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The Lead with Jake Tapper
NBA Coach, Player Arrested in Gambling Schemes; Trump's Beef Deal Angers America's Struggling Farmers; Former Foes Become Allies in New York City Mayor Race. Mamdani, Cuomo Clash At Final NYC Mayoral Debate; Study: 14M Could Die If USAID Cuts Stay. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 23, 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 ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, a massive gambling scheme involving the mafia and some NBA players and coaches, stunning accusations revealed today, including cheating during poker games and using insider information to bet on basketball games, leading to the arrest of the Portland Trailblazers coach, a player on the Miami Heat and dozens of others.
Plus, American farmers already struggling with high prices are lashing out against President Trump's new deal with Argentina. The White House says it needs to import more beef from the South American country to lower prices here in the U.S., but American farmers say not so fast.
And former foes teaming up in the fight to lead New York City, why the current mayor says he's endorsing the former governor whom he called a snake and a liar with just 12 days until the election.
Our Lead tonight, a sprawling FBI probe into mafia-linked gambling and sports-rigging schemes are sending shockwaves across the NBA and the United States. This is all part of two different major federal investigations dubbed Operation Nothing But BET and Operation Royal Flush.
The accusations and the indictments are rather shocking, NBA players faking injuries, underperforming in games on purpose, even giving insider tips about other players, such as Lakers Star, LeBron James. Then there is the separate case, rigged poker games where officials say high-tech cheating technology, including special contact lenses and X-ray devices that could see through faced down cards, that technology was used to steal millions from victims.
So far, 34 people have been arrested, including Portland Trailblazers Head Coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Bill, and Miami Heat guard, Terry Rozier, as well as former NBA Coach and Player Damon Jones. 13 members and associates from three different New York mafia families, yes, I'm talking about that mafia, the Gambino and Genovese crime families among others, also arrested.
CNN's Brynn Gingras has more on the arrests and the shocking allegations that are making the NBA season's opening week rather unprecedented.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSEPH NOCELLA JR., U.S. ATTORNEY, EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Your winning streak has ended.
BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A takedown of an alleged gambling criminal enterprise, linking four New York City mafia families and NBA stars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcoming Chauncey to the Hall of Fame.
GINGRAS: Portland Trailblazers, head coach and Hall of Famer Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat Star Terry Rozier, and Cleveland Cavalier's alum Damon Jones are among more than 30 people arrested for their alleged involvement in one of two elaborate schemes involving illegal betting on NBA games or rigged poker games.
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Let's not, you know, mince words. This is the insider trading saga for the NBA.
GINGRAS: One document describing Rozier and Jones sending insider tips on players and teams such as whether a player, including Rozier himself, was going to be sidelined or sick, placing bets to favor their odds and maximize profits, and then allegedly laundering their winnings totaling millions of dollars.
JESSICA TISCH, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: They placed wagers on unders on players to score less, rebound less, assist less, using information that was not yet public. In some instances, players alter their performance or took themselves out of games to make sure that those bets paid out.
GINGRAS: In a second scheme, Billups and Jones allegedly teaming up with members of La Cosa Nostra crime families in underground poker games.
NOCELLA: The scheme targeted victims known as quote fish, who were often lured to participate in these rigged games by the chance to play alongside former professional athletes who were known as, quote, face cards.
What the victims, the fish, didn't know is that everybody else at the poker game, from the dealer to the players, including the face cards, were in on the scam.
GINGRAS: They allegedly also used high tech equipment to rig play like this X-ray machine, which authorities say could read cards that were faced down on the table, also used hidden cameras and altered shuffling machines, which --
NOCELLA: Read the cards in the deck, predict which player at the table had the best poker hand and relay that information to an offsite operator.
GINGRAS: And then authorities say some defendants would resort to old school mafia tactics to collect their earnings, such as robbery and extortion.
[18:05:06]
I'm going to wait outside poker games and pistol whip five winners a week, one text message read in court documents.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GINGRAS (on camera): And, Jake, you said the news of these arrests, really just stunning the NBA in the week of its own openers. Rozier actually playing against the Magic last night, sitting out on the sidelines though was arrested this morning in Orlando. His attorney says that he fully plans to fight these charges. And Billups, he coached his team, the Trailblazers, last night and was arrested in Portland this morning. Both men are going to be coming back here to New York to face these federal charges.
In the meantime, the NBA says that both men are on immediate leave from their teams while they review these indictments. Jake?
TAPPER: All right. Brynn Gingras, thanks so much.
Let's bring in for more discussion former federal Prosecutor Berit Berger, who has prosecuted organized crime and racketeering cases in the Eastern District of New York, as well as USA Today Sports Columnist Christine Brennan.
Berit, the charges for the more than 30 involved in this illegal sports betting scheme range from wire fraud to money laundering, extortion, and robbery to illegal gambling. How do you anticipate prosecutors are going to handle these two separate yet overlapping operations?
BERIT BERGER, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes. I mean, it'll be interesting to see how these cases proceed because while they do share some defendants, they really do allege pretty different schemes. My guess is they will be two separate cases. It'll proceed on two separate tracks.
You know, this is really the type of case that the Eastern District of New York has done before, and they do incredibly well. This obviously was a very complex long-term FBI investigation that involved what I have to imagine is a whole slew of investigative techniques, probably cooperating witnesses. But this is what the Eastern District of New York does. They are pros at putting together these sort of large scale cases that often involve organized crime families. This is -- you know, the Eastern District of New York has been one of the leading districts that's prosecuted mob cases.
So, they will do this case the same way they do those other cases, which is, you know, methodically dealing with their witnesses, putting forth documentary evidence. And I'm really interested to see what more we'll learn in the coming weeks and months about the link between the athletes and the organized crime families.
TAPPER: And I have to say, Christine, for those of us who are fans of the NBA, and I'm really excited the Sixers beat the Celtics, and V.J. Edgecombe is just this amazing new player for us and all this stuff, I know my Knicks friends, Knicks fan friends are really excited, and then all of a sudden this happens. How are NBA players and officials processing this all?
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, SPORTS COLUMNIST, USA TODAY: Well, it is a shock. You know, this is bombshell news. Although, in many ways, those of us who, and most people who've been aware of what's going on and watch commercials and see what's going on in the business world of sports and NBA, NFL, et cetera, Jake, is, you know, this is a bombshell that is probably the least surprising news we could have. And that is a cynical view, certainly, but the idea that these leads now are absolutely lockstep in business with gambling and betting sites and organizations, you see the commercials. You leave for a minute, you come back to the room, you see more commercials about betting and gambling.
So, no one should be surprised by this, and, in fact, in many ways we should have seen it coming a mile away. There certainly has been gambling, as you well know, in sports. We can go back to the 1990 Chicago Black Sox scandal. You know, this is not new. But what's new in the last few years since the Supreme Court decision in 2018 legalizing gambling in the states, what's new since then is the way that these sports leagues that used to put up a wall against gambling companies and not even wanting to go to states where there was gambling. Now, they're completely in lockstep, in sync, and that is why I think this is just the beginning of a real nightmare for a lot of these pro sports leagues.
TAPPER: And, Christine, do you think the NBA is going to crack down on this or just let law enforcement handle it?
BRENNAN: The players do get seminars. They are told, don't do this, right? So, I think the NBA will continue and, you know, again, the NFL has had -- Shohei Ohtani's interpreter was ensnared in something like this. So, that's Major League Baseball, obviously not Shohei Ohtani himself.
But the point is, this is everywhere. You've got lots of young people, mostly men, but women's sports, this could happen too, with lots of money and lots of free time, and probably not listening to their agents and their leagues and their coaches the way they should be when they are warned about the dangers of gambling.
TAPPER: And, Berit, how do cases of this size and scope usually get launched? Is it insiders tipping someone off?
[18:10:00]
Somebody's arrested and they just -- they squeal in exchange for leniency or financial documents or flags, what happens typically?
BERGER: Yes, that's a great question. I think your first comment was probably my instinct. Usually, cases like this start with some side of -- some sort of inside information. It's really hard to get this type of information without a cooperating witness. So, you know, a typical way that these cases would start would be somebody would get arrested on an unrelated charge. And in exchange for some sort of leniency, they'd start cooperating. They'd start saying, hey, if you think I'm bad, let me tell you about all the stuff that's going on over here. You know, how else do cases like this start? Sometimes they start with, you know, investigative journalists who expose something that looks a little shady or fishy, and then the authorities follow that.
Here, given the nature of the allegations it would be hard for me to imagine starting this without some side of an insider, right, somebody who was either at one of these rigged poker games, maybe there was a victim that then went to the authorities and said, you know, look, this happened to me. I don't know that this was right. And then they were able to sort of chip away. As far as the nothing but bet operation, you know, maybe it was somebody who you know, either a player or somebody who got ensnared, but probably an insider.
TAPPER: By the way, I mean, kudos to whoever came up with Nothing But Bet. I mean, that's one of the best names for an investigation I've ever heard, much better than Crossfire Hurricane.
Christine Brennan and Berit Berger, thanks so much. I appreciate it.
Much more on this massive scandal in just moments, including a closer look at the technology allegedly used to steal millions of dollars from victims, including rigged shuffling machines, decoy cell phones, special spy glasses to track cards.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
TAPPER: And we're back with our Law and Justice Lead, the sprawling FBI probe into mafia-linked gambling and sports-rigging schemes as sending shot waves across the NBA and across the United States. You're looking right now at the high tech cheating technology that federal officials allege was used to rig poker games and X-ray poker table to see through faced down cards a manipulated shuffling machine to predict who gets the best hand used officials say to steal millions from victims.
Joining us now is casino game protection and cheating expert Sal Piacente. Sal, an X-ray table, card-reading chip trays, rigged shuffling machines, I didn't know this stuff existed. I guess I'm not surprised, but I didn't know it existed. Can you explain how any of this equipment is used?
SAL PIACENTE, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSAL GAME PROTECTION DEVELOPMENT, INC: Oh, I can explain all of it. The X-ray table, that's just a table that has cameras built into it that look upward at the cards. It can actually see through the green felt, so you can use any deck of cards, as long as the cards lie above the camera, The camera could see what that card is and then transmit it.
The shuffle machines, we just did a special on YouTube and where a shuffle machine was hacked. What happens is the deck may too has a camera in it. And what that camera does, it notifies the casino or the dealer or the house if a card is missing. Also, if you took a deck of cards and put it into that machine, the cameras know every card and can actually sort that deck out and put it back in order for you for the next day or the next play.
Well, the cheaters came up with ways of utilizing that camera as well to know what cards are being dealt and who's getting them. And that shuffle machine is altered to transmit to an earpiece to tell the people who were going to win. Also, there are machines that were also designed to do a false shuffle where when the cheaters put the deck into the machine, it sounds like the cards are being shuffled, but they're not.
And then as far as the analyzer, the tray, this has been around for a long time. It's not new by no means. If you want to see a quick example of it, it could be built into the tray, or it's built into a cell phone. And, basically, what happens is this. You could take this deck of cards.
Well, first of all, this is a regular phone. It looks like a regular phone. Put your SIM card in it. And it acts like a regular phone. But when I put in a code, now it becomes a cheating phone. So, let's go to Texas Hold'em. How many players, let's say you can name any amount, we'll say three to keep it easy, three players. And I'm going to put this on loud so you can hear it. So, I'm going to put it on speaker. And now it's ready to go.
TAPPER: Yes.
PIACENTE: So, when this deck of cards right now is shuffled, it could be in a shuffle machine, that doesn't make a difference. When the dealer takes them out and cuts them. Listen to the phone, three, two, three, two, that means, right now, seat three is going to win, one, two, three, one, two, three, ace five is winning. Here's your burn. There's your flop, two pair. Burn, flop, burn, and seat three wins.
This phone will tell you who's going to win. You heard it out loud, but this phone would also transmit to an earpiece. This system could also be designed --
TAPPER: Yes.
PIACENTE: Anything.
TAPPER: But the earpiece thing, is that also relevant for the camera under the table that can read through the felt? Because the dealer is not under the table, he's not seeing it. So, somebody else is seeing these images and speaking to the dealer or whomever in their earpiece. Is that right?
PIACENTE: Correct. That's right. That information is transmitted elsewhere and that person receiving the information sends it back. And the earpiece, believe me, is very tiny.
[18:20:02] This is one of the ear pieces that I demonstrate. I don't know if you could see that.
TAPPER: Wait, you got to move the -- move your camera, hold it up a little bit. Oh my God.
PIACENTE: That's it.
TAPPER: That's pretty teeny.
PIACENTE: So, right --
TAPPER: That's like a one milligram pill.
PIACENTE: Oh, totally. And it goes right into the ear. So, now, right now, that earpiece is right next to my eardrum. If you were talking to me, you're sitting right next to me. You could look in, you can't see it. When my partner's talking to me, I hear it so loud. And there's only one way to get that out right now, magnet.
TAPPER: Yes, I was going to say -- Oh my God, yes. because otherwise it's going to go in forever and cause you a depth perception problems.
Sal Piacente, I could do six hours with you on this. This is fascinating. Thank you so much. I really appreciate your expertise.
PIACENTE: Thank you for having me.
TAPPER: After a pardoned Capitol rioter was accused of threatening to kill the House Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, we're going to take a look at other people charged over January 6th then pardoned by President Trump, who are now back in legal hot water.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, in the wake of a pardoned January 6th rioter, who is now in jail and charged with threatening to kill House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, President Trump is not just defending his mass pardon of everyone who was criminally charged and convicted in January 6th, he says he's proud of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't know of the incident. I can say we're very proud of what we did. We had the courage to do something that should have been done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: This, of course, happens as CNN's Gabe Cohen reports several other January 6th rioters pardoned by President Trump are now also behind bars accused of other and new crimes. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): 34-year-old Christopher Moynihan, seen here inside the Senate Chamber on January 6th, is back behind bars, accused of threatening to kill Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a text message, allegedly writing, Jeffries makes a speech in a few days in New York City. I cannot allow this terrorist to live. Even if I'm hated, he must be eliminated. He'll make his first court appearance Thursday. CNN hasn't been able to reach his attorney.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): They've been put in a situation all across the nation where these violent felons have been released back into communities and many of whom have already reoffended. And that's a shame.
COHEN: Moynihan was sentenced to nearly two years in prison for storming the Capitol where he was seen rifling through senator's desks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's got to be something in here.
COHEN: But he was pardoned in January by President Donald Trump, along with more than 1,500 others, convicted of January 6th offenses.
TRUMP: These people have served years of jail and their lives have been ruined.
AQUILINO GONELL, FORMER CAPITOL POLICE OFFICER : I think they should have been in jail.
COHEN: Sergeant Aquilino Gonell was among the U.S. Capitol Police officers injured during the January 6th riot.
Does it feel like a slap in the face?
GONELL: I mean, a slap in the face is something like I could withstand. I think it is more like a betrayal.
COHEN: At least a handful of other J. Sixers have also been accused of new crimes in recent months, though not for political violence.
Zachary Alam sentenced to eight years for the Capitol attack was rearrested in May for allegedly breaking into a Virginia home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to let you know that I'm a January 6th.
COHEN: Defendant Matthew Huttle was shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy during a traffic stop in Indiana, just days after receiving his full pardon. Body cam video showed him scrambling for a firearm, saying he planned to shoot himself.
Edward Kelly was sentenced to life in prison in July for plotting to assassinate the officers who investigated his role in the riot. Brent Holdridge was arrested for alleged thefts of industrial copper in California. And last month, Robert Packer, known for wearing this Camp Auschwitz hoodie on January 6th, was arrested after a dog attack that injured four people.
What goes through your mind seeing these cases?
GREGORY ROSEN, FORMER JANUARY 6TH PROSECUTOR: I mean, I think disappointment is somewhat of an understatement.
COHEN: Gregory Rosen was the top prosecutor on the January 6th cases. He resigned from the Justice Department this year after the president's pardons.
ROSEN: The big takeaway is that the pardons were executed and given out and doled out in an incredibly indiscriminate and sweeping manner, and without discernment of who committed violence and who did not, who needed supervision and who did not.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COHEN (on camera): And, Jake, there have also been January 6th defendants arrested and even convicted for crimes allegedly committed before those pardons, and that includes 37-year-old Andrew Taake. He pled guilty this year to soliciting a minor back in 2016. He was sentenced just last month to three years in prison for that.
But, Jake, he's not actually going to serve any of that additional time, and that's because he's getting credit for the three-plus years he served for his January 6th conviction.
TAPPER: Gabe Cohen, thanks so much.
Our small business series is back. Next, we're going to go to Nebraska, where farmers who were already struggling with rising costs, are now worried about how a new Trump policy could hurt their business.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: We are back with a new segment in our Business Leaders series. Today, we're going to spotlight cattle ranchers across the United States who have beef with President Trump after he singled support for increasing the amount of low tariff beef imports from Argentina. The White House says this move is part of the tragedy to ease rising beef prices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president loves our ranchers, and he also loves American consumers, and he wants to do right by both.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: That brings us to our series where we talk to small business owners from coast to coast about the impact of President Trump's tariffs.
Joining us now from his cattle ranch in Nebraska is Jim Skavdahl. Jim, thanks for joining us.
So, the administration plans to effectively quadruple the amount of Argentinean beef that can enter the U.S. at this lower tariff rate. How are you and Maureen and the rest of your family feeling about this increased foreign competition in the United States?
JIM SKAVDAHL, NEBRASKA FARMER: Well, we certainly don't like it. Cattle business is a tough business to make money in the way it is. We don't need the politicians beating it down with the imports.
[18:35:00]
TAPPER: Can you explain why ranchers feel that the quality of American beef is so much higher?
SKAVDAHL: Well, we really come a long ways in the cattle industry. We have EPDs on the bulls that -- better carcass, better maternal. And we also have a lot better nutrition now. And so our products from start to finish is a lot better than it was years ago, and it's a high quality, safe product and people like it and they're going to eat it.
I don't know if they'll -- I don't know anything about the Argentina meat, but I'm not too concerned people are going to like our products.
TAPPER: I know it's been an especially tough year for ranchers. I know it's been an especially tough year for ranchers because of drought and disease impacting cattle. The administration says this is just a short-term solution since the price of beef has gone up nearly 14 percent in the last year. How has your business been affected by that inflation?
SKAVDAHL: Well, a lot of our cost have doubled. Fertilizer is $43 an acre a year or two ago, and now it's $74 an acre because it comes out of Canada. A lot of the fertilizers got a tariff on it. We're a new wind (INAUDIBLE). We tried to trade them every three years, three years ago. They're $168, and I just priced one. They're $280, so our costs have not quite doubled, but they're pretty close.
TAPPER: And these tariffs have hurt you?
SKAVDAHL: Yes. Well, naturally. I mean, anytime you got to pay more for fertilizers and machinery and equipment, it hurts, no doubt about it.
TAPPER: Jim Skavadahl, thank you so much for sharing your time with us today. We appreciate it, sir.
SKAVDAHL: Thank you.
TAPPER: New York City Mayor Eric Adams once called former Governor Andrew Cuomo a snake and a liar. That was just a few months ago. Well, he endorsed that snake and liar today to replace him at city hall. Why? That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has officially made his endorsement for the man he wants to replace him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): I'm fighting for the family of New York. That's why I'm here today to endorse Andrew Cuomo to be part of this fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The spokesperson for Adams confirmed that the mayor intends to campaign alongside Cuomo, who he once called a snake and a liar in the coming days. This endorsement comes one day after the candidates took the stage for that one final debate to convince voters who should run New York City.
CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A fiery final debate in the New York City mayoral race.
ANDREW CUOMO (I), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: You have never had a job. You've never accomplished anything.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: The issue is that we have all experienced your experience.
PAZMINO: The sharp exchanges between the three top candidates reflecting the urgency of the campaign's closing days with early voting set to begin this weekend.
CURTIS SLIWA (R), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: Zohran, your resume could fit on a cocktail napkin, and, Andrew, your failures could fill a public school library.
PAZMINO: Andrew Cuomo going on offense early and often, repeatedly attacking 34-year-old frontrunner Zohran Mamdani over his lack of experience. The former governor also suggested President Donald Trump would see Mamdani as a weaker political rival.
CUOMO: He thinks he's a kid and he's going to knock him on his tuchus.
PAZMINO: Mamdani routinely counter Cuomo's attacks by pointing to the former governor's own resume.
MAMDANI: We just had a former governor say in his own words that the city has been getting screwed by the state. Who was leading the state? It was you. PAZMINO: A recent Fox News poll shows Mamdani maintaining a clear lead, exceeding 50 percent of support from likely New York City voters.
Amid public pressure to exit the race, Republican Curtis Sliwa vowing to press on, challenging Cuomo in the sexual misconduct allegations that led him to resign as governor in 2021.
SLIWA: Do you ever know that no means no? You know what no means?
PAZMINO: Mamdani also seeking to put a spotlight on the claims by inviting one of Cuomo's accusers to the debate.
MAMDANI: Charlotte Bennett is here in the audience. What do you say to the 13 women that you sexually harassed?
CUOMO: There were allegations of sexual harassment. They were then went to five districts attorneys, fully litigated for four years. The cases were dropped, right? You know that as a fact.
PAZMINO: In another intense exchange, Cuomo and Sliwa both questioned Mamdani's commitment to combating anti-Semitism.
CUOMO: It doesn't justify leaders who stoke the flames of hatred against Jewish people, which is what Zohran does.
SLIWA: Some of the statements you've made, like in support of global jihad, you've got a lot of explaining to do, a lot of apologizing to do. My sons are afraid. Their family, their friends, many in the Jewish community are concerned if you become mayor.
PAZMINO: That drew this rebuttal from Mamdani. I have never, not once spoken in support of global jihad, and, frankly, I think much of it has to do with the fact that I'm the first Muslim candidate to be on the precipice of winning this election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[18:45:03]
PAZMINO (on camera): Now, Jake, in terms of that endorsement from Mayor Eric Adams, he said earlier today that he plans to campaign alongside Andrew Cuomo, specifically in communities of color. They are the base of Andrew Cuomo -- the base of Eric Adams, which Andrew Cuomo has been trying to inherit.
And while we had no expectation that Eric Adams was going to endorse Zohran Mamdani, we weren't really sure if he was going to endorse Cuomo, given just how negatively he spoke about him just a few weeks ago, calling him a snake and a liar. And at one point even accusing him of pushing the only Black candidate in the race.
But it certainly seems like that is all water under the bridge, he said. So today he called him a brother and he said, sometimes, brothers, they fight -- Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Okay. Gloria Pazmino, thanks so much.
My panel joins me now.
Jonah Goldberg, today, Cuomo said this about Mamdani in a radio interview. Take a listen.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ANDREW CUOMO (I), NYC MAYORAL CANDIDATE: People's lives are at stake. God forbid another 9/11. Can you imagine Mamdani in the seat? And --
SID ROSENBERG, HOST: Yeah, you know, I could. Hed be cheering.
CUOMO: That's another problem. But can you imagine that?
ROSENBERG: No, no. Well, listen --
CUOMO: If Mamdani was in the seat on 9/11, what would have happened in this city?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAPPER: Mamdani was quick to denounce the former governor, saying this is Andrew Cuomo's final moments in public life, and he's choosing to spend them making racist attacks on the person who would be the first Muslim to lead the city, unquote.
And, Jonah, obviously pretty vile rhetoric from Sid Rosenberg and Governor Cuomo there. How do you think this is going to play with undecided voters in the final days?
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think nothing matters. Nothing in New York matters. Everyone's soul is dead inside.
I think all of the virtually -- all of the criticisms I heard from the debate, we can put the Rosenberg thing aside for a second from all of these different candidates, were all accurate. I think Mamdani is wildly unqualified to be mayor, not because he's Muslim, because he actually has no credentials to speak of, to run the most difficult city in the country, to run. Sliwa has no business being mayor. Andrew Cuomo has utterly disqualified himself by his public conduct as governor.
New York City has been left with three craptacular choices. And we'll see what happens.
But I -- as for the, you know, Cuomo, I don't see it necessarily that he was engaging in hateful rhetoric. He just was not -- he was not pulling a John McCain and trying to correct the guy, which I think was a mistake, probably would have helped him more if he took a higher road. But there's also just an incredible amount of ill will towards Mamdani in New York City's Jewish community. And that's what they were tapping into. And the whole thing makes me sad.
TAPPER: Yeah. Just to note, when the Cuomo campaign was asked about this, they said this had to do with Mamdani's affiliation with Hasan Piker, who is a progressive podcast host who had said something along the lines of America deserved 9/11 or something along those lines. That's what he said he was referring to.
But moving on, Nina Turner, Cuomo was pressed last night on his past quite a bit, particularly the sexual harassment claims. One of Cuomo's accusers was in the audience, Charlotte Bennett, invited by Mamdani. That's a -- that's a move we first saw pulled by Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton and by association, Bill Clinton.
How do you think Cuomo did on those issues?
NINA TURNER (D), FORMER OHIO STATE SENATOR: Well, he took the words right out of my mouth, Jake. I was going to make reference to what President Donald J. Trump did during a debate. He didn't do well. You can't really explain that away.
These were credible accusations. They were not wild accusations. They were very credible. And it's really hard to try to explain something of that magnitude away when you are running for office.
So he didn't do -- he didn't do well. He tried, but you just can't. He's between a rock and a hard place on that one.
TAPPER: Not -- not an issue he can satisfactorily address, I guess. It's interesting that Mayor Adams ended up picking Cuomo, endorsing Cuomo, because let's just roll the tape. This is what he said just a few weeks ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: I want to be clear with you. Andrew Cuomo is a snake and a liar.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I mean, that's not typical political rhetoric. I mean, that's not he's not qualified. That's not -- I mean, a snake and a liar.
Jonah, what changed?
GOLDBERG: You know, I've been trying to figure this out. I don't pretend to know. But there's a lot of New York City, you know, big Republican donors that have been leaning on Trump to lean on Adams to endorse Cuomo.
Adams is sort of, you know, a creature at this point of the Trump administration, given the pardon that he got.
[18:50:05]
And so, I'm sure all the pressure went that way.
And I do think that as the snake and liar comment notwithstanding, you do get the sense that Adams resents Mamdani more than he resents Cuomo at this point.
TURNER: It was interesting, Jake --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: -- in New York --
TURNER: I mean --
TAPPER: Go ahead.
TURNER: His interest changed. I mean, his interest changed. Politics makes for strange bedfellows, as the quote goes. And so that is why he is doing it.
I don't see this any different from having the current vice president, J.D. Vance, make reference to President Trump and Hitler. You know, their interests have changed. And so, it is in Mayor Adams' interest to be with Governor Cuomo.
And that's exactly what it is. It is his self-interest. He's not looking out for the voters or the citizens in New York.
TAPPER: You're referring to then citizen J.D. Vance in a private text chain, no longer private using the Hitler comparison with Donald Trump.
One leader in New York who still has not announced whom he might endorse is House Minority leader, New York Congressman Hakeem Jeffries. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: As you indicated, Wolf, early voting starts in a few days. And, you know, I look forward to saying much more about the mayor's race, as I've promised in advance of that moment, we'll have more to say about the mayor's race sometime soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Nina, the elections in 12 days. I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: Exactly. That's what I'm asking. What do you think? What does it -- what does it say that I don't think Schumers endorsed now either?
TURNER: No, they just might as well just confess and say they don't want to endorse Assemblymember Mamdani and just move on. Instead of playing in the faces of the people of New York at this point, who cares whether leader Hakeem Jeffries endorses or not?
TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it. Great having you here.
Go ahead, Jonah. Final thought. GOLDBERG: Yeah, I'm just going to think it does illustrate how
Mamdani is a problem for national Democrats. Jeffries is trying to get Democrats in a whole bunch of diverse districts from across the country, elected to the House, and they see Mamdani as a lead weight for that effort.
TURNER: Well, what happened --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: The real world impact of -- I guess not.
TURNER: What happened no matter who vote today?
TAPPER: I don't know.
The real world impacts of President Trump's cuts to USAID. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:56:52]
TAPPER: A new study estimates 14 million people could die over the next five years if the current cuts to USAID remain in place.
CNN's Ivan Watson spoke to a mother living in one of the largest refugee camps in the world, whose 7-year-old died earlier this year, a death she blames on a lack of aid.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sofia Bibi is 13 months old, but hunger and illness leave her looking much younger. Her mother feeds her baby ready to use therapeutic food, an emergency ration provided by the U.S. government.
"I'm so grateful for this assistance," Sofia's mother says. "If they didn't send this money, how could we survive?"
That is an increasingly urgent question here in the world's largest refugee camp. Around a million Rohingya Muslims have fled to this corner of Bangladesh over the last decade, escaping ethnic cleansing in neighboring Myanmar that U.S. and U.N. experts have called acts of genocide an impoverished community of refugees utterly dependent on international assistance.
But that budget was dramatically cut this year. So far, the U.N. says these refugees only got 37 percent of their annual budget.
JULIE BISHOP, SPECIAL ENVOY FOR U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL ON MYANMAR: This is already having dire consequences for the Rohingya in camps, with critical cuts to their food rations and a sharp decline in access to education.
WATSON (voice-over): Each refugee in these crowded camps subsists on rations of $12 worth of food a month.
But now, aid workers are seeing more children going hungry.
DEEPIKA SHRMA, UNICEF: More and more children are being detected with the severest form of malnutrition, and they're at a risk of mortality because of that.
WATSON (voice-over): When aid money dries up, that also affects access to health care and medicine.
Mariam Khatun's family suffered an unthinkable tragedy earlier this year. In February, her 7-year-old daughter Estapha (ph) suddenly got sick. She was rushed to a camp hospital, but within three days she was gone. Cause of death, pneumonia and encephalitis. Her grieving mother blames a lack of health care.
MARIAM KHATUN, ROHINGYA REFUGEE (through translator): Big countries used to support us. We still need their help. My child died by the will of God. But the place where I took her couldn't treat her properly. My child suffered and died in pain.
WATSON (voice-over): The U.S. has long been the world's biggest aid donor. But this year, the Trump administration cut some $8 billion in international assistance. Since then, CNN has documented disruptions in basic services for refugees from war-torn Myanmar living in camps in both Bangladesh and Thailand. Aid workers predict it will only get worse.
SHARMA: If that money is not there, if that funding is not there, there is no hope. Children will be impacted. They will die.
MARCO RUBIO, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We are not going to fund an NGO industrial complex that built itself up, that was taking a substantial percentage of the money and not going directly to the recipients.
WATSON (voice-over): The Trump administration insists it is cutting wasteful spending.
RUBIO: No one has died because the United States has cut aid. No.
WATSON (voice-over): When a war leaves so many people with so little to survive, any disruption can make the difference between life and death.
Ivan Watson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Our thanks to Ivan Watson.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
