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The Lead with Jake Tapper

White House Offers Few Answers On Objects Shot From Sky; 36,000+ People Dead One Week After Devastating Quake; Trump Team Turns Over Laptop, More Classified Docs To DOJ; Thousands Of Israelis Protest Prime Minister Netanyahu's Plan To Overhaul Judicial System; New Report Surveys Americans On Rise Of Anti-Jewish Hate; Father Demands Answers After 14-Year-Old Daughter's Suicide. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 13, 2023 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:03]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Viewers questioned if she was pregnant, and it turns out she is with baby number two. Last May, Rihanna welcomed her first child with rapper ASAP Rocky.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST: Now, listen, this is one of those moments when we know that she has just a newborn.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Just an eight month old, and she looks phenomenal. People were wondering, is she pregnant again, and to perform the way she did, to look amazing and know she's expecting baby number two -- amazing, fantastic.

BLACKWELL: THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER starts right now.

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JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The White House insists that there is no indication extraterrestrials are affiliated with these flying objects. For now.

THE LEAD starts right now.

Four times in eight days flying objects shot down over North American skies by the U.S. military. Were they a security threat? What did they carry? And why different protocols now for shooting them down then for the Chinese spy balloon?

Plus, a father's pain. After his 14-year-old daughter is bullied and beaten at school and later died by suicide. Why he says her school did not do nearly enough.

And the thrill of victory in the face of my beloved Eagles' agony of defeat. Two-time super bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes will join us live, fresh off his incredible come from behind Super Bowl victory.

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TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

And we start with our world lead. So many questions and so few answers from the Biden administration today after the United States shot down three more unidentified objects over the last few days, bringing the total to four, including that Chinese spy balloon.

Moments ago, the Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin addressed the objects as he prepares to meet with NATO allies in Brussels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We don't know if they were actually collecting intelligence, but because of the route that they took, out of an abundance of caution, we want to make sure that we have the ability to examine with these things are and potentially what they were doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said today that the United States still does not know what these three objects were or who was behind them or if they had surveillance equipment onboard. Kirby says they all needed to be shot down because at the height they were flying, they all posed a risk to commercial aircraft.

The White House blames the lack of details that they've been able to share with the public on the fact that the U.S. has not yet been able to recover the debris from the objects. One shot down over Lake Huron yesterday, one over northern Canada Saturday, and then, of course, that third in Alaska on Friday afternoon. Bad weather and remote locations have complicated the recovery efforts.

CNN's Oren Liebermann is live for us at the Pentagon.

Oren, so many outstanding questions. So what do we know about these three objects that have not yet been identified?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, Jake, as you point out, we're still in the far more questions than answers stage of this. Specifically because they shot these down fairly quickly once they entered U.S. air space. They were only monitored for a short time before they were shot down, which means they haven't been able to get a better grip on what these are. They are still calling them objects. And because of the remote locations and because of the weather, they haven't recovered them yet.

But here's what we know so far, according to multiple U.S. officials who have been briefed on what we know so far, essentially, at this point. That first object, the one shot down on Friday, that is the first of these most recent three, was a metallic object at 40,000 feet. When it was shot down and fell from the 40,000 down to the sea ice below, it broke into several pieces, suggesting it may have had a structure to it or a more rigid body. Unfortunately, at this point, we don't know more that that.

Twenty-four hours later, the second object, the one that was shot down over Yukon, according to U.S. officials, that was a balloon carrying some sort of metal payload. Once again, at 40,000 feet. But that's in the remote Yukon Territory, so, that too hasn't been recovered.

And then to the object shot down on Sunday that was tracked perhaps from Wisconsin or Montana, over Lake Huron where it was shot down, that was much lower, at 20,000 feet, that was described as an octagonal object, a small object. All three of these far smaller than the earlier Chinese surveillance balloon. At this point, that's all we know as we wait for more answers on what this was.

It is worth noting that John Kirby from the National Security Council says from what they know, they have not observed any maneuverability, any propulsion or surveillance technology so far.

TAPPER: Where did the recovery efforts stand overall for the debris?

LIEBERMANN: They have, and this is going back to the original Chinese surveillance balloon, recovered quite a bit of that. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin described it as a fair amount, and Kirby said that some structure and electronics had been recovered. As for the recent three, they are still trying to get to those, locate them, in some cases, and bring that back in for analysis -- Jake.

[16:05:06]

TAPPER: Oren Liebermann, thanks so much.

The top Senate Democrat says the U.S. intelligence agencies are getting new evidence every hour about the suspected Chinese spy balloon, but the Chinese government is now pushing back, they claim the United States illegally flew high altitude balloons into China's air space. They said the U.S. did this more than ten times last year. It's an accusation that the Biden administration is forcefully denying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KIRBY, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL COORDINATOR FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Not true. Not doing it. Just absolutely not true.

INTERVIEWER: So, the U.S., let me just push you a little further then, the U.S. is not using these balloons, technologies at all over China?

KIRBY: That is right. We are not flying balloons over China. That is absolutely true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Selina Wang is in Beijing for us.

And, Selina, this disagreement may be a semantic one, because the United States and the Chinese government have quite different definitions of Chinese air space.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, according to the U.S. side, the answer is no. White House National Security Council from the National Security Council John Kirby was asked this question during the White House briefing, that being cognizant of the Chinese having different definition of what their territory is, is there any surveillance aircraft over Taiwan or the South China Sea, that could fit into that? Kirby's response was, there is no U.S. surveillance aircraft in Chinese air space.

So, Jake, what we're seeing is China present a completely different narrative, an alternate set of facts that the U.S. flat out rejects. In addition to doubling down on the claim that the Chinese balloon in U.S. airspace was just civilian balloon, blown off course, China now turning the tables here in trying to direct attention back to the U.S. Beijing's repeatedly accusing the U.S. of being the world's largest surveillance empire, said it's common for U.S. balloons to illegally into other countries airspace, and the ministry of foreign apparel spokesperson accused the U.S. of frequently sending more warplanes, warships and planes to carry out close range reconnaissance against China, which he claimed amounted to a total of 657 times last year and 64 times this January in the South China Sea.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, state media said that they spotted their own UFO above waters near the eastern port city of Rizhao and were preparing to shoot it down. Local authorities even told fishermen in the area to stay safe, and to help salvage any debris if it falls near their boat.

But as of now, we've got to know further detail about the object and it's still unclear if it's been taken down.

But, Jake, look, I spoke to a defense expert, Drew Thompson in Singapore, who said China's messaging may lack credibility and it's contradictory. But the messaging here is largely directed at the domestic audience.

TAPPER: All right. Selina Wang in Beijing for us, thanks so much.

Joining us now, retired Marine Corps General Frank McKenzie. He's the former commander of U.S. Central Command.

General, thanks for joining us.

So, you just heard John Kirby said the U.S. does not fly balloons over Chinese airspace. Does -- has that always been true, even if one includes Taiwan and the artificial Chinese islands in the South China Sea, or is that really where this disagreement is about?

GEN. FRANK MCKENZIE (RET), FORMER COMMANDER OF U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Well, Jake, first of all thanks for having me this afternoon. I'm right with John Kirby on this. That's nonsense. We haven't flown in my long experience any kind of balloon over China. We have other ways to gather intelligence that don't require us to go into Chinese airspace, or Chinese territorial waters to do that. And we do that pretty effectively, which really perturbed the Chinese, which is why you have such an electric reaction to the current situation.

TAPPER: But if one includes Taiwan as Chinese airspace, which I'm not sure the United States does, or if one includes those artificial islands that China's building in the South China Sea, which I'm not sure the United States does, then can it be said that we fly surveillance balloons over that -- those areas? Is that -- I'm just saying, is that how the Chinese are making this accusation?

MCKENZIE: The Chinese territorial demands in the South China Sea and off their coast are exorbitant. They extend very far out and they're not internationally recognized. Even given that, I'm not aware of any balloon flies that might we have executed. We have other ways to gather intelligence.

TAPPER: Sources tell CNN that U.S. community's method for tracking Chinese surveillance balloons was only developed within the last year. So, it seems rather concerning that China was apparently doing this for years, and years, perhaps even decades with the U.S. having no clue, right?

MCKENZIE: Jake, that is -- that is concerning. I can tell you this as the director of the joint staff from 2017 to 2019, we know no (ph) reported Chinese incursion during that period. I don't say that they did not occur. I'm really saying none were reported. That's a period of time if the Russians flew up and what we call their air defense verification zone, we would get routine reporting on that.

[16:10:06]

So, we look for that pretty hard. I'm not -- I'm not able to get you more information on that. But it is concerning that this may have gone on for a while and it's not been detected until now.

TAPPER: Do you think President Biden was too slow and shooting down the Chinese bible in over a week ago?

MCKENZIE: I think we wanted to be cautious about what it was. I think once you made the determination that it did not pose an imminent threat to aircraft flying in the United States, in 66,000 feet, then you could take a very deliberate approach.

Having said, I think we all prefer to have shut it down before entered or as it entered U.S. airspace. I would guess that was probably what will happen again. But it's important to distinguish between the reaction to the first balloon, and these other anomalies that we've identified. All of them were operating in a regime where they posed a reasonable threat to air traffic. So, it's very easy decision to bring them under those circumstances.

TAPPER: Do you suspect these three other objects were from the Chinese government?

MCKENZIE: Great question, Jake. I don't know. It takes a lot of resources to put something at that altitude. And keep it up there for periods of time. Those things are typically only of -- those resources only typically available to nation states.

Here's one thing, I'm confident that we'll get to these three inaccessible sites. We'll know what happened, just as we will do a full recovery of what lays off the coast of South Carolina. TAPPER: One other countries are capable of sending surveillance

equipment such as this over the United States? Obviously, the Chinese government is capable of it. I assumed Russia is. But you tell me, who else?

MCKENZIE: Sure, so Russia and China will both be capable, other countries as well might be capable, the technology required is a particularly difficult. But what you have to look back are the prevailing wins. A balloon of this nature is not particularly maneuverable. It's not going to go up. It's not going to fight back against a jet stream.

So, you've got to be in a location where it could be launched. That takes you into the northern tier states, China being one, and Russia being another one.

TAPPER: General Frank McKenzie, thanks so much for your expertise. We really appreciate it, sir.

MCKENZIE: Thanks, Jake. I enjoyed being here this afternoon.

TAPPER: Ahead, the allegations and arrest now in Turkey, one week after that nation's devastating earthquake.

Plus, a former congressman on a mission, how he says antisemitism is seeping into mainstream American politics.

And in a CNN exclusive, lawyers for Donald Trump tried to explain how an envelope marked classified ended up in Donald Trump's bedroom.

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[16:16:39]

TAPPER: One week after that devastating earthquake in Turkey and in Syria, more than 36,000 people have been reported dead, 36,000. Turkish government blames in part contractors and have started arresting dozens on allegations of shoddy building standards. Meanwhile, there are still stories of hope. Rescuers pulled a 13-year- old alive after seven days trapped under the rubble.

CNN's Sara Sidner is in Adiyaman, Turkey, for us right now, with one woman desperate for answers about her family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirty-eight- year-old Kudret Kocebeler desperately pleads with volunteer rescuers to search for her husband Badir (ph). He is buried, she says, in their corner apartment which is somewhere under this rubble.

They try to console her, but this mother of twins wants action, not words.

There is nobody out there. It's been six days. I'm waiting here with my twin standing in the cold. She says she has been asking anyone who will listen to dig her husband out, but for six days, she says officials kept telling her that she needed permission from the government to start on her building.

I want my husband back, even if he is not alive.

She may have accepted his death, but can't go on without seeing her husband's body removed from this hellscape.

My life, my blood, my everything, my best friend and life, he left me with my twins here alone.

While she waits for the realities of her husband's death, here in this area, where you see enormous piles of rubble, these are different buildings, but you can really distinguish them, because there's just so much destruction there have been signs of life.

A child was found alive here after a week in the rubble.

Nurses comfort the girl that they think is three or four years old. She is dehydrated and in shock, but alive. This is the moment she was rescued. Her exhausted little body pulled from under the seemingly endless mountains of rubble in Hatay.

She was rushed to the makeshift hospital, set up in the parking lot of the actual hospital that was evacuated after the earthquake. When she first arrived, as a mother, I felt that she was like my own daughter, this nurse says.

She is cracking up the staff, she is talking.

When she walked in, the toddler managed to make the nurses laugh, relieved she could talk a bit.

What is it that she said that made you all laugh? She made all the nurses laugh.

The word that made all the nurses laugh was mama, and I am hungry, I want to eat something.

What did that do to your heart when she said mama?

I felt a great pulse in my heart, she says.

No one knew her name, and when she asked, she said dada.

[16:20:03]

It turns out this toddler does not speak Turkish, she speaks Arabic. Rescuers later tell us that she is Syrian.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on camera): Now, we have learned that the rescuers there in Hatay have not been able to find her parents. They do believe at this point in time they are probably deceased. So, this little girl who went through such a harrowing seven days under the rubble but was fold out alive may soon come to find out that she is an orphan.

And as for Ms. Kudret that you saw there, who is wailing, waiting for her husband, hoping even just to find a body, well, we have learned this evening that her husband has been found, but he has been found dead in the rubble. At least now, she will be able to see him for one last time and be able to give him proper burial, Jake.

TAPPER: Sara Sidner in Adiyaman, Turkey, thank you so much of that report.

Coming up next, CNN goes one-on-one with team Trump. What lawyers say about material marked classified at the former president's home as investigators close in?

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[16:25:45]

TAPPER: In our politics, lead parts of the final report from a Fulton County, Georgia, special grand jury investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election will be publicly released this Thursday after a judge's ruling.

As CNN's Paula Reid reports, the report is a culmination of seven months of work, including interviews with 75 witnesses.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA REID, CNN SENIOR LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: As federal investigations into former President Trump's intensify, his own lawyers say they've done their part.

TIM PARLATORE, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: We have completed the searches. We've given up our full report to DOJ.

REID: Saying they turned over new pages with classified markings to investigators in December and then just last month handed over a laptop and a thumb drive.

Those contained copies of the classified materials, scanned by a Trump aide who works for a political action committee fund raising for Trump.

Why would someone from a PAC have access to classified materials?

PARLATORE: She was working as an aide to the president. This is a box that had all the daily schedules from his time in office. We call DOJ to let them know.

REID: The Trump legal team also turned over what it describes as an empty folder labeled classified evening briefings, which Trump was using for an unusual purpose.

PARLATORE: It was in the president's bedroom, he has one of those landline telephones next to his bed. It has a blue light on it. It keeps them up at night. So, he took the manila folder, he's put it over it so it would keep the light down so he could sleep at night.

REPORTER: Mr. President?

REID: There is a similar folder on display at the Trump Tower. Doesn't the use of the folder suggest a flippant attitude towards classified materials?

PARLATORE: Not at all. Not at all.

REID: Even the Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee criticized the former president, as well as President Biden and former Vice President Pence for their handling of classified materials.

REP. MIKE TURNER (R-OH): We are all just stumped. We don't understand how this could be happening.

REID: Special counsel Jack Smith is also collecting information from key witnesses going before the grand jury, including Trump's own attorney Christina Bobb.

CHRISTINA BOBB, TRUMP LAWYER WHO APPEARED BEFORE GRAND JURY: They were looking for a classified document, evidence of a crime. I don't believe there is any down there.

REID: And Evan Corcoran, who told the National Archives last summer that Trump had no additional classified material in his possession.

Adding to the high profile witness list is Trump's former national security adviser Robert O'Brien and his Vice President Mike Pence.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: I hope the Justice Department understands the magnitude, the very idea of indicting a former president of the United States. I think that would be terribly divisive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

REID (on camera): Trump's lawyer told me they will try to block testimony from Pence and another Trump advisers by asserting executive privilege. It's unclear exactly how successful they will be, that will likely delay the investigation for weeks or even months -- Jake.

TAPPER: Paula Reid, thanks so much.

I want to bring former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig.

He's the author of the new book untouchable how powerful people get away with it.

Elie, thanks for joining us.

How does this Fulton County judge go about deciding which parts of the grand jury's work he will publicly released on Thursday?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, Jake, anytime you're talking about releasing grand jury information. That's inherently sensitive. Judge is really going to have to overarching concerns.

Number one, you're not going to want to expose the investigation. You may have information about sensitive witnesses while ongoing investigation techniques. Number two, the judge is not going to want to harm or undermine the rights of the accused or in this case the not even accused at this point. By putting information out, you could undermine that person's right to a fair jury trial, and you could undermine the presumption of innocence.

The thing I would say here, though, is this is a little unusual, because this is what's called a special grand jury. Under Georgia law, the judge has more discretion than usual to disclose information. So, I think we should expect to see some broader conclusions, but I don't think we should see specifics about especially sensitive witnesses.

TAPPER: So, grand juries are known for not being particularly difficult to get an indictment from, right? They say any decent prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indictment. So, how does that play in air into releasing all this information?

[16:30:03]

It's not -- I mean, it's basically just a prosecutorial document of some sort, right?

HONIG: Yeah, it is, Jake. There actually is some truth to that old joke about the ham sandwich. I can tell you from my experience as a prosecutor. It's important that people understand, this is not some independent fact-finding body reaching its own conclusions.

The grand jury process is by design one-sided. The only people allowed in the grand jury room are the grand jurors, prosecutors, and witnesses. There is no defense lawyer, there is no cross-examination, so whatever you see out of this grand jury on Thursday, whatever parts of it we see, it's important that people understand that is largely the prosecution's findings, sort of being bounce back at it.

TAPPER: Fulton County district attorney, the Fulton County district attorney's previously said the decisions on charges are imminent. How does the partial release of this grand jury material potentially impact the timetable for charges?

HONIG: No, I think it increases the pressure on the D.A. Fani Willis when she said eminent, that's not a legal term of art. There is no specific meaning. It means whatever the D.A. thinks eminent should mean.

I'll tell you, this I'd never say that to a judge unless I was talking weeks rather than months.

TAPPER: We now know that Trump's legal team turned over more material classified markings. They do this in December, they did this last month in January. And we know that some of these documents have been scammed to a thumb drive and to a laptop.

How does that impact the potential criminal charges or the actual criminal investigations into all of this?

HONIG: That is a vital new detail in my view as a former prosecutor because now I know that those documents were not just stuffed in boxes or laying haphazardly around Mar-a-Lago. Now I know that something was done with those documents. I would want to dig in and say, who gave this instruction, why were they scanned? What was done with them?

Because now we're going from a world where these documents are all contained on paper to where they've been digitized. And we all know, I think, once something hits the digital realm, it's much easier to disseminate. The thing I would have as a prosecutor, why are they taken from paper and put on to a computer?

TAPPER: One of Trump's attorneys, you also heard is confirmed that they handed over an empty classified folder found in Trump's bedroom after receiving a subpoena. I want to get your reaction to how Trump's attorneys explained why it was in from bedroom.

HONIG: Yes --

TAPPER: Hold on, let's play the sound.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIMOTHY PARLATORE, ATTORNEY FOR DONALD TRUMP: He has one of those landline telephones next to his bed. It has a blue light on it. It keeps him up at night. So, he took the manila folder, put it over it, so it would keep the light down so he could sleep at night.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you make of that?

HONIG: I posted that would do the job just as well.

Look, I think that's a dubious explanation. However, I think it gives us a little bit of a peek into what a defense could be here, which is they're trying to put out an image that these documents were not taken for any sort of illegal or criminal purpose. Maybe there are a sloppiness, maybe their thoughtless, maybe they're being used in silly ways, but not criminal ways.

But, really my question is, A, what happened to the document that was inside the folder? How do we account for the other 200 plus classified documents there at Mar-a-Lago?

TAPPER: All right. Eli Honig, thank you so much. I appreciate.

Coming up on THE LEAD, I'm going to speak live with Super Bowl champion Patrick Mahomes, fresh off his big win against my beloved Eagles.

But, first, the big political plans and Israel drawing a groundswell of pushback from the Israeli people.

Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:37:26]

TAPPER: In our world, an Israeli mother is calling for peace and for prayers after her two young boys Yaakov and Asher Paley ages six and eight were killed in what police are calling a terrorist attack. Police say the suspect was neutralized after he drove his car apparently deliberately into a bus stop in Jerusalem Friday. This attack follows weeks of heightened tension between Palestinians and Israelis.

Earlier today, Palestinian authorities said and Israeli military raid left one Palestinian man dead and at least 13 others injured.

Meanwhile, there is also unrest happening within Israel's own parliament, the Knesset. It's spilling into the streets of Jerusalem where tens of thousands of flag waving Israelis were protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judiciary reform plan that would weaken the Israeli Supreme Court.

As CNN's Hadas Gold reports for us now, Israel's president is now warning that the nation is on the brink of constitutional and social collapse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By the tens of thousands, protesters streamed into Jerusalem, with drums, flags, signs, chanting and singing songs.

One of the largest demonstrations for Jerusalem in years, is these protesters skipped work, school to stand against Prime Minister Netanyahu and his government's sweeping judicial reform plans, fundamentally altering the balance of power by allowing parliament to overturn Supreme Court decisions with a simple majority.

Now, for weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have been coming out to the streets of Tel Aviv to protest. But on Monday, on the day these judicial reforms or first formally introduced in the Israeli parliament, they decided to come here to Jerusalem, so that the shouts of the tens of thousands could be heard in the halls of the parliament.

TZVIKA GRUNALD, PROTESTER: Just because they want a slim majority, does it mean that the rights with them. Changing the spirit, and the life of the country from a democracy to a totalitarian regime, we don't want to go there.

GOLD: Inside the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, the reform passing its first legislative test in the committee.

To ferocious protests from opposition law makers who jumped over tables, yelling shame and disgrace before being forcibly removed by security. Netanyahu accusing opposition leaders of deliberately dragging the

country into anarchy, urging them to show responsibility and leadership. The night before, Israeli President Isaac Herzog plea in a televised address for consensus and a warning.

[16:40:06]

PRES. ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAEL (through translator): We are at a moment before a confrontation, even a violent confrontation. The powdered keg is about to explode. And brothers are about to raise their hands against brothers

GOLD: Even U.S. President Joe Biden weighing in, saying it's the genius of American and Israeli democracies that were built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, and an independent judiciary.

Perhaps the message received, Monday evening after the protests cleared the street. An announcement from the Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, that while they weren't going to stop the legislative process, they will meet with opposition leaders to at least start negotiations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GOLD (on camera): Now, despite that invitation from the coalition to the opposition leaders to sit down and have a meeting even as soon as tonight, I can tell you that as 11:30 pm local, that meeting has not taken place. The Israeli media is reporting the opposition leaders like former Prime Minister Yair Lapid want a freeze to the legislative process before they agreed to sit around the table, whereas the coalition members want at this meeting without any preconditions. Clearly, were not any closer to seeing these people sitting around the table -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Hadas Gold in Jerusalem for us, thank you so much.

Back in the United States in our national lead, a new report out today from the American Jewish Committee shows that antisemitism, specifically anti-Jewish hate in the U.S., is growing and creeping into all facets of American society.

Let's bring in Ted Deutch, former Florida Democratic congressman and the CEO of the American Jewish Committee to talk about this report.

So, Ted, thanks for joining us. The new state of antisemitism in the America report shows that in 2022, 89 percent of American Jews said that antisemitism is a serious problem. That's up from 73 percent at just one year before. There is also a ten-point jump in Jews, American Jews reporting that they feel less secure about their status in the United States.

So your organization is a call to action to combat antisemitism. How do you even begin to tackle such a huge accelerating problem?

TED DEUTCH, CEO, AMERICAN JEWISH COMMMITTEE: Well, it starts -- thanks are having me, Jake. It starts by acknowledging the moment we are in. The imports of the survey, the number that really jumps out of the survey is that over 40 percent of American Jews feel less secure living in America than they did just one year ago. It's a 10 percent increase from last year.

So, AJC's call to action against antisemitism recognizes that this requires a whole of society approach that ultimately, it's not just the Jews who are at a risk when antisemitism is allowed to fester, and that we are all in this together fighting this Jew hatred.

So, whether it's advocacy before government or advocacy with businesses, interacting with universities, law enforcement, social media, perhaps most importantly, everyone has a role to play here. Most people in the Jewish committee saw antisemitism online, 85 percent of young people saw antisemitism or experience antisemitism online, and people are changing their behavior as a result even frayed to show that they're Jewish.

TAPPER: Just over a week ago, San Francisco police arrested a man who allegedly had fired a replica gun inside a synagogue. That is just days after a man allegedly threw a bullet of cocktail at a New Jersey synagogue.

These attacks are not infrequent. They are alarmingly regular. Is there a way for law enforcement do you think to better identify and stop attacks such as those before they happen?

DEUTCH: Well, look, the reporting from the, the hate crime reporting was woefully inadequate. We need to do a better job identifying the challenges that exist. We also have to work together to confront this.

Jake, the -- what you described is happening more and more across the country. And as you know, it's not only those kinds of massive threats, on a regular basis now across America, where I am a New York, now especially, visibly identifiable Jews are the subject of physical attacks.

So, there has to be a real focus. We need the resources to help secure the community and the institutions. We need the resources, as you point, out in law enforcement, to make sure that these cases are being investigated and being prosecuted, people are being held accountable.

There is too much of a risk for the community and again for the country at large if we just allow this to fester. And social media companies have a huge role to play here as well.

TAPPER: Another finding for the report shows that more than a third of U.S. adults have personally witnessed antisemitic harassment or physical attacks and last year. Very few of them reported those incidents. Only 7 percent reported the incidents the police. 4 percent reported them to a Jewish organization, 3 percent to a social media platform, 5 percent to another authority or platform.

[16:45:07]

Why do you think that is? Are Jews afraid of being perceived as complaining? I mean, what could possibly be a behind that? DEUTCH: Yeah, look, there is a -- there is a normalizing of

antisemitism that we know from our data have shown that people are modifying their behavior. There is a huge increase in antisemitism, people can change behavior, there's a hesitancy to report it. What we're trying to show with this report is the problem is a so severe that we all have a role to play. The community needs to acknowledge when they're experiencing antisemitism, that's how we're going to be able to come together to confront it altogether.

TAPPER: And, lastly, Ted, tomorrow marks five years since the horrific murders in Parkland, Florida, at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where 14 students and three staff members were killed. At the time, you represented that district in Congress.

How is the healing process going for the community? Are you feeling at all hopeful given the fact that since that happened, there were sweeping changes made in Florida laws and there have been other changes on the federal level?

DEUTCH: Well, it's not -- it's not the political changes that give me hope, the healing continues. It's going to continue to go on. I am in touch with the families still. I so admire the courage they show.

But if there is something that should give us hope, it's what the young people accomplished after Parkland. Not just in Parkland, but around the country, elevating the issue of gun violence, advocating for change, forcing change. We've seen that everywhere around the country. That has -- that has to be a takeaway for us, even as we reflect on five years.

It's really hard to think that has been that long. It was the most impactful moments of my tenure in Congress and the community continues to deal with it.

TAPPER: All right. Ted Deutch, thank you so much. Good to see you again.

Coming up next, a school's controversial response after a father says his daughter was bullied and beaten at school, and then ultimately died by suicide because of it.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:51:46]

TAPPER: Troubling new questions today about how a New Jersey school district handled or failed to handle allegations of bullying after the suicide of a 14-year-old girl. Adriana Kuch tragically took her own life after a video showing for other teens assaulting her at school is posted online. Adriana's family shared the disturbing video with CNN.

Here is CNN's Brynn Gingras.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video last less than a minute, we are showing you edited segments. The attack, vicious, and a warning you may find it disturbing. A New Jersey dad says his daughter was jumped in the halls of her high school. The next day, he says she took her own life.

MICHAEL KUCH, FATHER: They think it's fun to attack people and make videos and post them.

GINGRAS: Michael Kuch provided the video to CNN. It shows 14-year-old Adriana walking with her boyfriend when a group approaches the couple, first hitting her with a water bottle several times. She's beaten to the ground as school personnel intervene.

KUCH: She blacks out and they don't call an ambulance. They take her to the nurse's office.

GINGRAS: Kuch says he's the one who alerted to police to what happened, and to the video which quickly circulated online, prompting a slew of hateful comments.

If the school contacted the police and file the report and conducted an investigation, these videos would have been discovered immediately, Kuch said in a Facebook post after his daughter's death.

KUCH: Adriana was the most happy, beautiful young lady in the world.

GINGRAS: The superintendent at the time says police were notified and the four attackers were immediately suspended. They've also been criminally charged, one with aggravated assault. The superintendent resigned Saturday.

The tragedy now putting a spotlight on the school with protests on campus, and two more parents are coming forward with more allegations of bullying that they say went unchecked.

One family suing after a mom says her teenage daughter was bullied at the same high school more than a year ago, providing this video of the incident to CNN. The school basically just dismissed them as some conflict. They didn't offer any protection for the client and didn't call the police, their lawyer claims.

The school district denying the allegations in the suit and saying in a recent statement it is reviewing current and past allegations of bullying and will undergo an independent assessment of its anti- bullying policies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These data show a distressing picture.

GINGRAS: The tragedy comes as the CDC released findings showing teen girls have experienced record high levels of violence, sadness, and suicide risk post-COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly one in three high school girls in 2021 seriously considered suicide, up 58 percent from a decade ago.

DR. KATHLEEN ETHIER, DIRECTOR, ADOLESCENT AND SCHOOL HEALTH, CDC: This nationally representative survey of U.S. high school students reveals the changing health risks our young people are facing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GINGRAS (on camera): And important to note that New Jersey superintendent also resigning after making some very controversial statements after the incident happened at the former school, including blaming the behavior you see in that video, Jake, on a very unlikely target, the pandemic -- Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Brynn Gingras, thanks so much.

If you or anyone you know needs help, please call or text the suicide and crisis lifeline at 988.

[16:55:00]

That's 988.

Just in, what a new Pentagon memo says about the flying shot down Saturday over Canada.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, we're talking to the man responsible for bringing down my Birds -- Super Bowl MVP and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will join me live.

Plus, more than three months since Hurricane Ian ravaged Florida, people are living in tents or their cars still waiting for FEMA to deliver trailers. What is the holdup?

And leading this hour, the Pentagon now says that the objects shot down over Canada on Saturday was a small metallic balloon with a pay load tethered to it.