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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Fired Federal Prosecutor Tapes Note To Door On His Way Out, Accuses DOJ Leadership Of Making Americans Less Safe; Hamas Agrees To Enter Negotiations to Release All Hostages; Sean Diddy Combs Sentenced To Four-Plus Years In Prison; Bad Bunny To Headline The 2026 Super Bowl Halftime Show. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 03, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: And welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. So much going on today with breaking news on multiple fronts.

In our Law and Justice Lead, Sean Diddy Combs was just sentenced to four years and two months in prison. The judge saying a substantial sentence must be given to send a message to abusers. We'll have much more on that this hour.

We're going to begin with another breaking story in our Law and Justice Lead, as the Trump Justice Department continues to fire some of the nation's most experienced counterterrorist experts and prosecutors. Today, one of those experienced prosecutors left behind a stark warning on his way out.

Mike Ben'Ari, in a striking letter that he taped to his office door, Martin Luther-style, writes, quote, the Justice Department leadership is more concerned with punishing the president's perceived enemies than they are with protecting our national security, unquote. Ben'Ari continues accusing political leadership of, quote, jeopardizing our national security and making Americans less safe.

Ben'Ari, we should note, was the lead prosecutor in the case of a man known as Jafar, a Pakistani accused of plotting the Abbey Gate attack that killed 13 U.S. service members and dozens of Afghans who were being evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021. In his letter, Ben'Ari continued, quote, while I have the utmost confidence in my co-counsel, my abrupt, apparently thoughtless removal with no period of transition will hurt this case, unquote.

Ben'Ari is well respected and qualified. He was fired Wednesday because a MAGA activist posted on social media this nonsense, quote, one can only assume that Ben'Ari was a big part of the internal resistance to the Comey indictment. A source tells CNN's Evan Perez, Ben'Ari was not involved in the Comey case. And this firing is just the latest example of President Trump's political vindictiveness resulting in experienced professionals whose job it is to protect you and me and our children being let go because of perceived slights.

In that same office, the Eastern District of Virginia, Trump last month removed his own appointee, Eric Siebert, from the post of U.S. attorney because he wouldn't bring a case against Comey. He installed White House Aid and Trump loyalist Lindsey Halligan an insurance attorney with no prosecutorial experience, who was willing to charge the former FBI director.

You might recall in August, several top FBI officials were ousted from their jobs, including the former acting director of the Bureau who previously resisted efforts to compile a list of FBI agents who had worked on the investigation into the January 6th Capitol attack. The FBI Agents Association said it was deeply concerned that they were fired without due process.

This week, FBI Director Kash Patel fired a longtime Bureau employee who displayed a pride flag in his workspace during a past assignment. Sources saying that Patel told the agent trainer that he was being fired for past poor judgment, quote, and inappropriate display of political signage, unquote.

And just as a separate note, Jaffar in the Abbey Gate case, Jaffar will be only the second foreign terrorist ever prosecuted in criminal court for killing American service members abroad in a war zone. The first is a guy named Spin Ghul. Now, he's the subject of a book I have coming up, but forget the book. What's important is that while writing it, I learned about a guy named George Toscas, who was, until recently, the deputy assistant attorney general in the National Security Division of the Justice Department. He was known as experienced and tough and skeptical. He got prosecutions through -- to get prosecutions through him was a gauntlet for prosecutors to make their cases tight and get bad guys locked up.

Now, you should know, Toscas would not give me the time of day when I reached out to him. He didn't return calls, he didn't return emails. But I will tell you, I know about him because his colleagues revered him. And I'm telling you, according to them, you want that guy prosecuting terrorists. But Toscas has been sidelined. Why? Because Toscas played a key role in pushing for the 2022 search warrant at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home searching for classified documents that were, without question, improperly being stored.

People who know a lot more than I do about national security say all of these personnel decisions made for petty, vindictive political reasons, all of these decisions are making the American people less safe.

Let's bring in CNN's Evan Perez and CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig.

And, Evan, Ben'Ari, in the letter, says, Trump's actions are making the U.S. less safe. What more is this in this letter and how big a deal is this letter in the Justice Department?

[18:05:03]

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, it is a big deal because a lot of these folks have been fired, including George Toscas. They've left. They have left quietly and have not spoken out. And what's unusual is that is that Mike Menari went back to his office today, his former office, to clear out his belongings because he was given no time really to leave after 20 years in public service.

He went back to take his things out and left this letter taped to his office wall there for everyone to see. And it was a letter to his colleagues, but it also is a letter, I think, to all of us, right?

Look, President Trump, during the campaign, talked about essentially serving as retribution. And that is exactly what we're seeing in some ways, right? We're seeing this is not the only case where someone is being fired because someone in right wing social media and MAGA world sometimes wrongly accuses them of being something else, right? In this case Julie Kelly said that he was part of the resistance on the Comey case. He had nothing to do with that. He's working in the national security section, not the public corruption unit of that office.

But we saw recently just in August, Jake, there was an FBI agent, a military veteran who was a pilot at the FBI, he was fired because someone said that he worked on the Mar-a-Lago search, which is not true. He was not part of that. And then Brian Driscoll, who was his boss at the FBI, who told Kash Patel and everyone else this information, saying, look, this is not true, what they're saying on social media is not true, he was also fired.

TAPPER: Yes.

PEREZ: So, we were seeing this repeatedly, this is now the subject of lawsuits, but it's very rare what Ben'Ari did today.

TAPPER: Yes.

PEREZ: Taping this letter really is unusual because a lot of these guys have left and have left very quietly.

TAPPER: And one of the reasons they've left quietly, Elie, is they are afraid. They're afraid of the Trump Justice Department prosecuting them. For what? For who knows what. It doesn't even matter. They feel that it's a legitimate fear. And this is how the Department of Justice is changing shape, career prosecutors being fired, other prosecutors being pulled from major cases to prosecute Comey, and in other cases, prosecutors have resigned in protest. Where does all of this lead? You're a former assistant U.S. attorney.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it's a dark moment, Jake, for the Justice Department. We've really never seen anything quite like this. I don't know where it ends up. And the damage that's being done here is really on two levels. One, this has badly undercut DOJ'S credibility, the confidence that the public has in DOJ'S independence. But even if we get beyond those theoretical harms, let's look at it at just a practical courtroom-type level.

Think of the dozens of prosecutors who've either been fired, been pushed out or resigned in protest. Going back to the Eric Adams, the mishandling of that case in the Southern District of New York, seven experienced veteran nonpolitical prosecutors resigned then. There also have been firings of anyone associated with Jack Smith's team, like the terrorism prosecutor you highlighted in the beginning. Anyone who worked on any of the January 6th cases has been fired. Now, we have qualified, experienced prosecutors in the Eastern District of Virginia, which, by the way, is one of the two or three most active districts when it comes to anti-terrorism efforts. They have left. Also, if you look at Main Justice, anti-corruption units have been gutted. Anti-foreign bribery practice units have been gutted. Anti-civil rights enforcement units have been gutted. And the impact on Justice has been devastating. Any organization that loses that level of talent and expertise is going to suffer in the bottom line results and I think we're seeing that come to roost now.

TAPPER: And, Evan, what's the mood inside the Justice Department?

PEREZ: Well, it's pretty dark because of this, right, I mean, the lack of process, due process for people. Look, if you've done something wrong, there is an internal process for you to be investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility. And if you've done something wrong, then there is that entire -- this has been completely circumvented, including over at the FBI.

And the other -- what you're sort of pointing to, Jake, and what Ellie was just talking about is that there is some impact that is already being felt. We've never seen a period like this where grand juries are rejecting cases brought by the Justice Department. This is supposed to be the easiest process, right? It's a one-sided process where only the government presents its case. And grand juries are standing up and are rejecting some of this because of the lack of credibility that the Justice Department is bringing to some of these cases. And so that's the big, sort of like the alarm bell that is ringing right now.

And I think the public understands that. We're seeing this in districts in California, here in D.C. And it's going to spread if the Justice Department loses the credibility with the public.

[18:10:00]

TAPPER: I just know that it's as -- and you guys know better than I, we're literally talking about life and death issues when it comes to terrorism prosecutions.

Elie, one quick question on the Trump Justice Department case against Comey, only 14 of the 23 grand jurors found probable cause to indict, and they found it on two of the three charges but not the third. Tell us what that means.

HONIG: This should be a bright red warning light to prosecutors. I mean, the grand jury is undefended. The only people allowed in the grand jury are the prosecutor, the witness, and the grand jurors. There is no defense presence. You only have to prove your case by the low evidentiary standard of probable cause, and you only need a majority. And here, they barely got that 14 to 9 counts. So, think about all that.

Now, when this case goes to trial a few months from now. You're going to, A, have not just a defense lawyer, but Pat Fitzgerald, who is a trial legend defending the case, you're going to have to prove your case unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt, 12 to 0. So, if you could only get 14 to 9 in a grand jury with no defense lawyer present, good luck getting unanimity several months from now with one of the best defense lawyers in the country on the other side of it.

TAPPER: It's just so dispiriting. Evan Perez and Elie Honing, thanks so much.

More breaking news, the terrorist group, Hamas, has agreed to immediately negotiate hostage releases after President Trump's ultimatum on the Gaza peace plan. We're going to discuss what that could mean for the war on Gaza.

Plus, the U.S. has struck another suspected drug boat off the coast of Venezuela. This comes one day after Trump told Congress that the United States is in an armed conflict with drug cartels. Is that true?

Stay with us.

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[18:15:00]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our World Lead, Hamas announced it will agree to immediately enter negotiations for the release of all of the hostages under President Trump's recent peace proposal. And now President Trump has responded on Truth Social writing, quote, based on the statement just issued by Hamas, I believe they are ready for lasting peace. Israel must immediately stop the bombing of Gaza so that we can get the hostages out safely and quickly, unquote.

I want to bring in Thomas Nides. He served as U.S. ambassador to Israel under the Biden administration. We should note he's a spouse of a CNN executive.

Tom what was your reaction to all of this? I mean, I guess it's been a whole week of rollout of the peace plan, culminating with President Trump saying, great, Hamas accepted it, Bibi, stop bombing?

THOMAS NIDES, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: I'm all in.

TAPPER: Yes.

NIDES: You know, I don't spend a lot of time praising the president, but if the president can pull this off, I'm all in. The war needs to come to an end. The hostages need to come home. The killing of innocent Gazans need to stop. We need to end the war. So, I don't really care how it gets done. We need to get it done, and we need to get it done now.

TAPPER: How much of -- Barak Ravid reported earlier this week that Trump said to Bibi on Sunday about this peace plan, you need to get on board with this, and if not, we're walking away from you. Is that what you heard too? And how impactful was that?

NIDES: I mean, listen, you know, Bibi Netanyahu and Israel has an enormous amount of relationships that they need to keep with this White House, okay? This president has been a good friend of Israel, as Joe Biden was a good friend of Israel. Understandably, they need to get him to be on their side and they realize they have pushed him to the limit, as Bibi tends to do. I spend a lot of time with the prime minister. He tends to push the envelope as far as he possibly can. And then when he realizes there's nowhere rope, he then decides is that he needs then to cut a deal. And I think -- and, listen, I give Jared Kushner credit. He got involved in this with Steve Witkoff.

And so my view of this is I don't really care.

TAPPER: Yes.

NIDES: I want it over. It should have been over six months ago. It needs to be done now. And if the president, because of his credibility or his desires to do it, I'm all in.

TAPPER: You mean when you say, I don't really care, you mean I don't really care who gets the credit?

NIDES: Yes, totally. Yes. No, I mean, listen, if I was -- if I sat here, I would tell you the 21-point proposal is the same thing that Tony Blinken talked about and right before he stepped down as secretary of state. I mean, again, this is not necessarily a new plan, but I don't care.

TAPPER: Right. It doesn't matter if it's Blair's name or Blinken name, or Trump's name, whatever works.

NIDES: Listen, I talk to hostage families all the time. They don't care whose name's on it.

TAPPER: Right.

NIDES: They just want their families back.

TAPPER: So, let me ask you, how much do you think it was this -- in terms of Hamas going along with it, this idea of I'm going to let Bibi do whatever the hell he wants you have until Sunday at 6:00 P.M., not that Bibi hasn't already pretty much been doing whatever the hell he wants.

NIDES: I think the Qataris are feeling a lot of pressure as well, and I think the president has obviously said a lot of things positive vis- a-vis the Qataris after the attack that Israel did on Qatar to get the Hamas militant.

So, my view of this is I think it's a combination of a lot of things. But to be clear, Jake, I think your viewers need to understand, Hamas has said yes, but.

TAPPER: Right.

NIDES: Okay?

TAPPER: They always say yes, but. NIDES: If anyone thinks this is going to happen tomorrow, I think we all need to be a little bit sober here. I do think it's good news. I think the president now is all-in because he now needs to produce this agreement. So, I'm happy about that and I hope that the prime minister understands to take the seriousness of what the president just said today. But this is going to be a very uncomfortable weekend for a lot of people, and my hope is we get this deal done.

TAPPER: And one of the things -- you and I talked about this a long time ago, if push came to shove and Netanyahu had to choose between Biden or his right wing crazy flank, the Ben-Gvirs and Smotriches that are holding up his government, he would definitely pick the right wing crazy flank. And I asked Barak Ravid earlier, well, what's he going to do here? Is it Trump or the right wing, crazy flank? And he said he cannot afford to walk away from Trump.

So, Bibi, in this case, would actually. Choose Trump. Is that right?

NIDES: Well, listen, I think Barak is one of the smartest people I know in this world of this, and I totally agree.

[18:20:01]

I think at this point, he is all-in on President Trump. And President Trump has stepped up and helped the state of Israel and helped Netanyahu. Netanyahu has no choice here. The time is now. The war needs to end. And, again, as I said at the beginning, I don't care who gets credit, I just want it over with.

TAPPER: Ambassador Thomas Nides, good to see you. Do I have to call you ambassador?

NIDES: Always.

TAPPER: Always? All right, fine.

Sean Diddy Combs is going to prison for four years and two months. The judge had some very direct words for the convicted music mogul and all abusers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We have some breaking news in our Law on Justice Lead. Sean Diddy Combs was just sentenced to 50 months in prison, five, zero.

[18:25:01]

The judge also imposed the maximum fine $500,000 after Combs was convicted on prostitution related charges in July.

CNN's Kara Scannell is outside the courthouse in New York for us right now. Kara, how did Combs react as he heard the sentence, which was not what he wanted?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, it was surprising. Combs was reactionless. He showed no emotion when the judge sentenced him to 50 months in prison. At one point he -- I did see him sort of eye dart over to his lawyer, but he really didn't show any emotion at all, which was a contrast from earlier in the day when he watched this 15- minute video that his team had compiled to show the judge all of the highlights of Combs' life, his highlights of these intimate family moments, as well as some of the charity work that he had done working with young school children. Then at that point, he had put his head in his hands, his shoulders were heaving, and he was sobbing throughout that ten-minute video.

When he spoke to the judge, he was composed. There was only one moment when he turned around to look at his mother and apologized to her and for failing her as a son, is that he choked up for a moment, but he said he was sorry for what he had done. He had called the acts that were caught on that camera, the surveillance camera at the Intercontinental Hotel where he was kicking and dragging Cassie Ventura disgusting. And he apologized for what he'd done.

That the judge, though, saying that while he recognized some of Combs as good acts and calling them iconic, he also said it didn't wipe away what happened that came out at the trial, the evidence. He said that Cassie Ventura and Combs' former girlfriend, Jane, he said their testimony was credible. He called them brave. He said they were strong for speaking out. And he sent it was sending a message to other victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse because he said that if you were once a victim, it didn't mean you always had to be one. He told the two women that they should be proud of themselves, their family would be proud of them, and the judge said that he was proud of them for coming into court and holding truth to power.

Now, Combs still is in federal jail in Brooklyn, New York. He will remain there until he is designated by the Bureau of Prisons into the federal prison where he will serve that sentence. It's not yet clear where that will be. The judge will recommend make a recommendation based on what Combs asked for. He said he did want to be in Miami near his mother. But that will be determined by the Bureau of Prisons of where he serves.

So, Combs has already been in federal jail for a little more than a year since his arrest in September 2024. That will count toward the sentence that he received. So, he will still serve another additional two and a half to three years sentence before he is out. And we do expect combs to appeal. He was hoping, of course, for sentence of time served. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Kara Scannell in New York, New York, the city so nice, they named it twice.

Americans, your government is still shut down. Coming up next, I'm going to talk to a Republican member of Congress as the White House is threatening to fire potentially thousands of government workers during the shutdown permanently.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00] TAPPER: Breaking in our World Lead, the United States just announced that it struck another suspected drug boat off the coast of Venezuela. This makes the fourth such strike. President Trump says this latest vessel was loaded with, quote, enough drugs to kill 25,000 to 50,000 people.

New video into CNN from the U.S. military shows its South Command -- Southern Command displaying its F-35s in Puerto Rico armed with bombs, the scene reportedly hours before the deadly boat strike. In a letter to Congress this week, the Pentagon insisted that Trump determined that the U.S. is in an armed conflict with the drug cartels designated the drug cartels as terrorist organizations. That letter also describes smugglers for the cartels as unlawful combatants.

It is unclear if that designation offers some kind of legal avenue for the Trump administration to justify the strikes and argue that they are not extrajudicial killing.

In our Politics Lead, no deal in sight, which means the government shutdown is more than likely to extend into next week. There's been no serious talks between lawmakers and the Senate and that -- this between lawmakers -- amongst lawmakers, and the Senate's not expected to be in session this weekend. And while lawmakers continue to get paid, tens of thousands of federal workers are not.

Let's bring in Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska. Congressman, there have been attempts by lawmakers both in the past and right now to make it a law that lawmakers should not have to -- lawmakers should not get paid during a shutdown. What would you think about that proposal?

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I guess I'm all right with it because I always delay my pay until this whole thing's resolved because everybody else is getting their pay with withheld. So, I feel like we should be treated the same way. I know there's some legal protections to protect Congress from the president. That's why those laws are there. But I don't really feel like I should get paid during a shutdown. So, I withhold all payments. Most of us do. I think, most -- the majority, I'm sure, does. I don't know about all. But most of us don't think we should get paid while federal employees are not being paid as well.

TAPPER: Do you support the White House's current threat to not only furlough federal workers, but fire some of them during the shutdown as well as President Trump saying that, quote, Democrat agencies, whatever that means, should be eliminated?

BACON: I don't, Jake. You know, what the federal employees -- this is not their fault. This is Republicans and Democrats bumping heads and not being grownups in the room and shaking hands on what I think is a pretty easy thing for us to do. And I don't like putting our federal workers under distress. It's not their fault.

Now, that said, I knew when President Biden was president that if we did a shutdown that we give him more power. And you have to get his approval to open government back up, so it gives him more leverage.

[18:35:03]

I told our Democrat friends this and I call them my friends, I worked with many, and I said, hey, you know, you're giving more power to President Trump. And, you know, we have this OMB director talking about, you know, furloughing people.

So, I just think this is one of the risks that happens when you go into a shutdown. And I wish they would've saw through this and prevented it.

TAPPER: It does seem as though, just from listening to him and watching his body language, that your leader, Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, might be a teeny bit frustrated with some of the tone that is coming from the White House when it comes to the memes, when it comes to the sombrero memes, when it comes to the don't fear the reaper memes with Russ Vought. And he keeps saying, this is serious business, I keep telling people, you know, ignore the memes, ignore memes, but he seems to be having a different tone than the president and the White House. Do you agree with that? And do you share his view?

BACON: I do. You know, Speaker Johnson's a strong Christian fellow, and I think he's very respectful. I've known him now for ten years. I've never seen him lose his temper or visibly -- you can tell he is mad, but he controls his temper, he treats people right.

And I think he had good advice to Leader Jeffries is just to ignore the sombrero memes, and I think it's not presidential. The most people want something better out of our president on us and it surely doesn't help, you know, cool, the temperature down, but we need to get an agreement. Frankly, I think we're in a strong position. We passed a clean C.R. and we, for decades, have not seen a shutdown over a clean C.R. And we should just keep to that message.

And I do think we should commit to negotiating on the ACA tax credits. I think a lot of Republicans want to find some middle ground there. I think we should, you know, reassure our colleagues across the aisle that we will sit down, because we don't want to see everybody's premiums skyrocket either, right? So, there's areas that we could, I think, pretty easily get an agreement and move forward.

Now, truth be told, and I heard you talk about this a little bit today too, some of the Democrats feel very pressured to have a big fight with the president. And this is their way of showing their base that they're fighting back on President Trump. And that's a harder problem to check to solve. But I do think within Congress itself, if the Republicans show commitment to negotiate on the ACA tax credits, that we can -- would -- we could probably move past this pretty fast. But I'm hopeful.

TAPPER: Before you go, I know you're a retired Air Force general, and I'm just wondering if you have any concerns at all. Obviously, nobody listening or watching, I'm sure, feels anything but hostility towards drug traffickers in Venezuela, but do you have any concerns about President Trump declaring them to be a terrorist group and then using the same methods of combating narco-terrorists, as he calls them with the Al-Qaeda terrorists, and just shooting them out of the water? Does that concern you at all?

BACON: If it was me, I'd make sure I have a lot of good lawyers to ensure I had this right. And I'm used to using the Coast Guard, DEA and other law enforcement to do these things. And so I want to make sure I was -- had double and triple proof that, you know, I was in a safe, legal position. And I can't say that personally right now. I really don't know.

I would also want to make sure that our intelligence is 100 percent accurate, that we're not hitting any ships that happened by accident, not narco, you know, boats. But I do know this, we lose a hundred thousand people a year. That's a lot. That's more than Vietnam in one year. And we had Vietnam in ten years, we lost 58,000. I do think this is a real threat to our country.

And I will say I appreciate the president taking it seriously. I worry about the legal aspects of it and I would make sure when I have that right. But it's hard not to -- I mean, I don't want to be super critical here. I got other areas I want to be critical about, but this year when you lose a hundred thousand people. It's hard to say that this is not a threat to our country.

TAPPER: Yes, I hear you. All right, Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, always good to see you, sir. Have a great weekend.

BACON: Thank you.

TAPPER: Famous American comedians performing at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia that was already controversial, wait to hear what headliner Dave Chappelle reportedly said in his set. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, American comedians, including Dave Chappelle, are taking some heat from their fellow comedians for performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival currently underway in Saudi Arabia. Yesterday, The New York Times reported that Chappelle in his set addressed the free speech debate here in the United States during his set in Riyadh. He said, quote, right now in America, the Times reports, they say that if you talk about Charlie Kirk, that you'll get canceled. I don't know if that's true, but I'm going to find out. The Times reports that Mr. Chappelle was met with whoops, cheers and applause as he told an audience of 6,000. It's easier to talk here than it is in America, unquote.

Here to discuss is the panel. We should note that in order to perform, and I have no idea if they followed through with this, but one of the comedians who decided to not perform said that they had to sign a form saying that they would not make fun of the Saudi royal family and would not make fun of Islam. So, I don't know how much free speech that actually is, but Mr. Chappelle is certainly entitled to his views.

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL, GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: Yes. And I also think, listen, there's a lot of people that are very angry that they are at this festival and I think that goes into my category of cancel culture. I mean, if you don't agree with them going to be comedians in Saudi Arabia because you don't believe in what Saudi Arabia stands for, then don't go to the, their shows here, but these guys are making money. I mean, they are getting paid a lot of money to do this and I don't have any problem with it at all. It's just like what they have with LIV, with the golfers.

TAPPER: You don't have a problem with that. So, let me -- here's the person, somebody who has a problem with it. David Cross, a fellow comedian, he wrote on his page, how can any of us take you seriously ever again? He's writing to his fellow comedians.

[18:45:00]

All of your bitching about "cancel culture" and "freedom of speech". You don't get to talk about it ever again. You're performing for literally the most oppressive regime on earth.

And we should note that this is -- we are close to the seven-year -- yesterday was the seven-year anniversary of journalist, an American resident Jamal Khashoggi's murder by the Saudi government. What do you think?

MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: The Saudi government probably loves this more than anybody, right? I mean, this plays right into their efforts to sort of sanitize their image and look like they're modernizing and how open they are when they're anything but.

Look, I think two things can be true at the same time. One, to say that that you can speak more freely in Saudi Arabia is laughable. That is not true. We can acknowledge that.

We can also acknowledge that it is sad that we are at a point in the free speech debate here in this country, that people are actually, honestly making comparisons to some extent about, you know, how much free speech you have there versus how much free speech a comedian has here. Both of those things are true, and both of those things are very sad.

TAPPER: I think one of the things, if I -- I only read excerpts of his, so I can't say that I got the whole thing. But one of the things Chappelle said, according to "The Times", was at the end of his set, he said something if I ever say this in the United States, you know, I'm saying this under duress. I stand with Israel. And so, you know, he's been critical of Israel, Dave Chappelle, maybe he was driving at the fact that he felt like he could be more open with his opposition to Netanyahu and Israel and the war in Gaza in Saudi Arabia than in the United States. I don't know, but --

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL, GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: See, I kind of felt like his comment was all about the Kimmel stuff that people that he that comedians and they were all them were coming together to support Kimmel and that he would be canceled because of that. That's how I took it. TAPPER: Here's Bill Burr, another great comedian who went to this

trip. He defended his appearance, and here's what he had to say on his podcast.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

BILL BURR, COMEDIAN: You can talk about anything, you know, other than a couple things which was basically, you know, you know, religion don't make fun of the royals. And other than that, it was all everything was like open. It was great to experience that part of the world and to be a part of the first comedy festival over there in Saudi Arabia. I think it's going to lead to a lot of positive things.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: It might lead to a lot of positive things, I don't know, and certainly the more of Western culture that's there, the better. I will say you're not allowed to make fun of the murderous dictator MBS, and you can't make fun of the religion of Saudi Arabia. Those are two pretty, pretty big subjects.

ELLEITHEE: Two big asterisks, right? Yeah.

And look, you know, again, to say that, you know, the big argument that a lot of comedians have been making since the whole Kimmel episode was, you know, we have the freedom to mock anything and everything, and we and that is our God-given right, to put yourself in a position, I don't know that I would have done that to put yourself in a position where you've got the constraints that you're arguing about back home, legitimately.

TAPPER: Yeah.

ELLEITHEE: You know, but he does. He had the right to go. He did. He made a lot of, you know, other jokes at other people's expense. I don't think, though, we can say that speech, there is free.

TAPPER: No. Here's something that I'm sure comedians will be making fun of tonight and next week. So just moments ago, not this part of it, DHS said they have arrested more than a thousand undocumented immigrants during what they call operation Midway Blitz in Chicago. That's not the part that people are going to make fun of.

Also today, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem posted that she was blocked from entering a city building in Illinois. Quote, "We were stopping for a quick bathroom break. This is a public building. This is how Governor J.B. Pritzker and his cronies treat our law enforcement. Absolutely shameful."

And the post includes this video. So, let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can we use your restroom?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, you cannot. KRISTI NOEM, DHS SECRETARY: We can't?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please don't go.

NOEM: All right. Thank you.

Interesting. That's what Governor Pritzker says is cooperation in keeping people safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Okay.

DAVIS: Well --

TAPPER: I mean, look, the DHS secretary posted it. So --

ELLEITHEE: Lucky for us that we've got a cabinet secretary who regularly films themselves, I guess, headed to bathroom breaks. I mean --

TAPPER: You don't?

ELLEITHEE: Not -- never on CNN.

TAPPER: Never on CNN.

DAVIS: We were talking about earlier because I guess the facility gets $1 million worth of federal money. And I am assuming very shortly well see that they will no longer receive $1 million federal funding. But look, look, this is the same argument that we've been having since the beginning of this Trump administration, since the border closings and everything else.

As you know, I'm more conservative on this issue, and I already warned Mo, but it's going to continue to be a battle as long as the president continues to put his policies in place in some of these more liberal states.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Have a great weekend.

Coming up next, Bad Bunny's no mainland U.S. shows announcement seems to have one exception one big exception, and it's making waves from San Juan to the White House. We'll tell you why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

[18:54:38]

TAPPER: In our pop culture leads, start brushing up on your Espanol, because the Bad Bunny fiesta is just getting started. The Puerto Rican superstar was recently named this year's Super Bowl halftime show performer, a massive endorsement at a time when Latin Americans across the country are experiencing fear in their own communities for any number of reasons.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Isabel Rosales, and CNN political commentator Maria Cardona.

[18:55:03]

Isabel, the Super Bowl announcement comes on the heels of Bad Bunny's decision to not tour in the United States, outside of Puerto Rico because he says he fears ICE might harass his fans.

So, you were just in Puerto Rico. How are fans reacting to him playing at the Super Bowl?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jake, they are elated. Bad Bunny is slated to become the first Latino male artist to headline the Super Bowl, and their expectations is that this is going to be 15 minutes of Latino excellence. This is going to be big. This is going to be loud. This is going to be Latin, and this is likely going to be all in Spanish, a first for the Super Bowl, because outside of a couple of songs here and there where he's featured for artists and said words, phrases in English, his entire discography is in Spanish.

And that's part of the appeal of Bad Bunny for his fans that he's unapologetic, he's uncompromising about his identity, about his language. And he said in announcing this halftime show that this is for my people, my culture and our history.

Latinos also are very eager to hear from him, to hear him speak out. Someone who hasn't shied away from politics and for being an advocate of marginalized communities, and to hear from him at a time, as you mentioned, Jake, where so many Latinos are living in fear, they're hiding and they're not speaking Spanish in public.

TAPPER: And, Maria, there have been some people on the right who have expressed anger of the NFL's -- Bad Bunny is famously a Trump critic.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Uh-huh.

TAPPER: I want you to listen to what Fox contributor Toni (ph) Lahren said on a recent podcast with -- I'm laughing already, sorry -- with Crystal Ball.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOMI LAHREN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Do you think bad bunny is a good choice for the Super Bowl?

CRYSTAL BALL, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It seems fine, and I don't know why it's a big deal, seems like a great American artist, so. Sure, why not?

LAHREN: He's not an American artist, but --

BALL: He's Puerto Rican. That's part of America, dear.

LAHREN: Yeah. You don't think -- you have any problem with him saying like the ICE is -- well, I'm sure you don't -- motherf-ers and sons of (EXPLETIVE DELETED). And that he's not going to perform here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I got to give Tony credit for immediately going to the next thing, having completely botched the fact that Puerto Rico is part of the United States, what was your reaction to that?

CARDONA: I mean, my first reaction was she needs to crack a book. And I think it is important that we're talking about this, Jake, because a lot of people don't understand that Puerto Rico is part of the United States. So Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

Bad Bunny is an American citizen. And so, the pride on the island right now and the pride across not just Puerto Rican communities, Jake, but Latino communities in general is immense. To have Bad Bunny be headlining such an incredibly huge global event like the Super Bowl I think is incredible, especially at a time when communities are fearful. And I think, you know, he made the decision, as you may know, for his global tour, he had no dates in the United States because --

TAPPER: In the mainland United States.

CARDONA: On the mainland United States.

TAPPER: Puerto Rico is part of the United States.

CARDONA: That is true. And he had a 30-day residency there. You're right about that.

And by the way, ICE did show up in -- during his shows.

TAPPER: Is that right?

CARDONA: Yes. And that that was a big issue. So, he did not want to have that happen for the Latino communities here in the United States.

TAPPER: And Isabel bad bunny recently wrapped up his two month residency in Puerto Rico and helped generate an estimated $200 million for Puerto Rican economist -- economy, according to local economist.

With all that comes from performing at the Super Bowl, how much bigger can he get, do you think? And how can the island hope to benefit?

ROSALES: And I was so taken aback just by the energy, the star power that he had when I went to Puerto Rico during the last week of his residency, and I saw people of all nationalities, backgrounds, ages, even a 101 year old super fan. Just the adoration that they had for Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio or Bad Bunny.

And, Jake, I think the sky is the limit for him. I mean, he's ventured out into acting, "Happy Gilmore" to he's hosting "SNL" this weekend. He's also hinted at a salsa album that is coming out.

So, he really is taking the world here by the reins. And this is also good news for Puerto Rico, too. I spoke with Jorge Perez, who's the CEO of Discover Puerto Rico. That's the tourism agency, and he says that Bad Bunny has essentially opened up the floodgates.

But they're going to ride this wave. They've shown the world that Puerto Rico is capable of hosting big artists like Bad Bunny. They want more. They want more tourists. They want more jobs. That this is not temporary.

And this is also a smart business decision, talking about the halftime show for the NFL, I mean, this is one of the most streamed artists of all time in the world. His album broke past 7 billion views of "DeBi TiRaR MaS FOTos" on Spotify, the first to do that in 2025.

This is a big artist. He's going to bring a lot of eyes to the Super Bowl.

TAPPER: Well, I just have to say, your enthusiasm for Mr. Bunny is infectious. I'm an old lame man and I will get more familiar with his music.

CARDONA: Smart decision.

TAPPER: -- at a time that so many of our Latino and Latina brothers and sisters feel bad, it is good to have -- I can't roll my eyes, but it is good to have so much.

CARDONA: There you go.

TAPPER: You could do it for me.

Isabel, Maria, thanks so much.

Coming up Sunday, "STATE OF THE UNION", National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona, Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern, again at noon here on CNN.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.