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The Lead with Jake Tapper

President Trump Continues Crackdown On Illegal Immigration; ICE And Local Authorities Arrest Close To 800 Undocumented Immigrants; American Majority Says Trump Made Economy Worse; Speaker Johnson Meets With President Trump At The White House; "60 Minutes" Criticizes Paramount After Top Producer Quits; Arizona Voters Weigh In On Trump's First 100 Days; Milwaukee Announces More School Closures Over Lead Crisis. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 28, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Yeah, I'd buy a lot.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: And therefore were invited to the White House. And I think the real question is whether or not the NFL is going to try to outlaw the brotherly shove because that would definitely offend me.

TAPPER: The tush push, well, the fact is there a lot of teams out there who are weak and sad and they are looking for ways to be able to beat the Eagles and so they're trying to ban the tush push --

HUNT: They're just trying to change the rules, man. It's --

TAPPER: One other thing about the Super Bowl I'd like to say is that the actual score of the Super Bowl was 34-0 Eagles, I mean, like, in the last few minutes they let some of the second team in and they got the score up to I think, what was it, 44-20 or something? But the actual score was a blowout of 34-0 and the Eagles are the best team in Super Bowl. I'm with Saquon on this. This is just about football for me. I'm not really focused on the politics of it all, but Kasie --

HUNT: Go Birds.

TAPPER: -- good to see you back in the -- thank you so much. I appreciate it.

HUNT: Thank you.

TAPPER: I know you mean that, too.

HUNT: I do, very much.

TAPPER: We'll see you back in "The Arena" tomorrow.

HUNT: Bye.

TAPPER: President Trump is going all in, in one of his biggest campaign promises today and that will be coming up now because "The Lead" starts right now. Crackdown on illegal immigration and President Trump is digging in.

How his White House is defending deportation so far as we stand by to hear how President Trump wants to crack down even more.

Plus, a brand new CNN poll out right now shows that most Americans believe that President Trump is making the economy worse. What this poll reveals about recession fears and the top factor giving people so much angst.

And a contamination crisis continues, the lead problem. In a major American city, more schools have been shut down as authorities are investigating if flaking old paint is the reason behind elevated blood lead levels in four students.

Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Donald Trump will sign more executive orders in the White House any minute with several of them aimed at combating illegal immigration, including one targeting sanctuary cities. Those are places that have policies in place designed to limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement actions.

The Trump administration is approaching its first 100 day mark with a full court press on the issue of illegal immigration and they really don't want you to miss it. So they subtly and tastefully deck the White House north lawn with dozens of yard signs featuring photos of people that the Trump administration claims are in the country illegally. Each poster saying arrested and listing the alleged offensive with which they have been charged.

CNN's working to confirm the identities and if there are actual allegations against these people, until then we are blurring their identities. That display was put up after the Trump administration announced nearly 800 arrests of undocumented immigrants in a massive crackdown in Florida over the weekend even though immigration has historically been one of President Trump's more popular issues, given he outperformed his first term high by seven points earlier this year.

Something appears to be changing. A brand new CNN poll released yesterday shows declining approval ratings for President Trump's handling of this issue of immigration. Overall, 45 percent approved now. That's down six points from March. Fifty percent are expressing confidence in the President's ability to deal with immigration. That's still a majority, but it is down from 60 percent in December. Forty seven percent of the American people say they have no confidence in the president's handling of this issue.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. Kaitlan, how will these new executive orders target illegal immigration?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR & CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, obviously, the president has signed over 200 executive orders and immigrations in as nearly 100 days in office, and a lot of them have focused on immigration. Some in ways that are directly impactful, including the ones that you saw Trump sign on his first several days in office. Today, they -- a lot of times also have to do just with messaging, and including the one that he's expected to sign here shortly, Jake, inside the Oval Office. right now.

We haven't gotten an indication that's going to open to reporters, but we are told that it's going to relate to publishing a list of all the sanctuary cities in the United States, for example, as the White House is really trying to keep immigration at the forefront of their agenda and also highlighting what they have done on immigration, because that was one of his key campaign promises, Jake.

And, yes, you've seen the border crossings go down significantly. When you look at the numbers from January and then February, March, and since the president has been in the Oval Office, you've seen just how dramatically those numbers have dropped. And so the White House is trying to keep the focus on that.

That's why the signs are behind me here at the White House focusing on that because they do know, typically, it's one of his strongest areas that he pulls in with voters, and they saw him coming into the to the White House arguing it was a mandate, to secure the border.

They've been facing way more scrutiny lately, Jake, though, of course, over some of the cases when it comes to who they are deporting and whether or not those people are being afforded due process as a part of those deportations from the United States.

[17:05:00]

And also whether or not they're abiding by court rulings. They were just pressed this morning, about a little girl who is a U.S. citizen who was deported along with her mother who is undocumented. And you saw Tom Homan, the president's borders czar, arguing that that was a parental issue.

He kept pointing to the mother. That is something he's done previously, and we've asked what happens when a child who's in a mixed status household, one of their parents is deported? And they have often pointed back to just parenting in that case, Jake.

And so, certainly, it is something that the White House is trying to highlight. But as you noted, those CNN poll numbers, the president's handling of immigration is down six points since March as they have continued to face a lot of court scrutiny over this matter.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. Tonight on her show, "The Source," Kaitlan's going to have an exclusive interview with President Trump's interior secretary, Doug Burgum. That's tonight at 9:00 eastern, only here on CNN. Let's go now to CNN's Isabel Rosales. Isabel, what are you learning about the accusations against the people who were arrested in this weekend's massive crackdown on undocumented migrants in Florida?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, what we're seeing here is the federal government essentially turning up the dial on immigration crackdowns. But this time with the help of state law enforcement at this large scale, And we're seeing these collaborations with ICE really taking off like wildfire in the state of Florida. I want to take a look now at some of the specifics of what the government is calling "Operation Tidal Wave" that took place over four days, and they arrested nearly 800 people.

Now CNN reached out to ICE to figure out more details on who they arrested, their legal status, and the scope of this operation. This -- ICE is calling this operation a first of its kind partnership between state and federal partners, and DHS says that this is a preview of what is to come around the country.

Now this entire partnership that's happening between state and local law enforcement and ICE falls under ICE's 287(g) program. And what this does is essentially allows them to deputize these local law enforcement officers to do some of the duties normally under the scope of federal immigration authorities.

Now, critics are saying that this will erode public trust. This will lead to undocumented people fearing reporting crimes that they have been a victim to. And they're also criticizing the Trump administration's framing that they're only arresting, and detaining hardened undocumented criminals.

It's also worth noting, Jake, that the city of South Miami does have a lawsuit right now against Governor DeSantis and the attorney general, asking a judge to weigh in if cities and municipalities are actually required to sign on to this program.

TAPPER: Interesting. And, Isabel, there was another mass arrest in Colorado, but it's different from what went down in Florida. Tell us about that.

ROSALES: Right. We reached out to local law enforcement there in Colorado Springs in the area and the county, and they say that while they were present there to assist law enforcement in the criminal investigation dealing with drug trafficking, DEA says prostitution as well, that they only assisted in that coordination manner, and they were not there working with ICE in collaboration with immigration enforcement.

And in fact, the chief of the Colorado Springs Police Department told me that the agency is not authorized to help out ICE, due to state law, Jake.

TAPPER: Interesting. Isabel Rosales, thank you so much. Another story getting a lot of attention. Kaitlan referred to it as this case of an undocumented immigrant mother who's being deported along with her two- year-old who was born in the United States and is therefore a U.S. citizen. The Trump administration says the mother wrote a handwritten note requesting for her child, the citizen, to come with her, but the child's lawyer disputes this and said so today on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACIE WILLIS, LAWYER FOR 2-YEAR-OLD U.S. CIIZEN NOW IN HINDURAS WITH DEPORTED MOTHER: The note says, I will bring my child with me. It doesn't say I want to. I have decided to. It says a fact, a statement that she was told by ICE, you will be bringing your child with you. Your child will be deported with you. And she was instructed to write that on a piece of paper. She was also in isolation at the time with nobody able to tell her what her options were, including lawyers and loved ones.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The Trump appointed judge in this case scheduled a hearing for May 16th saying the court does not know that this was a parental decision and cited the need to resolve a strong suspicion that the government may have deported a U.S. citizen without providing meaningful due process.

With us now, Chad Wolf. He's the former acting Department of Homeland Security Secretary in Trump's first administration, also executive director of the America First Policy Institute, a conservative think tank. Chad, thanks so much for being here.

Do you think the government should release this handwritten note providing more evidence that in fact, that the mother did in fact want her child to be deported with her rather than, for example, staying behind with US citizen family members?

CHAD WOLF, FORMER ACTING DHS SECRETARY, TRUMP ADMINISTRATION: Well, look, I don't think that the government is under any obligation to release any type of notes. They don't do this in any other case and there are hundreds of these cases every single day.

[17:10:01]

Look, the parent in this case has a choice to make, which is to obviously take her child with her or leave them here to another relative or another sponsor. She chose to take -- we see this every single day.

Now, I understand what the lawyer is saying and that's what lawyers are going to do. They're going to argue the other side, but I think a choice was made here. Again, this isn't isolated. These types of choices, when mothers or fathers in this case decide to take their children back with them, as they're deported, and like I said, this is sort of routine for ICE.

TAPPER: So a judge in the case cited a 2012 case, which declared that it's illegal to deport a U.S. citizen, period. Is it not?

WOLF: Yep. Well, we don't -- I would say DHS doesn't -- again, they have the decision by the parent to take their child with them. If the parent decides, look, I don't want to take the child with me. I want the child to remain here in the United States, particularly if they're born here and they're a citizen here. Then again, that choice then goes to a family member or another individual that they can leave that child with.

In many circumstances, though, I will tell you, it's been my experience, that the parent actually elects to take the child back to their home country with them. It appears that's what has happened in this case.

TAPPER: Look, I don't know all the details of the case. I have heard that there are other family members who were citizens who are ready to take their child. I just wonder if in a case with, a two-year-old who is an American citizen and a mother who's not, if there can't be -- if there isn't room for a little extra attention and extra grace period for the child -- for the -- this to all be sorted out, or is that just not how it's handled?

WOLF: Well again, you got to remember Jake, this is happening across the system and it's not just one case or it's not just five cases per day. You're talking about tens or twenties, maybe, you know, more of these cases every single day and it is -- you know, ICE has procedures here to ask the parent, in this case, the mother, whether or not they want their child to go back to their home country or not.

And again, this individual knows that they're in the country illegally. They made that decision to come here illegally. They made the decision to have a child. There are consequences around this should they be removed and deported. And so again, the federal government does everything that it can. ICE does everything that it can to make sure that the wishes of that parent are adhered to.

But again, you can't devise public policy for every parenting decision out there. You put policies in place, those are in place, and ICE adheres to those as best they can.

TAPPER: Today, President Trump's expected to sign an executive order mandating that truck drivers demonstrate proficiency in speaking English. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy today on X posted, quote, "Stay tuned. Today, POTUS and I will be making a big announcement to make our roadways safer and put American truckers first," unquote.

How would this English speaking requirement make our roadways safer, and what would you say to someone who argues it's a slippery slope that could be used against other professions, and that just because you don't speak English doesn't mean that you're in this country illegally?

WOLF: Well, I'm not entirely, familiar with this. I don't know if it's communicating with public officials, law enforcement, or the like, making sure that they understand the directions and any type of interaction that they're having. Obviously, if you're going to be on the road, you know, almost 24/7, you need to make sure that you're understanding the language of which you're operating in, English in this case, and making sure that if you have to get direction from public officials, from law enforcement, highway officials, or the like, that you understand that and can communicate with them.

TAPPER: All right, Chad Wolf, thanks so much. Appreciate your time, sir.

WOLF: Yep.

TAPPER: In just a few minutes, see what Trump's immigration crackdown looks like these days in a border state. CNN went to Arizona, a state Trump flipped red in order to win in 2024.

But first, a brand new CNN poll released just minutes ago on President Trump and the economy. Most Americans do not approve of his handling of the economy so far. We'll tell you why.

Plus, the massive power outage that's causing chaotic scenes across Portugal and Spain today. What authorities are saying about the source of the problem, that's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

TAPPER: Our "Money Lead" now, President Trump's reliable ratings for his handling of the economy are taking a major hit. A brand new CNN poll shows that 59 percent of the American people now say President Trump's policies have worsened economic conditions in the country. An 8 percent increase from just last month, and this is before the federal jobs cuts and impact of Trump tariffs kick in. CNN's Harry Enten is at the magic wall to explain for us the reasons behind this and more.

And Harry, President Trump usually rates really, really well on this. His latest approval rating on the economy is on par with the worst numbers that former President Biden saw during his presidency?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Oh, I mean, I think the statistical definition of what the numbers look like in our new CNN poll is yuck or maybe ew. We can start off exactly where you were pointing out right in terms of the policies worsening the U.S. economy. In March, it was 51 percent. And now look at this, up to 59 percent. He is going in the wrong direction. Going in the wrong direction on this. And this speaks to the overall state of the economy, right, Jake?

What are we talking about here? We're talking about rate the U.S. economic conditions as poor. As you were mentioning, or at least hinting at, Donald Trump was elected to fix the economy. But yet when it comes to rating the U.S. economic conditions as poor, a year ago when Joe Biden was president, it was 70 percent. You flip forward to now, it's 71 percent. That's within the margin of error. It's actually a point worse.

[17:19:54]

So what we're seeing here is that Donald Trump is in fact not fixing what the American people put him in charge to fix as basically the same percentage of the American public rate the U.S. economy as poor. Disgusting is what I think another way to put it.

TAPPER: What are Americans increasingly concerned about right now?

ENTEN: Yeah. Okay. So you see these two numbers being the same, but it turns out their concerns on the economy are not exactly what they were. What are we talking about here? Well, let's take a look here. Family's top economic problem. Say a government policy is the top economic problem for their family. Look here in June of 2024, it was 10 percent. In April of 2025, look at this. It's 21 percent. More than double. Well, what government policy might have been instituted during the

Trump presidency to make this percentage double? Well, maybe it was tariffs. Maybe it was tariffs. And what do we see? Tariff policies. Trump is, of course, making the argument that even if in the short term, the policies may in fact hurt the economy. Maybe in the long term, they won't. Well, Donald Trump is not winning this argument. What are we talking about?

Trump's tariff policies will hurt the economy. Well, in the short term, it's 72 percent. But even in the long term, even if it's a lower percentage, you still get the majority 53 percent. The bottom line is in this particular poll, when it comes to Trump's economic policies, I just don't see any bright spots, Jake.

TAPPER: So I can anticipate President Trump when he gets polls that he doesn't like, when he hears a poll, he doesn't like, he attacks the polls? It's not like they're legitimate and he's doing anything wrong or the American people are wrong. It's that the polls, the pollsters are wrong. So this is CNN's poll. What do other polls show?

ENTEN: You know, I remember an interview that Brianna Keilar did with Michael Cohen back in 2016. He said, what numbers? What polls? And she said, polls, all of them. And in this case, it is polls, all of them. What are we talking about here? Trump's net economic approval rating. Look at this. Negatives. Negatives across the board. CNN, 22 points underwater. CBS, 16 points underwater. Fox, 18 points underwater. "The New York Times," 12 points underwater. And the ABC News/Washington Post poll, 22 points underwater.

It doesn't matter what poll you're looking at. If it's a scientific poll, it shows that Trump is way underwater on the economy and it is dragging his presidency down with him, Jake.

TAPPER: Well, who are you going to believe? You or your lying eyes? Harry Enten --

ENTEN: Well, there you go.

TAPPER: Thank you so much. In the "Politics Lead," just a few hours ago, President Trump met with House Speaker Mike Johnson at the White House. The meeting came after House Republicans unveiled the first details of their sweeping bill to implement President Trump's agenda. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. Manu, you spoke with Speaker Johnson. What did he have to say about his meeting with President Trump?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY WITH MANU RAJU: Yeah. This meeting was about politics, Jake. In fact, it's about the midterms next year. And I asked him about concerns about Donald Trump's sinking approval ratings, about how number of majority of voters according to not just our poll, but many polls show that Donald Trump is slumping on the economy.

It's underwater on key issues. Even on issues like immigration, whether or not he is worried that that could impact Republicans' razor thin majority in the House, potentially leading it to Democrats taking the House next year. And he brushed off those concerns and contended that the GOP would be on offense in the November 2026 midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm not worried at all. I just had a great meeting with the president at the White House and he's in good spirits. We talked about the upcoming races, the midterm elections, and we're very bullish on it.

RAJU: Why is the American public souring in his policies?

JOHNSON: Listen, you know, these are presidential terms or rollercoasters sometimes. There's been a little tumult in the markets with the tariff policy and all of that, but I think all this is settling out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And Johnson went on to predict that the Republican bill to implement the Trump agenda would juice the economy he promised, which could change their fortunes come next November. And, Jake, that part of that bill released over the weekend were details about how they would spend billions of dollars, more than a $150 billion on national defense program, as well as roughly $70 billion or so on new physical barriers along the southern border with Mexico.

There are a whole host of other measures that are still not been released yet as part of the larger agenda. But, Jake, they are on an aggressive timetable to try to get this done. The Speaker wants something out of the House by Memorial Day. That could be very difficult here. And just moments ago, Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, was meeting with Republican leaders in the House and the Senate. They still have to resolve how to deal with the major overhaul of the United States tax code, but he did say they're closer on that front, Jake.

TAPPER: Is the overhaul of the tax code the only unresolved issue that could derail speaker Johnson's plans to have this passed by Memorial Day?

RAJU: That's one of the trickiest issues, Jake, but it is not the only one. The other one dealing with spending cuts. The House Republicans are trying to push forward $1.5 trillion in spending cuts as part of the plan. But the question is, Jake, where do those cuts actually come from?

[17:29:55]

They have promised not to impact benefits for people who are receiving them from Medicaid as well as Medicare, but can they do that, reset level of cuts without impacting benefits and programs that are important to voters, particularly voters in Republican districts as well and in swing districts in particular?

Those are all major questions Republicans have to resolve. Not just that, but also how to raise the national debt limit as well. The treasury secretary also told Republican leaders that they could make a new projection on when the U.S. economy could default if the debt limit is not raised. It could make that projection by maybe next week sometime or the week after. That could have a law big impact in determining the Republican timetable to getting this larger bill done, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thanks so much. Here next on "The Lead," in light of a rare blunt message on CBS' "60 Minutes" this weekend about what it sees as mounting pressure on its programming from the suits in corporate, a top Democrat at the FCC will be here as she warns of a pattern of, quote, "censorship and control."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:19]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, "CBS News" premiere show, "60 Minutes," addressed, kind of, the surprise exit of executive producer Bill Owens last week. Here's anchor Scott Pelley at the end of last night's show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT PELLEY, CBS NEWS REPORTER: Our parent company, Paramount, is trying to complete a merger. The Trump administration must approve it. Paramount began to supervise our content in new ways. None of our stories has been blocked, but Bill felt he lost the independence that honest journalism requires. No one here is happy about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It's interesting. It says none of our stories has been blocked, but that's not the same thing as none of our stories has been meddled with. Two different things.

President Trump, of course, has repeatedly called for "CBS" to lose its license and has urged the Federal Communications Commission, or FCC, to punish the broadcaster after he claimed that "CBS News" distorted an interview with then-Vice President Harris last year at the campaign's direction. There's no evidence for that. And what "60 Minutes" did appears to be basic editing of a long-winded politician, as "Fox" does to President Trump sometimes.

"CBS News" parent company Paramount and Trump have agreed to a mediator in President Trump's lawsuit against "CBS News." Shari Redstone, the primary Paramount shareholder, is hoping to settle the lawsuit as dye -- as she eyes a multibillion-dollar deal to sell Paramount in this merger. It's a sale that would need the Trump administration's ultimate sign-off via the FCC. These talks are expected to start on a settlement in the news distortion lawsuit this week, according to "The New York Times." Legal experts have called the case, quote, frivolous and dangerous.

Joining us now is one of the four people leading the FCC, Commissioner Anna Gomez. She was appointed by President Biden in 2023. So there are two things going on here, Commissioner. The FCC plays a role in both. The FCC has to approve this merger that Paramount wants, in which Shari Redstone would make a lot of money.

And the FCC is separately investigating a complaint about this same interview from a pro-Trump group, this interview with Kamala Harris. And your chairman says it's potentially a serious issue, this -- this separate issue. Do you think that the two are connected in any way?

ANNA GOMEZ, FCC COMMISSIONER: So what we have before us is this complaint, as you mentioned, of news distortion by this separate group. The staff of the FCC, the expert staff of the FCC actually dismissed the complaint earlier this year. But the current chair reinstated the complaint, stating that it needed further investigation. But let's be clear, what this administration is doing, it is -- is on a campaign to censor and control.

And in particular with broadcasters, it is harassing them into hope -- in their hope, covering the news the way that they want it to be covered. As you note, we have a transaction before us. I can't really speak to the merits of that transaction because it's still pending.

TAPPER: You're talking about the merger.

GOMEZ: I'm talking about the merger.

TAPPER: Yes.

GOMEZ: But I can tell you that there is no case of news distortion in the "60 Minutes" interview or the clips that were shown before the interview of Kamala Harris.

TAPPER: So you said that this is amounts to censorship. You know, the Trump administration and the conservatives behind the MAGA movement, they're -- they all say that they're in favor of free speech, that they're big free speech absolutists. But so how -- how can it be that -- that they're doing censorship?

GOMEZ: We have to remember that what the First Amendment prohibits is government interference in -- in the free speech of citizens, in the freedom of speech of companies, in the freedom of the press and how they cover the news. So in fact, what they are doing is attempting to censor. They do it by chilling free speech.

Companies are thinking twice about what they say because they don't want to anger this administration. And we're already hearing, as you showed in the clip, that broadcasters are starting to at least look at how it is that they are providing news to their viewers because of fear of retribution or in this case, because there isn't a financial interest in closing the transaction.

TAPPER: So President Trump, I think, is sue -- suing "CBS News" for $20 billion, I believe. I've heard figures bandied about by informed news sources as much -- that it could be as much as 50 or $70 million that Paramount Global settles with President Trump. Obviously, we know that Disney settled with Trump when he sued "ABC News" for 15, $16 million, I think.

[17:35:04] If there is a settlement in this case, in the "CBS News" case, which you say there is no, this is not a legitimate case of news distortion, what kind of precedent do you think that sets if Paramount Global and Shari Redstone actually do that?

GOMEZ: I think that the danger of any kind of capitulation by any entity that capitulates to demands to censor or -- or chill speech breeds further capitulation. So my sincere hope is actually that we will have courage and that people will stand up and -- and push back against this administration because, as you said, there is no case of news distortion here. News distortion requires intentionality by the licensee, which is actually the local broadcaster, to distort the facts.

It's very difficult to prove a case of news distortion, which is why it's not something the FCC usually finds or if ever. It's been decades if it's ever found news distortion. So it is my hope, in fact, that we will see more courage and we will see more pushback against this administration as we have in other contests.

Again, this administration is on a campaign for control and censorship and you see it throughout the administration, not just with the FCC. The FCC is just being weaponized with its licensing authority against the broadcasters, but you have an administration that's arresting protesters because of their campus protests, is telling the Smithsonian what they can exhibit because otherwise it might be corrosive ideologies. It's going after law firms because of their representation of clients or because of -- of their lawyers themselves may have upset the administration for one reason or another.

It's going after diversity, equity, and inclusion, which includes First Amendment components and what it is that you can say and who you can affiliate with. It's going after all sorts of entities just to control and to censor. And so again, I am really hopeful that people will be courageous, that broadcasters will show courage and stand up for a pillar of our constitution, of our democracy, which is the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press and hold administrations to account and not fear retribution from this administration.

TAPPER: All right, Commissioner Gomez, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, what CNN heard from voters in Arizona, that's a battleground state along the border that President Trump flipped to win in 2024. What do voters think about immigration or trade, everything in between? Why they're giving mixed reviews about President Trump's first 100 days. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:41:55]

TAPPER: We are back at the intersection of politics and the national lead. CNN's John King went to Arizona. That's one of six states that Trump lost in 2020, but then flipped to win in 2024. Specifically, he went to Nogales, Arizona, where illegal border crossings are way down. But a new border problem is emerging. That is the cost of imports from Mexico and people legally crossing the border for work, both a result of Trump's tariffs. Here's CNN's John King with his series All Over the Map.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): The border crossing at Nogales is almost always humming. Commerce both ways caught up in 100 days of Trump trade turmoil.

Yes, illegal crossings in Nogales and across Arizona are down. That's a big Trump campaign promise. But business owners say legal crossings are down too, dropping sales as much as 40 percent these past 100 days. Tucson is an hour north, reliably blue, but Trump did run a bit stronger here last year as he won Arizona and all the battlegrounds.

KING: What's all this going to do?

TAMARA VARGA, ARIZONA VOTER: Well, this is going to train our individuals how to cook.

KING (voice-over): Tamara Varga is a Trump supporter, happy with some promises kept, but nervous a big one could be broken.

VARGA: I'm worried about Medicaid and Medicare and Social Security. He did say that he wasn't going to cut them, that he was just going to find the waste. And I really hope that he sticks to that.

KING: Why is that so important to you?

VARGA: It's important because we need to take care of our people with disabilities and our elderly and those that depend on it. And they can't survive as it is right now. And they -- we cannot cut.

KING (voice-over): Varga is a Tucson hero. Her food truck and candy store employ 50 people with special needs. She's renovating this restaurant to employ even more. A devout Christian, lifelong Republican, but some big changes. Varga says she no longer believes Trump's claim the 2020 election was rigged. She's now open to supporting Democrats for local offices and says Trump tariffs are one reason prices are not dropping fast enough.

VARGA: The items that we put in our gift -- gift baskets have gone up.

KING: So when -- when he says there's going to be some disruption, maybe even some pain, but we're going to get there. For now, you think, OK, I'll give you some time.

VARGAS: I'll give him some time and I'm hopeful. But, you know, I think that if he doesn't come through, he's going to have a lot of people turning on him.

RAY FLORES, ARIZONA VOTER: She made everything. She made the best cheeseburger. KING (voice-over): Ray Flores named The Monica after a family legend. One hundred years ago, Tia Monica inspired the first of what are now more than a dozen family restaurants.

FLORES: We're sending this to the food network, Vince. You don't make it right. You're screwed.

KING (voice-over): His biggest 100-day take, Trump turmoil, is rattling consumer confidence.

FLORES: We're definitely seeing less spending at the pump. In our -- in our world, that would be the cash register, right? So we're seeing numbers dropping 7, 8 percent around the system right now.

KING: People are afraid to go out to dinner.

FLORES: We're -- we're built on hospitality and celebration and spending time together, and maybe there's some fear of spending that extra money out.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:45:00]

KING: Jake, you hear Ray Flores there, the restaurateur, he gave Trump a 5 out of 10 for his first 100 days. He says he hopes it gets better, but he's feeling it. He says people are just, the consumer confidence is rattled and they're not out shopping. Tamara Varga, even more interest -- interesting to me, lifelong Republican, a Trump voter, but she says the President was elected on one big promise, lower the cost of living.

She says maybe he'll get there, but at 100-day mark, he is not. And every -- every voter we talked to said at the 100-day mark, their costs are simply not down, and in some cases, they're up.

TAPPER: Well, and the -- the price hikes and the empty shelves that economists say are coming haven't yet really even fully hit.

KING: Right. And in a border state like that, look, in Santa Cruz County, the biggest employer are these distributors, mostly produce distributors. They're taking products that come from Mexico or -- or helping ship things to there. And they say these are self-inflicted. Remember the first 100 days, the first term, self-inflicted wounds by Trump, all this tariff talk, he's hurting himself by causing all this disruption in the economy.

TAPPER: Interesting. All right, John King, thanks so much.

Coming up next, the lead contamination crisis unfolding in a major American city involving young students and flaking old paint in their schools, many of which have been shut down.

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[17:50:30] TAPPER: In our World Lead, electrical power has begun to slowly return after a massive blackout across Western Europe shut down traffic lights, airports and train stations. Around 60 million people in Spain and Portugal were affected when electricity suddenly went out. Hospitals and telephone systems relied on backup generators, train stations and airports were forced to suspend all travel. The cause of the blackout is still unknown, but the Portuguese prime minister said the problem likely originated in Spain.

In our Health Lead two weeks ago, we told you that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that they would not help the city of Milwaukee with a lead contamination crisis in Milwaukee's public schools. That's because all the lead experts have been fired at the direction of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Today, two additional schools have been closed, raising the total number of school closures in Milwaukee this year to nine.

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson joins us now. Mayor Johnson, when we last spoke two weeks ago, you told me it could take a few weeks or months to inspect all 156 schools. Is that going fast enough, given the seriousness of the problem?

MAYOR CAVALIER JOHNSON (D), MILWAUKEE: Well, Jake, we certainly are working collaboratively with Milwaukee Public Schools. In fact, the school district, along with the health department and my administration, has come together with a lead action plan to work to make sure that we inspect schools built before 1950, before the school year begins this fall, and then those other schools built between 1950 and 1978 by the end of this calendar year. So we're in the midst of doing that now.

TAPPER: So what is happening with the students and teachers at the schools that have been shut down?

JOHNSON: The students and the teachers at the schools that unfortunately are shut down, they end up bouncing around to some other school in the district for the weeks or however long it takes in order to remediate those schools. It causes disruption, and I wish we weren't here if we had those additional resources from the federal government. Perhaps we'd be even further along.

But as you mentioned, the CDC, with this slash and burn sort of mentality in the Trump administration, got rid of those experts, and we weren't able to call on them to help when we had a lead crisis on the ground in Milwaukee, and that's affecting kids.

TAPPER: Well, on that subject, four students so far have been found to have elevated lead levels in their blood. What's the process to treat these kids, and does Milwaukee have the resources to do so if it, God forbid, if it gets worse than just four kids?

JOHNSON: Yes, first and foremost, I am so grateful of our partners on the ground, whether that's the 16th Street Community Health Clinics, whether that's Children's Wisconsin or Children's Hospital here working collaboratively with the health department again in my administration to stand up clinics so that young people can go in and get tested for lead. Fortunately, the number has been very low, and I hope that the number stays low.

But at the end of the day, I mean, the -- the thing that's most important here is the health and safety of our young people, and that's exactly what we're going to continue striving for is to make sure we have environments that are safe for kids in schools. That's my goal. That's the health department's goal. That's the goal of Milwaukee Public Schools, certainly under the leadership of their new superintendent, Dr. Brenda Cassellius.

TAPPER: And Milwaukee has released an updated lead plan. What is different about this plan than the previous one?

JOHNSON: The City of Milwaukee is working very, very closely with Milwaukee Public Schools in order to make sure that every single school gets the treatment necessary to remediate lead risks. Again, so that kids have the opportunity to go into classrooms and be safe. That's what the most important thing is. That's what this plan does, and that's exactly what we'll continue to do from here on out until the end of the school year this year and on to the end of the calendar year where we get all the schools inspected and remediated.

TAPPER: How would this be playing out differently if the CDC hadn't fired its lead experts?

JOHNSON: Oh, it'd be playing out incredibly differently if the CDC hadn't done that slash and burn sort of mentality in terms of laying off their -- their lead workers. I mean, we would be able to touch base with experts in the field, right, renowned national experts, as opposed to trying to string things along with local resources on the ground. It's really harmful when school districts such as Milwaukee Public Schools don't have access to those experts at the CDC. I wish that were not the case.

And if they were on the ground, they'd be able to help us in a more expedited way address the issues at hand on the ground. I don't see this as something that's efficient. I see this as harm. This is not efficient. This is hurting kids on the ground in our city, and that's troubling to me. It's troubling to people here in Milwaukee as well.

[17:55:04]

TAPPER: All right, Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, thanks so much.

Coming up next, brand-new CNN reporting that goes inside the deal that Trump made with El Salvador so he could send suspected gang members to that notorious mega prison. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to the Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, new CNN polls tonight showing that the majority of the American people disagree with how President Trump is handling the economy and are growing even more worried about a potential recession. What President Trump is saying about his tariffs as he prepares to mark his first 100 days in office tomorrow.

[17:59:57]

Plus, we're traveling the country checking in with small business owners about how these tariffs are affecting their employees and their customers and their businesses.