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Trump Privately Considered Firing Waltz Over Signal Chat; Death Toll Soars In Devastating Myanmar And Thailand Earthquake; Expert Calls Signalgate A Wake-up Call To U.S. Cybersecurity; Judge Halts Deportation Order Against Tufts University Student; Ecuador Plans For U.S. Forces To Help Battle Its Gang Violence; Weed-Smoking Moms Aim To Erase Stigma Of Marijuana Use. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired March 29, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:12]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in New York.

Should I fire him? Tonight, "The New York Times" is reporting a notable development around the story that has plagued the White House all week. The fallout from the Signal group chat that triggered a major national security scandal.

Now, up to this point, the White House has maintained they are standing behind their National Security Team, including National Security adviser Mike Waltz, who mistakenly added a journalist to the group chat that included detailed attack plans against Houthi rebels in Yemen. The president defending Waltz earlier this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, I don't think he should apologize. I think he's doing his best. It's equipment and technology that's not perfect, and probably he won't be using it again, at least not in the very near future.

What do you think?

MIKE WALTZ, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Sir, I agree with you. Let's get everybody in the room whenever possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And you heard the president there saying that Waltz is doing his best. But tonight, this new report suggests Trump has been consumed with one question behind the scenes. Should he fire Mike Waltz?

I want to bring in CNN's Betsy Klein.

And, Betsy, this story has consumed D.C. and the Trump administration all week. And now we're getting a sense of how this is playing out behind the scenes at the White House according to this report. What more are you learning? BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Yes. Well, this entire

Signal text chain debacle, starting with the sharing of what was almost certainly classified information by top Trump National Security officials and then the White House's subsequent communications and handling of this episode has really marked its first major self- inflicted crisis of President Donald Trump's second term.

And we are learning that President Trump himself was completely unfamiliar with the Signal app until Monday. He had to be told by an aide what it was and how it was used, and what had gone one here. Now he ultimately has been pinning blame on his National Security adviser Mike Waltz who inadvertently added the journalist Jeffrey Goldberg to that text chain, and new reporting in "The New York Times" as you mentioned that the president has been pulling allies and advisers inside and outside the White House asking, should I fire him?

He is privately saying, according to "The Times," that he is unhappy with Waltz and, of course, with the coverage around all of this, but he also does not want to be seen as caving to the media. Now, National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes says in a new statement that Waltz, quote, "serves at the pleasure of President Trump." He noted that the president has voiced his support for the National Security adviser multiple times this week.

Hughes also added that unnamed sources should be treated with the skepticism of gossip, and it doesn't appear, at least for now, that anyone will be dismissed over this, Jessica. Listen to Vice President JD Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We all accept that a journalist should not have been invited into the chat, and members of the administration, including my dear friend Mike, have taken responsibility for it. And if you think you're going to force the president of the United States to fire anybody, you've got another thing coming. President Trump has said it, on Monday, on Tuesday, on Wednesday, on Thursday. And I'm the vice president saying it here on Friday we are standing behind our entire National Security Team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: Now, sources familiar with his views say that the president has been frustrated by this entire episode, and he believes that it has marred what has otherwise been a strong and unified messaging operation of his second term. He has privately told top officials to review how the Signal app is used within the federal government. And while most of the finger-pointing internally has been aimed at Mike Waltz, we are learning that the president is less concerned with his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who of course shared those sensitive details.

DEAN: All right. Betsy Klein there in West Palm Beach. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate it.

Joining us now, former NATO Supreme Allied commander, General Wesley Clark, and CNN political and national security analyst and correspondent for "The New York Times," David Sanger.

Good to have both of you here with us.

General Clark, I want to start first with you. Do you think Trump should fire his National Security adviser?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I like Mike Waltz, I think he's an experienced guy. He had the right views. He shouldn't have been using Signal. And I don't know how a journalist got in there. And it's -- but the signal app is a big trap for this administration. And so, I don't know, even it wasn't even a principal's committee. They didn't have the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on there. So what was it?

[19:05:04]

So, I don't think it's a matter of me saying whether or not he should be fired. I think the administration needs to clean up its act, comply with the Federal Records Act, record these deliberations if their deliberations. And I'd like to see the secretary of Defense apologize to the families and the officers and soldiers who he shared that classified information about.

I just can't imagine what it's like to be some airman's wife out there, your husband is deployed in the Gulf, and the secretary of Defense is releasing information that could get him shot down. That's terrible. And even worse is the lying about it, because the military runs on integrity. And so when you're caught, hey, I did it. I confess, it's a mistake. I'm sorry. Don't try to bluff your way through it. Especially for our secretary of Defense.

We want a good secretary of Defense. I'd like to see him succeed. I don't want him to have trouble, but he has to set the example. And when you have the secretary of Defense up there, and he's supposed to represent the integrity and the honor, the faithfulness of the officers and men who serve in the Department of Defense, he's got to represent that. He's got to set the example.

So, Mr. Secretary, please, let's have that apology. Take it. Stand up and take it.

DEAN: And, David, you've been reporting on the fallout from all of this throughout the week. Now we have this new story from your colleagues at "The New York Times." Should I fire him, that Trump is asking people about this. What's your take on this development? Do you think a firing would solve anything for this administration?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, first, it was terrific reporting by Maggie Haberman and Tyler Pager, my colleagues on the White House beat. And it's a very typical Donald Trump case, right, where he's thinking about firing someone. But, you know, in the reality TV show, he just said, you're fired. In the Oval Office he just calls all his allies and asks them the same question.

And of course, when it inevitably leaks out, it's so undercuts the person he's talking about that even if they remain, they remain in a wounded way. I think the second thing that strikes me about this is, just as General Clark pointed out, the one you really want to go focus on here is Secretary of Defense Hegseth. Right? Because Mike Waltz came out right away, took responsibility for it, said I'm the one who set this group up. Shouldn't have done it, you know, moved on from there.

Different story for Secretary Hegseth who actually added the material that we're all worried about here, which was the sequencing of the attacks, knowing that he was copying it from some kind of classified environment into a Signal chat, and that was the real violation here. What happened prior to that was in the world of error. That was the real violation. And he has not apologized at all. He simply said this wasn't classified, which I can't find anybody in Washington that believes.

I don't know, you can ask General Clark, but my guess is attack plans prior to their being executed were probably among the most protected material you had. And so the real mystery here is why he's not talking about Secretary Hegseth.

DEAN: Yes. General Clark, I see you nodding your head when he was saying these are some of the most classified materials that you would likely have. What are our allies thinking right now?

CLARK: They're appalled. First of all, they all know about Signal. And they know it's not secure. Now, it's encrypted between phones, but the phones aren't secure, and you had Steve Witkoff in Moscow. He's getting it in Moscow. And you can be sure the Russians are in his phone. If it's a personal phone, they're in it. You can't tell if they're in it unless he gives it to NSA and they'll download it. You can't use personal phones like this for official conversations. And so that's the first thing. And the allies know it.

But the real poisonous thing was what was said about the allies. Let me tell you something. I've served with the Danes in Denmark in Bosnia. I know how good they are. They served with us in Afghanistan. They're not slackers. The Brits and the French were with us in the Balkans. The Brits came in to Iraq when they shouldn't have, in a war that was really a mistake, in my view. NATO declared Article Five after 9/11. They were all willing to help the United States.

So what's this diminution and disrespect of our allies? We need those people. They're the most important people to us in the world.

[19:10:03]

They're our friends. They're not as wealthy, they're not as militarized. Theyve got our values. They've got our back when we need it. And we should be using them and working them. I'm very concerned about Europe because I see the disunity there, the difficulty without strong American leadership as they're facing up to Ukraine. And this is a real problem. If we're not careful, we'll end up in a major conflict in Europe.

DEAN: And David, you know, General Clark brought up an interesting point there, too, at the beginning of what he was just saying, just the idea that this was on their personal phones, that they're carrying around personal cell phones that are very hackable. They're very vulnerable.

Does the administration understand this? I mean, there's always this push and pull between elected officials wanting to use their own phones and knowing they're not secure.

CLARK: Right.

SANGER: So in most administrations, for an event like this, you gather everybody in the SITUATION ROOM. If people were traveling, they would go to a secure facility called a SCIF. They would dial in on a U.S. government secure line.

Signal is good encryption for something that is commercially available. Let's remember why government officials are using it, because China got into our normal phone network. And the whistle wasn't blown on it until last summer, when Microsoft discovered this. And it soon became clear the Chinese had been in for a year or more and were actually able to get at voice conversations, including, we think, then president-elect or then candidate Trump and JD Vance, but not limited to that at all.

So the government in December, the end of the Biden administration, began to advise senior government officials to all use Signal because they couldn't trust the main phone system, but they didn't mean use it for classified conversations. They meant use it for your day-to-day conversations. And that clearly spilled over to a world in which they were doing this kind of conversation, not on secure lines.

I doubt they will do this again anytime soon. But it does tell you that these encrypted apps have sort of blurred the normal way you would do these conversations, and a commercially available encryption.

DEAN: Yes. All right. David Sanger, General Wesley Clark, my thanks to both of you. I really appreciate it.

CLARK: Thank you.

SANGER: Thank you.

DEAN: Still ahead, rescuers digging through rubble, hoping to find any survivors after a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar. That death toll standing already at 1600 people or more. And there are fears it will likely rise sharply.

Also, could American troops be headed to Ecuador? A CNN exclusive on how that country is preparing to host U.S. forces to help fight violent drug cartels.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:44] DEAN: Back now to our breaking news out of Myanmar, where more than 1600 people have been killed in an absolutely catastrophic earthquake. And we likely will see those numbers go up much higher. Rescue teams are in a race to save thousands more who may be trapped under rubble.

The devastating 7.7 magnitude quake struck on Friday with shockwaves felt hundreds of miles away from the epicenter.

CNN's Will Ripley has the latest now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In earthquake ravaged Myanmar, families sift through the rubble, searching for signs of life. All too often finding death.

Mother, I'm your son. May you please go to a proper abode, says this man, holding his mom's lifeless hand.

One of many devastating scenes across the crippled city of Mandalay. Damage stretches across entire neighborhoods, homes and historic buildings reduced to rubble. Buddhist monasteries, places of peace and reflection, now piles of debris. Geologists say the massive 7.7 earthquake had the energy of hundreds of atomic bombs. Myanmar's worst quake in more than a century, hitting right during Friday prayers. Many mosques collapsed, trapping Muslim worshipers inside.

After several years of brutal civil war and largely self-imposed isolation, the leader of Myanmar's military junta surveyed the devastation, making a rare plea for international aid, now slowly beginning to arrive from China, Russia, India. Other countries have also pledged support. For this impoverished nation help cannot come quickly enough. The 7.7 magnitude earthquake and its powerful aftershocks likely leaving parts of the nation uninhabitable.

With severe damage hundreds of miles from the epicenter, including in Thailand's capital city of Bangkok, skyscrapers swaying so violently, rooftop pools briefly became waterfalls.

And this 30-story high rise under construction near a popular weekend market collapsed without warning, likely trapping dozens inside.

Here in Bangkok, heavy machinery is now sifting through the rubble of that collapsed skyscraper. They do have the resources and the manpower for a massive disaster response.

[19:20:03]

But with each passing hour of not finding anyone alive and all that rubble, hope for the families is fading.

(Voice-over): Search and rescue teams are doing everything they can. Sniffer dogs picking up possible signs of life, giving hope to this wife and mother of two who was working in the building with her husband of 30 years, but stepped outside for a break just before the quake. I'm looking for my husband, she says. He's trapped inside. Until I see

his body, I still have hope.

Drone footage captures the scale of the collapse, a tangled mass of steel and concrete where rescuers continued searching all day Saturday, and only one dead body recovered.

I'm praying my mom and sister are among the survivors, she says. But I see how fast the building went down. It's hard to hold on.

Hope is still alive here, but barely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on-camera): And here in Bangkok, rescue efforts are continuing here basically around the clock. And you can see now they're starting to use more of that heavy machinery as they sift through that pile of rubble. Hope continues to fade that they're going to find anybody alive inside, which may be why they're now deciding to use those bulldozers. Initially, they've been afraid to use them because they were afraid it could actually upset the rubble if there were people actually inside -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. Will Ripley, reporting from Bangkok for us. Thank you for that.

Still ahead, a federal judge halts the deportation of a Turkish grad student after she was arrested while walking on the sidewalk earlier this week.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:58]

DEAN: We are following breaking news tonight. "The New York Times" reporting President Trump is privately considering firing his National Security adviser Mike Waltz as the White House scrambles to defend why top administration officials were using an unsecure app on their private phones to discuss attack plans on the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Waltz has taken responsibility for accidentally adding a journalist to the private group chat, but the fallout appears to be causing the president to rethink his team despite publicly defending Waltz, which he appears to do again in an exclusive interview that's new with NBC News. It's set to air tomorrow. The president telling NBC, quote, "I don't fire people because of fake news."

Now, Signalgate exposed the dangers of not following cybersecurity protocols, especially at a time when cyberattacks against the U.S. are on the rise. Some experts calling the incident a wakeup call.

Arnie Bellini joins me now. He recently announced he was investing $40 million to build a cybersecurity and A.I. college in Florida. Arnie, thank you so much for being here with us. And you describe the

threat right now against the U.S. as really high. Walk people through why discussing plans like this on Signal could be such a big security threat, and just the wider threat that we're facing right now as well.

ARNIE BELLINI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, BELLINI CAPITAL AND FOUNDER OF CONNECTWISE: Well, I would say that there's many threats. We are really vulnerable in the United States of America. All of us, in fact, you know, if we go out on the dark Web, we can find just about anyone's password. And so, in so many ways, this is not so much a critical issue as it is a wakeup call for the United States of America to get very serious about cybersecurity.

We have 4.8 million job openings in cybersecurity globally and about a million here in the United States of America. We need to be cranking out cyber defenders as quickly as possible. And that's what the new Bellini College of A.I. and Cybersecurity is all about.

DEAN: And so what can be done and what kind of threats do we face? I mean, we're talking, you know, not only information and data, but they, you know, they could hack into infrastructure systems, things like that.

BELLINI: And they are hacking into infrastructures. So it's been known that the Chinese Communist Party is paying dozens of tech companies in China to do just that. So they're after our infrastructure, they're after our electric grid, our water supply. Every municipality, every government agency, every private organization. And in so many ways, we have so many holes in cybersecurity.

So, again, I think this is a wakeup call, an opportunity for us to really get serious about cybersecurity, fill those huge talent gaps, and then work hard to make sure that we are following best practices in cybersecurity. And I think that was the issue that we saw here. I think anybody could have made that mistake. And I think it was said earlier that using a personal device is really the issue, and it's not necessarily a partisan issue either.

And I kind of wish we would get to the real problem, which is we've got to focus on cybersecurity and doing a better hygiene, it's not a Democratic issue. It's not a Republican issue. It's a center of the aisle issue. It's something -- it's an American issue. It's something that we all need to unite together and fix this. And so my wife and I, Lauren, have invested 40 million and then another 10 million to attract the best and the brightest students and professors to the University of South Florida.

DEAN: To try to attack this problem, which clearly is just going to continue to be a threat.

Arnie Bellini, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

BELLINI: Thank you.

DEAN: Developing tonight, a federal judge in Boston is issuing an order to stop immigration officials from deporting a Turkish grad student from Tufts University. That 30-year-old was confronted and arrested while walking on the sidewalk earlier this week. You're watching video of that.

[19:30:07]

CNN correspondent Rafael Romo is joining us now.

Rafael, what more can you tell us about these developments?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Jessica, well, the only thing that's temporarily stopping U.S. immigration authorities from removing the 30-year-old PhD student is an order published by a Massachusetts district court.

Judge Denise Casper wrote that Rumeysa Ozturk, who is currently in detention at a Louisiana facility, shall not be removed from the United States until further order from the court.

As you may remember, Ozturk was arrested Tuesday night. We were just seeing it at the beginning, that was near her home by six plainclothes officers who suddenly encircled her and on the street, her apartment in Somerville in Massachusetts, this is in the Boston area. Her attorneys say the Tufts University international student was transported across multiple states before ending up at the Louisiana facility.

In a statement, Ozturk's attorney, Mahsa Khanbabai, said the following about the federal judge's order. She said, "This is a first step in getting Rumeysa released and back home to Boston so she can continue her studies. But we never should have gotten here in the first place," she said. "Rumeysa's experience is shocking, cruel and unconstitutional."

This is how Democratic Congressman Seth Moulton from Massachusetts reacted to this case earlier here on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SETH MOULTON, (D-MA): I mean, this is what our authoritarian regimes do -- Communist regimes do. They try to control people's speech. We're the United States of America. You may not agree with what these people are saying, but freedom of speech is foundational to our democracy and those rights apply to everyone here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And it's not an isolated case, Jessica. Ozturk is one of several international university students facing deportation following a Trump administration order to crack down on pro-Palestinian demonstrations on college campuses.

Now, back to you.

DEAN: All right, Rafael, thank you very much for that. Also, new tonight, President Trump is meeting with Ecuador's President, Daniel Noboa, in Florida at Mar-a-Lago. And it comes as CNN has learned, Ecuador is preparing for U.S. Forces to arrive as its President calls for help battling gangs.

According to plans obtained by CNN, it even includes building a new naval facility, including barracks and a warning. This story does include some disturbing images. Here's CNN's David Culver.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over) : The element of surprise is essential. They've got to move fast.

We're with Ecuador's Army, heading into a gang stronghold. An advance team records as they move in first. Their target, a man linked to one of Ecuador's most feared criminal groups. They detained one guy suspected to have ties to Fito, the infamous gang leader who escaped prison last year.

Soldiers rip through the place, spotting an altar. Look closely. That's Santa Muerte, a saint of death adopted by Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and now revered by gangs across Ecuador. We see the image everywhere.

CULVER (on camera): A lot of the gang leaders live in this area, and you can see some of the markings of Choneros, which is one of the big gangs here in Ecuador, if not the biggest.

CULVER (voice over) And this is the problem. Ecuador has become the murder capital of Latin America, and they're now turning to the United States, desperate for help. Renderings shared with us by a high level Ecuadorian official appear to show plans for a potential deployment of U.S. troops into Ecuador, including a floating dock that jets out some 500 feet into the Pacific, said to accommodate up to seven Coast Guard vessels.

And here, details of a workspace and possible military housing. The structure, complete with offices, beds, a kitchen, mess halls and plenty of parking, allowing for a foreign force to carry out sustained security operations here, according to the source.

GIAN CARLO LOFFREDO, ECUADOR'S DEFENSE MINISTER: When troops from another country come, they come with resources and those are what they need the most.

CULVER (on camera): And there were troops, U.S. Troops here back in up until 2009, roughly, right?

LOFFREDO: Yes, they were.

CULVER (on camera): And does that help when there's a U.S. troop presence?

LOFFREDO: Of course, it helped a lot.

CULVER (voice over): U.S. Defense officials in the White House have not confirmed any such deployment. But Ecuador's officials are hopeful. For a decade, a U.S. military base in the port city of Manta was used

as a key surveillance hub to monitor cartels operating in the region. But Ecuador chose not to renew the contract in 2008, forcing U.S. troops to pack up and leave the following year.

In the time since, officials say cocaine has flooded into Ecuador, fueling deadly violence spearheaded by the cartels.

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.

CULVER (voice over): Applauding President Trumps inauguration day pledge to combat organized crime, Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa and his wife front and center as Trump took the oath of office in January.

Back home in Ecuador, Noboa finds himself in the midst of a tight runoff election where security is the number one issue. But for many, it's too late. Grief is sweeping across Latin America's so-called island of peace. Gang violence constantly claiming lives. It's become so common here. And yet locals, as though in disbelief, tell us over and over, Ecuador was never like this before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[19:35:34]

CULVER (on camera): So if the U.S. decides to deploy troops into Ecuador, and at this point, it is still an if. What might that look like?

Well, we know President Noboa has asked for Special Forces. He's hoping for those specialized operation units to go into certain gang strongholds, into communities and neighborhoods.

But if the U.S. stops short of delivering on special forces, one thing he certainly could be receptive towards is, having added surveillance and Intel so as to go after some of the drug runners and even incorporating some Navy or Coast Guard vessels so as to participate in interdictions off the coast of Ecuador and stop some of those drug vessels from leaving the shore.

All of these things, they say, are necessary at this point to stop what is a worsening war -- Jessica.

DEAN: David Culver, thanks for that reporting.

We'll have more news ahead when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:05]

DEAN: New tonight the White House Correspondents Association announcing no comedian is going to headline their upcoming dinner. Comedian Amber Ruffin was confirmed to be the dinner's entertainer

last month. White House Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich on Friday called out Ruffin for her anti-Trump comments.

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter is joining us now. Brian, good to see you on a Saturday night. This is certainly a break from tradition, although this has happened before. But just kind of walk us through what your reaction was and just how this played out?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: For decades there have been comedians up they're on stage roasting the President. The difference, though, is that the President usually showed up. In Trump's first term, however, he stopped attending this dinner and has changed the dynamics.

So the White House Correspondents Association, which has been on the defensive this winter with the AP being banned from Trump White House events, with the press pool being taken over by the Trump White House, with Trump in general trying to exert more control over the press, the association is in a real bind here. This is a matter of philosophical versus practical concerns.

Philosophically, by all means, have a comedian, no holds barred, go as hard at the President as you want. Let's see all the jokes. Philosophically, that's true. It's a free speech argument, but practically, as a practical matter, Trump would, of course, denounce the dinner. He would criticize it. There would be all sorts of hullabaloo, whatever that word is, afterwards.

These journalists at the White House, this collection of journalists are deciding it's not worth all of that political noise. It actually takes away from the point of the event, which is to raise money for scholarships.

And so, they're deciding, don't have a comedian this year, but it's going to cause a lot of debate. It's going to cause a lot of controversy. And of course, Amber Ruffin is known here on CNN for "Have I Got News For You" coming up later tonight, she has not weighed in. I e-mailed her, asked her for comment. She has not weighed in about being canceled by the dinner. We'll see if she has something to say about it in the weeks to come -- Jess.

DEAN: Yes and in the meantime, there are other some other media stories tonight surrounding this continued fallout over the Signal group chat. One is from "The New York Times," the other from "Meet the Press." On what President Trump might do about National Security, Mike Waltz but he's still talking about this. What is your read on this?

STELTER: All right, clearly, there were talks or conversations behind the scenes about whether Waltz should go. We're seeing that reporting from reliably sourced reporters who know the White House better than anybody. At the same time, though, Trump telling NBC tonight that he is not considering firing Waltz, that he, that Pete, that he has full confidence in Hegseth -- Pete Hegseth and Mike Waltz. So, its notable here. We've seen this before. Trump will be reported to be considering

something. He'll deny it. Usually those reports turn out to be true. But here's what he said to NBC. He said, "I think it's just a witch hunt and fake news. Just a witch hunt that shouldn't be talked about."

Those are the phrases Trump used when he wants to shut down conversation, when he doesn't want people to think or hear about something anymore. So he's trying to dismiss this. He's trying to make it go away. He also says to NBC, "I have no idea what Signal is. I don't care what Signal is." That's interesting, given how important Signal is as an encrypted communication tool.

DEAN: Yes, okay, before I let you go, though, I have to talk about March Madness because we both filled out brackets. I just want to show everyone the current standings. Let's just put it up there for everyone to see. Hold on, we're waiting for it. It's coming, maybe it's coming. Oh, there it is.

STELTER: This is the CNN Bracket challenge. Lots of us filled this out.

DEAN: I'm on the top. I am number one. You're number two, though. You're right there. How confident are you in your picks? And do you think you'll kick me down to second or third place?

STELTER: I am zero percent confident. I have Alabama going all the way. Who do you have going all the way?

DEAN: I have Duke.

STELTER: Here's the problem. Here's the problem. I will tell you, just between the two of us friends, the way I put up my bracket, I just chose based on alphabetical order. Literally, that's all I did. It was just the alphabetical order. So I have absolutely no confidence that I can get a pull ahead of you. But I'm just -- I am proud that we're ahead of Manu Raju and Jake Tapper and all these other CNN folks.

DEAN: These are like people, real sports fans. I -- you know, I use my age old method, which is, which team is when its close, which team is a -- better has a better free throw record. That's my science.

[19:45:07]

STELTER: Oh, wow. That's a real strategy. A real strategy.

DEAN: All right, Brian Stelter, always good to see you. Thanks so much.

STELTER: Good to see you.

DEAN: Bye.

Still ahead, a group of so-called "Cannamoms" are working to break the stigma around smoking pot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To smoke weed should be just as acceptable as

moms who drink wine. It should be, you know, something that is exactly the same.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:50:11]

DEAN: Could smoking weed help cope with the difficulties of raising children? One group of moms says it helps, they call themselves "Cannamoms." And CNN's Meena Duerson reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are the Saint Louis "Cannamoms." And this is game night.

KIMBERLY KESTERSON, ST. LOUIS CANNAMOMS CO-FOUNDER: "O" 62.

"Cannamom" game night is a night out with your besties away from the kids. You're meeting new friends. You're going to be gifted some joints. You're going to play some games, and you're just going to live your best kid free life for a couple of hours.

DUERSON (voice over): Here in Missouri, recreational cannabis has been legal since late 2022. Every few months, these moms get together to consume.

DUERSON (on camera): What is special about this being like a room full of moms?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It gets me out of the house. The women here are all very accepting.

SERAFINA ADAMS, ATTENDEE, ST. LOUIS CANNAMAMS GAME NIGHT: You put marijuana in a mom together doesn't really go together.

DUERSON (on camera): Why do you think people care if it's a mom?

ADAMS: Because moms are supposed to do everything. They're supposed to be this picture perfect person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're held to a certain standard.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Moms that smoke weed should be just as acceptable as moms to drink wine. It should be, you know, something that is exactly the same.

DUERSON (on camera): And do you think that they're not treated like that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both of us used to drink. We used to go to the bar. We used to go out.

DUERSON (on camera): What's the difference?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Huge. I will never in the world understand how marijuana was illegal for so long and alcohol was legal. When alcohol is literally killed and destroyed so many people in my family's lives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please don't -- on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Girl, hey, how have you been? I've missed you.

DUERSON (voice over): Jessica Carroll and Kimberly Kesterson started this group to help moms like themselves find and support each other.

KESTERSON: We just really have created a community, a space where women come together, they laugh.

JESSICA CARROLL, ST. LOUIS CANNAMOMS CO-FOUNDER: So, if you're any parent like me, you put your children first. So, to be able to step away and give yourself some time and do some self-care, it's hard to do.

DUERSON (voice over): A lot of these women say their kids know they smoke, and that weed actually helps them be better moms.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They see that I'm not doing it to party. I'm doing it to relax and as far as motherhood, it helps me be able to calm down and handle the situation at hand.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I normally do it in the night time or right after I get my kids on their scheduled sleep.

DUERSON (on camera): So for you, like you're tucking your kids in a bed, they're asleep and you're like --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for me to relax. I got through the day kind of like a replenish myself. I water myself like a plant.

DUERSON (voice over): Cannabis is still illegal at the federal level. The U.S. centers for disease control and prevention warns it may have, "a wide range of health effects on the body and brain that cautions against smoking and driving."

For these moms, the group is about a lot more than getting high. Saint Louis, "Cannamoms," one of dozens of similar Facebook groups around the country, has more than 4,000 members and provides donations to moms in need.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not just me, my kids. I don't know where we would be without them. They're my family.

KESTERSON: Being a mom is hard.

That's not nice, Benjamin.

There's so many expectations on you and we feel like we have to be perfect. We feel shame around our blow ups and having a hard day.

All right, I'm going to step out and so I think its super important that were able to see that there are so many other moms that go through the same struggles.

DUERSON (on camera): Do you see it now as like a tool in your parenting?

KESTERSON: Oh, yes, for sure. I think it definitely helps me stay patient. I actually want to sit down and do stuff with my kids instead of sit and scroll on my phone all day.

Triceratops, you found them.

DUERSON (on camera): Do you get any backlash?

KESTERSON: Just, you know, you're a bad mom. You shouldn't have your kid because you smoke.

DUERSON (on camera): People said that to you?

KESTERSON: Yes.

I feel like I'm at a space now where I feel very secure within myself and who I am and how I use cannabis.

Get up here, brush your teeth.

And if people want to judge me for that, or make an assumption that I'm a bad mom, then let them go.

Put your dinosaurs in your room.

DUERSON (on camera): That's not something that's keeping you up at night.

KESTERSON: No, not at all. Absolutely not.

Are you going to say good night?

CHILDREN: Good night.

DUERSON (voice over): Meena Duerson, CNN, Saint Louis, Missouri.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Meena, thank you. And tonight at nine, a new episode of "Have I Got News for You." Here's a preview of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: On this infamous Signal group chat. There were 19 people, which first off, too many people for a group chat. Who all was on the group chat, who was supposed to be there?

SAM SEDER, AMERICAN ACTOR: Tulsi Gabbard and Scott Bessent.

SAM JAY, AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND WRITER: Waltz, Vance.

AMBER RUFFIN, AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND WRITER: Ariana Grande.

WOOD: In addition to the editor of "The Atlantic," the chat had people like Waltz, Defense Secretary, Hegseth and Vice-President JD Vance, who used their full names in the super secret Signal chat? There was also people going by the initial SM, aka Trump adviser Stephen Miller, and there was also some guy on the thread just named Jacob who has yet to be identified.

SAM JAY: I would like to think that Jacob is just the homie who's really good at "Call of Duty", and just like, we just want some opinions,Jacob.

WOOD: In your opinion, Jacob, F-18 or F-35? How would you love this particular target?

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:55:33]

DEAN: Be sure to tune in to a new episode of "Have I Got News for You" tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, right here on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you again tomorrow night right back here. We start at 5:00 Eastern. "Real Time with Bill Maher" is up next. Have a great night.