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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Says, Could Very Well Be Trade Deals Announced This Week; White House Says It Will Pay $1,000 To Undocumented Migrants To Leave U.S.; Trump Floats Idea Of Reopening Notorious Alcatraz Prison; Jury Selection Underway In Sean Combs Federal Trial; Trump Admin To Cut Off All New Research Grants For Harvard. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 05, 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.

[18:00:00]

This hour a new chapter in President Trump's deportation crackdown, the White House now suggests that they will pay undocumented migrants $1,000 or $2,000 to deport themselves back to their home countries. How will this work? Will anyone actually take the president up on it?

Plus, it once housed Al Capone and James Whitey Bulger, and now President Trump wants to reopen one of America's most notorious prisons, The Rock, claiming Alcatraz will, quote, serve as a symbol of law, order and justice.

Also, our small business series takes us to California today, where the owner of a popular clothing brand is proudly pro-Trump, but his message against how the tariffs were implemented went viral online, and he's here live to explain why he believes that every day the trade war continues, more businesses in this country will fail.

And it's the first day of jury selection in the federal trial against Sean Diddy Combs. But how do you pick an unbiased jury when the defendant has been so famous and so influential in music for decades? Our legal experts are here to break it down.

The Lead Late tonight, President Trump says new trade deals could be announced this week, but we also heard that last week and the week before. So, where are these trade deals?

CNN's Kristen Holmes Is live at the White House. Kristen.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, this is really what we've been trying to get to the bottom of because as you said, Donald Trump and the administration have been touting for weeks now, three weeks, that there is a new deal waiting to come down the pike, that it could happen at any moment. But those days are ticking by. And as you noted, these various small businesses are becoming more and more concerned about the future of what their business is going to look like.

Now, this is what Donald Trump said when it con came to making trade deals yesterday when talking to reporters on Air Force One. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We're negotiating with many countries. But at the end of this, I'll set my own deals because I set the deal. They don't set the deal. I set the deal. They've been ripping us off for years. I set the deal.

So, every country, almost without fail, friend and foe, has been ripping us off for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, Jake, it is important to note that Donald Trump got elected to office in large part because of his messaging on the economy. And I am told that the White House, as well as allies, advisers, are going to really be pushing this positive messaging around the economy.

But when it comes to those trade deals, I've talked to a number of people who are close with Donald Trump who say they're essentially desperate that one of these get made, one of these deals come through because they want to just show the country that they're moving in the right direction. But, again, we still don't really have any answers on when exactly these deals are going to be made or with whom.

TAPPER: All right. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Another big headline in our Politics Lead, the Department of Homeland Security says that it will pay undocumented migrants to leave the United States.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is with me. Priscilla, how will this work?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the White House border czar, Tom Homan, called it the export program. So, what the Department of Homeland Security is announcing today is that they will pay a one- way airline ticket for an undocumented immigrant in the United States, plus a $1,000 stipend.

Now, over the course of the day, senior Trump officials have argued that this is more cost effective than the federal government arresting, detaining, and deporting an individual. They put that number at around $17,000. So, they say, look, that would be more expensive than a ticket and a $1,000 stipend.

Now, that what they're also doing is saying maybe could be easier down the road for you if you leave now, turning -- essentially suggesting that they would remove some of the barriers that undocumented immigrants face if they want to obtain legal status down the road. Take a listen to what the president said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We're going to have a self-deportation where they deport themselves out of our country and we'll work with them and we're going to try and if they -- if we think they're good, if they have, you know, the people we want in our country, they're going to come back into our country. We'll give them a little easier route. But if they don't work and if we take them out after the date, then they're never coming back. And that's the least of the problems they're going to have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now, immigration attorneys say it's more complicated than that. Every case is unique. There's no assurances here, they feel. And it's also a question of, well, what if they don't have travel documents, which is often the case as well with the undocumented population.

But, ultimately, Jake, it is a concession by the administration that it is difficult to deport people en masse. They have to rely on some part, on people leaving on their own.

TAPPER: Has anyone taken them up on this?

ALVAREZ: So, this is new, but what I will tell you is that data that I have seen shows that known self-departures, which is how the department is categorizing this, is over 9,000 people. We don't know how they decided. Why -- since Trump took office.

[18:05:00]

TAPPER: Okay, yes.

ALVAREZ: Why they left, but I can also tell you that in my conversations with the immigrant community, some are open to leaving, they just don't trust that if they give the government all their information, that they won't be picked up anyways. So there is a bit of distrust here, but there is some data to show that there are people who are deciding to leave the United States because they are fearful of what could happen down the road given Guantanamo, given the El Salvadoran prison.

TAPPER: Interesting stuff. Priscilla Alvarez, thanks so much.

Joining us now, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who's the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee. He is a former member of the January 6th committee. Congressman, thanks for joining us.

So, what's your reaction when you hear what CNN's Priscilla Alvarez just reported an outline, the Trump administration offering to pay undocumented migrants to leave the country.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Well, I think it's a major improvement over you know, violently storming people's houses and violating due process and First Amendment rights and so on. And I think it's probably an acknowledgement that that's not working. That's an extraordinarily wasteful and expensive way to go. At the same time that they're making this a thousand dollars offer for undocumented people, they are inviting anybody to come from abroad who can pay $5 million. So, the irony here, of course, is that there are huge labor shortages in the country. I hear from people all the time, business people in the retail sector, in construction, in agriculture, that we need labor. And so what we really need is for the president to tell his friends, the Republicans in Congress, that they should sit down with us and let's have a comprehensive immigration plan that backs the country off of the brink of all of these divisive and polarizing tactics. And let's figure out how to move forward on the young people in DACA, the dreamers, the people here in TPS, and let's look at what sectors we need people, what sectors we don't, and then we can move forward. So, I think it's a baby step, perhaps in the right direction.

TAPPER: So, over the weekend, President Trump was asked by NBC if he thinks that people who are in this country but are not citizens, undocumented immigrants, if they deserve due process, here's part of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't know. I'm not a lawyer. I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: As a constitutional scholar and a former law professor, what's your reaction?

RASKIN: Well, the only thing that the president has to know under the Constitution, under Article 2, Section 1 in his presidential oath of office, is that he must faithfully execute the office of the presidency and he must preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, including due process.

So, that's startling to hear that after having taken the oath twice, President Trump still doesn't know, although admittedly he's been violating the Constitution left, right and center. I think there are now more than 115 preliminary injunctions and temporary restraining orders that have been entered against him by federal courts across the land, both Republican judges and Democratic judges, finding that they have violated due process, not just of immigrants to the country, but of federal workers. They've been violating First Amendment rights. They've been violating the right to counsel and due process, and the first Amendment rights of lawyers and law firms, colleges, universities, you name it.

So, the judicial branch of government is standing up to defend the Constitution, but one would hope that the president himself would remember that he indeed does have an oath of office that he sworn to uphold. Some people have been writing me to say, well, he never swore on the bible to uphold the Constitution, which apparently is true, but the Constitution says you have to swear or affirm. So, even if he affirmed it without swearing on the bible, that would be enough to say that he must be loyal to the Constitution.

TAPPER: Yes, we've gone over this on this show before, once in a video that went rather viral. You don't actually have to swear on a bible. You don't have to swear on anything. Democrats appear split on how to combat Trump on immigration. Some in your party were cheering on Democratic senator from your home state of Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, after he went to El Salvador last month and met with Abrego Garcia your Texas colleague, Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar, recently said, quote, this is not the right issue to talk about, due process. This is not the right person to be saying that we need to bring him back to the United States, because I suspect the fact that, you know, Abrego Garcia, his wife accused him in a police report of beating her, and obviously there are questions although not proven in a court of law that I know about his membership in MS-13.

Do they have -- does Cuellar have a point here that if you're going to be talking about this maybe due process and maybe Abrego Garcia are not really what you want to be focusing on?

RASKIN: Well, due process is not about one case or one individual.

[18:10:03]

I mean, there are some people who are saying Donald Trump should not have had due process when he ended up being convicted of 34 criminal felonies. But, of course, he had a right to due process, a right to counsel, a right to hear the evidence against him, a right to induce his own evidence, a right to make closing arguments.

And Justice Scalia was emphatic about the fact that both citizens and non-citizens have a right to due process. So, that's just a categorical constitutional principle. We don't decide to turn people's constitutional rights on or off, depending on whether or not we like them or whether we think they might be found guilty.

In any event, immigration is something that the whole country should be undertaking to solve. We got very close at the end of the Biden administration actually to having a comprehensive border solution. And, of course, Donald Trump blew it up saying he didn't want a border solution, he wanted a border crisis to run on.

I think we've come to the end of the road on that. We should actually sit down, develop immigration plans to move forward and let's get beyond this and we can have both sound, stable, thoughtful immigration policy, and all of the constitutional rights that have been guaranteed to us by the framers of the Constitution.

TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland, thanks so much. Good to see you.

RASKIN: Great to see you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, we're going to go live to Alcatraz. President Trump moves to reopen one of America's most notorious prisons shut down more than 60 years ago.

Major problems at Newark Airport for the eighth day in a row, hundreds of flights canceled or delayed today. What CNN is learning about the cause of these issues and when they could be resolved, that's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It represents something very strong, very powerful in terms of law and order. We need law and order in this country. And so we're going to look at it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That is President Trump talking today about reopening Alcatraz. That's right. The notorious former prison located on an island in San Francisco Bay, surrounded by great white sharks. It closed in 1963 due to high costs and deteriorating conditions. It was later turned into a national historic landmark and tourist destinations. Be sure to check out Machine Gun Kelly's cell.

CNN's Veronica Miracle is on Alcatraz Island outside the prison's oldest cell block. Veronica, did President Trump ever say how much it would cost to refurbish and reopen Alcatraz and the types of criminals who would be sent there?

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are all very good questions, Jake. And of all the people that I've spoken to today, not a lot of people have any clear answers as to exactly how this would work but I am told that this is a historical site. It's a dilapidated building. It is falling apart.

And as you can see, we are in the oldest cell block. This was built in the 1910s, last used in the 1930s. All of this is original for when it around the time that it was built. And we're not going to move the camera around too much just because service is really bad, but inside these cells, there's, you know, broken toilets and sinks. Even if they did work there's no running water to the island. There are no utilities here. Nothing is connected. They actually have to bring water in and out every single day. And so I'm told just to keep this place open, as it stands now, is logistically very, very difficult.

But as it stands today, this place actually generates money, about $60 million a year for the Park Service. They estimate about 300 to 400 people come here per hour, about 5,000 people per day. So, the Alcatraz right now makes money in order to renovate this it would cost a lot.

So, we spoke to some people on the ferry ride over, here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AARON BROWN, ALCATRAZ VISITOR: I mean, I like Trump, but still at the same time it's like it's kind of crazy, it's a historic place and a park, and I don't really agree with that.

CHRIS WILLS, ALCATRAZ VISITOR: You know, they're taking away a piece of history from the city of San Francisco, and plus it's going to cost taxpayers money to be able to fund the prison, in general.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: I also talked to a couple of people who've said this would have to be a complete tear down. It would be nearly impossible to renovate. But we did hear from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, they put out a statement saying they will support President Trump in whatever he wants to do.

Back to you, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Veronica Miracle on Alcatraz Island, The Rock, in San Francisco Bay. Thanks so much.

Let's bring in my political panel. And, Jonah Goldberg, Trump's Border Czar Tom Homan says, reopening Alcatraz should be on the table and the U.S. Bureau of Prisons director says his agency will pursue all avenues to support Trump's agenda. This is what is the situation now, President Trump says this and everybody says, of course, of course, this is what we're going to do. So, is this really going to happen?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think it's going to happen. First of all, as you mentioned, it's a landmark in California. So, lawsuits will come a plenty. Also, we have this thing, it's, what, ADX Florence in Colorado, which is, well, a chapel is, which is what they call the Alcatraz of the Rockies that's currently operating. Like we don't -- no one's ever escaped from that.

But I think what's really going on here, other than the sort of reflex of Trump says that he must be right approach to his entire administration is that Trump even said here, it's a symbol of strength, right? He talks about Alcatraz, sort of the way, if you pay attention, he talks about Fort Knox a lot too.

TAPPER: Yes.

GOLDBERG: It's one of these iconic things, and it sounds like it would be a strong and cool thing to do. But what's really going on here is that the administration has a huge problem. They cannot do mass deportations without rounding up huge numbers of people, but they can't or won't get Congress to actually fund what would they basically would need is like tent cities. And so they're looking at things, like prisons in El Salvador or reopening The Rock, which makes absolutely no sense.

[18:20:01]

I don't think it's going to happen, but it kind of fits in the way Trump talks about things.

TAPPER: Xochitl, you worked at the Justice Department?

XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

TAPPER: What's your take? HINOJOSA: So, Bureau of Prisons is under the Justice Department, and this is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the Bureau of Prisons need. When I was there just a few months ago, they were about $3 billion -- there's a $3 billion deficit in their budget from what they need and what they currently spend. And one of the things that, you know, they will tell you is that they're not short beds. They have plenty of beds.

It is more that they need technology. They're understaffed, their facilities, their security issues. A place like Alcatraz, you're talking about a place built early 1900s, and Pam Bondi and Donald Trump want to send the most dangerous people there. When you want to send the most dangerous people to an island, you normally have to have a lot of technology to go with it. You have camera -- you need cameras, you need to build a facility that can hold the most dangerous people.

TAPPER: You got to put lasers on those sharks.

HINOJOSA: You got --

TAPPER: You and I are too similar. I was thinking that it's too much already.

HINOJOSA: It is too much. But anyway, I agree with the reporting, it's a complete tear down. People are saying it's going to cost about $3 to $5 million. No, it is not. That's maybe for the roof. They need a complete tear down and this is complete nonsense.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I mean, look I mean the cost to maintain the place, if they were to tear it down, I think, is where you'd see the bulk of it. You mentioned ADX Florence and Colorado. It's in a pretty remote area. It sits on about 37 acres. If the president really did want to expand our capacity for maximum security prisons, they have enough space there, Jake, where they could build more. No one's ever escaped from that place. I don't think anyone's even tried. There's a lot of modern technology there.

So, there are facilities where there is a space to build more if the president really wants to move forward with doing this.

TAPPER: But don't you think this is more a, wouldn't it be cool if, kind of idea?

SINGLETON: Oh, of course, we're talking about it.

TAPPER: But the Florence super max, okay, I've literally written a book about a terrorist that is there right now, and I have no idea what it looks like. It's so remote. There are like very few pictures, there's very little information. It's perfect for the Bureau of Prisons for their goal but it's not perfect for projecting this image of terror and fear --

SINGLETON: If you think of all the movies about Alcatraz in the books, old articles, no one wants to be stuck there.

TAPPER: He didn't even get to the Birdman of Alcatraz. Well, he got out, he escaped, the Birdman of Alcatraz.

SINGLETON: Did he survive though is the question.

TAPPER: Well, that's also Escape from Alcatraz. We also don't know if he escaped.

But the truth of the matter is that it's -- people might laugh at our pop culture references here, but that's the point of this. That's the point.

GOLDBERG: That's like Fort Knox.

TAPPER: It's iconic.

GOLDBERG: Or Guantanamo, right? These are these places that normal people have heard of and he wants to -- that cache.

TAPPER: You want me on that wall? You need me on that wall?

SINGLETON: It does sound scary as hell to think about being stuck in a little box surrounded by water. I wouldn't want to go there.

HINOJOSA: They also say it's in the middle of Pacific. I don't think they've ever been out there, so I'm not sure what they're talking about.

TAPPER: But when you worked at the Justice Department and these discussions about what the Bureau of Prisons actually needed, what were the solutions? It was more just -- it was bean counting kind of thing. It wasn't exciting, compelling visuals.

HINOJOSA: No. It was things like, you know, this facility, we might have to shut it down because it is not functioning anymore. It wasn't things --

TAPPER: Right, like that one in Georgia.

HINOJOSA: Like the one there -- yes, there are several around the country where we have had to shut down facilities. And we work with members of Congress. You know, we work with Congress to do those sorts of things. And it was never like we are short heads --

TAPPER: That's the boring governance process.

HINOJOSA: You're right. But that's how -- that's why I guarantee you right now, Jake, that Donald Trump has never been briefed on the Bureau of Prisons, because it's not sexy for him.

TAPPER: But the point is that Pam Bondi, his attorney general, his entire cabinet is full of people that will say, that's a great idea, let's do it, and actually they watch --

(CROSSTALKS)

SINGLETON: But, Jake, I think once you begin to explore the process of doing this and you think about the cost and you think about, well, what is the burden on the average taxpayer right now, the message from conservatives and Republicans have been cutting spending, not spending more than we need to, trying to preserve as much capital --

TAPPER: Except for that military parade.

SINGLETON: -- for the average working person. So, I think you have a tough argument to make.

Again, if I were the president and he really, really wants to do this, go to Congress, let's get some funding, let's expand ADX in Colorado. No one's ever heard of it. Maybe we can create a new allure, this secret of dark prison that no one's ever heard of. We'll send you there.

TAPPER: Once again, Shermichael, you have my vote, but that but that's not what President Trump has (INAUDIBLE). He doesn't like the policies. He likes --

SINGLETON: If he calls me, Jake, I will give the president some advice on this.

TAPPER: He likes the iconic imagery and the thumping of the chest.

GOLDBERG: Yes. I mean, it's like the smart play would be to propose what you're proposing or use on military base. There's lots of federal land that's really remote and hard. That'll be easy to keep people in and just call it New Alcatraz.

HINOJOSA: But Bureau of Prison's already looking at this.

[18:25:00]

That's the other thing. They have it on the record statement saying that they're looking at it, which is --

SINGLETON: Like a new Alcatraz?

HINOJOSA: No, trying to revamp the current.

GOLDBERG: The Rock.

TAPPER: All right, thank you all.

GOLDBERG: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Billions of Americans now, once again, facing student loan payments that were paused five years ago as the economy crashed because of COVID. The explanation from the Trump administration, plus what some of those borrowers are telling CNN, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our National Lead, air traffic controllers at Newark International Airport in New Jersey were, quote, traumatized after equipment failures cut off communication with planes two weeks ago. And now five controllers are out on paid leave, and customers at Newark are dealing with another week of disastrous delays.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is on the ground at Newark Liberty International Airport and CNN's Pete Muntean is here with the latest. Pete, let me start with you. You've been on top of this story all day. Tell us exactly what you've learned about why exactly these delays are happening and what in the hell is going on at Newark?

[18:30:05]

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the FAA is now essentially confirming our reporting that really paints the best picture yet of why these delays have persisted for days. A source familiar with an incident last Monday tells me that this all goes back to a period of time when controllers in the facility responsible for flights arriving and departing from Newark Liberty International Airport lost radio communications and their radar systems for an undisclosed time last Monday that led to five air traffic controllers in that radar facility to take what's called trauma leave. They are now on leave for the next 45 days, something they're legally entitled to do.

I want you to listen now to the new audio we just got from liveatc.net and I want you to hear the frustration of the air traffic controller in this Newark facility that controls flights going in and out of Newark and he's telling a smaller plane, a general aviation plane, that he does not have the ability to see that plane on radar and to essentially go away listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost our radar and it's not working correctly. Radar service terminates squawk via FAR (INAUDIBLE) change approved. If you want a bravo clearance, you can just call the tower. It's going to get closer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. I'll wait for that frequency from you. Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, no. The squawk via FAR, look up the tower frequencies, we don't have a radar, so I don't know where you are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: We also heard today from Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, who says, while the FAA has been investigating its own incident here, the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General now has to launch a probe immediately, he says.

He also points back to a move by the FAA last July in which it moved the facility responsible for Newark airspace from Long Island to Philadelphia. The whole idea there was to shore up staffing shortages. Schumer says, this, in essence, backfired.

There are some pretty big questions here that people are asking about why can't controllers be drag and dropped essentially from one place to another. These are location specific jobs. It's not that easy. The FAA is not really detailing a fix in the near term right now, Jake. TAPPER: And, Brynn, another day of major delays at Newark International Airport. What are you hearing from customers?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. Let's put it this way. If you have a flight in or out of Newark that hasn't been delayed or canceled, go outside, buy a lottery ticket right now, because that's all we're seeing on the boards. As you look at the terminal aid departures, we're in terminal B.

Now, terminal A here at Newark typically has those domestic flights, but you can see delayed, delayed, delayed. It gets even worse when the screen changes. Terminal B, where we are, like I said, a lot of international flights, but, again, some of it is open for check-in hours early, but it really is not a big surprise if you actually see that check-in too delayed. It's very rare to see a flight take off at Newark. It is that bad.

And we are now into the eighth day of these disruptions for travelers, and people are at their wits end. Actually, someone just walked by us and says, I'm going to kill somebody. They're so angry. That's what we're seeing is anger and a lot of frustration. Take a listen to one traveler.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIARNA MBACKE, NEWARK AIRPORT TRAVELER: Now, I have to kind of request time off, which sometimes that can turn into penalties for me because it's last minute. And I'm an hourly worker, so I don't get benefits, so I can't even kind of like compensate that lost time, like, oh, I can just use my sick hours. I don't have the luxury of doing so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yes, it really is the perfect storm here at Newark. We are actually having low cloud cover here at the airport. It's those issues that Pete was just describing to you. It's the fact that there's a runway actually closed here at Newark for renovations, and then it's just the antiquated system that this airline, these airports are running on. It's a big issue and it's really just trickling down to these travelers who have, quite frankly, had enough. Jake?

TAPPER: Brynn Gingras, Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

In our Money Lead today, today marks the re restart of defaulted student loan payments for millions of borrowers after they were paused during the COVID pandemic. Now, those Americans are grappling with how to manage that often quite hefty student debt on top of a whirlwind of other economic messes over the past five years, the pandemic, skyrocketing costs, the uncertainty of tariffs and the fluctuations on Wall Street.

CNN's Sunlen Serfaty joins me now. And, Sunlen, you have been talking with Americans who are dealing with this right now. What have been your takeaways? SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: There's a lot of confusion, there's a lot of anger, there's a lot of worry and frustration. I think the confusion piece really hit me hard talking to a lot of people. Many have because of the pandemic pauses of many of these student loan programs, they didn't know the status of their loan and they were caught with essentially today, understating that they are now in default, meaning that they have not paid their loans for 270 days and that they're going to have to pay up.

Now, it's going to affect a significant amount of Americans. 5 million people already in default in their student loans, estimates about 4 million on top of that, that they are very close to default in the next few months, will likely go into default. And it means for the first time since the pandemic pause that wages could be garnished, potentially some money withheld from your tax refund, also many taken out of other federal benefits, like Social Security disability benefits.

[18:35:09]

I spoke with one woman in Kansas City. She's 46 years old. She owes $185,000 still on her student loans from graduate and undergraduate degrees. She has not paid since 2017 because she was battling with breast cancer, had to divert some of her finances to taking care of her medical bills. She is now just wracked with stress. She doesn't know how she's going to pay if her wages are garnished. She says she likely will sell her home and move into an R.V. in her parents' backyard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE GRAY: It's going to ruin everything. Any hope I have of retiring or any hope I have of taking a few days off for vacation.

My family does their best, but they don't -- they couldn't help me with college. There was no college fund. They don't have money now, resources now to even help me with this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: And, of course, experts tell us that we spoke to about this story say that it's important here for people to act early, understand their status of their loans, because if you can't afford your loans now, you're certainly not going to afford them if the debt collection fees are tacked onto what you already owe.

TAPPER: And the Trump administration is also planning to shut off student loan funding for schools who have had too many students default. What impact might that have on public higher education?

SERFATY: Yes. It certainly affects their ability to attract and recruit new students into their colleges and universities. It certainly is significant that they're threatening to withhold funding to schools that have the highest levels of non-repayment, certainly trying to hold these schools accountable going forward.

TAPPER: All right. Sunlen, thanks so much.

My next guest is behind a viral letter to President Trump asking for urgent changes to save small businesses from going under. He is a Trump supporter. It's part of our small business series. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: We're back with our Money Lead and it is National Small Business Week, and we will continue our series speaking with small business owners from coast to coast about Trump's tariffs. Some are optimistic, many are not. Some love them, many do not.

My next guest went viral with a letter to President Trump about the tariffs writing, quote, every day this continues, more businesses will fail. Solving one issue but hurting the very people who voted for you is not the best outcome, unquote.

Steven Borrelli joins me now. He's the founder and CEO of Cuts Clothing. It's an online retailer based in Hawthorne, California, and is a Trump supporter. Steven, thanks so much for joining us.

You built this business from the ground up as you described in your post. Can you tell us about what your store, what cuts looks like now versus what it looked like before the tariffs went into place?

STEVEN BORRELLI, FOUNDER AND CEO, CUTS CLOTHING: Yes. You know, the tariffs -- you know, we are one of those businesses that use the 3, 2, 1 loophole, as they say, to import goods from China into Mexico, and we would bring them over the border every day. And when the 145 percent tariff hit, it caused a lot of stress on our business where we had to raise prices. And it caused demand to go down a little bit.

And I just want to reiterate, I am a Trump supporter and I believe he's going to figure out how to help us out. But I just want to say that, you know, CUTS represents the small businesses in the American dream, and 145 percent tariff really threatens that.

TAPPER: You voted for President Trump three times, in fact, 2016, 2020, 2024. What do you say to the Trump supporters out there who say, hey, you know, he brought up tariffs all the time in the campaign? I mean, what did you think as a business owner when you heard that? Were you skeptical of it or did you think they would be more targeted like they were in the first term? How do you respond to that criticism?

BORRELLI: You know, us e-commerce retailers, we don't like cheap China goods flooding the market. It creates really hard competition, and that makes it hard for us. So, we're happy with Trump cracking down on that. But the thing that I'm trying to reiterate is that the speed of which it's happening is very difficult for businesses to react to.

What we need is a 90-day off-ramp, just like every other countries, and then we can adjust. We can start ordering inventory from different countries and we can be with him in his goal of, you know, bringing onshore talent and onshore manufacturing. But right now, the speed of which he's doing it is making it very difficult and a lot of businesses won't make it 90 days if this continues.

TAPPER: So, the larger point of these tariffs, as President Trump explains it, is he wants to remake the American economy so there's more manufacturing going on in the United States so that you are buying your products from Indiana and Tennessee instead of China via Mexico. Is that even possible in 2025?

BORRELLI: Yes, that's going to take a large investment. Because right now, since the 1980s, at least in the textile industry, a lot of the manufacturing went over to China and Asia, and the current infrastructure is really outdated, so the quality is just not where it used to be. And that's the big misconception. The Asian manufacturers are very, very high tech and produce very high quality. So, if it came back to the U.S., it would take a lot of infrastructure and grants like China does to American companies to bring it back into the U.S.

And for the record, I'm a huge fan of that. I would love to support Trump's vision in that, but it's going to take time. And if I could say anything, if President Trump was listening, is we need more time to, to accomplish your agenda.

TAPPER: Well, he's known to watch cable news. His folks certainly text me when we air something they don't like. Why don't you just give a message to him and maybe he'll see it? What do you want to say to him?

BORRELLI: President Trump, as a longtime supporter of your mission and to make America great again, I want to be a part of that with you.

[18:45:00]

But we -- e-commerce companies all across the United States, we need more time. Give us a 90 day off ramp to get off of our China goods and just tell us the plan. If you tell us the plan, we can operate and we can know what to do.

The hard part about everything that's happening right now is we're trying to manage our business from day to day, and that's very difficult. And a lot of small businesses, they don't have the cash flow to get through a 90-day negotiation, and its going to devastate a lot of businesses like cuts. You know, I'm in a group chat with $1 billion worth of small businesses, and there's several in there that are telling me, hey, Steven, 30 days or 60 days, were not -- we might not be able to make it.

Theres been too many adjustments to the supply chain that are just being really devastating on our business, 145 percent is essentially an embargo. And by cutting off our, our products to be able to sell them, it's going to be really difficult.

So we're -- we're with you. We want to be a part of your mission to make America great again. But we just need more time.

TAPPER: Steven Borrelli, thank you so much. And for those who want to know more about him, Steven Borrelli at CUTS in Hawthorne, California.

Thanks, Steve. Appreciate your time. At least four prospective jurors have already have been dismissed in

the first day of jury selection in the trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs. What exactly are the prosecution and the defense looking for in their ideal jurors? That's next.

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[18:50:24]

TAPPER: Our law and justice lead now. Today in a New York courtroom, influential entertainment figure Sean "Diddy" Combs told the judge, quote, I'm a little nervous today, unquote. He should be. Jury selection started this morning.

Combs has been in custody since September, facing criminal charges for sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transporting to engage in prostitution. Combs denies all the allegations. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

If convicted on all charges, however, Sean "Diddy" Combs could spend the rest of his life in prison.

Here now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

Joey, thanks for joining us.

CNN has obtained the prospective juror questionnaire. Question nine asks about evidence such as that 2016 hotel surveillance video of Sean Combs kicking and dragging his now former girlfriend, Cassie Ventura. It's the video that CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister broke and helped bring to the public. The question specifically asks prospective jurors, quote, there may be evidence of graphic videos and photographs, including videos of physical violence.

Is there anything about the nature of this evidence that would make it difficult for you to be fair and impartial, unquote? So, one excused prospective juror called video, quote,. How influential is that evidence going to be?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. Jake, good to be with you. Significantly, that's the answer, plain and simple. Why? Because if you have jurors who look at that videotape and really believe that he's a bad guy and really believe that this is the very type of individual who would do something like this, it's problematic.

The defense tried to get this excluded. That is the video. The judge said, no, they can see it. And so, determining from a jury whether or not they can put that aside. And hey, somebody might have engaged in that behavior. It could have been a one off. But that does that show he's guilty is a big deal.

So, the fact that the prosecution has this at their disposal certainly could motivate jurors to rule against him. Thats why the defense, Jake, tried to seek to dismiss it, right? Not have the jury hear it. The judge said, no, they're going to see it. TAPPER: Sean Holmes -- Sean Combs is obviously a household name and

has been for decades. A lot of people will be familiar with some of the evidence against him already, such as the surveillance video. Do you think it's possible to find a jury of 12 people who don't have some sort of opinion or bias, one way or the other, about Sean "Diddy" Combs?

JACKSON: So, there's no question that it's challenging to get a jury, but the issue is not whether or not you have an opinion. The issue is not whether you have not seen anything. The issue is not whether you don't know anything about this.

The issue is whether, having seen it, having had some opinion about it, could you agree to put that aside to evaluate the case and the facts and the evidence on what you see in the courtroom, not what you heard on social media, not what you might have seen during a news program, but what evidence is put forth not only by the prosecution, but waiting for the defense to have their turn to challenge the evidence.

And if you could agree to consider that and voice your concern and verdict on that, then that's all we're asking for. And those are the people who will be placed on the jury ultimately.

TAPPER: How long do you think the jury selection process will -- will probably take?

JACKSON: So the issue is, is that really a jury selection should be however long it takes, right? The judge has set this week for the purpose of getting a jury and getting a fair jury. It's critical because this is the target audience. If you don't have a receptive audience on both sides who could evaluate what you're saying, that's the end of the ball game.

And so, you'll go through this process where jurors will say, hey, I have made up my mind. I can't be fair. I don't like Sean "Puffy" Combs. I do like him. I don't want to be here. I shouldn't decide, I can't decide.

So they'll go through all of that. They'll be challenges for cause. Anybody who says they can't be fair will be dismissed, and others will be dismissed for other reasons by the defense and prosecution.

TAPPER: Joey Jackson, thanks so much, as always.

Just in, the Trump administration's new action targeting Harvard University. We're back with that in a moment.

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[18:58:30]

TAPPER: Our last leads start with this story. Just in, the Trump administration has announced it is cutting off all new federal research grants to Harvard University. This is part of the Trump administrations effort to demand political policy changes from the university, accusing Harvard of serious failures on anti -- on antisemitism and discrimination.

Harvard has sued for the release of federal research funding and claimed an infringement on their First Amendment rights. CNN has reached out to Harvard for comment on this latest move by the Trump White House against Harvard.

And our money lead. Skechers is stepping out of the public market and going private. The company announced today that the investment firm 3G capital is buying Skechers for $9.4 billion. This move comes as Trump's tariffs on foreign imports slams the footwear industry, with many sneaker giants urging President Trump to exclude them from tariffs.

In our sports lead, the NFL is scoring in the nation's capital in more ways than one. President Trump announced today that the 2027 NFL draft will take place on the National Mall. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said he expects the draft will bring more than a million people to D.C. Trump also touted the recently announced deal to bring the Washington Commanders back into the city itself, at the site of the old RFK Stadium.

I have two books coming out. On May 20th, "Original Sin", about President Biden's decision to run for reelection and the cover up of his decline. In October, I have a book called "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 at jaketapper.com.

You can preorder them and read all about it. If you follow me on Facebook, Instagram Threads, X, Substack, and on the TikTok @jaketapper.

You know that you can also follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN.

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

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.

Take it away, Erin.