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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump Takes Questions As Iran War Hits One-Month Mark; Trump Signs Executive Order Cracking Down On Mail-In Ballots; Artemis II Crew Set For Historic Launch Tomorrow; Daily Mail Obtains Photos Of Kristi Noem's Husband Wearing Fake Breasts; Pelosi On Female President: "It Will Come... Soon". Aired 6-7p ET
Aired March 31, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They can be also shot out of the air by, you know, high quality aircraft, which we have more than anybody ever had.
[18:00:02]
REPORTER: And there was a viral video this week, but I don't know if you saw that, Army helicopters hovering near Kid Rock's House in Nashville. Do you see that video?
TRUMP: I didn't see it now, but I'm sure they had a good time.
REPORTER: So, the Army just said the crews of these helicopters have been suspended. What do you think of that?
TRUMP: Well, it depends. Are they -- well, they probably shouldn't have been doing it, yes. You're not supposed to be playing games, right? I'd take a look at it. They like Kid Rock. I like Kid Rock. Maybe they were trying to defend him. I don't know.
REPORTER: Does Iran have to make a deal for the U.S. to end its operation in Iran?
TRUMP: No.
REPORTER: And have you spoken --
TRUMP: No.
REPORTER: And have you spoken directly to Iran?
TRUMP: Iran doesn't have to make a deal. No. Yes, I've spoken to a lot of people. It's a new regime. They are much more accessible. They are right. You know, they said, we have a present for you, Mr. President, out of respect. And they said -- wait a minute. Do you want me to answer the question? You're a fresh person. You know, we've had a lot of problems with you, haven't we?
No, they don't. You asked me a question. No, they don't have to make a deal with me. When we feel that they are, for a long period of time, put into the stone ages and they won't be able to come up with a nuclear weapon, then we'll leave. Whether we have a deal or not, it's irrelevant.
Now, it's possible that we'll have a deal because they want to make a deal. They want to make a deal more than I want to make a deal. But in a fairly short period of time, we'll be finished. They will not be able to do a nuclear weapon for years. And when they already may be in a long time from now able to do a nuclear weapon, you'll have a president that will be like me and that he will go there and he'll knock the hell out of him again because they cannot have a nuclear weapon.
They are very radicalized people. They're very sick leaderships. And I will say, though, that the leadership we're dealing with now with the new regime, because we have a new regime, and the new regime is much better than the past. Yes?
REPORTER: Mr. President, the Iranian government threatened a bunch of U.S. companies today in the region, including Google, Apple --
TRUMP: With what? What did they threaten them with? B.B. guns or --
REPORTER: Well, that's a --
TRUMP: They don't have much left to threaten.
REPORTER: My question for you is, are you --
TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, what are they -- you made a statement. What did they threaten him with? I don't know. Tell me, how did they threaten them?
REPORTER: All I know is that they threatened them, sir.
TRUMP: What does that mean?
REPORTER: I don't know.
TRUMP: They said something nasty?
REPORTER: We have -- is the government in touch with these companies? Are you helping to backstop them?
TRUMP: You don't even know what the threat was. What was the threat? I haven't heard it. What was the threat? Did they say they're going to blow them up? They're going to hit them? They're not -- you know what they're not going to do? They're not going to hit them with a nuclear weapon. Yes.
REPORTER: Is it something you're concerned about, sir?
TRUMP: No.
REPORTER: Iran's IRGC issues a warning that they will target 18 U.S. technology companies if the U.S. continues targeted assassinations of Iranian leader beginning on April 1st. Those companies are NVidia, Apple, Microsoft --
TRUMP: Most of those people are dead already. Yes. Peter?
REPORTER: I got one. Your son, Eric, posted a photo of what will be the Trump Presidential Library.
TRUMP: Yes.
REPORTER: It's a huge skyscraper.
TRUMP: In Miami.
REPORTER: Is that all a library? What else is going into it?
TRUMP: No. Well, it's a library. It's a museum, a library. It's presidential. But I wouldn't start until I'm out of office. I don't believe in building libraries or museums. It's really like the Barrack Hussein Obama won in Chicago in not a good location, and it's a very unattractive building that's seriously late and seriously over budget. I think you're going to see a great one here.
And it'll go up on time, on budget, best location in Miami. Best -- they say it's the best block in Miami and the state worked with us there.
REPORTER: Will people live in the floors?
TRUMP: No, it's going to be most likely a hotel. You know, this concept could be office, but it's most likely going to be a hotel with a beautiful building underneath and a 747 Air Force One in the lobby, which is going to be a trick.
REPORTER: And the Supreme Court tomorrow is going to hear arguments about your executive order trying to get rid of birthright citizenship.
TRUMP: And I'm going.
REPORTER: You're going to go to the Supreme Court tomorrow?
TRUMP: I think so. I do believe.
REPORTER: And just sit there and listen?
TRUMP: Because I have listened to this argument for so long. And this is not about Chinese billionaires who are billionaires from other countries, who all of a sudden have 75 children, or 59 children in one case, or 10 children, becoming American citizens. This was about slaves. And if you take a look, slaves, we're talking about slaves from the Civil War. And if you take a look at when it was filed, all of this legislation, all of this -- everything having to do with birthright citizenship, it was at the end of the Civil War.
The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves and the protection of the babies of slaves. It didn't have to do with the protection of multi-millionaires and billionaires wanting to have their children get an American citizenship.
[18:05:02]
It is the craziest thing I've ever seen. It's been so badly handled by legal people over the years.
If you look at the original birthright citizenship papers, they all happened right after the Civil War. The reason was it had to do with the babies of slaves. And, hopefully, it's going to say because our country is being scammed. We're getting all of these people. They're selling the rights to them. People are making a big living, getting hundreds of thousands and even millions of dollars from bringing people in and saying, congratulations, your whole family is going to be a citizen of the United States of America. That's not what it was for.
It wasn't for billionaires bringing people in or family in. It was for the children of slaves. And what you really have to do, and I don't think the lawyers talk about it as much, look at when the Civil War ended and look at the date of when this was enacted. Okay.
REPORTER: The Supreme Court, is this going to be the first time going to the Supreme Court?
TRUMP: No, I went once before the opening of the Supreme Court in the last administration.
REPORTER: And which justices will you be listening for most closely?
TRUMP: I love a few of them. I don't like some others. And, you know, you say what you want, but you'd have the ones that were appointed by Barrack Hussein Obama and Biden. I don't care how good your case is. You can have the greatest case ever. They're going to rule against you. They always do. And it's not supposed to be that way.
Now, the Republicans tend to be very different. They want to show how honorable they are so a man can appoint them and they can rule against him and so proud of it. We're so proud we ruled against Trump. We're so proud we're above it. There are those that say that's wonderful, and there are those that say they're so stupid.
But the Democrats never fail at one thing. When Barack Hussein Obama or when Biden appoints somebody, they go along that line. You can have the greatest case in history and almost, I guess I have to say almost, maybe I don't have to say it, almost without fail, those people, four of them, sometimes five of them, but four of them will vote against you. You don't have a chance. You don't have a chance. And that's not what the court system is.
Now, the Republican appointees tend to go -- and this has been long before me. This has been for many years. Some people would call it stupidity. Some people would call it disloyal. Some people would say they're right in doing it. And I don't mind being right, but the other side almost never does it, almost. I think you could find maybe a couple of instances almost never does.
When a Democrat appoints a judge, and I'm talking about judges, not just justices, you go before some of these Democrat judges in Washington, D.C., and you don't have a chance. That's why I gave pardons to hundreds of people that were so badly treated having to do with J6. Yes?
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Oh, do you have a question?
REPORTER: Yes.
TRUMP: Let's go. I didn't see you over there.
REPORTER: Sorry.
TRUMP: You've been so nice. Here we go. Now, she's going to hit me with a bad one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go ahead.
REPORTER: On the Save America Act, Mr. President, do you still think it's going to pass? Were you --
TRUMP: I don't know. It's the craziest thing. The Democrats are totally against. Again, they're unified. I think maybe you would have Fetterman, who I have a lot of respect for, but the Democrats are unified against it. And you need Democrat votes unless you do something smart, called the filibuster, terminate the filibuster, which they should do. Republicans should do that. But there are a couple of Republicans that -- maybe they're not so smart because the Democrats will do it on the first day in office, maybe the first hour. It's a question, will it be the first hour or the first day?
And so who can believe that a person -- you can't even get into the floor -- that a person wouldn't vote for? Think of it, for citizenship, proof of citizenship, for voter identification. And we also added one. We added mail-in ballots, mail-in ballots with exceptions for the military, for people that are sick, people that are traveling, for the disabled. We have very generous exceptions. But who would believe that that would be possible not to get those things to vote for?
And then we added best of Trump, we added no men in women's sports, different subject, but we added that. And we said, no transgender mutilization of our children. These are all 90, 95, maybe 98 in some cases, maybe 99 in terms of if you -- those first two.
[18:10:02]
If you talk about the first two, I think, you know, I think that -- I think 98, 99 percent voter identification, right? Wouldn't you think -- don't you think it's nice -- with picture, wouldn't you think it's nice when the Democrats had their convention, I remember it so well, you had to have identification to get into the arena, and they had a card that was bigger than most of their chests. And it had everything. It had their picture. It had -- and if you didn't have that card, they threw you away. In New York City recently, we had a big snow storm. Mayor Mamdani had -- he called out for people to shovel snow, but you had to give identification with picture. If you didn't have --
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we're going to break away from President Trump. We're going to continue to monitor what he's saying, but he is repeating things that he said in the past. We covered that because the president just signed an executive order on mail-in ballots, which is relevant to what's going on in the U.S. today. We're going to talk about that in a second.
But I do want to focus on something that the president said at the top of his remarks to reporters about the war in Iran. He said that the war could be over within the next two or three weeks.
Let's play this one key moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would say that within two weeks, maybe, two weeks, maybe three. We're hitting them very hard. Last night, we knocked out tremendous amounts of missile-making facilities, we -- as you probably read or wrote. We knocked out -- excuse me?
REPORTER: Pardon me interrupting. Will be -- the U.S. will be gone or done with the war in two, three weeks?
TRUMP: I think two or three weeks we'll leave. There's no reason for us to do this. Look, the problem with the strait, a guy can take a mine, drop it in the water and say, oh, it's unsafe. It's not like you're taking out an army or you're taking out a country, or you -- he can drop it. Or he can take a machine gun from the shore and shoot a little few bullets on a ship, or maybe an over the shoulder missiles, small missiles. That's not for us. That'll be for France. That'll be for whoever's using the strait.
But I think when we leave, probably that's all cleared up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The president constructing an exit ramp of sorts there for the war. Let's bring back David Urban and David Axelrod.
David Urban, the president there seeming to suggest that the war could be over before the end of April and also that having the Strait of Hormuz released from Iranian control will not be a goal of the war. What's your reaction?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, Jake. You know, it's -- you've heard him say this and the members of the administration say, that they're looking towards Europeans, European allies have great minesweeping capability. And they're hopeful that they will participate in clearing and cleaning and opening the Straits of Hormuz. So, I don't think, you know, that's any surprise.
I do think it's a surprise hear the president come out and say two to three weeks. But, you know, Jake, when the meeting was Xi was put back on the calendar for some -- I think it's May 15th, you kind of knew that there was going to be an a wind down of this war. I couldn't see President Trump and President Xi meeting while there're still hostilities ongoing in the Middle East.
So I think the DOD, I think they're working through their target list. I watched a press conference this morning. You know, they're doing their primary, secondary, tertiary targeting. They're wiping out as much as they can. They're mowing the lawn is now the euphemism, right? They're doing as much lawn mowing as they can and setting this regime back as far as they can.
And you heard them talk about, we've had regime change, right? We've gotten rid of those 30 or 40 people at the top, while there's still the same theocracy there, different leaders, but you could call it regime change. And so I think this is -- you know, it's a smart way for the president to get out of here and I think the American people, as gas prices, as you pointed out earlier, as they climb higher and higher and higher, I think gas -- people's opinions will wear thinner and thinner and thinner in America, unfortunately.
TAPPER: David Axelrod, your reaction? He obviously is leaving not only the Strait of Hormuz as an open question as to what's going to happen there. He expressed hope that there would be a deal that would open up the strait, but that's not a must. And also there's the question of whatever remaining nuclear material is in Iran. What's your reaction, David Axelrod?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look we were told at the beginning, I mean, the president and others said we don't want to have to go back. We don't want to have to mow the lawn. Now, lawn mowing is in fashion, I guess.
But I'll tell you the numbers that I think were affecting the president. Yes, the U.S. and Israel have done tremendous damage to Iran and set their program back, not just their nuclear program, but their missile program and their ability to mount aggressive tactics in the region.
[18:15:06]
But what we haven't -- what he hasn't done is regime change. What he hasn't done is recover that nuclear material. And I think, Jake, the numbers that he was looking at were an approval rating that has now slipped below 40, the worst of his administration. And gas prices that have slipped over $4. And it is having a really serious political impact on him. And he's hearing it a lot, I'm sure, from his Republican colleagues who were on the ballot in November.
This was a predictable moment. There was no way that Donald Trump was going to hang in there in light of these polls and public opinion sliding against him and putting in jeopardy the House and the Senate, which are already in deep jeopardy come November.
And I think the press conference also, if you hear all the other things he was talking about, was a political attempt to blast through all that by firing off his golden oldies and trying to create other controversies. So, as to say to people, this is done, we're back to business.
TAPPER: Now, let's turn to the executive order President Trump just signed. It has to do with mail-in voting. The White House says this order will give state election officials a comprehensive view of who eligible voters are in their specific areas. It orders the Postal Service to verify ballots. Will only be sent and returned to and from eligible voters.
Let me bring into the conversation David Becker, who's the CEO and founder of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
David Becker, you're an election security expert. What is your take on this executive order?
DAVID BECKER, CEO AND FOUNDER, CENTER FOR ELECTION INNOVATION AND RESEARCH: Well, I've just quickly reviewed it, Jake. It just came out. And it appears the president hasn't learned any lessons from his previous executive order, which he signed almost exactly a year ago, and which was blocked by three different federal courts, and it didn't try to go nearly as far as this one appears to try to go.
It is very clear that the president is trying to dictate policy to the states, and it's also very clear that the United States Constitution prevents that. The Constitution, Article 1, Section 4 has the elections clause. That elections clause says the state legislatures have the ability to pass election policy and also that Congress can do it if the state legislatures don't act, or if Congress wants to impose some regulations for federal elections.
But the president alone has no power. His power is limited only to that which Congress has expressly authorized. And so looking through this executive order, it attempts to mandate that the DHS create a national citizenship registry, which Congress has not authorized by any means. Their data is incomplete. We know that. DHS already admits that. It dictates that states should only be able to send mail ballots to those individuals that the federal government has deemed eligible, not that the states have deemed eligible under their laws. That's clearly unconstitutional.
And it even goes so far as to say that the federal government is going to design the envelopes for mail ballots, which is something that can't just be instantly done. This is something the states have worked very hard on according to their state laws.
Look, the framers were very, very wise. Election policy is best made at the state by the state legislatures, and the president trying to bypass it here won't have any legal effect. This is going to be blocked almost as soon as that ink is dry.
TAPPER: David Urban, I know I don't have to tell you the name of somebody who recently voted by mail in the state of Florida. His name is Donald Trump.
URBAN: Yes. Look, Jake, listen, I think it's -- I think we need to tighten up the state how we vote by mail. I think the state of Florida has figured it out, right? I vote by mail in Florida because I'm usually out campaigning someplace. But look at our own home state, Jake, of Pennsylvania. It's a mess. 67 counties, each of those counties has their own election rules, their own, you know, what -- how you count ballots. You know, ask Dave McCormick in his first race. It was, you know, down to the wire and it took forever.
And I think the American people deserve an election system, which they believe is transparent, is quick, is free of air. Look, they can -- we can vote in a day in India and the biggest democracy in the world, press a button and we know who wins on election night. You know, the three of us, Jake, you, myself, David Axelrod and others have sat on the set at CNN all night, some nights, waiting and wondering when the election's going to be over, who's going to win. It drags on for weeks and months in California.
We can do better as Americans, and we need to, because faith in the American electoral system is going down their drain quickly.
TAPPER: Yes. Except the way we do it is it's up to the states, and Vermont and Kentucky are always the first --
URBAN: The states are screwed up.
TAPPER: Well, I mean, Vermont in Kentucky know how to do it. Texas does it. You know, Ohio does it. Then we got craziness in Arizona.
TAPPER: Florida does it right.
TAPPER: Yes, Florida. Yes. So --
AXELROD: Jake --
TAPPER: Yes.
[18:20:00]
AXELROD: Can I just say, yes, one of the reasons the people are losing faith is because the president keeps insisting that our elections are dishonest, that there is massive fraud, that people who are not American citizens are voting, and this has been examined and reexamined, and he's had his own commissions and so on. No one can find any evidence of that.
Our election system has been the envy of the world. And the reason we -- and so this is all about Donald Trump's assertion that he didn't win an election. He put a commission together about the election he won because he said he had beaten Hillary Clinton in a popular vote. Pence headed up that commission. A year later, they had to disband because they found no evidence of that.
So, we are having -- we are being thrown into another chaotic kind of legal battle over something that we're trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
TAPPER: David, David, David, thank you so much. I appreciate it. The final preparations are underway for NASA's historic launches tomorrow. Four astronauts set to travel around the moon as part of a mission to get humans back on the surface of the moon in the coming years. Serious issues to lay the launch earlier this year. Could the same happen tomorrow? We're hoping not. We're live near the launch site at Kennedy Space Center in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
TAPPER: In our Out of this World Lead, the countdown's on. We're now just about 24 hours out from a historic space mission. Tomorrow, NASA intends to send four astronauts on around the moon, a crucial step in landing humans on the moon once again for the first time in more than 50 years. Final preparations and testing are happening right this minute at the Kennedy Space Center on the Florida Coast, where astronauts are in quarantine, under strict health monitoring and on a controlled sleep schedule to prepare for launch.
CNN's Pete Muntean is live for us now at the Kennedy Space Center. And, Pete, this is a really important part of NASA's mission to return humans to the moon.
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Not just critical, Jake, it's necessary for NASA to prove that the SLS rocket can get out of the Earth's atmosphere, that the Orion Space Capsule can maneuver in low Earth orbit, which is critical to docking for later missions, that they can do this free return trajectory around the moon using the moon's gravity to slingshot the capsule around the moon, then point it back at Earth, and then, of course, land safely on Earth.
It is no small task, the shot clock behind us, 23 minutes -- 23 hours, 58 minutes, 13 seconds. We just hit the 24-hour mark until this launch window opens at 6:24 P.M. Eastern daylight time.
The big message here from NASA right now is confidence. Even after this failed wet dress rehearsal only eight weeks ago, the big issue really has been focused on hydrogen, which is one of the main fuels that is in that big orange tank for the SLS rocket and the leaks that hydrogen has caused. It is a very small molecule, in fact, the smallest molecule, making it incredibly leak-prone.
NASA has not found any new issues in that regard, but we won't really, really know until NASA begins what's called tanking or fueling the rocket tomorrow around 7: 30 Eastern daylight time.
I want you to listen now to NASA's Jeff Spaulding, who says that even though things are quiet right now, NASA's not found any new problems, it doesn't mean that NASA is not looking out for them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SPAULDING, TEST DIRECTOR, NASA: I wouldn't necessarily characterize that because it's quiet, that we're not still doing the same amount of rigor out in the field, we're just finding less things now than we had previously. I think at times you get to a point where you have found and corrected as many things as maybe are available to you. And so the things that we find now are quite small and much less significant than we had in the past.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: Of course, the other big X factor here, Jake, at Kennedy Space Center is the weather. And the latest weather briefing we have received from the Space Force's 45th Weather Squadron is that things are 80 percent go weather-wise when it comes to the weather tomorrow.
Of course, there are a lot of factors here, dozens of criteria, from the wind to rain, to lightning, nothing really on the weather map right now. There was some concern about a solar flare yesterday that proved to be quite large. Thankfully, though, it was pointed away from Earth. The issue here, the rub is that after we lose this window tomorrow, the weather does not look as good for the future windows, although NASA meteorologists aren't ruling out something that screams, no-go, for a launch on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday as a backup. So, we're hopeful here.
TAPPER: All right. Pete Muntean at Kennedy Space Center, thanks so much.
Joining me now to discuss former NASA Astronaut Leroy Chiao, who spent more than 229 days in space. He's also the author of an upcoming book called Dinner with an Astronaut, Serving Space Stories, Past, Present, and Future.
So, Leroy, you also have launched from Kennedy Space Center. What do you think the astronauts are feeling right now? We know they're in quarantine. What are they doing right now?
LEROY CHIAO, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT: Oh, they're relaxing. You know, they're extremely well-trained. You know, they've been training for this mission for a number of years and they're just relaxing, maybe looking so over some notes, maybe watching a movie, certainly, you know, having dinner with their close family people who are allowed into the quarantine area. And so they're just getting ready for tomorrow. They're going to go to bed early, I'm sure, even though they can sleep in a little bit tomorrow because the launch isn't until the evening, but they're ready to go.
TAPPER: And this launch obviously was supposed to happen in February, but at that point, there were a number of issues including hydrogen leaks. So, what are you going to be looking for tomorrow? And do you have any similar -- do you have any concerns that similar problems might pop up?
CHIAO: It is always possible. Hydrogen is tough to deal with in the shuttle program. It was definitely a bugaboo here and there and delayed many a launch. But, you know, it looks like from the last wet dress rehearsal, they've got their arms around it.
[18:30:03] They had that issue with the upper stage. They had to roll back for having to do with helium. They got that fixed. So, right now, I don't think they're working any significant problems. Weather's looking pretty good. 80 percent is good. You know, there are a lot of more criteria on the shuttle back in those days. And so I'm feeling really good about them going tomorrow evening.
TAPPER: The ultimate goal is to land humans back on the moon. Why is this mission going around the moon so important to getting humans back on the moon?
CHIAO: It's a stepwise progression. So, this is going to be the first time we've launched astronauts on the Orion and on SLS. And so we're going to really exercise the life support system, thermal control system, communication systems, see how they perform when we get really far away from the Earth and around the moon. And this crew will be going farther than any other humans in history so far away from the Earth. So, we want to make sure all those systems are going to work.
Of course, the heat shield, that's the big question too. After Artemis 1 some three years ago, boy, the heat shield was a lot more damaged than we expected. NASA engineers and contractor engineers worked hand in hand for the last several years. They think they've got their arms around it. They've got a good story. And I'm confident they've got it figured out.
So, but, you know, there's nothing like a test. So, let's see how it goes.
TAPPER: All right, Leroy Chiao, thanks so much. I appreciate it.
Don't miss CNN special coverage of the launch of Artemis II. It starts tomorrow, 5:00 P.M. Eastern, 2:00 P.M. Pacific.
As gas tops $4 a gallon here in the United States, President Trump is lashing out at European nations for not helping to reopen the Strait of Hormuz moves so as to allow more oil tankers through. His message to those allies is next.
Plus, an Afghan man who helped us forces and then had to flee the Taliban found a new life in the United States, and now he's worried his family is going to be deported back to Afghanistan despite the dangers for them. He's going to join us live in studio to explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
TAPPER: In our World Lead, the news organization, AL-Monitor, confirms the kidnapping of an American journalist in Baghdad, Iraq, earlier today. Iraqi Security Forces launched an operation to try to track down Shelly Kittleson. She's a contributor for AL-Monitor. The Ministry of the Interior in Iraq says she was taken by unknown individuals.
Let's bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who's in Tel Aviv for us. Jeremy, you're learning more about what might have led up to Kittleson's kidnapping. What can you tell us?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jake. A source familiar with the matter telling me that Kittleson was warned of a plot to kidnap or kill her. This plot was a plot by Kata'ib Hezbollah, and she was warned by the U.S. government, according to this source. Kata'ib Hezbollah is an Iran-backed proxy militia operating in Iraq.
This administration will be very familiar with Kata'ib Hezbollah, not only because of the current war with Iran and the role that this group has played targeting U.S. facilities in Iraq, but also because this administration helped secure the release of Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Russian Israeli Princeton University researcher who was held by Kata'ib Hezbollah for 903 days.
Already, Iraqi authorities are working to secure her release. We do understand that security forces apprehended one of the suspects and seized a vehicle that was used in the kidnapping. The State Department and the FBI both on the case. Jake?
TAPPER: Now, amid the war in Iran -- let's turn back to where you are in Israel. Amid the war in Iran, Israel's parliament voted yesterday to pass a controversial law that will expand capital punishment inside the country. But it's a little bit more complicated than that. Tell us more.
DIAMOND: Yes, that's right, Jake. And that's because, you know, many critics of this law say that it discriminates quite clearly between Palestinians and Israelis, and that this death penalty law will only apply to Palestinians. And that's because it would apply the death penalty as effectively the mandatory sentence for individuals convicted of killing Israelis with the, quote, intent to negate the existence of the state of Israel.
And that basically means that it will not apply to extremist Israelis who kill Palestinians, as we have been witnessing the rise of settler violence in the West Bank, for example. Human rights organizations have raised concerns not only because of that discriminatory nature of the law, but also because it would primarily affect Palestinians in the West Bank who are subject to Israel's military judicial system, a system in which there is a 96 percent conviction rate, according to B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights organization, and there's also no process of appealing this law.
But what there is an appeal for right now is with Israel Supreme Court. An Israeli human rights organization has already filed an appeal and legal experts say that they expect that this law will likely be struck down. But, nonetheless, Jake, a very controversial moment here in Israel tonight.
TAPPER: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv for us, thanks so much.
Also, in our World Lead, nearly five years ago, we told you the story of an Afghan man forced to flee his homeland after the Taliban took over and the U.S. military withdrew, leaving behind haunting scenes of chaos. Mohammad Iqbal Selanee worked as an interpreter for U.S. forces before he joined the so-called Zero Units led by the CIA. And Mohammad's work with the U.S., clearly, obviously put him and his entire family in danger. Luckily, they got out of Afghanistan and were given special immigrant visas and a chance to start anew in their adopted country, the United States of America.
We even saw Mohammad reunite with his friend, Josh Rodriguez, a U.S. service member with whom he served alongside in Afghanistan.
Then came November 2025, when an Afghan refugee who also served in the Zero Units attacked members of the National Guard blocks away from the White House, killing two of them.
[18:40:03]
In response, President Trump cracked down on all asylum seekers, including those from Afghanistan, including those who served bravely and honorably with the U.S. And, suddenly, Mohammed and his family, and more than 1,900 other Afghans who have settled in the United States since 2021, people who served honorably with the United States in Afghanistan, they now live in fear of being deported.
Mohammed joins us now. Thank you so much for joining us. And I've known about you for a long time. I covered the units one -- some of the units that you served with in Afghanistan when I wrote the Outpost. And, obviously, we covered your return to the United -- your coming to the United States. What has life been like for you and your family in the U.S. since you came here in 2021?
MOHAMMAD IQBAL SELANEE, FORMER INTERPRETER FOR U.S. FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN: Thank you, Jake. It's a really, an honor to be here and to be able to share and tell a little bit about my story. Well, since 2021 I came to this country, life has been mixed for me. It's hopes and a struggle as it it's always hard to adjust to a new country new system, new culture.
But I'm very grateful to be here to be safe with my family and to have a new opportunity for the future of myself and my kids.
TAPPER: Where does the status of your special immigrant visa stand? Have you applied for asylum? Because, obviously, if you were to be sent back to Afghanistan, that's essentially a death sentence. They're going after anybody who helped the U.S.
SELANEE: Yes, absolutely. That would be a (INAUDIBLE) for me to go back. But, luckily, I applied for SIV program and I got approved. And currently I am a green card holder.
TAPPER: Oh, that's great. Given that you served alongside the U.S and risked your life for years with US service members and with the CIA, do you feel that the fact that they're even talking about getting rid of Afghan heroes, Afghan allies, and sending you back, does that feel like a betrayal?
SELANEE: Well, I hope this will not happen because many of our Afghan allies who supported the U.S. and international community missions back in Afghanistan, they risk their life. They trusted because our service was with the loyalty and the hope for the better future that we fought for.
And now, as we are here, so I hope it'll not happen, but somehow, if that's the case, that would be a disaster for all those who served alongside with the U.S. troops.
TAPPER: What was your response the day that you heard about that horrible attack on those two National Guard members by an Afghan who had served alongside the U.S.? Did you worry that something like this would happen, that the entire asylum program for people like you would be put in jeopardy?
SELANEE: Well, first of all, every act is individual. We -- all the Afghan community were completely heartbroken after what had happened on that day. None of us, we were expecting that. But like, as I said mistakes can happen and crimes are individual. This is not that community had agreed on.
We had no idea that it will hurt us. But, yes, we had the some kind of failing that will impact our current situations in America.
TAPPER: If you could talk to President Trump right now -- he sometimes watches our show and he sometimes watches clips. If you could talk to him right now, what would you want him to know about why you need to stay here?
SELANEE: Well, to anyone who is hearing me through your channel, all I can say is this. All Afghan allies who served alongside with U.S. troops back in Afghanistan, they trusted them and the promise that they were met, that they'll be not, they will be not going to leave behind. And then they'll have a better future. We rest our lives. We put our families in dangers and we fought the war together with the international troops against terrorism for the better future.
So, our hope is to what had happened, we all are very sorry and we keep -- we share our deep condolence, but it is not what we are meant to be here. We are here to contribute and work hard and be part of the U.S. community.
TAPPER: And I told you so many of the guys that I wrote about, when I wrote the Outpost, send their regards, Colonel Kalinda (ph), and I also sometimes talk to Dave Roller and Alex Newsom, who I'm sure you know. And then when I visited Afghanistan in 2011 and I was with the Wolfhounds and I hung out with Shaakman (ph) and Dom Edwards and Eric Schultz, these are all guys, you know. These are all guys --
SELANEE: Yes.
TAPPER: These are all guys you worked with.
SELANEE: Yes. We had great times together. We trusted each other with our lives.
[18:45:01] And we shared many hard situations together. We've been on battlefield together. We've been in very hard and tough times with each other.
TAPPER: All right. Well, stay in touch with us, okay? Because we're going to continue to talk about the important work you did.
SELANEE: Thank you. Thanks very much.
TAPPER: And how one guy horrifying situation has nothing to do with you and your family.
SELANEE: Absolutely. Thank you so much.
TAPPER: All right. Mohammad, thank you so much for visiting us. We appreciate it.
She was the first female speaker of the house, and now Nancy Pelosi is sharing when she thinks the U.S. will have its first female president. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our national lead, tributes to the now disgraced labor leader Cesar Chavez in the form of murals and statues, names of schools, streets, institutions were common in countless cities and communities across the United States, and especially here in California, where it included a state holiday which would have been today, March 31st.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: I'm here on Cesar Chavez Avenue in Los Angeles, a street that was renamed in the early 1990s. And a year ago, on this day, March 31st, what was then called Cesar Chavez Day, this entire area right near the birthplace of Los Angeles, Olvera Street, was a huge celebration in honor of Cesar Chavez.
But as you can see, Cesar Chavez Avenue no longer a huge party location, festival celebration on what is no longer Cesar Chavez Day.
TAPPER (voice-over): The holiday canceled in the wake of the extremely disturbing allegations of rape and the sexual abuse of minors against Chavez in "The New York Times". And it's not just in Los Angeles. Communities across the state and the country are now taking down the many landmarks, streets, parks, schools, statues in honor of Chavez.
In San Francisco, this mural of Chavez was painted over immediately after "The New York Times" report.
[18:50:04]
Fresno State University erected a plywood box around a monument to Chavez.
Here, the city of San Fernando covered a statue with a tarp at Cesar Chavez memorial park. These monuments and others were made to honor Chavez for his efforts in helping to secure better wages and working conditions for farm workers in the United States. No place, however, has recognized Chavez more deeply than California, where Cesar Chavez day was a state holiday. That was until "The New York Times" report in March prompted Governor Gavin Newsom last Thursday to sign a bill renaming the holiday Farm Workers Day.
TAPPER: At Los Angeles city hall, that's the big white building behind me, Mayor Karen Bass immediately signed a proclamation changing the name of the holiday.
TAPPER (voice-over): The L.A. County School Board last week voted to remove Chavez's name from its institutions. The speed at which these efforts are taking place is remarkable, given Chavez's esteemed standing among the political left, which has only grown since his death in 1993.
President Barack Obama designated Chavez's former home and headquarters as a national monument, and President Joe Biden put up a bronze bust of Chavez in the Oval Office.
TAPPER: Back here on Cesar Chavez Avenue, local residents are already calling for the previous name of the thoroughfare to be restored, Brooklyn Avenue. It's quite a fall for a man who, just a few weeks ago was considered the most prominent farm labor and Latino civil rights leader in American history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Back here in our studio and our politics lead tonight, the personal life of a top Trump administration official or future or is she -- I'm not sure if she's still in the administration, to be quite honest, but it's under scrutiny.
Photos obtained by "The Daily Mail" show the husband of now former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wearing what looked like fake breasts and all of it raises security concerns about potential blackmail attempts and vetting procedures, or the lack thereof by the White House and Congress, and what the family of Kristi Noem seems to be saying is a shock and an embarrassment.
Let's go to CNN's Tom Foreman.
Tom, tell us more about this story.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this news about Bryon Noem is ricocheting all over D.C. and so are the pictures as they appeared in "The Daily Mail", which show him dressed in costumes with extremely large breasts. This is the husband of Kristi Noem, who less than a month ago was fired from her job as secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for President Donald Trump.
She is now a special envoy appointed by Trump as part of a security initiative aimed at combating drug cartels. "The New York Post" says a representative for the Noems said Kristi Noem is devastated by this news, and her family was blindsided by it. There is no indication that this had anything to do with her dismissal from Homeland Security, and "The Mail" says Trump told them he is surprised by the family's statement about Bryon's behavior.
They confirmed it, "The Mail" says, Trump said, "Well, wow, I feel badly for the family. If that's the case, that's too bad. I haven't seen anything. I don't know anything about it. That's too bad. But I just know nothing about it."
Of course, this is precisely the kind of matter that security experts have long said must be ferreted out during the confirmation process for cabinet members, because it presents such an obvious target for bad actors who might want to blackmail or leverage that information against Kristi Noem. Undoubtedly, there will be a lot of questions from congress now about why the White House seemingly knew nothing about this, or if it did know why it went ahead with Noem confirmation in the first place. CNN has reached out to Bryon Noem for comment and has not heard back -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks so much.
In studio to discuss this and other political stories, CNN correspondent and anchor Elex Michaelson and Melanie Mason, who she is "Politico's" California bureau chief and coauthor of "California Playbook".
So just to be clear, for our viewers out there, this isn't about a couple photos. This is about a lifestyle that is being alleged, a secret lifestyle of Mr. Noem.
And, Elex, let me start with you. Why is this a concern? I mean, it's not just about prurient interest in personal life of somebody who wasn't a government official. His wife was. It's about real security issues.
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. I mean, she was the secretary of homeland security who is in charge of so much around the world. And the fact that this could be a potential blackmail -- I mean, we know even from that statement from Donald Trump, this is not the kind of thing that he wants to get out there. The fact that he denies that he's even seen this.
And so, that raises concerns about did they know about this? And were they hiding it, or -- or not?
[18:55:00]
TAPPER: It's also a question about whether Kristi Noem did not know anything about this, too, if she was being honest with President Trump.
MELANIE MASON, CALIFORNIA BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO: Well, right. I mean, look, to each their own, right? I mean, these pictures are, as you said, prurient. But I do think that this larger question of what is the credibility coming from the administration, what's coming, the credibility of the former secretary? Did she divulge this even personally with her higher ups?
I think that that is the thing that if Congress was really going to take this seriously, that would they press forward on less about the photos themselves, as though they might be unusual for most of us? But I do think this question about security is sort of where this goes next.
TAPPER: Let's talk about the fact. Let's change subjects. Today's the last day of women's history month. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is serving her last term in congress. She shared her views on a possible woman commander in chief in this MS NOW interview. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I always thought the American people were much more ready for madam president than the congress was for madam speaker, because it is a marble ceiling. It's not a glass, it's a marble ceiling. I said to them, I don't want you voting for me because I'm a woman, but I don't want you voting against me because I'm a woman.
ALI VITALI, MS NOW ANCHOR: Do you think you'll see it in your lifetime?
PELOSI: Well, not in my lifetime, because I'm old. But it will come sometime. It will come time soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Well, we hope that Nancy Pelosi lives a long time and does see it, whatever. Party.
Michelle Obama got a lot of attention earlier when she said the U.S., in her view, still is not ready for a female president. This is -- I don't know if it's optimistic. She says she doesn't expect to see it in her lifetime, but it is going to happen. What do you make of it all?
MASON: I mean, I think that this actually reflects a conversation that I've heard quite a bit from sort of Democratic insiders, Democratic donors and voters, even as recently as last year after the 2024 election results.
I do think that Democratic women, as much as they wanted to see Kamala Harris win, I think that maybe there was the sense that maybe it might be too tough for a woman to win for president. So, I heard from donors explicitly, I'm not so sure that I can get behind backing a female president for the next go round, because they're just not so sure that that person can break that glass ceiling.
TAPPER: Interesting. I've had Republicans say to me confidentially, Elex, that their party has a real problem with electing women. That's gotten better, but not much better. Most of the women in the House and Senate are Democrats.
MICHAELSON: Yeah, but if there was a Republican nominee, that person may have a better chance of getting elected than being a female Democratic nominee. I mean, what Pelosi is basically saying is because Kamala Harris is sort of trial ballooning, this idea of running for president, she's saying she doesn't think that's going to happen the next time around. And there's other people AOC, Gretchen Whitmer, other women that potentially could be the nominee a year and a half from now.
TAPPER: So, one of the other things from this interview is Speaker Pelosi also confirmed that she has talked to -- talked to President Biden since she publicly urged him to get out of the race in 2024. She didn't reveal any details of the phone call they had. She did say this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PELOSI: Rather than talking about that, I'd rather talk about Kamala Harris. I think she doesn't deserve enough credit for what the outcome of the election in terms of -- we would have lost probably 14 seats in that election if she had not been the candidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: That's an interesting comment.
MASON: Well, it's especially interesting because, look, Pelosi and Kamala Harris did not have a particularly warm relationship, especially back here in California. You know, they're both from the Bay Area, but they weren't necessarily seen as allies. In fact, I think the relationship was much warmer with former President Biden. And yet we know that he and people close to him felt very betrayed by what Nancy Pelosi did in that runup in 2024.
So, the fact that we see her pivot to say nice things about Kamala Harris, its a little unanticipated.
TAPPER: Although it's also a backhanded compliment because she's saying if Biden had stayed on, it would have been a bigger disaster.
MICHAELSON: Right, which is really complimenting herself because she helped get Biden out of there. So, in some ways, she's complimenting her own political instincts.
TAPPER: Although it also is -- not a shot across the bow. But like, there are still these Biden diehards that are like that last Japanese soldier found in like, Hawaii or wherever -- he was found the Philippines, like in the 1970s, still thinking he was fighting World War Two. There are still these Biden diehards who think, oh, he could have won. He stood and like, she's saying no.
MICHAELSON: Well, Mike Donilon, who, of course, you know, was one of the key players. I did a whole thing with him at USC last year, and he's arguing that he -- Biden would have been better than Harris and putting out polling to show that. So that is probably where Joe Biden's head space is right now.
TAPPER: Yeah, I don't think he put out polling. He claimed he had a poll --
MICHAELSON: Yeah.
TAPPER: -- because all his pollsters say it's nonsense.
MASON: But I remember, Elex, that interview that you did, and I was really struck by how dogged Mike Donilon was. Oh, yeah. I mean, this this counterfactual, they were just insistent that he would have won. And so, clearly that is the narrative, at least in some corners of Biden world, that is still persisting.
TAPPER: Yep, it is.
Elex Michaelson and Melanie Mason, thanks so much for being here. Great to have you.
You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X and on the TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLeadCNN.
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My good friend Erin Burnett picks it up right now.
