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"No Kings" Protests Against Trump Underway Nationwide; U.S. State Department Says Hamas In Violation Of Ceasefire; "No Kings" Protests Against Trump Underway Nationwide; George Santos Out Of Prison After Trump Commutes Sentence; White House Offers Colleges Funding Tied To Demands. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 18, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:50]

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

And happening now nationwide protests underway across the country as protesters rally against the Trump administration policies. More than 2500 events planned coast to coast for today. The events come as President Trump ramps up his immigration crackdown and pushes to deploy more federal troops in American cities.

We are joined now by the Democratic mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass.

Mayor Bass, thank you so much for your time tonight. We really do appreciate it. It's worth noting, too, Los Angeles, the site of a -- of a National Guard -- when the National Guard was sent in against your wishes and the wishes of your governor. I do want to get to that in a second. But first, I want to play something that the president said about these rallies, and I want to get your thoughts on it. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Do you think that the government shutdown is all about this rally that's happening this weekend, the "No Kings" rally?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No. No, I mean, some people say they want to delay it for that. King. This is not a king.

BARTIROMO: It's more than that.

TRUMP: You know, they're saying, they're referring to me as a king. I'm not a king.

BARTIROMO: Right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Mayor Bass, what do you say to that?

MAYOR KAREN BASS (D), LOS ANGELES: Well, we know he's not a king, but we don't want to see our democracy slide backwards into authoritarianism. And that's what the protests are about. I'm proud to say that we had over 10 marches in Los Angeles. All of them have been peaceful. They're still going on. But the whole point is, is that the first nine months of this administration have been very frightening. And of course, the first move toward authoritarianism happened right here in Los Angeles with the federal seizure of power from our governor.

DEAN: And I want to ask you about that, because we did see that several months ago there in your city of Los Angeles. I'm curious what your relationship is with the administration right now and if you're in contact with them.

BASS: Well, I am, and there's times that we work together and there's times that we have differences. And so that's the situation, you know, the nation's second largest city. There has to be cooperation with the federal government. But on this issue, we are very clear. I mean, this is about what's happening with immigration. This is about our need to make sure that our democracy is stable. So in California, it's about voting yes on Proposition 50.

And then, of course, we're concerned about the government shutdown, and we don't want it to be used as an excuse to fire federal workers, just version two of DOGE. We want the federal government to get back to work, and we want the Republicans to restore the subsidies for health care. So tens of thousands of people in our city and in our county will really not be able to afford health care in the near future unless the subsidies are returned.

DEAN: Do you speak with the president at all? Are you guys in contact?

BASS: No, I'm not in contact with the president, but members of his administration, of course.

DEAN: Yes. And so as we're looking -- while you're speaking, we're looking at pictures from Los Angeles at these protests, which you note have been peaceful there in downtown Los Angeles and across the country today. What do you think is the takeaway if you're someone at home watching this? What do you think is the takeaway?

BASS: Well, you know, what is going on around the country right now is people just exercising their First Amendment rights and people being very concerned that their First Amendment rights are being taken away. I mean, when you have the raids that now started in Los Angeles but have spread to several other cities, when you see people, you know, coming out of helicopters and invading apartment buildings and just seizing people, we have over, we know over 100 U.S. citizens that have been detained.

You know, it's a blanket of fear that started in Los Angeles. And I know it's in Chicago, and I know it's in Memphis and in Portland. And to me, my biggest concern from the very beginning has been we cannot accept this. We do not want the military intervention in our cities to become normalized. That's the step backwards toward authoritarianism. The military is not supposed to be involved in our cities.

[19:05:01]

That's why we have the Posse Comitatus Act. We're worried that the president, of course, could invoke the Insurrection Act, would essentially give him the power to invade our cities. The other things that are so concerning here in Los Angeles, for example, we had two positive court decisions, temporary restraining orders banning the hunting of Latinos. But yet during those temporary restraining orders, the administration just violated them anyway, acting in a manner that was just outright lawless. And we've never faced before a lawless administration. And I think what a lot of people are afraid of is that backsliding of democracy.

And it's funny, when I was in Congress and we worked on foreign policy, we always penalize countries if they slid back from democracy, from free elections, from First Amendment rights. And that's the very thing that is happening in our own country. It's very frightening.

DEAN: You mentioned the administration and the president potentially using the Insurrection Act, enacting the Insurrection Act, and threatening to do that. What levers of power do you have to protect your city from that happening?

BASS: Well, you know, I mean, I think that we all understand the federal government is the supreme power. But you know what? The power that we have as citizens is the power that's being exercised right now. I think it is absolutely critical. People have asked me, what do we think we gain from the protests? And my response to them is, can you imagine if we didn't have any protests at all, if Americans just laid down and accepted this?

One would have to ask, how far is this going to go? And so I think Americans standing up all across the country and thousands of protests, but protesting peacefully, that is absolutely essential. And we pressed very hard on that here because it's not acceptable for protests to devolve into violence or vandalism, but tens of thousands or millions of Americans saying we are just not going to accept this, frankly, to me, is the way we save our very democracy.

DEAN: I also want to ask you about something a little more hyper local. The L.A. Public Press is reporting that L.A. city council voted unanimously to kill this motion to use force on L.A. journalists at this -- at this rally, at the protests. I'm curious if you approved of that measure or where you come down on this. Where were you with the city attorney on this?

BASS: Well, I first of all think that it's very important again, as I've said repeatedly, that people have their right to express their First Amendment freedom. And certainly there is freedom of the press. And the press need to be able to cover the protests without fear from law enforcement. And so what happened with the city council yesterday? The city council objected to our city attorney appealing an order from the court.

I hope that those orders aren't even needed because the police will cooperate peacefully with the protesters. And I hope that the protesters cooperate and don't throw objects at the police. So in Los Angeles, again, all over our city, we are very, very concerned. But so far, fingers crossed, things have been very peaceful. We're also excited in Los Angeles, too, because we're going to the World Series.

DEAN: Yes. Right. I know a lot of people have been watching that quite carefully. I do want to ask you, we are now at day 18 of this government shutdown, and obviously the center of gravity on that is Washington, D.C. You have lived through a government shutdown as a member of Congress. You are now a mayor. I know according to your state's data, more than 1.5 million people in L.A. County use this program CalFresh.

It's a critical food program for people with low incomes. But it's only guaranteed with this funding through October. It's one of a lot of programs like this that are feeling quite threatened in this moment. So I'm curious what happens then. And locally, how is this shutdown, how are you trying to protect Californians from this shutdown?

BASS: Well, we also are very concerned. I mean, there's the WIC program as well, women, infants and children, and SNAP, our CalFresh, as you described, also known as food stamps. You were talking about people's ability to eat, to feed themselves. Los Angeles is a very expensive city. So even with those benefits, it's expensive to live here. It's expensive to feed your families. And so this is just an unnecessary burden on families.

But if you couple that with the idea that the Republicans want to take away -- well, actually they did in their -- in their bill took away the subsidies for health care, this is going to hurt Republicans as well as Democrats in Republican districts, which is why we need to have those benefits restored. Removing health care from people, millions of people, as well as food, you talk about basic quality of life and why the federal government, why the Republicans would actually want to hurt their own people.

[19:10:04]

That's something that I didn't understand when I was in Congress, and I certainly don't understand it now.

DEAN: And as you know, you sat in that chamber for many years. Do you agree with the Democrats' position here that it is worth it to, you know, at the risk of federal employees getting fired during this shutdown, federal employees not getting paid, members of the military potentially not getting paid, these programs being at risk? Do you agree with their argument that it is worth it to hold out?

BASS: You know, my colleagues back in Washington are fighting for health care for the American people. They are fighting for food for the American people, and they have to continue that fight. And I support them because if they cave now, they come for your food, they come for your health care, what do they come for next?

DEAN: So, yes. So to you, this is a worthy fight still?

BASS: Yes. We're fighting for food and health care. Basic necessities. And I support my colleagues in that fight. I was there through the shutdown that lasted 35 days. And the interesting thing is that shutdown was over health care as well, except for then the Republicans were trying to abolish the Affordable Care Act. So it looks like they found another way to do it to defund health care.

And to me, we are the only industrialized country on the planet that does not provide universal health care for its citizens. We are the richest country in the history of the world. We have the resources to feed our people, to house, to educate, and to provide health care for our people. And this is a political decision not to do it. And it's shameful.

DEAN: Lastly, I just want to ask you the president did this week mention he kind of threatened to relocate the Olympics, which L.A. is slated to host, if he believed the city was not prepared. Did you -- how seriously did you take that comment?

BASS: Well, let me just say that Los Angeles will absolutely be prepared and ironically, yesterday we had a big community celebration marking the fact that it's 1,000 days away. Well, now it's 999 days away. And so our city will be well-prepared, ready, secure to welcome the world. And as a matter of fact, in less than a year, we will be welcoming the world for the World Cup.

DEAN: So it sounds like things progress on as far as you're concerned at the moment, and you will be prepared.

BASS: Absolutely. We will be prepared.

DEAN: All right. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, thanks for your time tonight. We appreciate it.

BASS: Thanks for having me on.

DEAN: New details after a string of airstrikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. The survivors of the most recent strike now being sent back to their home countries. But their release is raising some questions around the legality of America's escalating fight against drug cartels. We're going to dig into that.

Plus the next court appearance for former Trump adviser John Bolton has been set. Does the government have a case and how does that compare to others? We're going to discuss that.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:17:49]

DEAN: Breaking tonight, the State Department says it has credible reports indicating an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas against Palestinians in Gaza. That statement saying in part, quote, "Should Hamas proceed with this attack, measures will be taken to protect the people of Gaza and preserve the integrity of the ceasefire." And it comes as anger is rising in Israel due to the slow release of hostage remains by Hamas. The bodies of two more deceased hostages were handed over tonight.

As that dispute continues, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Rafah Border Crossing will remain closed. And of course, that's a crucial link between Egypt and Gaza and a lifeline for aid into the enclave.

We are joined now by CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Cedric, good to have you here. I want to start first with our -- with our breaking news. This news of what the State Department considers an imminent ceasefire violation by Hamas. What more can you -- you know, from a military perspective, what more can you read into that?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. Jessica, great to be with you. It seems like this is a report based on intelligence and probably some pretty sensitive intelligence that the U.S. might have on Hamas's intentions. So what the State Department and really the Trump administration want to avoid is they want to avoid the scene that we had just a few days ago where Hamas fighters were seen shooting I think it was about eight Palestinians in a square in Gaza allegedly for cooperating with Israel.

So that is the kind of thing that, you know, is obviously a very horrible crime. It's really a war crime on the part of Hamas. And so what the State Department is trying to do is they're trying to send a message to Hamas to avoid that kind of a scene and to avoid those kind of retribution type killings. And that is a key element, I think, in the ability to keep this ceasefire going.

DEAN: I also want to play a clip from Prime Minister Netanyahu tonight. He says the next phase of this agreement will include disarmament by Hamas. This is what he said.

[19:20:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The war in Gaza will finally end when the terms of the agreement that was supposedly accepted are implemented. And this includes, first of all, phase A, the return of all of our hostages.

This is phase A so there is phase B. Phase B also includes the disarmament of Hamas, or rather the disarmament of the strip. And before that, the disarmament of Hamas. When it is finished and ends successfully, I hope the easy way, but if not the hard way, then the war will be over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: How do you take that statement from the prime minister?

LEIGHTON: Well, I think in some ways it's wishful thinking because I really don't see Hamas disarming itself on its own and doing it voluntarily. They may have agreed to some elements of this ceasefire, but it seems that, you know, phase B as the Prime Minister Netanyahu calls it or phase two as we call it, I don't -- I don't think that it's going to be realistic to expect us on the one hand to have Hamas act as policemen in Gaza.

And then, on the other hand, to take away their weapons as the next phase comes in. So in this agreement, there are some inherent contradictions, and that's kind of what we're looking at here, Jessica. And that's of great concern because if Hamas does not disarm, then this whole ceasefire is at risk.

DEAN: I also want to turn to the situation in Venezuela. President Trump saying today that the two survivors of this U.S. Military strike on a boat in the Caribbean will be returned to their home countries. We were -- I was speaking with former NATO Supreme Allied commander, Admiral James Stavridis, tonight. He was surprised by this. He was saying he thought that they could have been interrogated for information.

What is your assessment of the administration's military campaign in the Caribbean?

LEIGHTON: Yes, Jessica, this is a very interesting thing. And I do agree with Admiral Stavridis that it would have been wise to interrogate these two survivors. It really would have been wise to do that for a lot of the other people that were killed in these attacks on these boats off the coast of Venezuela. And the reason for that is you want to determine exactly who they are, where they're coming from, who do they work for, you know, what kinds of drugs do they actually have on board? How realistic is it to put all these forces against Venezuela or at least that's what it appears to be happening? And then why are we doing the kinds of things that we're doing?

So if you can build a case that there are actual drug trans shipments of the type that we're interested in, like fentanyl, for example, that would be the thing to do. And in a situation like this, you want as much intelligence as possible. And it seems like this is a missed opportunity. So this military campaign is one where there's a preponderance of force somewhere around 5,000 Marines and sailors now that are deployed off the Venezuelan coast or in areas near there.

And that is a lot of force to conduct operations against about a half dozen or so boats at the moment. Now, of course, there are more boats that are going through this area, some of which are related to narco trafficking, but that is a lot of force to be used against these types of situations. And the threat does not necessarily equal that amount of military presence. So there must be something else afoot here at this point.

DEAN: Before I go, I also do want to ask you about President Zelenskyy, Putin and these Tomahawk missiles, and the fact that the president yesterday saying these battle lines should freeze where they are, fighting should stop. He clearly wants this to be over. It is a shift from where he had been a couple of weeks ago, and even about a week ago when he said that he would be open to giving Ukraine those long range weapons, which is something we know Zelensky has been seeking for some time now. What does this -- the current status and what we're hearing from

President Trump tell you about where we are in this? And what do you think it's saying to Putin?

LEIGHTON: Yes, for one thing, it gives Putin a lot more time. And that's something that can only help Putin. And it's to the detriment of Ukraine because of the preponderance of manpower as well as resources that really favor Putin at least on paper. But the other aspect of this is, you know, in some ways, the Trump administration and Trump himself have promised things to Ukraine or at least implied certain things to Ukraine. And now all of a sudden, they're being left out to dry basically when it comes to the Tomahawks.

Now, the Tomahawks are not an end all and be all. They are an important weapon system and as we see from the pictures you showed just a little bit ago, they are primarily launched from the sea. So Ukraine would have to develop the type of launch platforms that it would be able to use from land. There are some that are in the works in the U.S., such as Marine efforts and Army efforts, some of which, by the way, the Marine effort was stopped here in the U.S. because of some technical issues with it.

[19:25:07]

But these Tomahawk missiles are a critical component to at least sending a message to the Russians, and the failure to provide those weapons really ends up prolonging the war. And that's the critical thing. On the one hand, President Trump says he wants to stop the war, wants to freeze the lines the way they are. That can only be achieved if you give the Ukrainians the weapons that they need to at least threaten the Russians, or even just imply that you're giving those weapons.

So there used to be a consistent message. There needs to be consistent actions vis a vis the Russians. And we're seeing neither in this particular case.

DEAN: All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, good to see you. Thanks so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Jessica.

DEAN: So across America, people are taking to the streets tonight protesting against the president and his administration and its policies. We are live on the West Coast to get the latest on the rallies there.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:30:24]

DEAN: Happening now, we are keeping a watch on the protests against President Trump and his administration that are going on across the country. Tonight, the rally is coming as tensions continue to rise over Trump's policies, including his crackdown on immigration and his push to send more federal troops into American cities. Let's bring in CNN's Julia Vargas Jones. She is joining us live from Los Angeles, where that protest is ongoing. What's the latest, Julia?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, actually, Jessica, at this point, it feels more like a party than a protest. People have marched across downtown Los Angeles, and they come here. Right now, there is a band playing Salsa. There are, again, a lot of Mexican flags here. That being, I think the main concern that we've identified from protesters here in Los Angeles, it is Trump's immigration policies.

All of this, I'll say, a lot of costumes like this one right here. I think it's a dancing unicorn at this point. Ell, why did you wear this costume today?

ELL DELLOROSO, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: I feel like in Portland they have the frogs, and we kind of needed our own rebellion. And I felt like the unicorn exemplified the diversity and culture of L.A.

JONES: But I think it also does another thing, which is it kind of -- it makes it all kind of funny and de-escalate stuff. There have been tensions in Los Angeles, but police and law enforcement over the past few months, do you think this helps or is it antagonizing?

DELLOROSO: I don't think it's antagonizing. Also, not that we are the ones that antagonize, usually, but I think it's really hard to call something a war zone when you look at something and it's just a block party and people in Halloween costumes, if I can be so bold to say.

JONES: Last question to you is just like, why is it that you thought it was important to come out here today, costume or no costume?

DELLOROSO: Yes. I think L.A. is such a vibrant and beautiful community and we take care of ourselves and we don't need ICE or any other outside authority doing that. And this is just people voicing their opinions and making sure those at power hear that.

JONES: Jessica, that is very much the message that the organizers here have hoped that people would heed to not turn violent. We saw a lot of signs that say, angry, not violent, you know, trying to keep things very peaceful and keep this nice party atmosphere instead of making this turn into a violent protest, some of them saying, that's exactly what the administration would hope for when they talk about Antifa, when they talk about these protests being violent. So, so far, still very much peaceful atmosphere. We'll hope that it continues this way.

DEAN: All right, Julia Vargas Jones, live for us in Los Angeles, thank you for that.

Disgraced former New York Congressman George Santos is a free man. Now, President Trump is responding to his early release, which he allowed to happen. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:50]

DEAN: Tonight, after several months behind bars, former New York Congressman George Santos is a free man. The disgraced Republican was released from prison after receiving a commutation from President Trump.

In a post on social media announcing the decision, Trump said he believes Santos' seven-year sentence for aggravated identity theft and wire fraud charges was excessive.

Former U.S. Attorney and former deputy assistant attorney general Harry Litman is joining us now. Harry, good to see you on a Saturday night.

HARRY LITMAN, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: You too.

DEAN: Santos received this commutation, not a pardon from Trump. Explain the difference and why you think Trump went with the commutation.

LITMAN: Well, look, a commutation is what he needs practically. He gets out of jail and it stops there. It doesn't wipe his conviction off the books. But it's really a substantial break. It would have been one more kind of poke in the eye of justice to actually wipe out the entire crime and Trump himself said, he lied like hell but he was 100 percent for Trump.

So, such a pristine demonstration of what it takes for this higher tier of justice in this country, loyalty to Trump. He committed the crime but it feels to Trump like, maybe a little excessive. I just want to remind you of who we were talking about with Santos. He lied to about everything and stole from anyone. Remember, this is the guy who not only lied about his jobs. His college, but said, his mom perished in the 9/11 tower. He did a GoFundMe for a dying dog and kept the money. I mean, really a shameless, rogue. And the actual crimes that he pleaded guilty to involved all kinds of identity theft, stealing of quite a lot of money.

So, I think it's an uninformed view of Trump that that's excessive. People who do those kinds of crimes would get as much or more time all throughout the country.

DEAN: Okay, I want to go on the other side of the coin, which is someone who the President sees as an adversary his former National Security Advisor, John Bolton, who was indicted on 18 counts of mishandling classified information. He's pleaded not guilty.

This is something that several high profile former and current officials, including Trump himself, with his classified documents at Mar-a-Lago has been charged with, Joe Biden. you know, they had to investigate him, Mike Pence.

What do you think about the case against John Bolton? Does the politics of it affect that? Or is this just a pure and simple a legal case in your mind?

[19:40:27]

LITMAN: Yes, I think, Jessica, we don't know. It's certainly something that did please Trump, but it's really important not to group this with the Comey and Letitia James indictments, which are just pristine examples of reprisal prosecutions.

The case against, Bolton, you know, on paper, sort of holds up, but it will really depend on the facts. And it doesn't seem to me that it's a what prosecutors might call a righteous case, even if it's technically solid. It's all behavior from 2018, 2019, Biden administration looked at it and took a pass.

On the other hand, he does seem to have shared classified information with his wife and daughter and that's a pretty straightforward violation. The main thing is, even though it does demonstrate, I think there was sort of a three-tier justice, right, Santos, everyone else and enemies of Trump like Comey, James and Bolton. This was done by a professional U.S. attorney as opposed to Lindsey Halligan, his appointee in eastern district of Virginia and it may well be solid, but it's also kind of murky even after we see it. We need to see the facts and the evidence. The main point, it ain't the James Comey cases, which are really outrageous and separate.

DEAN: That I think is the key takeaway as you underline, is that this is different for those reasons that we need to get more information, but it is important to kind of separate those out at this moment in time

Harry Litman, thank you so much. It's really nice to see you. I really appreciate it.

LITMAN: Thank you, Jessica, thank you.

DEAN: A battle over academic freedom, as the Trump administration wants to do a funding deal with several major universities but it comes with demands and strings. And now, there's a growing list of schools rejecting that offer. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:03]

DEAN: New tonight, Dartmouth College has joined at least five other schools in rejecting a White House funding proposal linked to several demands. This is the Trump administration tries to get universities to align with its political priorities. Let's bring in CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein, who joins us with more on this.

So, Betsy, walk us through the proposed deal and explain what the Trump administration is trying to get from these schools.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Jessica, earlier this month, CNN reported that The White House had sent nine universities a list of proposed demands in exchange for what they said would be expanded access to federal funding. And in this document that we obtained about a ten-page document titled "A Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education," the Trump officials called on those schools to re-imagine the considerations in admissions, including removing factors like sex and ethnicity.

They called on them to foster what they described as a vibrant marketplace of ideas, without any one dominant ideology. They also called for a five-year tuition freeze, among other demands, and a majority of those nine schools as of yesterday morning, had declined to sign on to the compact, really underscoring the very challenging tightrope that academic leaders -- higher education leaders are now navigating with this White House and what's become a much broader battle over academic freedom, federal funding and campus oversight.

So, on Friday afternoon, The White House convened eight colleges and universities for a meeting to discuss this compact, including three new schools that had not initially been invited. Washington University in Saint Louis, Kansas University, as well as Arizona State and White House spokesperson, Liz Houston, described that meeting as productive. But hours later, University of Virginia announced that they would not be signing on to the compact, and then earlier today, Dartmouth College added that they also were rejecting this compact, their president saying in a statement, "I do not believe that a compact with any administration is the right approach to achieve academic excellence as it would compromise our academic freedom, our ability to govern ourselves, and the principle that federal research funds should be awarded to the best, most promising ideas."

Now, The White House says that the university leaders in that meeting have been invited to share additional ideas, and the ball is now in their court -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right, Betsy Klein, with the very latest. Thank you very much for that.

The mayoral candidates for New York City sparred on the debate stage this week. Everything from President Trump to the war in Gaza was on the table. We're going to run the numbers on it. That's next you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:54:21]

DEAN: New tonight, at U.S. Embassy just issuing a security alert to U.S. Nationals in Trinidad and Tobago, a nation in the Caribbean near Venezuela. This amid rising tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela. In recent weeks, the U.S. military has been striking boats it says are transporting drugs from Venezuela. Today, President Trump posted this video saying in a post that the he considered the survivors narcoterrorists who will be returned to Ecuador and Colombia for detention and prosecution.

According to a source familiar with the matter, White House officials are discussing setting up a meeting between President Trump and North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un when Trump visits Asia next month. No serious logistical planning has taken place yet and officials are skeptical that it will ultimately happen. But President Trump's outreach to the North Korean leader earlier this year never received a reply.

The White House has largely been focused on the possibility of Trump meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to Asia.

[19:55:25]

We are now just a few weeks away from the New York City mayoral election, and this week the candidates faced off in their first debate, sparring over everything from the Israel-Hamas War to how they'd handle President Trump and the exchanges started early between Democratic frontrunner Zohran Mamdani and former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW CUOMO (I) NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: This is not a job for a first timer. Any day you could have a hurricane. You have, God forbid, a 9/11, a health pandemic. If you don't know what you're doing people could die.

MODERATOR: Thank you Mr. Cuomo we have to -- Sir Mamdani do you want to respond?

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D) NEW YORK MAYORAL NOMINEE: And if we have a health pandemic, then why would New Yorkers turn back to the governor who sent seniors to their death in nursing homes? That's the kind of experience that's on offer here today. What I don't have an experience I make up for in integrity and what you don't have in integrity you could never make up for in experience.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: CNN's Harry Enten runs the numbers on the upcoming election -- Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. The New York City mayoral race is just a little over two weeks away and unless something changes in a little bit more than 14 days, this mayoral race is pretty much gosh darn over.

What are we talking about? Well, let's take a look at the polling choice for New York City mayor. You see, Democrat Zohran Mamdani crushing the field. You know, back in September, he was ahead by 15 points over independent Andrew Cuomo, 45 percent to 30 percent. Cuomo was. hoping to shrink the gap, shrink the gap between September on election day but the margin by which Mamdani is leading has become wider.

Take a look here. Now, you see Mamdani right near the 50 percent mark at 49 percent in my average polls, compared to Andrew Cuomo at 31 percent. That is an 18-point advantage. And then, of course, you have Curtis Sliwa, the Republican way, way back. He was at 17 percent back in September. Now, it's just 15 percent. So Mamdani is winning in a divided field.

Now maybe Sliwa gets out of the race and maybe that helps out Cuomo. I'm not even sure that would be enough. But if Sliwa stays in the race and you get that split competition versus Mamdani, the frontrunner, here is why I think this race is pretty much gosh darn over in a New York minute.

Take a look historically speaking, well, Mamdani right now leads by 18 points. You know, I love spreadsheets, Jessica Dean. I love spreadsheets, I love the Buffalo Bills. I love my cream soda. I love my girlfriend and when I dig into the spreadsheets, I look back at every single New York City mayoral race dating back since 1989, that's 36 years ago. The largest polling error in the final 21 days of that campaign. It was 11 points back in 2005. I remember that campaign. Mike Bloomberg won reelection, although by a smaller margin than the polls suggest at the time.

You see that 11-point error, well, you don't have to be a mathematical genius, Jessica Dean, though I know you are, to know that 18 points is significantly bigger than 11 points. So, you need basically double the largest error in New York City mayoral polls over the last 36 years in order for Mamdani to actually lose, if the polls stay where they are right now, and as I pointed out on slide number one, if anything, Mamdani lead is becoming bigger, wider. Very bad news for Andrew Cuomo, who, of course, had been hoping to close the gap. Now we see all this. You see Mamdani ahead by 18 points. You see that historically speaking, that's a pretty safe lead going into the final weeks. And you wonder why. What is going on? Why does Mamdani lead this race?

Well, there's been a lot of talk about the issues, affordability, et cetera. Now, that's important but sometimes politics is really, really simple. What do I mean? Well, who's the more likable guy? Who do voters actually like? And take a look here, this is the net favorable rating of the different candidates in New York City. You can see Curtis Sliwa way, way underwater at minus 15 points on the net favorability rating.

You see Andrew Cuomo, he is also underwater at minus six points. But look at Zohran Mamdani. He actually has a positive net favorable rating at plus 15 points.

Again, sometimes politics, unlike life, is really simple. And in this particular case, the reason Zohran Mamdani is crushing the field is simply put, he is the best liked guy in a field of unlikable characters as far as the New York City electorate is concerned. And unless something dramatically changes over the final two weeks plus of this campaign, the next mayor of New York City is going to be Zohran Mamdani.

Jessica, have a lovely, lovely rest of your Saturday, back to you.

DEAN: Thank you, Harry, you too.

Also, a quick programming note for you, be sure to watch tonight. We've got a whole new episode of "Have I Got News For You" with the special guests. And we've also got the regular crew back to digest all of this week's headlines. You don't want to miss it. It's a new episode. It airs tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific. Only here on CNN.

And thank you so much for joining me this evening. I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you right back here tomorrow night starting at 5:00 Eastern. "Real Time with Bill Maher" is headed your next. Have a wonderful night everyone. We will see you tomorrow.