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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Now, Fifth Day Of Demonstrations In Los Angeles; Defense Cross- Examines Combs' Ex-Girlfriend Jane; Voters Head To Polls In Key Primaries for New Jersey Governor; Eagles Owner Donates $50M To Launch Autism Research Institute; Justin Baldoni To File Amended Complaint Against Blake Lively. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 10, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, a legal victory for President Trump, a judge has just denied California's request for an immediate block of Trump's use of troops, National Guard troops, on the streets of Los Angeles.

[18:00:04]

There will be more hearing on that issue in a couple days.

But now we're seeing a fifth day of demonstrations underway, and we're learning just how much this deployment of the National Guard is going to cost and how long these troops could remain in Los Angeles.

Plus, Democrats in disarray, publicly disagreeing over the best way to respond to everything going on in California and beyond, the ICE raids and such, hear what Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez just told CNN about critical comments made by one of her fellow Democrats.

Also, tense exchanges in court today as the defense cross-examined Sean Diddy Combs' ex-girlfriend. Our reporter inside the courthouse for the heated back and forth will join us live in moments.

And the mystery of increased autism diagnoses in American children. Why? To help find an answer, an NFL owner just wrote a $50 million check. He's going to join us with a doctor helping him on the quest for answers.

The Lead Tonight, a federal judge has denied California's request for an immediate block of Trump's use of troops, National Guard troops, on the streets of Los Angeles. He did set a hearing on the issue for this Thursday. Meanwhile, President Trump is stringing L.A. along as he decides whether or not to invoke the Insurrection Act. Listen to what the president had to say earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: If there's an insurrection, I would certainly invoke it. We'll see. But I can tell you last night was terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: This comes after a handful of scattered protests in downtown Los Angeles on Monday in which violence did break out. It ended in roughly 100 arrests and at least one demonstration today over Trump's immigration enforcement policies, where we saw some sort of gas thrown at protesters just the last hour.

Now, Los Angeles is turning its attention to prosecuting protesters who have been involved in vandalism and rioting and violence, as the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, says she has, quote, no idea what the hundreds of U.S. Marines that President Trump and Pete Hegseth, the secretary of defense, have sent to Los Angeles, she has no idea what they're going to do when they get to the city, ordered there in a very rare move by Trump.

CNN's Erin Burnett is on the ground in Los Angeles for us. Erin, tell us what's going on, where you are.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. Well, just a second ago, Jake, as you were speaking literally, they just sort of pulled me aside, pulled me to one side, and Tom, our photojournalist to the other, they were letting a police vehicle through. They do that very quickly, summarily to sort of grab you and move you onward. But you can hear protesters next to me right now talking.

And what we were really right outside, Jake, the detention center and the Federal Courthouse, which is an area that had been closed off yesterday. We were very surprised when we got here today, and it wasn't closed off.

What happened was then bottles started to be thrown and they responded immediately with rubber bullets. There were explosions and they issued an order to disperse. And what that enabled them to do, Jake, was actually to kick the media out as well of protesters. So, now we are standing literally right behind where Tom is filming me. That's the detention center itself. And this is the line that you can see of where we are right now.

So, you've got mostly Jake, LAPD here. Also just in the past few minutes, though, Jake, I have seen Customs and Border Protection. There are a lot of those officers here, saw about 50 or so National Guard. And also here on the ground ICE officers.

Now, they've obviously been doing some of those raids that we have heard of and seeing so many here in Los Angeles. But just seeing some of them on the ground here for the first time with their actual ICE identification on, that's the first time we've seen that here in the past couple of days.

But this is the line and you've seen over there police vehicles, when they come in and out, they're moving people very quickly and very sharply. But the majority of the officers we see right now here are LAPD and they've been trying to now basically disperse this group, break it up, and to break it up.

But there are basically pockets like this, Jake, around the detention facility where they -- where we are right now. So, when they talk about, and Trump talks about though this frontline, important to know that this is the front line that we're talking about. These are the various frontlines that we see in place after place. Jake?

TAPPER: Yes, Erin, thank you so much. I mean, I see people there that are protesting, holding up American flags, holding up Mexican flags. Are they doing anything to provoke the officers? What exactly -- how would you describe their tactics?

BURNETT: I would say mostly they are not. It's incredibly peaceful. And earlier, I would've described that as probably an equal number of law enforcement as there were to protesters and definitely peaceful. By and large, Jake, it is completely fair to describe these protests as overwhelmingly peaceful.

[18:05:01]

However, there are bad actors. And, earlier, what we saw was some individuals start throwing, as John Miller has called them, airborne. So, it was plastic bottles essentially at police. And some of these firework-type explosives they have, those obviously are distressing to the police.

When they fire those, that's when you get the response with the foam canisters, those big, blue rubber bullets we've been talking about, and they come rushing out and aggressively try to disperse the crowd. So, there are a few bad actors that started that from the crowd, it escalates and then it affects the entire crowd.

But to describe this as a riot or a rebellion or an unpeaceful protest, that would be inaccurate. But there are a few bad actors and that would be the very fair way to describe it.

TAPPER: All right. Erin Burnett in Los Angeles, thanks so much. Stay safe. And look for much more ahead on Erin Burnett out front, coming up right after this show at 7:00 Eastern right after The Lead. Tonight, Erin is going to speak to Mayor Karen Bass.

Let's go now to CNN's Nick Watt also in Los Angeles. He's outside the detention center. Nick, tell us what you're seeing.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we just saw a largely peaceful protest that suddenly was not peaceful. The spark was a bus that we assume was carrying detained migrants coming into the detention center, a couple of protesters through plastic bottles. There was a response from the National Guard who moved forward firing flash bangs. They then came out, made one targeted arrest, and then were pushing all of the protesters away, making another arrest as they went.

As I say, Jake, this had been a peaceful day. There was a lady with a ukulele singing that she didn't want ICE in her city and that they didn't want the National Guardsmen here either, which is something that's being echoed by local politicians.

Mayor Bass, as you just mentioned, she called this a grand experiment by the Trump administration to see what happens when they move into a city, and perhaps to instill fear in cities and towns elsewhere in the country that this could also happen to them.

So, peace has now been restored. A large LAPD, plus National Guard, plus some other federal officers, they have restored peace. It is now calm. It is still daylight here in L.A. Good few hours still to go until nightfall and what might happen next. Jake?

TAPPER: Yes, things tend to get hairier in the dark. Nick Watt in Los Angeles, stay safe. Thank you.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller. John, good to see you. Tell us more about the history of this specific Marine battalion, 700 members of whom will soon be on the streets of Los Angeles.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, that is the 2 7 or the Second Battalion, Seventh Marine detachment. They come out of 29 Palms, which is the base out there in the desert. It's about two hours south of L.A.

This is a group that goes back, you know, to the beginning of the Marine Corps, but, you know, they fought in Guadalcanal. They fought in Anbar Province in Iraq. They lost eight Marines there one year and 13 another. It's a detachment that has relationships with the LAPD. I can remember when I worked in the LAPD, meeting with them, when we were talking about going into Anbar Province and they wanted to know from our gang officers how do you do street stops, how do you keep records of who's with which crew and so on, to apply that to war. So, they're battle tested.

Their model is ready for all, yield to none, but there are still real questions about what their job will be in this context. This is a bit of a flex from the White House, from Washington, from DOD. The commandant of the Marine Corps testified before Congress today that they, as a rifle company that's trained for close combat in desert environments and to kill and eliminate the enemy, that they have been trained in deescalation and crowd control, but we haven't heard specifically what are the rules of engagement? Where will they be posted? And outside of guarding a building, will they have any other function?

TAPPER: So, moments ago, the LAPD got a dispersal order yesterday that meant that they approached and started arresting protesters. Today, we saw police slowly inching forward and protesters actually slowly falling back. It seemed more calm. Are police and protesters learning from each other on this fifth day of protests?

MILLER: They are. These are two organisms that have been pushed together and they are learning from each other as they make contact every day. The protesters will figure out police tactics and they will do things to counter those. The police will continue to gather intelligence and learn more about protester tactics and learn to counter those. So, we'll see them develop around each other.

[18:10:01]

Already, you see some of the black cloth people showing up in advance with gas masks and goggles, handheld radios, and even drones. So, it's a developing game.

TAPPER: John Miller, thank you so much.

Joining us now, a Democrat from Washington State, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, Congressman Adam Smith. Congressman, good to see you.

So, 4,000 National Guard and 700 Marines are being deployed by the Trump administration to Los Angeles. Do you know how many of them have actual assignments and does the federal government have an adequate plan to feed and house them?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): No and no. There doesn't seem to be any clear rules of engagement, as your previous guests just mentioned. They were sent there basically to protect the buildings and protect the ICE officers, but they weren't given clear instructions, and that's a problem. And, look, I don't disagree that you should meet any sort of violent protest with law enforcement, but there's no evidence in this case that the LAPD wasn't doing that.

You know, as I think Erin Burnett did a great job of describing, the overwhelming majority of this was peaceful, some were not. And it sounds like the local law enforcement were in fact dealing with the pieces of it that were not peaceful. So, I think this is an overreaction by the president that does, A, run the risk of escalating the situation but it also sets a dangerous precedent.

Now, President Trump has, you know, definitely indicated that he'd like to use the U.S. military as sort of his personal police force. That's not what the Constitution contemplates. It's dangerous that he's setting this precedent.

TAPPER: Why do you think it's dangerous?

SMITH: Well, because if the, if law enforcement is used to do what the president wants over the objections of the local community, that once again concentrates an enormous amount of power in the hands of a president who, remember, promised to be a dictator on day one, has already violated con an endless array of laws, you know, Constitutions, court orders. You know, he's gone over and above what the law should have allowed. So, if he starts to flex the power of the United States military across the country and local communities, especially for a protest that, relatively speaking, was this small to begin with, where might he take that?

Yes, I think it is very much worth worrying about and it certainly in impacts, you know, what the role of the Department of Defense is going to be going forward.

TAPPER: So, this is what President Trump would say, were he here, I'll say it nicer than he probably would. He would say the streets of Los Angeles were out of control. ICE agents were being threatened. We saw projectiles thrown at police cars. We saw cars burned. We saw violence. And in his first term, he listened to Milley and Esper and they said, don't use the National Guard, and city's burned out of control and he doesn't want to have that ever happen again, so he sent in the National Guard and he is just trying to save the city and keep the peace.

That's -- I'm not saying that's my view. That's what he might -- that's his view. What's your response to that?

SMITH: This situation in Los Angeles didn't rise to that level. And, by the way, I don't disagree that local law enforcement, even up in my own area in Seattle, did not do an adequate job of stopping those protests from turning violent back in 2020. I don't disagree with that, but, again, that's not what was happening here. You can go back and look at the tapes. It looked to me like the LAPD was responding forcefully, quickly and aggressively. You know, I mean, if the situation had reached the point where it got out of control, well then we can have a conversation.

But it sounds to me, or it looks to me in this situation, President Trump wanted this fight. He, A, wanted to be able to make the exact arguments that you just made. He wanted to focus on immigration enforcement and crime enforcement to distract attention away from the problems that his reconciliation bill is happening. You know, the bill that's going to knock like 12 million people off of healthcare and balloon the deficit by $2.5 trillion. I think President Trump wanted this fight and I think he picked it. I don't think it was necessary, and as I said, I think it is a dangerous fight to pick.

TAPPER: Well, in addition to him maybe wanting this fight, he also wanted Democrats to be defending the protesters, some of whom, even if it's just a minority, a small minority, some of whom are resorting to violence, some of whom are nihilists, some of whom are, you know, trying to violently attack police. Do you share the concern expressed by Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania, Democrat, that it's important for Democrats to make sure that they're not damaging -- not defending any of the violent people?

SMITH: I wouldn't put it the way Senator Fetterman put it exactly, but, look, I think Democrats do have a credibility problem when it comes to, well, immigration enforcement and border enforcement and also criminal justice enforcement. So, I think it is a concern.

[18:15:00]

But I haven't heard too many Democrats saying, this is all fine and good and nobody should be arrested. I haven't heard a single one of them saying that. If you commit a crime, if you set a car on fire, if you throw things at law enforcement, if you block a freeway for that matter, you should be arrested.

And, yes, in the past, I think my party has struggled to communicate that message. Again, I haven't really seen that this time. Yes, you commit a crime, law enforcement ought to do it. But, again, I'll come back to a point I made twice already. The LAPD was in this case enforcing the law.

So, I mean, like I said, I haven't heard Democrats saying, oh, let them do whatever they want to do. That has not been our position. Our position has been militarizing this is a huge risk of escalation, number one. And, number two, the way President Trump is using the law to declare an emergency and then use the military, it is once again concentrating a frightening amount of power in a man who seems all too willing to shift towards an authoritarian way of running our government.

TAPPER: Congressman Adam Smith, Democrat of Washington State, thank you so much, sir. It's always good to see you.

We're keeping an eye on Los Angeles where a fifth day of demonstrations are underway. Our teams are live on the ground tracking every development.

Plus, believe it or not, it's election night in America. We're following some crucial races that will test the power of Donald Trump nearly six months after he returned to the White House.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: We're watching this situation in Los Angeles where demonstrators are in the streets for a fifth straight day to protest the federal government's ICE raids talk targeting undocumented immigrants. It's our National Lead. It's also our Politics Lead, because the raids in the response are generating tons of partisan sniping here in Washington, D.C., starting with President Trump attacking California's Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And I think he's done a terrible job.

REPORTER: What crime has Governor Newsom committed?

TRUMP: What crime has he committed?

REPORTER: Yes, to warrant his arrest, as you had suggested earlier.

TRUMP: I think his primary crime is running for governor because he has done such a bad job.

I called him up to tell him, got to do a better job. He's done a bad job, causing a lot of death and a lot of potential death. If we didn't send out the National Guard, and last time we gave him a little additional help, you would have -- Los Angeles would be burning right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Our panel is here. We should note that I think President Trump in that clip was talking about a call that took place between him and Governor Newsom yesterday that Governor Newsom says did not happen. Somebody from Fox had some sort of screen grab showing that a call happened on Sunday, but that's not -- anyway, I do not know what's going on. But do cooler heads need to prevail and is it in the interests of either President Trump or Governor Newsom for those cooler heads to prevail? T.W. ARRIGHI, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Yes. Look, this hits a successful mark on three different levels for President Trump. First of all, the numbers are in his favor. The majority of Americans want to see illegal immigrants deported, 54 percent or 51 percent want to see ICE in their communities doing that. We saw numbers out today from CNN showing that immigrant citizens of this country are supportive of the GOP's policy on immigration.

TAPPER: Illegal --

ARRIGHI: So, the numbers are there. When you see the images of rocks being thrown through federal buildings, foreign flags being thrown over, burning cop cruises, that is in Trump's favor.

And then the timing is right. When he announced that he was going to send in troops to prevent 2020 from happening, it coincided with Sunday when we saw a decline in the crowd sizes. So, it looks like he is taking control where the poster children of bad governor's management with Bass and Newsom, where that has been his calling card for a long time.

TAPPER: What do you think, Jonah?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I generally agree. As long as the conversation is about rocks being thrown through cop car windows and cars on fire with Mexican flags in front, that is Donald Trump's sweet spot and it just plays for him. When the conversation's about snatching women off the street who wrote an op-ed that the administration doesn't like, who are legal immigrants here, that's not -- they're on defense.

TAPPER: That Tuft student, what you're referring to?

GOLDBERG: Right. That's not what's happening here.

And I'll say like the incentive structure also, like Gavin Newsom likes to be, you know, the leader of the resistance. So, the arrest talk, which I think was mostly joking, at least from Trump, plays to his benefit too.

And I will say there is a weird irony watching cable news, including this network, where there are a lot of people here who I believe sincerely, and certainly in MSNBC and even at Fox, who want cooler heads to prevail, and there are people who make the point that this is a fairly isolated part of L.A. but you cannot get a T.V. camera not to focus on a burning car. That is what T.V. cameras were put on this Earth to cover.

And so you'll often have people saying, this is being exaggerated, Trump is taking advantage of this, over video of burning cars and altercations in the street because that's what the news wants to cover. And so the incentive structure for the media too is kind of like it can't look away from the train wreck.

TAPPER: Let's talk about Democrats for one second, Ameshia, because there's a debate about how Democrats should be responding and acting. Here's Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat, talking to Manu Raju earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): You can't defend when people start setting things on fire or they start damaging buildings or going after members of law enforcement. That's not free speech. That is not peaceful protests. And I'm very supportive of immigration as well too. We have to find a way forward, that two must be true at the same time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And Manu just caught up with Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Here's what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): If Senator Fender, Fedderman, or anybody else is concerned with law and order, we should be looking at one of the most law-breaking agencies and administrations that we've seen in the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I think she's referring to ICE there.

AMESHIA CROSS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: What do you think? Well, Senator Federman was right, and that has been the posture of the entire Democratic Party. It was the posture of the party when we saw January 6th as well. At the end of the day, peaceful protests in America are a core of our value.

[18:25:01]

It's a core of our constitutional system.

With that being said, when it goes beyond that there has not been a single Democrat who has stood out, you know, in protection of individuals who are committing violent acts in any protest, and I think that that remains true in L.A. as well.

What is at issue here is the ICE basically coming in and creating an event. We know that Donald Trump likes to have news cameras around. We know that he wants to see an incitement of violence. We know that those images are things that he wants to move because, for him, immigration, to T.W.'s point earlier, immigration is something that his numbers continue to tick up on, even though his numbers, when it comes to the economy and people's trust in him there, continues to dwindle.

When it comes to the budget package that he's trying to get past, there are pieces in there that have been on fire, when we talk about things like the Medicaid cuts and other things there. This is a president who is very keen on shaking up the narrative. He's also a president who absolutely hates California and absolutely hates Gavin Newsom. So, we're watching him amplify his attacks on him as well. TAPPER: Yes. We also should note that while President Trump said, and I'm quoting, you spit, we hit, talking about people who disrespect police officers, this is the same president who pardoned a bunch of not people who spit on police but people who beat the crap out of police on January 6th, 2021. And he and Stephen Miller have continued to refer to these individuals protesting, rioting, whatever, as insurrectionists.

I want you to take a listen to what House Speaker Mike Johnson said this afternoon. Here's Manu Raju again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Speaker, you guys have are condemning the violent protesters in L.A. Is it hypocritical given the president pardon the violent protesters on January 6th?

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Look, no, I think there's a clear distinction between those two.

RAJU: What's the difference between the violent protesters on January 6th?

JOHNSON: Everybody wants me to re-litigate January 6th. I'm not going to do that. There's a very clear distinction between the two. The people who broke the law and destroyed property met with the proper consequences on that. That's what we're trying to be intellectually consistent about this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I don't really understand his argument. Did you?

GOLDBERG: Well, I mean, like on its face, he's right, there is a clear distinction between the two. January 6th was worse and which is not forgiving any of this stuff. Anybody who burns and destroys property here should get arrested and prosecuted.

But, you know, as my colleague Kevin Williamson said, during the 2020 riots, when they were burning some big box stores, there's a difference between a coup d'etat and a coup d'etarget, right? And burning some store in New Jersey is not quite the same thing as assaulting the Congress while it's fulfilling a constitutional duty to see about the peaceful transfer of power.

And, obviously, Mike Johnson doesn't want to talk about that, but there is a distinction. It's just that he's on the wrong side of it.

CROSS: Well, the other thing is one group was in support of his agenda and immigrants are obviously anti his agenda, they don't support it because it, quite frankly, targets them. He's absolutely fine with incursions if they happen to be something that is MAGA-specific, if it's something that he feels like is in support of him and his actions. If it's not, then he is not. ARRIGHI: Yes, I see a pretty big distinction, first of all, January 6th, bad day, no excuses there. But what we're overlooking here is the people that ICE are detaining should have been in ICE control long ago. And it's due to sanctuary policies in places like California.

I was reading the rap sheets of the people that were picked up in my home state of Massachusetts two weeks ago. It got no coverage in the media except that, uh-oh, he's raiding places in Massachusetts. When you read what they should have been deported for ages ago, it is unacceptable. And that to me is just as bad as any crime you can commit.

CROSS: That's not what's happening in L.A. They are literally raiding high school graduations. They are raiding supermarkets. They are raiding daycare centers and taking away daycare workers. These are not criminal acts.

ARRIGHI: My point, politicians who protect those illegal immigrants who commit crimes should be booted out of office.

CROSS: And nobody's arguing against that. What we're saying is that they are taking people who have not committed a crime. These are not people who are at -- these are not people who are creating victims out here. These are people who are just raising their families.

TAPPER: So, thank you, one and all. I appreciate it. The judge in the Sean Diddy Combs trial denied a second request from the defense for a mistrial today. CNN's reporter inside the courthouse joins us live next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: Our Law and Justice Lead now, court has just wrapped for the day in the sex trafficking trial of Sean Diddy Combs. Today, the ex- girlfriend who was dating Combs at the time of his arrest was back on the stand for a fourth day testifying under the pseudonym Jane. We should note Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has been following it all inside the courthouse in New York and joins us now. Elizabeth, this morning, the judge denied a second defense motion for a mistrial. The judge went on to praise the defense for their cross-examination of a previous witness, calling it a, quote, Perry Mason moment. What was the Perry Mason moment?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: So, of course, referring to the T.V. character there and the judge essentially saying that he believed that the defense should have been celebrating for their mic drop moment during the testimony of Bryana Bongolan.

So, if you remember, Jake, Bryana Bongolan and is a friend of Cassie Ventura's. She is the woman who alleges that Sean Combs dangled her over the balcony 17 stories up in the air. While during her cross- examination the defense, they pulled up hotel records that showed that Combs was actually here in New York City staying at the Trump Hotel on the very date that Bongolan alleges that she was dangled over the balcony. So, the defense said, you do realize that you can't be two places at once, and that was that Perry Mason moment.

But this was also the cause of the defense filing for a mistrial for a second time because they said that they believed that the prosecutors had falsified this testimony and that they should have known that it was false. But, again, the judge said that he did not believe that the jury was prejudiced by that.

[18:35:01]

TAPPER: Elizabeth, on cross, numerous sexually explicit texts that Jane sent to Combs were shown to the jury. What's the defense strategy with that?

WAGMEISTER: Yes. So, numerous sexually explicit texts, also voice notes have been played for the jury. And, look, Jake, this is going to come down essentially to two possible scenarios in the jury's mind, either this is a woman who was manipulated by finances because Combs was paying for her rent, and therefore he coerced her and dangled that in front of her so that she would've sex with other men, or the other scenario is this is a woman who is essentially willing to put up with these horrific acts because he was paying her rent.

So, of course, the defense's side is exactly that. They say that these were your choices, that you were allowing him to pay for your rent. She did say on the stand that she loved him, but she said that she was following his cues and that she was just being agreeable. Agreeable is the word that she used.

I have to tell you, Jake, she was very defiant and very clear and was not taking what the prosecution was giving her.

TAPPER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much.

Voters are heading to the polls today in a race set to test President Trump's popularity six months in. We're live in New Jersey next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: Back with our Politics Lead and the high-stakes primary race for those running for New Jersey governor. It is the state's most expensive gubernatorial race ever with more than $85 million spent in advertising alone. Just as of today, the majority of the spending, $75 million, comes from the Democrats. The race could also be the first referendum on President Trump's second term.

Arlette Saenz is in Parsippany, New Jersey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The battle for the next governor of New Jersey is centered on a single summer garden state residence.

TRUMP: I love New Jersey. I love New Jersey. I'm here all the time.

SAENZ: President Donald Trump playing a starring role in the Democratic and Republican primaries.

TRUMP: New Jersey's ready to pop out of that blue horror show.

SAENZ: Throwing his support in a five-way race for the GOP nomination behind Jack Ciattarelli --

JACK CIATTARELLI (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Hey guys, Jack Ciatterelli for governor. I just want to say, hello.

SAENZ: -- who narrowly lost the governor's race four years ago.

CIATTARELLI: His policies have worked. He's trying to make the country safe again. And I told him that we're going to work in partnership with him.

SAENZ: The Democratic primary is wide open. Six candidates spanning the party's moderate and progressive wings, all in agreement about serving as a check on Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fighting for Jersey to stop Donald Trump's tariffs and chaos. Now he's ready for the big one.

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Are we ready to win?

SAENZ: There's Congressman Josh Gottheimer, a moderate running to drive down high costs, and Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, who flipped a GOP district to help Democrats win back the House in 2018. She is viewed as a leading contender.

REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): This is not a federal government you can work with.

SAENZ: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has publicly clashed with the Trump administration over immigration, including a high-profile arrest by ICE agents outside of federal detention facility.

MAYOR RAS BARAKA (D-NEWARK, NJ): That's why the fight against Donald Trump has been proven (INAUDIBLE) to show that he's wrong.

SAENZ: New Jersey and Virginia are the only states with the governor's race in November, a test of how voters feel about Trump and Democrats. High costs, housing and immigration topping voters' concerns.

FRANK CORSARO, REPUBLICAN VOTER FOR CIATTARELLI: We'd like to see some change in New Jersey where it could be a little more affordable.

ALLEN FRASER, DEMOCATIC VOTER FOR SHERRILL: I think somebody should explain to Mr. Trump there's a difference between the presidency and a dictatorship.

SAENZ: The garden state has seesaw between Democratic and Republican governors, with Democrat Phil Murphy leading the state for the past eight years. The state shifted red in the 2024 election with Trump losing by only 6 points compared to 16 in 2020.

CIATTARELLI: There are a whole lot of alienated traditional Democrats are what we call moderate Democrats that are fed up.

SHERRILL: The person who wants to be the Republican governor has already basically said, I'm just going to do whatever Trump wants. It's not something a governor of a state should ever do, whatever the president wants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAENZ (on camera): Now, polling vote locations are still open for a little over an hour here in New Jersey. As you can see behind me, there is a little bit of a post-work rush as people are trying to cast their ballots before 8:00.

Now, Democrats and Republicans that we spoke to today have been in agreement that affordability is a top concern heading into November's election.

TAPPER: Arlette Saenz in Parsippany, New Jersey, thanks so much.

The new multimillion dollar project announced today for autism research and development and treatment. The benefactor is an NFL owner of note. He's going to join us next to talk about his personal connections to the project.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:36]

TAPPER: In our sports lead, the owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, the greatest team in the United States, Jeffrey Lurie, is donating $50 million of his own money to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and Penn Medicine to launch an ambitious new autism research initiative. It is the largest single donation towards autism research to an American medical center in the United States. It will be used to create the Lurie Autism Institute.

Joining us now, my honor to invite to the program, Eagles CEO and chair Jeff Lurie, as well as Dr. Dan Rader from Penn Medicine.

Jeff, I've told you before, we bleed Eagles green here on this show, or at least I do. I can't speak for my staff, but you're also the founder of the Eagles Autism Foundation. Youve done a lot in this space. You have this personal connection to the issue. Your brother has autism.

What's the main goal with this new institute?

JEFFREY LURIE, CEO AND CHAIRMAN, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES: Well, you know, Jake, the thing is that it's one of the real, complex, scientific puzzles of our time.

It's a public health issue, 1 in 31 are on the autism spectrum. And we've just got to progress much faster research, discovery and treatment. And this -- this institute is really trying to bring together two of the leading institutions in the world, in autism. And really catalyze the ability to try to speed up what needs to be speeded up, which is discovery and answers here.

TAPPER: What is the ultimate goal with a research institute like this? Is it just to find out answers as to what causes autism? Is it to have any sort of solution? Like what is the goal ultimately?

LURIE: Well, the goal is, first of all, to figure out the root causes, the biological causes, genetic causes, and then translate into medicine that is treatment. And you know, Dr. Rader can speak more about that. But the real goal here is to make the lives of people that are on the autism spectrum much more fulfilling and healthier and in every way to aid in their happiness in their lives.

TAPPER: And, Dr. Rader, when it comes to exploring more in this space, the diversity of autism as well, has not enough been done so far in that area?

DR. DAN RADER, CHIEF OF TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE AND HUMAN GENETICS, PENN MEDICINE: No. In fact, there's a lot we still need to learn about autism.

[18:50:01]

And, you know, Jake, I have one foot in Penn Medicine. I have another foot at CHOP. I've been leading human genetics on both sides now for more than a decade, and have really seen how CHOP and Penn, when they work together, can accomplish great things. As I as -- you know, new translational therapeutics that have saved lives and made a huge difference for patients.

What we want to do with this Lurie Autism Institute is use that same amazing energy and ability on both sides, CHOP and Penn, to better understand autism, as Jeffrey just said, and then to use that information to actually make a difference in the lives of people with autism.

The children who often get diagnosed, but also the adults, the children grow up and the adults with autism often haven't been nearly as studied aren't as well understood. And there's a huge need to continue to explore root causes and consequences of autism really throughout the lifespan.

TAPPER: And, Dr. Rader, I know you probably are hesitant to get too political, but obviously there are -- there's a lot of misinformation out there about the causes of autism. And the secretary of health and human services, for example, RFK Jr., he's a proponent of this long- debunked theory that childhood vaccines cause autism.

How key is this institute to combat misinformation, to get some actual answers grounded in science and medicine? RADER: I think that's the key, Jake. It's absolutely critical to apply

really good, hard, rigorous science to understanding autism. Genetics play a role. I'm a geneticist. I can tell you that genetic variation is not the cause, but is certainly a major contributor to risk of autism.

But, Jake, the other thing I will say is that environmental contributions, exposures in of all sorts in the environment are understudied as a factor that may interact with the genetics to also predispose to risk of autism.

I do want to say though, vaccines don't cause autism. I'll leave it at that. It's been proven. It's absolutely true. What we do want to do is explore lots of other possibilities where, environmental exposures and genetics work together in a complex way to increase risk of autism.

TAPPER: And, Jeff, will, the Lurie Autism Institute do any work with the Eagles Autism Foundation?

RADER: Oh, very much. I mean, you know, as you know, the Eagles Autism Foundation funds a lot of innovative research around the globe every year and provides, you know, access to sensory rooms and all those kind of things. So, you know, it's complementary.

this is a research institute at CHOP and Penn that is going to attract, I think, scholars from inside and outside the field of autism around the world and donors and you know, we need an approach that is both research oriented and practical oriented.

And it's just -- it's been underfunded for so long, misunderstood for so long. And now, 1 in 31 and it's global.

So, everything helps here and it's all synergistic.

TAPPER: Yeah. So I -- just while we're talking, just FYI, I got an alert from my Eagles app on my phone that Coach Sirianni is giving a preseason update. So, I can't let you get away without an Eagles question.

The Tush push --

LURIE: Welcome that, you know that.

TAPPER: The tush push was almost banned a few weeks ago because those whiny babies at the Green Bay Packers, it was saved. What was your reaction to all that?

LURIE: Well, being very involved in it. You know, the tush push is a very, very safe play. We have an outstanding young quarterback offensive line. We practice it a lot. It's a precision play. It's incredibly safe. That's why we use it. It's an alternative to the quarterback sneak.

And I don't ever remember the NFL banning a play because one team was doing it very well. So, we defended ourselves. And it's, you know, it's a play that is available to every team in the league. And it's very safe. So we'll continue to use it appropriately.

TAPPER: And we were just showing pictures of Saquon doing that backwards leap while you were, while you were talking, which always makes me smile.

Jeff Lurie, Dr. Dan Rader, thank you so much. Best of luck with all this great work you're trying to do in the autism field. And, of course, go Birds!

LURIE: Go Birds, Jake.

RADER: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: We'll be right back. Go, Birds!

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:51]

TAPPER: In our pop culture lead, an update on a story we brought you yesterday. Hollywood director Justin Baldoni says the fight is not over yet. Despite yesterday's dismissal of his $400 million defamation suit against actor Blake Lively, Baldoni's legal team says they can return to the courtroom.

Baldoni's lawyer said in a statement, quote, while the court dismissed the defamation related claims, the court has invited us to amend four out of the seven claims against Ms. Lively, which will showcase additional evidence and refined allegations. Those remaining claims, we should note, are related to contract disputes with both Blake Lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, and not with defamation.

This all, of course, stems from the lawsuit filed by Blake Lively, accusing the director of sexual harassment on the set of "It Ends With Us", a movie the two were working on together.

Lively also claims that when she spoke up about the alleged harassment, Baldoni's team orchestrated a smear campaign to ruin her reputation. That's a claim that he denies. In addition to all the other claims against him.

I spoke with Lively's attorney, Michael Gottlieb, yesterday about the dismissal and the potential for renewed complaints. He went on to say that Lively's own lawsuit against Baldoni will continue to trial in New York in March of next year.

That's it for us today.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" live from Los Angeles on the streets of Los Angeles starts right now.

Take it away, Erin. Stay safe.