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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Scores Of Firings At Federal Agencies Underway; Judges Deal Setback To Trump's Agenda On USAID, Transgender Care; Acting U.S. Attorney Says NY Mayor's Lawyers Offered "What Amounted To A Quid Pro Quo" To Drop Charges. Heavy Rain Causing Mudslides Only Weeks After CA Fires; Fragile Ceasefire Appears Back On After Hamas Says It Will Comply; Moms Of Freed Hostages Detail What Their Daughters Endured. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired February 13, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:33]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, evacuations have been ordered in parts of Southern California in areas that had already been impacted by the devastating wildfires last month. And now the fears are flooding mudslides and rock slides as storms are moving into the area.

Plus, is the fragile ceasefire deal in Gaza now back on track as we're waiting to hear more about hostages hopefully being released this weekend? We will hear from the mothers of three recently released hostages. What did their daughters endure in captivity? How are they adjusting to being back home?

And leading this hour any moment, we expect to hear from President Trump and Indian Prime Minister Modi at the White House. The two men are expected to face cameras after President Trump made a number of headlines earlier today on Russia and Ukraine on new tariffs on Elon Musk and much more. Let's bring in Kaitlan Collins, who's at the White House for us.

Kaitlan, set the stage for this Modi Trump meeting.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Jake, they're meeting right now. We just saw them inside the Oval Office. This is the fourth time he has met with a world leader since he has been inaugurated here at the White House and has been having a slew of these meetings. Trade, immigration has been a huge talk here, obviously containing China.

But he did have reporters inside the Oval Office before the prime minister arrived here, Jake, and were questioning him about that major phone call that he had with another world leader yesterday, President Putin of Russia, the first confirmed call that we know the two leaders have had since Trump took office. And he was posting about it this morning, hoping that those conversations can jumpstart negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine. And as were discussing this, Jake, one key question here has been what Putin intends to do because the president has portrayed it and said that during their call, Putin told him he wants peace. I asked him earlier in the Oval Office if he trusts the Russian leader and this is what he said, Jake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So Ukraine, when Putin says that he really wants peace, do you believe him?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, I do. I believe he wants peace. I believe that President Putin, when I spoke to him yesterday, I mean, I know him very well. Yes, I think he wants peace. I think he would tell me if he didn't. I'd like to see peace.

COLLINS: Do you trust President Putin?

TRUMP: I believe that -- yes, I believe that he would like to see something happen. I trust him on this subject.

COLLINS: Do you want to have Russia back to the G7, sir?

TRUMP: I'd love to have them back. I think it was a mistake to throw them out. Look, it's not a question of liking Russia or not liking Russia. It was the G8. And, you know, I said, what are you doing, you guys -- all you talk about is Russia and they should be sitting at the table.

I think Putin would love to be back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, Jake, that's key, of course, because Russia was kicked out of the G8 when President Obama was in office after they illegally annexed Crimea. That is why it is now the G7 and Russia is not invited to the meetings of those world leaders anymore. Trump has long expressed a desire to put Russia back in that group. It is notable, though, that he is saying it weeks into his second term because obviously before when he had expressed that notion the last time he was in office, it was before Russia had invaded Ukraine and of course cost so many lives that this war has over the last three years. And so, that was notable.

He also told me that he does not want Ukraine to be sidelined in these negotiations. He told me directly that they will be part of the conversations going forward. That had been a concern that Kyiv had expressed after those phone calls with Russia and Ukraine yesterday, with President Zelenskyy telling reporters today that no agreement will be made without Ukraine obviously signing off and being part of that.

The other thing that the president talked about, Jake, was those comments by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth yesterday where he said a path to NATO he does not believe is realistic for Ukraine. And also going back to pre-2014, pre Russia going into Crimea borders was realistic either. He softened to those comments today and there were some questions about whether or not he was backpedaling on what he said yesterday. I asked the president about that. He said that -- he noted to himself those comments were softer.

But he also said, Jake, that he agrees with what Secretary Hegseth said yesterday, that Ukraine is not likely going to be joining NATO.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thanks so much. Don't miss Kaitlan's show, "The Source," which airs tonight and every weeknight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

Our political panel is here with us to discuss all the major headlines we've seen out of D.C. today, including firings across the federal government.

David Axelrod, let me start with you. These attempts by President Trump to slash away and reduce the size of the federal government, you're concerned about the message Trump is sending to anyone who potentially would want to pursue public service?

[17:05:05]

DAVID AXELROD, FORMER OBAMA SENIOR ADVISER: Yes, I really am. Look, I think Democrats sometimes make a mistake when they appear to be arguing for institutions rather than people and goals. So, you know, I think government can be more efficient. Every bureaucracy can be challenged and refined, and every jobs should be scrutinized. But you can't send people in, first of all, overnight and assess large organizations and say, you're worth something, you're not worth something.

This whole organization isn't worth something. Secondly, they are sending a message essentially, that everyone in government is either corrupt or a slug. And really underlying it, Jake, is a philosophy that somehow, if you go into public service rather than going into the pursuit of more money for yourself, that you are somehow deficient, that you are not up to snuff.

And, you know, all I can tell you is I had the pleasure, the experience of working with people across government. Yes, there were people who were less impressive, but there are so many people who were devoting themselves, talented people, to public service.

I'm in the business now. You know, I founded an institute of politics at the University of Chicago. And the whole goal is to try and make -- encourage young people to lean into service. And the message that's being sent here is very, very discouraging, denigrating, and, you know, not to mention completely unfair to the people who you're leaving out in the middle of nowhere in a no man's land. And so I -- yes, I think one of the lasting pieces of damage that I am worried about is that it will send a message, particularly to younger people, that public service somehow is not worth pursuing.

TAPPER: Let's talk about some of those people left in the middle of no man's land -- no man's land, because I want to get to this lawsuit filed by USAID employees after they were ordered to return from their assignments amid protests and unrest in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this lawsuit, they described their chaotic evacuations. One worker, who's identified as Marcus Doe in the lawsuit, said, quote, "I began to feel an intense sense of panic that my government might fully abandon Americans working for USAID in Kinshasa," which is the capital of Congo.

Lauren, let me ask you, I mean, do you think that the president's actions, his order, put these Americans in danger?

LAUREN TOMLINSON, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: I think it could have been done more orderly. But let's remember that those that were asked to evacuate in Congo, it was because of a State Department. They closed the embassy. There was active protests. I mean, that was a very dangerous situation.

They were evacuated as best they could. And then what this lawsuit is accusing is that they weren't giving the full support once they got home. And I think that's where the disconnect is, is we really do need to -- you know, I don't disagree with David's comments that it is very hard to find good people to go into public service these days. And we want to make sure that we recruit the best and the brightest and they stay. But that doesn't mean that we need to employ people forever and that they shouldn't be held accountable.

Obviously, the DOGE what they're doing, trying to find $2 trillion worth of savings in order to make sure that the United States remains solvent. That's an important job that they need to do. Balance is needed here. And I think that's what, you know, we can encourage this administration to continue to do.

TAPPER: So, Ashley, another Foreign Service worker, identified as Ruth Doe in the suit, said she had limited access to water, received no food for 12 hours during her return to the U.S. She adds that the State Department assured her that the agency would help facilitate access to prenatal care upon her return, but that has not been the case. Does this speak to a larger attitude from this administration about foreign aid workers, about women? How do you see it?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, VP HARRIS: I mean, I see it as it's a statement about the sanctity of our government, how much value they place in the function of our government. I mean, maybe I'm missing it. I'm not really sure how paying people to not work and stay at home actually cuts government waste. What are they going to do, hire people to do some of these very essential jobs? And so are we going to be paying double for one person to do the same job?

It just doesn't make any sense to me. It doesn't add up. And then here's the other point is that, you know, you can't convince me that someone who added $8 trillion to the deficit is really concerned about government -- cutting government waste. I don't believe those two things add up.

What I do think Donald Trump is really trying to do is expand the authority of the presidency. That's what we heard from Steve Bannon and Miller in the first term. They couldn't achieve it then, they want to achieve it now. So all this is an undermining of the government, agency by agency. I regret that this young lady was feeling left, abandoned by her own government.

TAPPER: Thanks to all --

ETIENNE: Our government.

TAPPER: Thanks to all of you. Appreciate it.

A scathing back and forth today between President Trump and the former Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, after McConnell voted no on another Trump nominee. That story is next.

[17:10:01]

Plus, CNN crews on the ground in Southern California where mandatory evacuations are underway amid fears of severe flooding and even mudslides. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: Breaking news in our law and justice lead, we just told you about multiple high level resignations at the Justice Department and the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney's Office, all of them apparently prompted by the Trump administration's order for a New York court to drop the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. And now CNN has just obtained two letters. One is the resignation letter from the acting U.S. attorney in New York. The other is the response she got from Trump's Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove. Let's go straight to CNN's Evan Perez.

And Evan, just to remind everyone, Nadine (ph) Sassoon, the U.S. attorney -- the acting U.S. attorney in question is a conservative, a member -- Danielle Sassoon, a conservative, a member of the Federalist Society. She clerked for Antonin Scalia. That's just a little background for people. What's in the letters?

[17:15:00]

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Jake. And we should note she was put in place as the acting attorney -- I'm sorry, U.S attorney in Manhattan by this current Trump team. In other words, they believe she could be trusted to run this office. And now it appears to have fallen apart all over because Emil Bove, who is the Deputy Attorney General, he's the acting Deputy Attorney General, had ordered her and her office to dismiss the charges, the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

And so these two letters here, Jake, are extraordinary because they are part of a spiraling crisis that is ongoing right now at the Justice Department. Not only is Danielle Sassoon also has she resigned, but also two officials here at the Justice Department headquarters have resigned as a result of what has been going on. I'll read you just of what -- some of what Danielle Sassoon says in her letter to the attorney general yesterday. She accuses Bove of essentially being part of a quid pro quo with attorneys for Eric Adams. She describes a meeting that happened on January 31st in which she says, I attended a meeting on January 31st with Mr. Bove, Adams Counsel, and members of my team. Adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if this indictment were dismissed.

What Adams and his attorneys were offering was that he would help with the enforcement of immigration activities in New York City. You know, the sanctuary status, all the things that Donald Trump wants if they drop this case. And, you know, that's one of the things she makes in this accusation.

Now, Bove, for his part, responds today, saying, essentially, we are accepting your resignation. And he also puts on administrative leave. The attorneys who are running this case in the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office. And he's -- I'll read you just a part of what he says. He says that they had determined that there was weaponization in bringing this case, Jake.

And he says the Justice Department will not tolerate the insubordination and apparent misconduct reflected in the approach that you and your office have taken in this matter. So what we know now, Jake, is this. After he had asked for the office to dismiss this case, and she had declined, saying nobody in her office was willing to sign the documents to dismiss the case, what happens next is that Bove goes to the public integrity section here in Washington, and he asks them go to New York and sign these dismissals. They also declined, and they resigned.

So, as a result, Kevin Driscoll, who's the top career lawyer in the Criminal Division overseeing the public integrity section, he resigned today. And John Keller, also the acting head of the Public Integrity Section, Jake, he resigned as a result of all of this.

TAPPER: Fascinating stuff. Evan Perez, thanks so much.

Let's talk about this with Elie Honig, CNN Senior Legal Analyst, who was an Associate U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

And Elie, again, this woman, this acting U.S. Attorney, Danielle Sassoon, was a conservative -- is a conservative. She clerked for Scalia. She's a member of the Federalist Society. This is not her being a liberal activist prosecutor. Tell us about what kind of statement her resignation makes, do you think, not to mention the people in the Public Integrity section of DOJ?

ELIE HONIG, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF N.Y.: Well, Jake, these resignations were courageous and necessary moves. It was the only right and principled and ethical move by all of them. All of them were faced with really a prosecutor's nightmare scenario. They were given a direct order from the DOJ bosses to dismiss a perfectly legitimate indictment before it ever saw a trial jury for purely overtly political reasons. If we look back a few days to Emil Bove's instruction to dismiss the case, that letter is a crazy document. It is completely political. It is explicitly political. It says the reason I'm ordering you to dismiss this case has nothing to do with the merits of the case, nothing to do with the evidence, but because Eric Adams essentially needs to be freed up to pursue Donald Trump's immigration agenda. So, good for Danielle Sassoon, good for the other DOJ prosecutors. They did the right thing.

They took a stand here.

TAPPER: So there were a lot of concerns that the original case against Mayor Adams was dropper for political reasons. And let's be frank here. It's not just about their desire for him to carry out the anti- illegal immigration agenda in New York. Mayor Adams has been very explicitly wooing Donald Trump and now multiple resignations are linked to this decision from the Justice Department. Do you think the actions of Emil Bove are over the line?

HONIG: A 100 percent, I think they're over the line. I think they're political and I think they're wrong. And Jake, as you said, Eric Adams has been angling for this type of treatment. We thought maybe it would be a pardon for months now. I will tell you in the SDNY circles that I sort of dwell in, people have been rolling their eyes at this for a long time saying, oh, he's definitely going to get out of this somehow, he'll get a pardon.

[17:20:10]

But the way this all happened makes it even worse. The fact that Emil Bove instructed SDNY to do it. And by the way, when Danielle Sassoon refused to do it, and you're right, by the way, to note that she's a conservative, not only did was she a Federalist Society member, she penned an op-ed against Joe Biden a few weeks ago, just sort of gratuitously criticized, criticizing Joe Biden's pardons. But when Bove told her to do this, to dismiss the case, and when Danielle Sassoon refused, this part is really chilling to me. Emil Bove then fired back with a letter that Evan just referred to that said, fine, everyone around you is going to be put on administrative leave too, and now we're going to investigate you, not criminally, but through our inspector general, which is the in house ethics watchdog.

So, that is sending an unmistakable and I think, chilling message, which is get on board with the political agenda here or be punished.

TAPPER: And it's amazing because she was prosecuting an allegedly corrupt Democrat who is kissing up to Trump. It's really remarkable. You couldn't write this. If you put this in a screenplay, people would be like, that's too broad. That would never happen.

Elie Honig, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

HONIG: Thanks, Jake. All right.

TAPPER: More now on our political lead, there's major movement this afternoon as President Trump looks to fill his Cabinet. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Kash Patel's nomination to be FBI director. This is now headed to the Senate for a full vote, where it is expected to pass given the fact that the Republican Party just goes along with everything Trump wants, pretty much. Trump's education secretary nominee, Linda McMahon, formerly of World Wrestling Entertainment, faced questions in her Senate confirmation hearing. Yes, that's the department Trump said yesterday he wanted to, quote, dismantle it immediately.

Just a few hours ago, RFK Jr. was sworn in as Secretary of Health and Human Services. Senator Mitch McConnell was the lone Republican to vote against him. CNN's Manu Raju joins us from Capitol Hill.

Manu, Senator McConnell for the third time is voting against one of Trump's Cabinet nominees.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the former Republican leader, now a rank and file senator. Someone who has indicated to his colleagues that the, quote, shackles are off and he is showing some independence. Really the only Republican senator to vote against more than one Trump nominee. And on this issue, he cited the fact that he is a childhood polio survivor and believes deeply on the issue of vaccines and criticized RFK Jr.'s past skepticism about vaccines. And said in a statement, "A record of a trafficking in dangerous conspiracy theories in eroding trust in public health institutions does not entitle Mr. Kennedy to lead these important efforts."

Now, there's no love lost between Trump and McConnell. They had a famous falling out in the aftermath of January 6th when McConnell pointedly blamed Trump for the attack here in the Capitol. But Trump today was asked about this and he fired back at the former Republican leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: He's a, you know, very bitter guy. And we have a very strong party and he's almost not even really a very powerful member. I'd say he's not a -- he's lost his power and it's affected his vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, RFK Jr. was able to win over Republicans despite some raising concerns about those skeptical comments about vaccines that he has made over the years. He had made some private and public commitments to some of them. And I asked several of those Republican senators about if they are hesitant in any way about confirming him to this post given those past comments.

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RAJU: As a physician, why are you now concerned about his vaccine skepticism?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): Look, Anthony Fauci did more to set back people using vaccines in two years than Bobby Kennedy will in a lifetime.

What Bobby's emphasis is to empower physicians and parents to have the information they need and not rely just on the drug company studies. That's all he's asked for.

SEN. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-AK): Well, I think there are many of us who have asked for specific commitments, most specifically related to vaccines, and we want to be able to hold him accountable to that. So we're going to be checking him in, we're going to be calling him in, and we're going to be following through.

RAJU: Do you trust him that on vaccines or do you trust that he's going to --

MURKOWSKI: We're going to hold him accountable and that's how we will get the trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: And that last comment comes from Senator Lisa Murkowski, one of the key swing votes in the Senate GOP conference. But she, along with another moderate member, Susan Collins, both voted yes in favor of RFK Jr.'s confirmation. Jake.

TAPPER: Manu Raju, thanks so much.

As they build back from the ashes of those devastating fires, Southern California residents are now facing torrential rains bringing the threat of dangerous mudslides. We're going to have the latest next.

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[17:29:13]

TAPPER: In our national lead, thousands of residents in Southern California forced to evacuate their homes for the second time in just weeks. This after last month's devastating wildfires across LA County. An atmospheric river fueled storm is now expected to batter more than 600 miles of California with inches of torrential rain. A rock slide in Santa Cruz has already blocked roads. And at least four counties in Southern California are under evacuation orders or warnings over the threat of debris flows and mudslides. CNN's Stephanie Elam joins us now from the Palisades burn zone in Malibu.

And Stephanie, the mudslides have already started?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, they have. In fact, they're cleaning up one here right now. We've been watching them clean up this mudslide. You can see down here by me, it's just really ooey-gooey still the part that's around here and putting in these barricades here. This is because here on the Pacific coast highway, we are up against this mountain, this hillside that has burned. And the issue is once it burns like this, it burns into the root systems of the trees, of the shrubs, and then that means the soil can be loosened up and then you get these mudslides.

We've already had some very strong rain come through. We have another band that's coming in here starting shortly up until around nightfall a little bit after that. That's when we'll see another big band of that. But I checked in with the Army Corps of Engineers. I also checked in with FEMA. They did scale back some of their work today as far as removing that debris from these fire areas simply because there is so much rain.

They want to make sure they protect their workers, the environment, and also residents, of course. But this is what happened. So the PCH closed right now because they're cleaning this up. They're making sure that this is safe in different parts of it. And it's not just mud, it's also sometimes rocks, and so that could be a dangerous thing for anyone coming through here. But that's what they're dealing with as we await another storm coming in off the Pacific, another band of this storm here really impacting how crews are working here, let alone all the other concerns for the people who've been dealing with these fires. It's just hit after hit coming right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, Stephanie Elam, stay safe. Thanks so much.

Let's bring in Derek Van Dam from CNN's Extreme Weather Center. Derek, how long is this atmospheric river-fueled storm expected to last?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Jake, we've got the next three hours as the most critical part of this storm as it dumps the heaviest rain over the burn scars that Stephanie is currently located at. You're looking at the latest radar.

We've had lighter rain on and off throughout the course of the day today, but I'm concerned about this band moving over Santa Barbara, just entering into Ventura County. This is the one that could produce the one-inch-per-hour rainfall rate. So this is why we're so worried about it.

Stephanie mentioned you saw it in her live shot a moment ago with the topography in and around the Palisades fire, 27,000 acres, scarred, charred landscape, and it's all because of these mountain ranges, the Santa Monica Mountains that tower over 3,000 feet in some locations. They're so susceptible because they've been compromised because of the recent wildfires.

And when you get heavy rain on top of that, that loosens the top soil, and then eventually gravity wins and the ground slides. This can travel up to 35 miles per hour, Jake. And by the way, this will carry rocks, boulders, tree trunks, even vehicles if it's in its way.

TAPPER: All right, Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.

A mother's love knows no bounds. Here for the first time in the U.S., the story of three of the women held hostage by the terrorist group Hamas. Here from their own mothers. Keep it here.

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[17:36:53]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If all of the hostages aren't returned by Saturday at 12 o'clock, cancel it and all bets are off and let hell break out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The clock is ticking on President Trump's Monday warning to the terrorist group Hamas. That tenuous Israel-Hamas ceasefire and hostage deal was tested again today after Israel said it launched a strike into Gaza. Israel's military says it was in response to a detected launch within the strip, a rocket that ultimately ended up landing in Gaza. CNN's Nic Robertson's in Jerusalem. And Nick, calling this deal fragile feels like an understatement.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it really does when you have President Trump saying that he wants all hostages released Saturday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, of course, has been cautious not to use the figure.

All the hostages released, not putting a specific number to it. And what Hamas has said today after meetings they have with interlocutors in Cairo was that they were willing to continue with the release -- with the releases as planned if Israel abides by its part of the deal.

Now, Israeli officials are not saying precisely how they'll respond to that. They are indicating that it is -- it does seem to be heading in the right direction. But Hamas is not putting a number -- on the number of hostages that they're going to release. The expected number was three.

And -- and Israeli officials are saying at the moment that there doesn't feel like there's an appetite for the agreement to break down at the moment. So headed in the right direction. But, of course, as you say, a missile fired or intended, it appeared to be fired out of Gaza today. Hamas said, actually, that was war debris that children had triggered. It landed inside Gaza, killing a child. But the IDF said they also targeted the firing site of where it was launched, Jake. So fragile, yes.

TAPPER: And Nick, both Israel and Hamas are accusing each other of violating the ceasefire terms. What -- what do you know about that?

ROBERTSON: Yes, I mean, one example of that is the rocket launched today. Another example, the IDF say, is that a drone was intended to be smuggled from the south of Israel into Gaza. Now, the IDF saw it in the air, directed action on it, took the drone out, took the operatives, they said, inside of Gaza who were waiting to receive it out.

But the Egyptians are also saying now they've talked to Hamas that there have been a number of violations on the Israeli side, 19 violations, they say. Of those, they say 105 times the IDF has flown drones over Gaza at unauthorized times. They say that -- that the Israeli authorities are not allowing in the right type of humanitarian aid. A lot is going in. We've heard the U.N. say that.

The -- the COGAT, the Israeli authority that allows aid into Gaza, is saying that. But what the Egyptians are saying is, it's not the heavy lift cranes. It's not the prefabricated housing that was part of the agreement. These are some of the points they're putting forward, Jake.

[17:40:00]

TAPPER: All right. Nic Robertson in Jerusalem, thank you so much.

As for the hostages released almost three weeks ago, a long recovery is underway. Three women, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, and Liri Albag, were completing their mandatory service in Israel's military when Hamas kidnapped them and murdered their friends. And now those three women, released, are telling their closest loved ones what they endured during their near -- nearly 500 days of captivity by a group that both Israel and the United States consider to be a terrorist group. CNN's Bianna Golodryga got the only U.S. interview with the mothers of these three former hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN SENIOR GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (voice-over): It was a homecoming that captivated a still traumatized nation. Young female hostages finally reunited with their families after 477 grueling days.

ORLY GILBOA, MOTHER OF FORMER HOSTAGE DANIELLA GILBOA: Daniella, she's happy, she's at home, she's free, and this is what -- what's important.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): On the morning of October 7th, Hamas terrorists attacked the IDF military base, where 22 female soldiers were stationed as spotters along the Gaza border. Naama Levy, Liri Albag, and Daniella Gilboa can be seen wounded, bound, and threatened by their captors, surrounded by the murdered bodies of 15 of their friends.

GOLODRYGA: Did your daughter tell you about the specific horrors that they endured in the video that we saw?

GILBOA: October 7th is the most hard thing for her to speak about. She lost a lot of good friends of her, and the loss of -- of them is very hard for her, even more than the -- the period of time of their captivity.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Images of Naama's capture in particular took the world by storm, as she was dragged by her hair, wearing bloody sweatpants. Somehow, her mother says, she saw the video in captivity, and also heard her family's pleas for release.

AYELET SHACHAR LEVY, MOTHER OF FORMER HOSTAGE NAAMA LEVY: She saw the video, she knew about it, and she did see myself and her father in different interviews. She heard sometimes on the radio her brother speaking, her grandfather speaking. So it wasn't an everyday thing, but sometimes she was exposed to the media, and it did give her a lot of strength and support, and helped her throughout those days.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Shira says Liri was sometimes held with Naama, and another recently released hostage, Agam Berger. SHIRA ALBAG, MOTHER OF FORMER HOSTAGE LIRI ALBAG: Liri most of the time was in apartments with civilians, with families, with the -- the women of the captivities, with the children. It was difficult, because they -- they need to stay to clean the house, and to cook for them, and to teach the children, to sit with the children, and to try to teach them.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Just days after her own return, Daniella watched as her cousin, Eli Sharabi, along with two other hostages, came home appearing emaciated and frail, their condition shocking almost everyone.

GILBOA: Daniella told me, mama, just know that if we were released two months ago, I was, looked like Eli, because she also lose a lot of weight there.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): Daniella told her mother that until recently, she shared one plate of food with three other women. Prior to her release, she says she only had to share the plate with one other.

GILBOA: It's important to understand that it's not that we see Daniella, how she looks like right now, it doesn't mean anything about what happened there, and how she fell there.

GOLODRYGA (voice-over): The priority now for these mothers, along with the majority of Israelis, is the urgent release of all the remaining hostages. And their appeal is largely directed at one man.

LEVY: President Trump had a key role in mobilizing this deal, and for her to come back. And -- and we know now, and his influence is crucial for this continuation of the deal, and for the other hostages to come home. And we know how urgent it is, we see how urgent it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLODRYGA (on camera): And Jake, another example of the strength and courage of these young women, a story has come to light. Amit Soussana, a 40-year-old civilian who was taken hostage, and -- and through her own strength came forward and said that she was sexually assaulted while she was in Gaza. She was released in November of 2023. In the last few weeks, she has come forward and said Liri saved her life.

[17:44:59]

Liri Albag, at 19 years old, Jake, had told the captors that Amit was not somebody who was working in the Israeli military and they were threatening to kill her. And it was Liri who stood up to these captors. And Amit says that she saved her life and she's alive because of her.

TAPPER: All right, Bianna, thank you so much for bringing that to us. We'll be right back.

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[17:50:01]

TAPPER: Our Pop Culture Lead now, the Oscar-nominated short film "Anuja" follows the story of two young sisters struggling to survive in India. When one sister is offered a pivotal opportunity, she has to make a choice that will change both her life and her sister's life forever.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through audio translation): Listen, my pumpkin. You know that you'll get top marks. A perfect score. I'm sure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through audio translation): Four hundred rupees. Even if we had that kind of money --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through audio translation): Not worth it? Everything has its price.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Our next guest is one of the producers of "Anuja," which is, by the way, streaming on Netflix. She's also a Tony-winning producer and a six-time Emmy nominee. I'm happy to be joined now by future EGOT Mindy Kaling. Mindy, what drew you to "Anuja"?

MINDY KALING, PRODUCER, "ANUJA": Well, first of all, thank you for having me on the show, Jake. It -- and I just loved it. You know, Suchitra Mattai, who's one of the filmmakers, is a really well- established visual artist. And she emailed me and said, I made this short film. Would you want to watch it and possibly produce it? And I had no experience in short film at all.

And it seemed like the material was kind of heavy, so I was unsure. And I saw it, and it blew me away. It's such an amazing coming-of-age story. There's so much joy in it. And we were lucky enough to get nominated for an Oscar. So it's -- it's great. Everyone should check it out on Netflix.

TAPPER: What was that like to hear that "Anuja" was nominated for an Oscar?

KALING: I mean, I'm from the world of television, so Oscars and all the film world is still so kind of far away and glamorous to me. But honestly, the film deserve it -- deserves it. The filmmakers, they shot this in five days with no money. And what I love about it is that it's a story that is it's full of joy. And it's like, you know, there's a lot of heavy stuff in here.

And I think we're used to watching things with the subject material, like child labor, and we're like, oh, God, this is going to be, like, so bleak. But they've infused these heroines with just so much agency, and it's so fun, and you love following their adventures.

TAPPER: So, I mean, I know you're a very smart person. You went to a wonderful college, Dartmouth College. So -- so you're obviously brilliant -- so you're obviously brilliant. Did you learn anything about the real-life challenges for young kids working in India or -- that you didn't know before?

KALING: What I think this movie does is it shows the nuances of it, which is, of course, everybody would say, like, we should end it immediately. But for so many of these young people, it's how they're supporting their family. So we'd like to come in and just make a, you know, blanket statement of, like, end it all, but it's like this is also an opportunity.

So I -- there's -- it's a really tricky subject with a lot of nuances in it. But what I love about the film is that it's just empowering for these two young girls.

TAPPER: What do you hope people who watch it will take away from it?

KALING: You know, that they can see these resilient young girls, that they're navigating these, like, systemic challenges, but they are like any girls that you might know growing up. You know, they're underprivileged and there's obviously struggles. But they love each other and there's a real sense of fun. And I think that anytime you can take someone from a circumstance that's very different and show how similar they are, and we do this in comedy and T.V. all the time, that that is, like, such a meaningful work of art.

TAPPER: So just to take a turn to a different show, a different piece of work, you're the showrunner for "Sex Lives of College Girls." Just wrapped its third season on Max, which we should note is our sister channel, et cetera, et cetera. You also have a new comedy series, "Running Point," coming out on Netflix, and you're now going to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It's quite a moment for you right now.

KALING: Well, you're making me feel really successful, so thank you for saying all that. Yes, the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is kind of mind-blowing.

TAPPER: Do you know where it is? Is it, like, near, like, Carol Burnett's and Mary Tyler Moore's, or do you have any -- do you have any idea?

KALING: I'll find out next week, but, of course, that was my first thing is, you know, I don't want to be in, like, not great area, but who am I kidding? I'll take any. I'll take any block in Hollywood.

TAPPER: Mindy Kaling, thank you so much. Continued success. "Anuja," streaming now on Netflix.

KALING: Thank you.

[17:54:32]

TAPPER: Dramatic video shows the moment that a whale swallowed a kayaker and then spit him back out. Holy Jonah. We'll show you next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our World Lead and terrifying video that shows a humpback whale briefly swallowing a kayaker off the coast of Chile. And fortunately -- fortunately, the whale released 24-year- old Adrian Simancas. Moments later, Simancas tells CNN that he felt a slimy texture on his face before feeling as though he was sinking. Despite the encounter, both father and son say they would absolutely go kayaking again. Maybe in the swimming pool next time.

In our Sports Lead, the list of the 100 highest paid athletes is out. And while you will surely recognize a lot of the names, it did not escape notice of my staff that not one of them is a woman. That's right, the 100 highest paid athletes in the world, all of them men, according to the list compiled by Sportico. Number one is soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo, earning a reported $260 million. Other popular athletes on the list include Steph Curry, LeBron James, and of course, the MVP of the Super Bowl, Jalen Hurts, the quarterback of my beloved Philadelphia Eagles. The parade is tomorrow in Philly.

[18:00:18]

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Substack, on the TikTok at JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X at TheLeadCNN. If you ever, God forbid, miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to the show once you get your podcast. All two hours sitting a big Philly cheesesteak.

The news continues on CNN with one Mr. Wolf Blitzer right next door in a place called The Situation Room. I'll see you tomorrow.