Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Threatens To Blow Iran Forces If They Target U.S. Ships; The Washington Post: Medicare Portal Database Exposed Health Providers' Social Security Numbers; GOP Mounting Quiet Campaign To Lure Fetterman Away From Dems; Rep. Mace Gives Update In Congress Sexual Harassment Probe; Jeffries Leads Redistricting Effort In New York; Supreme Court Ruling Sets Off Gerrymandering Scramble; Secret Service Shoots Armed Man Near White House; Putin Boosts Security Amid Leaked Coup Threat Claims. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 04, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: If Iran targets U.S. ships, Trump says they'll be -- quote -- "blown off the face of the earth." "The Lead" starts right now.

A strong new threat as the U.S. shoots down more Iranian boats and says Iran took aim at U.S. ships. Is the fragile ceasefire on the verge of collapse? Plus, major questions after a frightening flight. A United plane flying so low it clipped a truck and a pole. The new investigation into this very close call. And did taxpayer money help keep sexual harassment cases involving several members of Congress out of public eye? A congresswoman says she filed a subpoena and now has receipts proving that it did happen.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

TAPPER: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. We start with breaking news on our "World Lead."

President Donald Trump today in a phone call with Fox warned Iranian forces they would be -- quote -- "blown off the face of the earth" if they try to target U.S. ships. The ceasefire now appears to be in danger of falling apart if not falling apart as both the U.S. and Iran have traded shots over the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.

Today, the U.S. Military says it blew up six Iranian boats in the strait after Tehran launched -- quote -- "multiple cruise missiles, drones, and small boats at American naval ships and commercial vessels." United Kingdom maritime trade operation says at least two vessels were on fire.

This escalation appears to stem from last night when President Trump announced a new initiative to encourage commercial ships to pass through the strait, saying the U.S. Military would guide ships through the strait. The U.S. Military says two U.S.-flagged vessels did successfully pass through the strait. Iran denies this, however, and warns any attempt by U.S. aircraft carriers to approach the Strait of Hormuz will be met with force. All of this is happening in week 10 of a war that the administration initially told us would last four to six weeks.

The Strait of Hormuz being effectively closed for this long is why gas prices are climbing so high, an average of $4.46 per gallon today. And experts say if the strait doesn't open soon, $5 a gallon gas will become a reality.

The ceasefire instability, however, is not limited to fighting within the Strait of Hormuz. Iran today also restarted striking the United Arab Emirates, a key U.S. UAE says its air defenses engaged 19 Iranian missiles and drones, saying three Indian nationals were injured in a major fire caused by a strike on an oil port.

Let's bring in our panel to talk about this. Alex Plitsas is the director of the counterterrorism program at the Atlantic Council. Sabrina Singh is the former deputy press secretary at the Pentagon under President Biden. Alex, the president now faces a big decision, whether to call off the ceasefire officially and resume striking Iran or not. Where do you see this going?

ALEX PLITSAS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST, DIRECTOR OF THE COUNTER TERRORISM PROGRAM AT ATLANTIC COUNCIL, FORMER OFFICIAL AT DEFENSE DEPARTMENT AND PENTAGON: Well, that will largely depend on the Iranians. I mean, there has been a humanitarian crisis in the strait that really hasn't gotten enough attention. There have been thousands of mariners stuck on ships, and the president was right to say that they needed to leave, and Iran really shouldn't be allowed to control.

There was some initial conjecture by the president that perhaps, you know, it might not be a bad thing if there was some joint control over the strait, but he quickly pivoted and said that that's not the case, the Iranians can't control it. The State Department announced late last week that there was going to be a naval coalition bill to help with escorts. So, the messaging now is pretty clear that the U.S. isn't going to allow it to happen. And now, they're testing the Iranians' resolve. So, depending on how the Iranians respond to this, we could see further action.

TAPPER: And Sabrina, Trump said the U.S. Military will guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz. He did not say they would escort them. There is a difference between a vessel being escorted by the Navy presumably the entire time and being guided. But tell us more about that difference and is this a realistic proposal?

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR, FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: There's a big difference between being escorted and guided. I think escorting is you are fully around that ship and providing protective capabilities as they transit a passage. Guiding is basically you've set up some type of coordination cell and you're telling ships how to navigate through the strait.

Now, Admiral Brad Cooper today said that they were providing some support via Apache helicopters and other -- and with their destroyers to allow ships to come through. He mentioned that they'd blown up six speedboats that Iran launched at different commercial vessels.

But it's very different and it's very different from what we did in the Biden administration which was that we had gathered a coalition of countries over a dozen countries and started escorting ships that were making that transit through the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab when the Houthis were firing missiles.

[17:05:02]

So, it's one step below that. It remains to be seen how effective this will be. I mean, CENTCOM did say two vessels got through, but there are so many more sailors and vessels stuck in that area. It's going to take a lot more capability to open up the strait.

TAPPER: Yes. I think it's something like 80 to 100 a day go through --

SINGH: Right.

TAPPER: -- the Strait of Hormuz. So, two is not a lot. Alex, why do you think Iran has also restarted attacks on the UAE? And could that sort of side strike get out of hand, do you think?

PLITSAS: So, there has been some development since the beginning of the conflict that have caused, I think, the Iranians to think that they could sort of do this and get away with it. Most recently, the UAE announced it was exiting OPEC. There has been, you know, open levels of below-level hostile, couple of hostilities between the UAE and Saudi over the last few years. We saw it play out in Yemen as well. And they also bore the brunt of all the attacks to date. They've also -- you know, it was clear that the Israelis had also provided Golden Dome technology.

And so, between the relationship with the United States, the relationship with the Israelis exiting OPEC and the Saudis, and then some ships trying to leave Fujairah, you know, which is on the, as you showed on the map there, eastern coast there of the Peninsula where that explosion mark is, that the Iranians felt they could take a shot at it.

It was also a warning because there are also massive oil storage tanks there that if anybody tries to do something they don't like, they could potentially attack oil infrastructure and cause further distress to the markets and pricing which, I think, the president is concerned about. So, this was all calculated on their part, though the president seems to have tried to dismiss that as just a rogue event in light of the fact that it was isolated at least until now, but we'll see if the Iranians continue.

TAPPER: And Sabrina, the status of the strait depends largely on the confidence of commercial shipping companies and insurance companies and whether they believe it's safe enough to transit. Clearly, even amid the ceasefire, this isn't safe. We see this today. What would it take to give the companies and the insurance companies, the vessel companies and the insurance companies' confidence to resume the world global oil trade?

SINGH: Well, like you said, this is the biggest thing. I mean, a captain might be willing to make the transit, but will the company, will the insurance company be willing to put forward that money and say, OK, go for it? And likely, that's unlikely to happen unless there is a true end to the war.

So, I think what companies and insurance companies are particularly looking at is what's the off-ramp here and who is going to be clearing the strait of those mines because the companies want to see those mines being cleared out of the way and they, frankly, want a coalition to probably help with some of those efforts as well.

TAPPER: So, Alex, I want to ask you. The 60 days from the moment that President Trump notified Congress about this military operation, that's long expired. But the defense secretary and lot of Republicans in Congress are saying, oh, that's on hold because there haven't been any kinetic strikes since earlier in April. Now, there's a question about whether that's even legitimate since, obviously, the U.S. has a naval -- has a blockade against the Iranians and that is still considered an act of war. But beyond that, given what's going on in the strait today, is it fair to say that this ceasefire is off?

PLITSAS: That's the tough part and the administration is trying to contend that it is, in fact, still in place. And I think the president, that's the reason, part of the reason he sorts of dismissed the single event today. We saw with the UAE perhaps a rogue firing event as opposed to us continuing to be in hostilities.

You know, the War Powers Act was passed in 1973 with a two-thirds override of President Nixon's veto as a means to put a check on presidential power for going to war. And after 60 days, if you do not have, you know, permission from Congress, you're supposed to start redeploying forces. No presidents ever really recognized the constitutionality of it. Most have complied. Only a couple of instances where they haven't.

And the courts have only granted standing in a couple of cases. So, the larger constitutional question really hasn't been addressed. So, if this ends up in the courts, this could end up being a pivotal moment, but it doesn't look like that's something that's going to get resolved in the short term here.

TAPPER: And Sabrina, as a former Pentagon insider, what are you looking for that the rest of us laymen don't have any idea is significant?

SINGH: I'm looking forward to see what other forces, potential movements, get moved to the region, a change in force posture. I'm also -- I mean, of course, we're always going to be monitoring what the president is saying on Truth Social. And I think what's important here is the president's Truth Social post not only move markets, but it signals to the Iranians what's coming.

And so, you could in the next few hours or overnight say he could tweet, Iran violated the ceasefire, we're starting up kinetic strikes. The only reason why I don't think that's going to happen is the president does not want to go back to war. I mean, just look at his approval ratings. He is in the tank on this.

And so, I think he wants to find an off ramp here, maybe extend the ceasefire, get a larger deal. But the biggest thing here is that strait opening, and that's going to take a lot of time, to resume levels where gas prices were -- where they were before the war.

TAPPER: All right. Sabrina Singh and Alex Plitsas, thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

[17:09:59]

Six months out from the November midterms to fight for 2026 just kicked into overdrive. The list of states pushing to redraw their congressional maps is growing. And there's a lawsuit to stop what has already been done in Louisiana. We're going to talk to a congressman at the center of it all. Plus, is the Kremlin in crisis? The intelligence report detailing the risk of a coup under Vladimir Putin. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Yet another frightening close call involving an airline tops our "National Lead." A federal investigation is now open as to why a Boeing 767 passenger jet was flying so low that it hit a tractor trailer on the New Jersey turnpike and toppled a light pole just before landing at Newark's Liberty Airport. Here's CNN's Pete Muntean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This new image shows what appears to be the moment a delivery truck of baked goods was delivered a blow by a Boeing 767.

(CRASHING)

Truck driver Warren Boardley suffered cuts from broken glass and was able to pull over and dial 911, according to his boss.

[17:14:58]

The dash cam video slowed down shows United Flight 169's wingtip and then its landing gear visible just outside the truck's window.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Runway 29, clear to land.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Clear to land, Runway 29, United 169.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): Arriving from a nearly nine-hour flight from Italy, the plane also hit a light pole before touching down on Newark's shortest runway known as Runway 29. It is bordered on the east by I-95, the New Jersey turnpike, where planes soar just above the highway.

STEVE KOHNENKAMP, WITNESS: It was a really scary thing. MUNTEAN (voice-over): Steve Kohnenkamp watched the incident play out from his car.

KOHNENKAMP: As I'm getting closer to the plane, it's getting really low. I'm like, oh my god, is this going to land on the highway? It goes past me. I turn to my right. I smell burning rubber. I'm like in a turbulence of the wind.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): But those inside the plane did not know what happened until after arriving at the gate and a crew was sent to inspect the runway.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Did you get the reports for what the issue was?

UNKNOWN (voice-over): I got different conflictions on the turnpike.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Yes, they felt something over the threshold and there's a hole in the side of the airplane. So, I'm going to get you on the runway here in a moment.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): A National Transportation Safety Board investigation will determine exactly what went wrong. Investigators are planning to review the plane's voice and data recorders as well as interview the pilots.

PETER GOETZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST, FORMER MANAGING DIRECTOR AT NTSB: On these events, the pilots' memories, you know, they're important, but it's the data recorder and the voice recorder that tells the story. He was extraordinarily lucky that it didn't turn into a much greater disaster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN (on camera): There's also this new development from the National Transportation Safety Board. Late Monday, investigators reclassified this incident. They're now calling it an accident, which denotes a higher level of severity. The NTSB says that is due in part to the damage to the plane. Flight tracking shows that that plane remains in New York tonight. By the way, published procedures for this runway include a special note for pilots. It warns them especially not to be low on this approach. Jake?

TAPPER: Pete Muntean, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Still ahead, new technical problems for a government website that is supposed to help seniors with health care, but the social security numbers of doctors reportedly ended up exposed on the internet. We're going to get into this one next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:20:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In the "Health Lead," an alarming headline from "The Washington Post" reporting that -- quote -- "A Medicare portal database exposed health providers'" -- meaning doctors -- "social security numbers." The database is intended to help seniors easily see which doctors accept which insurance plans. But since its creation last year, the directory has been plagued with technical issues.

Let's bring in White House reporter Dan Diamond with "The Washington Post." He's one of the journalists out with this new reporting. So, Dan, it's not the information of senior citizens that was exposed here. This was the social security numbers for doctors and other health care providers. What's the basic explanation as to how in the world this even happened?

DAN DIAMOND, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, Jake, we're trying to get that answer from federal officials, too. There are two stories that I've heard, one from the administration, is that providers, doctors, nurses, other health workers, may have accidentally entered their social security numbers into the wrong field.

I've also talked to other technically savvy people who say that's not the explanation, that this data has been in the hands of the federal government for a while and it has been used before. It's just in this case that the social security numbers were made available in this public file.

TAPPER: So, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services or CMS, they manage the portal. Officials told you that they're trying to fix this issue. A spokesperson told you the problem -- quote -- "stems from incorrect entries." As you just noted, a provider or provider representative supplied information in the wrong places. What do doctors and nurses say about that kind of accusation? And have you seen improvements since publishing your report last week, during which a lot of people found out about this problem?

DIAMOND: Well, Jake, I should first say that my colleague and I, Ence Morse, we didn't publish this story right away. We went to federal officials. We gave them a few days to try to fix the problem. We didn't want to put a spotlight on an issue and make bad actors aware that it existed. And I did try to speak to some of these providers and tell them, hey, your social security numbers are in a file that we were able to get.

I will say that it is very hard to call and tell people, even if you say that you're a reporter, that you're talking to them about leaked social security numbers and keep them on the phone. So, there are a number of people who probably didn't realize that I was bringing them a real story until the story published.

But the doctors and other providers I spoke to were understandably alarmed. They had heard broader concerns about the federal government and how it has handled data over this past two years. This is a DOGE- linked initiative. DOGE doesn't have the greatest track record for sensitive data. And there were doctors asking me to explain it. You just asked, too. How did this happen and how will it get fixed?

TAPPER: Explain why you described it as a DOGE-linked initiative. DIAMOND: So, DOGE has forgotten, Jake, but it's not gone. The U.S. DOGE service still exists. Amy Gleason, the acting administrator over DOGE, she was announced last year to some attention. She still works in the federal government. She still has this job at CMS. There are still programmers, too.

[17:25:00]

I'm not sure I can say this on CNN, but I'll say it anyway. Big Balls, a programmer, his nickname is Big Balls, he's still programming websites for the Trump administration. So, there are still DOGE teams working, and this was a DOGE initiative in part to set up a new directory for older Americans to browse and find the doctors and other health workers that they could access through their Medicare private plans.

And as you noted, Jake, there have been problems with this portal since it launched last year, and DOGE has been supporting some of this work and has been pulling, I understand, at the technical fixes.

TAPPER: So, you've been -- you've been tracking issues with this portal since it launched. Tell us about some of the issues, other issues.

DIAMOND: Well, I think the biggest issue when it launched was if your parents, let's say, were logging on and trying to find if their orthopedic surgeon or their physical therapist was covered by a plan, the tool was spitting out the wrong answers. There was some mismatch of location and providers, and that's concerning if you're an older American who's trying to sign up for a health plan and you're hoping that this tool will help you find a plan that covers your doctor.

So, that was the big problem last year. We wrote about that. Some members of Congress got involved. There had been some work to try to fix that. My understanding is that part of the challenge with the new directory, the problems that we see now, come out of an effort to patch the old problem but in so doing, they may have created a new one.

TAPPER: And Dan, I'd be remiss if I didn't congratulate you and your Washington Post team for being awarded a Pulitzer Prize today for your reporting on DOGE. Tell us a little bit about that.

DIAMOND: Well, you're right to say team, Jake, because it was a team effort, notably Hannah Natanson, the incredible reporter who led so much of that coverage, Meryl Kornfield, Jeff Stein, editors like Mike Madden, Jen Liberto. I was part of the team. But maybe to put it in non-journalism terms, I feel sort of like the backup running back on a Super Bowl winning team. So, I'll take it. Don't get me wrong. But it's a total team effort by the Post, and we're continuing to cover the federal government and how it's changing.

TAPPER: You're being very modest. But I read your stuff all the time and it's fantastic. Dan Diamond with "The Washington Post," thank you so much.

DIAMOND: Thank you.

TAPPER: Did taxpayer money help keep sexual harassment cases involving several members of Congress out of the public eye? Well, a Republican congresswoman said she filed a subpoena and now has the receipts. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:33]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, POLITICO has a new story out about the quiet Republican campaign to flip Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania. That's the wrong graphic, folks. It sounds like a fantasy. There it is. But some in the GOP believe it could become a reality as the Senate Democrat appears increasingly isolated within his own party.

Now the POLITICO piece details Fetterman and his wife's close friendships with Republican Senators Katie Britt of Alabama and Dave McCormick, also of Pennsylvania, and their spouses. One part of the story reads, the friendship is in plain view and the subtle courtship is just below the surface. Delivering Fetterman would be a coup for both Republican Senators McCormick and Britt, particularly if the Pennsylvanian is the deciding vote for Republicans to hold power.

My panel joins me now. Shermichael we should note Fetterman has not publicly said that he is looking to leave the Democratic Party. This would be huge for Republicans in holding onto this majority. The piece goes on to talk about how isolated Fetterman might seem.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

TAPPER: Democrats don't sit with him together at the lunches. I mean, that sounds like mean girl stuff from Mediocre.

SINGLETON: It's like high school nonsense. I think our Harry Enten a couple days ago or last week had a poll that showed what his approvals were with Democratic voters in the state. I mean, I think a net negative, if I remember correctly. But I look at this a little differently.

I think it's a very positive thing to have a Democrat who's a reliable Democratic vote. Brett was making that point to me before the segment started. Who has crossover appeal, who can talk with Republicans about complex policy ideas, who can be a voice for Democrats to try to compromise. There is a Republican majority. There are going to be situations and moments where legislation is going to be tough.

If I were Democrats or if I were in the minority in general, I would want to have some of my members who can go over to the other side and advocate for certain things for us when we're trying to meet in the middle. And so I'm a bit surprised by the fact that Democrats have ostracized him so much. It seems to be, to me, a little politically naive.

TAPPER: So, Matt, what is the reason why Democrats in Pennsylvania, the voters have turned against him? I know he's very, very pro-Israel. I'm sure that doesn't help with the progressives. What are the other reasons that he finds himself so on the outs?

MATT BENNETT, CO-FOUNDER AND EV FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS, THIRD WAY: I think more fundamentally, it's about his relationship with Trump. He has many times said that he likes the president and he does performative things that drive Democratic voters crazy, like he's for the ballroom. It's that kind of thing. It's nothing particularly serious. He votes with Democrats 93 percent

of the time, and he voted against Trump on the Big Beautiful Bill.

So he's a pretty good Democrat. And I think Shermichael's right. Like, we need to do a better job of bringing him back into the fold. Senators are people to They want to have relationships with their colleagues. Katie Britt went to see him when he went into the hospital. I don't know if any Democrats did. They should have. And they really need to make an effort to reach out to him.

You know, you're from Pennsylvania. You remember the last time a Pennsylvania senator switched parties was Arlen Specter.

TAPPER: Didn't go great.

BENNETT: And he went the other way. Did not go well.

TAPPER: HE went from Republican.

SINGLETON: He lost his rarely, by the way, this rarely happens. We were talking about this.

BENNETT: Yes.

SINGLETON: This is a rarity in terms of convincing a sitting senator to switch parties. But just because he has friends that are Republicans, Jake, doesn't mean the guy all of a sudden is a conservative.

TAPPER: No, but I think Matt hits the point, which is like, he says things that bother people, even if he votes the way.

SINGLETON: But they need to get over it. Jake, who cares? He's a reliable vote for them. Who cares?

[17:35:05]

TAPPER: So, well, you know, you say that, and yet President Trump and a lot of Republicans are now trying to defeat --

SINGLETON: I don't blame them.

TAPPER: Trying to defeat Congressman Tom Massie of Kentucky. And Massie of Kentucky drew attention to this new ad released by his Republican primary rival, a Trump endorsed candidate named Ed Gallrein. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thomas Massie caught in a throttle in Washington. He's cheating with the squad on the America first movement. Massie voted with the squad against Trump's tax cuts. Massie voted with the squad against finishing Trump's wall. He voted with them against hiring new border agents. Well, this is worse than adultery. It's a complete and total betrayal of President Trump and Kentucky conservatives on May 19th, fire Thomas Massie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, obviously, there's not actually a throuple going on despite that AI video, which is, I have to say, very believable --

SINGLETON: I thought effective.

TAPPER: If you're sitting there and like, you're not really paying much attention and you see pictures of Massie holding hands with AOC and Ilhan Omar, you might think it's -- you might think it's real.

BENNETT: You definitely might. And it's characteristic Trumpian understatement here with the throuple thing. It's insane and ridiculous. But it is an example of what we got to worry about in our politics with AI because to your point, I think a whole bunch of voters are going to think those images are real, they're completely fake.

And, and we're starting to see this in a lot of different ways with people's use of their voice, saying things they never said. And this is a real warning for all of us to be careful about this stuff.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, this -- does get into a question about, like, what should be allowed given the fact that those are not real images. I didn't see anything big --

SINGLETON: That said AI.

TAPPER: AI created or like, don't believe this. We're just tongue in cheek. What do you think about this? Going after a nasty thing? Mainly, I guess it's because of the Epstein files, right?

SINGLETON: Yes, absolutely. The President's not very happy about that. Thomas Massie has also been very outspoken on a litany of other issues that Trump is just not happy about. So I'm not surprised by this. But I think that ad, you know, it sort of targets some of the ardent Trump supporters. You think about how tribal everything is.

And so from the perspective of the average lay voter, he appears disloyal. And Republicans, just like Democrats, they want representatives who are going to stick it to the other side, not someone who's working with the other side. I mean, it goes back to our Fetterman conversation, unfortunately.

And so I could see this absolutely working against him, unfortunately. I don't always agree with Thomas Massie, but I think having autonomy to speak out a little bit is an important part of dialogue in the country in terms of legislating. TAPPER: So first of all, let me just say like, like John Fetterman, he votes with his party more than 90 percent of the time.

BENNETT: He's a very conservative guy.

TAPPER: Yes, very 90 percent of the time. Let's turn to another fascinating issue today. Congresswoman Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, posted on Twitter or X quote the results of my subpoena of Congress's sexual harassment slush funder and nine members 1,000 pages. We're reviewing every page. We will name all nine. She then went on to list names of members of Congress, many of them former members of Congress. CNN has not verified them independently, so we're not going to list them.

But obviously it is certainly worth getting our hands on the thousand pages she got. Where do you see this going?

SINGLETON: Just real quick, I mean, I think it's a good thing. Now, Matt said something, and I'll let him say what he said to me before we came on. And I didn't consider what you mentioned to me when I said this is a very good thing. I don't think taxpayers should be paying for the bad deeds of the people who should be in Congress representing us with a high moral and ethical bar.

But I can understand your point how there could be ramifications to this.

BENNETT: Right. I don't know if this is the case, but it's possible that this could get in the way of criminal investigations. And if that's the case, then they, you know --

TAPPER: Release -- releasing them or the -- or the House settling them?

BENNETT: Well, maybe both. But I certainly agree that, like, if this is happening, taxpayers should know about it. And what we've seen recently with Gonzales and Swalwell is incredibly horrifying conduct on the part of these members. And apparently it's pretty widespread. And while I'm often skeptical of Nancy Mace in this case, she may be right.

TAPPER: All right, everyone stick around. We've got a lot more to talk about. I want to squeeze in a quick break, but I also want to talk about the fight for 2026 more states jumping into this redistricting, gerrymandering, cold war that we're in, push to redraw their congressional maps. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:43:38]

TAPPER: Sticking with our Politics Lead. The gerrymandering arms race is escalating not even a week since the U.S. Supreme Court decision making race in congressional maps racial consideration unconstitutional. Today, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries is now pushing for New York to change its congressional maps to give Democrats more of an advantage.

Also today, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed that state's new congressional map into law. Would give theoretically, it could give Republicans four additional House seats. New maps benefiting Republicans could also be coming in Tennessee and Alabama with special sessions in those states now set.

Louisiana, the state faces a new lawsuit after putting its U.S. House primaries on hold just days before early voting was set to begin.

The panel is back and boy, this is a mess. Matt, is this gerrymandering arms race just going to continue until the last possible moment they can squeeze out one more vote?

BENNETT: Yes, apparently. I mean, we're in this horrible race to the bottom. I voted for the Virginia bill to change the maps because we had to, you know --

TAPPER: Because Democrats.

BENNETT: Yes, Democrats. I didn't want to, though. I mean, this is not how we should be doing this. We should be doing it every 10 years after the census comes out by a commission that does nonpartisan gerrymandering everywhere.

And Democrats would support a bill in Congress to do that. Republicans won't. But look, both sides are doing it right now and it's pretty awful.

[17:45:00]

TAPPER: And the one that started at this midterm. Like, as I said, gerrymandering's been around since the beginning of his country. Gerrymandering's named after a founding father, in fact. But this doing it in the middle of the decade is what's new about it.

And in his truth Social post on Sunday, President Trump, who started this when he told Texas to do it, he wrote, quote, we cannot allow there to be an election that is conducted unconstitutionally simply for the convenience of state legislatures. He's basically saying legislatures need to reconvene to build these -- to create these new maps. If they have to vote twice, so be it. He said. He added, the byproduct is that the Republicans will receive more than 20 House seats in the upcoming midterms. I mean, this idea that presumably.

SINGLETON: I mean, you look at, not to cut you off, Jake, but look at Texas. Like, the presumption was that we would gain all five of those seats. And I have friends who are strategists in Texas, have been for a long time, and we may gain three out of the five. Some estimates, if Democratic turnout is really high and Republican turnout is suppressed because of the Senate race going on right now, that could have ramifications down ballot.

TAPPER: That's the press suppress, but demoralize.

SINGLETON: But demoralize. Correct. TAPPER: Yes.

SINGLETON: Let me be clear on that. We could lose three out of the five. So it's not guaranteed that gerrymandering will absolutely net you the seats. And this is on both sides here. You're not guaranteed to win every single one of those seats. And so to your point, this is a race to the bottom. This is not good for the country. It creates a distrust in our institutions. People don't trust their political leaders.

And so what happens? The result is they pull back, they retract, they don't want to be involved.

TAPPER: Yes.

SINGLETON: Younger people don't want to run for office anymore. All negative things in the long run.

TAPPER: And in your home commonwealth of Virginia, it's also possible that this new map will be found unconstitutional, according to the Virginia Constitution, because there are all sorts of rules that this, I mean, the allegations are that this new map, when it ended, the election went around those rules.

BENNETT: There are. And like, in Louisiana, they're literally voting right now. And there are like, handwritten signs saying, like, don't vote in these races. It's crazy, totally bananas. But I think for Shermichael's point, it's really important to emphasize. What we have now is politicians choosing their voters.

TAPPER: Right.

BENNETT: And it's supposed to be the other way around. And this whole thing is nonsense.

TAPPER: So what do you -- what do you make of the fact that they're actually delaying primaries like people were voting?

SINGLETON: I don't, I just -- Republican, Democrat, like, I'm just not happy about this. Like, I think the American people have a lot on their plates right now. And the one thing at least in the past was you could vote for someone that you assumed would represent your interest when they came into this town. That's no longer the case anymore, Jake. And that's what worries me about the long run.

You see, across the globe, democratization is at an all-time low --

TAPPER: Yes.

SINGLETON: -- fragmentation hyper partisanship is rising steadily in our country. And we're the leader of the free world here. If we set the standard and the example, man, we're not setting a good one today.

TAPPER: So last week I spoke with the attorney general of the state of Alabama, Steve Marshall, about that state's effort to redraw its congressional maps prior to the primary election there. Take a listen to just part of his argument.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE MARSHALL (R) ALABAMA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Alabama ought to have the opportunity, as we've seen Virginia, as we've seen California, we've seen New York, to draw districts that are consistent with those who are seeking that representation. Alabama is a conservative state and they deserve conservative representation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That would mean what he's saying is the one congressional district that Democrats have in Alabama should go because Alabama is a conservative state.

SINGLETON: I live in Virginia. I voted differently from you, Matt. But a lot of Democrats are doing the same thing in our state. There would only be one Republican congressional district. So, I'm not surprised that Republicans say, well, look at Virginia, look at California. And then Democrats are going to say, well, look at Texas, look, look at Florida, look at Alabama.

BENNETT: But there's an important point about Alabama as well, which is the Voting Rights Act, which the section just gutted. And what it did was protect the ability of minority voters in places like Alabama. That's what it was written for, to ensure that they had some representation in Congress. And now they're not going to.

TAPPER: All right, thanks to both of you. We have some breaking news here in Washington, D.C. now. The U.S. Secret Service says one person was shot by law enforcement just blocks from the White House right near the Washington Monument. And CNN's Brian Todd is on the scene. Brian, what are you learning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Jake, we can tell you that this incident began at about 3:30 p.m. Eastern time where according to Matthew Quinn, the deputy director of the Secret Service, it started down this way. We are on the near the intersection of 15th Street and Independence Avenue it started down this way around the White House -- near the White House complex.

According to Matthew Quinn, that's where he says that plain clothed Secret Service officer spotted a man with what he called a visual print of a weapon that they that the man then fled briefly. And he must have fled basically from the White House complex, which is down there, up this way. This is 15th Street right here, up this way toward Independence Avenue.

[17:50:00]

At this point, somewhere around here, the man, according to Matthew Quinn, withdrew his weapon and fired at officers. They fired back and engaged him. They injured him. But also a bystander was caught in the crossfire. The bystander, according to Matthew Quinn, was a juvenile who was injured with non-life threatening injuries and transported from the scene. The suspect also transported from the scene. This is basically where it ended over here, over my right shoulder.

15Th Street and Independence Avenue is the general area where this incident ended. He also said, of course, Matthew Quinn did say that Vice President JD Vance's motorcade passed through here very shortly before this incident unfolded. I asked him whether the Vice president was in the motorcade. He said, yes, he was, but that this incident really did not involve the motorcade.

I asked if this was an attack on the motorcade. He said, no, it was not. So those are the details we have. He was first spotted by plain clothed Secret Service officers, Jake. It was uniformed Secret Service officers who engaged in gunfire with the suspect, wounded him, transported him from the scene.

But also a bystander who was a juvenile was also wounded with non-life threatening injuries, also transported from the scene. Matthew Quinn was asked if this was at all related to the other attempts on President Trump's life. And he said he really couldn't speculate on that. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Brian Todd with the breaking news down near the Washington Monument. Thank you.

Coming up, the intelligence report publicly revealing tightened security around Russia's leader Vladimir Putin over fears of a possible attempted coup. Is the Kremlin in crisis?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:57]

TAPPER: Returning to our World Lead, a gaping hole in the side of an upscale high rise apartment in Moscow showing where a presumed Ukrainian drone struck overnight. City officials say nobody was hurt and other drones were intercepted before they hit their targets. The attack highlights the growing threat to top Russian officials caused by the Vladimir Putin war in Ukraine. And as CNN's Nick Paton Walsh reports for us now, the resulting fears, if not paranoia, go all the way to the top.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR (voice-over): It is a rare pointed insight into one of the starkest secrets in Russia, President Vladimir Putin's security protocols. In it, a detailed intelligence report given to CNN by a source close to a European intelligence agency portrays predictably, a Kremlin in deep crisis.

Cooks, bodyguards and photographers working with Putin must have surveillance systems installed in their homes, it says. Putin has stopped visiting military sites this year entirely, it says, in contrast to last year, often spending time in fortified bunkers and keeping clear of some of his main lavish residences like Valday, a tactic aided by many of his appearances. And he is in the media a lot being pre-recorded.

His staff cannot use smartphones or public transport, the report adds. Visitors must be searched twice.

WALSH: Not all of this information is new, some of it rumored or evident before, but the massive detail is striking, as is the decision by a European intelligence agency to release a report like this, clearly an information salvo designed to stoke strife and paranoia at a time of perceived weakness in the Kremlin.

WALSH (voice-over): The dossier also suggests something staggering, that the measures may be designed to protect Putin from a potential coup, something he had a narrow miss with in June 2023 when mercenary boss and former chef to Putin, Yevgeny Prigozhin led a failed march on Moscow.

The risk of a coup, it says now, is from another former confidant, Sergei Shoigu. Once his minister of defense but now secretary of the Security Council. He retains significant influence within the military high command, it says. The report says a coup is more likely after Shoigu's former deputy

and close associate Ruslan Tsalikov was arrested in March, which it calls a breach of the tacit protection agreements among elites.

But the report doesn't provide any evidence or explain why it has made this risk public warning the Kremlin. It claims the new security measures came after a series of assassinations among the Russian top brass, likely by Ukraine at an urgent meeting last year after the killing of Lt. Gen. Fanil Savarov in Moscow on December 22.

The release of the report has convenient timing four years into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a time when doubts about Russia's ability to sustain its war effort and its economic impact are growing of major internet blackouts, growing internal criticism of Putin himself and continued successful Ukrainian bombardment of targets deep inside Russia.

Especially ahead of the May 9th Victory Day parade, scaled back dramatically this year for security. There are plenty of reasons European intelligence would seek to destabilize the Kremlin, and much of this is hard to corroborate.

But it is rare detail and a confident presentation of a Kremlin in crisis that matches a moment of peaking criticism of Putin internally.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WALSH: Jake, the Kremlin have not responded to our requests for comment, but even just today, we are hearing about potential Internet mobile phone blackouts in the period ahead of this Victory Day parade. Really a sign of a city, Moscow, potentially the Kremlin on edge. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, NPW, thanks so much. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour is the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran still operative? Is it in jeopardy?

[18:00:00]