Andrew Cuomo Stops By Our Newsroom. Plus. . .

It’s Tuesday, May 20. This is The Front Page, your daily window into the world of The Free Press—and our take on the world at large. Today: Five doctors weigh in on Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis; a grieving father’s plea to Congress; can you actually be friends with AI? And more.

But first: Bari sits down with Andrew Cuomo.

People outside New York—and even a few people in the city—might not have noticed, but Andrew Cuomo is back. He’s not done a lot of campaigning yet but the former governor is running to be the next mayor of New York City. There’s a very good chance he’ll win. And yesterday, he dropped by The Free Press office to tell me why he thinks he deserves to.

The turnaround is shocking. In August 2021 Cuomo was nearing the end of his third term as New York’s governor when, after several female subordinates accused him of inappropriate behavior, he resigned in disgrace. He was also dogged by allegations that his administration had knowingly downplayed the number of Covid deaths in nursing homes after he ordered them to take in patients who tested positive for the virus.

That was less than four years ago. Now, with primaries just over a month away, Cuomo is polling well ahead of his Democratic competitors (there are 12 of them). If he gets the nomination, he’s essentially got the mayoralty, given how unlikely it is that New York would elect a Republican, or reelect the current mayor, Eric Adams, who’s running as an independent. (Adams has the lowest approval rating of any New York mayor since one major poll began.)

So: Why should New Yorkers vote for Cuomo? Why are Democrats so divided right now? Does Cuomo see himself as a progressive? What does he make of the fact that his closest competitor is the 33-year-old socialist Zohran Mamdani?

Those are only a few of the questions I had for Cuomo. You can listen to the full conversation, and read an edited transcript of the highlights, below. This is one of only a handful of sit-down interviews Gov. Cuomo has done since announcing his candidacy in March.

Zohran Mamdani, consider this an open invitation to come down to our newsroom and make your pitch.

—Bari Weiss

President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on May 19, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

• Yesterday, Trump had a two-hour phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin—then told the press that Russia and Ukraine “will immediately start negotiations” to reach a ceasefire. Earlier in the day, Vice President J.D. Vance had told reporters that if talks continued to be unsuccessful, “then we’re eventually going to say, ‘This is not our war.’ ”

• The Supreme Court gave President Trump the green light to end temporary protected status for more than 300,000 Venezuelans in the United States, laying the groundwork for their deportations. "This is the largest single action stripping any group of noncitizens of immigration status in modern U.S. history," Ahilan Arulanantham, a lawyer for Venezuelan plaintiffs in the case, told NBC News.

• The president of CBS News, Wendy McMahon, was ousted from her position yesterday following escalating tensions with the executive board. The conflict centers on the network’s handling of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris that was edited in postproduction—a decision that Donald Trump is now suing the company over. Was the interview edit a “Giant FRAUD,” as Trump claims? Watch our video report and decide for yourself.

• President Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” may lose support among key Republicans, who want deeper spending cuts, fewer reductions to Medicaid, and safeguards for clean energy tax credits. The GOP has a small margin of control in the House, meaning Speaker Mike Johnson can afford to lose just three Republicans on the bill. Democrats are expected to oppose the bill unanimously.

• Pope Leo XIV is in “exceptional” shape “for a man of his age,” according to his personal trainer. The 26-year-old Valerio Masella told the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero that the pontiff was an unassuming client who gave no indications that he was a clergyman. “He came in informal clothes,” Masella said. “However, he was always kind, never nervous or irritated. A truly serene and balanced person.”

• DNA testing company 23andMe was bought out of bankruptcy yesterday by biotech giant Regeneron for $256 million—a steep drop from its $6 billion peak valuation in 2021. The acquisition gives Regeneron access to 15 million DNA samples. The company says it will use the data to develop new drugs, while remaining in compliance with 23andMe’s existing privacy policy. For more on the fall of 23andMe, read Kat Rosenfield’s piece, “What 23andMe Told America About Itself.”

• The candy company behind the iconic Dum Dums lollipops is rooting out artificial dyes such as Yellow 5 and Red 40 in response to Health and Human Services secretary RFK Jr.’s efforts to end the use of artificial dyes in food—and replacing them with natural dyes from an unpopular source: insects. CEO Kirk Vashaw told Bloomberg the move was met with resistance from customers: “People said, ‘I’d rather get cancer than eat the bug.’ ”