the moment right now with a lot of changes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEE (on camera): So, I mean, you see there, Jake, the political division and the generational divide as well. I was just so struck trying to do this reporting how hard it was to get people to actually talk to us.

TAPPER: Really?

LEE: I heard a lot of people saying, look, talking about politics these days is really, really contentious. And particularly for the business owners that work here they said, you bring up politics, and particularly anything related to the president, we risk turning off certain customers on either side of the aisle. But I think just all in all, I sensed a lot of anxiety about the future.

TAPPER: Was it clear to you what issues these Vietnamese-Americans were most animated by?

LEE: Very, very clear. I would say the economy and immigration. I mean, the first one, not a surprise. Everyone is wondering about tariffs. How high are they going to be?

When are they going to get into place? How will they actually affect our businesses? The prices being too high. On immigration, I mean, it was really fascinating. You saw the business owner talking about how they are a community of immigrants, but also the people working in the kitchens, the people that are actually making their businesses run, they are also an immigrant community and they're worried about their colleagues.

What was really fascinating, talking to the folks who are anti-Trump, they are not supportive of President Trump. So many of them actually told us the one issue where we are supportive of the president is his tougher immigration stance.

TAPPER: Oh, really?

LEE: They don't like the idea of people coming into the country illegally when they feel like they have worked so hard --

TAPPER: Yes.

LEE: -- to get to the places that they've gotten to.

TAPPER: In the same way that the Latin-American community is far from a monolith, and it's geographical in terms of, are you in Florida, are you in Texas, are you in California? But also geographical in terms of your ancestry, like, are you from Cuba, your family from Cuba, is your family from Venezuela?

LEE: Right.

TAPPER: Is it the same with the Asian-American community?

LEE: I mean, there was a reason that we wanted to go to Eden Center specifically and talk to Vietnamese-Americans. This is a group, as we saw in the piece, they tend to be more conservative --

TAPPER: Yes.

LEE: -- and more Republican leaning for a reason. And so much of that has to do with their history after the war.

TAPPER: Fascinating stuff. M.J. Lee thanks so much.

Potential bad call, a leaked memo reveals the Trump administration is weighing making changes to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Really? That story is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:52:46] TAPPER: In our health lead, a leaked budget proposal document reveals that the Trump administration is considering, considering eliminating the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifelines service for LGBTQ Americans. CNN Health Reporter Jacqueline Howard has more on this document and what it says.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Jake, it's that preliminary memo dated April 10 that leaked last week that mentions eliminating funding for 988 LGBTQ plus specialized service. Now, we don't know whether any decisions have been made around this at this time, but this proposal document gives us some insight into what conversations may be happening.

And what I mean by the LGBTQ specialized services, there are sub networks within the 988 Crisis Lifeline. So when you dial 988 to reach someone for help, you are given the option to press one to reach the Veterans Crisis Line, press two to reach a Spanish speaking counselor or press three to reach specialized services for LGBTQ plus people under age 25. It's estimated that since 988 officially launched as a lifeline in 2022, more than 14.5 million people have called, texted or sent chats to the number.

Among those people, nearly 1.3 million were routed to the LGBTQ plus specialized service. Now. Jake so far, LGBTQ plus advocacy groups do say that they are concerned about this network possibly retiring. The nonprofit, The Trevor Project, put out a press release earlier this week. Its CEO, Jaymes Black said, quote, "Ending the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline's LGBTQ plus youth specialized services will not just strip away access from millions of LGBTQ plus kids and teens, it will put their lives at risk," end quote. And The Trevor Project is a subcontractor of 988.

The group also says that LGBTQ plus youth are about four times more likely to consider suicide compared with their peers. And CDC data shows that in 2021, more than a quarter of high school students identifying as lesbian, gay or bisexual reported attempting suicide in the prior 12 months, Jake.

[17:55:08]

TAPPER: All right, Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

The editor in chief of Time magazine will be here after his reporters and he held a wide ranging interview with President Trump. Plus the move of the Justice Department that could threaten the protection of journalists who get leaks and break news. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are now in Rome ahead of the funeral for Pope Francis. What the president told reporters about possible meetings with global leaders while he's overseas.