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CNN's The Arena with Kasie Hunt
Sources: White House Working To Arrange Iran War Talks For This Weekend As Tehran Counters Initial U.S. Offer; House Armed Services Members, Including GOP, Slam Briefing; TSA Wait Times Fuel More Misery At Airports Amid DHS Shutdown; Jury: Meta & YouTube Negligent In Social Media Addiction Trial. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired March 25, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It's like a great picnic.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I love the Ben's Chili Bowl here in D.C., but I love -- I love a Nathan's hot dog. Got to be honest.
SANCHEZ: I love the Ben's Chili Bowl at DCA. There's one right before the TSA line if you're going to be there for hours.
KEILAR: Go for it.
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
THE ARENA WITH KASIE HUNT starts now.
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KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. I'm Kasie Hunt. Welcome to THE ARENA. It's great to have you with us on this Wednesday.
Right now, there are more questions than answers as the White House looks for an off ramp in the war with Iran. Two senior Trump administration officials tell CNN that the U.S. government is working to arrange diplomatic talks in Pakistan this weekend. An Iranian official, however, denies that any talks are ongoing.
And this afternoon, the White House made the stakes of this moment very clear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President Trump does not bluff, and he is prepared to unleash hell. Iran should not miscalculate again any violence beyond this point will be because the Iranian regime refused to understand they have already been defeated and refused to come to a deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: So the question is, what kind of a deal could possibly be acceptable to both the United States and Iran? President Donald Trump has previously said, quote, "There will be no deal with Iran except unconditional surrender," end quote.
But then this week, he paused some airstrikes because of, quote, "very good and productive conversations," end quote. And frankly, since the start of the war, the presidents messaging has been, shall we say, inconsistent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's a surrender right there. I called it a surrender today.
We're achieving major strides toward completing our military objective.
We won the bet. In the first hour, it was over.
REPORTER: Are you ready to officially declare victory?
TRUMP: No, I don't want to do that.
They want to make a deal, and we are very willing to make a deal.
We've won this. Well, this war has been won.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Amid all this, two sources familiar with the matter tell CNN that approximately 1,000 additional American soldiers are expected to deploy to the Middle East in the coming days.
Let's get off the sidelines and head into THE ARENA. My panel is here, along with CNN's senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes and chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto.
He is in Tel Aviv.
Kristen, what are you hearing about these potential talks in Pakistan?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Right now, we know that the White House is having conversations about these potential talks. They would have J.D. Vance, the vice president there. They would be in Pakistan. Pakistan actually hosted or offered to host these talks.
Now, nothing is set in stone. Turkey is still a viable option. They're still discussing various locations, security, obviously, of utmost concern. We do believe that Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner would be involved in these talks.
Now, we asked Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, about these talks, any possible details that they could give. She would not give any insight into whether or not they were firming these up.
But of course, it's all coming as at the same time that Iran is essentially rejecting America's plan or the United States plan, that 15-point proposal.
Now, I did ask Karoline very specifically who it was that would participate, at least from the Iranian side in these talks. Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Can you just tell us who exactly who exactly the U.S. is negotiating with in Iran and why the U.S. and this administration trust that person?
LEAVITT: Again, as I said to Gabe's question earlier, we're not going to get into the details of these negotiations and conversations that continue to take place as, of course, you can imagine, they are very sensitive diplomatic discussions. And I would reiterate, I do recall giving all of you the same answer when we were negotiating the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza, give you the same answer throughout the 12-Day War between Iran and Israel, gave you the same answer with respect to many of the other global conflicts that this administration has negotiated solutions to.
President Trump is going to give his diplomats the freedom that they need to have these sensitive diplomatic discussions without negotiating and litigating them through the news media.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And, Kasie, just one thing to note there. Yes, she did not give those details of the internal discussions, but when you look at those other conversations around other events, we knew who was at the negotiating table. This is a different circumstance, given the fact that Israel has wiped out a majority of Iranian leadership, and it's unclear who this person is that the United States is negotiating with, and whether or not they actually have the power to do anything in this situation.
Now, despite the fact that Iran has rejected or at least not accepted this 15-point plan, Karoline Leavitt said the talks were not dead, that they were still behind the scenes conversations going on. But we still don't have a finalized look at what in-person meeting would look like. Again, everything sliding around right now as its very fluid situation.
HUNT: All right. Kristen Holmes for us at the White House -- Kristen, thank you very much for that.
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My panel is here in THE ARENA. CNN chief national affairs correspondent Jeff Zeleny, congressional reporter for "The Washington Post", Marianna Sotomayor, former DNC communications director Mo Elleithee, and former Republican congressman and speaker pro tempore Patrick McHenry.
We are also joined by CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid. Thank you all very much for being here. It's great to see you.
Barak Ravid, I would like to start with you just because you have some new reporting. And there is also a new reporting beyond what you yourself have written.
A couple of things. One is that Israel is concerned that the U.S. might declare a ceasefire to allow for these talks. And then I know you're also digging in to some behind the scenes back and forth between the president and Benjamin Netanyahu about next steps.
BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yeah. I don't know if Israel is -- if Israel thinks there's going to be a ceasefire soon. I have no -- I have no evidence whatsoever that we're close to a ceasefire. Doesn't mean that something is not happening behind the scenes that we don't know, but at least at the moment, I see no evidence of, ceasefire, definitely not in the next 48 hours.
HUNT: Yeah. Fair enough.
And when you, of course, were digging into what Netanyahu and Trump have been talking about recently, you report that Trump told the Israelis that, quote, they'll get mowed down, speaking of Iranian protesters potentially taking to the streets.
RAVID: Yeah. So, so last week, last Tuesday, after Israel assassinated Iran's top national security advisor, Ali Larijani and a group of commandos of the Basij militia, which is the militia that is responsible for cracking down on protests. Netanyahu called Trump and said, listen, this is an opportunity because now the regime is once again in a chaotic situation. We have the chance, a window of opportunity to destabilize it even further.
And Marc Caputo and I reported on Axios that during that call, Netanyahu proposed to Trump that at the same night, they will go together in public and call on Iranian citizens to go out of their homes, go to the streets and start an uprising against the regime. President Trump, according to our reporting, was pretty reserved about this and thought it could be too risky. And he told Netanyahu, listen, why the hell would we do that when the IRGC and the other security forces of the regime will just mow down the people that will come out of their houses? And what Netanyahu and Trump eventually decided is that they'll wait for the next day where Iran had its what's called the Festival of Fire.
And they said, let's see if people come out of their homes without us calling them to do it. If they do, then we will both of us go in public and call people to start an uprising. The next day came, people didn't really come out of their homes, and I think both Netanyahu and Trump realized that the fear factor is real in Iran these days when it comes to the average civilian.
HUNT: Yeah. I'm sure. All right. Let's go to chief national security analyst Jim Sciutto, who's on the ground in Tel Aviv for us.
And, Jim, of course, adding to that fear potentially. I mean, we have new reporting on how Iran might be preparing for a potential ground attack by U.S. Forces. What do you know?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, perhaps in part because there's been such public discussion of next potential steps in military operations. Kharg Island has been part of those discussions. Kharg Island in the northeastern part of the Persian Gulf, is central to Iran's oil and gas exports, and has long been discussed as a potential target.
So perhaps it's no surprise that Iran has been building up defenses there, particularly, it seems, according to U.S. assessments, defenses that would raise the dangers for U.S. ground forces, raise the costs potential in blood for a U.S. ground invasion there, with weapons such as mines, anti-personnel mines, but also, crucially, shoulder launched missiles intended to take down, it seems, aircraft that would bring in whatever forces the president might decide to send there, including the marines. There's been discussion.
There's, of course, a paratrooper unit on its way to the region. So, this -- this is part of the calculation that the president and his advisors have to consider as that ground option is at least on the table. There are other factors as well to Israel's position on this.
They -- you hear from Israeli officials that they might participate in ground operations inside Iran, particularly those targeting nuclear facilities and that hidden enriched uranium. And they remain at the same time skeptical of the diplomatic track as it continues, particularly as to whether Iran is actually willing to negotiate on any of those 15 points that the U.S. presented to them.
And I think when you read those five points that the Iranians sent back today in response, including things like Iran must control the Strait of Hormuz going forward, you get a sense of why Israeli officials remain skeptical of the diplomatic track.
HUNT: Yeah, I sure do.
All right. Jim Sciutto for us in Israel -- Jim, thank you very much for that.
And Congressman McHenry, there was a briefing today for Republicans. And, Marianna, I know you've got some reporting on this too, but it seems to have gone sideways. It was administration officials talking to House Republicans and Nancy Mace, not always the most consistent message in Congress.
However, she came out of this briefing with some pretty -- with a warning that I think raised some alarm bells, she says, I believe Trump's winning the war, but I'm very concerned about the deep state and the Washington war machine dragging this out to make Iran another Iraq.
And I mean, when you listen to Barak Ravid and Jim Sciutto, you don't get the sense that, you know, we're at a clear cut ending point here.
PATRICK MCHENRY (R), FORMER SPEAKER PRO TEMPORE: So, a couple of things. So, you have loud vocal voices that are so-called MAGA that are saying that President Trump is wrong about being President Trump. That's effectively their argument. This is always the argument that MAGA makes against the president when they have a disagreement, they always lose though.
HUNT: Well, because Trump is Trump and they're not Trump.
MCHENRY: Yes, and he has a movement that's built around him and he defines the movement, not them. And so, in this circumstance, you do have those skeptics that are loud. They're loud on the Internet. They're loud on a few podcasts and they're loud on Capitol Hill, but they are not the majority. They are a very small minority within the House of Representatives, point one.
Point two, this administration and this president has a very atypical approach to foreign policy matters, right? You can laugh at this, but it's just a fact. He is willing to do deals with the most complex, potentially terrible people in the world in order to bring some peace and stability. The effort here was always going to be some person that has enough power within the regime that does have blood on their hands, frankly, that will have enough power to stabilize the situation in Iran.
This is not about democracy in the Middle East. This is about the president Trump taking out a bad regime, replacing it with a better regime. Not good, but better.
HUNT: I mean, I will say as sort of mixed as the messaging has been, no one has been saying we're going to bring democracy to Iran. That has not been part of the messaging.
Marianna, what did you hear out of this briefing?
MARIANNA SOTOMAYOR, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yeah, I think, Congressman, what you said is there are minority voices. They tend to be the loudest ones. They're very eager to go out and speak directly to reporters. The majority, though, does listen to the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. And he came out and is upset like I've been -- I've heard a number of lawmakers that they were pissed in that room because they are not getting the information that they need.
He -- the chairman said. And he made clear, look, Republicans are going to stick by you all, but you need to give us more information. You need to give us more justification as to why troops are being sent over to the region.
We need to know what is coming next, and that has been a tension that's been simmering for some time. But now you're really starting to see this is going to potentially bubble over. And what I have heard privately from a number of Republicans is if you do put boots on the ground, that is going to be a moment, a problematic moment where you might see Republicans maybe voting for a war powers resolution. Of course, we don't know when this could happen. It could be in the coming weeks. But the tensions are definitely rising here.
HUNT: Jeff, where are the politics? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, look,
the politics of this are unclear at the moment. Theres no doubt that the majority of the party, like the Congressman said, is still with the president. However, the cracks are very obvious -- these cracks are not being manufactured. So, I think it depends how long this goes, obviously, but it's a risky political position, there's no doubt. But I do think everything changes once the forces are on the ground in the region.
And the reality is, at some point, the administration is going to have to pay for this. So, congress is going to have to vote on this, and that is going to be the ultimate authorization for this yes or no. So, the politics are fraught for this party. There's no doubt.
But the president clearly is trying to look for an off ramp to this. I think a politically speaking and just that sort of who he is. The question is that's harder to find that off ramp at this point than it was four weeks ago.
HUNT: How does this cut for Democrats, Mo? Because I mean, I think Jeff's right. This funding bill is really turning into ultimately from a political perspective, you're up or down vote on whether you approve this war.
MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Yeah, 100 percent. And it's not a surprise that he's looking for an off ramp. And every day it gets harder and harder for him to articulate what we're doing, right? Every day, we're hearing a different response.
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You know, we obliterated their nuclear capabilities last summer. Now, we're demanding that they end their nuclear capabilities. We declared victory last week, and now we're talking about sending -- maybe sending ground troops to the region.
The ultimate question, and I guarantee every Democrat on the ballot this election, this campaign cycle is going to be asking this question, how much are you, the American voter, willing to pay at the pump? How much are we willing to pay in national treasure? And how much are we willing to pay in American lives?
HUNT: Yeah.
ELLEITHEE: And this administration has struck. Maybe they have a grand plan. They sure as hell have not articulated it.
HUNT: It's not clear to me what that is. But, you know, we'll see.
Barak Ravid, very, very briefly, Iran's foreign minister just said no negotiations are being held with the U.S. that obviously seems to contradict what we heard from the White House podium. Why is it that Iran wants us to think these negotiations aren't happening?
RAVID: I think there are several reasons. The first one is how do you define negotiations? You know, one definition of negotiations is two parties sitting across the table from each other exchanging positions, exchanging drafts. This is obviously not what's happening at the moment.
What the -- what is happening is mostly, exchange of messages through Pakistan, through Egypt, through Turkey in an effort to, reach an agreement on a meeting.
This is why I think when he says there are no negotiations, I think this is what Araghchi is referring to. I also think that it's really unclear, who knows what inside the Iranian government. The situation is so chaotic. The communication breakdown is so big that it's really unclear how much Araghchi knows about what's really happening.
Is he the guy running the show? Is his speaker of parliament? Ghalibaf?
I think that might be another reason, but I think that at the moment, at the moment, one of the reasons that Araghchi is saying that, and he's saying a lot of other stuff about where Iran stands at the moment, I think it all shows that the Iranians, for some reason, don't feel that they're under pressure at all. And I think it tells you something about what are the chances to reach a deal at the current time.
HUNT: Yeah, it really does. Barak Ravid, thank you very much, sir. Always appreciate your insights and reporting.
Coming up next here in THE ARENA, we're going to talk with two key members of Congress about the Iran war. Democrat Ro Khanna and Republican Mike Lawler, both here live this hour as some lawmakers get that new briefing today on the war. And it doesn't really seem like anybody's happy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: What was your takeaway from the briefing? Did they lay out anything new?
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): Well, I mean, there was some new details and some classified stuff about ammunition stocks and all that. But the big question is, you know, what is the plan to achieve the objective?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: With thousands of troops on their way to the Middle East, is there a point either a number of ground troops or a number of days in which the president will consider seeking authorization from Congress?
LEAVITT: Well, as you know, right now, that formal authorization from Congress is not necessary because we're currently in major combat operations in Iran.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: The White House today declining to commit to seeking congressional approval before deploying more troops in Iran. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt promising the administration will, quote, always abide by the law, but not addressing how exactly the White House would handle any decision to put troops on the ground. That while approximately 1,000 U.S. Soldiers with the Army's 82nd Airborne division prepares to deploy in the coming days to the Middle East.
Joining me now in THE ARENA to discuss Democratic congressman from California, Ro Khanna. He sits on the Armed Services and Oversight Committees.
Congressman, thanks very much for being here.
Let me just start there with what we heard from Karoline Leavitt, as well as the news that we've been reporting about these additional troops going to Iran. Is this move legal in your view?
REP. RO KHANNA (D-CA): It is not. And the White House has a big problem. Thomas Massie and my Iran War Powers resolution, as you know, failed. We had 200 Democrats who lost four Democrats. We got two Republicans. But there are at least I would say, six to eight Republicans who have said the red line for them is ground troops into Iran.
If there is any troops in Iran, they're going to vote for our resolution.
And so, the fact that the White House can't make it clear to the American people that they're not going to put ground troops in Iran is very, very problematic.
HUNT: And how would you define ground troops in Iran? Does going into Kharg Island, for example, amount to it? Is using special forces amount to it? How do you define it?
KHANNA: I define it as any of our service members who are in Iran's territory, putting their lives at risk either directly, they're doing special operations forces, especially because we've had such a large bombing campaign. I mean, we're not talking about some special mission in a country that has a limited jurisdiction. We have had enormous amounts of strikes, and we're obviously in conflict.
And now to escalate that with troops would be an enormous disaster, in my view. And he would lose a chunk of Republicans in the Congress.
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We'd actually get the war powers resolution passed.
HUNT: Sir, there, of course, was that that briefing earlier on Capitol Hill, where some Republicans came out expressing serious skepticism? I know you also we're in a meeting with top Democrats about what next steps are here. How do you understand the overall politics of this moment on Capitol Hill?
KHANNA: The first thing is it's an energy issue. I mean, the oil shocks that we are facing as Americans are bigger than 1973 and 1979 combined. There, there were 5 million barrels a day at question. Today, there are over 10 million barrels at question that have been stopped because of the Strait of Hormuz.
What does this mean? It means that gas has gone up over a dollar a gallon for Americans. It means we're paying more for our plane tickets, and it means groceries cost more because half of the oil is used for consumer goods and food products.
So, energy is the issue in American politics. It hurt President Biden when gas prices went up. It's hurting President Trump. And that is one of the reasons he needs to end this war fast. Ordinary Americans are feeling the hurt on the kitchen table.
HUNT: And, sir, one other question, of course, that many people are raising as there is this back and forth over whether or not were negotiating with the Iranians, whether or not the wars we've -- has been won. Iran's foreign minister just said that negotiations are not being held. Of course, the president says that there are.
I was talking to Chris Van Hollen on this show a few days ago, and he said he believes the Iranians over the president. Do you?
KHANNA: Well, here's -- I just want the war to end. If the president wants to declare victory and say we've degraded their navy, we've degraded their ballistic missiles, and the war is going to end, I would be fine with that. I spoke to the state department making that point, that there are a number of progressive Democrats who just want the war to end and to give the president an off ramp to do so.
I do believe if the president committed to stopping bombing and got Israel to stop bombing, that Iran would stop hitting the Strait of Hormuz, and we can get to Oman to have a mediated settlement. But really, my vision and my goal right now is to end the war, not to score political points against the president, but just to not get us entangled into another war of choice in the Middle East.
HUNT: All right. Fair enough.
The other big story today I wanted to talk to you about because you represent Silicon Valley and so many people who've done so well in running companies there. There was a landmark case decided against Meta and YouTube, finding that they're liable for harm that was done to a plaintiff, a girl, now a woman, who says that those platforms were addictive. They ultimately hurt her. The jury found that that was the case, that YouTube and Meta were liable for hurting this woman.
And it opens the door to a flood of additional lawsuits. What's your reaction to the jury's decision?
KHANNA: Good for the jury. I mean, even though I represent Silicon Valley, some people view me as a traitor to my class because I've been willing to speak out against some of the tech billionaires. But it's outrageous what we've allowed some of the social media companies to get away with. I mean, they have gotten our kids addicted to these algorithms. There's no standard of care.
That's why I support the kids online safety act. There should be liability if they are feeding junk to young people that is causing eating disorders that are causing suicidal thoughts, that are getting them addicted where they should be outdoors, playing or studying.
It is a crisis in this country, and this jury took, in my view, the correct step. And we need legislation to hold these social media companies accountable.
HUNT: And do you still think that it should not be banned for kids under 16?
KHANNA: Well, I don't -- I wouldn't support a complete ban, but what I would support is the Kids Online Safety Act, where if you're 14, 15, 16, you can use it. But there has to be a standard of harm. That means you can't have addicted algorithmic feeds towards you. You can't be getting material that is going to cause you an eating disorder, or that's going to get you addicted. It needs to be a very different looking social media than we currently have.
HUNT: Do you think that the tide of public opinion is turning against these companies?
KHANNA: Well, I do. I mean, I think that the tide has certainly turned against social media. And then people are anxious about A.I. Now, look, there's a lot of good technology can still do in terms of curing cancer, in terms of curing rare disease. But what we need to do is make sure the technology revolution is working for all of us, not just for a few tech billionaires.
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And both the social media issue and the extraordinary concentration of wealth, 19 billionaires have 12.5 percent of the GDP has really created huge issues. We've got to solve the wealth inequality divide, and we need a new tech social contract in this country.
HUNT: All right. Congressman Ro Khanna, thanks very much for your time, sir. Always appreciate it. Hope you'll come back soon.
KHANNA: Thank you, Kasie.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA. Much more on that stunning verdict in California today and whether it will bring about the end of modern social media as we know it.
But first, the Republican side of the DHS funding battle with a lawmaker from one of the swingiest districts in the country, New York Congressman Mike Lawler will be here live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): I think Democrats right now are a little bit like the Iranians, in which they feel like they can hold a hostage and get more gain. And it doesn't matter that people are suffering in our country are theirs. They have a hostage and they're going to milk it for as much as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HA NGUYEN MCNEILL, ACTING TSA ADMINISTRATOR: Many in our workforce have missed bill payments, received eviction notices, had their cars repossessed and utilities shut off, lost their childcare, defaulted on loans, damaged their credit line and drained their retirement savings. Some are sleeping in their cars, selling their blood and plasma, and taking on jobs -- second jobs to make ends meet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Right now, as TSA workers continue to go without pay, many calling out of work. Security lines at airports across America once again growing. President Donald Trump has already deployed ICE agents to more than a dozen airports. Today, he suggested the National Guard could be next in line.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is live at Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport.
So, Ed, yesterday, you saw these wait times over four hours. We just ran through some of the things Washington is or isn't doing to try to fix it. What's the situation there today?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, at this very moment, were having a bit of a reprieve from those horrific lines that we've seen over the last few days. And it's because airport officials tell us that Wednesdays are usually the lowest travel day in terms of the number of passengers coming through the airport of the week. So, if you look at the lines now and its crazy, let me just stipulate all of this by saying that when I tell you that lines are only an hour and a half to two hours long, this is still, you know, rather dramatic, the lines going over here.
But what is significant is, is that these were areas that were filled with people even at the earliest this morning spilling out into the street, going down under -- underground. Remember, we've shown you here over the last few days that the line actually goes all the way down. And this is the makeshift lines they've had for people. And even it goes a floor below this as well. But right now, those are not filled.
So that is the good news at this moment. Here's the bad news. And it's coming because the number of the volume of travelers coming through this airport starting tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, into the weekend and into Monday as well, is expected to be high again. So, airport officials here tell us to anticipate the same nightmares
that we've seen over the last few days to return here to the airport, over the next over the coming days as well. So even though this might look rather encouraging here at the moment, there is still a long way to go. I mean, I don't want to, you know, downplay exactly how long these lines still are because this by any normal standard, is not the way this airport would look at this time of day. This is still about close to an hour wait from this standpoint, we're at right now.
And you know, you bring up politicians around here probably didn't catch it on camera, but there was a friendly gentleman giving -- giving politicians the bird.
HUNT: Yeah. I bet, I bet. You know what? If I were, if I were in that line --
LAVANDERA: I don't know if you caught it.
HUNT: Yeah. If I were in that line, I might -- I might feel similarly, especially as someone who typically -- I'm one of those like right under the wire airport travelers, which clearly is not going to fly under these current circumstances.
So, Ed Lavandera, thank you.
LAVANDERA: You would not survive at this airport.
HUNT: I would not know. No. I would miss my flight. We'll put it that way.
Ed, thank you, I appreciate it.
Joining me now in THE ARENA to discuss is Republican Congressman Mike Lawler of New York.
Congressman, always good to see you. Thanks for being here.
I'll refrain from starting with the question of whether, since you're a member of Congress, you get escorted to the front of the line if you want to. So I guess you can always be that last minute flier. But can you tell us where things stand on Capitol Hill here? Because the president seems to basically be saying he doesn't -- he's not happy with any of the deals that would reopen at DHS right now. What impact is that having?
REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Well, first, Kasie, I don't take the escort to the front of the line, and I don't think that should be --
HUNT: I salute you.
LAWLER: -- offered to members of Congress. I don't think it should be offered to members of Congress, frankly.
And by the way, I join in giving the -- you know, one finger salute to Chuck Schumer right now. Chuck Schumer is solely responsible for the DHS shutdown for the
second time in less than six months. This is a policy decision by Chuck Schumer, a political one, because he is trying to capitulate and placate to his far left base.
The fact is that numerous concessions have already been made -- numerous offers have been made by the administration when it comes to immigration enforcement. And the Democrats have rejected it and continue to move the goalposts.
The fact is, House Republicans have passed now on numerous occasions, a funding bill to fully fund the Department of Homeland Security.
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To fund TSA, to fund the Coast Guard, to fund the Secret Service, to fund FEMA, among other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security.
It is outrageous that Democrats have allowed this to go on for over 40 days.
HUNT: It was the SAVE Act -- because the president wanted the SAVE Act to be part of any conversations about this kind of at the last minute.
LAWLER: Now, look, the presidents been talking about the SAVE Act for months and passing voter ID.
HUNT: Sure.
LAWLER: And proof of citizenship requirements. That's nothing new.
But the fact is, the Democrats have chose to shut down the Department of Homeland Security for over 40 days now. And so, the president is saying, look, if they are refusing to negotiate in good faith, then let's focus in on passing, not just funding, but other priorities of the administration and of the Republican Congress.
But look, the Department of Homeland Security needs to be funded. And many of my Democratic colleagues are focused specifically on immigration enforcement. Well, let me show you the consequences of lax immigration enforcement.
A 18-year-old girl in my district, Sheridan Gorman, was brutally murdered by an illegal immigrant that was allowed to enter into the country during Joe Biden's administration, captured at the border released. He was arrested for shoplifting in Chicago, released. And he went and brutally murdered an 18-year-old innocent girl.
And Hakeem Jeffries yesterday couldn't even be bothered to say whether or not that type of individual who is arrested for murder, who is in the country illegally, should be deported.
So, this is what the Democrats are fighting back against, Kasie. They don't want immigration enforcement. They don't want ICE to be able to do their jobs. That individual never should have been in this country.
And the reason we passed the Laken Riley Act was specifically because you have cases where people are arrested for things like shoplifting and local jurisdictions are not cooperating with immigration enforcement.
And so innocent Americans are being killed in the streets. And so, yes, there is a debate to be had on immigration enforcement. There is a debate to be had on sanctuary jurisdiction policies that the Democrats have continually supported.
So, if they want to discuss things like, you know, federal warrants, let's have that discussion tied to detainer requests. Let's have that discussion tied to sanctuary policies. They don't want to have that discussion.
And so, they have continued to shut the government down for over 40 days. It's disgraceful. And so, yes, Chuck Schumer deserves the one finger salute.
HUNT: All right. Fair enough.
Sir, I do want to spend some time on Iran since, of course, that was the subject of a significant briefing on Capitol Hill earlier today, where a number of Republicans emerged unsatisfied with the answers that the administration was or was not providing about the status of that effort.
What is your understanding of the administration's willingness right now to put boots on the ground in Iran? And are you comfortable with how much they are telling you and your fellow lawmakers about what they intend to do?
LAWLER: So, I was not part of that briefing. I'm not sure what committee received that briefing. It could have been the Armed Services Committee.
HUNT: Yeah.
LAWLER: But yeah, but I -- I sit on foreign affairs. I'm the chair of the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee. I deal with the administration quite frequently on these issues and these matters. I am satisfied with -- you know, the information that I have received.
The fact is that over the course of this, military conflict, we have been able to significantly degrade Iran's military capabilities, their ballistic missiles program, their naval fleet, their drone capacity. There is more work to be done.
Now with respect to troops on the ground, that is not something that I am favorable to. And that is something that I do think warrants further discussion. But I think Iran needs to understand, this is not a time to screw around. This is not a time to try. And, you know hold hostage these negotiations.
If they would like this conflict to come to an end, then they should negotiate in good faith, their nuclear program needs to be DOA. They cannot pursue a nuclear weapon any further. That is critical to any negotiation. And I think the president has made that clear.
HUNT: All right. Congressman Mike Lawler, very much appreciate your time as always, sir. Thanks very much for being here.
LAWLER: Thank you.
HUNT: All right. Coming up next here in THE ARENA, what happened in California today could impact all of us.
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MARK LANIER, PLAINTIFF'S LAWYER: There are so many families who've been tragically hurt through the addiction of social media.
[16:45:02]
We've sent a message with this that you will be held accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANIER: This message is one that's important to Kaley and her family, but it's a very great importance to a generation of people who have been affected. We've sent a message with this that you will be held accountable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNT: Big tech's big tobacco moment? It may have just arrived. A jury in California found YouTube and Meta liable on all counts in a social media case that accused the tech giants of intentionally addicting a young woman and causing harm to her mental health.
[16:50:04]
The landmark decision found that both companies were negligent in designing their products and failed to warn users of the risks of using their platforms. It is worth noting here that this verdict could set a precedent for hundreds of similar cases against tech firms, and could lead to major changes to how social media platforms operate.
Technology journalist, host of "The Rip Current" podcast, Jacob Ward, joins our panel now.
And, Jacob, you have written so extensively on this. You have covered it for years. We were just talking with an earlier guest about how Washington has been simply unable to keep up with tech as these things have evolved. How big a deal is what happened today?
JACOB WARD, HOST, THE RIP CURRENT PODCAST: I mean, honestly, I get goosebumps to hear you say it because it is, it's such a big deal, at least in my world. But I would argue for all of us because it is truly the end of social media as we know it, and it's the end of childhood as we have come to accept it in this country.
And that's because, you know, I've been folks like me and, you know, I've been speaking to so many people in my circles today, and we've all been agreeing -- you know, man, it's been its been all these years of trying to articulate that the nature of so much of, of what these companies do has to do with analyzing and then shaping our behavior at scale in small and subtle ways, but in ways that are deeply profitable for them.
And trying to articulate to, you know, any average American that you're not always in control of your choices and that when you make a bad choice as guided by a system bigger than you, maybe that's not your fault. Maybe that in fact, some of that fault lies with the people shaping that system.
That's a -- that's like banging your head against the wall, typically in the United States. Now we have a jury of our peers, 12 people every day, random people selected, and they are suddenly saying, you know, not only can we sense this kind of there's something bad going on, right? This general sense that you and I as parents could agree on, right?
HUNT: Yeah.
WARD: With a cup of coffee in our hands. But now there's a name for it. Theres a legal theory for it. And as you mentioned, there's more than a thousand cases that now are going to be able to wield that as a sword. That is absolutely going to carve up and change. I think social media for all time.
HUNT: So, the cynic in me says, well, these guys will never change. Why are you confident that they're going to be forced to change by this?
WARD: Well, I mean, first of all, it's worth pointing out here, right? They're going to fight like hell to fight back against this. You know, they've -- they've put out some very polite, you know, Meta has put out very polite language about, you know, we've -- we respectfully disagree. We'll exercise our legal options.
What that means is they are going to appeal and appeal and appeal because the change to their business model could be so fundamental if this stands. But the reason and the reason that is, is, is, you know, in this case, you have $3 million in compensatory damages. But I believe the reporting is now another 3 million in punitive damages. So that's $6 million for just that one person.
Take that and multiply it across the 350 family cases coming up. That's over $1 billion. Multiply it across the 250 school district cases coming up in which each of those is like a thousand kids. And suddenly, you're getting into some very, very big numbers.
WARD: Yeah. And as I understand it, there's also an issue here of insurance companies backing away from at least Meta because of the liability that they thought they were seeing. Suddenly, the Meta, as I understand it, does not have the same insurance coverage they once did.
And so, suddenly, you know, there is no cap to the amount of money that could be -- could be levied against these folks. And so, it truly is, you know, there's a scale at which you have to you know, the money is how we get change in this -- in this country. And the money has been, it's been unimaginable to take on a company like this at the scale that would change them. But suddenly, we're in a new world here, Kasie.
HUNT: Yeah, depressing but true on what it takes to change, but here we have today.
Actually, I want to put this to the parents at the table, because I know this is something I spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about, because it's not something you can deal with on an individual or even on a family basis. It has to be collective.
What say you?
ELLEITHEE: Oh, 100 percent. I mean, there is nothing more frustrating in my life right now as a parent than watching my kids get sucked into this vortex of social media. And there's no escaping it.
And what really gets me is when they acknowledge it, when even the kids see it and realize that this is not safe.
HUNT: Some of these, what the studies are doing, the kids are saying, I don't want this.
ELLEITHEE: And they can't do anything about it. Congress has failed. Regulators have failed. Our schools have failed, right, by allowing --
HUNT: Our teachers are doing the best they can.
ELLEITHEE: They really are. But the system still allows it in their classrooms.
MCHENRY: Every parent that has young kids worries about this. Every single one. This is a voter issue. It's a -- it's an issue for everybody in society.
But now, the courts are going to write standards or Congress, and that's going to be the decision because it's quite popular the people to take action against this.
[16:55:00]
And it's not just about social media. It's about the next wave of A.I. and tech, which the American people have great concern about.
HUNT: Right. Even -- even bigger, quite frankly. ZELENY: I mean, it might be a voter issue, but Congress has done
nothing on this. I mean, so that's my question is, are they going to now because of this --
MCHENRY: There is pressure going into the election to take action to address the issue of kids. That has been the dominant issue of hashing that out.
HUNT: Yeah. All right.
ZELENY: We'll see what happens.
HUNT: We will.
Jacob Ward, thank you as always. Can't wait to have you back.
We'll be right back.
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HUNT: All right. Thanks so much for my panel. Really appreciate you all 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. Just scan the QR code below.
You can also catch up by listening to THE ARENA's podcast. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheArenaCNN.
But don't go anywhere, Phil Mattingly is standing by for "THE LEAD".
Hi, Phil.
