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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Clancy Defense Attorney Says Inquiry Into Juror Will Happen In Open Court Tomorrow Morning; VP Vance Pressed On State Of U.S. Military After High-Profile Departures, Calls For Hegseth's Ouster; House GOP Cancels Votes For Last Two Weeks Of September; Vance Downplays Attendance Concerns For GOP Midterm Convention; Feminist Trailblazer & Author Gloria Steinem Dead At 92; CNN Gets A Rare Look Inside Occupied Southern Lebanon. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired September 03, 2026 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right, thanks to my panel. Really appreciate all of you being here today. Thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. Don't forget, you can always stream The Arena live. Catch up whenever you want to.
It's all in the CNN app. Just scan the QR code below. You can also catch up by listening to The Arenas podcast. Follow us on X and Instagram. We are at thearenacnn. But of course, don't go anywhere, "The Lead" anchored by Phil Mattingly starts right now.
[17:00:26]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. We start with breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead. Just stunning moments in the Lindsay Clancy trial as the judge orders the jury back to court tomorrow for a seventh day of deliberations. At one point, Clancy's defense abruptly pushed back, revealing it is a single juror, keeping the jury from reaching a unanimous decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN REDDINGTON, LINDSAY CLANCY'S ATTORNEY: I object to the court's ruling. I request that we have further inquiry. I request that we -- my motion is to remove this juror that refuses to listen to your instruction on reasonable doubt.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Tomorrow we'll make more than 36 hours of jury deliberations over the fate of Lindsay Clancy. Did the Massachusetts mother deliberately kill her three young children in 2023? Or was she suffering from postpartum psychosis when she strangled her five-year- old daughter, three-year-old son and eight-month-old baby boy. After the killings, Clancy then jumped from a second story window, leaving the 36-year-old paralyzed. Want to get straight to CNN legal correspondent Jean Casarez outside the courthouse in Massachusetts. Also with me, former federal prosecutor Berit Berger and senior trial attorney Steven Vinick.
Jean, I got to be honest, I don't often turn the volume up on the T.V.s in my office. Not only did I do that, but I was watching with absolute rapt attention as you walked us through this dramatic moment in the courtroom today. Walk our viewers through what happened here.
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's amazing, absolutely amazing. I want to tell you what Kevin Reddington just said minutes ago outside. And then I'll start from the beginning. But he just said that tomorrow morning at 9:00 there will be an inquiry by the judge in regard to this one juror. A juror that Kevin Reddington just said was identified by the four persons note.
A juror that allegedly, I will say, of course, Reddington says it's fact, that he will not follow the instruction on reasonable doubt, will not follow the law. Prosecution disagreed with that. But this all started this afternoon when everyone was let into the courtroom, and there was an immediate sidebar. The judge had papers. Kevin Reddington had his papers.
The prosecutor was up there. Kevin Reddington starts pointing as the judge, as the judge is trying to talk to him. He slams the papers down on the bench. He turns around, and he points at Lindsay Clancy, who's in her wheelchair at the defense table, so animated, so upset. The prosecutor agreeing with the judge.
Then Lindsay Clancy is rolled up to the bench, so she becomes a part of the conversation. The judge starts to talk to Lindsay Clancy, and then one by one by one, the jurors come out, and they are sworn. They are asked something by the judge. They respond very quickly. They're in individually.
When one goes out, the next one comes in, went through all 12. And then the jurors come in, and that's where the judge said, and you just reiterated that it appears as though I want to read the instruction on reasonable doubt, because this is your roadmap. This is what you must follow. He read it, and they were dismissed, and they're coming back tomorrow morning. But the defense made this argument that they were very upset and very concerned that one juror would not follow the law.
But that is in complete disagreement with the prosecution, who also argued and said, Your Honor, you talk to each juror individually, and that's just not the case here. So according to the defense, there'll be inquiry of a juror, and they want that juror off. But I have to tell you, Phil, if a brand new juror is put on this jury, they have to start deliberating from the beginning. Those are the rules in every court.
MATTINGLY: There's just so many moving parts here. Berit, let's start with the news that Jean just got with great reporting in terms of what is planned for tomorrow morning. What does that mean and kind of what's your sense of whether or not it will work or be effective? BERIT BERGER, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, I mean, so I think she's exactly right. This is a complicated situation, and the judge is in a tricky position here. You don't want to do anything that will compromise the integrity of the deliberation so far. It is possible to remove a juror, but you really have to make sure that you're removing them because they are not following the law, not simply because they don't dis -- because they disagree with the rest of the jurors. So being a lone holdout is not only consistent with our law.
[17:05:00]
We tell jurors that, you know, they're not supposed to compromise their strongly held beliefs. So you simply can't remove a juror even though they're the lone holdout. You could if they're refusing to follow the law. But you'd have to do some investigation, you'd have to do some digging, you'd have to speak to the other jurors. You'd have to get specifics before you take a drastic action like that.
MATTINGLY: Steven, I want to play more of what Clancy's defense attorney requested of the jury after the jury left the courtroom. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REDDINGTON: That there's one juror who refuses to listen to the law, that you've given him or her unreasonable doubt. And I suggest, respectfully, that the soft instruction that you gave them, saying at the sidebar, can you listen to the law, as I instruct you, does not focus on the issue. And if we come back here in a half an hour with a mistrial because of a -- because of a juror that has just spurned the instructions of this court, it's a shame. It's a real shame.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Steven, the judge, as Jean was reporting, denied the defense's motion to dismiss the juror, stating he would not take sides between one juror and the other 11. I guess the question is, do you agree with the judge here? How do you see this playing out going forward?
STEVEN VINICK, SENIOR TRIAL ATTORNEY, STEIN SPERLING: The judge is in a very, very difficult position. Nobody wants a mistrial. Nobody wants to have this case tried again. The judge is doing whatever he can to allow them to continue with their deliberations. In fact, Massachusetts has a very interesting law that if the jurors come back a second time saying that they're deadlocked, the judge can only send them back if all of the jurors consent, if they agree.
I think he's not -- he's not ready to hold it out as a -- for a mistrial. He really wants them to deliberate. As my colleague just said, there is a huge difference between refusing to follow the law and also -- and then -- and then just keeping strong with your -- with your convictions that you don't agree.
MATTINGLY: Yes. It seems like a very subjective interpretation on some level, particularly to make in a moment where the tension is so high. Jean, we talked yesterday about the judge reading the Tuey Rodriguez charge to the jury. Kind of the last ditch effort to get a verdict. Many observers thought today would be either the jury comes back and has a verdict, or it would be just a declared mistrial. Neither happened. Jurors sent back to deliberate.
How many times can this happen?
CASAREZ: Well, today was extraordinary, right? This was totally different. This had nothing to do with whether we're at an impasse or not. The foreperson, according to Mr. Reddington, sent out a note targeting, focused in on one particular juror, saying this juror will not follow the instruction on reasonable doubt. So that changes everything because now it becomes a separate issue.
Another issue that one juror and Mr. Reddington wouldn't say if it's male or female or who it is, but that one juror is now the focus of what Mr. Reddington says will be an inquiry by the judge tomorrow. So all eyes on that juror for seemingly saying he will follow the law or she will follow the law or we'll have to see. But it's an extraordinary situation because it's gone beyond now a mistrial, right? That would be the step, the next step, if the juror holds firm and does not cave to the others. But just the extraordinary step of singling one out to the judge.
MATTINGLY: Yes, absolutely extraordinary.
Berit, last thing with the little time we have left, what is the one -- it seems like it's 11 to 1one. It seems like the defense believes the one is on the other side of where they would want them to be. Am I reading too much into this? There's so little information here. I don't want to draw conclusions that aren't there.
But what's your read of things?
BERGER: Yes, my read is the same as yours. I mean, it's always like reading tea leaves trying to --
CASAREZ: I think that's addition --
BERGER: -- interpret jurors notes. But I do think that this suggests that the one juror who is not following instruction on reasonable doubt seems to suggest that the other 11 are finding that there is reasonable doubt here and you have one that's not. So that would be my interpretation. But you know what, jurors are very unpredictable and so are their notes.
MATTINGLY: Yes. I really appreciate your guys' time, perspective, expertise. There's just a lot going on here. Thank you to all of you.
And back here in Washington D.C., the first White House briefing in 42 days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the vice president or the press secretary. JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I'm not Marco. I have not yet accepted any additional jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Should Republicans be blamed for high gas prices? Will the war with Iran end before the midterms? How the vice president answered some of those pressing questions ahead.
[17:09:45]
And breaking news, the battle over mail-in ballots. President Trump now taking the fight all the way back to the Supreme Court. The uncertainty this creates with the first midterm ballots going out tomorrow.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTINGLY: In our Politics Lead, today Vice President JD Vance weighed in on two of the biggest issues on Americans minds as we head toward the midterms the U.S. war with Iran and your money. Vance led the first White House press briefing in more than 40 days and faced questions on this unpopular war that the administration back in February said would only last four to six weeks. Here's a critical exchange with CNN's Kaitlan Collins.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Will this war be over by the time of the midterm elections?
VANCE: Well, Kaitlan, again, I don't -- I wouldn't call it a war. Right now there is no active shooting. When you ask when will this end, you're asking me a question like when will the Iranians stop shooting at ships. I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians.
COLLINS: So it's up to the Iranians when this war ends?
VANCE: Well, if the Iranians keep on -- but Kaitlan, if the Iranians keep on shooting at commercial ships, again, we have, I think, a responsibility, but certainly the -- we're the only ones with the capability to ensure that the Iranians are not destroying world energy markets. And our attitude is we're not going to set an artificial timeline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[17:15:00]
MATTINGLY: Not to debate semantics, but we should note there have been a, I guess you could say a resurgence in back and forth strikes. And Jordan and Kuwait have intercepted Iranian fire just in the last 48 hours. Vance was also asked about the very real cost of living concerns, inflation, some of which have, of course, has been impacted by the Iran war. (END VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: America's inflation problem wasn't created in a day. It was created by very bad policies of the Biden administration. Trillions of dollars of new spending that was going more to fraudsters than it was to the American people. It takes a little bit of time to rebuild the foundation of America's middle class economy.
If you think that inflation is a problem, if you think affordability is a problem, number one, we're doing everything that we can to bring down prices. But what do the Democrats say? They say that they want to undo taxes, they want to increase taxes on Social Security and tips.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Let's bring in former Republican U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger. He also served as an Air National Guard pilot. Retired U.S. Army Brigadier General Leela Gray, she's a Democrat running to flip Florida's 13th congressional district currently represented by Republican Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna.
Congressman Kinzinger, I want to start with you and kind of a bigger picture look, given the Iran conflict that's underway, but there's been kind of a blow up over the course of the last couple of days in terms of the secretary of the Army resigning. The secretary of Army who's very close ally of the vice presidents and is also very well respected from both parties perspectives on Capitol Hill. I want you to listen to what Vance said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VANCE: Dan is obviously a very good friend of mine. I think he was a great secretary of the Army. Pete is also a very good friend of mine and I think he's an amazing secretary of War. And you know, fundamentally where -- look, there are a lot of issues where I agree with Pete on. The issue where I'm in the most strident agreement with Pete is that we needed to have a culture shift at the Department of War.
America has fought a lot of wars since I've been alive, 42 years, and we have won almost none of them until Donald J. Trump became the president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: What did you make of that response?
ADAM KINZINGER (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: First off, I just want to wish the general good luck in her race because I think it's an important one.
Look, I think the response was him not really having a clue what's going on and trying to have his cake and eat it too. Yes, I do think there were some areas in, I've said this before as a Air Guard pilot when I would go in for my drill week and sometimes I'd spend all weekend doing a computer based training, that was the eighth time we did the same subject, so some of that stuff kind of had to change. But that's not what Pete is doing. You know, doing more pull ups is not the cultural shift that's needed in the Pentagon. What's needed is being able to recruit people that can do things like operate drones, that can do stuff like space force and then changing the culture of the Pentagon to understand.
We've started to feel this already in Iran. The wars that are going to be fought from here out are going to look a lot like what we're seeing in Ukraine and not like what we've seen in our wars in the past. And I don't think we're ready for that. And ironically or sadly, JD Vance himself is the one that is trying to distance the United States from Ukraine when we could be learning a whole lot from them and should be. And Dan Driscoll actually started out seemingly a little more antagonistic to Ukraine, went and visited and came back a big believer.
So there does need to be a culture shift in the Pentagon. It's just not the culture shift that the vice president's thinking about.
MATTINGLY: Yes. Also worth noting, Driscoll was a key player in the efforts to kind of update or move forward the military in terms of the technological --
KINZINGER: Right.
MATTINGLY: -- advances that we've seen play out on the battlefield in Ukraine.
General, I understand your opposition to the conflict in Iran right now and the kind of key elements of it. I guess my biggest question remains at this point, what is the next step you would take? Yes, if you oppose the conflict from the beginning, you oppose the strategy up to this point, what should the U.S. do? Pull out entirely? If you're a member of Congress, are you voting to cut funding entirely?
What happens next?
BRIG. GEN. LEELA GRAY, U.S. ARMY (RET.): We need to return to diplomacy. And thank you for having me. I think that, you know, we have to stop this war with Iran because it is costing the American people. Service members and family members are paying the price and we're paying the price at home, not just in the cost of gas, but the cost of diesel, which is moves goods around the country. And so there's been a dramatic impact.
And just in Florida alone it's been a 4 billion, billion with a B dollar impact on Floridians. And by the way, Congresswoman Luna supported and voted for this war five times because she's done nothing to actually stop it. And then when you add in the tariff taxes, it is a double whammy for my community, for my neighbors of Florida 13. And so we have a responsibility, I think as leaders in America and I think as Congress members, you need -- you have to fight for your membership, your community, first and foremost. What happened to America First?
MATTINGLY: You talk about your community, your potential constituents if you win your race. There's obviously the mail-in ballot issue, the USPS rule that's been moving through the courts over the course of the last couple of weeks. The Trump administration, just a short while before the show, moving to take it back to the Supreme Court again. How concerned -- Florida is a huge VBM state. Republicans take massive advantage of their ability to run a very successful vote by mail program in that state.
[17:20:22]
Are you concerned that your constituents may actually not be able to vote or their votes may not be able to count because the postal service rule actually gets put in place?
GRAY: I think there's really good systems that are being put in place or that have been in place. And I think the certainly Florida 13 voters. This question does come up from time to time and I talk about that, you know, either vote by mail early or deliver your ballot after you voted. We have secure ballot boxes that will take those. And then also a lot of people actually vote in person too.
There -- it is a heavy early vote by mail. But isn't it ironic that they want to dismantle this system yet the president has actually voted by mail himself?
MATTINGLY: Yes, it is. Yes. Subjectively, yes, it is very ironic.
Congressman, what is your sense right now on this rule is 90 plus pages. The administration is trying to put something into place that the postal service hasn't really unveiled what it would look like yet. The portal is not public yet. If this gets into place, do you think that it can be operational?
KINZINGER: I don't know. A whistleblower recently came out and said that this was designed to fail. And this is the concerning thing is that regardless of whether they can implement this or not, every time we do something like this, we're feeding the fuel, we're feeding the fire of stolen election, stolen election. I mean, here in Texas where I live now, there's a massive county here where they're shutting down early voting locations or voting locations in poor areas that tend to vote Democratic in a very tight election here. This is the kind of thing you're seeing.
So not only is it actual potential voter suppression, it's meant to feed fuel to that fire. And I'm going to say this as a Republican, OK? We used to believe that states were the ones that ran and decided their own elections. We believed that until five minutes ago when Donald Trump came in and thought he should be the heavy hand of how an election runs because of his vast expertise. A state should make a decision if they want to have mail-in voting, they can do that.
A post office and, and a president should not be the ones deciding how a state goes to vote. That violates every aspect of federalism that we grew up believing in.
MATTINGLY: Yes. And quite literally does not exist in statute as it currently stands. We will see what the courts end up doing. Former Congressman Adam Kinzinger, retired Brigadier General Leela Gray, thank you guys very much.
Well, today House Speaker Mike Johnson is making a major change to the congressional calendar. He's just sending everybody home in mid- September, not bringing them back until after the November midterms. Why? We will hear his reasoning next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:27:18]
MATTINGLY: In the Politics Lead, House Republican leaders canceling the last two weeks of votes this month, then keeping lawmakers out until after the November election. Here's House Speaker Mike Johnson explaining why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The members are jostling a lot of different priorities right now. Of course, we're in the middle of a midterm -- critical midterm election. Many of them want and need to be in their districts, working their constituents and running their campaigns. And so we're trying to balance all those interests and needs right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: I want to bring in my panel.
Nia-Malika, I am not a pro clutcher like every leadership team, regardless of party wants to get their members home --
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes.
MATTINGLY: -- as early as they possibly can in September. This feels egregiously early, particularly when there's still a pretty significant bipartisan Senate passed Russian sanctions bill that's hanging out there. There are other things as well. Does it matter to voters that like, oh yes, we're just going to cancel the last week?
HENDERSON: You know, in some ways, no. I mean, I think this speaks to the panic that these members are in at this point. In terms of this environment, they are running, you know, with a huge albatross around their necks. And it's the economy, it's the Iran war, it's Donald Trump who can't stay off on message. It's data centers.
It's all of this throw the bums out energy that we've seen over the last many months in some of these primaries. So they are -- they do -- I mean, Mike Johnson is not wrong that they want to be in their districts trying to make arguments to voters to convince them to come out and support their candidacies. The Republicans in particular have a very, very, very steep hill to climb in terms of connecting with voters, particularly given this climate.
MATTINGLY: You know, Melik, to that point, like there's always this kind of, I guess, cliche of like after Labor Day it gets really serious. That's when voters really tune in. I feel like voters have been pretty tuned in right now.
MELIK ABDUL, GOP STRATEGIST: Yes.
MATTINGLY: But I do wonder, like, is there an opportunity for Republicans to kind of on a district by district basis, get things on track, get their message out, kind of get ahead of the environment that Nia-Malika is laying on.
ABDUL: I think it is and you're right, this is something that's probably been brewing for some time now. I think the big thing that we should understand even about this period with Speaker Johnson sending them home is that it typically happens in 2021, the -- and 2022, during the mid -- well, the 2022 midterm, Nancy Pelosi sent them home, but it was the first, I think the couple of weeks in October. The difference now, I'd say is that we actually have a budget deal. So we got that -- well, a CR until December --
MATTINGLY: Hey, we'll take it.
ABDUL: -- in 2021 --
MATTINGLY: Yes, we'll take it.
ABDUL: -- in 2022, 2023. We never actually get there. So I think that's probably something because we actually he sending them home and sending them home at the time that typically we're always fighting over the budget. Now that we have a CR I think it's kind of given them room where he's saying, OK, you guys go home and fight your fight. But Republicans have a story to tell. They have to tell it. And I think that's probably going to start in earnest during our midterm convention.
[17:30:10]
MATTINGLY: Well, it's interesting you bring that up, because that was actually my question for Xochitl, of like, this is their big kind of headline moment that the President is obviously going to be featured in. Many of the members going home to their districts are not going to be in Texas. Do you think it triggers some type of shift in the environment?
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So what I've seen from the polling is that Republicans have not rallied their base yet. And this is an attempt to do that. And they have a big problem, because in many areas, Democrats are motivated. They are motivated to go out and vote. And what you're seeing a lot of people in swing districts, they're really focused on independent voters. And in a place like Texas, where I'm from, and my sister is running for governor there, and especially in the Senate race, you are seeing them not only reach out to independent voters, but reach out to Republicans, because this Republican base is not motivated this cycle.
And so I think what you're going to be hearing from Donald Trump and a lot of the Republicans that are speaking there will be some of the red meat that they're giving the base. I think you're going to hear a lot of name calling of Talarico calling him Talafreako. We have seen so far that those attacks don't work. And people want to hear about affordability and data centers in a place like Texas, where rural Republicans are really hurting right now, and they're really upset, and for the first time in their lives, looking to vote for Democrats in the state. And so I think that this is more of a rallying cry to Republicans than it is to actually appealing to a broader electorate.
MATTINGLY: Which is kind of, as you lay out, an essential piece of trying to get a coalition back together. Speaking of data centers in Texas, Tucker Carlson was apparently talking about that today, and the electoral damage it may do to Republicans. J.D. Vance was also talking about Tucker Carlson today. They have a longtime friendship. I want you guys to listen to what Vance said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW: Mike Rogers is really, I wouldn't vote for Mike Rogers at gunpoint.
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everybody knows that Tucker Carlson and I are friends, and I think it's very obvious that Tucker has said some things that I disagree with. I think El-Sayed's a crazy person, and I think whatever your views on Mike Rogers' specific policy prescriptions, I'd like to have a non-crazy person like Mike Rogers representing Michigan and the United States Senate, rather than a crazy person like El-Sayed. I'm not going to play the game where I throw friends under the bus because I have political disagreements with them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Melik, my honest question is, what kind of sway does Tucker have in the party at this point?
ABDUL: Zero. He has absolutely none, and to hear J.D. Vance, after Tucker Carlson, has really gone after Donald Trump, gone after Donald Trump's policies. He hasn't been subtle about it. To hear him kind of wrap him in his bosom as if he's some type of friend, you know, he's still my friend. OK, yes, he says bad things about the boss, but he's still my friend. Really? Like, are you kidding me?
Tucker isn't a factor. J.D. Vance needs to fully separate himself from Tucker Carlson and that wing of, not the Republican Party, but that wing of the right that now seems to be bouncing back in the other direction. He has no influence, and J.D. Vance needs to cut ties.
MATTINGLY: You think that's right?
HENDERSON: Listen, I think J.D. Vance is trying to figure out how he becomes the Republican nominee in 2028. He has been on all sides of almost every issue, including Donald Trump. We'll see what he does with Tucker Carlson. There is some hypocrisy here, though, because he is basically trying to lash Abdul El-Sayed to Hasan Piker in saying, you know, basically saying they're the same person, and that's his running mate. But when it comes to Tucker Carlson, who has said some terrible things, not only about Donald Trump, he has said some pretty anti-Semitic things as well, but yet, you know, that's his friend, and he's not going to have to answer for anything that Tucker Carlson says.
You know, we'll see. It'll be interesting to see J.D. Vance next week at this convention, right? In some ways, this is kind of his coming out party as well. He is, I think, going to have to fend off not only a conversation about Tucker Carlson, but also Ted Cruz. Is Ted Cruz going to run? Is Marco Rubio going to run? Is Pete Hegseth going to run? So he's in a very interesting spot.
MATTINGLY: All things he was asked about today, and I will give him credit. He showed some agility in dodging.
[17:34:21]
All right, everybody stick around. I want to talk about this quote. "The truth will set you free," but first, it will piss you off. Gloria Steinem, of course, said that, and a lot more as an unapologetic feminist. How her style revolutionized politics right up to today. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTINGLY: In our National Lead, a monumental loss. American author and feminist trailblazer, Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92. She was an icon for the women's rights movement in the 1960s and 1970s. Spent most of her life fighting for workplace equality, reproductive rights and sex education. She explained her worldview in an HBO documentary about her life in 2011.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GLORIA STEINEM, AUTHOR: Feminism starts out being very simple. It starts out being the instinct of a little child who says it's not fair. And you are not the boss of me. It's something in us who knows that, right? And it ends up being a worldview that questions hierarchy altogether.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Her provocative writing career sparked her activism. She famously went undercover to expose the degrading conditions inside Hugh Hefner's Playboy empire for her breakout piece. She also went on to co-found the feminist magazine, Ms. Magazine, still in publication today. Among her many accolades, the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented by President Obama in 2013.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[17:40:08]
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For one piece of advice to young girls is, I love this, do not listen to my advice. Listen to the voice inside you and follow that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Xochitl, I think the one thing, like today, it's one of those days where there's like a legendary figure who passes and then you read about them and realize you didn't have one-tenth of the knowledge of the scale of the impact they were having, the things they were involved in. What kind of stands out to you as you think about it?
HINOJOSA: Yes, I mean, also she grew up in the Midwest. She was someone who was not trying to be a feminist in any way. I think it was not until later in her 30s that she was someone who then decided to champion equal pay and reproductive rights and all of the things. I mean, I think that also, I mean, as I have grown as a woman, I have also seen that there have been a number of champions, but she is, she started the movement and she is sort of the lead of the movement when it comes to feminism.
And I do think that many women and especially younger women have not necessarily seen all that she has done for our country. And I think they somewhat, a lot of people take it for granted, right? We are still struggling with equal pay and other issues, but there is a reason how this, the reason why all of this started and it started because of her. And so I think that as we look back and study history, my hope is that they study her career.
MATTINGLY: Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was on CBS this morning to talk about Gloria Steinem. I want you guys to listen to what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: She wasn't going to be an astronaut, but by goodness, she made it possible for Sally Ride to be an astronaut. She wasn't going to play college sports, but she stood behind the women in Congress who passed Title IX to open up opportunities in sports and academics for girls. And, you know, she wasn't on the Supreme Court when Roe v. Wade was decided, but her voice and her activism was behind that. And, you know, with all of the setbacks that we've seen over the last decade or so, I want her voice to remain in our heads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: I like that framing because it's like a reminder of just the kind of all-consuming role she had, but also it's something I've heard a lot today from women I've spoken to about this, of like, this is a tough time where it feels like things have kind of progressed a little bit. What does it mean thinking about her and that?
HENDERSON: Yes, listen, I mean, I'm sitting here smiling, looking at the old clips of her and listening to people talk about her, listening to her talk about the ways she pushed for the world we live in now, the world that my daughter, who's six years old, we watch the WNBA all the time. You know, I got a chance to talk to Gloria Steinem about five years ago about Shirley Chisholm. She was incredibly warm and gracious. She wanted people to know this history. She wanted people to know about the complications around this history, you know, the sort of civil rights movement, the LGBTQ movement, and the women's movement.
Sometimes there were clashes there in terms of representation and how big the tent was going to be and who was going to go first and who was going to go second. You think about in the wake of Obama's winning the nomination in 2008, she had some feelings about that, the fact that it wasn't Hillary Rodham Clinton, and she was incredibly honest about that, those sort of struggles and some of the regrets she had, and she just wanted a big tent.
She wanted people to know this history, to be inspired by this history, and to keep going. You think about what Hillary Clinton there said about her voice in our head. The voice is the struggle continues.
MATTINGLY: Melik, as somebody involved in the arena, what do you learn about activism and being able to advocate for things from her career?
ABDUL: Well, she is the grand dame of second wave feminism, and if you follow that, it talks about reproductive rights, rights for women, and I think it's important to have these conversations, even from the right, because you have to appreciate people like her, people like Simone de Beauvoir and her second sex. These are things that actually are important to women, but it also helps us navigate in a society with each other. So I will criticize her from the Republican right. I would say that she actually led a very, very good life.
MATTINGLY: Appreciate you guys all. A profound loss without any question. Thank you guys.
[17:44:25]
Well, up ahead, a CNN special report. Rare access inside Israeli- occupied South Lebanon. An exclusive look at the ripples of military action playing out there. And the breaking news, 61 days before the midterm election, President Trump is taking his fight over mail-in ballots to the Supreme Court. What's at stake? Coming up.
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MATTINGLY: In our World Lead, even if a ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran seems far off, one with an Iranian proxy, Hezbollah, is technically in effect in Lebanon. The U.S.-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon was signed in June. It says Israel is supposed to hand over small pockets of occupied territory to the Lebanese army. But Israeli forces have reduced Muslim towns to rubble while a few Christian villages have been spared but cut off from the rest of the country. CNN's Jeremy Diamond got exclusive access to the hard-to- reach area.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From this coastal road to the rubble-strewn countryside, you'd be forgiven for thinking this is Israeli territory, but it's not. This is a rare first-hand look at occupied Lebanon. DIAMOND: We just passed an Israeli military checkpoint. We're in a convoy of vehicles, dozens of families reaching their homes inside the Israeli zone of control, three Christian villages where many people are still living, the only way in or out of this area for these families.
[17:50:08]
DIAMOND (voice-over): Israel invaded this area nearly six months ago after Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group that is based here, fired rockets at Israel for the first time since 2024, retaliating for Israeli strikes on Iran.
DIAMOND: We're really close to the Israeli border now, and this is all we're seeing, piles of rubble, one home after the other, completely destroyed.
DIAMOND (voice-over): A ceasefire is technically in effect here, yet Israel carries out near-daily strikes. Most of this rubble was caused by bulldozers and controlled demolitions, part of Israel's plan to raze every town and village in this area, with only a few exceptions. A trio of Christian villages have been spared the fate of their Shia Muslim neighbors.
DIAMOND: The contrast really is quite striking. We're now inside one of those Christian villages, and as you can see, there is life here.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But below the surface, life is far from normal. The residents here are surrounded by the ruins of neighboring villages.
DIAMOND: So where is Bint Jbeil?
DIAMOND (voice-over): Even two-year-old Joe recognizes the sounds of jets overhead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through text translation): What's in the sky?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY (through text translation): Jets.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Like many in this Christian village, Yorgos blames Hezbollah, which embedded in the surrounding Shia villages, for bringing war to his doorstep.
YORGOS MITRI, LIVING IN ISRAELI-OCCUPIED LEBANON: We're living in peace. Nothing happening here. Why we did all of this? And you can see the results.
DIAMOND: Do you feel like they deserve this? Do you feel like --
MITRI: Nobody deserves like this. Nobody. We need our government to be here and to take responsibility.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Lebanese government says it's now trying to do just that, deploying the army to reclaim sovereignty over southern Lebanon, both Israel and Hezbollah, a task it's trying to accomplish without coming into conflict with either one.
COL. RAJA AMER, SOUTH LITANI SECTOR, LEBANESE ARMED FORCES: We need the world to see that we are working in a very dangerous situation, in a very harsh situation.
DIAMOND (voice-over): That danger comes into focus as soon as this soldier begins telling the story of the Israeli strike that killed his comrade.
DIAMOND: When you were first deployed to the south, and that was some kind of Israeli strike close by. This is at least the fourth Israeli artillery strike that we have heard in this area since we've been here. And we've only been here for about 20 minutes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's continuous in all the area of operation. As I told you, since the 27th of June framework agreement, we had no more than 5,000 attacks. This is the ceasefire from their side.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The Lebanese army says 34 of its soldiers have been killed so far this year. Some died in Israeli strikes. Others were killed by unexploded ordnance. As part of the ceasefire agreement with Israel, Lebanon is working to clear the south of weapons held by non-state actors like Hezbollah. This fiber-optic drone is just one example.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are finding munitions deployed by the Israeli enemy forces, and we are finding munitions dropped by armed groups from Lebanon.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The scale of the challenge comes into view as we drive through the south, a bastion of Hezbollah support, where the group's flags and martyrs' posters line the roads, before arriving in the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh. This is a pilot zone under the U.S.- backed framework agreement between Lebanon and Israel. Soldiers now patrol the town, man checkpoints at its entrances, and monitor military activity from observation posts like this one.
DIAMOND: This is really quite striking. You have a Lebanese army observation post right here, and just a few hundred meters away on the opposite hilltop, an Israeli military position.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The pilot zone means some families have been able to return to their homes, or whatever is left of them.
MAHMOUD DARWISH, ZAWTAR AL-GHARBIYEH RESIDENT: People from Israel and America.
DIAMOND (voice-over): And peace is impossible to imagine.
DARWISH (through text translation): They killed out people, they killed out loved ones, they killed our friends, they destroyed our homes. How do thye think they'll ever make peace with us? We fled, we left the village. I wished, during that period, just for 10, 15 minutes, to return to my home, to smell the land. Because this is my land. My land loves me, and I love her. I won't leave her, and she won't allow me to leave her. DIAMOND (voice-over): Darwish barely flinches at the sound of a nearby airstrike.
DARWISH (through text translation): We are here, and we will remain here.
DIAMOND (voice-over): It is here, amid displays of defiance, that Lebanon is probing one potential path forward.
AMER: The final objective is clear. It's the Lebanese state authority inside the pilot zone, strictly.
DIAMOND: But why is the Lebanese army not going and kicking in doors and confiscating weapons?
[17:55:04]
AMER: Doing things in violence against our own people. It will be also with others sequences.
DIAMOND: Lebanon is a country with a history of civil war. Is that one of the reasons why, you know, the Lebanese army is not being aggressive against Hezbollah?
AMER: I'm saying that we will do this slowly. We will do this in a reasonable way. Who will fight the children of this country? But at the same time, we are not going to accept something illegal.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Southern Lebanon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Thanks to Jeremy Diamond and his team for that exclusive report.
Well, the breaking news, the fight over mail-in ballots now headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And the unease in one battleground state set to start sending out ballots tomorrow.
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[18:00:00]
MATTINGLY: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. This hour, a dramatic day in court in Lindsay Clancy's murder trial. The jury sent home until tomorrow morning after the defense --
