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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump's Bloodbath Comment Stirs Controversy; Pence Won't Endorse Trump; Trump Cannot Get A Loan On His Fraud Case; Biden And Netanyahu Speak Over The Phone After A Month; Three Shootings In One Day On Florida's Jacksonville Beach; Supreme Court Rejects Navarro's Bid To Avoid Reporting To Prison; Allegations Of Anti-Semitic Bullying At Schools In Berkeley, CA. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 18, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. At this hour, the kids are not all right. A new civil rights complaint alleges pervasive anti-Semitism in one public school district, including in classrooms and sometimes from teachers themselves. CNN's Nick Watt sat down with some of the students and parents raising concerns.

Plus, after weeks of silence, President Biden speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the war against Hamas in Gaza. The call comes just one day after Netanyahu appeared live on CNN and criticized one of Biden's closest allies in Washington, D.C. and the highest-ranking Jewish American in history, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. Were Biden and Netanyahu able to find any common ground?

And leading this hour, one specific remark from Donald Trump's rally on Saturday has set off a political firestorm. But is it possible the firestorm is missing what should be of real concern? Before we get there, we'll have to once again play the tape and the game of interpreting the former president's viral clip made the rounds where Mr. Trump predicted a, quote, "bloodbath" should he lose the election in November.

Now, this sounds on the surface such as, well, it sounds like he's calling for political violence and commentators and Democratic politicians, even President Biden, were quick to call it as such. Joe Biden's campaign issuing a statement saying, quote, "this is who Donald Trump is, a loser who gets beat by over seven million votes. And then instead of appealing to a wider mainstream audience, doubles down on his threats of political violence," unquote.

Of course, as always, when it comes to journalism, it's important to view the entirety of any politician's remarks and view the context. So, Mr. Trump said this. We're about to air the clip in the midst of a riff on the auto industry and unions and the transition to electric cars and auto plants in Mexico. So, listen to the quote.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're gonna put a 100 percent tariff on every single car that comes across the line, and you're not gonna be able to sell those cars, if I get elected. Now, if I don't get elected, it's gonna be a bloodbath for the whole -- that's gonna be the least of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So that's the whole context. Even some commentators who do not support Trump argued that he was clearly referring to a figurative economic bloodbath for jobs in the auto industry and in America. And Trump's team agrees with that interpretation, a statement from the campaign saying, quote, "Biden's policies will create an economic bloodbath for the auto industry and auto workers," unquote.

But beyond whether or not you buy that explanation or either way are troubled by his use of the word bloodbath, given the political violence that has been done in his name, there is other content in his speech that alarmed even the most conservative Republicans, even in context, including his promise to free the criminals charged in the January 6th Capitol attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages.

(SINGING)

TRUMP: The spirit from the hostages, and that's what they are, is hostages. They've been treated terribly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Okay. They're not hostages. To be very clear, we at "The Lead," we interview the families of hostages often, whether they are currently being imprisoned by Putin or kidnapped by Hamas, those are hostages. The 1,400 defendants in the Capitol attack who have gone through the judicial system with its checks and balances, they're not hostages. By the way, 486 of them have been charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding law enforcement officers. Those are hostages, people who attack law enforcement?

Trump went on to stress the importance of the November election by saying this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If this election -- if this election isn't won, I'm not sure that you'll ever have another election in this country. Does that make sense?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No, this does not make sense because there's only one candidate on the ballot who has refused to accept the results of a free and fair presidential election and tried, perhaps illegally, the jury's still out, to stop the free and fair election process. And that candidate is, of course, Mr. Trump himself, whose positions when it comes to January 6 and Putin have now prompted even his own former vice president, a man of impeccable conservative credentials, to say this.

[17:05:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: After a lot of prayer and reflection, I've come to the conclusion that I won't be endorsing Donald Trump this year. And frankly, the fact that the president continues to insist that I had the right to overturn the election that day is a fundamental difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: One of several that Vice President Pence went into. CNN's Kristen Holmes is here with more. And Kristen, I do understand why the Biden campaign is saying that they don't see any attempt by Trump to try to appeal beyond his base. Tell us more about where he is at this stage of his campaign.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and if you talk to members of his campaign, they say not to expect that at all. They are doing what they can to work around a candidate that they know who his strengths and weaknesses are, and Donald Trump is going to say and do whatever he wants. Now, one thing we were told by senior advisers is that he might tailor his message.

Now, again, this isn't some kind of presidential pivot. This isn't changing who he is. It isn't even toning down these remarks. It more meant that based on where he's going, if he's shown the data for what those voters care about, he would likely talk about that, for example, immigration. He might lead with immigration those same remarks about immigration.

But I do want to point out one thing here. Donald Trump has been saying this for over a year. He was talking in CPAC more than a year ago after he announced his second candidacy. He said, I will be your retribution. I will be your revenge. He often talks in these dark undertones or really overtones.

He's very clear about where he stands on immigration. He has said he wants to round up migrants and then deport them. These are all things he has said. The difference is now that we are in a general election. He is presumptive Republican nominee and everything is under a microscope. He is no longer saying this stuff in a vacuum to conservative media. He's no longer ranting just on True Social, where there are far less viewers or users than on Twitter or Facebook.

He is now saying this in the context of one of the two candidates who are running to be president in November. So, people are paying attention. So, the question is, how exactly is the campaign going to handle this? One of the things they have told us is that part of their strategy is to try and grow his base, like what we saw in Iowa, finding people who supported Donald Trump in some way but had never voted in some of these critical battleground states.

But also, a lot of this is going to be played out on the Internet, like you saw, taking those snippets of these various remarks that he makes that, as you say, are hard to interpret and hard to defend. Jake?

TAPPER: Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. And let's turn to our "Law and Justice Lead" now, which also stars former President Donald Trump and his money problems, as they were. According to Trump's lawyers, there is no insurance company willing to underwrite his bond to cover the massive $464 million judgment against him in that New York civil fraud case. No insurance company willing to underwrite it.

CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now. Kara, how can Trump get around the fact that no one will consider his bond? What happens next?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, so Trump is telling the judge this because he wants the New York appeals court to allow him to appeal this case and not put forward any money until this appeal is exhausted. He's trying to argue that the total judgment will come down. Of course, the New York attorney general's office is opposing that.

So, Trump has laid out his efforts to try to get a bond, saying that they have approached 30 different bond underwriters. None of them were willing to secure the bond. In their filing, they write, very few bonding companies will consider a bond of anything approaching that magnitude. As you said, it's nearly half a billion dollars that he has to come up with.

And what Trump's team said is that among the insurance companies they've gone to, including some of the biggest ones in the world, they have limits internally where they singularly will not underwrite a bond in excess of $100 million. His problem is five times that size. And in addition, that these companies want cash or stocks as collateral, Trump doesn't have that much cash or stock to cover the amount.

So, they're telling the appeals court they've got this problem and that they're hoping the appeals court will see that they've made an effort and give him this ability to appeal the case without posting the money. They've also said to the appeals court panel, if you're not going to allow this, then let us go to the New York's highest appeals court and let us continue to not have to come up with the money until then.

We are expecting this first layer of the appeals court to make a decision this month. His bond is due next Monday. So, this is all coming to a head, yet again, down to the wire, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Kara Scannell, thanks so much. Let's bring in Ana Navarro, co-host of "The View" and CNN political commentator. Ana, good to see you. So, the dispatch editor, our friend Jonah Goldberg, argues that Trump often says vile things, but the reaction to his bloodbath comment is problematic. He posted on Twitter, also known as X quote, "I don't understand how

some folks don't understand that distorting the bloodbath thing helps Trump. It bolsters the spin from Trumpers that all of his indefensible utterances are distorted by media. The election will be decided by folks susceptible to those defenses," unquote.

[17:10:02]

What's your take on this? Do you think it's important for folks to acknowledge context and make sure that the criticisms are pure, as it were?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, so what is context, right? I think that what people are reacting to, including me, when I hear him talk about bloodbath and say that will be the least of it. The context I look at it in is the context of Donald Trump and Donald Trump's history, and the four plus years that he has spent saying horrible things and creating this ambiance that we all lived under.

There was an article a few weeks ago that said, does America have amnesia when it comes to Donald Trump? And Donald Trump on the trail is reminding us every day of who he is and what he will wreak on America. So, what is the context? The context of him talking about bloodbath is the memory of January 6th, and what his words and actions set forth then.

It's the context of him talking about American carnage. It's the context of him telling us over and over again that he will be the retribution. So, when you hear him say bloodbath, that's the context you put it in, the context of the Donald Trump we know.

TAPPER: In the same rally, Trump said he does not view those who have been imprisoned for roles in gang violence and other violent crimes, those who are undocumented immigrants. He says he doesn't view them as people. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: If I had prisons that were teeming with MS-13 and all sorts of people that they've got to take care of for the next 50 years, right? Young people, they're in jail for years, if you call them people, I don't know if you call them people. In some cases, they're not people, in my opinion. These are bad. These are animals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, what's your reaction to that?

NAVARRO: MS-13 members are bad people, but again, this is in the context of Trump. This is in the context of a guy who's been using Hitler-like rhetoric to talk about migrants, who calls them invaders, who says they are poisoning the blood of America, who has said horrible things about migrants. And so, I'll tell you the reaction it brings from me as a person of color, as a Latina woman, as an immigrant. I don't think people who hate migrants really can tell the difference

as to who's legal or who's not, as to who may be a U.S. citizen or not. How do I know that? I know that because of what was triggered in the man who drove over 10 hours to an El Paso Walmart to shoot up migrants and immigrants and Latinos, including 13 who were American citizens. I know that because of the children.

Let us remember the children that were bullied mercilessly, the Latino children that were bullied mercilessly during Trump's administration because there were kids replicating his speech, because there were kids learning from the things that he said and saying that to little brown kids. So that's the reaction that it brings from me.

I don't want to defend MS-13. I think they're terrible people. But I think that Trump keeps putting these dog whistles in everything he says, trying to signal to the people who are racist, to the people who do hate immigrants, to the people who think that folks who look like me and sound like me are poisoning the blood of America. He is signaling to them, I'm with you and I'm talking to you and I'm your president, follow me.

TAPPER: On Trump's legal matters having to do with New York, he cannot find an insurance company, his lawyers say, to underwrite his bond to cover the judgment against him in Alvin Bragg's New York civil fraud case. The amount with interest is now more than $464 million. I'm sorry, it's Letitia James' trial.

Almost no one could relate to him in terms of owing that much money. Will he win any points, you think, with the base, at least, by playing the relatability card in terms of not being able to afford bond? I mean, that's the argument he makes that he is now more appealing to people in the minority community because he's been indicted, because he has a mugshot, because the man is going against him. What do you think?

NAVARRO: There's no doubt that Trump portraying himself as the victim of political prosecution works with a certain base, but his legal problem is a real one. He can't get bond, right? And it's not just -- I think it's not just because of the amount, which is a very real issue.

[17:15:00]

But also look at all the banks that have been involved with Trump that have ended up getting dragged into court cases and legal proceedings. Why is he in court to begin with? Because of fraudulent documents in terms of the worth of his properties.

So, who would want to give him bond based on that type of collateral, based on maybe inadequate, inaccurate evaluations of his property? Will some people find him more relatable because he can't find bond for half a billion dollars? Gee, I don't know. Maybe other billionaires.

But I think to me, the central question is, if you are so wealthy, if you are a billionaire to the level that you say you are, why do you need bond to begin with? Or maybe are you just lying?

TAPPER: Ana Navarro, good to see you. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. They haven't spoken to one another in more than a month. So, what did President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discuss today? And will it make a difference in Israel's plans in Gaza?

Also ahead, Miami cracks down on a dangerous combination, spring break, liquor and guns. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:24]

TAPPER: Now to Gaza in our "World Lead," 1.1 million people in Gaza are completely out of food in what the United Nations chief calls, quote, "an entirely manmade disaster." In northern Gaza, famine is, quote, "imminent," according to the World Food Program. This humanitarian catastrophe is a major source of tension between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the two leaders increasingly distant.

And they spoke on the phone today just days after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, took to the Senate floor and essentially called for regime change in Israel to speech that Biden called, quote, "good." Listen to how Netanyahu responded in an interview with my colleague Dana Bash on "State of the Union" Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINIESTER OF ISRAEL: It's inappropriate for -- to go to a sister democracy and try to replace the elected leadership there. That's something that Israel, the Israeli public does on its own. And we're not a banana republic.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond live in Jerusalem. And Jeremy, Biden and Netanyahu spoke about Israel's plans for Rafah in Gaza. Read between the lines of today's call for us, if you could.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, they did speak about that potential military offensive in Rafah, the humanitarian situation in Gaza, as well as, of course, Israel's military campaign in Gaza. But between the lines, the tension between these two men is the critical backdrop here. It's important. It cannot be overstated.

And clearly, it came up on the call. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, indicating that Prime Minister Netanyahu did indeed bring up things that were being discussed in the American press.

And so, these two men clearly had it out after a week of where these tensions really came out into the open, not only with the White House growing increasingly critical of the Israeli prime minister, but also, of course, Chuck Schumer making those comments, prompting a very forceful response from Netanyahu over the weekend. But they did also discuss the substance and including on that

potential Rafah military offensive, Netanyahu agreeing to send an Israeli delegation of military leaders to Washington to discuss those potential plans and alternatives that American leaders may present.

TAPPER: Jeremy, the IDF surrounded the al-Shifa medical complex in northern Gaza today, but Israel said it, quote, "dismantled Hamas in the north in January." So, what's going on?

DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli military has talked about these pockets of resistance of Hamas fighters in northern Gaza, and they have been attacked from time to time by what has become more of a guerrilla force in northern Gaza.

But this represented a significant military operation by Israel, perhaps one of the most significant in northern Gaza that we have seen this year so far, an overnight military operation at the al-Shifa medical complex that involved not only ground forces, tanks, armored vehicles, but also airstrikes, according to people on the ground.

And it wasn't just on the grounds of al-Shifa complex where the Israeli military said that Hamas's operatives were operating from, where they say that Hamas's operatives fired on Israeli troops, but also where 30,000 Palestinian civilians are currently sheltering.

But there were also airstrikes in the vicinity, in the al-Ramal neighborhood, as far away as one kilometer away from that hospital itself, enormous destruction caused by those strikes, women and children among those killed and injured in the rubble. And all of this, of course, the critical backdrop for what more the Israeli military will do, especially as those who were at al-Shifa hospital now heading south to central Gaza. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem for us. Thank you so much. Let's bring in CNN political and foreign policy analyst Barak Ravid. He's also a political and foreign policy reporter at "Axios."

Barak, what's your reaction to the Rafah part of the Biden Netanyahu phone call, where Netanyahu apparently agreed to send senior Israeli military leaders to Washington, D.C. to discuss an alternative approach in Rafah. What's your prediction for that meeting?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL & FOREIGN POLICY ANALYST: So, I think what's interesting with this first is that if Netanyahu agreed, this means that both Biden who proposed this and Netanyahu agreed want to at least try and avoid the showdown, because it's clear to everybody on both sides that if Israel would go for an operation Rafah right now in the current situation with those very, very strong objections by the U.S. president, this would lead to a huge crisis in relations.

[17:25:04]

And it seems that both leaders are trying to avoid that and get some sort of an understanding of how this operation should look like.

TAPPER: If Netanyahu continues to disregard Biden's concerns about humanitarian aid, will Biden impose any consequences on Netanyahu, do you think, with more than just public scolding? For example, is Biden anywhere close to putting, you know, really tough conditions on Israel's use of U.S.-made weapons?

RAVID: So, I think this is, again, goes to our previous question, because I heard it from numerous U.S. officials that said that if Netanyahu goes ahead and defies Biden on Rafah, this would lead to two things. A, a possibility that the U.S. will use its leverage in the Security Council and will not veto a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire.

And second, the U.S. will not stop weapons shipments to Israel, but it will use it as leverage in a different way. It would condition the use of U.S. weapons in Gaza, meaning there are some weapons that the U.S. will tell Israel, listen, you can use this against Hezbollah in Lebanon, but you cannot use this in Gaza. But, again, the main question is whether they can get some sort of an understanding on Rafah to avoid all that.

TAPPER: All right, Barak Ravid, thank you so much for your insights.

We have some breaking news coming up. A major ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court on Texas's new border law. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:52]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, gun violence once again shattering people's lives across several cities over the weekend in the United States, two killed, five others hurt in a shooting in the nation's capital to a nightclub in Indianapolis. One person killed, another five injured.

To Pennsylvania, where I am right now, three people including a 13- year-old girl allegedly killed by a man, later arrested in New Jersey. In Florida, spring break destination for many, shots ring out in three different locations on Jacksonville Beach, killing at least one person, injuring three others. No arrests have been made there. CNN's Carlos Suarez is in Miami with a crackdown against unreleased spring breakers appears to be working so far. But Carlos on the three different shootings on Jacksonville Beach, what happened?

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, talk about a terrifying day up in the Jacksonville Beach area. In that first shooting, authorities that said that a larger group of people, we're talking about anywhere between 3 to 400 people had gathered on a beach there to take part in what police said were boxing matches and fights.

Now when police tried to be a break up this large group, authorities said that two people pulled out a gun and opened fire. In all, three people were shot, including someone who were told had nothing to do with what was going on at the beach at that moment.

Now sometime after that there was another shooting at a bar where a 21-year-old was shot dead. And then sometime after that, a third shooting took place. But we're told that no one was hurt in that incident. Here now is the chief of police describing some of their efforts to try to control these large crowds. And noting here that two of the people that were shot, were the gunman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF GENE PAUL SMITH, JACKSONVILLE BEACH POLICE: Fair warning for future if you're going to commit a crime, once again, for the third time, don't come here and then whine about being arrested or detained. Because that's what we're going to do, we're going to do our job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUAREZ: All right, so police have not released the names or the ages of any of the folks involved in all of this. Jake?

TAPPER: And Carlos, this brazen violence that's happening in large crowds south of Jacksonville Beach as well, a teenager seen on video, pulling out a gun aiming at people in broad daylight?

SUAREZ: That's exactly right. So that encounter that you're talking about happened last week, and it is pretty chilling, really, when you take a look at some of this video out here. Authorities in New Smyrna Beach, said that a 16-year-old pulled a gun on a group of folks, you're taking a look at it right there, that were on the beach on Thursday.

Now officers were told were already in the area when they heard someone yelling that someone had a gun. And so what you're taking a look at there is officers quickly responding to the scene and running after this 16-year-old who they say eventually ran into the ocean and tried it to get rid of the gun. As you can imagine there, sometime after that we're told this teenager was taken into custody.

And now, Jake, all of these incidents really underscore just the increased police presence in the state of Florida for spring break. Here in South Florida and Miami Beach, officials enacted a curfew for the first time this month to deal with these large crowds of folks that are coming down to enjoy the spring break holiday. That is just one of several security measures that are now in place in the city of Miami Beach.

We're talking about a public parking garages that have been closed, a restriction on alcohol sales, anywhere between, you know DUI and security checkpoints that are in effect just about every single day. In fact police out here are even limiting the entrances to several beaches.

Now all of this is taking place as the number of arrests at least in South Florida is down compared to last year, Jake. This was after a pretty violent last spring break where two people were shot dead along famed Ocean Drive.

TAPPER: All right, Carlos Suarez of Miami, Florida, thanks so much.

Coming up next, the breaking news keeps coming from the U.S. Supreme Court, now two important decisions have just been announced. We'll bring in the details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:38:58]

TAPPER: And we have some breaking news just into CNN. The U.S. Supreme Court has just ruled on whether the state of Texas can enforce its controversial immigration law which would allow state officials to arrest and detain people they suspect of entering the country illegally. Let's go straight to CNN senior Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic. Joan, what is the U.S. Supreme Court ruling?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN SENIOR SUPREME COURT ANALYST: It saying it needs more time. It has now indefinitely stayed the lower court -- a lower court decision that would have let this law take effect. It is blocking this law from taking effect while lower court proceedings play out. The Supreme Court, Jake, had set a 5:00 p.m. deadline for itself to act on this.

As you know, this is a controversial law known as SBA that would allow Texas officials to arrest migrants at the border and essentially let Texas take over immigration policy. It's been challenged by the Biden administration and immigrant rights groups. Litigation is playing out but the issue is can this law take effect. Supreme Court said it was going to decide that by 5:00 p.m. today. And now it said it's going to indefinitely continue to postpone the effect of the law there might be something coming later in the week or later, we're just not sure what the court is doing.

[17:40:09]

Justice Samuel Alito had set that deadline. But clearly the justices are not ready to weigh in on this one quite yet, Jake, as it plays out on the merits and lower courts.

TAPPER: And some more news from the U.S. Supreme Court they've made a decision or announced a decision on former Trump adviser Peter Navarro's bid to avoid having to report to prison. Tell us about that.

BISKUPIC: Sure. Last Friday, former Trump adviser, Peter Navarro, had made a plea to the Supreme Court to try to block his order to get to prison after his conviction on contempt of Congress. And it was John Roberts, who issued the one paragraph decision just a few minutes ago, denying that. What he said Jake was that Peter Navarro had requested he asked the court that he could remain free while he challenges the conviction.

But Roberts noted that the Court of Appeals had concluded that Navarro had forfeited any challenge to the idea that even if he was entitled to executive privilege that he should avoid appearing before Congress. And John Roberts alone writing this said he saw, quote, no basis to disagree with the determination that Navarro forfeited those arguments. So for now, as he continues with his appeal, he will have to go to prison, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Joan Biskupic, thanks so much for that update. I want to bring in CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. And Elie, on the Texas ruling stating this controversial immigration law, how did we get here? What does this ruling mean?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So Jake, the state of Texas passed this sort of unusual controversial law, known sometimes as SB 4. And what that did is it gave Texas State officials and judges really the power to enforce immigration law to hold hearings, to deport people who were here illegally.

Now that was appealed by the Justice Department by the Biden administration. The federal trial court first decided against Texas. They said you can't enforce the federal immigration law that's for federal authorities only. It then went to the Federal Court of Appeals which said the law looks OK and can go into effect. But then the Supreme Court put a stay or a pause on it up until today.

And what the Supreme Court has just done, as Joan just said, is to extend that state, to keep it paused. So the SB 4, the law in Texas is not in effect as of this moment. And it will be pending further Supreme Court opinions.

TAPPER: How do you expect this case will ultimately come out?

HONIG: I am quite confident even though we have a six to three conservative majority that the court will strike down Texas's law and that's because it is a straightforward ironclad principle of the Constitution that immigration law, immigration enforcement, foreign policy are for the federal government only. You cannot have individual states applying and enforcing immigration law, it would lead to chaos, and it's against the core tenant of the constitution. So I do think if I had to guess that this law will be struck down eventually by the Supreme Court.

TAPPER: And the Supreme Court also made this decision on former Trump aide, Peter Navarro's request to avoid having to report to prison. What does that decision mean?

HONIG: So he's going to prison out of federal prison. There's no way around it when the Supreme Court has rejected. The request worth noting and remembering how Peter Navarro got here, he's got to serve four months. Peter Navarro was subpoenaed by the January 6th Committee back in 2022. He completely rejected, defied that subpoena. He was then held in contempt. He was tried for contempt of Congress. He was found guilty and sentenced to four months.

And I think it's interesting that in this ruling, the Chief Justice Roberts as Joan just noted, he basically said straight up Navarro has almost no chance of winning his appeal. Therefore, he can't avoid prison. He's got to go in. Now, he can still make his appeal, but he seems to have very little chance of prevailing.

TAPPER: All right, Elie Honig, thanks so much.

The attacks by Hamas on October 7th have sparked some deep divisions here in the United States and given birth to a rise of anti-Semitism. How some students in one California school district are facing this wave of hate, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:48:27]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, controversy over incidents of anti- Semitism on college campuses have made national headlines of late. We've covered the story here on the show most recently allegations at the campus of UC Berkeley. And now a civil rights complaint has been filed by the anti-Defamation League in Brandeis Center against the Berkeley Unified School District, we're talking K through 12 here, charging that system with pervasive anti-Semitism including from teachers in the classroom. Nick Watt has been following all this for us. Nick?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, pretty much everyone in that school district agrees there needs to be more education about what's happening in the Middle East. And there is a brand new curriculum, but now they're arguing over who was involved in formulating that curriculum and whether it's accurate or fair. Amongst all this, I really want to just to speak to some of the kids and find out what the atmosphere is like for them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of my friends was called a word that I hadn't heard before, kike.

WATT: That's old school. Yes. But I mean, I didn't even know it existed until like recently.

WATT (voice-over): He's a Berkeley high school junior. He's Jewish. The kid on the left is not. They asked us not to use their names. Guy in the middle, an educator with Jewish Student Union.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think this was a thing before October 7th as well that Jewish people are like one of the last ethnic groups that you can like be racist towards because --

WATT: In terms of being socially acceptable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because they're more like white people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, like accidentally write down a number wrong, oh, it's because you're Jewish, ha-ha.

[17:50:03]

WATT: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Jews messed up again, like, why? One of the bathrooms at the school, there was written kill all Jews. That has since been taken down, thankfully. But like, when --

WATT: But how does that make you feel as a Jew? It makes me feel sad that people in my school don't care as much about me. ELIEZER COHN, DIRECTOR, JEWISH STUDENT UNION: I asked a kid at one of the local high schools.

WATT: Because you based -- you deal with the Jewish Students Unions at all the schools in the Bay area, right?

COHN: Yes. I asked them, so what have you experienced on campus in terms of anti-Semitism? And he said nothing out of the ordinary, nothing crazy, the occasional swastika or two.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People feel really like forced to pick a side in a war, which is like crazy. I'm sympathetic towards like the people of both nations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like another thing. People are like saying and passing in the hallways is like, oh, what side are you on? Because I don't want to pick a side like this is like, it's a really complicated, like thing that's going on. And it's not so black and white, as the school is teaching it. And as everybody is like learning it.

COHN: What I see a lot is things like school boards, things that are more systematic, is where this culture exists.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If we could please keep the noise down, I can call on the other students.

WATT (voice-over): The microphones only pick up the speakers. It's noisy. Some Jewish students spoke about the new ethnic studies curriculum.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The second slide implies a false and harmful dichotomy that you must believe that either Jews or Arabs have historical claims to the land.

WATT (voice-over): Another students had a different opinion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I found the curriculum to be very informative and open minded. And it has contributed so much to my understanding of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

WATT (voice-over): The mother of a Jewish sixth grader spoke.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yesterday morning, where he left he said to me, Ema (sp?), which is my brother in Hebrew. We were walking through the city today. I'm going to put my hood on over my over my kippah, over my Jewish head covering view all the time. I mean, he said to me, I'm scared.

WATT (voice-over): Little apparent sympathy in the crowd.

WATT: How much more important does it have when it's coming from a teacher rather than from a fellow student?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not all the teachers, like they're certainly great teachers, their words have more weight to them. And students are like, oh, if they're saying that, then I should say it too.

WATT (voice-over): There have been school walkouts organized by some faculty members in support of Palestine. Some students stay home or stay in class.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: During the walkout, I could hear it from my math class, and one of my friends came in and told me, they were chanting -- the Jews.

WATT: And are Jewish kids trying to hide their identity?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sort of stuck in between because like, I don't want to get harassed more. But I also want to be proud that I'm Jewish.

WATT: So how do you walk that line?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm still struggling with it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT: Now, since that civil rights complaint, one high school teacher in Berkeley has been placed on leave. The superintendent wouldn't give us an interview, but her office gave us a statement which reads in part, they say that their district is like the city, quote, it stands as a beacon of free speech and inclusion. It's against all forms of hate, and they're going to use this as an opportunity to listen, reflect and examine. Meantime, a bunch of teachers have written a letter to the superintendent in which they claim this is what happened. Quote, they say a small group of parents with ties to Israel have taken this as an opportunity to shamefully conflate advocacy for Palestine with anti-Semitism, so not much reflection or listening there perhaps. Jake?

TAPPER: Nick Watt, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, a two mile long crack in the earth spewing lava it's beautiful. It's also dangerous and it's forcing people from their homes. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our World Lead, you're looking at a video of a volcanic eruption that started in Iceland this week. And according to officials there, the fissure is about two miles long, and is the most powerful eruption among the recent spurts of seismic activity in the region. Iceland's world famous Blue Lagoon and the nearby town of Grindavik were evacuated just after the eruption was first detected. Officials say anti lava barriers erected outside the town are holding strong and there has been no damage to critical infrastructure. Fortunately, the nearby airport is also still able to operate.

In our Health Lead today, despite multiple U.S. diplomats reporting serious health symptoms. The National Institutes of Health says it has found no evidence of Havana syndrome in their brain scans. This mysterious illness first emerged in late 2016 when a group of diplomat stationed in Cuba reported dizziness and extreme headaches. And since then cases have been reported around the world. The U.S. intelligence community said it cannot yet link any of the cases to a targeted campaign by any enemy of the United States.

Also in our Health Lead today, online sales have begun for the first ever over the counter birth control pill in the United States. The company behind Opill says right now online orders will be filled within a day or two. Some major retail pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens will offer the pills in stores once they receive their shipments. Doctors and advocates say the wide availability of the Opill will benefit those especially in rural areas who don't have transportation that could not otherwise travel to a store that sells contraception.

I want to remind you to join me this Sunday night as I bring you the story of C.J. Rice, Justice Delayed: The Story of C.J. Rice, a Philadelphia man jailed as a teen who was just freed and exonerated today, after more than a dozen years in prison. It's a story we've been following closely for years. My dad was C.J. Rice's pediatrician and testified in court that Rice physically could not have committed the crime. He was ultimately convicted. The whole story, Justice Delayed: The Story of C.J. Rice will air at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday night only on CNN.

[18:00:20]

Until tomorrow, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, formerly known as Twitter and on the TikTok at JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X at TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, listen to this show whence you get your podcasts. The news continues on CNN.