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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Top Trump Intel Officials Deflect on Iran War in House Hearing; How the NFL is Betting Big on Sports Gambling; Video Shows Iranian Missile Strike on Major Refinery. ABC Cancels "The Bachelorette" Season Days Before Premiere; Poll: 66 percent Disapprove Of How Trump Is Handling Gas Prices. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 19, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

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

This hour, the U.S.'s top intelligence officials were back on Capitol Hill today, pressed about the biggest threats facing the United States and what they are doing to stop them. On the list, the war with Iran, dealing with Putin, the FBI raid at a Georgia elections office, and more. A member of Congress who questioned these officials today joins me live in moments.

Also, March Madness is officially underway, and, boy, are my brackets busted, high point. More importantly, there is some serious money on the line. More than $3 billion is going to be wagered on the tournament this year, leading addiction experts to warn about the serious risks that come with sports betting. CNN's digging into those numbers.

Plus, it turns out he, he did go to court. Rapper Afroman celebrating a major legal victory against his local police after a raid of his home in 2022. Afroman made videos and songs mocking the officers involved. Those officers claimed they were being defamed. A jury this week disagreed. Have you heard about this story? It's incredible. Afroman will be here to tell us all about it live.

The Lead tonight, Trump's top intelligence officials undergoing another round of questioning from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Top of mind for most House Intelligence Democrats today, the precise details of what led the U.S. and Israel to strike Iran starting on February 28th. But the director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, was still not really answering questions in detail, especially how imminent was the threat from Iran.

Gabbard, along with CIA Director John Ratcliffe and FBI Director Kash Patel, dodging for the most part when asked about Iran's nuclear ambitions and what the future assessments could look like.

Let's get right to CNN's Kylie Atwood, who's been monitoring these hearings. Kylie?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes. What we heard from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is that it was her job to provide the intelligence community's threat assessment to the president, what she called the objective analysis of the threats that Iran posed to the United States and asked specifically about the imminence of those threats. She really doubled down on what we heard from her and other members of the intelligence community yesterday during briefings, saying that it is up to President Trump to determine that question over imminence of those threats.

Listen to a heated back and forth with a Democratic lawmaker on this topic that she had during that hearing today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JIMMY GOMEZ (D-CA): The only person who can determine what is an imminent threat is the president of the United States. Do you stand by that statement?

TULSI GABBARD, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Yes, I do.

GOMEZ: Director Ratcliffe, do you agree with that assessment, that the president is the only person that can determine if something is an imminent threat or not?

JOHN RATCLIFFE, CIA DIRECTOR: The president, as commander-in-chief, gets to make a decision about what's an imminent threat. The intelligence's duty --

GOMEZ: So, no.

RATCLIFFE: Well, the intelligence --

GOMEZ: Reclaiming my time.

If the president can determine and ignore what you're doing, why do you guys even have a job?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, Tulsi Gabbard also specifically said that it is the intelligence community's assessment that the son of Ali Khamenei, who is the current supreme leader of Iran, is more hardline than his father was. She said that the ban that his father had in place when it comes to developing nuclear weapons in Iran, the United States doesn't know if that ban is going to stay in place.

When she was asked by Congressman Crow if the United States knew more about the Iranian regime's intentions before these strikes, before this war began, she said, that would be correct. And, of course, that is of concern for Democratic lawmakers, for regional sources I have talked to who are concerned that this military adventure, this war could actually make Iran more determined in the future to develop a nuclear weapon, something that previously they'd been building up their nuclear capacity, but they hadn't actually made that decision to pursue a nuclear weapon. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Kylie Atwood, thanks so much. Let's bring in Colorado Democratic Congressman Jason Crow. He's on the House Intelligence Committee. So, Congressman, you were among those who pressed Director Gabbard on the timing, the imminence of potential threats from Iran shown in intelligence assessments. I want to play some of your questioning. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JASON CROW (D-CO): Did any of them show that there were attacks anticipated within the next 90 days from Iran?

GABBARD: It's too simplistic of a statement to say that, because it depends on various scenarios occurring or not occurring.

CROW: Did those assessments show timelines for the threats that Iran posed to the United States?

[18:05:01]

GABBARD: The totality of threats, yes. There were timelines involved where it applied and where that information was available. But, again, to your question about the determination of imminence, the president makes that determination based on the totality of information and intelligence.

CROW: The bottom line is there is no imminence threat, and you know that, and there's no product that shows that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What was your reaction to her answer there? And as somebody on the House Intelligence Committee, traditionally, is there in these reports by the DNI or others an expression of imminence?

CROW: Yes. Jake, she's clearly covering for Donald Trump stumbling into another reckless war. This is very common stuff in the intelligence community. You assess what types of threats are out there, where the threat is originating from, the severity of the threat and then timelines of the threat. Those are the basic components that policymakers need to make decisions to assess, you know, how quickly decisions need to be made, how imminent it is.

And, you know, this DNI and the CIA director and Kash Patel included are refusing to stand by their own intelligence, which is very chilling, because we have now stumbled into a situation where the threat, as we also heard, might have increased, very likely has increased as a result of this war.

TAPPER: You also questioned Director Gabbard about the intelligence community's assessment of this new ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei. He's considered to be even more of a hardliner than his father was, which I don't even really understand. I guess that would be related to his determination to make a nuclear weapon. Did Gabbard give you any assurances today that the war has put the regime in a better position, a stronger position, I should say, than before it began? And how can one be more of a hardliner than the late ayatollah? CROW: Yes. I mean, to be clear, I'm not mourning the death of Ayatollah Khameini, who was a very bad man and, you know, threatened troops, killed American troops, but there are worse alternatives. United States has a long history of regime change and nation building operations where the alternative becomes worse. I mean, we spent 20 years, trillions of dollars to replace the Taliban in Afghanistan with the Taliban. We spent over a decade in Iraq, thousands of American lives, and the second we pulled out, ISIS took over.

And here we are now with a younger son, the junior Ayatollah Khamenei, and he's more hardline in terms of his willingness to use cyber capabilities, his willingness to enact violence on the Iranian people, his willingness to attack civilian and diplomatic facilities, and his inclination to move out and proceed with the development of nuclear weapons.

So, across almost every factor that we'd look at, when you look at extremism and how hardline he is, in fact, he was considered to be too hardline for even many people within Iran and by his own father. So, we really have to look at the situation that we've created for ourselves and how we might be worse off than we were just 30 days ago.

TAPPER: I want you to take a listen to your Republican colleague, Elise Stefanik, asking about the resignation of Joe Kent, Kent obviously the former head of the National Counterterrorism Center. He resigned earlier this week. He blamed the Iran war on Israel as well as the Israel lobby. He also blamed the Iraq war on Israel and the war against ISIS in Syria on Israel. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ELISE STEFANIK (R-NY): Do you agree or disagree with what this letter was put out by former Director Kent?

GABBARD: He said a lot of things in that letter. Ultimately, we have provided the president with the intelligence assessments and the president is elected by the American people and makes his own decisions based on the information that's available to him.

STEFANIK: But do you agree with does that statement he made blaming Israel concern you?

GABBARD: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What did you think of Joe Kent's letter, Congressman, and what did you think of Director Gabbard's response?

CROW: Well, listen, I don't put a lot of stock into what Joe Kent said. Joe Kent has come to me. He's lied to me in front of committee hearings before. He's fabricated data and information. So, you know, I just take anything he says with a grain of salt, to be honest with you. It would be very disturbing if other countries, allies or others, are calling the shots or dictating the terms of our national security. That should be our decision. It should be focused on what the American people need and what they deserve in terms of national security. No other countries should be calling those shots.

But I don't purport to understand what's going on in Donald Trump's mind or in his administration, right? They're not briefing us. They're not providing information to Congress. They're stonewalling members of Congress, members of the Intelligence Committee and the Armed Services Committee. We simply are not getting the information that we need to do our jobs to represent the American people and the information that the American people deserve to have a vote and a say in this reckless, runaway war, which is dissolving and devolving every single day.

[18:10:10]

TAPPER: The New York Times and others are reporting that Joe Kent is now under investigation by the FBI for potentially having leaked sensitive intelligence. It's an investigation that reportedly preceded his resignation, thus calling into question why he actually resigned. Is there anything you can tell us about that?

CROW: Yes. I am not aware of any such investigation, so I'm not going to opine on it. All I can say is, you know, I've gone head to head with Joe Kent in the past because I don't think he's been candid and honest with Congress. And, again, I take with a grain of salt what he says.

You know, what is true is that the Americans are not interested in another war in the Middle East. I'm a national security Democrat. I have no trepidation using our military to keep Americans strong, to keep America safe. But what we know is people are fed up with 24 years of endless conflict, and it's time for Congress to get involved and to make sure we put guardrails in place.

TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Jason Crow from Colorado, thank you, sir, and thank you for your service, as always.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu just gave an update on the war with Iran and the U.S. involvement in the military campaign, and Netanyahu answered a question from CNN's own Jeremy Diamond, who's going to join us live in Israel, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Sports Lead, the first round of March Madness kicked off today as college basketball student athletes vie to make the final four and become national champions. Well, I wish that athletics and athleticism was what this next story was about, but let's try that again.

In our Money Lead, an estimated three point $3.3 billion will be bet on the NCAA tournament this year, $3.3 billion. In the NFL, an estimated $30 billion was wagered last season. Sports betting is exploding across the country, but who's making the money?

CNN's Nick Watt takes a look at how the NFL, the most bet-on league in the country, is cashing in. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Distances, speeds, times, individual player stats, that data means we can now bet on pretty much anything and everything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, they pulled out the BetMGM app and put together a live parlay.

WATT: Live during a game.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: BetMGM Sportsbook, make it legendary.

WATT: The ads are everywhere, and leagues, like the NFL, are making a lot of money selling that data to sportsbooks.

HARRY LEVANT, GAMBLING ADDICTION THERAPIST: I'm in favor of the legalization of sports gambling. That's not what this is. This is A.I. technology taking a known addictive product, delivering it at light speed in ways that couldn't be done without the leagues being complicit partners.

TIMOTHY FONG, CO-DIRECTOR, UCLA GAMBLING STUDIES PROGRAM: If you're gambling on sports with higher frequency, there's going to be a much higher likelihood that you have gambling disorder.

WATT: A year or so ago, I made a documentary about sports gambling, sat down with an NFL executive V.P.

How much money do you make on selling your data to the sportsbooks?

JEFF MILLER, NFL EXECUTIVE V.P. FOR COMMUNICATIONS, PUBLIC AFFAIRS AND POLICY, HEALTH AND SAFETY INITIATIVES: We have a licensing deal with Genius Sports that then sends it to the sportsbook,

WATT: Which -- but how much money do you make?

MILLER: I don't think we necessarily disclose that but we don't make anything bet on any individual bet.

WATT: It's just a tip of the licensing deal?

Well, not exactly. The NFL actually owns a chunk of Genius Sports by taking shares in exchange for data. They won't tell us how much. SEC filings show at least 6 percent right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's take a look at BetVision.

WATT: This is Genius Investor Day in December. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is front and center. A lot of talk of BetVision, a new Genius product that allows fans to place a bet live by tapping a player.

MATT FLECKENSTEIN, CHIEF PRODUCT AND TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, GENIUS SPORTS: The end result is an immersive, intelligent, interactive tool to convert traditional fans into high engagement in-play bettors. LEVANT: The NFL, let's be clear, has invested in a company whose stated mission is to convert their fans, not only get them to gamble, but convert them, turn them into live in-game bettors, which are most profitable for the gambling industry.

WATT: And most problematic from an addiction point of view?

LEVANT: Without question.

WATT: The NFL declined an interview for this story. This partnership allows us to monitor betting patterns, identify suspicious activity, and take action to safeguard the integrity of the game, a spokesperson wrote in an email, adding, we work with experts and community partners to address and mitigate gambling risks.

During the battle to legalize sports betting, Goodell argued very strongly against all this back in 2012. The NFL and others sued to stop it. Asked under oath about the greatest threat to the integrity of football, Goodell said gambling would be number one on my list. And he said, if you're a 49er fan, we want you rooting for the 49ers to win, not to lose but I win my bet.

Goodell has changed his mind dramatically. Genius posted his investor day interview on YouTube.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you're happy with the relationship first five years?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we are very happy.

JACK DAVISON, CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER, GENIUS SPORTS: Our goal is simple. We build products that help sportsbooks increase handle, improve margins, and engage and retain players.

WATT: Handle is the amount of money the public gambles. An estimated $30 billion was wagered on the NFL last season, and --

DAVISON: And the U.S. market is expected to nearly double over the next five years.

LEVANT: The goal is a live stream where you can bet 100 percent of the time that you're watching that game on a live feed.

WATT: Tell me how I should behave to do it properly, responsibly, to enjoy it, but not be overwhelmed by it.

SHANE KRAUS, DIRECTOR, BEHAVIORAL ADDICTIONS LAB, UNLV: Place all your bets before the game starts and no more bets. That's it.

WATT: Really?

KRAUS: Yes. And the goal is going to be eliminating, I think, some of the very high risk things, live betting and parlays.

[18:20:01] FONG: Gambling disorder had one of the highest rates of suicidal thinking. We classify it in the same chapters that we do with all the other addictions, tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, opioids, cocaine.

WATT: The NFL's investment in Genius grows with gambling well beyond the grid iron. Genius has more than 650 global sportsbook partners. On some of those deals, Genius takes a share of revenue, not just a flat fee. More than 400 leagues and federations sell their data through Genius, including England's Premier League Soccer, where bets are now live 97 percent of the time in games, and A.I. odd setting has improved the margin for one sportsbook by 23 percent.

DAVISON: These are structural improvements to the economics of in- play trading, and another way we're empowering our sportsbook partners to maximize their revenue.

LEVANT: The revenue, that's what the gambling industry calls it. You will not hear me use that word, because what we're talking about are losses, how much the public loses. This is not what the American people asked for. We liked our sports before it became the equivalent of a nonstop slot machine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WATT (on camera): So, I reached out to Genius Sports for comment. They referred me to the NFL. And the NFL told me, listen, once this became legal, we had no choice but to engage with it. We need to see the betting patterns. We need to keep an eye on anything that might be suspect, and we need to deal with it.

You know, they also flagged their education, prevention, and support initiatives to help problem gamblers. But, Jake, when I asked them about this issue of converting fans into high engagement in-game bettors, they didn't really answer that question. Jake?

TAPPER: Goodell, man. Goodell, I'm just going to bite my tongue.

Nick Watt, thanks so much.

Brand new video just into CNN shows an Iranian missile strike on a major refinery in Israel. We're going to go live to Tel Aviv, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with breaking news in our World Lead. You're looking at the aftermath of an Iranian ballistic missile strike a few hours ago on a major refinery in Northern Israel. Emergency teams are at that refinery right now assessing the damage.

Also, just a few hours ago, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, gave his country an update on the Iran war, saying that Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles, but Netanyahu also said that it's too soon to tell if Iranians will take to the streets and take their government back from the regime.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is in Israel. Jeremy, what else did the prime minister have to say about how the war is proceeding?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israeli prime minister certainly touted what he views as the successes of this military campaign so far. He insisted that the U.S. and Israel are making the world a safer place by continuing to carry it out.

But, you know, we've heard numerous experts now question the kind of strategy of killing all of these senior Iranian officials, and I pressed the prime minister on that notion today on whether killing so many of these officials, including the former supreme leader, is ultimately just emboldening the hardline elements of the regime.

Here's what the prime minister told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We're seeing some defections. We're seeing fear and trepidation in the IRGC units that are manning the ballistic missiles. You know why? Because they're afraid to die. They're not all suicidal. In fact, most of them are not. So, we're seeing cracks. But we're going to hit them again and again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And the Israeli Prime Minister also cast out on who is actually leading Iran. He pointed out once again that we haven't yet seen the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in person, and he said that he's seeing some cracks not just among the rank and file, those people manning the ballistic missile launchers, but also at the very top.

There is a real question though about whether that is actually the case. The prime minister once again said that for regime change to happen, the Iranian people need to actually rise up. But he made clear that he knows that that is not a guaranteed outcome of this campaign.

TAPPER: Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, Israel, thanks so much.

An American college student who disappeared on spring break in Spain has tragically been found dead. What we're learning about the investigation into this horrible story, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: We're back with breaking news out of Barcelona, Spain, and I truly wish I had some better news for you. James Gracey, the 20-year- old American college student who disappeared during his spring break trip earlier this week, has been found dead. Police found his body today.

CNN's Melissa Bell is in Barcelona. And, Melissa, just horrible news, where did police find him?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jake, this is such a sad story. Jimmy, as he was known to his friends and family, had come here to Barcelona only on Monday. It was here at the Shoko Club on Barcelona's waterfront that he was last seen in the early hours of Tuesday morning. About 3:00 A.M., he got separated from the friends he'd come here to visit during his spring break, and the desperate search to find him had been on ever since his father had flown over to Barcelona to try and get any news he could of his son.

And the latest we've just heard from earlier this evening from authorities here in Barcelona is that they'd found this body earlier tonight. Initially, we didn't know if they confirmed it was his identity. Now, we understand they have confirmed that it is the body of James Gracey, just 20 years old, the oldest of five siblings, a keen hockey player, also the chaplain of his fraternity, a man with his whole life ahead of him now confirmed dead by Barcelona authorities. Jake?

TAPPER: Where does the investigation go from here?

I think Melissa might have lost IFB. In any case, horrible news. Melissa Bell in Barcelona, Spain.

Fresh off a major legal victory, the rapper, Afroman, is here next for an interview you are not going to want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, a significant verdict this week in the case of Afroman. Now, if you don't know his story, you might recognize the name from this.

His 2000 hit, Because I Got High, it was a banger back then, it's a banger right now.

In August of 2022, Adams County, Ohio, police executed a search warrant of Afroman's home for evidence of drug trafficking and, believe it or not, kidnapping. They found no such evidence. But they did manage to break his gate, kick in his front door, and cut his security camera cords. And Afroman, well, he decided to get revenge. The only way he knew how, through music.

Lemon pound cake. After hearing the many songs written by Afroman at their expense, believe it or not, the police officers who broke into his house sued Afroman for defamation in 2023.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does it paint you in a false light?

SGT. RANDOLPH WALTERS JR., ADAMS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: Yes, that my wife is cheating on me with Mr. Foreman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we all know that's not true, correct?

WALTERS: I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wait, you don't know if your wife's cheating on you or not?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The jury ruled in favor of Mr. Foreman, AKA Afroman, and his music.

And here now to talk about his case and his First Amendment victory, Joseph Foreman, also more commonly known as Afroman.

Mr. Foreman how are you feeling after this decision by the jury?

[18:40:00]

AFROMAN, RAPPER AND SINGER: Rejoiceful, I feel great. I feel real good. I feel good. I'm happy that freedom of speech and common sense is still around.

TAPPER: When did you decide that you were going to make songs mocking the police who raided your home and destroyed your gate and your door and all the rest? Like was that an immediate decision or how did you come across that decision?

AFROMAN: My ex-wife put me on a FaceTime with Randy Walters, the guy they was asking about his wife, and I asked Randy Walters if I was under arrest. He said no. I asked him if there were any charges. He said no. And then I asked him if he would help me put my door back on the hinges, and he smiled and he waddled his head and he said, we're not required to do that.

I didn't want to get in a verbal exchange with him. So, real quickly I said, thank you. And it was at that moment when he was unapologetic and he was kind of celebrating the fact that he vandalized my property, that's when I went into thought. I didn't know what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to do something.

TAPPER: Did anyone from the police department reach out to you after the raid to apologize or to offer to help repair your door or your gate?

AFROMAN: Randy Walters, the guy, you know, that you had -- I think you had -- that was asking about his wife, he came up to me after the trial. And he apologized and he told me he was a Christian and everything, and I told him -- you know, like I told him he wasn't a Christian when he kicked down the door. He wasn't a Christian when I asked him to help me put it back up on the hinges. And I told him he wasn't a Christian when he was flipping off my surveillance cameras.

And I told him that I forgave him. I told him I didn't want him to burn in hell. I didn't want nobody to beat him up. I told him I didn't want nobody to shoot him. I told him I didn't have nothing against him. But I told him I was still going to sing the songs I wrote about him.

And I kind of thought about like when a guy kills somebody, he can go apologize to the family, he can really mean it, but he still has to go do his time, if you understand what I'm saying. So, in my mind, like I had to spend my money to repair my house. So, after he tried to get me for $4 million, flipped me off, unapologetic about my door, you know, I'm still willing to work with him, but I'm singing these songs, I'm promoting them. I am -- you know, and he has to pay for, you know, being unapologetic and being impolite when he was wrong.

TAPPER: So --

AFROMAN: But that's it. You know, I just want to sing my song. I don't -- you know, that's -- hey, that's what I do. I'm a rapper.

TAPPER: That's what you do.

AFROMAN: I want to a rap.

TAPPER: That's what you do.

AFROMAN: And --

TAPPER: Yes. You said your kids were traumatized during the raid. How are they doing now?

AFROMAN: They're real good. They're happy. They're proud of me. You know, I hate they had to see it, but, you know, sometime a man got to be a man. I mean, you got people running around your house with AR- 15s. You know, you got to make a stand and do something about it. I can't run around their house with AR-15s. They can't run around my house with AR-15s, you know? So, I had to do whatever I could to stop that.

TAPPER: Do you think that these officers have any idea that by suing you, they were going to make the songs and you even more famous and popular?

AFROMAN: You know, I'm from the -- you know, I'm from the ghetto. I'm from the hood. And one thing we learned in the hood, in the ghetto, is, as little kids, you don't let the other little kids know something hurts your feelings because they really do it.

TAPPER: Yes.

AFROMAN: And it's like these guys, they come off like brats that always got their way, and when it couldn't go their way, they threw a major tantrum.

Now, a kid throws a tantrum in Walmart, but this was like an adult tantrum. Everything had to go their way. They had to be right even when they were wrong. They couldn't eat some humble pie and be like, you know what? I was wrong. I'm sorry, let's make it right, this, that and the other.

[18:45:01] Like, I didn't get -- I didn't feel no type of way until I seen Randy Walters waddling his head, you know?

TAPPER: So, speaking of humble pie, tell us about the lemon pound cake that you mentioned in your song.

AFROMAN: Yes. You know, when I was watching the raid, I was mad about, you know, I was watching the door, I was angry. And one of my fans just happened to put in the comments, watch him watch the lemon pound cake. And then I looked at it and it was kind of funny.

And then I put it up on my post. I took his clip. He put his clip in my comments. You know he did it for me. He put his clip in my comments. So I downloaded his clip and, and I didn't really think it was a big deal, but I posted it and people were just going crazy, you know, like, hey, you know?

And every time I said lemon pound cake, the comments would run up and it was like this magic word. So, we made a song about it named the album and it's been working.

TAPPER: I think -- I think it's great. The -- I think its two reasons for the lemon pound cake. One, it's like, no, you didn't have any kidnapping victims or 1,000 pounds of drugs. You had a lemon pound cake and two that is a generously proportioned police officer looking at that, that lemon pound cake, he is --

AFROMAN: Hey, I'm a -- I'm a -- I'm a generously proportioned person myself so I know what he was thinking. You know what I'm saying? Hey.

TAPPER: All right.

AFROMAN: Hey, me. This town -- this town ain't big enough for the both of us.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: Afroman, thank you. And congratulations on your First Amendment victory. We celebrate freedom of speech on the show, and you are our hero of the week.

AFROMAN: Yes, sir. Thank you. Thank you.

TAPPER: Major news -- major news in our pop culture lead, ABC says it's canceling the upcoming season of "The Bachelorette" just days before the show was set to premiere. It was set to star Taylor Frankie Paul who rose to fame on TikTok, and Hulu's series "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives".

CNN entertainment reporter Lisa Respers France is here with the details.

Lisa, Taylor Frankie Paul was just doing a promo for the show yesterday. How did we get here? Would -- they just canceled the whole thing. LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Yeah, we got here,

Jake, because people who watched "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" from the first season, the actual first episode involved her getting arrested because of a domestic violence incident involving her now former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen, who's also the father of her youngest child.

And it -- the headlines went out recently that she was being investigated, and we confirmed that she's part of a domestic violence investigation -- ongoing investigation. We confirmed that with the Draper Police Department in Utah.

But what happened today is TMZ, they published a video which shows an altercation between Taylor and Dakota from back in 2023, in which her daughter is present, her young daughter is present, and it's a really disturbing video to watch. And soon after that video, you know came out, there was a lot of conversation about it on social media and later on today, the ABC released a statement in which they expressed that they were going to cancel "The Bachelorette", which was set to premiere this season. Starring her was set to premiere on Sunday. And we have the statement from them in which they said, in light of the newly released video just surfaced today, we have made the decision to not move forward with the new season of "The Bachelorette" at this time, and our focus is on supporting the family.

So, it's clear, Jake, that ABC felt like they could not go ahead, given the very disturbing video that's now out there. And we also do know that Taylor's rep released a statement. And you know, she said that she's taking time for herself and she's very grateful to ABC for the support and that, you know she wants to protect herself and her family. So that's where we're at now, Jake.

TAPPER: ABC is going to take a big financial hit for that decision.

Lisa Respers France, thank you so much.

Gas prices have risen 90 cents per gallon since the start of the Iran war. Hear what President Trump said today about the higher costs. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything was going great. The economy was great. Oil prices were very low. Gasoline was dropping, too. I mean, we had a dollar $1.99, $1.85. We had great everything.

And I saw what was happening in Iran, and I said -- I hate to make this excursion, but were going to have to do it and I actually thought the numbers would be worse. I thought that it would go up more than it did.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: In our politics lead, if President Trump thought it was the best of times for the economy before the war with Iran began on February 28th, a new Yahoo/YouGov poll has some bad news for him. Sixty-one percent of U.S. adults surveyed say they disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, 32 percent approve.

Trump's numbers get worse when it comes to gas prices 66 percent say they disapprove 27 percent approve. This comes as gas prices continue to rise. Today's national average is $3.88 per gallon.

Joining discuss is the panel.

So, Shermichael, you will recall as a frequent guest on the show that we were talking about high prices before the war with Iran. Gas was one of the silver linings. One of the things that the prices were going down, but groceries were up, et cetera, et cetera. Do you think that this is the right message for President Trump on the economy?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I think we're already here. So, the question for me as a strategist, if I were in the political shop with the white house advising the president, we need to quickly gain control over the Strait of Hormuz. If you look at all the markets, it's indicating that there is just instability. So, the traders, buyers are wondering, how long is this going to last?

[18:55:03]

Is this going to have permanent implications six months to a year down the line? You also have to account for potential course correction within the marketplace. That stuff doesn't happen overnight, Jake. And so I'm not a military guy, but if I were advised, I'd say, hey, you got to get the secretary of war on the phone and say, look we got to figure this out. Probably within the next 30 days because summer is quickly approaching. That's where most people are doing a lot of driving, a lot of traveling. I think most people will really begin to feel that pain by that point.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think you can assume, let's say we did get control of the Strait of Hormuz. The gas prices are automatically going to go down quickly afterwards. Think about COVID. When prices went up and everybody said, oh, at some point, they're all going to come back down. They didn't because guess what? Companies like to make money.

So I don't think it's a -- it's not a guarantee I think this is another example of having not done the work on the front end to at least prepare the American people to say look, it's going to be a little bit of pain or I would not call it an excursion when we have people dying and being injured.

By the way, talk about it -- I mean, bring people into why this is important so that when the pain is hitting you, it's people feel like you've called them to something. That's kind of a politics 101 strategy.

TAPPER: Some big races coming up. And it does seem as though politicians, especially Republican politicians are having difficulty figuring out how to talk about the economic crisis.

And in a radio interview yesterday, former NFL sideline reporter, Republican candidate for Minnesota Senate seat Michele Tafoya was asked about the big issues that she's hearing from voters as she campaigns. And she said affordability. And then she had to say, she then shared this advice for Americans worried about rising gas prices

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

MICHELE TAFOYA (R), MINNESOTA SENATE CANDIDATE: I know it's frustrating and I know it's hard for people. What I would say to them is we've lost some service members over there who have put their lives on the line to protect us. I think right now, at least just kind of keeping a stiff upper lip. Maybe you take one less trip to Starbucks and so that gas goes a little further until this thing is over and these gas prices come back down again. Let's just try to be patriots about this.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: Boy, if she just stopped with the service members that put their lives on the line to protect us, then like that would have been a pretty good message, I think. But then she went on to talk about one less Starbucks, stiff upper lip, try to be patriots.

FINNEY: Yeah, she would have been just fine -- you know, I'm old enough to remember when Barack Obama was talking about arugula in Iowa. And we all kind of -- it was so cringe, cringe because it was just so not, you know, out of whack with where people really were, you know?

TAPPER: Most people don't go to Starbucks. They --

FINNEY: No, they do not.

TAPPER: It's expensive coffee.

FINNEY: I don't look at Starbucks.

TAPPER: It's expensive coffee.

FINNEY: But you know, here's what's interesting about that. You know, so speaking with American men just, you know been doing polling with young men.

And interestingly enough, one of the things they're seeing the way people are talking about this is why are we doing that when I can't afford gas and groceries? Why are we in Iran? Why are we worried about, you know, some of these other things? The ballroom when and so she would have just kept it to here's where -- here's what people are worried about. I understand that concern, and it's something I'll fight for when I get into --

TAPPER: Yeah.

FINNEY: I'm not -- you know, for giving Republicans advice, but don't talk about Starbucks. It's like when we talked about how many dolls. Don't buy three dolls. Buy two dolls, none of that. Don't assume you know people's lives.

TAPPER: So, Shermichael, take a listen to this because Democratic Senator John Fetterman, who broke with his party to advance the nomination of Senator Markwayne Mullin, Republican of Oklahoma for homeland security secretary, he was asked on "The All In" podcast, who is the leader of the Democratic Party?

Here is Democratic Senator Fetterman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): They don't have one. I think -- I think the TDS, I think that's the leader right now. You know, right now, our party is governed by the TDS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: TDS, of course, stands for Trump derangement syndrome. What do you think?

SINGLETON: Look, Democrats got to figure out what their message is to the American people --

TAPPER: That's definitely not it.

SINGLETON: -- beyond Trump is just bad.

TAPPER: Yeah.

SINGLETON: They've tried that playbook over and over again and hasn't worked. Now, Karen just made a good argument in terms of how you communicate, should communicate to people about the economic pain that they're feeling.

I think focusing more on that would probably benefit Democrats as a party, although I will acknowledge that in these individual special election races, they have seen significant success. And I have to acknowledge that.

That said I just want to address quickly this gas price prices and affordability. There is a reason why we're in Iran. And I think sometimes in our country, we forget the fact that our economic recovery has been greater than any other country in the Western world.

TAPPER: Yeah.

SINGLETON: We forget that the ability to keep raising inflation and printing more money, our military prowess, the respect that we have, is all because of the systems we built after World War Two. This may seem complicated, but there's a reason we're there. One, stabilization in the region. Two, China.

TAPPER: Okay, you got 20 seconds, Karen.

FINNEY: That's a better way to explain it than the president and any of his advisors have done over the last three weeks.

TAPPER: I've always said Shermichael has my vote.

FINNEY: I know.

SINGLETON: You'll advise if I run?

FINNEY: I'm saying they should be listening.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: All right.

FINNEY: The messaging.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

If you miss the show, you can always watch it on the CNN app.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.