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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump Administration Targets Democratic-Led Cities; Senate Vote Fails To Reopen Federal Government; Sources Say, DOJ Opinion Authorizes Strikes On Secret List Of Cartels; Cuomo: "There's A Civil War Within The Democratic Party"; Emma Willis: Caregivers Often Forget To Care For Themselves. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 06, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, legal showdown over the Trump administration's efforts to deploy National Guard troops to Democrat-led cities. Illinois and Chicago are now suing the Trump administration while a federal judge temporarily blocked the deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. But some federal law enforcement officers are already in Oregon and clashed with protesters last night. We're going to have Democratic lawmakers from Oregon and Illinois join us in just a moment.
Plus, fallout for some shocking text messages sent by Jay Jones, Virginia's Democratic candidate for attorney general, in which Jones suggested just three years ago that a Republican colleague should be shot and his children killed. Jones has issued an apology and he is not dropping out of the race. And no Democratic officials have called for him to step down.
Plus, Fox Sports Analyst and former NFL Quarterback Mark Sanchez now facing a felony charge for his role in an altercation that landed him in the hospital with stab wounds. Prosecutors say loads of video evidence could even lead to more charges down the line. What on Earth happened?
Our Lead tonight, protests on the ground and push back in the courts as two Democratic-led cities, Chicago and Portland, become new epicenters for President Trump's crackdown on crime, as he says. Today, Illinois and Chicago are both suing the Trump administration over its move to deploy National Guard troops to Chicago, even as protests at ICE facilities have ramped up in recent weeks. Protesters saying they've been met with physical force and tear gas.
Protests are also ongoing outside an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon. On Sunday, a Trump-appointed judge temporarily blocked the administration's efforts to send in National Guard troops from other states, the Trump administration now appealing that decision with confidence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The president has the right to call up the National Guard in cases where he deems it's appropriate.
We're very confident in the president's legal authority to do this, and we're very confident we will win on the merits of the law.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Joining us now, Oregon's Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley. Senator, thanks for joining us.
So, the White House says they're confident in their ability to win this appeal. They're citing part of the U.S. code that says the president can call in the National Guard to repel an invasion, suppress a rebellion, or execute laws of the United States. Do you think they have any legal argument here? How do you see this shaking out?
SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Well, they certainly failed the test that there is no rebellion, there is no invasion. There's a longstanding understanding you don't deploy the military against peacefully protesting Americans, and you don't bring them in unless there's a rebellion. And, of course, the district judge said there's nothing that approaches that. There have been a few scuffles mostly instigated by the folks, the federal agents that Trump has sent out there.
It's shocking to watch a member of the Trump team walk up to a woman who's totally obeying instructions and just spraying her straight in the face with pepper spray, watching them march protesters three blocks away. Protesters are peaceful, but they have videographers behind them, and then they start throwing down pepper balls and tear gas to film it to try to create the impression of chaos where there wasn't chaos. It's Trump creating the chaos because he wants violence and chaos to justify more authoritarian power. This is an incredibly perilous moment for our nation.
TAPPER: White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller described the situation in Portland to CNN's Boris Sanchez like this earlier today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHEN MILLER, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF FOR POLICY: And ICE officers have been subjected to over a hundred nights of terrorist assault, doxxing, murder threats, violent attack, and every other means imaginable to try to overturn the results of the last election through violence. The mayor and governor in Portland and Oregon have refused to render aid, leaving ICE officers to street fight every single night against these terrorists.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Have you been to that ICE facility? What is your view on what's going on the ground?
MERKLEY: Yes, I have.
TAPPER: Tell us more.
MERKLEY: I was there several times last weekend, a weekend before. What you saw were three women holding up like flowers. I mean, what its only point it becomes confrontational is when the federal agents are starting the confrontation. And what he's describing is just a fiction, complete fiction. You know, Trump said maybe he was watching the wrong tapes. Well, maybe he was watching the tapes from 2020, but that's not now.
Portland, among the biggest cities, has had the largest reduction in murders. It's had the largest -- well, I don't know if it's the largest, but it's had a 20 percent reduction in violent crime. Portland's been on the rise but Trump is looking for a fight. And my message to folks in Portland is don't take the bait.
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And so far, the protestors have been very restrained, and I hope they continue to be, because we do not want to give justification that allows Trump to have a win in court, saying now there really is a sizable disturbance the police can't handle. What's going on there now, police are occasional confrontations they can handle like any other occasional confrontation. If he would just get his folks out of there, Portland could return to being peaceful.
TAPPER: The monthly statistics you cite from the Portland Police Bureau do show the crime overall is on the decline in the city, but the most recent month to month comparison we have August of this year compared to August 2024, 2023, violent ha crime has gone up, just comparing month to month. A significant portion of this increases from simple assault reports. Do you accept the statement, the idea that Portland does need some help addressing a rise in crime even if you disagree strongly with how the Trump administration is doing this?
MERKLEY: Well, cherry-picking that one month takes away the overall vision of the year where it's down 20 percent from the previous year. And so it's not acceptable to cherry-pick a particular week or a particular set of weeks in that fashion to depict what's going on there, but realize the police have been really working hard to build this set of relationships that have, again, reduced the murder rate in half in a single year, the best of the largest 65 cities in America. I think Trump should be giving them an award for that.
TAPPER: Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon, thank you so much for, I appreciate it.
Let's go to Chicago now. Joining us now, Congressman Brad Schneider, a Democrat from Illinois. And, Congressman, your district makes up part of Chicago. What are you seeing and hearing about what's happening on the ground there right now?
REP. BRAD SCHNEIDER (D-IL): We're seeing similar to what Senator Merkley was talking about. Fact of the matter is that Chicago, our crime rates are down. I think it's a 60-year low in Chicago. The communities -- these are communities where people live, they work, their kids go to school, and they're being terrorized by the administration, by President Trump, by Secretary Noem, by ICE and CBP, who are using military tactics to come in and rough people up, to scare and terrorize young people. We had a situation where young kids were put in -- hands strapped behind their back, parents taken away from them and many of these were American citizens.
So, we're just seeing the president trying to stoke violence and using his authority as president to send troops in where they're not wanted, they're not needed. And we have much more pressing concerns that he should be focused on.
TAPPER: Illinois and Chicago are now both suing the Trump administration over the effort to deploy the National Guard in the city. The Chicago mayor is taking steps to prohibit ICE from using city property. He's declared that there are ICE-free zones in Chicago. What do you think so far of the efforts by state and local leaders to push back against what the Trump administration says they're trying to do for law and order?
SCHNEIDER: Right. The case was filed, a temporary restraining order, TRO, was filed today. I believe the administration was given until Wednesday at midnight to respond. We are standing up and I think the message that the administration needs to hear is that, A, the troops aren't needed. The president's tactics aren't welcome. And just as important, we're not going to be afraid. We are going to protect our communities, we're going to protect our neighbors, and we're going to do everything we can to make sure that the illegal actions of the administration are not allowed.
TAPPER: So, here in D.C., where Trump last deployed the National Guard, the numbers do show that violent crime declined. It's down 36 percent in the last 30 days compared to last year, down 27 percent overall this year compared to last year, so far, and we heard from some D.C. locals and communities that were unhappy with the National Guard presence in the city, but we also heard from some that were happy with it and like the idea that there was more law enforcement in the street, especially in some of the rougher parts of D.C. Is it possible that the federal assistance could be useful to Chicago in some form to help the address crime, even if you don't approve of how Trump is doing it? Is there any way that assistance would be good for Chicago?
SCHNEIDER: I'll tell you what would be good and what would be welcome. The president could release the $800 million he's holding for public safety, federal money that was intended by Congress to go to local police departments, local communities to help improve safety in those communities. We should be working hand in glove with our local communities, local police departments to provide the protection and services they need. That's not sending in the military, that's not creating the impression of violence when there is no violence.
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It's not trying to cause an insurrection to allow the president to extend his dictatorial aspirations. What's needed is collaboration, cooperation, working together with communities, reinforcing local police departments who know the community, who know what the community needs, and giving them the resources to deliver on those services.
TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider from Chicago, Illinois, thanks so much.
Our breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead, some Senate Republicans are right now accusing the FBI under the Biden administration on of spying on Republican senators.
Let's get right to CNN's Evan Perez with this breaking news. Evan, you're just getting in these allegations. What are you learning?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, I, we, I was over at the Capitol for a press conference that was held by Senator Grassley and a number of other Republican --
TAPPER: Grassley's the head Republican on the Judiciary Committee.
PEREZ: On the Judiciary Committee, correct. And he said they had gotten some records from the FBI, which showed that the FBI had subpoenaed records related to nine members of Congress, mostly senators, and these were toll records. These are not content of the calls. These are what time call was made, what phone number was called, the duration of the call. That's the kind of thing that that the FBI gets in those types of subpoenas, and that it was for records of calls made from January 4th to January 8th, 2021.
TAPPER: So, related to the January 6th insurrection?
PEREZ: This was the January 6th investigation. Now, Jake, we've known that the FBI and that the special counsel, Jack Smith, had obtained some call records of members of Congress as part of this investigation, because we know that because they had fought a battle in court over the limits of the speech or debate clause and whether they can actually access those records that went through the courts for a number of months.
What we know is that the FBI was interested and the investigators were interested to see who was calling the president during that time and whether there was pressure on those people to not certify, and that was part of the investigation. We, of course, read all of that in the indictment, which, of course, ended up being dismissed. And so --
TAPPER: After President Trump won.
PEREZ: Right, after he had won.
TAPPER: Yes.
PEREZ: Exactly. And so what we don't know obviously is more detail about this, whether there's anything, any wrongdoing here, which is what the Republicans are saying there was. They're calling it political weaponization. Kash Patel says that these records were obtained for political purposes. It appears that this is part of the normal investigation that was being done at the time. And, again, it was done with court authorization, so it wasn't just the FBI seizing these records. They got a grand jury subpoena to be able to obtain them.
But we're going to hear more about this, I suspect. They said that they expected the FBI is going to continue investigating this. And, of course, we have the attorney general, Pam Bondi, on Capitol Hill tomorrow where I'm sure this will come up. But, obviously, this has angered Republicans because they believe that this is a sign of the weaponization that was targeted against only Republican lawmakers. But, of course, who else would've been calling Trump January 4th to January 8th, 2021?
TAPPER: Yes. I don't think too many Democrats were pushing for the election to be overturned in 2021.
PEREZ: Correct.
TAPPER: All right. Evan Perez, thanks so much.
The Trump administration has been warning since last week the government shutdown-related layoffs are imminent. An update from the White House on what we should all expect, just ahead.
Plus, a CNN exclusive on how the Trump Justice Department is trying to justify lethal, extrajudicial strikes against people in boats that they allege are members of drug cartels, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: Breaking news in the Politics Lead, just moment ago, a series of U.S. Senate votes aiming to reopen the federal government just failed. The shutdown is now on day six. Party leaders are still continuing to point blame across the aisle as the White House prepares to carry out a wave of what seemed to be retaliatory federal agency firings this week.
CNN's Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins joins us now. Kaitlan, President Trump told reporters today the layoffs could come tomorrow if the government did not reopen. You're also learning more about the negotiations. What can you tell us?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. Well, chief among the Democrats demands here has been to extend those Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire on December 31st at the end of the year, something that the Republicans on Capitol Hill have said is something they could negotiate later if they could just reopen the government now and have a consensus between Democrats and Republicans.
But when we were just called into the Oval Office a short time ago, President Trump said he was open to potentially making a deal depending on what that would look like when it came to those healthcare subsidies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Would you make a deal with them on the ACA subsidies?
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, if we made the right deal, I'd make a deal, sure.
TAPPER: So, you would be willing to --
TRUMP: I mean, you have right now subsidies. You have subsidies. That's the problem with Obamacare. The subsidies are so much, it's billions and billions of dollars that's being wasted. And we can have a much better healthcare than we have right now, and we're talking to them. I mean, I'm not saying that's going to happen because this has also been going on not for 3,000 years, but it's been going on for a long time. But, yes, we're talking to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The 3,000 years there, Jake, was a reference to what's happening in the Middle East and these negotiations between Israel and Hamas that are underway right now that the president had been speaking about.
But in reference to these subsidies, Jake, I mean, it's important that he was saying that he would be potentially willing to make an agreement or make a deal with them and come to an agreement on that. It's not clear exactly what that would look like because Democrats have been pretty clear they simply want to extend them. Republicans so far have not committed to doing that. And what we've heard from John Thune is that they need to reopen the government before they even have those discussions.
The president said he had been negotiating with Democrats. He didn't say which Democrats. But we heard from Chuck Schumer who said, it's not him, Jake.
TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, Trump also gave a curious reaction to the news that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who had been convicted of child sex trafficking.
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COLLINS: Yes. By rejecting her appeal and refusing to even hear that for the chance to overturn her conviction as she has been trying to do, that means, Jake, the only way that she can get out of prison now is a pardon from President Trump. And so I asked him today if that is something that is still on the table in light of that decision by the Supreme Court today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The Supreme Court is back in session.
TRUMP: Yes.
COLLINS: They rejected today an appeal by Ghislaine Maxwell to overturn her conviction. That means her only chance at getting out of prison is a pardon from you. Is that something you're open to doing?
TRUMP: Who are we talking about?
You know, I haven't heard the name in so long. I can say this, that I'd have to take a look at it.
I have a lot of people have asked me for pardons. I called her. Puff Daddy has asked me for a pardon.
COLLINS: But she was convicted of child sex trafficking.
TRUMP: Yes. I mean, I'm going to have to take a look at it. I have to ask DOJ.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: That's a notable answer there from the president, Jake, because obviously he is leaving the door wide open to potentially pardoning Ghislaine Maxwell, though, obviously, he certainly didn't commit to it there. He said he would speak to the Justice Department about potentially doing so.
TAPPER: That's sure bizarre. Kaitlan Collins at the White House for us, thank you so much.
Don't miss Kaitlan on her show later tonight, The Source of Kaitlan Collins, tonight and every weeknight at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
As the Trump administration argues that the U.S. is in an armed conflict with drug cartels, a CNN exclusive outlines how the Justice Department plans to justify authorizing deadly force against the cartels. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: And exclusive for you now in our Law and Justice Lead, after multiple U.S. strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats in the Caribbean, sources tell CNN that the Justice Department has produced a classified legal opinion outlining why the Trump administration believes that the President can do this, can legally justify an open- ended war against a secret list of groups, and then have them killed extrajudicially.
CNN's Zach Cohen helped break the story. And, Zach, you've been hearing from JAGs, Judge Advocates General, other known as military lawyers. What are the JAGs telling you?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Jake. There's certainly some military lawyers inside the Pentagon who, including international law experts who have raised concerns about the legality of these strikes, constructed votes to the Caribbean. We've even heard from multiple who said these strikes don't appear to be legal, and that's obviously the exact opposite conclusion that is described to us in this OLC opinion.
The problem here is that Pentagon lawyers can't overrule the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. That's really the preeminent legal interpretation for the executive branch. And many sources told us that lawyers inside the Pentagon are effectively resigned to put their head down and eat it, one, put it that way, basically saying that they have to go along with it, not to rock the boat, because, ultimately, they know they can't do anything about it.
TAPPER: And this -- correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it also gives the CIA longer leash in dealing with anything going on in Latin America?
COHE: So, this opinion really is the backbone of the administration's broader campaign against these drug cartels, drug groups not just in the Caribbean, but across Latin America and the Western Hemisphere. And this also includes expanded authorities, we're told, for the CIA.
Now, the CIA, like the Pentagon, has been told by the administration that they want them to be more involved in this counter narco mission. That's a top priority for the CIA. And it's something we know they've been reviewing their authorities on how they can be more involved in for the last several months. Around the same time earlier this summer when Trump signed those authorities for the military to conduct lethal strikes, we're told he also expanded the CIA's authority to conduct lethal operations, covert action. So, you not only have the military involved, but also the U.S. intelligence community.
TAPPER: So, Attorney General Bondi is going to testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow. What is Congress' role in all of this? Let me ask it differently. What should be Congress's role in all of this? The current Congress has seemed not really all that willing to do its job. But what should be its role?
COHEN: We've heard from Republicans and Democrats who are very dissatisfied with the explanation that they've gotten from the administration during these closed door briefings about the legal justification for these strikes.
Now, tomorrow will be an opportunity for them to push Pam Bondi, the attorney general, who obviously oversees the Justice Department, which oversees the OLC, push her to explain why they think that these strikes are legally justified. This opinion is classified and Congress is asked to see it multiple times and has not yet had a chance to.
Of course, the irony of all this, Jake, is President Trump ran on a platform effectively of ending wars. This opinion seems to open the door for an open-ended conflict against drug cartels and drug groups of, you know, nondescript kinds.
TAPPER: All right. Zach Cohen, thanks so much, great reporting.
After a late night altercation this weekend, a former NFL quarterback and a current NFL analyst is now facing a felony charge. An attorney's going to weigh in on what Mark Sanchez's defense strategy might be. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: Our Sports Lead now, Fox Sports Analyst and former New York Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez is recovering from several stab wounds, suffered in an altercation Saturday night in Indianapolis, Indiana, but police say that Sanchez is not the victim here. Officials say that the dispute between Sanchez and a 69-year-old truck driver began over a parking space.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN MEARS, MARION COUNTY PROSECUTOR: This was a situation that did not need to occur. The allegations involve a 38-year-old man becoming involved in an altercation with a 69-year-old man who sustained significant and very severe injuries.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in Criminal Defense Attorney Joey Jackson. And, Joey, Sanchez now faces a felony charge, battery involving serious bodily injury, and he could get one to six years in prison if convicted. How do you anticipate Sanchez's attorney is going to handle this given Sanchez told the detective he could barely remember anything that happened?
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. So, a number of ways, Jake, good to be with you. The first thing is what does that mean in terms of the serious physical injury. You might note that originally he was simply charged, that is Mr. Sanchez that we look at there, just with injury itself, which would be a misdemeanor, a misdemeanor punishable by under a year, as you noted at the outset, because that has been now escalated to serious physical injury. It could be up to six years. And that means when you say serious physical injury, it could create the risk, meaning his conduct, not that it did, of death.
And so, yes, there is an indication that his memory may not all be together there. Initial indications also were that, and the complaint notes that he was also allegedly publicly intoxicated and that he allegedly entered into a truck where this other person was. But I think that what will end up happening is that a number of videos will surface. If you look at the criminal complaint, it pretty much references the video, which indicates the interaction between Mr. Sanchez and the 69-year-old male that he engaged with. And I think presented from that video will go a long way in terms of what actually happened.
Now, just very briefly, in any case, there's an initial aggressor. The initial aggressor's the person who ultimately is engaging at the outset, who's causing the fight to occur. Was Mr. Sanchez the initial aggressor? That question will have to be answered. If he was or if it's alleged to be, what precipitated that? Why did he engage? Did he have a basis to do so? Was he defending himself?
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Was he in fear of serious bodily injury himself? All of those things will be acted upon. Was he and did his actions, were they proportionate to any threat posed?
So, there's a lot to unwind here. Obviously, they're investigating. Obviously, there's a complaint which gives a narrative as to what happened. But oftentimes, based on other witnesses and other things that surface, like surveillance video, there will be a narrative that could be bought into and that would ultimately explain why it happened, how it happened, and if indeed he's in fault.
TAPPER: So, Perry Toll, that's the 69-year-old man Sanchez allegedly attacked, Perry Tole filed a lawsuit today against Sanchez and Fox. The lawsuit alleges that Tole suffered permanent disfigurement, loss of function, other physical injuries, accuses Fox of not supervising Sanchez's behavior, that Fox should have known about his, quote, propensity for drinking and/or harmful conduct. Could Fox really be held liable for this?
JACKSON: Well, I don't see this in as much as when you talk about a civil case, right? Obviously, there's a different standard, criminal beyond a reasonable doubt. It goes to liberty. When you talk about civil cases, it's a preponderance. Is it more likely than not? But the critical issue as to whether Fox would be responsible is, was he acting at that time within the scope of his employment and whether or not Fox knew or had reason to know that he had some proclivity towards violence, et cetera. There are indications from teammates that this was out of character, that he had no aggression within him.
And so, wow, did that lawsuit come quick. It just happened yesterday. There's a lot to unravel, but of course when you get into whether or not an employer is responsible, it has a lot to do with whether you were furthering the interest of your employer. He might have been there to give commentary, but was he at that time engaged in his employer's business? I don't know that he was, and so it might be a stretch to know that.
TAPPER: All right. Joey Jackson, thanks so much, I appreciate it.
Resurfaced text messages revealing a disturbing, violent language from a Democratic candidate in Virginia running for attorney general. So, how is he still in the race? We're going to discuss, next.
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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, text messages sent in 2022 are upending Virginia's race for attorney general. Election Day is in just 29 days. Early voting has already started. Plenty of Virginians have already voted. According to screenshots obtained by CNN, Democratic Attorney General Candidate Nominee Jay Jones sent some violent and rather disturbing thoughts about a Republican colleague, Virginia Republican Speaker Todd Gilbert. Those messages read in part, quote, three people, two bullets, Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot, Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler, put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people, you know, and he received both bullets every time.
The delegate who received those texts, a Republican replied, quote, Jay, please stop. The National Review, which was the first to report on the messages, also reports on a phone call with the same delegate in which Jones, quote, suggested that he wished Gilbert's wife would watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views, prompting Coyner, that's the other person, to hang up the phone in disgust.
In a statement to CNN, Jones writes, quote, I take full responsibility for my actions and I want to issue my deepest apology to Speaker Gilbert and his family. Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach, unquote.
Let's bring in CNN's Eva McKend. Eva, pretty horrifying to say nothing of the fact that he's running for attorney general. Am I right that no Democratic officials have called for him to drop out of the race?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: No elected Democrat in Virginia or otherwise that I have spoken to has called for Jones to step aside. Now, to be clear, they are not celebrating the contents of the text messages. They are condemning that. Abigail Spanberger saying she was disgusted, Mark Warner saying that this is not characteristic of the person that he knows, Senator Tim Kaine saying that is indefensible and also not emblematic of the person that he knows in Jay Jones.
I also spoke to a Democratic state senator, Angelia Williams Graves of Norfolk. That is the community where Jay Jones lives. And she told me Republicans get to say whatever they want to say. They get to act like black history doesn't exist. Donald Trump said he could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot anybody and still be elected. But because I stand behind somebody I've known all his life, there's something wrong with that. He's the Democratic nominee. There was a process.
And she went on to tell me she doesn't condone political violence and that she thinks that both sides need to turn down the rhetoric, but she isn't ready to abandon Jay Jones. They're scolding, not abandoning.
TAPPER: Eva McKend, stay right there. Let's bring in the panel on this.
So, Axios is reporting that the Republican candidate for Attorney General is spending $1.5 million on this T.V. ad that's going to start running today. Here's a part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jay Jones sent texts that imagine shooting the Republican Speaker of the House. Jay Jones with the the speaker's wife could watch her own child die in her arms. It's so disgusting. It's hard to believe, but it's true.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, I don't know how much it matters. These texts were obviously sent in 2022, long before Charlie Kirk was murdered, but we are in this era of people being aware and horrified by political violence. Do you think he should drop out?
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, sure. I mean, I, look I don't have a dog in this fight. I seems to be you can make the case, it's unfair to him, right, that these are private texts, that they were totally inappropriate and gross and all that kind of stuff, but what does fairness have to do with it as far as I'm concerned? Like at the very least, I don't see there's anything wrong with Democrats calling for him to drop out, to sort of distance themselves from him. And I have no problem with people pointing out the hypocrisy of the crazy things that Republicans say all the time on Twitter. I mean, Twitter's full of posts that are the equivalent of these texts.
TAPPER: Yes.
GOLDBERG: But, you know, there are supposed to be consequences for a public official. And the fact that this guy kind of seemed more obsessed than just like running off his mouth on text with the calls and sort of doubling and tripling down on it, I see no reason not to throw him under the bus, you know, in a sort of a sister soldier kind of way.
TAPPER: President Trump weighed in, not surprisingly. He posted, quote, Abigail Spanberger, who is running for governor, that's the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, is weak and ineffective and refuses to acknowledge what this lunatic has done.
[18:45:01]
Even Democrats are saying it is resignation from campaign territory. Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the race immediately.
Now, it's not true that Spanberger hasn't acknowledged what this. She has condemned it.
ADRIENNE ELROD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yeah.
TAPPER: She said she was disgusted by it, but she didn't call for him to drop out. What do you -- what do you make of the fact that no Democrats have called for him to drop out?
ELROD: Well, I think, I -- frankly, Jake, I'm a little surprised more Democrats have not called on him to drop out. Maybe they're waiting to see what more comes out or what more he has to say. Since this just happened a couple of days ago.
But look, I think what you just highlighted here is the big story, which is Donald Trump is going to in the MAGA, Republicans are going to do everything they can to try to tie every single candidate, not only Democratic candidates in Virginia, but Democratic candidates in New Jersey. Anyone else who's on the ballot, they will try to tie those candidates to this individual.
They did it very effectively in 2024. And mark my words, next time in 2026, during the election in 2026, the midterms, they will find some random comment that somebody says maybe its somebody running for city council in America that has something to do with supporting transgender, or maybe said something just as horrible and divisive as this, and they will try to tie all the Democrats to that. Which is why it's so critically important that Democrats fight back and that we make it clear that we, number one, don't support these words or this rhetoric.
Number two, that we don't support violence in campaigns. And number three, you know, that we don't let the MAGA extremists take over, you know, tie all the Democrats to this kind of divisive rhetoric because we've seen it happen before. They're going to try to do it again.
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But we're living in a moment where, like the Trump administration is saying, Democrats are, I think, totally responsible, saying Democrats are a domestic terrorist network and that they want to --
TAPPER: Yeah, Stephen Miller said that.
GOLDBERG: Yeah, they want all these people dead and all that kind of stuff. And this is manna from heaven --
TAPPER: Right.
GOLDBERG: -- for Republicans to say, you thought we were making it up. This is what this guy says in private. And if that's the case, like, I see no reason why the Democrats shouldn't just, you know, cauterize the wound as best they can.
TAPPER: Well, Eva, you've been talking to Democrats, and you say that they're like, why do we have to be the only ones who have anything to ever apologize for?
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: I can't say I'm surprised by the response. Frankly, I think this is a time where Democrats are really angry. You drive across Northern Virginia and you see signs outside of churches that say, love your neighbor, don't kidnap them.
I mean, all of the momentum and the energy is on the Democratic side, and they feel as though they have to fight back. I think the conditions that President Trump has created in his own rhetoric and some -- some of the -- some of the policy decisions that we have seen over the past several months have only intensified the pushback.
And so there doesn't seem to be a desire to abandon jones, even if there is deep disagreement with the rhetoric.
TAPPER: I want to turn to another big mayor's race, another big race, the mayor's race in New York.
Today, former governor, disgraced governor resigned. Andrew Cuomo was on "The View". He was asked why he's losing to the Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani.
Here's part of what he had to say to our own Alyssa Farah Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREW CUOMO (I), NEW YORK MAYOR CANDIDATE: What's really happening is there's a civil war within the Democratic Party going on, and the Democratic Party is looking for its identity. And there are two factions. You have the Democratic socialists, and then you have the Democrats. Right?
I'm a Democrat. My father was a Democrat. I worked for Bill Clinton. He is a democratic socialist. He is not a Democrat.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Mamdani is a Democratic socialist, but I'm not sure that he's diagnosing the problem with his campaign correctly. What do you think?
ELROD: That is correct. I mean, first of all, I'm not sure that we should really be taking a lot -- we Democrats should be taking a lot of advice from Andrew Cuomo for a litany of reasons. But I think maybe, Jake, what he's trying to say is there is a progressive wing of the party that is becoming, you know, larger and louder. I mean, you cover the 2016 campaign. You were there.
There was a time when I was on Hillary's campaign where we thought maybe Bernie Sanders would win the primary. We saw this again in 2020, when Jim Clyburn endorsed Joe Biden, and all the moderates sort of coalesced around him and dropped out of the race.
But there is an insurgent part of our party that is embracing, you know, sort of pragmatic progressivism for lack of a better term. And I think that we have got to figure out if we want to be the, quote/unquote, establishment wing of the Democratic Party. We got to figure out how to pull those people in or, you know, they're going to continue to win some of these seats.
But I do think the New York mayor's race is a little bit different. You can't really cast that as, you know, what's happening across the country, as ranked choice elections. You know, obviously, as you mentioned, a disgraced former governor who's running not exactly the person I would put up if I was trying to sort of run the moderate establishment Democrat in that race.
TAPPER: What do you what do you think of Governor Cuomo's explanation as to why he's trailing?
GOLDBERG: Well, I think it's punditry. It wasn't bad. There is a civil war in the Democratic Party between the sort of the serious left and the sort of Democratic socialist crowd and the sort of more mainstream Democrats.
The problem is, is that it has nothing to do with his problems. His problems are that he's a craptacular candidate who's got --
TAPPER: Craptacular?
GOLDBERG: Craptacular. It's a technical word from political science. And he's got an enormous amount of baggage, and he's not -- he's a drag to listen to.
[18:50:01]
He's not telegenic. He doesn't get the sort of modern communication stuff. And Mamdani does.
TAPPER: So you -- so you like Cuomo is what you're saying?
GOLDBERG: Yeah, I'm all in for Cuomo.
TAPPER: All right. Thanks one and all for being here. I really appreciate it.
When legendary actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with dementia in 2022, his wife Emma says she was left with zero roadmap for how to navigate her new life as a caregiver.
So, you know what she did? She wrote a roadmap. She joins me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our pop culture lead today, Emma Heming Willis seemed to have it all -- a loving marriage to a Hollywood superstar Bruce Willis, amazing daughters, a supportive, blended family with stepdaughters. But then everything crumbled when she walked out of a doctor's office with her husband, Bruce, who was diagnosed with FTD, known as frontotemporal dementia.
Her book is "The Unexpected Jurney". Its not only a book of amazing and moving reflections of her life with Bruce, but it's also something of a practical guide of how to become a vital caregiver.
[18:55:10]
And Emma joins us.
And I should note, Emma, that I did an early review and blurb of your book, and you know that my family has a connection to this horrible disease. I was so impressed with your honesty, your candor. You described this as the book that you wish a doctor had handed you, along with Bruce's devastating diagnosis.
Tell us, first of all, how you define caregiving.
EMMA HEMING WILLIS, WIFE OF BRUCE WILLIS: Oh, gosh. I mean, I think it's just showing up 24/7, you know, being present. Caregivers are so unseen. They're so unsupported. And, you know, when I left that doctor's office with Bruce's diagnosis, I mean, we left with nothing, with no support, no hope, no roadmap.
So, I did write the book that I wish someone would have placed in my hands the day that we got our diagnosis. TAPPER: Yeah, it must feel somewhat satisfying amidst this horror that
you have now provided that for people. Maybe?
WILLIS: Yeah. I mean, I -- what I realized is that when we were sent on our way with little to no information, you know, I had to dive into the World Wide Web to sort of figure out really, what is FTD? What does that look like?
So, what I started to do over time was surround our family with experts and specialists that I was able to bring into this book, because what I know is that caregivers don't have the time to try and find this information. Sometimes the access or resources or energy.
TAPPER: And people don't know that this is a relatively unknown disease. "60 Minutes" did a piece on it just a couple of years ago. Or maybe -- maybe four years ago now. I'm thinking about when we were looking for answers. When my father-in-law was diagnosed and we -- you know, watching that old "60 Minutes" episode, which was just a year or two old at the time, it was, you know, a newly discussed problem.
Before the diagnosis. You described Bruce as off. What are signs that our viewers might need to pay attention to if they suspect their loved one has some sort of dementia?
WILLIS: For Bruce, how it started showing up is that his stutter started to reappear again, and never in my wildest dreams would I think that was a symptom of a young onset Alzheimer's. But for others if you are noticing your person acting uncharacteristic for themselves, you know, if they're just behavior is completely off you know, that could be a sign that that you should probably seek medical attention, see a doctor.
The issue is that people are being diagnosed so late or they're being misdiagnosed with bipolar. It could be depression, midlife crisis. And what we would love to see is people being diagnosed sooner so that they can get into the trials that exist, and so that families can be supported earlier.
We have two young children, and this was a really hard, you know, unfathomable decision. But it was the right one. And, you know, now our daughter is in a home that supports their needs 100 percent. And Bruce is in our second house that supports his needs.
And I knew by sharing this information that it would be a hot topic, but I thought that it was important to talk about because, you know, there might come a point in someone's diagnosis or as a caregiver where you have to make this hard decision, maybe to place your loved one into a care facility.
TAPPER: Yeah.
WILLIS: And I just wanted someone else to feel seen. And validated that this is also happening elsewhere.
TAPPER: Emma, before you go, how are you and how is Bruce? WILLIS: I'm doing pretty well, all things, considering. I feel like
I've come sort of a long way in this process, but being able to now connect with other caregivers has been really sort of important for my healing. I think that Bruce is doing as well as he can with a really unkind disease.
TAPPER: And God bless you, Emma. I think your book is so important, so powerful. People will learn and get comfort from what you've done. I've told you this privately. I'll say it publicly. I really admire what you're doing so much.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
WILLIS: Jake, thank you so much for having me.
TAPPER: You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN.
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