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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Says He's Unsure About A Deal With Tehran; Trump Admin Attempting To Revive Legal Pursuit Of Letitia James; Tensions Flare During Iran Briefing ON Capitol Hill; Bill Maher To Receive This Year's Mark Twain Award; Trump Continues To Say Oil Prices Aren't As High As Expected; Months-Long Investigation Exposes Hidden Network Of Men Sharing Tips On How To Drug And Rape Women. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 26, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:17]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks to my panel. Really appreciate you guys being here. Thanks to you at home for watching as well. Don't forget, you can now stream The Arena live. You can catch up whenever you want in the CNN app. That QR code is right there on your screen.

You can also catch up by listening to The Arena's podcast. There's another QR code for that also on your screen. You can also follow us on X and Instagram at The Arena CNN, but don't go anywhere. Phil Mattingly is standing by for the lead. Hi, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kasie. Thanks so much. We'll look for more tomorrow in The Arena.

HUNT: See you soon.

MATTINGLY: President Trump just gave Iran another extension. Let's talk about it. The Lead starts right now.

Breaking news, President Trump says he's granting Iran a new extension, pausing the threatened strikes on Iranian power plants. We're going to break down this brand new statement.

Plus, gas prices near the $4 mark. What the president says about those prices that keep going up.

And a new CNN investigation exposing dirty crimes. A disturbing report that should be a wake-up call to women around the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. We start with our breaking news in the World Lead. The prospect of the U.S.-Iran deal to end the ongoing hostilities. It's becoming murkier by the hour at this point. In a cabinet meeting today, President Donald Trump said it's up to

Iranian leaders to convince him to stop the war, saying U.S. would continue its military campaign if Iran does not permanently abandon its nuclear ambitions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I read a story today that I'm desperate to make a deal. I'm not -- I don't -- if I was desperate, he'd be the first to tell me. Let's get the hell out of there. I'm the opposite of desperate. I don't care. I want to know. In fact, we have other targets we want to hit before we leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Before we leave. Well, Saturday will be the four-week mark in the war for those keeping score. The administration has said repeatedly, including today, that the timeline for all of this is four to six weeks.

Speaking of timelines, President Trump just announced on Truth Social he will not hold to his Friday deadline which extended already once, which he said he would strike Iran's energy sites if they failed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Writing on Truth Social quote, I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. He added that talks are, quote unquote, going very well. His original deadline for this expired last Monday.

But Trump offered an extension to this Friday amid the start of diplomatic talks or diplomatic messages might be a better way to put it.

In fact, the President today revealed that Iran's so called present to the U.S. was allowing some oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, something Trump says indicated to him that Iran's negotiators are serious.

After the cabinet meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there has been progress in the talks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: There are intermediary countries that are passing messages and progress has been made. Some concrete progress has been made. As you've seen and has been documented already. There's a growing amount of energy that's been flowing through the straits. Not as much as should be flowing, but some of it has picked up.

So again, there's been some progress in regards to the exchange of messages, but that's an ongoing and fluid process.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MATTINGLY: It's fluid because as these talks are ongoing or attempted talks are ongoing. We know the U.S. is deploying more forces to the Middle East while considering a potential ground operation potentially to take Kharge Island if Iran does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. And in the middle of all that, Iran is boosting its defenses on Kahrge Island.

While local media report that Iran doubts Trump's willingness to negotiate. There's a lot going on going to get it all figured out. Beth Sanner, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence Karim Sadjadpour, Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace join me now.

Beth, I'm going to give you the credit of telling me before the show that you knew there was going to have to be a pause.

BETH SANNER, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Why?

SANNER: I don't think I was actually the only one that would have --

MATTINGLY: No, no, we're going to giving this solely to you.

SANNER: Yes, yes. But yes, it was a little disappointing that, you know, our analytic win was taken from us. Yes. But I think it's because clearly what this delay has much more and tells us much more about where President Trump is than where the Iranians are, in my view.

You know, I think that it shows that he really wants to continue the negotiations and I don't think it really shows us that necessarily that the two sides are closer together. He has to extend in order to buy more time, because what have we actually accomplished here by this extension?

[17:05:07]

The only thing that's different, as far as I can tell, is that he has decided that he's not going to commit what is potentially a war crime and all other bombing and attacks will continue. And meanwhile, you know, nine missiles from Iran into Israel today and et cetera.

So, you know, I think that this really just tells us that President Trump really is looking for an off ramp.

MATTINGLY: Kareem, what sign would you be looking for whether an off ramp is actually a viable, plausible outcome over the course of these next few days?

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, first we have to see whether these negotiations actually happen. I've been told that they could happen in either Pakistan or in Qatar.

What's interesting, what I heard from Tehran was that they asked for Vice President Vance to be part of these negotiations for a couple reasons. Number one, they believe he comes from kind of the MAGA wing of the Republican Party that isn't keen on prolonging this war.

But number two, they believe that as a presidential hopeful in 2028, he's motivated to get this war wrapped up quickly. And so that will, I think, be the first big test whether these negotiations happen and who will be part of those negotiations.

MATTINGLY: Beth, I think the thing that I've tried to figure out is since the threat of we're going to strike power plants, which international legal issues, which are not unimportant, we'll push them aside for a second.

The other element of that is that immediately sparks a worst case scenario from a regional conflict perspective --

SANNER: Right.

MATTINGLY: -- that also spirals an already cascading global economy into --

SANNER: Yes.

MATTINGLY: I don't think -- the type of situation you can recover from.

SANNER: Yes.

MATTINGLY: So it seems like an off ramp is the only option for the President.

SANNER: Right.

MATTINGLY: You can't go that route, can you?

SANNER: Well, I think that -- and I'll ask Karim here to jump in on the Iranian perspective, but I think that, you know, this is again, shows that the President is not really channeling who these people are on the other side of the table.

The idea that, you know, the threat of bombing the energy facilities or the threat of taking Kharge Island is going to change their mindset and say, oh, we're ready to capitulate. That is a misreading of who these people are.

And so I think that is like one of my fundamental problems here is that the threats don't make sense. And in fact, I think that they would be counterproductive for the negotiations if we actually did those things and counterproductive for where we find ourselves in the world. I mean, this is why the Gulf states are freaked out about these kind of maximalist threats. Because if we follow through, guess who's going to pay the price?

SADJADPOUR: I mean, the glass half full view is that both sides actually do want to avoid this type of a massive escalation. The Iranians don't want their power plants to be bombed, as Beth said. Trump doesn't want to, you know, further escalate and have the Iranians attack Gulf power plants and oil installations. The glass half empty is that these sides, when they've articulated

their endgames and their demands, they are miles and miles apart, almost irreconcilable at the moment.

MATTINGLY: Yes, the idea of threading a needle in a matter of days that nobody's been able to thread for the better part of several decades has always been a bit of a hold up for me. Karim, can I ask you something? Actually you take on this as well.

The President talking or actually detailing the gift that he had alluded to, which was in his relaying of things, eight ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, which was -- he viewed it as issue of good faith. At least they're talking to the people that have operational control of the strait or what goes in and out.

I hear that and I think, oh, Iran has complete and total control of the Strait of Hormuz and is deciding what can and can't go through, which is a catastrophic departure from a global commerce perspective of the rules of the road for the better part of five decades.

What's the outcome that talks lead to with the Strait of Hormuz that isn't dramatically different from what everybody knows?

SADJADPOUR: Well, I think that's why the President can't simply declare victory and say this conflict is over so long as Iran is dominating the straits in this way. And 10 ships or eight ships passing through, that's less than 10 percent what normal traffic was.

And so I think that the predicament the President is in is he's threatening force. If the Iranians don't open the strait, there's a danger -- they will call his bluff and then he's forced to take action which could further escalate.

SANNER: Exactly. I mean, this is the gift, is that Iran is allowing something to happen that happened by itself every couple of hours before this war started. And so now we're negotiating as almost the primary goal here about something that didn't even exist.

[17:10:05]

It wasn't a problem beforehand, but then I heard in the Cabinet today that it's all about nuclear weapons. Right. And that's obliterated. Right. That's not an imminent threat. So I think we still also have the confusion about what are we really negotiating for.

And right now, those 15 points are everything. And there is just no way that's going to happen.

MATTINGLY: Yes, I mean, look, I am for diplomacy in every way, shape or form, very hopeful that this leads to an end to hostilities. There's a long road, it seems, and a very high mountain to climb in the days ahead. Appreciate you both. Thank you very much for your perspective.

SADJADPOUR: Thank you. MATTINGLY: We're going to talk more about President Trump's new extension with a House Republican who sat in on a contentious briefing on Iran just yesterday.

Plus, the administration's latest attempt to bring charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James. Do the latest accusations have merit?

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[17:15:05]

MATTINGLY: In our Law and Justice Lead, the Trump administration is pushing for a new investigation into New York Attorney General Letitia James. Now, last year prosecutors couldn't get a grand jury indictment on mortgage fraud allegations. This time they're pursuing an insurance fraud case with Trump's top housing official, Bill Pulte, sending two new criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

Here to break this all down for us, CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. Elie, the new criminal referrals claim James, quote, may have defrauded Allstate and a Florida based insurance company when she submitted homeowners insurance applications for a home in Norfolk, Virginia. What do you make of this attempt to prosecute the New York attorney general?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Phil, count me very skeptical of this allegation. The record that the Justice Department has put together in their effort to prosecute and convict Letitia James has been pathetic. I don't know when DOJ is going to get the point that this is doomed to fail.

Let's remember the history here. They indicted Letitia James last year on a mortgage fraud case which a judge, a federal district court judge, threw out. DOJ then tried to reindict Letitia James, but a federal grand jury rejected that charge. That in itself is extremely rare. But then DOJ tried a second time to re indict Letitia James and that too was rejected by a federal grand jury.

So the track record here is dreadful. I have no faith that these allegations will hold up.

MATTINGLY: Clearly not a believer in third time's charm, Elie Honig. Because if you're adherence to the law and precedent, an attorney for James called this quote, improper revenge campaign.

President Trump and Letitia James, obviously everybody knows the backstory. They've had their fair of share of legal battles. If James is indicted, would that history be relevant to the case?

HONIG: Absolutely. Letitia James would immediately make a motion to dismiss based on what we call vindictive prosecution. And that means largely what it sounds like, which is I'm being singled out for political purposes because somebody in the government has negative feelings is vindictive towards me. Now, even before all of this, Letitia James had a good case based on

Donald Trump's many public pronouncements, social media posts asking for the prosecution of Letitia James. Now that she's essentially defeated DOJ on the first indictment, if they come back and bring a second indictment, she's going to have an even stronger vindictive prosecution case.

So that's not just rhetoric from Letitia James attorneys. That's actually going to be part of the legal strategy here.

MATTINGLY: I want to switch gears for a sec because I want to circle back to something we were talking about earlier in the week. Ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, back in court today, failed to convince the judge to dismiss his case.

But the judge did seem receptive to Maduro's argument that the Venezuelan government should pay his legal fees. The judge doesn't think that it poses a national security threat. What's your reaction to these dynamics?

HONIG: I think it's a big mistake if the judge actually makes a ruling that Nicolas Maduro's legal fees can be paid by the country of Venezuela because the U.S. government has sanctions in place on both the country of Venezuela and on Nicolas Maduro. And Judge Hellerstein today said, well, I don't think Nicolas Maduro is a risk at this point.

First of all, sanctions, as you know, Phil, are about much more than whether someone's a risk. They're about influencing politics and economic policy and trade. Second of all, sanctions are not up to federal judges. Sanctions are up to the executive branch and the president and the treasury and the State Department.

And I think if Judge Hellerstein actually makes this decision, allows Venezuela to pay these bills, then the government's going to have a difficult choice. Do we appeal that? And if they appeal that, I think they'll win. But if they do appeal it, that's going to blow the whole timeline for this case out. That's going to take many, many months.

So they're going to have to make a decision. But if Judge Hellerstein goes down this road that he seems to be intent on going down, I think he's going to be wrong as a matter of law.

MATTINGLY: OK, let's talk timeline. You were very frustrated about this earlier in the week. The judge in this case still has not set a trial date. Are you surprised by this?

HONIG: OK, I'm having a little bit of flashbacks here, Phil, because I appeared in front of this judge many, many times. At this point in the case, I would be tearing my hair out at the slow pace of this case.

This case we all remember. The arrest happened right after New Year's, January 3rd. The judge then said, Come back in two and a half months today, mid-March, and we'll see where to go from there. We walk out today, we don't get a ruling on the sanctions issue. There's not even a motion schedule, never mind a trial date. If I was the prosecutor here, look, the judge sets the trial date, not the prosecutor. But I would begging, pleading, urging him to move this thing quickly and to set a trial date. We need to get this thing going.

MATTINGLY: Elie Honig, appreciate you, man. Thank you.

Breaking news this hour. President Trump says the U.S. will hold off on striking Iranian energy sites for at least another 10 days. More reaction, next.

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[17:24:08]

MATTINGLY: In our World Lead, lawmakers both Democratic and Republican are voicing doubts and some frustrations after Wednesday's Iran briefing on Capitol Hill. Intelligence officials updated lawmakers on the current state of the war, but many left with more questions than answers, including GOP Congresswoman Nancy Mace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA COATES, CNN ANCHOR: Were you surprised by what you learned today?

REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I was very surprised and disappointed.

COATES: Did you feel that you had a clear understanding before today this briefing?

MACE: I think my understanding is very different today and that troubles me and I want to be sure that we are successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: My next guest was also in that briefing. Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez joins me now. Sir, really appreciate your time. I'll get to the briefing in a sec.

REP. CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): No, I was not at that briefing, so I can't really answer questions about that briefing. First of all, it's classified, but I was not at the briefing. OK.

MATTINGLY: Understood. Appreciate the clarification.

GIMENEZ: OK.

[17:25:00]

MATTINGLY: I want to start with the pause before getting into some of the frustrations of your colleagues. Even from outside the briefing. The decision today by the President to pause the threat that he had leveled a few days ago and continue to pursue negotiations, is that something you feel like is on the right track?

GIMENEZ: I think you give negotiations a chance to bring this conflict to an end, but bring a conflict to an end on our terms, not on Iran's terms. And so if the President feels that is best to bring the conflict to an end, then I support the measure.

Obviously, you know, we don't want to bomb the power infrastructure in Iran and plunge them into darkness unless we absolutely have to. And so I support what the President is doing now. And I guess he feels that he's making progress in negotiations.

MATTINGLY: Do you feel like you have a good understanding of what the administration's terms are? You said you do it on our terms. What those terms actually are terms are.

GIMENEZ: That Iran will no longer produce ballistic missiles, stop the production of drones, and most importantly will never ever have a nuclear weapon. I mean, that is the goal of this. We enter the war because they have close to 500 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium that can build something like 10 or 11 nuclear bombs. And we can never have a nuclear armed Iran.

I mean, look at the chaos that's being caused right now. Can you imagine if they have a nuclear armed running free, all the chaos it can cause in the Middle East? They can close the Straits of Hormuz whenever they want. And that's a non-starter for us. So I believe that's the objective.

You know, for me, the objective would be to make sure that we don't have to do this again in five to 10 years. And so for me, I would love to see the regime change modify so that the people of Iran can be free and have a democratic Iran that would be friendly to the United States and join other nations around the world and we can live in peace.

I'm afraid though, that if this, the remnants or this regime stays in power, we're going to have to do this again, you know, three, four, five years down the road.

MATTINGLY: Is your sense of when you talk about the nuclear material that is still in Iran, that has to be removed from the country either by U.S. troops or by some third party.

GIMENEZ: Yes, I believe that they have to turn that over so that we know for sure that they're not trying to arm themselves, especially if the regime stays, OK, that they're not trying to arm themselves and use that material to make a nuclear weapon.

And so, yes, in one way or another, through diplomacy or whatever, the material has to be removed. And then if the regime stays in place, we have to verify that they are no longer building ballistic missiles and we -- they're no longer trying to enrich uranium and trying. And they will abandon their nuclear aspirations. That must be at the least. The least of what we get out of these negotiations.

MATTINGLY: I want to turn to Cuba because one, obviously, you were born there. You have been a strong advocate for finding a way to get rid of the current regime for a very long time.

GIMENEZ: Yes.

MATTINGLY: Are you concerned that the president deciding to launch Operation Epic Fury took attention away or made it more difficult, perhaps, for the administration to pursue your priority outcome in Cuba?

GIMENEZ: No, not really. Look, we're the most powerful nation in the world. We can walk and chew gum at the same time. I mean, right now, what's happening in Cuba is the regime is falling under its -- and collapsing under its own weight. They don't have power, they don't have food, they don't have medicine. They can't provide for the basic necessities of the people. Every night, the people are going out and demonstrating against this regime.

So, no, I think that we can keep our eye on the ball. Look, we've got really three balls in the air. You got Venezuela still up in the air. You got Cuba, and then you got Iran. But we're a powerful enough country with enough resources to deal with all three of these situations. And so, no it doesn't.

Look, the people where I come from Miami, we are all waiting, you know, with bated breath to see if and when this regime falls. And I believe that we can see light at the end of the tunnel. And the Cuban people deserve a free and democratic Cuba. And a free and democratic Cuba will no longer pose a security threat to the United States of America.

MATTINGLY: You seem more, I'll say sanguine, and I don't mean that pejoratively about kind of the scale of the operations underway and in particular kind of the timeline or lack of certainty on a timeline in Iran than a lot of other lawmakers right now on Capitol Hill, even some of your colleagues as well. What kind of gives you that?

[17:30:00]

GIMENEZ: I'm a firefighter, and sometimes, you know, when you're trying to fight a fire, you know that this is -- you're going to put out the fire when the fire is put out. And so that's what I want to make sure, that we get what we want out of this conflict and that we don't leave it too early. Because sometimes when you leave a fire too early, it rekindles, it comes back, and you have to go fight it again.

And so that's, I have a different mindset than many of my colleagues here. I view things in a different way. And so I also want to make sure that when we go fight this fire, I don't have to fight this fire in the future.

And that's why I said, we're fighting this war, we're in this conflict, make sure that we don't have to come back in two or three years. That's a rekindle, and I don't want to rekindle this conflict.

MATTINGLY: Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez, thanks so much for your time, sir. Appreciate it.

GIMENEZ: My pleasure.

MATTINGLY: Well, not even a week ago, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was quick to call a report that late night host Bill Maher would get the Mark Twain Award, fake news. Well, a lot has apparently changed since then. We'll get into the reversal next.

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[17:35:22]

MATTINGLY: In our Pop Lead, just last week, the White House press secretary insisted comedian, Bill Maher, would not receive the prestigious Mark Twain Award. Then today, the Kennedy Center announced the late night host is, in fact, winning the Mark Twain Award, this year's recipient, in fact. Now, Maher has been a vocal critic of President Trump, but as CNN's Tom Foreman explains, the relationship is a little complicated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL MAHER, COMEDIAN: This is the most macho administration we've ever had. Also the gayest.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Whether taking on President Trump's militaristic preening, his style, or his policies, Bill Maher has long been a comedic critic of the commander-in-chief.

MAHER: When you talk about people like they're scum and they're evil, you don't think eventually it translates into action.

FOREMAN (voice-over): And Trump has returned the favor, according to Maher, calling him a --

MAHER: Low-life dummy, sleazebag, sick, sad.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This crazy Bill Maher. Bill Maher, you ever hear this guy? He says you know he's not leaving.

FOREMAN (voice-over): So news of the Kennedy Center giving the Mark Twain Prize for American humor to Maher may be a shock to both sides of the political spectrum, which howled just last year when the comic and President shared dinner at the White House, and Maher pushed back.

MAHER: Trump was gracious and measured, and why he isn't that in other settings, I don't know, and I can't answer, and it's not my place to answer.

FOREMAN (voice-over): But when the dishes were cleared, Trump lashed out, taking to Truth Social to call the dinner a waste of time with a highly overrated lightweight, not much better than other comics Trump has tried to take down.

TRUMP: I sort of like Bill Maher, I must be honest. I do, I like him.

FOREMAN (voice-over): It hasn't always been this way. Long ago, Trump was a fan, and Maher has played the patient observer.

MAHER: I just think he's done a lot of things I absolutely hate, like DOGE, trying to put people in jail, and everything with ICE, and I mean, that could go on with the list. There's also a shorter list of things that aren't terrible, that I don't hate, that I'm glad he did. I'm glad he bombed Iran.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Indeed, Maher often muses about how the private Trump is wildly different than the public figure, saying despite their many differences, there may still be a way to find common ground. No joking.

MAHER: A crazy person doesn't live in the White House. A person who plays a crazy person on T.V. a lot lives there, which I know is -- up. It's just not as -- up as I thought it was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: To be totally transparent here, of course, Bill Maher's show re-airs on CNN on Saturday nights here, so you know that we have that interest in it. But nonetheless, I think what Maher is getting at here is something that I have heard a lot, and I'm sure you've probably heard a lot, that in many ways, Donald Trump, for some people, has never stopped being a reality T.V. star, that he's just playing a role and that off-screen, he's something else, but that he'll never let on to that.

MATTINGLY: I imagine the public and private versions of him will both be addressing Bill Maher at some point soon.

FOREMAN: At some point. If not, this very evening.

MATTINGLY: As we're talking right now. Tom Foreman, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

[17:38:29]

Well, up ahead, gas prices nearing the $4 mark, what the President said about the situation here in the U.S. today. But first, how about this on our way to break, a view of the cherry blossoms now, peak bloom season there along the tidal basin. We're back in a moment.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Frankly, I thought the oil prices would go up more and I thought the stock market would go down more. It hasn't been nearly as severe as I thought. I think they have confidence in maybe the American president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: In our Politics Lead, President Trump continued to downplay the rising cost of gas due to the ongoing war with Iran. New numbers from AAA show the national average is at $3.98 a gallon, just tad below the $4 mark, up a full dollar in less than a month.

I want to talk about this with the panel. Shermichael, I want to start with you because, look, I understand the administration's message here about look, the long term, if this goes the way we want it to go, taking the risk premium of Iran in the Middle East and what that added to prices over the course of 47 years, there's a lot of value there. What I don't understand is the idea that a person who's driving to work every day, who's not paying attention to all of this, who voted for Donald Trump because they wanted his first term economy, is going to the gas station right now and saying, what the hell is going on?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know what Phil, I think the President recognizes that. And I think it's evident by the fact that the President is trying to have conversations with the Iranians. I know some of the reporting on that is mixed in terms of what the Iranians are saying about the legitimacy of these talks but it's very evident to me that the President is looking for an off ramp. And I think he'll probably say look, we went after many of their ballistic missile sites and we've set them back a number of years.

We're going to try to move forward with some type of a proposal to force the -- or enforce the Iranians' inability to continue their enrichment uranium program. Those are all very positive things but I think more than anybody else, he gets to poll in on this. He's been one of the very few political leaders in modern history that gets when things go up and when they go down, you got a problem and I think he's trying to get ahead of that.

MATTINGLY: No, it's very true. It was the thing you heard about more than anything else from both the President and his top administration officials, gas prices, gas prices, energy dominance, energy prices going down, that drives everything.

[17:45:05]

KAREN FINNEY, CNN COMMENTATOR: But he didn't talk about it in a way that says, I care and I understand that particularly when Americans, when housing is so expensive, you can't even live where you work so you're commuting, if you're having to fill up your gas tank and it's more, that's an additional cost to hardworking Americans who are already struggling because prices are too high, their salaries aren't matching costs.

And you know, it was interesting, I was listening today to an interview with a TSA agent who had to take the day off because it was more expensive, since he's working without pay, it was too expensive for him to afford to drive 30 miles there and back to just do his job.

And when you have people who are suffering like that and we're hearing that gas price -- that airline costs are about to go up, you've got to have some empathy for people. You've got to -- I mean, people don't want to hear, oh, I didn't think it was going to be this bad or I thought it was going to go up, I thought no. What are you doing about it?

And I think the other thing that they don't seem to understand, it's not just talking about the prices, but what are you actually doing? How are you solving my problems? How are you -- are you going to lower the cost of health care, maybe to give me a little bit of a break on that since I'm having, you know, since the war is giving me pressures over here. So I don't think it's reassuring to people and if we look at the polling, even the "Fox News" poll out today shows Americans are angry. And even if they open the Strait of Hormuz tomorrow and we got to deal with Iran tomorrow, we all know that's going to take some time to actually then get the oil reserves back up to get prices down. And there's no guarantee, by the way, that gas companies, that oil companies are going to lower their gas prices.

SINGLETON: I mean, look, Karen makes a very valid point. You open up the Strait of Hormuz, it is going to take some time and gas is a global commodity, we all understand that. But keep in mind the administration did move forward via the Department of Energy to allow gas companies to assets -- access, rather, some of the oil from our strategic petroleum reserves.

Now that I think was two weeks ago they indicated they were going to move forward with giving that access. That takes a couple of weeks for that to really flow into the system so we could very well see some of the costs come down maybe 25 cents, 30 cents, three, four weeks from now. So that could give some initial reprieve to the people that Karen are describing while we work on trying to finalize things with the Iranian regime.

MATTINGLY: Yes, I mean, look, when those barrels come to market, they've started to come to market a little bit slowly, but plus the international numbers that are with it, 400 million in total, they'll have an effect. I think the concern is that the effect is only just keeping things from completely blowing the roof off. Again, it all depends, it all depends on duration here at this point in time.

One of the things, so I was talking to a Democratic economist the other day who was like, man, can you imagine if you're a Republican politician right now and the economy you had literally 30 days ago, which was gas under $3 --

SINGLETON: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- mortgage rates under 6 percent for the first time in who knows how long, stock market record highs, like sure, a lot of tumult and it's the president, that's what you're going to get, but to go from that to this in 30 days in a midterm year, do you think Republicans will think this is worth it?

SINGLETON: It makes it challenging. Let's just be honest here. We're looking at a very competitive map going into November. I would imagine my dear friend, Karen, here is excited about how things look more favorable for my friends on the other side. We're also looking at contested Senate races, particularly in Senate with Cornyn and Paxton where we may indeed have to spend $200 million to save that seat if Paxton ultimately becomes a Republican nominee.

And so as a strategist, I'm looking at a very challenging road map ahead. And so the question for me becomes specifically as it pertains to the House, how do we diminish whatever losses we may be looking at? What message can we craft on the economy, on affordability, on housing as you just stated, Phil? And is there anything the executive can do and that Congress can do while we still have control to alleviate some of this pain for the American people? And my advice would be to do it now because people start early voting end of July, early August.

MATTINGLY: Look, I got to jump in with a headline that just crossed, which I will acknowledge. I don't know the back story behind this. I have no clever anything to say about this nor do I understand the policy or legal authority through which to do it. So this is what, this is cable news, right? We acknowledge you have no idea.

The U.S. Treasury, just in from the Treasury, President Trump's signature will appear on future paper currency along with the signature of the treasurer. This would mark the first time a sitting President's signature would be on bills. "Reuters" reports it's going to be the $100 bill, all about the Donalds.

FINNEY: I was like, is he going to say it? Is he going to do it?

MATTINGLY: I haven't looked at Twitter so I didn't steal that from anyone.

FINNEY: You went there. You went there. Look, this is part of Donald Trump basically. It's like a dog with a fire hydrant. Everything in this town, he is just putting his mark on it from, we know, I can see you want to laugh at that one. But it does kind of, I mean, think about it. So we're talking now about commemorative coins for the 250th that they want to have a picture of him.

[17:50:08]

Now he's going to sign the dollar bills. Every building, I mean, we have those huge posters, not really posters, all over the city, right? This is him recognizing that when he's gone, I am going, and others will lead a community, a project to actually get his name off of everything. But he's trying to make his mark wherever he can.

SINGLETON: I'll just quickly say, every president wants to leave their mark. Remember the Trump checks during COVID? He put, people were, thank God, we were thinking Donald Trump.

MATTINGLY: Biden's biggest regret was that he didn't do that.

FINNEY: Yes, 100 percent.

SINGLETON: So I think this is a newer version of that.

FINNEY: He knows we won't do it when he's gone. So he better do it now.

MATTINGLY: I feel like there are bigger issues.

SINGLETON: Marketing, the guys are marketing geniuses. You can't take that away.

MATTINGLY: Is the treasury secretary getting knocked out? What's going on here? All right, guys, thank you both, as always.

SINGLETON: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, a new CNN investigation out today is getting swift reaction. It's exposing the dirty crimes of men. Perhaps it should be a wake-up call to women everywhere. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:24]

MATTINGLY: In our World Lead, sharp reaction to a CNN investigation out today with some leaders in Europe already calling for change. A warning here, the details of this one quite disturbing. The report follows the 2024 conviction of Dominique Pelicot and 49 men.

Prosecutors say he solicited strangers to rape his wife while she was unconscious. As you're about to hear from CNN's Saskya Vandoorne, this is far from an isolated case. A note, her report contains accounts from survivors of sexual assault and abuse. Those who appear on camera gave their consent and we respected the wishes of those who asked to remain anonymous.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZOE WATTS, SURVIVOR: We worry about he's coming behind us walking down the street. We worry about getting to our car late at night but we don't worry about who we lie next to. I didn't realize I had to.

SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): Zoe Watts may never know if the videos her husband made of her being raped were ever uploaded online. She met her husband when she was 17. He's now serving 11 years for rape, sexual assault by penetration and drugging.

WATTS: He reeled off a list of his wrongdoings to me as if it was, you know, a shopping list. I've done this, this, this, and this. I've been using our son's sleeping medication to put in your last cup of tea at night to tie you down, take photographs and rape you. And I think I just went into shock.

VANDOORNE: I've noticed you haven't used the word rape a lot, tell me why.

WATTS: Because it just doesn't -- I don't know, it's like one of those things really I struggle with that to say that that's what's happened. It's like people can say it to me but I just don't think, phew.

VANDOORNE: You know, you're not alone.

WATTS: Yes, yes sadly.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Huge numbers of explicit sleep videos are being uploaded online by users who claim it's non-consensual. One website profiting from this is motherless.com. Last year we began investigating a porn site that gets over 60 million visits a month focusing on the thousands of videos featuring women who appear unconscious during sex acts. Most of its users are based in the U.S. It's home to so-called sleep content with hundreds of thousands of views. One popular hashtag is eye check a way of proving a woman is asleep. We created a fake name and soon got into a private telegram group dedicated to sharing sleep content with almost a thousand members.

One day a man in the group we're calling Piotr not his real name, DM'd me. Piotr admitted to me that he had been crushing pills into his wife's drink to rape her in her sleep.

VANDOORNE: It's made me even more determined to try and meet him to get him in person.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): We worked out that Piotr lived in Poland and he let slip that he was planning to attend a party with his wife.

VANDOORNE: That's him. I recognize him.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): We couldn't approach Piotr's wife without potentially putting her in danger so we reached out to police about our findings. We asked both Motherless and Telegram for comment but did not receive a response. In the end, it all comes back to Gisele Pelicot. With astonishing dignity, she has taken hold of her own harrowing experience.

GISELE PELICOT, SURVIVOR: Gentlemen, think of your mother. Think of your sister. Think of your daughter when you do this. Is there ever a moment when you tell yourself, what I'm doing is truly a criminal act? And be careful, because one day maybe you'll be caught. And one day, the women you're doing this to will wake up and report you.

VANDOORNE (voice-over): Saskya Vandoorne, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Our thanks to Saskya Vandoorne for that report.

Reacting today, an Italian lawmaker said this CNN report highlights the need for accountability in a political world there that grapples with patriarchal history.

[17:59:41]

In the U.K., the minister said the report underscores the need to crack down online perpetrators. If you or someone you know might be impacted by this kind of crime in the U.S., you can reach the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network online at rainn.org that's R-A-I-N- N.org or call their National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE or 467-3.