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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Prosecutors Resign; Trump's Second Term; Courts And Sports; Synagogue Arson. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired January 13, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:15]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate all of you being here. Thanks to all of you at home as well. Jake Tapper is standing by for THE LEAD. Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. Petulla was fired, I don't know if you knew that.

HUNT: Hey.

TAPPER: All right.

HUNT: Go Birds.

TAPPER: All right, Go Birds. We'll see you more tomorrow in THE ARENA.

Resignations at the US Attorney's Office in Minnesota over how the Justice Department is handling the investigation into that ICE shooting in Minneapolis. THE LEAD starts now.

A protest from prosecutors, at least six prosecutors stepping down from the US Attorney's Office in Minnesota after last week's deadly shooting of a woman by an ICE agent were live on the ground. Plus, a moment seemingly to vent for President Trump.

DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Isn't it nice to have a president that can go off teleprompter?

TAPPER: Hear what the President chose to bring up when he did go off script, which was quite a bit. And CNN on the scene in Mississippi where that anti-Semitic arsonist allegedly set fire to the state's largest synagogue, see up close from the temple's rabbi about just how much was lost.

Welcome to THE LEAD, I'm Jake Tapper. We started our National Lead today. At least six top prosecutors in Minnesota are resigning in protest of how the Trump administration is handling last week's ICE involved shooting in which an ICE agent killed 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good. This includes Joe Thompson who served as acting US attorney in Minnesota.

A source says this follows days of pressure to focus the DOJ investigation not on the actions of the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good, but to focus the investigation on Good and others around her. The New York Times reporting this includes Good's widow and indeed Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche today released a statement saying that the Justice Department does not believe there's evidence to back a criminal investigation into the ICE officer.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called the resignations a huge loss, writing on X, "It's also the latest sign that Trump is pushing non partisan career professionals out of the Justice Department, replacing them with his sycophants." Thompson, by the way, the acting US attorney previously led the office's effort to tackle social services fraud in this state. That's an issue that's high on the Trump administration's priority list. We're alerting other resignations are also possible as prosecutors weigh how to respond to this pressure from their superiors in Washington, DC.

At the same time, protests in Minneapolis continue to escalate. Today, law enforcement agents fired pepper balls as crowds blew whistles and shouted "ICE out now." CNN crews on the scene say agents surged into the area with at least 15 different large SUVs. As agents returned to their vehicles, flashbangs were also fired at the crowd of protesters. Some protesters seen throwing snowballs at agents. This is, of course, Minnesota in January.

Around 1,000 more US Customs and Border Protection agents are expected to deploy to Minneapolis. That's on top of 2,000 federal agents deployed to the area already. In a long Truth Social post earlier today, President Trump defended ICE agents writing, "Fear not, great people of Minnesota, the day of reckoning and retribution is coming."

Let's go right to CNN's Ryan Young who's on the ground in Minneapolis. And, Ryan, you and your crew were caught in the middle of some of the unrest this afternoon. Tell us about it.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We were caught right in the middle of that, Jake. But right before I tell you about that, I want to show you this scene right here. This is the people who are left outside the federal building.

These folks are still angry and energized. They've been yelling at the federal cars that go by. They've been trying to take video of the people inside those cars.

But let us show you this video from earlier today. This is what we saw. We saw the whistles. We heard people screaming when we ran that direction. We saw this ICE action happening. We saw flashbangs. And they used irritant to try to disperse this crowd. It happened so suddenly, hundreds of agents in this crowd trying to wrestle certain people out of their cars.

At some point, we saw at least three people being detained. But at the same time, these federal agents were spraying themselves with that irritant. So we saw several agents getting sprayed with that irritant, trying to react to it as these protesters, some using their bodies to try to stop them from making the arrest.

You're talking about the snowballs. They definitely used that to try to stop them. And there were people who physically tried to jump on some of the cars that the agents were using to try to get away from that neighborhood. After that, though, this area that was near where that shooting happened with Renee Good, it went back to being peaceful, but it was energized with more people coming and surging into the neighborhood.

[17:05:07]

This is, though, the federal building where a lot of people feel those agents are. You can see them standing, some in the street, some trying to block traffic. And when they do see people they believe ICE agents, they sometimes physically try to step into the street to stop them as well.

But today's action, I can tell you, Jake, was the most energized and physically aggressive that we've seen from both sides. With the hundreds of agents surging into neighborhoods neighborhood today, people running in the alleys to try to get away from the situation. So many questions about what happens next. Let's not forget more federal agents in the area now than police officers on the street.

TAPPER: All right. Ryan Young, thanks so much. Let's discuss all of this with CNN's Priscilla Alvarez who covers immigration issues expertly for us and CNN senior legal analyst Elie Hoenig. Elie, let me start with you.

At least six top prosecutors resigning in Minnesota. The New York Times reports it's because they felt they were pressured to investigate the widow of Renee Nicole Good, the woman that was shot and killed by the ICE officer last week. What's your take on that?

ELIE HOENIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Jake, if that proves out, it's an utter outrage, if the Department of Justice has chosen to focus their investigation not on the actions of the officer, not on the actions of Renee Good at the scene of the fatal shooting, but rather on the widow of the deceased, that is indefensible. First of all, whatever the widow of Renee Good may have done, what her associations may have been is completely and totally irrelevant to the question of whether this was a justified legal self defense shooting by the ICE officer.

Second of all, prosecutors get leads on cases from all different places. Sometimes a cooperator or an informant will give you leads. Sometimes you'll read a story in the newspaper. But to get a lead based on a person who was fatally shot and say, now let's look at that person's widow to see if they broke the law, it's utterly indefensible. And I think it lends context to why these prosecutors chose to resign.

TAPPER: Well, the White House press secretary referred to the deceased, Rene Good as a, quote, deranged lunatic. So it's not as though empathy is in excess supply over at the White House. Priscilla, what do you know about what's happening behind the scenes at the Department of Homeland Security?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Jake, look, there's mixed emotions at the Department of Homeland Security among these agents. Some are frustrated with this operation, with this mission, others support it. And I'm talking here about the 3,000 now agents who have deployed to Minneapolis from all over the country.

The two agencies that I'm talking about here, Immigration and Customs Enforcement involved in that shooting last week, and US Customs and Border Protection. Now, I am told that they are doing targeted operations in Minneapolis, meaning that they know who they're going after. But these are two agencies who have had simmering feuds and tensions over the years.

And if people are noticing that there's different tactics on the ground in Minneapolis, the reason is because each of these agencies tend to take a different approach in how they do immigration enforcement, for example, CBP, typically on the US-Mexico border. So it creates this confusing situation and can lend itself to those feuds reigniting in this city at a time when there are thousands officers there.

But I do want to note, Jake, we should take a step back here, because what is remarkable, what was happening in Minneapolis and Minnesota is that, this is the President's immigration vision centering in one place. Take it in totality. You have stripping federal funds or the threat to do that, the threat to denaturalize the Somali nationals that are in Minnesota, flooding the zone with agents, sending more prosecutors to prosecute those US citizens who are impeding on law enforcement.

If you look at everything that the administration is doing, this is the playbook that they have wanted since the early days and that they are now doing in Minneapolis and what they want to continue doing in other blue cities.

TAPPER: Elie, this is the latest instance of the Justice Department and the FBI continuing to hemorrhage experienced veterans and career prosecutors because of the way they are doing business. We remember when there were those mass resignations after that deal, that sketchy deal with Mayor Eric Adams was struck. All those prosecutors in New York just resigned because they didn't like what was being done.

What does this mass resignation, these six prosecutors in Minnesota, what does that say to you?

HOENIG: Well, Jake, just for perspective, the entire US Attorney's Office for the district of Minnesota has about 70 prosecutors. So when the number two person and six total prosecutors resign, that's 10 percent of that office leaving in protest in one fell swoop. And broader perspective here, if you think of the loss of talent and experience that's happened at DOJ, people who've been fired or pushed out over the last year.

You mentioned the Eric Adams case, several experienced prosecutors left. Then prosecutors were forced out over their refusal to indict Jim Comey and Letitia James in the Eastern District of Virginia. You had prosecutors -- anyone who touched the Jack Smith prosecution was fired. Anyone, FBI agent or US attorney who worked on a January 6 prosecution has been pushed out. So we're talking about dozens upon dozens of prosecutors, hundreds of experienced FBI agents.

[17:10:06]

And DOJ is no different than any other organization. Whether you're talking about a law firm, a bank, a media organization, a football team, if you lose that much talent all at once, it's going to show in the actual performance of that organization.

TAPPER: Yes. And that organization is staffed and tasked with keeping the American people safe. Priscilla Alvarez, Elie Hoenig, thanks to both of you.

More fallout from Minneapolis up next, what influential podcaster Joe Rogan just said about Trump's immigration crackdown and the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good. Remarkable comments from someone who endorsed President Trump. And the cases before the US Supreme Court today that could force state laws to change for transgender athletes playing in sports, depending on how the court ultimately comes down. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with breaking news in our National Lead. At least six federal prosecutors are resigning in protest over the Justice Department's handling of the ICE shooting death of a 37-year- old woman in Minneapolis, Renee Good. Joining us now to discuss Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas. And Senator, we have a lot to talk to you about the economy and we know that you also have news to share when it comes to credit card fees and I'll get to that in a second.

[17:15:10

But first, I do want to ask you about the Trump's Trump administration's immigration crackdown, because earlier today, influential podcaster Joe Rogan, who voted for Trump supports, Trump in general. Today, he broke with the administration over some of these ICE raids. Let me play just a bit of what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE ROGAN, PODCAST HOST: You don't want militarized people in the streets just roaming around, snatching people up, many of which turn out to actually be US citizens that just don't have their papers on them. Are we really going to be the Gestapo, where's your papers? Is that what we've come to?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The reason I ask is because recent polling indicates that a lot of people share Joe Rogan's take on this and do not support what they're seeing from the administration's immigration crackdown. What do you -- what's your reaction?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): Well, Jake, I think the President's number one thing he ran on was to secure the border and to make your family safe and secure. Now, I don't know every detail of every ICE agent, but what Secretary Noem tells me is that their focus is on violent criminal aliens.

Look, there's 300,000 to 400,000 violent criminal aliens that are still in this country. I think that's their focus. Sometimes there's collateral damage, but we certainly want our families to be safe and secure. I wake up every day as a father, a grandfather, and now a US senator and ask, is my family safe? Is your family safe today? So that's what I'll keep encouraging ICE to do.

TAPPER: Did you just suggest that Renee Good is collateral damage?

MARSHALL: No, of course not. You know, it's very much a tragedy, Jake, but we could be just as easily talking about the death of ICE agents. You know, a third of all law enforcement officers that are killed in the line of duty is because of vehicular homicide. So I think that case needs to go through the Justice Department.

But what I'm saying is when people are being arrested, when they're after that violent criminal alien, that sometimes there is other people out there maybe, all they had is just their papers on them.

TAPPER: Well, we're hearing from a lot of people in Minnesota who don't feel safe, US citizens walking down the street who don't feel safe, who feel as though I don't know how to put this in a nicer way, but who feel as though they're being occupied by the government and just -- they can't even just like walk down the street.

MARSHALL: Yes. You know, I come from a law enforcement family. I would ask those people to respect law enforcement and they'll be just fine. That they should stay, you know, they should not interfere with law enforcement and they're going to be just fine.

TAPPER: On the economy earlier today, President Trump addressed the Detroit Economic Club. Here's part of what he had to say on tariffs specifically.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Every prediction the critics made about our tariff policy has failed to materialize. The evidence shows overwhelmingly that the tariffs are not paid by American consumers, that they're paid by foreign nations and middlemen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, I don't know how accurate that is, those tariffs are being paid for by American companies and American consumers. In October, Moody's analytics said that your home state of Kansas was on the verge of recession in large part due to tariffs and the impact on your state's farming industry. It's a sentiment echoed by the Kansas Farmers Union. What is the reality of the impact tariffs have had on farmers and others in Kansas?

MARSHALL: Well, look, what I can tell you is that we have increased trade numbers in corn of some 10 percent, soybeans is up 5 percent, wheat is up as well, sorghum not doing as well. And by the way, the President just gave the farmers another $12 billion in total. The President has given the farmers $40 billion taken, I assume, what I would consider some of that tariff money to make the farmers whole.

Look, China never buys more than $20 billion worth of goods as well. American farmer makes money is when we make a value added product like ethanol, when we turn corn into beef or soybeans into pork, that's when the American farmer makes money right now. It's not the President's fault that Brazil is now competing with us and actually beating us in some of these grain prices.

TAPPER: The President has floated the idea of capping credit card interest rates at 10 percent. He also mentioned you specifically in a social media post earlier today endorsing legislation that you've introduced, the Credit Card Competition Act. Tell us about that.

MARSHALL: Well, our Credit Card Bill, our Credit Card Competition Bill will lower the price of gas and groceries by 1 or 2 percent. And then capping interest rates at 10 percent would save American families another $150 a month. Look, Americans pay seven times more each time you use that credit card than our friends in the European Union. That's because two credit card companies, five or six banks, control about 80 percent of the market, and because that they have -- they're basically loan sharks.

They're predatory loan practices charging 30 percent interest and again, our swipe fee seven times what they're paying in the European Union.

TAPPER: All right. Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas with brand new legislation having to do with capping credit card interest rates. Thank you so much, sir. Appreciate your time.

[17:20:10]

MARSHALL: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up, the arguments before the US Supreme Court that challenged state bans on transgender athletes from participating with girls and women in sports. One attorney general with one of those bans will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, conservative US Supreme Court justices today seem to be signaling support for pre-existing state transgender athlete bans during arguments today in two major cases. One of the cases involves a West Virginia high school sophomore, Becky Pepper-Jackson, who throws shot put and discus for her school's track and field team.

[17:25:05]

Her family sued in 2021 when the state of West Virginia ban, prevented her from joining her middle school cross country team.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BECKY PEPPER-JACKSON, PLAINTIFF: It really gets me down because I have been told and I have done research on it and I've been told by all my doctors that I don't have this advantage, but people want to say that I do.

HEATHER JACKSON, BECKY'S MOTHER: She said she is who she is and that has been from the start.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, the justices earlier today pressed hard on the definition of sex and the definition of gender regarding Title IX, Title IX ban schools that receive federal funding from discriminating on the basis of sex. Here with us now is West Virginia's Attorney General John McCuskey. So attorney general, court watchers seem to think that the court is on your side, that they're going to rule in favor of these state bans on transgender athletes. Is that how you interpreted arguments today?

JOHN MCCUSKEY, WEST VIRGINIA'S ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes. And I think it's important to note that it's only banning transgender athletes from playing on the girls team, right? So it isn't a ban in totality on playing sports. It's a ban on playing sports on a team with people who don't have the same gender or sex characteristics that you do.

But yes, the justices today, and if you got to watch it, our solicitor Michael Williams delivered a master class in constitutional litigation. I mean, he was just remarkable. And the justices were really, really buying into our arguments about fairness and safety.

TAPPER: So the attorney for Becky Pepper-Jackson, who we just saw, Joshua Block, he's going to be on the show in the next hour. He pointed out in court today that Becky Pepper-Jackson transitioned in the third grade, never went through male puberty. And here's a little bit of what he had to say to Justice Amy Coney Barrett. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

JOSHUA BLOCK, ACLU SENIOR COUNSEL: I just want to be clear about what we think the justification for the separate teams is. We don't think the boys team is for better athletes and you have a backup team for athletes that aren't as good. The whole point is to allow female athletes to have all the same opportunities as men by controlling for the sex-based differential that comes through puberty.

And so, that's why I don't think that the claim is the same there. I think that's what's happened here is by virtue of her medical care, BPJ has already effectively controlled for those sex-based advantages. And so, she is completely in the position that she would have been if her birth assigned sex had been female.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: BPJ, obviously, is Becky Pepper-Jackson. When you look at Becky Pepper-Jackson, who did not go through puberty, male puberty, she looks like a girl, she seems like a girl, is there any nuance or ambiguity in this in the sense that when it comes to the fairness issue, it's different if somebody's transitioned before puberty than if they transition after puberty.

MCCUSKEY: So you're making a really good point. And so, one of the really interesting things that happened at the court today is that, the ACLU's arguments really threw out an entire category of transgendered athletes. Anybody who was -- who either started transitioning later in life or hasn't transitioned at all isn't covered by their arguments. So their only real argument is that there should be a special segment specifically for very young children who have started -- or whose parents have given them puberty blockers or surgeries to change their sex.

And so, you know, you get to this point, and it's like, at what age is it appropriate for this to be happening at all? But they are trying to say that, number one, the definition of sex isn't found in Title IX, which it is. It's the common definition of sex as it was found in 1972 when Title IX was enacted. But two, they're also trying to say that there is no way to create a rational law for a state because there are so many other delineating factors, and they created a group of people that is so small that it's very difficult for any state to ever pass a law in the realm of delineating between the sexes.

TAPPER: All right. We should note, 26 other states have laws that restrict transgender athletes for participating in sports, although that number is a very small percentage of the population. West Virginia, 3.5 percent of those 13 to 17, and less than a percent of adults identify as transgender. Just some statistics there.

MCCUSKEY: Yes, which also sort of makes our point, right? And so,--

TAPPER: One of the questions I would have, though, is, did West Virginia really need to have a law if there's only one girl that this impacts?

MCCUSKEY: Yes, and that's not really a relevant question, because the legislatures of our country are allowed to pass any law that they want, and they're allowed to challenge it. And in this instance, our legislature believes that they're legislating a safety and a fairness issue for women in sports. And the court's going to come back and say that they're allowed to do that, and other states can be allowed to do that, too.

TAPPER: West Virginia Attorney General John McCuskey, thanks so much for being here.

MCCUSKEY: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Really appreciate it. It had some startling new totals on the number of protesters killed in Iran, plus a brand new message from President Trump today as he urges demonstrators in Iran to keep going.

[17:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: We have just learned more than 2,400 people, at least 2,400 people, demonstrators have been killed since these nationwide protests engulfed Iran two weeks ago. That's according to the Human Rights Activists news agency. In a Truth Social post earlier today, President Trump told the Iranian people to keep protesting. He said, help is on its way. He expanded on that moments ago in an interview with CBS News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We will take very strong action.

TONY DOKOUPIL, CBS NEWS ANCHOR: And this strong action you're talking about, what's the end game?

TRUMP: The end game is to win. I like winning.

DOKOUPIL: How do you define that in Iran?

[17:35:03]

TRUMP: Well, let's define it in Venezuela. Let's define it without Baghdadi, he was wiped out. Let's define it with Soleimani. And let's define it in Iran where he wiped out their Iran nuclear threat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Didn't really answer the question there. Let's discuss with the former Chicago Mayor, White House Chief of Staff during the Obama administration, Congressman, et cetera, et cetera. He's also a CNN senior political and global affairs commentator Rahm Emanuel.

Rahm, what do you see as the potential ramifications of the US getting directly involved in Iran? Is that something you want to see happen and what would it look like?

RAHM EMANUEL, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: Look, I mean there's a lot of options, Jake, that are there are kinetic options, cyber type of options. You have a major gulf between civil society, the economy and the government. It's lost its legitimacy and it doesn't have to be kinetic. They have been a trouble for the United States vis-a-vis what they've done in Syria, what they've done in Lebanon with Hezbollah, what they're doing in southern part of the suburbs of Baghdad and parts of Iraq and also in Yemen.

So they have been a major problem in the sense of this Shiite crescent in the north. It's obviously not what it was before. They're in a situation where they've chosen bomb and going broke. And it's very clear the society said that's not the road we want to stay on because all the pursuit to the bomb has led to us being broke.

And I think what's also missed, if I can make one point between Venezuela and Iran that I think is very valuable to get to this point, our economic statecraft of sanctions have worked. Both countries, Maduro lost an election by 70 percent. Here there's a major gulf between the civil society and the government. The reason they have been brought to this point is because our economic sanctions have worked and they worked with our allies, working with them on both countries, weakening them.

That before you got to a kinetic effort, a military effort, our economic sanctions have been an important tool, which is why you want to keep your allies close to you because they become it doubles up the effort we have.

TAPPER: So you -- it's no secret that you're thinking about possibly running for president in 2028. I want to read something you told Axios about the Democratic Party. "there's two wings in our party right now and I hope to dominate one of them. There's a resistance wing dominated by California Governor Kevin Newsom and there's a renewal wing that will be as forceful in fighting for America as the other wing is in fighting Trump."

How do you go about doing that? And why do you think voters would option for this renewal wing? Do you think you're the only one in that lane?

EMANUEL: No. So one is, look, I understand resisting the President at all effort and especially if you're a governor of a blue state where he's doing things like he's doing in Minnesota, what he did in Los Angeles, what he's done in my hometown in Chicago. This is all has nothing to do with public safety, has nothing to do with immigration enforcement. It's about division. And also it leads to horrible situations like what happened in Minneapolis.

But there is a resistance and to me, there's also skating to where the puck will be, which is in 2028, this election will be about fighting for America as much as about fighting against Trump. And look, I just came back from Mississippi to see their incredible gains on education. We have 50 percent of our kids can't read at grade level and do math. We're competing with one hand tied behind our back.

Mississippi and Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, who have copied the Mississippi Miracle, are seeing similar gains in reading. If you want to get from here to there, Jake, you're going to need an education system that prepares kids for the future. And I think that's an important thing that we're going to show Americans from fighting for the American dream, fighting for their kids' education and investing in America is going to be our top priority.

TAPPER: You were White House chief of staff when Obamacare passed. And I just wanted to ask you, because the Obamacare subsidies have now lapsed and Republicans are making the argument that Obamacare is responsible for all these insurance premiums going up. Regardless of whether or not you think they're right, what needs to change?

EMANUEL: I don't.

TAPPER: OK, I anticipated that. What needs to change in terms of health care in this country so that premiums are not making health care unaffordable for the average American?

EMANUEL: Well, first of all, many people, millions of people have gotten covered through the ACA. We just got reports on the first day indication because the Republicans let the premium support for middle class families end, 1.4 million families less have enrolled in the system. That means a family doesn't know whether they're going to be one sickness away from Chapter 11 in bankruptcy. That's crazy in this country.

So you have two goals, coverage and cost containment. And the ACA did a great job on expanding the coverage and also in controlling costs in the early years. You have to have a full-throttled effort to get those costs under control.

[17:40:06]

They're not driven by the ACA, they're driven by insurance companies who are trading inside. They're driven by hospitals and type of cover. They're driven by the fact that we don't deal with the most important things, which is preventive illnesses, the six illnesses from heart weight and blood pressure, and other -- and smoking, other types of things that you can from behavioral change actually reduce health care costs. That's what should be driving this.

TAPPER: All right. Rahm Emanuel, always good to have you on. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

EMANUEL: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, a bit of what we heard from President Trump when he went off script during his economic speech earlier today, which he did quite a bit. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:07]

TAPPER: We're back with the Politics Lead. President Trump's speech earlier today in Detroit, it was supposed to focus on the economy. It clearly took some turns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Remember the speeches Joe would make? First of all, they'd last a matter of seconds, you know, thank you very much. You ever noticed Joe would always cough before a speech. State of the Union he gets, argh-argh. The one time they had him spruced up pretty good. You remember who Isaac Kite (ph)?

Panama Canal was the single biggest investment, relatively speaking, that this country's ever made. And Jimmy Carter gave it away for $1. Brilliantly Jimmy Carter thought the country of Panama should have it, even though we lost 36,000 people to the mosquito, you know that right? To the mosquito and a certain snake, which was not a very nice reptile.

This was a brutal reptile. You got bit, it was over. I was just saying bye-bye everybody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: OK. So my panel joins me now, Bryan Lanza. We did run another clip earlier in the show of Donald Trump on message-ish talking about tariffs. He also spent a lot of time today talking about Jerome Powell. But not really on message, the whole speech, it's fair to say, I think.

BRYAN LANZA, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Listen, it's an educational hour. I learned that there's very dangerous snakes in Panama, you know. But, listen, I've always said, you know, Trump is best when he's talking about what he knows best and that's the economy. And anytime we spend 30 seconds, 5 seconds, not talking about that is a disservice to him, to his team and what he could be doing to helping Republicans in November.

TAPPER: And, Adrienne, as I said, he talked a lot about Jerome Powell and we just learned on Sunday that there's this Justice Department investigation into him that a lot of Republicans have a lot of concerns about. Take a listen to some of his comments on Powell earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Yes. I think it's fine what I'm doing. We have a bad Fed person. He was extended by Biden. And yes, I think it's wrong. I think it's wrong. He's done a bad job, we should have lower rates.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So that's obviously on the way out of Detroit, I believe, but a lot of attacking Powell today.

ADRIENNE ELROD, SENIOR SPOKESWOMAN, HARRIS-WALZ 2024 CAMPAIGN: Yes. I mean, look, a couple of things. Number one, we know that his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has some concerns about this that's been reported, that he -- and he is worried that this is going to hinder the economy or hinder the markets. He's right about that. Secondly, I think we also have to keep in mind the fact that the Justice Department is supposed to be an independent entity.

And I think sometimes because we're so used to using the Justice Department under Trump. Trump seeing him use it as his own, you know, legal vehicle to seek retribution on his political enemies. I mean, the fact that he's essentially telling the Justice Department to do this and they are carrying out his wishes because he's mad at Jerome Powell for a litany of reasons, I mean, that is a huge concern.

So we'll see how this plays out. But you're seeing a lot of Republicans, Jake, as you know, who don't normally speak out against Trump, speak out about this and say that they're not going along with this.

TAPPER: That's true. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I know Chairman Powell very well. I will be stunned. I will be shocked if he has done anything wrong.

SEN. KEVIN CRAMER (R-ND): If we were to do an indictment on everybody that misled Congress in a hearing, we'd have to build a couple new federal penitentiaries.

SEN. STEVE DAINES (R-MT): I support the independence of the Feds, and I hope that this investigation wraps up very, very quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the White House is trying to stop the independence of the Fed?

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): Somebody at DOJ, I mean, the President said he wasn't in the mix. Another example of amateur hour as far as I'm concerned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you think that the Trump administration ultimately will regret this investigation?

LANZA: Probably only because, again, it's going to suck up a lot of oxygen. But I think what they walk away from that is, you know, DC sees this attack on Powell, Wall Street sees this attack on Powell, but the American people see as somebody who's an impediment to lower interest rates, which means less money in their pocket. So I think at the end of the day, what we've seen in polling -- we've seen in focus groups is that, the very much the electorate likes Trump fighting, you know, for lower rates, they like that he's fighting Powell, his own appointee.

And so, I think that's the narrative that the administration is comfortable, is showing that President Trump is fighting to keep prices lower. And, and here's the thing, when we do have a new Fed chairman, it's going to be a Trump appointee, Trump confirmed one. He has the ability to shock the whole system.

I mean, even this new Fed chairman, Trump can come in and say, you know what, I'm going to drop points, 2 percent. That's going to shock the whole system is going to be. It's going to have a huge short term advantage.

TAPPER: Yes.

LANZA: And it's TBD what happens long term. But those are the tools that the President has his advantage and that's why you want to talk about the interest rates and feds because there are some weapons he can use to sort of win the issue back.

TAPPER: Yes. Jerome Powell is also a Trump appointee. I mean people might want to remember. Adrienne, I wanted to ask you about what Rahm Emanuel said because he's possible 2028 presidential candidate. You worked on the Biden 2020 campaign, the Harris-Walz campaign, 2024.

ELROD: I also worked for Rahm in 2006.

TAPPER: Oh is that right? You worked for Rahm -- ELROD: Yes.

TAPPER: -- also in 2006 when the DCCC, when he was head of the DCCC and you guys won Congress back. What do you make of his assessment of the resistance wing versus the renewal wing? And the renewal wing, I guess, is about solutions and that's where he is. That's where the puck's going to be in 2020.

[17:50:08]

TAPPER: Yes. I think he's exactly right. I mean, look, we have a big tent party and I think watching a debate between kind of the leftists and more progressive wing evil call it, and sort of the more establishment like let's work across the aisle. Let's do what we need to do to get solutions for the American people. You're going to see the push and pull a little bit.

And that's why I think we're going to have a robust primary and we're going to have all kinds of people running. And that's a good thing for the Democratic Party. But ultimately at the end of the day, the American people just want government to work. It's one of the reasons why I think divided government is so overwhelmingly popular right now, why I think Hakeem Jeffries is going to be speaker in about 10 months from now as well.

People want to see government work for them. And the only way to make that happen, Jake, is to make sure that both Democrats and Republicans are talking to each other and they are doing what they can to find solutions that the American people are seeking.

TAPPER: What is -- what's your assessment of the renewal versus --

LANZA: I don't think -- listen, I don't think the people want divided government. In my view, I think at least Republicans really don't want it and Democrats, they don't have either. Because at the end of the day, you know, what have we seen the last 20 years with divided government? Nothing happens.

ELROD: A lot of things have happened.

LANZA: Obamacare --

ELROD: Four major economic bills under President Biden.

LANZA: Yes, it was all Democratic vote. But my point is --

TAPPER: There was there were balanced budgets in the 90s under Newt Gingrich.

LANZA: I said 20 years. Let me go back.

TAPPER: Well, (inaudible).

LANZA: My point is divided government hasn't worked for the American people. TAPPER: Yes.

LANZA: And as long as you know, you still have Democrats who are going to be talking about impeachment and the very first day they're going to do, that's going to get them off message. And I suspect the progressive wing is going to be talking about that more than the resolution wing.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks, everyone. Appreciate it. What CNN cameras saw today inside that Mississippi synagogue set on fire in that suspected act of anti-Semitism. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:56]

TAPPER: On our National Lead now, CNN today got access inside what's left of that synagogue in Jackson, Mississippi that was set on fire over the weekend. In a criminal complaint, the FBI says 19-year-old Stephen Spencer Pittman confessed to the arson. The former high school honor student reportedly called the synagogue a synagogue of Satan. CNN's Jason Carroll reports now from Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZACH SHEMPER, BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION PRESIDENT: These are now what's left of the Torahs.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Beth Israel Congregation president, Zach Shemper, showing us what he could of his beloved temple here in Jackson, Mississippi. Its windows now boarded, the inside unrecognizable.

BENJAMIN RUSSELL, BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION RABBI: The things that were inside of it is what has been completely lost.

CARROLL: Rabbi Benjamin Russell has spent the past year at the temple.

What are some emotions that you deal with when you look at all that destruction behind you?

RUSSELL: Sadness, anger, bitterness, lots of emotions come up. You realize that everything around is destroyed and you feel like you've been violated.

CARROLL: Two Torahs destroyed in the blaze, five others were recovered. This picture showing the parchments being dried.

Beth Israel is the largest synagogue in the state of Mississippi and the only temple with a full time rabbi. Some one 150 families worship there, including congregants such as Sarah Thomas and Rachel Myers.

SARAH THOMAS, FIRST VP, BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION: I'm feeling very anxious and concerned, especially for the safety of our children.

RACHEL MYERS, BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION: Waking up today, I'm feeling resilient and I'm feeling strong. I arrived on Saturday morning and I stared at the building, and I could not help but think about the generations of people who had poured into that congregation. And I couldn't help but think about 1967.

CARROLL: 1967 was the year Beth Israel was first targeted by hate. The Ku Klux Klan bombed the synagogue, its former Rabbi Perry Nussbaum's home also bombed by the Klan. Nussbaum targeted for speaking out for racial justice in the midst of what was the segregated South.

CLAY CRYSTAL, CONGREGANT, BETH ISRAEL CONGREGATION: I think anti- Semitism in the south was more prevalent then than it is now.

CARROLL: Clay Crystal, who attends Beth Israel, was just a teenager in '67. The fire now brings back memories of the bombing he still remembers hearing all these years later.

CRYSTAL: Just a huge boom but it was a couple miles from our house, and so it was that powerful. Certainly we live in a tense political time, and people latch on to narratives that are not representative of general population.

CARROLL: A plaque stands as a reminder of what happened in 1967. Stuart Rockoff wrote the inscription. He's also an historian and a member of the temple.

STUART ROCKOFF, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MISSISSIPPI HUMANITIES COUNCIL: When this synagogue was dedicated in 1967, we had ministers from all sorts of different churches here, black and white, which is very notable in 1967 in Mississippi. That feeling of connection is needed now more than ever.

CARROLL: The fire comes amid a wave of anti-Semitic incidents in the United States. The Anti-Defamation League recorded record numbers in 2024, the highest since records began in 1979. For its part, Beth Israel has received an outpouring of support from the religious community from across all denominations, and not just in Jackson but nationwide. Welcome news to its rabbi. So much here has been lost, but not forgetting what they still have to be grateful for.

RUSSELL: Having each other. I'm sorry. We're fortunate. We're very fortunate and we're very blessed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL: And, Jake, late today, investigators were still here at Beth Israel. The rabbi who you just heard from there telling me that it could be months, it could be even up to a year before they're able to reopen, but he says they will reopen. Jake?