Return to Transcripts main page
The Lead with Jake Tapper
Sources: Trump Considering U.S. Military Action In Iran; Growing Concerns Over Surge In Political Violence; Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI), Is Interviewed About Senate GOP Hits Roadblocks In Push To Pass Trump Agenda Bill; NYC Mayoral Candidate Released From Federal Custody After Being Arrested By ICE Inside Immigration Court; Nezza Sings U.S. National Anthem In Spanish At MLB Game. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired June 17, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. That's going to do it for us today. Thanks so much to my panel. Thanks to you for being with us. Don't go anywhere. "The Lead" with Jake Tapper starts right now.
[17:00:52]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: President Trump says he's not in the mood to negotiate with Iran. The Lead starts right now.
Breaking news from the White House, the president just wrapped up a meeting with his national security team in the Situation Room as he calls for Iran's, quote, "unconditional surrender" and to bring its days long conflict with Israel to an end. This as officials say Trump is warming to the idea of using U.S. assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. Also, quote, "we're not safe," in the wake of the deadly shootings in Minnesota, frightened lawmakers demand more action to address political violence. But rather than coming together, some are stoking the partisan divide. Plus, breaking news from New York City, comptroller inmate mayoral candidate Brad Lander just released from ICE custody after being detained by federal agents at an immigration court hearing.
New York Attorney General Letitia James joins The Lead with reaction.
Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. We begin with breaking news in our world lead, President Trump reportedly inching closer to the idea of using U.S. military assets to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. That's according to two officials who also say Trump is moving away from the idea of a diplomatic solution to end the conflict between Israel and Iran. Trump this afternoon gathering with his top national security officials in the Situation Room for more than an hour after he cut his G7 Canada trip one day short, arriving back at the White House early this morning.
Now, even publicly, we've seen signs of a change in Trump's language and posture on this conflict. Just remember, it was just two days ago on Sunday when Trump distanced himself from it, posting "The U.S. had nothing to do with the attack on Iran tonight. We can easily get a deal done between Iran and Israel." Fast forward to last night on Truth Social, Trump changing the tone somewhat with an alarming post saying, quote, "Iran should have signed the deal I told them to sign. What a shame and a waste of human life.
Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran." That's obviously not a small thing given Tehran is a city of about 10 million people. This morning on Air Force One, he downplayed the idea of a ceasefire, saying a real end would better, then fired off a string of Truth Social posts, including saying, "We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran. Iran had good sky trackers and other defensive equipment and plenty of it, but it doesn't compare to American made, conceived and manufactured stuff." Trump then claimed he knows where Iran's, quote, "so called supreme leader is hiding. He is an easy target but is safe there. We are not going to take him out, kill, in parentheses, at least not for now."
Now, shortly after that, Trump posted in all caps "Unconditional surrender." The president's evolving stance comes amid escalating words and attacks from Israel and Iran. Today Israel says it's targeting ballistic missile sites in Iran and said it would call upon some residents of Tehran to evacuate. Explosions also rang out in West Tehran, according to Iranian state media.
Meanwhile, Iran's armed forces called on some people in Israel, including those in Tel Aviv, to evacuate themselves, warning of a punitive operation. Sirens sounded across Israel again this afternoon.
CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes leads us off.
And Kristen, all eyes were, or at least ears, were around this meeting in the Situation Room today, do we have a sense of what's being weighed and where the president's leaning right now?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. When it comes to what's being weighed, we know that there are a lot of options on the table and Donald Trump is listening to everyone around him. That's what I've been told. And there are a lot of differing viewpoints. There's no singular viewpoint on this.
There are some who believe, as we've heard Senator Lindsey Graham say, that we should be all in on this, that we should be supporting Israel and we should be pushing the United States to be involved in this. But there are still a number of people who believe it's more wait and see, see what happens next. Of course, one of the things that they're discussing and we've seen this really play out publicly as well as we often do with President Trump, is what Iran is going to do next because there is always a concern that there might be some kind of strike on U.S. assets.
[17:05:11]
What I was told by multiple sources familiar with this was that the very one thing that they could all say was if that did happen, the U.S. would immediately get involved. There would be immediate retaliation. Now, as for this meeting, we know that Donald Trump went into it in a very different place than he was even just a few days ago. He had been in a place where he was really urging diplomacy. While he had obviously gone forward, let Netanyahu go forward with this, he had also provided U.S. support and defense for those missiles.
He did not want the U.S. to get more involved. And what we've seen is kind of an evolution over time of Donald Trump wondering, asking people around him what the best play was here. Now, one of the things under consideration is how long this would take. Donald Trump has said repeatedly to a number of people I have spoken to that he does not want some kind of long term, drawn out, ongoing war. So one of the things that they're going to discuss or that they did discuss and have been discussing is if the U.S. was to get involved, how quickly could this be over? And right now, these details are still coming together, but it is very clear that Donald Trump's mindset is shifting as he talks to his national security team.
MATTINGLY: Kristen Holmes for us, North Lawn of the White House, thanks so much.
Over to CNN's Jeremy Diamond who is in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Jeremy, you have brand new reporting on what Israeli officials are saying about potential U.S. involvement. What is it?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, tonight, Phil, senior Israeli officials are waiting on pins and needles to see what President Trump will decide here and whether he will help them, as Israeli officials view it, finish the job in Iran, authorizing U.S. strikes on that Fordo nuclear facility which is buried deep beneath a mountain. One senior Israeli official telling me tonight we are waiting for the decision of the President of the United States. And indeed, the way in which Israeli officials are approaching this with the U.S. is also interesting. I'm told that Prime Minister Netanyahu has been quite cautious in the way in which he is, you know, quietly trying to encourage President Trump to ultimately reach a decision independently to carry out those strikes on Fordo. I'm told that Prime Minister Netanyahu, according to two Israeli officials, has not explicitly asked President Trump to carry out those strikes, but rather he is hoping that as he watches this very successful Israeli military campaign in Iran thus far, that ultimately President Trump will see an opportunity for the United States to come in and deliver the final blow to Iran's nuclear program.
Of course, that is still an open question. And so many here in Israel tonight are waiting indeed to see what President Trump's decision will be. And as that is happening, though, it is clear that Israel is accomplishing quite a bit on its own already. Over the course of the last 24 hours, the kinds of barrages of ballistic missiles that we've been getting from Iran have been far diminished compared to the first couple of days of those attacks from Iran. And Israeli military officials, as well as some independent analysts, say that that's because of Israeli military actions in Iran.
Israel has now taken out more than a third of Iran's ballistic missile launchers, according to the Israeli Air Force. And all of that has significantly degraded Iran's ability to fire large numbers of missiles at once. Instead, what we have are these smaller numbers of three or five or eight missiles rather than the dozens that were being fired all at once. And what that also means, of course, is that those missiles are not overwhelming Israel's air defenses in the same way. And even though we have seen missiles fired from Iran, the last 24 hours have not resulted in any fatalities in Israel as a result of those attacks.
Phil.
MATTINGLY: Very notable developments. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thanks so much for the great reporting.
Let's discuss now with retired Army Lt. Gen. Mark Schwartz, who last served as the U.S. Security Coordinator of the Israel Palestinian Authority, and Beth Sanner, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence.
Beth, look, there is unquestionably been an evolution, at least in the public statements when it comes to the president on this issue on what's happening right now. But I think it's worth noting this isn't happening in a vacuum. The events, as Jeremy was just talking about, have certainly driven a little bit this -- of this on the ground. What's your sense right now about how much has actually changed as the president weighs these decisions?
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, you know, a lot has changed from Iran having, you know, some ability to fire 200 missiles at Israel to a handful and this idea, this temptation that, oh, well, if we just release the hounds, these bunker buster bombs that we can solve the Iranian problem.
And -- and I think that for me, one of my big concerns is that as things develop, goals shift, right? We have a lack of clarity right now on what is it that everyone is trying to accomplish. And, you know, this enticement of regime change now is figuring very prominently and it's just not that easy.
[17:10:14]
And -- and so these ideas of like, oh, well, you can just solve the nuclear program, well, that's not that easy. Just bombing isn't going to necessarily solve that forever. But really, will it end up in this nirvana of rainbows and -- and pots of gold in -- in a new Iran? You know, we have a lot here going on and it seems like people are skipping to the end and not really getting how dangerous this path is.
MATTINGLY: General, Beth makes a very important point. And I'm interested. what's your sense of the near term risks? Right. Again, we've heard a lot about, well, hey, the opportunity is there, take it, and then everything's going to be great. But we also might do regime change.
We're not totally sure, but we're still trying to figure this out. But there are near term risks, particularly for U.S. Forces in the region. How should U.S. Officials be thinking through that? LT. GEN. MARK SCHWARTZ, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, Phil, there's near term risk for not just the forces that have been arrayed in the region at all of our bases with our air partners, but also the significant strategic deployment that's taken place over the course of the last, I'd say, 72 hours in terms of what I've been watching play out in the press.
So, the other risk is that while the Israelis have been extremely effective in establishing air superiority over Iran and reducing their ability to shoot surface to surface missiles and unmanned aerial systems, there's still a lot of vulnerability out there for, you know, the U.S. forces and also some of our coalition partners and our air partners, for that matter, where -- where we are currently based. So that risk, I'm sure, is being assessed by U.S. Central Command and informing the National Security Council and the president, but it certainly still is there.
MATTINGLY: Beth, I actually want to go back to the point you're making and dive in a little bit deeper because all that keeps ringing through my head is the journal David Petraeus quote from 2003 over and over again saying, how does this end? How does this end? And for those in my generation, that's probably the natural thing to be thinking about, yours as well, is there a kind of a roadmap here buried in the intelligence community on a shelf somewhere? OK, this would -- this is what would happen if X, Y and Z happen?
SANNER: I don't know. I don't know about that. I mean, I do think -- look, you know, the Iranian regime, we should not be glossing over how bad they are, how many hundreds of Americans have died as a result of their actions, direct and indirect. How they have destabilized and remain the primary destabilizing force in the Middle East region. And so, you know, this idea that, wow, you know, since October 7th, a lot has changed in the region because of Israeli actions that is bringing rays of hope of potential for stability and prosperity in that region that has never existed before, right.
So let's be clear about that. And now we have this golden ring, right? Oh, could we just tip over Iran and make that happen? But you know, Iran is not Iraq and it's not Syria. I don't think it's as hollowed out of a regime as Syria is.
And there are a lot -- it's complex, a well-educated population, an industrial country, right? So it's like, I don't know how it will happen. Minorities, you know, I mean, it is complicated. And so once you set these things in motion, no one is going to be in control of it and there will be no ability to control it.
And so thinking these things through at this point and not acting precipitously with the American role, I think is very important at this stage. That doesn't mean maybe it isn't the right thing to do, but I would not be rushing to this. I would let the Israelis see what they can do first.
MATTINGLY: Beth Sanner, Retired Army Lieutenant General Mark Schwartz, thank you guys very much.
SCHWARTZ: Thank you, Phil.
MATTINGLY: Well, coming up, from sermons in Africa to jobs and funeral homes, the strange turns the Minnesota shooting suspect's life took in recent years.
[17:14:27]
Plus, the attack leaves many members of Congress feeling on edge. Why lawmakers are saying they're not satisfied with security or some of the responses from fellow lawmakers. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTINGLY: In our national lead, friends of Vance Boelter are trying to make sense of the killings in Minnesota. Boelter, who police accused of stalking and murder, is far different from the man his friends thought they knew. Whitney Wilde takes a closer look at Boelter's life and how he appears to have changed before the shootings.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VANCE BOELTER, SUSPECT IN MINNESOTA SHOOTING: Hello, my name is Vance Boelter.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Accused killer Vance Boelter's life in his own words from an introduction video posted online from a typical Midwestern American life --
BOELTER: I have a wife and five kids and we have two pets, German shepherds. I've been in the food industry about 30 years.
WILD (voice-over): -- to preaching Christian sermons and working on development projects in Africa --
BOELTER: We're doing farming and fishing projects in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
WILD (voice-over): -- to working for two funeral homes.
BOELTER: I work full time for Wolf Funeral Home, which is an intake location for about six funeral homes. And then I also work for another funeral home called Metro First Call.
WILD (voice-over): Boelter's life took a strange turn in recent years, according to people who knew him and spoke to CNN. In 2021, Boelter said in the video, he quit his food industry job and jetted off to the Democratic Republic of Congo on what he described as a mission to end world hunger. While in Africa, he regularly preached sermons, some anti-LGBTQ rhetoric.
BOELTER: They don't know their sexual orientation. They're confused. The enemy has gotten so far into their mind and their soul.
WILD (voice-over): Many of his projects failed to get off the ground, according to a longtime acquaintance. And in 2023, Boelter started working at two funeral homes in Minneapolis, even collecting bodies at crime scenes, he said.
[17:20:10]
BOELTER: One contract is the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's office. So we'll do removals, which we're working with a lot of police officers and -- and death investigators.
WILD (voice-over): Boelter went back and forth between his family's home in Green Isle and his work in Minneapolis, where he shared a bungalow with four other men, one of his roommates telling CNN, "He couldn't keep up with the big fancy $400,000 house in Green Isle, three Shiloh shepherds, all the kids, all the bills." Boelter was arrested in a field near his rural Green Isle, Minnesota, home Sunday night after a massive manhunt. Boelter is charged with murder, attempted murder and other crimes after going to the homes of four Democratic Minnesota public officials early Saturday disguised as a police officer, according to a federal indictment. He's accused of killing State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, and injuring State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILD (on camera): Phil the major question still is why he did this. And CNN has reviewed his public social media, there's very little, you know, strong or formal political ideas in any of it that we've reviewed. And then finally, Phil, we spoke with four people who had interacted with him and in recent months, and they said he never showed signs of political extremism. Phil.
MATTINGLY: Whitney Wild in Minneapolis, Minnesota, thank you so much.
And I want to bring in former Arizona State House member Daniel Hernandez. He's a Democrat currently running in a special election to represent Arizona's 7th congressional district. But that's not why I thought of him this weekend when the news of the shootings first came out. Those of us who are covering Congress back in 2011 immediately think of Daniel, who was an intern when former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was targeted in a mass shooting in 2011.
Daniel, I think about that moment whenever there's an occasion like this of political violence, I think about Steve Scalise when he was shot at practice for the Congressional baseball team as well. Those kind of two things that pop into my head. And I'm wondering, what do you -- what do you think in these moments? What kind of comes into your mind in these moments?
DANIEL HERNANDEZ, (D) ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Thanks for having me, Phil. You know, political violence is something that I've been living with for 14 years. My first death threat after the shooting, where I helped provide first aid to Gabby Giffords, was a week after. So unfortunately, where we are in our politics is where we have very fiery rhetoric, the temperature is really hot and we constantly keep going back to attacking other people instead of talking about policy or ideas. And I think that's a problem because as we've seen, political violence is not just something that's a distant memory for us or for something that is happening in other countries. It's happening right here at home. Just last Thursday, as I'm running for congress, someone shot at my home and hit one of my staffer's cars. And we still don't know what the reason was or who did it. But you know, what we woke up to on Saturday was really tragic and really scary because I fell asleep not knowing what had happened and woke up late. My mom and my sisters were freaking out when my sister and I, who's a state representative, weren't answering the phone after they saw the news in Minnesota.
So, this is a really scary time to be running for office or to be an elected official. And it's really disappointing that this is where we are in our -- in our politics.
MATTINGLY: What are the conversations? I imagine people come to you in moments like this, elected officials --
HERNANDEZ: Yes.
MATTINGLY: -- people in politics, what kind of conversations are you having right now? You mentioned your sister, I think you have two sisters who are actually are in the state legislature right now. What do you talk to people about?
HERNANDEZ: You know, I think one of the things that's really important for people to know is two years ago, after October 7th, I moved in with my sister Alma, state representative, because of the number of death threats that she got. She was getting death threats, someone shot at her dog, she installed cameras and to try and keep herself safe. But this is not where we should be and this is something where we are really focused on trying to lower the temperature and the rhetoric.
Every time I run for office, whether it was school board or legislature or congress, focus on talking about policy and what I'm going to do. That's not where most of our politics is. We see the outside influence of dark money coming into races like mine where they're spreading lies and raising the temperature, accusing people of doing things. And that's where I think people come to me and say what can we do? And I think the first thing is we need to hold accounted -- sorry elected officials more accountable and candidates to focusing on talking about the issues and on policy, not personal attacks.
And that's, I think, the first thing that we all need to do to help lower the temperature in our political rhetoric right now.
MATTINGLY: Have you gotten the sense -- you know, the pervasive nature of the nationalized way politics has gone over the course of the last several years, we were talking to a Minnesota lawmaker yesterday who was making this point that state legislatures used to be a little bit immune to that. Not immune, but weren't certainly overtaken by it.
HERNANDEZ: Yes.
MATTINGLY: And that's not the case anymore. When you were a legislator in Arizona on state politics level, did you see the same thing? HERNANDEZ: I did. I think social media and this 24hour news cycle has really augmented the nastiness of politics. And I think there's been attempts to try and silence people, to try and bully us and intimidate us.
[17:25:06]
I've been working on difficult (inaudible) for a long time, since I was 20 years old, since the shooting where I've been trying to reduce gun violence. And you know, here's the thing, despite the fact that my house was shot at, despite the fact that my sister and I have gotten threats for years, we don't back down. And I think that's the thing that we need elected officials to be courageous and to stand up to do the right thing. That's one of the reasons why I'm running for Congress. And if people want to help out, they can go to danielforarizona.org to help us out because we need elected officials that in spite of the attempts to try and silence us, we're going to stand up and do the right thing.
But the 24 hour news cycle and the social media presence that we have where hours after the shooting at my house people are already going after me.
MATTINGLY: Right.
HERNANDEZ: And I just had my staffer's car get shot up. This is the kind of environment that we live in where everything is nationalized, everything is hyper focused and it's really nasty. And I don't think this is where we should be as a country. We need to get back to the basics on solving problems, talking about the issues that impact people in our communities, not --
MATTINGLY: Right.
HERNANDEZ: -- wasting all of our time talking about these threats that are happening in our country.
MATTINGLY: Daniel Hernandez, really appreciate your time, sir. Thanks so much.
HERNANDEZ: Thanks for having me, Phil.
MATTINGLY: Breaking news just in to CNN, sources say Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem this afternoon has been taken to the hospital. I want to go straight to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez.
So, what are you learning about this?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Phil, we're still trying to gather details. What we know so far is that the Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was transported by ambulance on Tuesday to a hospital in Washington, D.C. One source telling our colleague Holmes Lybrand that she has been conscious at the hospital and has spoken to her security detail. We have also reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for any comment or additional details about what transpired here. So again, so far we know only that she was transported to a D.C. area hospital by ambulance. Today, we are still trying to learn more about her condition, though a source did say that she is conscious and she has spoken to her detail, Phil.
MATTINGLY: Priscilla Alvarez, we will keep coming back to you as we learn more. Again, this reporting just breaking now about Kristi Noem being taken to the hospital. Thanks so much. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:31:22]
MATTINGLY: For our Politics Lead, let's head up to Capitol Hill, where President Trump's so-called one big beautiful bill is struggling a bit to shore up enough support for a vote in the U.S. Senate. Now, most Republicans seem to be on board in general with the President's massive tax and policy agenda bill. But just enough right now are publicly unhappy with its current form to potentially sink it. And Senate Majority Leader John Thune, he could only afford to lose three votes.
Joining me now, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Senator, really appreciate your time. You have been one of the most vocal about your concerns. And you were raising them very early, long before we started to get details of the Senate bill over the course of the last several days. I'm interested, as somebody who covered the 2017 tax cut, I know how serious you are when you have issues.
You were one of the main holdups for leaders to have to understand and I think give you what you wanted on the pass-through issue before they could get it over the finish line. You were in several meetings today, one with Vice President J.D. Vance, one with I think Senate Republican leaders too afterwards. I'm interested if you feel like they understand and are willing to give some of what you want.
SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Well, first of all, nobody wants to sink this bill. We all support President Trump. We appreciate what he's doing. He's unique. He's doing things that nobody else would do that need to be done. So we want to see him succeed. My higher -- my higher loyalty though is to my kids and grandkids. And -- and we're mortgaging their future. That has to stop.
So what we want to do is what President Trump said he wanted the Senate to do, which is make the big -- the big bill better. And so that's what I'm trying to do. So again, I'm -- I'm not trying to be obstinate here. But the fact of the matter is what the House sent over us, I support most of the measures. It just doesn't go far enough. I know people tell the fact spending reduction, which is true.
The problem is we have historical unprecedented spending increase. For example, we increased spending by more than $2 trillion in a single year in 2020. At most, we'll reduce spending by $2 trillion over 10 years. So again, I -- I support what's in the big, beautiful bill. It just isn't going far enough. And I -- I've been asking for a commitment to a reasonable pre-pandemic level spending and a process to achieve and maintain it.
Those are pretty, pretty good, gives the White House pretty broad latitude in -- in getting my vote.
MATTINGLY: That -- that was what I want to ask you about, because it does. It does not kind of him them in on one or two specific things that they must absolutely give you red line wise to -- to deal with your concerns or to understand your concerns. But I'm interested in pre-pandemic -- pre-pandemic level spending is roughly $6.5 trillion in cuts, maybe, give or take. You're a numbers guy. You know a little bit better than me.
From a discretionary perspective, you can't do that or traditionally don't do that in a reconciliation bill. So what would you need to see from a mandatory side of additional cuts in this bill? And what explicit process would you need to see going forward in the appropriations process or future legislation?
JOHNSON: I've laid out three pre-pandemic levels of spending using actual outlays from Clinton in '98, Obama in 2014, and Trump in 2019. And we have over a trillion dollars of other mandatory. That's now Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. And what we're spending over 2019 is fully inflated numbers is $239 billion.
[17:35:00]
We're spending $145 billion more in non-defense discretionary spending over 2019 fully inflated. So there's almost $400 billion right there just focusing on other mandatory and non-defense discretionary. Obamacare in addition to Medicaid, that's called Medicaid expansion.
MATTINGLY: Right.
JOHNSON: It's where states for -- for every dollar the states put in for Medicaid expansion, they get $9 from the federal government, which has led to all kinds of waste, fraud, and abuse on the part of states and providers. So again, those are just the first things you would start addressing.
MATTINGLY: Senator Ron Johnson, you've been freezing up a little bit in terms of your feed, but I do really appreciate your time. I know it's a very busy time for you in particular right now as the Senate weighs kind of the path forward on the one big beautiful bill. Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, thanks so much.
JOHNSON: Take care.
MATTINGLY: And breaking news. A New York City mayoral candidate was arrested by ICE earlier today at an immigration court. I'll ask New York Attorney General Letitia James about it. That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD LANDER (D), NEW YORK MAYORAL CANDIDATE: You don't have the authority to arrest U.S. citizens asking for a judicial one.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:40:12]
MATTINGLY: Breaking news in our Politics Lead. A New York City mayoral candidate just released last hour from ICE custody after he was detained by officers inside an immigration court this afternoon.
Brad Lander, the current New York City Comptroller, says he's been accompanying individuals on their way out of court over the past few weeks. He says today he was there with a man named Edgardo, who was stopped by ICE officers and then the confrontation unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANDER: All I tried to do was just hold Edgardo's arm and ask the ICE agents, do you have a warrant? And they would not show me the warrant.
That will be fine, but Edgardo is not going to be fine. And the rule of law is not fine. And our constitutional democracy is not fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: This afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement, quote, no one is above the law. And if you lay a hand on a law enforcement officer, you will face consequences.
Joining me now, New York Attorney General Letitia James. Attorney General, you know Brad Lander well. It has certainly been a pretty intense afternoon. Have you spoken with him since his release?
LETITIA JAMES (D), NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: No, I have not. He was just released. I've spoken to his wife and I've spoken to supporters. And I've spoken to a number of advocates. Brad Lander has accompanied individuals who -- whose cases were dismissed at Immigration Enforcement Services at 26 Federal Plaza.
And all that he has been doing for the last few weeks is accompanying individuals out the door of ICE. And so in this particular case, 26 Federal Plaza on the 9th floor was flooded with ICE agents who were all masked. And what they basically do is when individuals' cases are dismissed and they do not have status, they immediately detain individuals and for the purposes of deporting them.
It's unfortunate that judges do not inform them of the consequences of a dismissal. It's unfortunate that they are not entitled to a right to counsel. And it's unfortunate that the comptroller of the great city of New York was arrested today and manhandled. He did not engage in any assault. He did not engage in any obstruction of governmental administration. And he did not engage in disorderly conduct.
All that he did was escort an individual out of the doors of ICE. And unfortunately, he has seen families that have been separated. He's seen children that have been separated. He's seen individuals who basically want the same thing that you and I want. And that is to work each and every day and to care for his family.
And his conduct was consistent with the tradition of this country and of the city and of the state of New York. And that is to protect the rights of all individuals and to ensure that they are entitled to due process.
MATTINGLY: The Homeland Security Department spoke, someone made very clear, they thought this was tied to the fact he's running for mayor. You've endorsed him as your second-ranked candidate. One official told me, performative, period. The background and the context you gave about how often he's done this in the past is important here. But the idea that this is performative, that it's political, is -- is that wrong?
JAMES: No, it wasn't. It wasn't performative. It wasn't. He had no intentions of getting arrested. All that he was doing, as he has done in the past, was to escort an individual. Again, it's consistent with the custom, not only of the state of this country, to ensure that individuals are entitled to due process.
And when he was detained, when he was arrested, when he was manhandled, all that he asked was that he witness and see a judicial warrant, which is something that individuals can ask for under our law in the state of New York. It's unfortunate that we have a government which is at war with its people, with that war, with its institutions, and with that war with the rule of law.
And Brad Lander has consistently and repeatedly stood up for vulnerable and marginalized populations, recognizing that this is a country full of immigrants.
MATTINGLY: In your statement, and this is the latest in a string of -- of arrests or conflict with elected officials related to immigration, you noted it's a grotesque escalation of tensions. Where does this go from here? What -- what's -- what's kind of the pathway forward?
JAMES: Well, the pathway forward is that this administration follow the law, and this administration respect the sovereignty of New York state, and that this administration respect due process, and that individuals need to understand that immigrants who come to this country, immigrant -- immigrants who work each and every day in our stores, immigrants who work on our farms, individuals who work in hospitality industry, they are the lifeblood of New York City, New York state, and of this country. And they want the same thing that you and I want.
When Donald Trump ran for office, he indicated that he was going to go after criminals. These are not criminals. These are hardworking individuals who want to go to school, who want to go to church, who want to work each and every day, individuals who are afraid to go the court -- to -- into our courts, individuals who have been victims of domestic violence or individuals who have been witnesses to horrific crimes, who cannot go into our court and assist law enforcement to get bad -- bad guys.
[17:45:16]
I believe that ICE agents have a quota, and I believe that is -- and I believe that is why ICE agent -- agents who were wearing masks, who were in the hallways waiting to pick up innocent individuals, I believe that they were doing it to meet the quota that has been put forward by higher officials. And this is just not what this country stands for. It's not what this country has been, was founded upon.
It's not what the Statue of Liberty speaks to. It is not what is required of our law. And it's unfortunate that they manhandled the second highest ranking elected official in the city of New York for the purposes of meeting a quota. Period. Full stop. And it will not be tolerated in New York City. And it will not be tolerated in the state of New York.
MATTINGLY: New York Attorney General Letitia James, thanks so much for your time.
JAMES: Thank you.
MATTINGLY: Before we go to break, we want to show you now the skyline just moments ago of Tel Aviv. You see the Iron Dome in action as missiles come into Tel Aviv. That was happening just a few moments ago, the skyline over Israel as the conflict continues. We're waiting to see what type of response Iran may have over the course of this evening. You're seeing pictures of it right there. We will continue to keep an eye on that as we move forward.
But also coming up, the viral video of a woman singing the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium. We'll talk to the artist about why she decided to do it. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:51:03]
MATTINGLY: In our National Lead, a video of artist and songwriter, Nezza, singing the U.S. national anthem in Spanish at an L.A. Dodgers game on Saturday has gone viral. Nezza posting on social media a clip of a Dodgers employee telling her the song will be done in English, then cutting Nezza singing it in Spanish anyhow. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to do the song in English today. So I'm not sure if that wasn't relayed.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: After the performance, a Dodgers spokesperson told CNN, quote, there were no consequences or hard feelings from the Dodgers regarding her performance. She was not asked to leave. We would be happy to have her back.
Nezza joins me now. To start, you looked so overcome with emotion during and then after your performance as well. Why was this so important to you? NEZZA, SINGER: I think just with everything that's been happening, I just felt like I needed to stand with my people and -- and show them that I'm with them and wanted to represent them that day.
MATTINGLY: Are you going to return to Dodger Stadium? Were -- were you surprised by their statement that no hard feelings, welcome back anytime?
NEZZA: Very shocked by the statement this morning. I actually didn't know until someone told me about it, because that definitely wasn't the message that I was sent 30 seconds after my performance. I actually -- we received a call that said, don't ever call us again. Don't ever e-mail us again. You -- the rest of your clients are never welcome here again. So for me, that kind of feels like a ban. So I don't know who's not communicating over there. But yes, that's definitely not the message that I received.
MATTINGLY: For -- for context here, the video you posted, it shows the very brief interaction with the Dodgers employee. I can tell by your face, but I want to ask, was there a conversation beforehand? The employee said they gave you a reason for that or told you that?
NEZZA: No.
MATTINGLY: Yes.
NEZZA: No. I -- I originally asked to do both. I was like, can I start with English and then go into Spanish a week prior? All I was met with was, you have a 90-second window, so you obviously can't do two full songs. And then I made the decision, I was like, yes, I'll do it in Spanglish.
And then we got closer and I was like, no, I'm going to do it fully in Spanish. And I went into that stadium fully thinking that I was welcome because nobody told me in that e-mail thread, no, you can't. And had they told me you can't have any Spanish in there, I would have respectfully declined and not showed up on Saturday, so.
MATTINGLY: You talked about the public statement was different from what you experienced in the immediate aftermath. Walk people through that. Who did you first run into? What was kind of the -- the general sense of things?
NEZZA: I mean, I -- as you can tell from the video, I was kind of all over the place mentally. My eyes were closed. My in-ears were in, so I couldn't hear anything. Everything was zoned out. It wasn't until I pulled that ear plug out of my phone -- out of my ears that I heard the roar and was like shocked because I fully went into it thinking I was going to get booed or cut, might cut, like I didn't know. And I immediately just like felt like I needed to get out of there.
And as I was walking out of the arena is when we got the call and it solidified. Yes, I need it. I need to get out of here. I don't feel welcome here.
MATTINGLY: The reaction -- we saw the reaction in the stadium, the reaction since. What's it been like?
NEZZA: Overwhelming, but -- but in a good way. I mean, I've been on the Internet a long time. I've been -- I've been doing music, creating stuff for a long time. So it's -- I'm no stranger to the space and I know how to navigate. And yes, there's been negativity, but the amount of love is far more. And so it's just, yes, it's been -- it's been great. It's been beautiful to see the Latin community come together.
[17:55:01]
MATTINGLY: It was actually what I was wondering all day as a native in the space. If usually you don't necessarily want to wander into politics.
NEZZA: Right.
MATTINGLY: But you're -- you're from this space. And so you -- you --
NEZZA: Yes.
MATTINGLY: -- would be able to acclimate better than most, and certainly the response --
NEZZA: Yes.
MATTINGLY: -- you could tell you appreciated. Nezza, thank you so much for your time.
NEZZA: Yes. Of course, thank you.
MATTINGLY: I really appreciate it.
And we're following two breaking stories right now. Moments ago, we showed you the scenes over Tel Aviv, Israel's defense forces intercepting what it says were incoming missiles from Iran.
Plus, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem was taken to the hospital this afternoon. Updates on both of these stories in just moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MATTINGLY: Welcome to Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. This hour, breaking news out of the Middle East. Just moments ago, we saw missiles lighting up the skies over Tel Aviv. We're live in Israel.
And at the White House tonight, President Trump is weighing whether the U.S. military should get more involved in this conflict.
[18:00:05]