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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Iran Retaliatory Strikes Strand Travelers Across Middle East; Six Dead, 18 Service Members Injured In Iran Operation; U.S. Nationals Urged To Leave Middle East As Conflict Spreads; Secretary Noem Defends ICE Actions In Combative Hearing; As Trump Pushes Ahead In Iran, MAGA Backlash Grows; Dad Charged With Killing His Daughter's Accused Abuser Running For County Sheriff In Arkansas. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 03, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: -- at The Arena, CNN. But I really did want to leave a quick moment, one note before we go today. Today marks one year that since we here at The Arena came on the air. And I wanted to just give a very special thank you to everyone who works on this team for all of their incredibly hard work.

Television is a team sport and I could not play it without all of you. That goes also for you who watch every day at home. I really appreciate you appreciate everyone sitting at this table and those who come through as well. Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead. Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Champagne in here. What about thanks for your best CNN friend, your bestie, your CNN bestie.

HUNT: Jake, I'm so grateful for this handoff every day, you know.

TAPPER: That's it? All right.

HUNT: What you're going to get.

TAPPER: OK. Well, champagne is in here. Congratulations. Happy anniversary.

HUNT: Cheers. Thanks, Jake.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead on Jake Tapper. And we start with breaking news. The war on Iran, it's getting more expansive and more expensive and more complicated by the hour. And the United States exit plan remains unclear as of now. Right now, Iran's retaliatory strikes on countries across the Middle East continue, putting millions in harm's way and stranding American travelers.

Just in the last few hours, the grounds of the U.S. consulate in Dubai in the UAE were struck by a suspected Iranian drone. You could see the smoke rising above that strike in this image. This is the U.S. embassies in Beirut, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are all closed. The latter in Saudi Arabia, was also hit by suspected Iranian drones. Thankfully, we are told no one was injured.

On top of all that, the U.S. state Department told U.S. citizens to leave more than a dozen countries in the region, suggesting that any Americans there should take any available commercial flights. Of course, in many of those countries there are no commercial flights because airspace has been closed because of the war.

In other places, there are commercial flights. But, well, look, here's video of one commercial plane taking off amid smoke and explosions in Beirut, Lebanon. Not exactly flying the friendly skies there, surely the U.S. government already had a plan in place for evacuating Americans, right? Well, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why wasn't there an evacuation plan and would you send planes to get people out?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, because it happened all very quickly. We thought, and I thought maybe more so than most. I could ask Marco, but I thought we were going to have a situation where were going to be attacked. They were getting ready to attack Israel. They were getting ready to attack others. You're seeing that right now. And a lot of those missiles that are heading in. Those are stationary. Those were aimed there for a long period of time at these other countries. So I think I was right about that. We attacked first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So we're going to get to questions about why this war started and why it started when it started in the show later, as well as coverage of those Americans stranded throughout the world shortly after President Trump made those comments. The Trump administration said it is now working to secure military aircraft to transport stranded Americans in those countries. And they are urging any American in need of consular assistance to call this number, 1-202- 501-444. Let me repeat that. 1-202-501-4444.

Now, in terms of the war itself, the U.S. military says it has hit more than 1,700 targets in Iran. President Trump today insisting it's going well, saying that new strikes in Iran today targeted another set of Iranian leaders. Remember, the initial strikes killed 49 Iranian officials, including Iran's brutal dictator, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to President Trump.

We do not know exactly whom the U.S. thought might be a good fit to replace Khamenei, but according to President Trump, those likely candidates died, were killed in the initial strikes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I guess the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who's as bad as the previous person. Right. That could happen. Well, most of the people we had in mind are dead. It would seem to me that somebody from within might maybe would be more appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And of course, there are other casualties beyond those 49. At least six U.S. troops, servicemembers have been killed and 18 are seriously wounded. And according to an Iran agency citing the Iranian Red Crescent, at least 780 Iranians have been killed by the U.S. and Israeli bombings, including some at a girls school.

Let's go to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh, who's in Tel Aviv. Nick, you've been taking a closer look at some of the satellite images of destruction in Tehran. What are you finding?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's important to remind people of some of the images we've seen emerging from Tehran. A lot of devastation, smoke over the skyline and giving you a sense, I think, of obviously civilians caught at times in parts of this, but also too at moments, some of the buildings that have been particularly targeted by Israeli and U.S. airstrikes.

[17:05:02]

Some of the satellite images here, I can't see the ones you're showing one by one, Jake, but we're seeing images amongst these of Iran's Ministry of Intelligence, the Islamic Revolutionary Court, the IRGC's Tar Allah headquarters, and even some damage sustained to a hospital when they seem to be targeting a communications tower outside a judiciary complex as well.

It's important also to remind viewers that just today the Assembly of Experts appeared to have met in Qom to try and find a new supreme leader for Iran after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. And there are some indications that this process may be moving forward quite quickly.

But that building in Qom was hit by an Israeli airstrike. Now, there are suggestions in Iranian state media that, in fact, that building may have been evacuated. In fact, there are more reporting suggesting the may have tried to put those 88 senior clerics together to make this decision through virtual means. After all, is 2026, and the last time there was a significant meeting of key senior leaders, Khamenei was there and it got hit and he, amongst many others, was killed.

So progress, possibly, to find a successor to Khamenei. Utterly vital to have someone ultimately calling the shots in Iran, particularly in wartime now, Jake.

TAPPER: And Israel, of course, has been carrying out intensified strikes not only on Iran, but on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after Hezbollah, which is a terrorist proxy for Iran, fired at central Tel Aviv for the second time. This obviously adds to the chaos of unrest across the region, not to mention the body count.

WALSH: Yes, look, we've just come back from northern Israel and seeing a rocket there fired from southern Lebanon went over our heads. And I think it's linked to the alerts that people got here in Tel Aviv very shortly afterwards.

I have to say, you know, we are seeing now Israel entering a operation which, as Defense Minister says, is aimed to disarm Hezbollah. They have sent ground troops over the border, not in what they call a ground invasion, but essentially extending the buffer zone along that southern Lebanese border there, where there have been five Israeli posts since the ceasefire kicked in late 2024.

But this is clearly an expansive operation. We have multiple settlements, dozens of settlements in southern Lebanon under IDF evacuation, multiple strikes inside of Beirut, dozens killed by some of these strikes as well, and also to some key Hezbollah leaders as well.

It's clear from where we stood, though, in northern Israel, seeing intermittent barrages back from Hezbollah, but nothing like the ferocity many say they saw in 2024 when Israel's first assault against the group really began. They're dealing with a significantly diminished Hezbollah here, but still Israel persistent that they will finish that job. But that is a potentially weeks long or indefinable task, no matter how small Hezbollah has come over the recent months. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Nick Paton Walsh from Tel Aviv, thank you so much. Stay safe. I want to bring in President Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Michael Waltz. Thank you so much for joining us, Ambassador.

First of all, let me ask you, what is the reception you're getting for this war at the United Nations? Usually such endeavors from the United States are not necessarily embraced, but at the same time, of course, Iran had this nuclear program and is now attacking all these Sunni Arab countries.

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Well, Jake, just to take a step back for a moment, it was just a little over a month ago that we called an emergency U.N. Security Council resolution because of the ongoing massacre that Iran was unleashing on its own people. The U.N. then briefed a number as high as 18,000. I think that's been revised sadly, incredibly upwards.

And we had witnesses at the table like Masih Alinejad, Mr. Batebi, who were tortured for many years at the hands of the Iranians before they escaped. And then just over this last weekend, some of our Gulf Arab allies called for an emergency Security Council meeting.

And I have to tell you, Bahrain, who's on the council, is absolutely incensed at the attacks on civilian infrastructure, they're suffering at the hands of the Iranians. You had countries even like Pakistan condemning the Iranians.

Of course, you didn't see much of a reaction from the likes of China, Russia, but across the board, the Europeans and others are absolutely condemning these random attacks. I think we're up to eight, nine countries now that we're seeing at the hands of the Iranian regime. And you saw universal condemnation. TAPPER: So there's this question now about the timing of these attacks

and why the U.S. chose this time. It seems to be conflicting.

[17:10:00]

And specifically, I want to play for you what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said yesterday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that would precipitate an attack against American forces. And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties and perhaps even higher those killed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So that's what Marco Rubio, Secretary Rubio, said yesterday. Here's President Trump today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I thought we were going to have a situation where were going to be attacked. They were getting ready to attack Israel. They were getting ready to attack others. We attacked first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Can you clear this up? What exactly is the reason for this attack happening now? Was it that Israel was going to attack Iran or that Iran was going to attack Israel?

WALTZ: Well, Jake, you know, I have to, sorry, I have to point out what you didn't play, which was Secretary Rubio again holding a press conference today after he again.

TAPPER: Yes, he said it was about --

WALTZ: -- when the time Congress and briefed the Gang of Eight. Well, I think it would have been illustrative to your viewers to also play that where he clarified that those comments, those clips are being taken out of context. He was answering a very narrow operational question, that the president clearly made a decision, as he himself said today, that the Iranian regime racing towards a nuke, developing long range missiles, their continual support of terrorist proxies, which we've been dealing with for many, many years, and that they were not negotiating in good faith, that they were tapping us along.

All of those things combined has led the President to take this decisive action. And in terms of the timing, if we're in coordination with our ally, I'll leave the Secretary Rubio, Secretary's explanation to speak for itself.

TAPPER: Yes, I understand that Secretary Rubio tried to clarify today, but that's why I narrowed the question as to not the motivation for the attack, but the timing of the attack. Yes, President Trump has said the attack was going to happen no matter what. Rubio has said the attack was going to happen no matter what because of the missile program of the Iranians. It had to happen sometime in the next year. 100 percent.

The question is the timing. And my question is specifically, was it because Israel was about to attack Iran or Iran was about to attack Israel? But I can move on. I want to ask the question about the president last June telling the American people that the U.S. and Israel conducted those strikes, Operation Midnight Hammer, that obliterated Iran's nuclear sites.

But you just heard him saying that we thought were going to be attacked. Was the nuclear program, the nuclear weapons program obliterated last year or was it not?

WALTZ: Well, what our special envoy Witkoff has repeatedly explained, including, I believe, just last night, is that yes, we absolutely obliterated those three particular sites, Isfahan, Natanz and Fordeau, and their enrichment and weaponization capabilities.

But they've also hidden a large amount of highly enriched uranium, number one. And number two, I think it's widely established that once you enrich to 60 percent and there's no reason to do so, Jake, except to build a nuclear weapon, it is exponentially above what you need for a civilian program that the Iranians refused to give it up. They refused to ship it out. They refused to destroy it. They were offered by special envoy Witkoff, Kushner and Secretary Rubio on multiple occasions, different avenues to establish just a civilian program.

And when that became clear to the President and he decided to stop kicking the can on this problem and take the bold, decisive action that he has. And you know, back to your issue or your question on the UN. The U.N. has been dealing with this for decades.

TAPPER: Yes.

WALTZ: In 2006, 20 years ago, we started with both the sanctions program, the condemnation of their nuclear program, and country after country just a few days ago said and reaffirmed, Iran can never have a nuclear weapon. Period.

Finally, the President has been quite consistent on this. In all three of his campaigns, he made it quite clear this was a red line. And what I think the American people voted for was a President, a commander-in- chief, that stands up for his red lines.

TAPPER: So just one last question for you, sir. Having to do with whether or not Congress should also authorize. I know I don't want to get into the whole war powers and versus Article 1. Congress has the power to declare war. But when you were in Congress, you introduced legislation when President Biden was in the White House to give him the authority to go after the cartels because of the threat of fentanyl.

[17:15:10] And that seemed to suggest that you did believe that there was a role for Congress when it came to the use of force. Do you also think there is a role for Congress in this, which is a obviously much bigger, much broader military exercise than the kind you were thinking of against the cartels?

WALTZ: Well, Jake, that's a bit of an apples and oranges comparison. Number one, that legislation was intended to also push the Biden administration, who was allowing a wide open border that cartels were running amok. They control over 30 percent of our neighbor Mexico, in many areas are pushing fentanyl drugs and thugs into our inner city.

And what I saw as a member of the House Armed Services Committee is that were not devoting the intelligence or other surveillance or other military resources that we were needed to support law enforcement. So we certainly wanted to make it crystal clear, myself and my co- sponsors, that the Biden administration had all of the authorizations that they need. If you remember, he consistently said, threw his hands up and said, there's nothing I can do. I need Congress to act.

So we tried to take action to push him in that direction. But back to your debate. Look, on this issue of the authorization to use the military force and the War Powers Act, administration after administration, as Secretary Rubio said just today, have found this unconstitutional. Nevertheless, he has done more Gang of Eight briefings in the last year than he received as a senator the last four years.

TAPPER: Yes.

WALTZ: So they're doing everything they can to keep Congress informed and engaged. And I'll leave it to the president and the rest of the administration as this conflict moves forward.

TAPPER: Ambassador Mike Waltz, Ambassador to the United Nations, thank you so much. We really appreciate you coming on the show.

WALTZ: All right, thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: New video today showing the aftermath of a suspected Iranian drone. Those flames are burning near the U.S. consulate in Dubai in the UAE. Up next in American stock stuck in Dubai, trying to leave that region right now any way he can. He's having a tough time and he is a former member of Congress.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:17]

TAPPER: Back with more on our World Lead, the State Department this afternoon says it's now working to secure military aircraft and charter flights for Americans trying to leave the more than a dozen Middle East countries amid ongoing strikes in the region. How's that going to work? Well, here's the explanation from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: We have identified and continue to identify charter flights, military flight options and expanded commercial flight options, meaning working with the airlines to send bigger airplanes with more seats and the combination of those three things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's speak with Jason Altmyer, an American stranded in Dubai right now. If the name sounds familiar, he is a former Democratic congressman for the fourth district of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Congressman, thanks for joining us. So this must be very stressful circumstances. What brought you to Dubai? What have you been seeing and hearing since the attacks began?

JASON ALTMIRE (D) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: We were passing through Dubai, my wife and I, this weekend because we have some things next week in a different part of the world. And we wanted to stop here on the and we arrived at 8:00 a.m. local time on Saturday the 28th, which is about four hours before they closed the airspace because of what happened in Iran.

And then trying to get a commercial flight out since that time has been impossible. You get, well, if you can get through to the airlines at all, which is a challenge. Then you get booked on a flight, it gets canceled, and then you go through the same process again. We've done that three times.

And today, when that State Department announcement came out, I was, of course, very interested in that because we hear the booms, we've seen some flashes. We understand the risk, and we certainly read with caution what the State Department had said about the need to evacuate.

The problem is they're saying you have to figure it out on your own. You have to get out through commercial means or otherwise. And, and the government is not here to help. So, when that announcement came out today and we called that number and got the voicemail that said what I just said, you got -- you're on your own. Don't expect the government to help. That's when I got involved with calling some former colleagues, calling my own home, Congressman now. And they were extremely helpful.

My understanding is our name is on a list somewhere at the State Department, which I'm very grateful for. But getting out on a commercial aircraft does not appear to be something in Dubai that is possible now. So this has to be. I know there's thousands of Americans that are in the same position right here in Dubai, and the only way this is going to happen is if the government intervenes and evacuates people out of a very, very unsafe zone.

TAPPER: Have you heard from the U.S. State Department directly about any of the evacuation options that they're working on?

ALTMIRE: I have not heard from the State Department. I have heard from others, including media reports, but also folks on Capitol Hill, that something is being planned. And I'm, you know, obviously enthusiastic to hear what that might be. But neither I nor my wife has yet been contacted by the State Department.

TAPPER: All right, former Congressman Jason Altmire, thank you so much. Stay in touch with us. We will, you know, bring attention to this as much as possible. And obviously, the congressman represents thousands, thousands of Americans. And if you're one of them, the number again, if you're in need of consular assistance, is 1-202-501- 4444, 1-202-501-4444.

[17:25:00]

Tomorrow, the U.S. Senate's going to take up a resolution aiming to block President Trump's military operations against Iran. Is the damage already done? Plus, tough questions today on Capitol Hill with the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem. You're going to hear those questions and her combative responses next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our National Lead, a contentious hearing today on Capitol Hill for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. She took criticism from both sides of the aisle over the way her department has done its -- conducted its immigration crackdown, especially in Minnesota. Not to mention her response to the shooting deaths of American citizens Alex Pretti and Renee Good at the hands of immigration officers.

[17:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm asking you, did you determine whether there was any basis for the sensational claim, a claim that proved to be utterly false, that these two victims were engaged in domestic terrorism?

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: There is an investigation ongoing, the FBI is leading that, there's also internal investigations that are ongoing.

SCHIFF: I'm asking you about, excuse me, excuse me Madam Secretary, I'm asking about your statements. In the immediate aftermath of these shootings, your statements based on completely unvetted information, information that if it was even provided to you proved to be utterly false, that you were content to tell the whole country. Do you have any concern about misleading the whole country?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's bring in that Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat from California. Senator, thanks for joining us. The Secretary told you basically it was reports from agents on the ground, part of a chaotic scene. They told her team that Pretti and Good were engaged in what they called domestic terrorism before those agents killed them. What was your reaction to her testimony today?

SCHIFF: I thought it was pretty shameful. Yes, certainly things are chaotic. That means you take your time to get it right before you tell the American people something that proves to be utterly false. I asked her, how can we have any confidence in an investigation led by your department or the Department of Justice if you predetermine the outcome, if you tell the country that these people are domestic terrorists? I think the main takeaway from the hearing is nothing has changed at DHS. Certainly the leadership hasn't.

Certainly their willingness to use force without independent investigation when they do hasn't changed. Their willingness to deploy massive numbers of agents in indiscriminate sweeps, sweeping up citizens and non-citizens alike, has not changed, will not change under this leadership unless we change it. And I think one other thing became abundantly clear, and that is there is massive fraud and waste going on within that department.

Hundreds of millions of dollars in sweetheart deals going out to people like the P.R. team that's doing her ads that also did her ads in South Dakota. But those ads now purportedly for DHS but featuring Kristi Noem on horseback and Kristi Noem in a helicopter and Kristi Noem, God knows where else, those are paid for by taxpayers. So if that department wants to look for waste and abuse, it can look within the department.

TAPPER: The secretary, as you know, also faced tough questions from some of your Republican colleagues. I want to play some clips from Senator Thom Tillis in North Carolina and Senator John Kennedy in Louisiana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: The fact that you can't admit to a mistake, which looks like under investigation, it's going to prove that Ms. Good and Mr. Pretti probably should not have been shot in the face and in the back. Law enforcement needs to learn from that. You don't protect them by not looking after the facts.

SEN, JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I'm not saying you're not telling the truth. It's just hard for me to believe. Knowing the President, as I do, that you said, Mr. President, here's some ads I've cut and I'm going to spend $220 million running them, that he would have agreed to that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Senator Tillis also criticized Secretary Noem's handling of FEMA and Senator Kennedy joined with the many lawmakers today wondering where the domestic terrorist allegations against Renee Good and Alex Pretti came from originally. What are your thoughts about what your Republican colleagues had to say?

SCHIFF: Well, I was glad to see a couple of my colleagues push back on these unfounded claims and also question the contracting, the sweetheart deals that are going on at DHS, the waste of money on this ad campaign, which is meant to boost Kristi Noem as much as it's meant to boost anything about the Department of Homeland Security or engage in recruitment. So I thought it was encouraging, but we still didn't get a lot of our questions answered and our Republican colleagues really need to join us in insisting on real answers to these questions and real reforms. We really haven't seen that yet. And it's absolutely vital, I think, to protect the country.

TAPPER: Let's turn to Iran. You're joining with other Democrats to force a vote on the war powers resolution tomorrow that would force any future U.S. participation in hostile actions against Iran do have to be authorized by Congress. Are there enough Republicans that are going to join you for it to pass?

SCHIFF: I don't know is the short answer. I would certainly hope that we'll have enough bipartisan support. And look, I mean, we are at war with Iran. Bush had his Iraq war. Trump now has his Iran war. Our service members tragically have been killed. Others lives are on the line. The President needs to come to Congress and make the case and seek an authorization. I made this point in our closed session.

[17:34:56]

I asked, what is the imminent threat that justified going to war with Iran and got the same conflicting explanations, one which contradicted the president from just today. That is, we had to go to war with Iran, Israel was going to. And if we didn't, then Iran might attack us. The President said, no, he didn't have his hand forced by Israel. He forced Israel's hand. So which is it? And the other argument made by Secretary Rubio that we had to go to war now because in years from now, Iran may pursue a bomb.

And if we let their domestic missile production continue, it will be more difficult to take out their bomb later. So if that's the argument for an imminent threat, that is a threat that is years away that we need to neutralize now. That is the antithesis of imminent. So I hope we have the votes tomorrow, but we're going to keep at this because sadly, this President has grown way too fond of war. And unless the Congress stops him, we're going to see this over and over and over again.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Adam Schiff from California. Thank you, sir. Appreciate your time.

Coming up, the splinters among the President's MAGA base as he pushes ahead with the war in Iran.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:20]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, as President Trump presses ahead with his war in Iran, he faces a chorus of prominent MAGA voices expressing at the very least skepticism. They're questioning the merits of the war, how it aligns with his America First mantra, why now? Even some of Trump's biggest cheerleaders, like Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly, are breaking with him. Here's Kelly just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MEGYN KELLY, HOST, THE MEGYN KELLY SHOW: Our government's job is not to look out for Iran or for Israel. It's to look out for us. And this feels very much to me like it is clearly Israel's war. Obviously, President Trump does not want to say we did it because of Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The panel joins me now. Jonah Goldberg, what's your reaction? And how concerned do you think Republicans should be about either this criticism or maybe more significantly, this split in the Republican world about the Megyn Kelly, Tucker Carlson wing and others?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, first of all, I just want to say as someone who's been told you have to agree with everything Donald Trump does or you're not a real conservative by these very people for 10 years, I welcome them to their newfound independence. Look, I think what Rubio said yesterday was bad and feeds a lot of this.

TAPPER: About how Israel -- we attacked because Israel was going to attack and then Iran was going to attack the U.S.

GOLDBERG: Basically saying that Israel forced our hand, right?

TAPPER: Right.

GOLDBERG: And he's tried to claw it back. Trump's tried to claw it back. I think Rubio's earned enough grace that if he had just said, you know, I messed up and here's what I meant to say, he would have gotten away with it. But this whole never apologize, never correct thing is getting them into trouble. That said, look, a lot of these people are basically the entertainment wing of MAGA. And if you actually look at polling, our friend Brian Todd was on in the previous hour talking about this.

You look at polling, sort of normal Republicans, rank and file Republicans are pretty in favor of all of this. And it's the people thinking about what the post-Trump era is going to look like, who are obsessing about Epstein files and, you know, Jewish conspiracy stuff. Um, so I don't think that they need, we -- I don't think the GOP needs to worry about it too much.

TAPPER: Yes.

GOLDBERG: But it's not a great trend either.

TAPPER: How do you think Democrats should play this?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, look, I think there's an opportunity to drive a wedge here because there are legitimate questions. You can legitimately say, yes, the dictatorship in Iran was evil and what they did was wrong. However, the White House and this administration has not been able to put forward a consistent, important word, coherent explanation about why we had to do this right now. Was this the right way to do it? And now you have six Americans who have been killed and it's -- we're just at the beginning. And when you have the President saying things like, yes, the people we thought that I thought would be best to take over are dead.

OK, well then what's the plan? So I think there's an opportunity for Democrats to, it's actually very similar that as we did, we're able to recapture the narrative in 2006 around the Iraq war. So what's the plan? And how are you protecting our men and women in uniform and Americans who are now stranded around the world?

GOLDBERG: One quick point on this, the people that we thought we could replace the leadership with are dead. He's talking about people who were killed in the same room, the Ayatollah, which does suggest, and he said other things along these lines, that their model is Venezuela, which is to replace an obstreperous dictator with a more pliant dictator. That's not regime change.

TAPPER: Right.

GOLDBERG: And that's one of the things that's kind of getting them into trouble.

TAPPER: Yes. There's a national security person who told me they can't Delcy Rodriguez in Iran. It's just different. J.D. Vance, one of your favorite politicians, Jonah, the vice president, he's seemingly done something of a 180. Look, it's a tough position for him to be in. But in 2023, he penned an op-ed for "The Wall Street Journal" when he endorsed Trump as a Senator, Trump's best foreign policy, not starting any wars. Underneath he writes, he has my support in 2024, because I know he won't recklessly send Americans to fight overseas. You know, and he is trying to explain his support for the President here.

GOLDBERG: Yes. Look, it would take a heart of stone not to laugh at some of it. But let's cut him a little bit of slack. The job of vice president always requires eating a lot of crap, you know, and doing and defending whatever the President does. And that's what he's doing here. The problem is he had carved out this lane as the future of the restraint, right, or the isolationist, right, from people like Megyn Kelly and Tucker that you showed before. And now he actually has to, I mean, he literally has to support Trump in this. And it's just not reconcilable to his more recent past position.

TAPPER: And Karen, it wasn't just that op-ed, of course, take a look, take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:04]

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our interest, I think, very much is in not going to war with Iran, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

VANCE: It would be a huge distraction of resources. It would be massively expensive to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: I mean, that's specifically about Iran. And there's nothing different thematically today than there was 2024 in terms of the problems with Iran.

FINNEY: A thousand percent. And look, part of the political problem that I see for Republicans on this is if you look at the polling, we know that young people are opposed to this. And particularly young men, many of the young men who went -- who were for Trump in 2024 are the most opposed to this. We're seeing this with black men. We're seeing this with Latino men. And we're seeing this more broadly just with polls and focus groups looking at where men stand on this over the last several days.

So I think that's part of the problem. If you think about it, where to them, they were they'll think, wait a second. You said no war. Even your V.P. said we shouldn't go to war with Iran. Now you're saying we should. And they know they're the ones if we do have to do boots on the ground, they're the ones we'll have to go.

TAPPER: Yes. Thanks everyone.

Today marks the first day of voting in several 2026 primaries, Texas, North Carolina, Arkansas, or a candidate for sheriff charged with murder is running. That and more ahead.

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[17:50:42]

TAPPER: Cue the election music for our Politics Lead, por favor. There it is, that sweet, sweet election jam. Today marks the very first day of primaries. Ahead of the November midterm elections, voters are casting ballots for races in Arkansas and North Carolina and some big marquee races in Texas. That's where Republican Senator John Cornyn is fighting to keep his seat against Congressman Wesley Hunt and Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton in the Republican primary. While over on the Democratic side, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett is facing off against State Representative James Talarico, both hoping to flip that Senate seat blue.

In Arkansas, a race for sheriff for one candidate will soon be on trial for murder. Aaron Spencer admits he kills the man. He killed the man he says sexually assaulted his teenage daughter but has pleaded not guilty. And as CNN's Brynn Gingras reports, this primary could set up the unusual scenario of this Arkansas County prosecuting the man who could become its top law enforcement officer.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Did you ever think that you would be running for sheriff?

AARON SPENCER, LONOKE COUNTY SHERIFF CANDIDATE: No. This is not a calculated step I've taken my entire life to get here.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Aaron Spencer made national headlines when he launched his campaign to run for sheriff of Lonoke County, Arkansas. That's because he's also charged with second degree murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, man. Where -- when's your court date?

SPENCER: Sorry, not until later this spring.

GINGRAS (voice-over): While he's pleaded not guilty, Spencer readily admits to shooting and killing 67-year-old Michael Fosler, his teenage daughter's alleged sexual abuser. At the time of the shooting, Fosler was awaiting trial on dozens of charges, including sexual assault and Internet stalking of a child, and had a no contact order against Spencer's daughter. Ahead of his own trial, Spencer is advised by his lawyer to not discuss his case. But his wife previously said they thought their daughter had been kidnapped that night on October 8th, 2024.

GINGRAS: It was the middle of the night when Spencer and his wife discovered that their daughter was missing and court documents show he jumped in his truck to go looking for her, eventually finding her in this area right here. She was with Fosler and this is also where the confrontation took place.

GINGRAS (voice-over): According to court documents, Spencer said he observed his daughter trying to exit Fosler's vehicle, but it appeared Fosler grabbed her and stopped her. Spencer said Fosler then exited his vehicle with an unknown object in his hand and lunged at him, and that's when he opened fire. His wife saying we 100 percent in the moment thought he had taken her to kill her because she was the only witness in Fosler's upcoming trial.

GINGRAS: And your daughter specifically, how's she doing?

SPENCER: Things can be a little bit of a roller coaster at times. I think that's anybody who's dealt with trauma.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Just over a year from that night.

SPENCER: I'm announcing my candidacy to run for Lonoke County Sheriff.

GINGRAS: When you decide to do this, you already are facing charges.

SPENCER: It was a very big decision and it was a family decision.

GINGRAS: What was their reaction?

SPENCER: And they were like, you're crazy, right? You know, that's wild. Why, why, why would we do this? Honestly, I think I was like a lot of other people where we didn't fully pay attention to what was happening in our local communities, the ramification and impact that these types of elections have at the home front here.

GINGRAS (voice-over): Running against Spencer on the Republican ticket is longtime incumbent John Staley.

JOHN STALEY, LONOKE COUNTY SHERIFF: I'm John Staley, your Lonoke County Sheriff.

GINGRAS (voice-over): He's also the sheriff who oversaw Spencer's arrest.

STALEY: I don't think Aaron Spencer is a bad person. I think that he was trying to protect his child. And there's a lot more to this case that I can't even release that we've found that we've worked on.

GINGRAS: How is this case just sort of, and the fact that he is running for sheriff, impacted this community, in your opinion?

LIA BELL, LONOKE COUNTY RESIDENT: A lot of people are just saying I would do what he did. I, you know, I don't blame him. And although I can understand why people feel that way, you've got to separate your feelings when you're a law enforcement officer.

ETHAN WILSON, LONOKE COUNTY RESIDENT: To think you can just take the law into your own hands like that, and then still think you can run for sheriff. It's just weird.

GINGRAS: What do you say to those people who are like, oh, he's just doing this to help his criminal trial?

SPENCER: No, it definitely hasn't made anything easier. I did what any good father would do, just save and protect their child.

GINGRAS: He doesn't have any law enforcement background. That doesn't bother you?

SHELBY COONEY, LONOKE COUNTY RESIDENT: Not one bit. No, he does not.

[17:55:00]

CRYSTAL REED, LONOKE COUNTY RESIDENT: When I was five or six years old, it was the first time I was molested. And that's why I want Aaron Spencer to stop things like that from happening.

GINGRAS: There were women there who were victims themselves of sexual assault.

SPENCER: We've been hearing that.

GINGRAS: And you're the reason.

SPENCER: Yes, all year, like all year they have been reaching out to us.

GINGRAS: Are you prepared for all scenarios in your future?

SPENCER: I would be lying to say I wasn't stressed or anything like that. And I think if you're going into office and you're not scared about it, or you're dealing with a trial and you're not a little scared about it, I think that's definitely the wrong behavior and attitude and thought process to have.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Brynn Gingras, thank you so much for that report from Arkansas. As the polls close today, look for special coverage tonight at 8:00 Eastern on CNN and on the CNN All Access streaming app.

Coming up on The Lead, bunkers in Israel built for war as the country takes on Iranian missiles. See how staff had to jump into action when CNN cameras were rolling. That's next.

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