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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Says No Decision Yet on Potential Iran Strike; U.S Evacuates Some Embassy Personnel from Israel; GOP Lawmakers Split Over Potential U.S. Strike on Iran. Karen Read Acquitted Of Killing Police Officer Boyfriend; Kristi Noem Demands More Control Over DHS Funding. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 18, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

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

This hour, President Trump wrapping up his meeting with his top security officials just moments ago after telling CNN that he had not yet made a final decision on whether or not the U.S. should strike Iran. What might that U.S. military response look like? A top Republican and a top Democrat are here live.

Plus, we are live in Israel tonight with a look at how one hospital is trying to keep patients safe as missiles fly overhead. CNN's Clarissa Ward went into the underground emergency area where hundreds of patients are currently being treated.

Also, as hurricane season gets underway and communities are still recovering from devastating wildfires, officials inside FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, are warning that a new order from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem could slow rapid response efforts. It's a move that could, quote, hurt nonprofits, states, and small towns, unquote.

And a jury finally reaches a verdict after more than 20 hours of deliberation finding Karen Read not guilty of killing her police officer boyfriend. Why were hundreds of people outside the courthouse cheering her on? We'll get into it.

The Lead Tonight, President Trump's consequential decision as he weighs U.S. military intervention in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, and the president is keeping the rest of the world in suspense. Here's what he said just moments ago in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I have ideas as to what to do, but I haven't made a final. I like to make the final decision one second before it's due. You know, because things change. I mean, especially with war, things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked President Trump today for the, quote, support the U.S. has been providing in defending Israel's skies, unquote. And Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that any U.S. intervention would result in, quote, irreparable damage.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is live outside the White House for us. And, Kaitlan, you pressed President Trump on whether he'd reached a final decision, which we just heard some of that, but you also got some insight into how the president is reaching his final decision. What did he tell you?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. We were summoned to the Oval Office on pretty short notice here at the White House earlier. And, obviously, the president took several questions on Israel and Iran and just where his head is at on this.

As you heard him say, he has not made a final decision on what the United States is going to do and how potentially it could get involved. Of course, the question is whether or not the United States is going to conduct a military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities as has certainly been something that has under the president's consideration, as well as meeting with Iranian officials. The president says that they have asked to come to the White House and meet with him.

I asked him earlier in the Oval if he had closed the door on that yet, and he said, no. But he did seem, you know, pretty hesitant on the idea of that actually happening, Jake. He was talking about the challenges and the difficulties of them actually getting here, because obviously the airspace over Iran is closed right now.

And then I also asked the president, Jake, about where his mind is at on this, because it certainly has shifted. Just a few weeks ago, a few months ago, he was trying to pursue the diplomatic option. He wanted to have an agreement with Iran. But once it became clear that wasn't going to happen, and after Israel took that step last Thursday night, which the president viewed as a success, that has contributed to where we are now as he is on the verge of making this decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Can you walk us through what contributed to that change, how you got to where you are in making your decision now?

TRUMP: Well, I think it started the first night. I mean, you know, that first night was devastating and it really knocked the one side off, as you know, devastating evening, day, and pretty much proceeded that way.

I have a meeting in the war room in a little while, Situation Room, as some people call it. So, we're going to meet, we're going to see if it's -- we're in the midst of a -- it's a terrible thing. I hate to see it. I hate to see all that death, so much death and destruction, but death primarily is what I hate to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Well, we do know now, Jake, as the White House has confirmed that meeting in the inside, the Situation Room has ended.

[18:05:00]

So, whether or not the president has made the final call on where he wants to go on this remains to be seen. Obviously, everyone here in Washington, but really also the world is watching.

And the other thing the president addressed inside the oval, Jake, was criticism among his MAGA base over whether or not striking Iran is in line with his America first pledge. The president basically made the case inside the Oval Office that it is in saying that his supporters don't want Iran to be able to achieve a nuclear weapon. And, of course, it seems increasingly his view that he has been articulating many times publicly is that the way to prevent that from happening is potential U.S. involvement.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins at the White House for us, thanks so much.

And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins, tonight and every weeknight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern only on CNN.

Let's go to CNN's Clarissa Ward, who joins us now live from Tel Aviv. As President Trump weighs his option, some U.S. embassy personnel and family members were evacuated out of Israel today by U.S. military aircraft. Clarissa, what are you seeing in Israel as this conflict continues to escalate?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So Jake, about an hour ago, we had sirens. Everybody went into the shelter. But later, we learned it was just a few Iranian ballistic missiles. Keep in mind, in the beginning of this, there were 200 in one night. Last couple of nights, it's been 30. So, it's definitely a dramatic reduction.

Today, the military announcing that as of tonight, they're beginning a phased reopening of the economy. Shops are opening. People are sort of getting into more of a new normal posture, a little bit more relaxed, but still vigilant and particularly vigilant in all of Israel's hospitals.

We spent the last two nights with Dr. Daniel Trotzky. He's the head of emergency medicine at Ichilov Hospital here in Tel Aviv. And he gave us a sense of what it has been like this hospital has been receiving casualties. And while it's been quiet the last couple of nights, relatively speaking, they have to remain vigilant. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANIEL TROTZKY, HEAD OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE, ICHILOV HOSPITAL: This is the emergency operation headquarters. WARD: Okay.

TROTZKY: We are currently underground, two levels below the ground. This area is missile protected and this is where we're going to be located until an event happens, if happens.

Currently in the underground hospital, we have 600 hospitalized patients.

WARD: 600 patients underground?

TROTZKY: Yes. We are probably the first or one of the first hospitals in the modern history that all the hospitalized patients are in an underground missile protected area. And this is crucial to understand because when we have an alert coming in, no one needs to run for shelter. Everybody is protected.

We actually transformed four underground floors from an active parking lot to a functioning hospital.

WARD: In how long?

TROTZKY: In seven hours.

WARD: In seven hours?

TROTZKY: So, yes, in seven hours, with a lot of help from our amazing staff.

WARD: Is there anything you can't do down here that you can do up there In terms of procedures, operations, treatment?

TROTZKY: No. Everything we have, we have operation rooms, delivery rooms, different wards, intensive care, neonatal, ICU. Everything is functioning underground ground. It's busy. It's busy, but I think that our patients are quite happy because they feel safe.

WARD: Sirens have gone off. They're now closing that door that effectively makes this a shelter now. And as soon as they have a sense of where those strikes hit and who will be coming in, they'll start to receive the patients and any casualties that may be coming in.

So, they've been given the all clear the number of missiles being fired the last couple of nights by Iran is getting less and less with fewer impacts and no reported casualties. But still, Ichilov Hospital has to be prepared every time for the worst case scenario.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WARD: And, Jake, the U.S. embassy, as you mentioned, is closed from today through Friday. A lot of people speculating what does that mean, particularly because of the issue that so many Americans are stranded here in Israel. I had one who reached out to me yesterday saying how frustrating it was, that they didn't feel like they were getting enough support in terms to trying to get out of here. But this closure really, you know, fueling speculation that potentially there will be some kind of an escalation here possibly in the form of President Donald Trump deciding to intervene more forcefully in this conflict. Publicly, Israeli officials are not really commenting. They're just saying that they're grateful for the defensive support that they have had so far.

[18:10:04]

But, privately, they concede that they are hopeful that there may be a more decisive intervention from the U.S. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Clarissa Ward and Tel Aviv, thank you. Stay safe.

We're keeping a close eye on the skies over Israel tonight after sirens went off last hour warning of incoming missiles from Iran. I'm going to talk to Israel's former defense minister in just moments.

Plus, Republicans divided over potential U.S. military actions in Iran, as President Trump tells reporters he's not yet decided it whether to strike, I'll ask a key Republican senator about it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We're back with our World Lead, and you're looking at live images of the skies over Tel Aviv. Sirens sounded there in the last hour as Israel detected incoming missiles from Iran.

Let's bring in the former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant. Minister Gallant, thank you for joining us.

So, it's very clear that the government of Israel would like the United States to join its war against Iran, in part because only the U.S. has the ability to destroy Iran's Fordow nuclear facility.

[18:15:00]

What do you say to Americans who are skeptical about the U.S. getting involved in another war in the Middle East?

YOAV GALLANT, FORMER ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: Well, Jake, we gave the world an opportunity. What Israel has done during the last 20 months and especially during the last days is something tremendous. We were achieved a tremendous achievement in Iran, and I believe that we took the Iranian nuclear program back few years.

But in order to create a better future for the Middle East, not only for Israel, for all the countries in the Gulf and elsewhere in the Middle East, and basically in the world, there is a potential for the United States to be involved. And I believe that President Trump already have shown time and again that he is a courageous and bold and know how to create decisions in difficult times. He will pick this opportunity.

And let me conclude these words by saying that I believe that the president will do what is good for the American people. And in this specific issue, what good for the American people is exactly what is good for the world and for Israel.

TAPPER: But if the United -- if Israel has set back Iran's nuclear weapons program several years, as you just said, then why not have the United States engage in intense diplomacy to try to make sure that Iran's nuclear weapons program is curtailed and not risk a wider war that could result in more loss of life and more death?

GALLANT: Well, I am very familiar with the Iranian issue, you know, 22 years ago, as a military secretary for Prime Minister Sharon, a general, I went with him to see President Bush in the White House. And under the order of the prime minister, I presented in front of the president and Dick Cheney, Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell the asset that was starting to be built in Natanz.

And the American president, at the end of this meeting said in public, the United States will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapon ever. It was reiterated by all the presidents ever since, including President Trump.

The issue with the Iranians is that you cannot trust them. Why should a country that possess 11 percent of the oil and gas reserve in the world, why should they need so-called nuclear energy? The only reason is to create and hedge money over the Middle East and to force its neighbors to obey to it.

This is the reason they created their proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, Iranians and the Houthi and the Iraqis militias. And if they will have a nuclear umbrella, this could lead to a disaster, not only for Israel, but to the rest of the world.

So, we paved the way by ourselves, and I believe this is a good opportunity more than anything else, it's time to act.

TAPPER: I want to change subject to the war in Gaza, because former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that the IDF, the Israel Defense Forces, are committing war crimes in Gaza. Take a listen to what Prime Minister Olmert told CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EHUD OLMERT, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This is not a war against Hamas. This looks more and more like a political war of the Israeli prime minister and the cabinet, and the group of thugs, which are now representing the Israeli government inside Israel, and, of course, the world, are committing actions, which can't be interpreted in any other way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLANT: Do you agree?

TAPPER: Let me reject any say that claims that Israel create war crimes. This is 180 degrees opposite to the truth. Israel is working according to in the international law. And sometimes mistakes are happening. But, unfortunatel,y friendly fire can kill even your own citizens or soldiers. But these are mistakes. There is never -- there have never been any order in the Israeli side to hit anyone that is not an enemy.

And let me bring you back to the Iranian issue. The Iranians are shooting Israeli civilian targets in purpose. We know that. We have good intel. We know what they're aiming to. They try to hit civilians. We hit only military targets and the regime targets and the targets of the Revolutionary Guard. This is the difference.

We are proud for our values. We are proud for the values that our soldiers are having. And we will do anything that is needed to protect ourselves. And let me remind you again, we didn't start this war. It was started by Hamas on October 7th with the back wind of Iran.

TAPPER: All right. Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, thank you so much for your time sir.

And joining us now in studio is Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma. Would you support the U.S. striking within Iran?

SEN. MARKWAYNE MULLIN (R-OK): You know, the president's made it very clear that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and right now the president is trying to lead from deterrence by repositioning our assets. And we're willing to step in if, for some reason, Israel can't finish a job. What I mean by that is they may lack some platforms, which they do. They may lack the ability to deliver some weapons that may be required to knock out their nuclear facilities.

Keep in mind, this isn't just one facility. The Iranian regime had spread it disproportionately across the country. And it's specifically five separate locations. And we know where those locations are. We have pretty good intel. The Israelis have also shared intel with us. And so if there's a reason for us to make sure that they can never achieve a nuclear weapon, then that is in the United States' interest.

TAPPER: You just heard the former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, say that the Israelis have set back the Iranian nuclear weapons program several years.

MULLIN: Right. Setting it back is not eliminating it.

TAPPER: No, I get it.

MULLIN: Right.

TAPPER: But, I mean, I listened to President Trump on the campaign trail in 20 15, 2016, 2020, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024, and he made it very clear he didn't think getting involved in a foreign war, especially in the Middle East, was a good idea. He also made it clear, of course, that he didn't think Iran should ever be able to get a nuclear weapon.

MULLIN: Right.

TAPPER: Wouldn't the America first MAGA thing to do be okay, Israel did this and bought us a few years, let's try to go in there with diplomacy and stop it? MULLIN: Well, I would say diplomacy hasn't worked. And keep in mind the president has been very clear about his not wanting to engage in any war. But at the same time, he's been very clear that he does believe in peace through strength. And with that being said, he's willing to protect our assets and our United States citizens and forces, foreign and abroad, against any threat that comes after us.

This regime has been chanting for over 40 years, death to America. This regime is a number one sponsor of terror around the world. This regime is responsible for the war in Gaza right now. This regime is responsible for the Houthis and Hezbollah, not to mention Hamas. They -- and the fact that we would allow them to have a nuclear weapon when they have already attacked us multiple times over the last four years, where the Biden administration has done nothing to deter that, at this point, we don't have a choice. We have to take them at their word.

When they chant, death to America, that means that they get a nuclear weapon. They're not just willing to u to use it. They will use it. And so we have to be proactive. A nuclear weapon isn't something that you can set back and be reactive and say, well, if you do it we'll respond. No. You cannot have one. We cannot ever use it, and we will eliminate that threat.

TAPPER: So, how close the Iranians are to being able to break out their nuclear enrichment program into a nuclear weapons program is, of course, a question for debate. The president's intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, testified in March before Congress about Iran's nuclear program. Here's what you had to say about the I.C., the intelligence community, and their estimate of where Iran was in the development of a nuclear weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The I.C. continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khameini has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2003.

COLLINS: How close do you personally think that they were to getting one?

[18:25:00]

Because Tulsi Gabbard --

TRUMP: Very close.

COLLINS: Tulsi Gabbard testified in March that the intelligence community said Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon.

TRUMP: I don't care what she said. I think they were very close to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, that's Tulsi Gabbard saying in March they're not close to having one, and Donald Trump saying yesterday, I don't care what she said, I think they're very close to having one. Why doesn't he care what she said?

MULLIN: Well, you got to look at the context of this too. In March, she was in her job for 30 days and were still getting handoff information from the I.C., the American intelligence community, from the Biden administration. The Biden administration had been telling us completely different than what the -- or the intelligence community is telling us today.

Remember, the Biden administration --

TAPPER: You're saying the U.S. intelligence community is saying that Iran is close?

MULLIN: I'm saying the assets that we have now, the information we're receiving that we're using with our partners in Israel and the information we're receiving from the intelligence community is that they are very close.

In March, the information was quite different. But you got to remember that we are still receiving information, Jake, from the Biden administration, from the holdouts that were still there. The Biden administration also was the same ones that literally turned a blind eye to them that was trying to appease and not use peace through strength. And that region only respects strength. It doesn't respect anything else.

TAPPER: But who told you that?

MULLIN: So, the information has changed.

TAPPER: But who told you that about the intelligence community? Because just yesterday, I think it was, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, said that his understanding was that the intelligence community's assessment was still today what Tulsi Gabbard said in March?

MULLIN: Well, I will tell you, and I can't -- I've got to walk careful to how far I can go with this because obviously if I'm getting read in on programs or if we're getting briefed in a classified briefing, there's very little information I can actually come out. I'm telling you the information that we've received --

TAPPER: Who's we?

MULLIN: -- fails us -- those of us that have received the information will tell you that they are very close to it. The information that we have received from Israel, which Israel, there is no better country in that region to get information than the Israelis. They have an impeccable ability to penetrate, and we've seen this, right, the way they've attacked and systematically eliminated these terrorist organizations sponsored by is by Iran.

By the way, they've been able to take out their defense system in an event to attack them. The Israelis have an unbelievable ability to gather information. The information that we've received from them and that our intelligence community has been able to verify will tell you that they were marching towards getting the ability to create a nuclear weapon.

Now, there's two sides, it's got to be fit in that, right? You got to have a delivery mechanism.

TAPPER: Right.

MULLIN: And you got to have the enrichment. And they -- both of those have to collide. However, once you get the enrichment, which is what they're really, really close to, the delivery mechanism, you can buy off the open market. So, building a nuclear weapon and saying that we're not building a delivery device, you can say that, but when you're getting the enrichment so close, when they were within -- I believe within weeks to having the enrichment to the point to where they could make that into a weapon, then all they had to do is go purchase the delivery device.

Well, who are they close to? They're close to China, they're close to Korea, or North Korea, and they're also close to the Russians. I'm sure that they can get their hands on the delivery device.

TAPPER: All right. Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, making some news on The Lead, I really appreciate it, sir.

MULLIN: Thank you so much.

TAPPER: We're going to get the Democratic response next from U.S. senators trying to keep us forces from being pulled into this conflict unless Congress approves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): How dare we ask people to make the ultimate sacrifice if we don't have the guts to have a debate and decide whether a war is in the interest of this country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Virginia Senator Tim Kaine joins us live in moments.

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[18:30:00]

TAPPER: And we're back. Sticking in our World Lead, President Trump today declined to tell reporters whether he intends to order strikes on Iran's nuclear sites. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I may do it. I may not do it. I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do. I can tell you this, that Iran's got a lot of trouble.

REPORTER: Have Iranians reached out to you? TRUMP: Yes.

REPORTER: And what did you say?

TRUMP: I said it's very late, you know? I said it's very late to be talking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: President Trump teetering there on the decision to pull the United States military into the Israel Iran conflict. It's why some members of Congress want to force Congress to vote on such a thing.

Leading this effort is Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of the great Commonwealth of Virginia. And, Senator, you and I have been talking about the need for Congress to have skin in the game on these war declarations or lack thereof since the Obama years. I have to explain this to some of our younger staffers here since the war in Yemen.

According to an aide for Chuck Schumer, there will be an all-senators classified briefing on Iran early next week. What more do you want to know and what information are you hoping to get out of it?

KAINE: Well, I appreciate it, Jake. I'm really glad to talk to you about this because I have maintained since I came to the Senate, under Democratic and Republican presidents, we shouldn't go to war without a vote of Congress.

TAPPER: You have, absolutely.

KAINE: That's what our troops deserve. They, they don't deserve to have their lives put at risk when Congress doesn't have the guts to have a debate and vote about war, as Article 1 of the Constitution says. So, here's an important fact about this briefing.

Remember, the U.S. went into war once with Iraq under false claims about the state of Iraq's nuclear program. The Intelligence Committee, including the intelligence community, including President Trump's own national intelligence director, said that Iran had not made a decision to produce a nuclear weapon.

[18:35:02]

They are enriching because the US tore up the diplomatic deal that limited their enrichment, but they neither have the delivery ability, nor have they made a decision to create a nuclear weapon. That's what she said, and that's what's widely been reported.

President Trump and others are saying, that's not right. We need to hear about that in the classified briefing because the last thing we need is to be buffaloed into a war in the Middle East based on facts that prove not to be true. We've been down that path to great cost, and I deeply worry that it may happen again.

TAPPER: Your colleague, Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, was just on the show and he said, according to intelligence he has received, the Iranians, that President Trump is right and Tulsi Gabbard is wrong, and the Iranians are weeks away from being able to take the enriched uranium and turn it into -- and put it on a weapon, a delivery system. I suppose you haven't heard anything along those lines yet.

KAINE: No. I have heard very, very differently. I've heard that, yes, they have enriched uranium after the U.S. tore up the deal limiting their enrichment, but that's a different question than whether they have a delivery vehicle. And everything I've heard suggests that they have not made the decision to actually pursue the nuclear weapon. But we can get into this next week.

TAPPER: Yes.

KAINE: And that's just one of the factors that's important. But even if my colleague is right, shouldn't we have a debate and have a vote in the Senate, as the Constitution suggests? My colleagues who think we should be at war with Iran ought to have the courage of their convictions and put an authorization on the table to do that, and let's debate it in front of the entire American public.

I know what the Virginia public thinks about this. We are a pro- military state, second to none. But my commonwealth thinks another war in the Middle East would be a disaster and would suggest we learned nothing from the last 20 years.

TAPPER: So, you and I have been talking about this, like I said, for, I don't even know, maybe a decade under Obama.

KAINE: Back to Syria, yes.

TAPPER: Obama -- was it Syria? Okay, Obama, Trump, Biden, here we are again, Trump. What is the objection? Why do senators not want to do this? What do they say to you privately?

KAINE: You know, my sense of this, Jake, is this should be the power that Congress most jealously guards. It's the most important part of Article 1, in my view, the power to declare war. And then once we declare war, the president's the commander-in-chief. Because the last thing you need are 535 commanders-in-chief, but it's the Congress that declares war. Why have Congresses of both parties, frankly, abdicated this? It's because they're afraid of war votes. These are very tough votes. They're very consequential. Even if you get it right, there will likely be consequences that will make your heart sick at times.

And so over many, many years, under presidents and Congresses of both parties, Congress has decided to kind of hide in the tall grass. Let the president make the call, and then we'll criticize him if it works out badly or say something good about him or her if it works out well. But that's not what the Constitution says. The Constitution says we declare war because it didn't want American troops deployed in harm's way, risking their lives, unless the political leadership elected by the people had the guts to have a debate in full view of the American public so they could understand the stakes and then cast a vote. And that's what we haven't been doing. And, again, this is a non-partisan claim. Parties of both -- both parties have been at fault. The wigs and the Federalists didn't want to have votes on war and neither do Democrats and Republicans, but we owe it to our troops.

TAPPER: All right. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, you think we're going to be having this conversation in another ten years?

KAINE: You know, it's a dilemma in the Constitution that I think will always crop up. Presidents always like executive authority, but Congress should want a strong president, but Congress shouldn't be afraid to fully occupy its powers to decide when the nation's at war. We'll be having this conversation a long time.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks, Senator, so much. I appreciate it.

KAINE: You bet, Jake.

TAPPER: Our small business series takes us to Pennsylvania next, where the owner of a family-run glass company is struggling under the weight of Trump's tariffs. His message to lawmakers is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: It's time for our Business Leaders series, where we talk with small business owners from coast-to-coast about President Trump's tariffs. Today, we're going to head to Columbia, Pennsylvania, right near Harrisburg, to visit Susquehanna Glass Company. It's a family-run business specializing in decorated glassware for 115 years. And the owner, Walt Rowen, joins us now.

Walt, where do you source your products from? How do the tariffs factor into your company?

WALT ROWEN, OWNER, SUSQUEHANNA GLASS COMPANY: Interesting question. You know, we're kind of an anomaly because we were in the handmade glass industry in the early years of 1920s and 30s. We were getting all of our glass from West Virginia handmade in the United States. But that industry really collapsed in like the 60s. And instead of going out of business, we decided to start using more domestic machine-made glass.

And so today we still use most of our glass, or we still get most of our glass from Ohio and Pennsylvania and New Jersey, American made. We're also decorating other products, ceramic coffee mounts. We're decorating metal tumblers. And all of those other products are often imported from overseas. So, we're kind of getting both.

TAPPER: And have you had to raise your prices? How is it affecting your clients?

ROWEN: Yes, definitely. Our prices on all the things we are buying overseas are up at least 20 percent, and that's just the beginning because the tariffs aren't really settled in yet. The domestic glass prices have stayed pretty consistent, so we've not really raised those prices yet this year, and we're hoping not to.

[18:45:02]

But we -- our business, the overall economic climate is starting to really fall off. And that's what's affecting us right now as much as anything else.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So, you run a factory, you employ workers, they rely on your business to thrive.

ROWEN: Yes.

TAPPER: How does this uncertainty impact your employees and your ability to keep hiring in your community?

ROWEN: It's very tricky because right now, we have -- we have a number of employees that are on layoff because our business is down by about 20 percent from what it should be right now. I mean, this is the kind of product that we're doing. Were hand-cutting glass. So, it's very manual. It's very hand-done. But we also do Christmas decorations.

So, right now, we would be bringing in seasonal people, training them to do the Christmas decorations. So we're taking a ceramic decoration and we're personalizing it. We're using laser machines and we're doing handmade fill -- gold fill into the decoration.

All of those people need to be hired now so that we can be ready in November and December, but we don't have the inventory yet. So we're -- everything is just on pause. It's infuriating.

TAPPER: All right. Walt Rowen, the business, Susquehanna Glass Company, Columbia, Pennsylvania -- Mr. Rowen, thanks so much for your time today. Appreciate it.

ROWEN: Thanks a lot, Jake. I appreciate the opportunity.

TAPPER: Go, Birds!

Why were hundreds of people gathered outside the courthouse today as the jury reached a verdict in Karen Read's trial? Why are they cheering for the not guilty verdict?

We're going to go live to the courthouse in Massachusetts, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:50:37]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, tears of joy inside and outside the courthouse today after a jury of her peers found Karen Read not guilty of second-degree murder of her boyfriend.

This was a retrial for the Massachusetts woman accused of drunkenly hitting her police officer boyfriend with her car and leaving him to die in the middle of a blizzard in January 2022. CNN's Jean Casarez is live outside the courthouse.

And, Jean, following the case as you did, obviously, there was evidence against Read. Of course, the jury thought there was at least sufficient reasonable doubt, but there was evidence against her. There is a question.

So why were hundreds of people cheering for her?

JEN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they passionately believe that she was framed. This was a grassroots effort. And this started three years ago.

And it started when someone asked her what her favorite color was. She said pink. And then the masses grew. And I think, Jake, that it was really born out of. They believed that their police department, their local officials, that there is corruption involved in their community.

And I think she became the poster child for that corruption, because you are correct, both sides had had stellar attorneys. Absolutely. So strong. And the defense pounded home reasonable doubt.

They changed from last year because last year it was that she was targeted that police officers killed her. She was framed. Everybody was lying to get her.

And there still was that. But this time it was more reasonable doubt. But there was a debris field around his body where there was broken taillight, and there was his shoe embedded in the snow. This was the worst storm in the history of this area at that time. According to the meteorologist, who was a witness.

And all the things that they found when she was relinquishing custody of her car to law enforcement. And so, they couldn't have planted all that at that point. But the jury believed she was not guilty of these major charges. The only one was a minor, lesser included, of drunk driving. But I want you to listen. When she stepped out of that courthouse just hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAREN READ, ACQUITTED OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER: No one has fought harder for justice for John O'Keefe than I have, than I have, and my team.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: So now the question, John O'Keefe, he's deceased. He's the victim. Will there be justice for John O'Keefe and his family who were in that courthouse every single day? Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Jean Casarez, thanks so much.

Coming up, why some FEMA officials are worried that a new decision by Homeland Security Kristi -- Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem could hurt recovery efforts for communities affected by natural disasters. It's a CNN exclusive, and it's next.

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[18:57:38]

TAPPER: In our national lead now, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is ordering that every contract and grant over $100,000 be personally approved by her.

This would include necessary funding for agencies such as the Coast Guard or the Secret Service or FEMA.

CNN's Gabe Cohen has been following this story.

Gabe, what exactly is Secretary Noem demanding here?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Jake, this seems to be Noem really tightening her grip on her department spending over these concerns of waste, fraud and abuse. She's again adding this extra layer of review for potentially billions of dollars in Homeland Security grants and contracts. Anything over $100,000 which, as you know, within the federal government, its considered a pretty small amount of money. But she wants to approve each and every one of those and based on this memo, wants to know how much things are going to cost, what the purpose is and how it fits into their broader mission.

We do not know what money may be withheld as part of this, but it is likely that some of this money is going to take longer to get out the door, because this memo specifies that it is going to be a minimum of five days for each of these requests to go through approval through her office. And that's a huge problem for an agency like FEMA, for example, that deals with natural disasters, has to get emergency funds out in minutes or hours, not in days.

TAPPER: Yeah, I would think it would be a real problem for FEMA. I could see FEMA needing a half million dollar order at once. What is FEMA saying about this?

COHEN: Yeah, correct. The officials I'm talking to are extremely worried about how this could stifle their rapid response. It is common, they say, during a catastrophic disaster, for FEMA to greenlight hundreds of contract payments and hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars within a few days for things like ambulances, search and rescue teams, debris removal.

I mean, take Hurricanes Milton and Helene that hit back to back last year. FEMA obligated close to $7 billion in a month. So, all of these officials are now concerned. Well, are those requests going to be approved going to be expedited, or are they going to sit on Kristi Noem's desk?

I talked to a former FEMA chief of staff during the Biden and Obama administrations.

Michael Cohen, who told me he was shocked by the memo saying, I have never seen a control like this put in place. The amount of documentation and explanation that FEMA would have to do to justify expenditures would cause paralysis. If lives are at stake, I believe FEMA staff would either disobey that memo or they will quit.

TAPPER: All right. Gabe Cohen, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.