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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Final Hours Of Voting In High-Stakes Florida, Wisconsin Elections; Trump Admin. Admits "Error" In Deporting MD Father To Mega Prison; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) Is Interviewed About Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, Deportation; White House: Trump "Perfecting" Tariff Plan With Advisers; Democrats Hope To Flip House Seat In FL Special Election; AG Pam Bondi Seeks Death Penalty For Luigi Mangione. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 01, 2025 - 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: My beloved Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl. NFL owners deciding to take a time out and table it for now. This is, and I stress, an extremely legal play. It has been largely unstoppable for the past three seasons. It has drawn ire from the Green Bay packers and a handful of other teams. Those teams cite health and safety concerns of players.

OK. But maybe it's just because their quarterback can't do this and squat 600 pounds. OK. Because if you can do that, it is perfectly safe. Regardless, a final vote is expected in May.

Thanks to my panel. "The Lead" starts right now.

[17:00:44]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Checks and Cheeseheads colliding on April Fool's Day for an election that is no joke. The Lead starts right now.

Welcome to The Lead. I am Jake Tapper here in the nation's capital along with Kaitlan Collins, who is at the White House. Please cue that election music. There it is. Because we're just hours away from polls closing in what is a huge first test for President Trump and in some ways, Elon Musk and, of course, the Democratic Party.

Americans are voting right now in three key races that we're watching closely. The biggest and most expensive is in Wisconsin. Susan Crawford is facing off against Trump's candidate, Brad Schimel for a seat on the state's Supreme Court. It's a court that might take up redistricting, which could impact the balance of power in the House of Representatives. This was always going to be a high stakes race, but it's been supercharged because of Elon Musk, the billionaire and groups aligned with him have dropped more than $20 million in support of Schimel.

He has personally handed out checks. He's rallied voters in Wisconsin wearing one of those Cheeseheads. And he has described the race as one that will determine the course of American and Western civilization.

In Florida, we are watching two special elections for the House of Representatives, both in deep red districts that Trump easily carried just five months ago. Democrats, however, are hoping to cut down the margins, perhaps even pulling off a long shot upset in one of those races. That would be in Florida's 6th congressional district, the race to replace Mike Waltz, who is now National Security Adviser. Democrat Josh Weil has dramatically outraised Trump, Trump raised -- I'm sorry, Trump backed pick Randy Fine, which is causing many Republicans to sound the alarm.

The other race we're keeping an eye on is in Florida's 1st congressional district in the Panhandle. This is the seat to replace Matt Gaetz. President Trump is supporting the Republican Jimmy Patronis, who we've had on this show before. He's going up against Democratic candidate Gay Valimont. We're covering all these races with our reporters fanned out in Wisconsin and Florida. But we're going to begin with Kaitlan at the White House.

Kaitlan, how is the White House feeling about these races?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, obviously, Jake, they're watching these races closely. You've seen the president himself get involved here with his endorsements. He's done tele rallies in Florida as they became worried about one of those Republicans and one of those districts and what seemingly was supposed to be not a closed race and became quite buzzy over the last few weeks. A lot of Republicans on the ground in Florida attribute that to the candidate in that race. We'll dig into that in a moment.

But this is something certainly they are watching here closely at the House. Now, they are not sold that this is this full referendum on the president's first several weeks in office, now about 10 weeks that he has been back in the Oval Office in his second term. But they are watching this closely to see what the indicators are coming out of tonight. What are Democrats picking up on and trying to argue are the silver linings, if any, at the end of this evening, and what are Republicans takeaways in this race? And of course, Wisconsin, Jake, as you noted, could be key to come here in Washington determining the balance of the power in the House if there is redistricting and if it is something that is determined by the ideological tilt of that court, which will be determined in that race tonight.

And obviously, the president's closest ally, Elon Musk, has been personally and financially involved in that race, not just wearing a Cheesehead as he did on Sunday, something the Democratic or the more liberal Supreme Court candidate in that race criticized him for saying he didn't have the right to wear a Cheesehead, but also financially, he has been involved in this.

And so that's another thing that I've been hearing from sources that they'll be keeping an eye on tonight is the power that Elon Musk has in these races because obviously he's able to contribute what's a lot of money in these races, but to him is financially not that much. And so that is another test tonight. And also whether or not it's a referendum on Elon Musk himself, who certainly doesn't command the same loyalty from Republicans that President Trump does, Jake. And so obviously we'll be watching all of this very closely and monitoring what the White House's takeaways are tonight.

TAPPER: All right. Fascinating stuff.

Kaitlan, I'm going to hand it back over to you for the hour. I will see everyone else back at 6:00 p.m. Eastern for our special election night coverage. Kaitlan.

COLLINS: All right, Jake, see you back in an hour. I do want to get straight now to CNN's Correspondent, Omar Jimenez, who is at a polling station in Elm Grove, Wisconsin.

[17:05:06]

Omar, tell us what you've been seeing and hearing from voters today and what is shaping up to be the most expensive state Supreme Court race in the United States. What are voters saying today as they're going to the polls?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that dynamic is not lost on these voters. I think many of them recognize the significance of this race. And in many cases, at least a lot of the voters we talk to that you see many more to this polling site here, they almost feel like it's an extension of what we saw in November 2024. They still feel the intensity. They still feel the environment. Obviously, turnout isn't quite to that level.

But when you look at previous state Supreme Court races two years ago, for example, the enthusiasm at least coming into Election Day, well, well above that.

Take a listen to two voters I spoke to, one of them who even talked about Elon Musk coming into the state prior to this on how they felt heading into Election Day today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had two phone calls from Elon Musk. Maybe he should be taking care of his own business instead of everybody else's.

JIMENEZ: How do you feel about the race?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a Republican versus an activist. I want to see what's going on in the country this instant to continue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, obviously, this race between Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford and Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Brad Schimel, Waukesha County is a county that Trump has carried consistently for a while. Dane County is a county that the Democrats have carried for a while. And as you see people stream in, it's been very active over the course of today. Essentially, you see them going down to where they start their voting process. Also when they get in, they come and check this map where they can see exactly which ward in Elm Grove that they correspond to in their voting.

And so, you can't even stop the flow coming in. It has been consistent over the course of the day and polls are still open for a few more hours. So I don't anticipate it slowing down anytime soon, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes, it always feels like it's campaign season in Wisconsin. I mean, it's quite remarkable. Omar Jimenez, thank you somewhat to that --

JIMENEZ: They just want the ad stop.

COLLINS: Yes. Don't they all? The mailers, everything. It is nonstop barrage for the poor people of Wisconsin.

Omar, we'll continue to check in with you as we follow this race so closely tonight. Also, though, of course, I mentioned to those key races that are happening in Florida, that is where CNN Correspondent Dianne Gallagher is. She's at a polling station in Ormond Beach.

And Dianne, we heard from Omar about the stream that he's been seeing in Wisconsin. Obviously, you know, we're watching what's happening in the ground there. But in Florida, we've got these two key races that are happening. And real concerns here in Washington about the quality of one of those candidates and the fundraising, what have you been hearing so far today?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kaitlan, whether voters cast their ballot for Democrat Josh Weil or Republican Randy Fine, almost every single one of them have said the reason why had more to do with Donald Trump and his administration. And also Elon Musk, even though he wasn't down in here in Florida giving out million dollar checks than it necessarily did with the candidates themselves. And that's what Republicans are hoping to hear from their base. So this is a pretty red county. You can kind of see behind me, this is as close as we can get right now because of the rules here in Florida, but there's a little bit of a line forming outside of this particular polling place or four precincts inside and it's a heavily red area.

Again, Donald Trump won by about 30 points. Most of the people we spoke with today said that they came out here because they wanted to either continue what was going on in Washington or try and use their voice to put a stop to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: Who did you vote for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Randy Fine.

GALLAGHER: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God, country and family. I think conservatives or Republicans care more about us, particularly the veterans.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I voted for Josh, Josh Weil. The U.S. has worked so hard to get where it was just for things to start to progress backwards and we are not going to put up with that. We do not want that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) GALLAGHER: Now, Weil outrage fine about 10 to one, Kaitlan, causing concern with Republicans in Washington and the Trump administration. Sources saying that they actually reached out to Fine saying what is going on, you got to get your stuff together here before perhaps this is an embarrassing loss. Republicans say they feel cautiously optimistic, but the real key is going to be what the margin is, they believe. They do think they'll win.

COLLINS: Yes, get your stuff together. They might have used an expletive there, but obviously those private conversations. Dianne Gallagher, thanks so much for that. We'll check back in with you.

We've got my panel here with me. No expletives allowed, you guys. CNN Political Commentator Karen Finney is here, former senior adviser to the Trump cam -- to the Trump-Vance campaign, Bryan Lanza, and also CNN's very own Jamie Gangel.

[17:10:00]

And Bryan, let me start with you, because you just heard from Dianne talking about Republicans in Florida. Looking at that, what do you think these races tonight are going to say about not just Republicans but also the administration behind me, President Trump and how he's been doing over the last few weeks?

BRYAN LANZA, FMR. SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP-VANCE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: You know, thanks for having me, Kaitlan. Listen, I think what these elections are going to show is that the first check in with the voters, that the President Trump and his record has sort of passed the muster. You know, we're always scared of these special elections. We always sort of put a lot of emphasis on it. But at the end of the day, whether it's a one point -- whether it's a one point margin or a 33 point margin, a win isn't a win, is a win.

And they're going to win this and it's going to be sort of a good barometer that they feel that they're headed in the right direction. And it's been affirmed by the voters.

And I think that the other thing that they're going to learn from this is that, you know, strong candidates matter. And this candidate, you know, was asleep at the switch very early on. But when we had to activate it, the NRCC and the Trump campaign activated and they're going to get them across the finish line, I think that's an important thing to establish as well.

COLLINS: Yes, I think the way Governor DeSantis put it was saying it was candidate specific, he believed. But Karen, it's not just Republicans who are going to be reading the tea leaves tonight. Democrats are too. And they've obviously been looking for a lot of good news, a clear message to run on. Do they hope that these races tonight will give them something to rally around?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. But Democrats have already been very energized by a huge win that we had over this past weekend, defeating four MAGA Governor Landry initiatives in the state of Louisiana. This was an election that was expected to be about 12 percent turnout and they were able to push it up to 21 percent turnout and overwhelmingly just crush these initiatives.

So, Democrats already feeling good about the model, which you are seeing repeated in Wisconsin, which is go to the voters early and often have the conversations, make sure people know what's at stake in the elections and really the choices. And I think as we heard and some of those set up pieces, voters are pretty clear about why they're voting and what they believe is at stake.

And obviously for Wisconsin, were talking about the national issues, but there are some important state specific issues that people care about.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, a lot could be determined here. Abortion, potentially. We don't know yet --

FINNEY: Yes.

COLLINS: -- if that is something that will be decided before whoever wins that race is on the court.

But, Jamie, when you look at this big picture, obviously we're watching both of these for different reasons tonight. But in Florida specifically, where Dianne just was, these are both districts that Trump won just a few months ago in the fall by more than 30 points outright, winning them for Democrats, obviously, a long shot. But when it comes to the margins and those layers of success that Democrats are looking for tonight, what are you hearing from folks?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So I think the key word is what you just said, margin. I spoke to two senior Democratic sources, they are tamping down expectations. They do not expect to win either of these races in Florida. They said if they did, it would be a huge upset. But what they're looking for is to really narrow the margin, what it would say about Trump policies, what it would say about the Elon Musk of it all.

But one thing to remember, the sources said to me, this is a pulse check. It's the midterm elections are still two years away. They hope that it will say something about how Trump is doing, but they really say it doesn't reflect what will happen in the midterms yet.

COLLINS: Yes, I mean, obviously, we're a long time away. There is a habit of sometimes reading maybe too much into special elections, and the turnout obviously will help with that.

But, Bryan, one thing I do think is being tested in a way that we haven't seen since the November election is Elon Musk himself. I mean, he has been busy campaigning in Wisconsin. He has been putting money into this race. Yes, some Democrat billionaires certainly have as well. But when you look at the scale, obviously, of how much and $1 million checks he handed out to voters there.

There is a poll that shows he has a favorability than the president does. And obviously, he doesn't command the same kind of loyalty that Trump does from Republicans. We've seen that. That's been proven. Do you think that Elon Musk is the good -- is a good messenger for Republicans to make this final pitch to voters in Wisconsin?

LANZA: Well, we know he's not a drag. We know that when he put his money and when he put his energy in the campaign that it moved the needle a lot closer. So we know he's not a drag on turning out Republican voters. And we also know that he's sort of the shield that absorbs a lot of the negative coverage that the media would ultimately give the President Trump. So he serves two strong values there.

Let's continue to use that shield. I mean you look at Trump's approval ratings, they say it's been the highest since he's ever been in office at this point. It's clearly working and I think at the end of the day, you know, we'll see what Democratic voters can do. But I don't think, you know, Elon Musk is going to be that driving force when he's not, you know, he's not on the ballot. You know, his money will always have an impact but he's not on the ballot at the end of the day, on the ballot of the local issues, what's going on in Wisconsin.

And it's clear that the Democratic candidate is outside the mainstream of the voters in Wisconsin and we'll see that -- we'll see that proven later tonight.

[17:15:07]

COLLINS: Yes. And certainly has helped elevate it.

Thanks, everyone, for being here. We'll continue to watch all of this very closely. Be sure for everyone else to be turning in -- tuning in at 6:00 p.m. Eastern here. As Jake mentioned, our special CNN Election Night coverage of these key races in Wisconsin and Florida will be underway.

Still ahead here for us, the Trump administration has conceded that it mistakenly deported a Maryland father to El Salvador. Immigration officials admit they made a mistake by sending him to this notorious mega prison. But we're hearing Vice President J.D. Vance defending it. We'll tell you what he has to say.

And later, Wall Street and Main Street are both bracing for the president's tariff announcement tomorrow as we are learning one key detail that has markets especially on edge today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:48]

COLLINS: A Maryland father is currently being held inside this notorious mega prison in El Salvador despite being granted protection status by an immigration judge in the United States after the Trump administration acknowledged in court that he was deported, quote, "because of an administrative error." Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia crossed into the United States illegally more than a decade ago, arguing that he was fleeing gangs in El Salvador. He was granted protective status in 2019. But in a court filing this week that was first reported on by the Atlantic, the administration admitted that ICE knew about that protection, yet deported him by mistake. His wife only learned what had happened to him after she identified him in pictures of detainees going into the prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

The White House has defended his deportation with The Vice President J.D. Vance weighing in, claiming, quote, "he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here." And the press secretary added this without providing any evidence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We also have credible intelligence proving that this individual was involved in human trafficking. In fact, number three, this individual was a member, actually a leader of the brutal MS-13 gang.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: She was arguing there that they have seen credible evidence showing as much. Abrego Garcia has not been convicted of any crimes, and the DHS has yet to publicly provide that evidence. But what we do know about the situation here in the background, he was picked up by police for loitering outside a Home Depot in 2019. According to court documents then the local police determined he was a gang member because he was wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and a hoodie. And a confidential informant told them that he was part of MS-13, allegations that Abrego Garcia rebutted.

His attorney denied in court that he is affiliated in any way with the gang.

And I'm joined now by a Democratic representative from Maryland, Congressman Jamie Raskin.

And, Congressman, it's great to have you here because from what you know about this situation, I know you were talking about it on Capitol Hill earlier. Is the administration in any way justified in their deportation of him?

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Well, no, they admitted that the whole thing was an administrative error. Far from being a Venezuelan gang member, he was someone who had protection. He had an order called withholding removal. He was being -- his removal was being withheld from the country because he would have qualified for asylum because he was afraid of gangs in El Salvador. And yet that was precisely where they sent him to El Salvador under the brutal dictator there to be sent to this mega prison.

The basic problem, of course, is the one that Judge Boasberg pointed out, which is that the original statute invoked for all of these people, the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, is for wartime and we're in peacetime, or it's for an invasion, and there's no military invasion going on. So then they have to be removed under the procedures of the Immigration and Naturalization Act. And yet nobody got a hearing, and he didn't get a hearing. And this is what happens when you don't have due process. You have cases of mistaken identity and people swept up in it who simply are not part of whatever kind of project they think they've undertaken.

[17:25:10]

COLLINS: Yes, and we heard from a DHS spokesperson, and I want to quote what they're alleging here. They said, "The individual in question is a member of the brutal MS-13 gang. They say, we have intelligence reports that he is involved in human trafficking." Now, we have not seen those intelligence reports or gotten any details beyond what we heard from Karoline Leavitt here at the White House earlier, and that is from the DHS speaker spokesperson. But given he's a Maryland resident, do you know anything else about these allegations beyond, when it comes to a record, the traffic tickets that Vice President Vance cited earlier online?

RASKIN: Well, I had not heard about that. But I understood that he has no criminal record. There have been no criminal arrests and there have been no criminal charges. So, if they think that they've got something on him, then take him to court. And if he should be deported because he's engaged in murder or armed robbery or rape, then finally he should be deported.

But right now there's nothing on him, as far as I can tell from the court filings that I've seen. And so, and obviously we don't deport people for, you know, for driving offenses. And unless, you know, it's a DUI and someone's killed.

COLLINS: Right. And the administration is arguing that, you know, you are -- you're right. They're acknowledging in this court filing that they -- that he did have that status, that this was done by mistake. They were referring to as a clerical error earlier. But now that he's in the custody of El Salvador, they're saying there's nothing that they can do about it. What are you demanding?

Are you demanding they do attempt to have him return to the United States? Do you believe President Trump should step in here and call President Bukele of El Salvador?

RASKIN: You know, let's go back to the Alien Enemies Act and the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798. What the country learned during that time and what Thomas Jefferson was so emphatic about is that if we don't pay attention to the constitutional principles of the country and we don't pay attention to due process against people who are not citizens, it will very quickly come to demolish the rights of people who are citizens. And so, a citizen could have been picked up and put on that airplane just as well as a noncitizen because nobody had a hearing. There was no due process at all. That's why due process are the two most beautiful words in the English language because they prevent these kinds of Kafkaesque nightmares from happening.

COLLINS: Do you worry that this has happened in other situations?

RASKIN: Well, we know it's happened in other situations and we know it's happened to other people who were swept up in, you know, the so called Venezuelan gang bangers deportation that Judge Boasberg enjoined and he tried to get the planes turned around. There was -- there was another person who was picked up because he had

a tattoo of his brother who had autism. I think it was on his chest. Tattoos get you four points on this bizarre inscrutable point scoring system for deciding whether or not to deport someone from the country. There was I think a gay hairdresser from Florida who said he was falsely swept up in it because he had a tattoo of his favorite soccer team from El Salvador.

So look, that's what due process is all about. You have to make individual cases against people and not simply say we're going to have a big dramatic spectacle, fly everybody to El Salvador and stick them into a prison. So, I do think that people who are being falsely held who are part of a so called administrative error should be returned to America. And it should be the business of the administration to get those people back immediately.

COLLINS: Yes, they're arguing they can't. We'll see what happens. Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you so much for joining.

RASKIN: You bet.

COLLINS: And as the White House is preparing to reveal new tariffs tomorrow, we're hearing from the House Speaker Mike Johnson, who says he trusts President Trump's instincts when it comes to the economy. What can businesses expect tomorrow and how are markets responding? Are they as trusting as Speaker Johnson? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: President Trump has settled on the tariffs that he is going to announce tomorrow on what he has dubbed, quote, Liberation Day. And although most of the details remain to be seen, the White House did confirm they will go into effect immediately after his announcement tomorrow afternoon, which I should note is expected to happen after the markets have closed as businesses are bracing for what could be another volatile day in those markets.

CNN's business and politics correspondent, Vanessa Yurkevich, joins me now. And Vanessa, I do think that's a real question about how not just companies, but also the average American consumer who is, you know, also trying to outlook what this is going to mean for them, how they're preparing in these final 24 hours.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's such a big question. How do you prepare for the unknown? But businesses have faced tariffs before. Just look at in 2018, when President Trump imposed tariffs on $380 billion worth of goods. And then to date, he's imposed tariffs on about $1 trillion worth of goods in his first term.

The big wildcard is what is to come. The maximum he could impose is tariffs on $3.3 trillion worth of U.S. goods that are imported. That is the total amount imported every single year.

But behind the scenes, you have businesses, vendors and suppliers having conversations about how to share this tariff. One scenario is that suppliers pick up the entire tab to try to keep business. The second scenario is that they split it between the businesses 50-50.

And the third scenario, Kaitlan, is splitting it three ways, between the supplier, the business and the consumer. And ultimately, that is what most economists think is going to happen. But on the consumer front, we heard in the Consumer Confidence Survey in March that consumers are actually spending right now on big-ticket items to get ahead of these tariffs. Just look at car searches.

[17:35:13]

In the latter half of March, March 26th through today, up 30 percent on key car sites like Kelley Blue Book and Autotrader. And then you had Americans searching for cars two times, two to four times more for foreign cars than for domestic cars. And that is because we know there's a tax, a tariff going to go into effect on foreign cars and foreign car parts on April 3rd.

And Kaitlan, one note here is that Ford released its earnings and they reported that in March they saw sales jump 10 percent and by 19 percent for retail sales. That's direct to consumers. So you can see consumers trying to plan, trying to get ahead of these tariffs as best they can when ultimately we don't even know what's coming, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes, and those automakers as well as we've seen praise from -- from people like the UAW president, Shawn Fain, we'll see what they have to say about this tomorrow. The President was meeting with his economic team on this very matter today.

Vanessa Yurkevich, we'll be checking in with you a lot tomorrow. I have a strong feeling. Thank you for that reporting.

YURKEVICH: Thanks.

COLLINS: Up next for us here, Democrats are hoping that Elon Musk's involvement in that critical Supreme Court race in Wisconsin is going to backfire. That's a real question though. Could it be a blueprint for Democrats and their party's comeback plans? We're going to speak to the chair of the Democratic Party, Ken Martin, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:43]

SEN. RANDY FINE (R-FL), CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT 6 SPECIAL ELECTION CANDIDATE: There's not that many Democrats here. But they're really, really mad because every time Donald Trump wins, they lose. The lesson that will come out of this, if there is one, is that we have to make sure our people are as committed as theirs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: That is a defiant Randy Fine downplaying Democrats' chances of flipping former congressman, now national security advisor here at the White House, Mike Waltz's seat tonight. It's the very same district that President Trump himself won by 30 points in November and was not supposed to be competitive at all.

With me now is the Democratic chair, Ken Martin, who has been in Florida, I should note, making a final push for Democratic candidate, Josh Weil, in this race. And it's great to -- to have you here. Obviously, you've been on the ground there. We're -- we're showing some video of you now campaigning over the weekend. How are you defining success tonight in Florida?

KEN MARTIN, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Well, I think we've already been successful. I mean, think about this. In the last 14 special elections since Donald Trump's inauguration, Democrats have overperformed in 13 of the 14 elections. The fact that Donald Trump had to spend time, take time away from him destroying the economy to actually conduct a town hall in Florida to try to save his candidate there should tell you everything you need to know.

The fact that he had to pull Elise Stefanik's nomination because he's worried about how well Democrats are doing in these special elections, again, should tell you everything you need to know. The fact that he sent his stooge, Elon Musk, into Wisconsin to try to buy that Supreme Court seat should tell you everything you need to know.

Success for us, we've already been successful, right? We've pulled these guys away from the damage they're trying to do to this country into elections in Florida that they should have easily won.

COLLINS: And you just mentioned all those things about what the President is doing at the White House, what's happening with his cabinet, what's happening with Elon Musk in Wisconsin. For Democratic voters who are listening, what are the silver linings for them and your party right now?

MARTIN: Well, look, I said when I came in as DNC chair, we're going to organize everywhere because I believe that when you organize everywhere, you can win anywhere. And that's what we're seeing across the country. Just last week in Pennsylvania, as you know, Kaitlan, we flipped a district that hasn't been represented by a Democrat since the 1880s, a plus 23 percent Republican district.

This is what's happening around the country as we see American voters backlash against what they're seeing out of this administration, which people in this country are deeply frustrated by Trump and Elon Musk and what they're doing to the American economy and certainly what they're doing to their lives. And that's what we're seeing in these elections. This is a referendum on Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and J.D. Vance.

COLLINS: Well, on -- in that Wisconsin race, obviously a ton of money has been poured into that race, nearly $100 million, because it'll determine ideological control of the Supreme Court there. What do you believe this will show in terms of whether or not you can use Elon Musk as something to run on with voters in terms of his level of involvement here? Obviously, Democrats are hoping it'll backfire on Republicans in the White House. What specifically are you looking for in Wisconsin tonight? MARTIN: Well, look, I mean, I think what I'm looking for is a rejection of a guy who's trying to buy the election, right? You know, clearly he's already bought the federal government, and that's not enough for him. Now he's trying to buy state and local elections, you know, handing out million-dollar checks and paying canvassers $1,000 a day to go out and do the work. You know, it's all astroturf. There's no real energy on the ground there for Republicans.

It's all because of Elon Musk's money. And at the end of the day, my hope is that Americans, and particularly Wisconsinites, reject this type of politics. I'm sure they will tonight.

COLLINS: We'll be watching closely. Obviously, I know you will as well. Ken Martin, please stay in touch with us. Thank you so much for your time on this busy day.

MARTIN: Thank you.

COLLINS: I do want to note, speaking of what's happening here with Democrats here in Washington, you're looking at Senator Cory Booker right now. He is still going strong on the Senate floor. If you were watching last night, he started speaking at about 7:00 p.m. He has now been going for more than 22 hours. The record for holding the Senate floor the longest goes to Strom Thurmond in 1957. His record, 24 hours and 18 minutes. That is not far from where Senator Booker is right now. We'll be continuing to watch this as he is protesting the policies of the Trump administration.

[17:45:01]

Also up next for us, there's a new major development in that case against Luigi Mangione. The Attorney General, Pam Bondi, has just weighed in, saying that the United States wants that alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, executed. What it means for his defense, how his attorneys are responding, and the prosecution that's ahead.

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[17:50:15]

COLLINS: Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione in his federal case after he was charged with murdering the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, in front of his hotel in midtown Manhattan last December. CNN's Kara Scannell has been covering this for us. Kara, what do we know about this announcement from the Justice Department today? And also, what are we hearing from Luigi Mangione's defense team here?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that she was going to seek the death penalty in this case because she said this was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder that shocked the nation. Mangione has been charged with multiple state and federal charges. He's pleaded not guilty to them.

And in the federal charges, he's charged with one count of murder through the use of a firearm. That's the charge that is eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted. Now, his attorney at a recent court hearing had said that she was in talks with the Justice Department around the question of whether they would seek the death penalty.

Clearly, they did not go her way. And in a statement today, his attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said, in part, by seeking to murder Luigi Mangione, the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric. Their decision to execute Luigi is political and goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law and historical precedent.

By doing this, they are defending the broken, immoral and murderous health care industry that continues to terrorize the American people. This is a corrupt web of government dysfunction and one-upmanship. She says Luigi is caught in a high-stakes game of tug-of-war between state prosecutors and federal prosecutors, except the trophy is a young man's life.

So this being, though, one of the first moves by the Justice Department to seek a death penalty case under the Trump administration.

COLLINS: That's a great point in terms of we haven't seen this yet since -- since Pam Bondi became the attorney general. Overall, how rare is a step like this by the Justice Department? Obviously, because this is something we anticipated they were going to do. But kind of what goes into a decision like this?

SCANNELL: I mean, Kaitlan, just to put this into context, before Trump's first term, the death penalty hadn't been sought in about two decades. But Trump came in, he sought it in about 13 cases. The Biden administration, they put a pause on it except for a handful of terrorism and mass shooting cases.

But now the Trump administration is bringing this back. And this is, if you remember, at the very end of Biden's administration, he commuted the death sentences of 37 inmates on death row. And now the Trump administration is sending a very strong signal that they are going to seek the death penalty in a number of cases and that that is now very much back on the table.

COLLINS: Yes, clearly. And we'll continue to follow this. Kara Scannell, thank you for that reporting.

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Up next, as we are here at the White House monitoring these races tonight, what does history tell us about how these special elections might go? CNN's Harry Enten has been digging into the data, as he always is. He is standing by with answers. We'll check in with him right after this.

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COLLINS: We are just minutes away from CNN's special election night coverage as Wisconsin and Florida prepare to deliver early verdicts in this second Trump term, potentially. We'll see what we see tonight. What is election coverage without our chief data analyst, Harry Enten, though?

Harry, obviously you've been looking into some of these numbers. I think everyone's kind of got this question of, you know, when it comes to Democrats who want something that they can hang their hat on or some hope since November, should they be confident tonight? How should they be feeling?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, I want to take a look at the Florida 6th special election. It's been one I've been watching my eye out on, and I'll tell you why. If we go back, look, this is a heavily Republican district, right? Donald Trump won it by, get this, 30 points back in 2024. But I want you to take a look at the turnout so far according to party affiliation in terms of votes cast.

What do you see? Yes, Republicans have an advantage, but it's 21 points. It's 21 points. Now, obviously, we don't know how each of those persons who cast the ballot, how they'll be voting, but we do know that Republicans right now in terms of party affiliation are plus 21.

And that's plenty less than plus 30. And that makes some sense to me, this nine-point difference that we see so far. Why does that make sense, Kaitlan Collins, because I want you to take a look at the average special election so far in 2025, both state, legislative, and federal.

What do we see? We see that Democrats, on average, are doing about nine points better than Kamala Harris did in 2024. So we'll see tonight if, in fact, Democrats continue that streak of doing better than Harris did in 2024. We'll just have to wait and see.

COLLINS: Yes, they obviously feel good about what's been happening so far just this year, just this last week. But in past special elections previously, is there something that they can pick up on from those as they look for silver linings tonight?

ENTEN: You know, I remember how young I was back in 2017 and there was a special election out in Kansas right around this time in April of 2017 in which Ron Estes, the Republican candidate, did in fact win. But look at this. He won by six points in Kansas, his fourth district. Look at the margin that Donald Trump had won it by, plus 27 points. That was a 21 point difference.

And this was the first real sign, Kaitlan, that in fact Republicans were struggling once Donald Trump became president. And of course, it foretold that in 2018 that Democrats would pick up the House of Representatives. So I decided to go back in my DeLorean (ph) and say, hey, wait a minute, did that 2018, 2017 trend hold through history?

Take a look at special elections and midterm results go all the way back to the 2015, 2016 cycle. And what do we see if a party is outperforming in special elections, the prior presidential baseline. You know how many times they took back the House of Representatives in the next midterm election? Get this, they took back the U.S. House five out of five times.

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So this is a big reason why we're watching the House races tonight, to see if there's that overperformance, because what we know in the past is what one party overperforms, they tend to do very well come the midterm elections, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: And I can think of two people who will be watching that very closely, Hakeem Jeffries and Mike Johnson.

ENTEN: You got it.

COLLINS: Harry Enten, thank you as always for the data.

ENTEN: Thank you.

COLLINS: And that'll do it for The Lead today. Thanks so much for joining us. Don't go anywhere, though. I'm going to be joining Jake and Erin for CNN's special election night coverage which starts right now.