Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Unanswered Questions Over What Officials Did During Critical Hours; At Least 27 Camp Mystic Campers & Counselors Killed; Sources: Deputy FBI Director Bongino Has Told People He Is Considering Resigning Amid Epstein Files Fallout; Secret Service Suspends Six Agents After 2024 Assassination Attempt On Trump In Pennsylvania; Tensions Rise In Southern California Over Immigration Raids; U.S. Measles Cases Skyrocket Under RFK Jr.'s Leadership. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 11, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Absolutely. Hey, Jake Tapper, are you there?

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I'm here.

HUNT: Are you old enough to have seen --

TAPPER: Oh, be quiet. Be quite. That's mean.

So I was 16 when this happened. It played at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia. And one thing that you might not know is that Bob Geldof, I think, he was kind of forced to let our local favorite band, the Hooters, play at Live Aid. But they did a fantastic job, and I'm glad. And the stadium doesn't exist anymore. In 1992, it was destroyed.

But, yes, I remember. I think it's fair to say I remember Live Aid.

HUNT: Amazing. Well, have a wonderful show today, and I'm glad we had someone who remembers it because, you know, I'm 40 this year, just like Live Aid.

TAPPER: You can -- that's not nice. And you can always come to Grandpa. I'm always here with the memories. Thanks, Kasie. We'll see you back in "The Arena" next week.

HUNT: Have a great weekend.

[17:00:55]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The number two at the FBI is telling people that he might resign over the Epstein scandal. The Lead starts right now.

A heated confrontation, according to sources, between the Deputy FBI Director, Dan Bongino, and the U.S. attorney general, Pam Bondi, at issue, the now dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, and whether the Trump administration is keeping files about him secret and protecting the powerful men associated with Epstein. Plus, camouflage gas masks and shots apparently fired when protesters took on immigration authorities in a tense ICE raid in Southern California. Now, one protester is a wanted man, and the judge could issue a restraining order any moment now after watching current ICE tactics. But first, just moments ago, President Trump was on the ground in Central Texas one week after the catastrophic flooding.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. Breaking in our national lead, President Donald Trump, that's him on your screen right there, just moments ago, and he left Kerrville, Texas, saying, quote, "we've never seen anything like this." The president and First Lady Melania Trump met with families impacted by the catastrophic floods, mourned the loss of at least 120 lives, and praised the searchers who are continuing to look for those still missing. At least 160 people still missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All the beautiful souls, and we're filled with grief and devastation, the loss of life. And unfortunately, they're still looking. They're still looking. There's a lot of missing children. I looked at the pictures of almost all of them, and it's terrible.

We just gave our warmest condolences. But you say to yourself, you know, how do you give condolences? How do you do that to a young person that three days ago was here, four days ago was here and vibrant and now is no longer here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Tough questions. CNN's Julia Vargas Jones is in Texas and is focused on the grueling search efforts to find the 160 people, at least, who are still missing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From shovels and chainsaws to heavy machinery, volunteers in central Texas are using any means necessary to find those who are still missing.

CHIEF CHARLES HOLT, CENTER POINT VOLUNTEER FIRE DEPARTMENT: We're dealing with lots of huge debris fields that take lots of heavy equipment. And each time we debrief something, you know, more dogs, more people are moving through and we're checking layer by layer by layer.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Seven days out from the rains that brought catastrophic flooding, search efforts along the banks of the Guadalupe continue.

HOLT: Hopes and prayers is what we're running on and adrenaline. We want to make sure that we get everybody accounted for. That's our goal.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): We rode along with one of the teams working through some of the hardest hit spots.

VARGAS JONES: This is what the search and rescue operations are looking like now seven days on. They're still going strong. And not just the heavy machinery here, all of this has been combed through by different crews many times over. And they're checking even as these machines are making these piles to make sure that absolutely nobody is left behind.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Officials tell us the scene up the river is the same for the 30 miles between center Point and Camp Mystic.

DANNY HILL, FIREFIGHTER AND UNIFIED INCIDENT COMMANDER, CENTER POINT: You are looking at America and Texas. This is what it looks like when good hearted people come together to complete a mission with people in need.

VARGAS JONES (voice-over): Food, water and donations pouring in.

HILL: The entire town is here, they're helping. But if you look around, you have support from all over Texas, you have support from the states surrounding us, just so they can bring a cooler, just so they can sit there and be side by side with the people that are struggling and lend ahead for whatever they need.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VARGAS JONES (on camera): And Jake, we are seeing that outpouring of support. And as crews here are saying that they have a lot of what they need to carry out that job of searching for those people, it is still a very difficult job. You know, a lot of the people that were out in more obvious places have been found and they're saying now that job is so much harder as they have to dig through, all of this debris in order to get to those folks who are still missing. They're saying it's not quite like they hit a wall, but it will take time for that number to go down still, Jake.

[17:05:29]

TAPPER: All right. Julia Vargas Jones in Center Point, Texas, thank you.

New dispatch recordings obtained by CNN's Erin Burnett reveal what emergency responders reported in Kerr County as the floods -- floodwaters were surging. At 1:14 a.m., one day -- one week ago July 4th, the National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning for parts of Kerr County. It was sent to phones in the affected area, but many people did not have cell service or they were sleeping. And the county also had no flood warning sirens. The Guadalupe River started rising just after that National Weather Service flash flood warning.

At 3:27 a.m., a local responder dispatched this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes ma'am, just 3:43, the Guadalupe is starting to come up and Schumacher is no longer passable at this time.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: As the river Schumacher is a main highway into hunt, Texas. Around 3:50 a.m., another call reported multiple people said their homes were flooding. Then at 4:22 a.m. a volunteer firefighter requested a CodeRED alert sent to Hunt residents. That's a notification by a nongovernmental communication system that could send emergency alerts to phones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any way we can send a CodeRED out to our Hunt residents asking them to find higher ground or stay home?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 104 standby. We have to get that approved with our supervisor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It would take nearly six hours until some residents in Hunt got the alert, according to a source familiar with the notification system telling CNN affiliate KSAT. Erin Burnett last night spoke with the former IT director for Kerr County who helped install the CodeRED system. He woke up during the flood and recorded hours of that scanner audio that you just heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN DAVID TROLINGER, FORMER IT DIRECTOR FOR KERR COUNTY, TEXAS: I fully believe that a really quick action could have, and I'm not going to hindsight at all, but a quick action could have helped people downriver. But at 3:30, once it hit 4:30, it was just too late. The CodeRED would have been ineffective in my opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: By 5:00 a.m., Friday, the Guadalupe River had risen 15 feet according to a water gauge in Hunt, which is home to Camp Mystic. Camp Mystic is where at least 27 campers and counselors did not make it out alive.

Let's discuss with "New York Times" International Correspondent Mike Baker. He's been reporting extensively on how Camp Mystic was essentially left to fend for itself.

Mike, you've been doing really great reporting, important reporting. In addition to questions about Kerr County's actions, there are questions about Camp Mystic leadership and their emergency plans. CNN and the "New York Times" reported that two days before the flood, officials from the Texas Department of Health and Human Services signed off on the camp's annual inspection, which includes a review of its emergency plans. But we know obviously that the emergency plans were insufficient. Many of the counselors did not have their phones or did not have their phones on, meaning that they would have missed that one. 14:00am National Weather Service alert.

I mean, I guess the basic question is, how would a plan this inadequate pass the state inspection? MIKE BAKER, NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes, we have a lot of questions here for the camp, in particular, about what this emergency plan actually looked like. What were the decision making points? Who was -- who would be watching to see if the river was rising? When would they decide to evacuate, and where would they evacuate to? The inspection report seems to cover a wide range of things, yes, but food handling, whether the people are appropriately preparing food at the camp.

And the portion that touches on the emergency preparations is actually quite short. You know, ask, do they have an emergency plan? Are people trained on it? And that's the basic summary of it. We certainly want to see a lot more about what the details are there.

TAPPER: I want to show our viewers a map of Camp Mystic. Many of the cabins are directly in the regulatory floodway. Areas that flood first, areas that are the most dangerous according to federal flood maps. This area of Texas is called flash flood alley, so it's not like this is just a bizarre hypothetical. And yet, as you've reported, when the camp expanded six years ago, $5 million in expansions, not only did they not relocate cabins to higher ground, they put new cabins directly in the flood zone. What can you tell us about these decisions?

BAKER: Yes, and this was a thing when were talking to some experts who are familiar with flood risk, this was a bit of a surprise to them that you would have an existing camp where there was clearly some flood risk, then go through a construction project that was about $5 million, major expansion, a lot of new buildings put into place, why, at that point, would they not make the decision to focus on moving some of the cabins to higher ground instead of putting new cabins in?

[17:10:24]

And then, as you said, some of these new cabins are actually still in the flood zone. So, you know, we have a lot of questions, not only for the camp at that point, but for the county about what decisions they were making and how they were assessing risk when this expansion was happening.

TAPPER: Let's take a look at a different map of Camp Mystic. It's a little closer. One of the cabins that housed the youngest girls at the camp, it was called Bubble Inn, you can see it at the bottom of your screen there in the yellow. No cabin suffered more than Bubble In. Most of its 15 campers and counselors were killed in these floods.

The rest are still missing a week later. Tell us what you've learned from survivors about what people, what children and counselors at Camp Mystic went through.

BAKER: Yes, I mean, the stories that we are hearing are just heartbreaking. I mean, certainly a lot of confusion of where to go, when to evacuate. You know, we got a photo yesterday of these girls actually walking through the floodwaters. They're trying to get from one building to another, trying to search for safety, some higher ground. And so stories about people making makeshift ropes, about hanging on the volleyball net, about climbing on a rooftop and huddling together, and just a lot of uncertainty.

I mean, you really get this sense that they were just fending for themselves out there with, you know, no support from law enforcement or emergency responders, anyone there to sort of rescue them from the waters that were rising all around them.

TAPPER: Mike Baker of "The New York Times," thank you so much for your time.

As the death toll now rises to at least 120 people, we want to take just a moment to tell you about just a few of them, a few who will be very missed. Mary Barrett Stevens, she was a camper at Camp Mystic. Her mother, Stacy, calls her fearless, enthusiastic, and compassionate. A very sad note to those bravely searching the wreckage. If you would, if you could keep out -- keep an eye out for a toy monkey, Mary had that toy with her at camp, and her mother said, quote, "We lost my daughter and would love to have it back, as it was her most prized possession," unquote.

The floods also tragically took the life of Jeff Wilson. He was a teacher for more than 30 years in the Humble Independent School District north of Houston. The school district says he was a beloved teacher and coworker. When his death was confirmed, his brother in law shared that Jeff's wife and son are also missing.

We also want to tell you about Clay Parisher, he lost his life at just 20 months old. That's him on the left side of your screen there. Clay's uncle tells the Austin American Statesman that the toddler was with his entire family at their Kerr County home when water engulfed it.

Just so many horrible tragedies and may their memories be a blessing.

Coming up next, the bombshell news here in Washington, D.C., Dan Bongino, the number two at the FBI, is threatening to leave his job. He is at odds with the Justice Department and the attorney general over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case and their refusal to hand over documents to the public. Plus, the contradiction in the case is coming from a key Trump administration official today. We're diving into this story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:17:49]

TAPPER: A really bizarre, shocking story in our politics lead. Several sources are telling CNN that the number two top official at the FBI, Dan Bongino, is reportedly considering resigning his post as deputy director of the FBI over the continued fallout from the failure of the Trump administration to release information about Jeffrey Epstein and the release of a memo about Jeffrey Epstein. This news comes out hours after highly influential MAGA activist and bizarre conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posted today that both the FBI director, Cash Patel and Deputy Director Bongino are, quote, "furious with Attorney General Bondi and the blowback she's caused them with her lack of transparency," unquote. Loomer goes on to write, quote, "Someone needs to be fired for this. Giving Bondi courtesy to resign is more than she deserves.

Trump should just fire her," unquote. This was quickly followed by a post on social media from the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, who said he worked closely with both Patel and Bongino on this Epstein memo, and quote, "The suggestion by anyone that there was any daylight between the FBI and Justice Department leadership on this memo's composition and release is patently false," unquote.

Joining us now, CNN's Phil Mattingly and CNN Political Commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin who served as White House Communications Director in the first Trump administration.

So, Phil, I mean, CNN is reporting from several sources that Bongino is seriously considering resigning because of the fallout. So in this instance, it doesn't look like Todd Blanche is really being honest and transparent.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It certainly looks like what the post from Todd Blanche, the Deputy Attorney General, was intended to do was brush back what had been a growing and now very public dispute between DOJ, the FBI, but has also involved the White House. Our team has been doing great reporting on this. Reported that there was a meeting on Wednesday with Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. There was disputes within the meeting between Dan Bongino, Cash Patel and Pam Bondi. And what we have been reporting, I think what's become very clear is there has been a lot of friction back and forth between the FBI and DOJ, which, as you know better than anybody, is not necessarily a rarity --

TAPPER: No, not at all.

MATTINGLY: -- in Washington, D.C. But it's the elements involved in that friction in terms of the importance of this particular case or this particular issue within the base, the fact that the FBI director and the deputy FBI director are critical members of that base and key voices from that base, and the fact that there have been a lot of questions about what Pam Bondi pledged to do versus what the memo that came out actually said they could do as they tried to close the book. And it doesn't seem like this is going away anytime soon.

[17:20:25]

When deputy FBI director takes a personal day, which is an interesting choice --

TAPPER: Right.

MATTINGLY: -- when you're upset at your boss and threatens to resign --

TAPPER: Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- it becomes very public and Laura Loomer is involved, this isn't something that's going to clean up quickly.

TAPPER: Yes. And Alyssa, I mean, here's the thing. It's not just Pam Bondi, right, it's Dan Bongino, it's Cash Patel, the FBI director, it's Vice President J.D. Vance, there are a whole bunch of people who have been out there saying for years that the Epstein files, all this information that has yet to be released, that could expose names of people who did some pretty horrible things, possibly, that that all needs to be brought into the open. And yet, and yet, I want to play something President Trump said back in 2020 when you worked for him in the White House. He was asked about the arrest of Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, for these horrific crimes involving young women and sex trafficking, take a listen as to what the president said about her going to prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I haven't really been following her too much. I just wish her well, frankly. I've met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I wish her well is an interesting to say about somebody who went to prison for sex trafficking. But beyond that, this is the only time I can think of President Trump who seems to really care what his base thinks and wants, sometimes even to the point that he, I wouldn't say he's afraid of them, but he wouldn't do something that like, for instance, would make him a historic president with like an immigration agreement or something, because the base would be mad at him for it. But he keeps going against his base here. Why?

ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I remember that press conference well and I remember being in upper press in the West Wing and being a bit stunned by that statement because to your point, the base -- the MAGA base has felt so strongly about Jeffrey Epstein since his crimes came to light. And this has been sort of a rallying cry on the right. There's been -- some of -- some of it, by the way, well documented his crimes, others that kind of turn over into the conspiracy space, thinking that prominent left wingers are going to get wrapped up in this sort of network that he was associated with. But this is the first time I can really remember that Trump is sidestepping his base and not doing what they're very vocally asking him to do.

And so as there's these calls now by some on the right for Pam Bondi to step aside or to resign and be fired, the thing I would say is if Donald Trump wants all of the information the government has on Jeffrey Epstein to be released, he can make that available. He can direct the attorney general to release it. He can move to whether it may be law enforcement sensitive to declassify that and make it public. So the fact that he's not, I think, raises a lot of questions. And this is an issue this White House is not going to be able to make go away overnight.

You know, this would be a convenient time. Another White House would be able to say, hey, we're -- we-- the Department of Justice is independent. We don't tell them what to do. But that is not how this -- TAPPER: Right.

GRIFFIN: -- DOJ and this White House operate. So folks are going to expect Donald Trump to weigh in office?

TAPPER: Well, that's the thing. I mean, it's very easy for the Laura Loomers of the world or whomever to blame this on Pam Bondi, the attorney general. But I just can't imagine that she's not doing anything that President Trump doesn't want her to be doing because, as you know, like, this is probably the least independent attorney general in the history of attorneys general.

GRIFFIN: Yes, I would be stunned just based on the job I held in the first Trump administration, if that DOJ memo from earlier this week went out without White House sign off beforehand. There's just -- there is a coordination process that would be underway. There is -- would definitely, at minimum be a heads up to the White House that we are going to say there's no list being released, that he was not murdered, he killed himself, among other things. So the idea that the White House is sort of a bystander in this, that doesn't have a dog in this fight, I don't think is accurate.

But what I will say, I think those around Donald Trump are advising him for as long as you can make this not your problem, let it be a DOJ problem, let Bongino and Pam and Cash work this out and let them fight amongst themselves as he's going to try to focus on other things like trade deals, among other things. But this is one of the real issues with his base that I don't think he can just hope is going to go away.

TAPPER: Yes. And -- but, Phil, he could just say, remove the names of the victims and release everything, release the witness testimonies, release the autopsy, release everything, but he won't, he won't.

[17:25:00]

MATTINGLY: What was most striking this week is when he was asked about this at a roundtable earlier in the week --

TAPPER: So imitated (ph).

MATTINGLY: -- and he was annoyed and said, why are you still talking about that? How could you possibly be still talking about that? Everyone in his base is still talking about that. And frankly, he's a victim of his own delivery on the promises that he made during the campaign, of which there is a very long list, that he has checked the box on every single one of them over the course of the last six months. Campaigned on it, did it, put it into action --

TAPPER: Right.

MATTINGLY: -- because he could, through executive authority, to Alyssa's point, you could do this too, technically.

TAPPER: Curiouser and curiouser. And as Alyssa Farah Griffin says, and I'm sure Phil Mattingly agrees, this isn't going away. Thanks, guys. Have a great weekend. Over at the Secret Service, the agency has suspended six of its agents over that assassination attempt on President Trump last year in Butler, Pennsylvania. My next guest was at that rally last summer. She has a new book out called "Butler." We're going to talk to her about what she saw that day and what she makes of the fallout now. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:30:01]

TAPPER: We're back with our Law and Justice lead. The U.S. Secret Service has suspended six agents over the securing or failure to do so of the Butler, Pennsylvania site where that lone gunman tried to assassinate President Trump at a rally last year. The suspensions range from 10 days to 42 days without pay.

This weekend will mark one year since that assassination attempt, which thankfully failed. Veteran political reporter, Salena Zito, was just four feet from President Trump when she heard the gunshots. She'd been invited there to interview Trump when the shots were fired. Zito never stopped reporting.

She turned the firsthand account into a book out this week entitled "Butler: The Untold Story of the Near Assassination of Donald Trump and the Fight for America's Heartland." And Salena joins us. Now Salena, always good to have you here.

What is your reaction to the suspensions of these Secret Service agents? Obviously there were serious failures and thankfully President Trump wasn't hurt, but one man was killed and two others very seriously injured.

SALENA ZITO, AUTHOR, "BUTLER": Yes, yes. Absolutely. I mean, I think it's about time. You know, the biggest failure we saw that day, interestingly enough, reminded very much of the aftermath of 9/11, right? This is why Homeland Security was -- that -- that -- that agency was born because there was a failure of communication between the law enforcement agencies.

Here we had the same thing. We didn't have the Secret Service talking to local law enforcement. Why is that important? Well, because those men and women know those areas like the back of their hand. Most local law enforcement grew up there and -- and because they couldn't communicate what they discovered, which was crooks on the roof of that building and -- and the inability to tell them that, has -- has led to the death of a father of two girls and a husband of his -- his high school sweetheart, and -- and it's just tragic.

TAPPER: Yes. Your book is really interesting. It's not just about President Trump or the 2024 election. It's not just about this horrible day in Butler, Pennsylvania. It's about Butler and the sense of place in many ways. Your family settled in Butler a long time ago and you write about Professor Tom Amerifa, I believe is pronounced his name. He says people who voted for Trump share a rootedness in place. Think of people in J.D. Vance's "Hillbilly Elegy" or the T.V. series "Justified," which was tied by the phrase we dug coal together, an expression of place. And you think that a lot of political experts, consultants, journalists don't understand the importance of sense of place in politics. Tell us about that.

ZITO: Yes, you know, I -- I think there are a handful right now to do. That would be Donald Trump, but that would also be Josh Shapiro, John Fetterman, J.D. Vance. These are people that understand that -- that be one of being part of something bigger than self, but also rootedness. You know, eight out of 10 Americans live anywhere between 50 to 100 miles of where they grew up. So where you're from has a depth of meeting that -- that -- that is hard to understand in polling, but ends up swaying people in their politics.

So people do. You know, oftentimes you'll see a pollster or an expert say this is against their interest. Well, a lot of that has to do with place, and it's a nuance that -- that takes a lot of listening to understand. There's also a very compelling interview with Governor Josh Shapiro on the day after he went to Butler.

He gave maybe one of the best ever speeches in a time of grievance about the girl dad. And it also explores Governor Shapiro's decision- making about being the vice presidential pick or not. And it also explains why people assimilated and went around Trump when you don't think that that's where they would necessarily go intuitively.

TAPPER: Yes, no, I've lived in Washington, D.C. now longer than I ever lived in Philadelphia, where I'm from, but I'm always going to be a Philadelphian, and it's always just an important part of who I am. Trump told you after the shooting, when you finally got your interview, this could be an opportunity to bring the country together. Do you think he tried to do that, at least as much as you -- you wished he did? I know you -- you want this country to be united.

ZITO: Oh, yes. Yes, of course. I mean, I think we all want that. I'd like to think that we all want that. I think in that speech, he definitely attempted to do that. But what I found, you know, he called me seven times the day afterwards. And -- and one of the most interesting conversations I had with him was why he decided to say, fight, fight, fight.

And he said to me, you know, I wasn't Trump in that moment. I wasn't Donald Trump, the man. I represented presidency, the office of the presidency, and I thought it was very, very important to show strength, to show that we continue to fight on, to represent that grit and -- and -- and exceptionalism.

[17:35:16]

And what I think, Jake, is that was this thread that -- that a lot of people missed that -- that inspired people. But also, in that moment, it -- it was -- it -- it calmed people that were at that place.

TAPPER: Yes, it's an iconic photograph and an incredible instinct, whatever people think of President Trump, to survive an assassination attempt and to stand up and -- and raise your fist. The book is called "Butler." It's available now. Salena Zito, always great to have you on. Thank you so much.

Some breaking news now, new details just in on that deadly Air India crash last month that killed 242 people. A preliminary report is now out. We're going to tell you about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:01]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you in our World Lead. A major update now on that Air India flight that crashed last month. Let's get straight to CNN's Richard Quest. And Richard, you just got a hold of the preliminary report. What does it say?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: The preliminary report basically tells us what happened. It doesn't tell us why it happened, but it says that the fuel was literally cut off to the engines. The so-called fuel cut-off switch had been moved from run to being switched off barely a minute after the plane had taken off. One pilot then says to the other, why did you switch the cut-off switch? Why did you switch the fuel off? The other pilot says, I didn't.

They then attempt to restart the engines, but it's too late because the video has shown so dramatically, by that stage, the plane just simply can't get started again. We don't know, and this is the crucial point, we don't know were those switches, the cut-off switches done by accident? Did something else happen? Was it an electrical response that caused it? A thousand and one more questions now are raised by what this preliminary report says, because if the pilots didn't switch the fuel off, what did happen?

But now we do know those fuel cut-off switches appear to have been moved from run to cut. They were then moved back again, and that's why the plane crashed. Quite literally, Jake, the fuel was switched off.

TAPPER: All right, Richard Quest, special report for us from Bordeaux, France. Thanks so much.

And the National Lead, the FBI, is offering a $50,000 reward for any information leading to the conviction of this man. Authorities say he appeared to fire a pistol at immigration officials in a tense raid yesterday in Southern California. Agents flooded a state-licensed marijuana farm in Ventura County in full-on gear, camouflage suits with helmets, gas masks.

They lined the fields and greenhouses. Military-style vehicles moved in. A helicopter flew overhead. The "L.A. Times" reports authorities arrested about 200 suspected undocumented immigrants, including 10 minors, eight of them unaccompanied. Protesters also showed up at that weed farm. Some threw rocks at federal agents, even cracking the window of one van.

Then just days ago, on Monday, a different tense standoff about 50 miles east at MacArthur Park in L.A. Word spread of a possible raid. Protesters showed up. So did the mayor. Eventually, officers on horseback and in tactical gear swarmed in. The mayor says small children were rushed inside to avoid being traumatized. The protesters drove officers out.

But both events beg the question, who exactly is being targeted in these ICE raids, and how far will immigration authorities go? I want to bring in CNN crime and justice correspondent, Katelyn Polantz. Katelyn, we could get a ruling any moment now from a district court judge in California on this very issue of who the immigration officials are targeting in these raids. You know, we were told initially it was going to be just violent criminals, but they're, you know, going after agricultural workers in some instance here.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: Right. So escalating in the farms, but also escalating in court. What's happened over the last 24 hours is we are waiting for a judge in a federal court in Los Angeles to decide what to do about how people are being rounded up by ICE agents or pursued by ICE agents and detained often.

In this situation, it's the ACLU, it's workers' rights groups, it's immigrants groups, a union. They are going to court and they just want a court order in place that says that ICE, DHS, that they, other officials that may be approaching immigrants, that they just need to follow the law. They want the court to say, follow the Fourth Amendment.

That's the one about search and seizure. And they're saying that they believe that there is no basis sometimes for these people to be approached. People who are day laborers, people who are car wash workers, the ICE officials just coming up to them, making them very fearful. Perhaps people might be running away from the ICE officials. They are people in military gear. And it's a situation where the ACLU and others say, this just isn't fair. It's racial profiling.

Well, let's talk about that because the White House border czar, Tom Homan, was on "Fox" this morning and he seemed to be suggesting that agents don't need probable cause to do this kind of thing. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM HOMAN, BORDER POLICY ADVISER: They just need this to tally the circumstances, right? They just got through the observation, you know, get articulable facts based on the location, the occupation, their physical appearance, their actions, like a uniformed border patrol walks up to them at, for instance, a Home Depot. And -- and they got all these articulable facts, plus the person walks away or runs away.

You know, agents are trained. What they need to detain somebody temporarily and question them. It's not probable cause. It's reasonable suspicion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:44:59] TAPPER: So, I mean, he did say the totality of the circumstances when he made that list. But one of the things on the list was physical appearance. And the ACLU is arguing that ICE is racially profiling, looking for Latinos.

POLANTZ: They are. And in court, the Justice Department, arguing on behalf of all the federal officials here, ICE included, they're arguing that they're making these determinations based on intelligence that they have. A little bit different than what Homan is saying there. In court, they're saying that the basis, that they have some sort of basis to believe that these people may be undocumented immigrants, and that's why they're being approached.

But the way this suit is described, I mean, it really is about ICE officials just going to the places over and over again, where there may be undocumented people working. One person who's a plaintiff here, ICE has raided the car wash he works at three different times. It's car washes, it's Home Depot parking lots, it's farms. And the raids are happening at places like parks, bus stops, churches. That's what the lawsuit's about. And whether the judge will step in, we're going to have to see.

TAPPER: We'll find out. All right. Stay tuned. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much.

My next guest is suing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and the Trump administration. She argues that they are undermining vaccine confidence at a time of crisis. We're going to hear out her case coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:18]

TAPPER: In our Health Lead, 25 years ago, measles had been essentially eliminated in the United States. Today, the number of confirmed measles cases hit a disturbing record high, 1,300, according to Johns Hopkins University Center for Outbreak Response Innovation. And yet this has not been declared a nationwide public health emergency by Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr., who is not a scientist, nor is he a medical professional.

RFK Jr. has a long list of controversial and completely baseless statements, long before becoming the HHS secretary, from once comparing the CDC to Nazi death camps, repeating conspiracies that COVID was ethnically targeted to spare Jews and Chinese people. I mean, just insanity. Here's just a bit of what he said just on vaccines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: There's no vaccine that is safe and effective. I do believe that autism does come from vaccines. I see somebody on a hiking trail with a -- carrying a little baby, and I say to him, better not get them vaccinated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: OK, just a quick fact check here. There's no vaccine that's safe and effective. That's false. I do believe autism does come from vaccines. That's not true. I see someone carrying a baby, and I say, better not get him vaccinated. That's horrible advice. Horrible advice. And that's all from our HHS secretary.

Now, when confronted during his confirmation hearings with some of these insane babblings, RFK Jr. either denied saying them or said he wasn't sure he said them. He also did make this pledge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY JR.: And I will never stick on a point if somebody shows me data that says I'm wrong. I support the measles vaccine. I support the polio vaccine. I will do nothing as HHS secretary that makes it difficult or discourages people from taking it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: People say a lot of things when they want to get confirmed by the Senate. Let's bring in Dr. Susan Kressly. She's the brand new president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and is part of a lawsuit against RFK Jr. and the Trump administration health leaders for limiting who can get COVID vaccines and for undermining overall confidence in vaccines. Dr. Kressly, why was it important for you and your organization to be a part of this lawsuit?

DR. SUSAN KRESSLY, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: Well, the most important thing to remember is that pediatricians are dedicated to the health and well-being of the patients that we take care of. And one of the ways that we do it is by giving safe and effective vaccines. And so when the vaccine delivery and vaccine confidence and the vaccine infrastructure is eroded by people who are deliberately misleading the public, sowing doubt in the science and causing unnecessary fear and anxiety, we were compelled to act. We had to act in order to be able to give our patients what they need and deserve.

TAPPER: Can you give an example of how, in your view, RFK Jr. has tried to mislead the public about the safety of vaccines since he's been HHS secretary?

KRESSLY: Well, history and the news has documented that well. But what we know is that he does not speak out and the leaders are not speaking out and telling the public the truth, which is that vaccines are the only way out of the measles epidemic and they are safe and effective. And we've had a process for decades that has been transparent, science-based, led by experts, collaborative with the public to make sure we have accurate and safe and the best recommendations for the American public. And his recent actions are undermining those efforts.

TAPPER: Do you think that -- that parents are becoming more skeptical, less trustful of pediatricians in this era?

KRESSLY: I don't think they trust their pediatricians any less, but they're uncertain and that's unnecessary. And I encourage your listeners to please talk to your pediatrician. We want to hear your questions. Help -- let us help you make the best decision for your children, which is to vaccinate them. It is not the confidence in pediatricians that it's eroded. It's the confidence in the recommendation. And that is because everyone involved has not been giving fact-based, clear messaging around the importance of vaccine and how every child's health is at stake and vaccines save lives.

TAPPER: But just to be clear, you don't think it's just an accident that RFK Jr. is not giving this clear information. You think that this is -- this is his -- what he wants to do. He's -- he's deliberately not stepping up to this moment.

[17:55:02]

KRESSLY: I -- I can't speak to other people's motivation. I can only see what we see, which is that the -- the conversations and the public statements are not confidence building at a time when our nation really needs confidence in vaccines in the middle of a measles outbreak and the worst flu vaccine year in a long time.

TAPPER: Dr. Susan Kressly, thank you so much. Go ahead and finish your thought, whatever you're saying.

KRESSLY: No, I was just saying it's the worst flu season in the year, and we need to have confidence heading into the respiratory season this fall.

TAPPER: Absolutely. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up, new reporting on the Epstein files and the infighting at the Justice Department over whether or not the full files should be released. But several sources are telling CNN about a heated confrontation this week, and the deputy FBI director possibly on the brink of quitting his job.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, well, there's got to be bad blood. I'd sing it for you, but I'm going to spare you on this Friday, bad blood among top Trump administration officials.