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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Court Expands Trump's Power To Fire Independent Agency Officials; Trump Must Pay E. Jean Carroll $5 Million After Court Denies His Appeal Of Sexual Abuse Verdict; DHS Secretary Defends TPS Ending For Haitians Despite Safety Risks; Jewish State Senator Harassed Over Gaza At Trans March; JetBlue Pilot Reports Hitting Drone While Landing At JFK Airport. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired June 29, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, the U.S. Supreme Court waiting until the final hours of its term to hand President Trump a series of notable losses, but the justices also significantly expanded the president's powers and abilities to fire federal officials. Our legal experts are here to break down the most significant decisions of the day and discuss the major cases coming down tomorrow on what is expected to be the court's final day of the term.
Plus, tens of millions of Americans will be dealing with blistering heat this week. In some cities, temperatures will reach 110 degrees just as massive crowds are set to gather outdoors for the 4th of July holiday. We're going to get the latest on the forecast and how long this heat dome could last.
Also, an investigation's underway after a JetBlue pilot reported hitting a drone while landing at New York's JFK Airport this morning. If confirmed, this would be one of the first known collisions between a drone and a commercial passenger plane in the U.S. The latest details on this serious risk ahead.
The Lead tonight, the U.S. Supreme Court today handing President Trump several major losses and at least one big win. Let's start with that win that President Trump quickly celebrated on social media. In a 6-3 ruling, the justices expanded the president's power to fire independent agency officials, overturning a nearly century-old precedent. This means Trump's firing of Rebecca Slaughter from the Federal Trade Commission is allowed.
But immediately firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, well, on that matter, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected that, arguing in a 5-4 ruling that Cook was entitled to notice and some opportunity to respond prior to her firing. Now, that case heads back to the lower courts.
Another major loss for the president came in the E. Jean Carroll case, where the court denied the president's appeal of the sexual abuse verdict. That means he must now pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million. We're going to have more on that case in a moment.
Also in the loss column, in a 5-4 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court says states can count mail ballots that arrive after Election Day.
CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. Kaitlan, one big win three losses. How's the president taking it all?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, it's that one there at the end that might be the most frustrating for President Trump, the most frustrating loss, because it's an issue that has long animated him and something that he has railed against for years now against mail-in voting, even as members of his own party have encouraged him to encourage mail-in voting, certainly like they did before the 2020 election.
It's an issue that he has continued to criticize, allege, basically, that it is rife with fraud, even though there are a lot of Republican states that use mail-in voting. It was Mississippi that was at the heart of this case, and of course, there are about a dozen other states that also use it and allow this grace period that the Supreme Court upheld today after Election Day, as long as it's postmarked by then.
But, Jake, really, what is clear is the driving line and the driving takeaway for this president is that he is now getting behind, even more so, his push to try to get Republicans here in Washington to pass the Save America Act. That is that bill that would add more stricter requirements for registering to vote. It would also change I.D. requirements for mail-in voting, and it is also something, Jake, that does not have enough Republican votes right now to pass.
The president has responded to that by saying that his party needs to get rid of the filibuster, which would get rid of that vote threshold that they just can't meet right now, and that is also something that Republicans on Capitol Hill, particularly Senate Republicans, say they are not simply interested in, Jake.
But if it underscores anything, it's that the president is only doubling down on this even more as he was responding to questions about these Supreme Court decisions today when he was talking to reporters in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: With the mail-in ballot ruling, which was a little bit surprising, gives people more time to vote illegally, let's say. But the SAVE Act is even more important.
The only people that would vote against that are people that are going to cheat in an election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Right now, Jake, there are Republicans who don't want to vote for that. But what's clear here is the president is so frustrated by this, wants it to pass so much, and he was criticizing his party over this as he's even, you know, called out the Senate majority leader, John Thune, over this matter, as he did last week, as the president was asked again about signing that housing affordability bill that passed by an overwhelming margin from Democrats and Republicans. And he told reporters in the Oval Office that if it's not the Save America Act, this election law that changes that he wants so badly, he said everything else is a big yawn to him, including that housing bill.
TAPPER: Including a bill that will help people pay for housing.
[18:05:01]
That's a big yawn for the president. All right, keep wondering if he is aware of the midterms coming up.
Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thanks.
Don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guests tonight include Abbe Lowell, who's the attorney for Lisa Cook, after their Supreme Court victory today. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
Now with more on the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing states to count mail-in ballots after Election Day, joining us is Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar. He's also the chairman of the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State. Secretary Aguilar, what's your reaction to today's ruling?
CISCO AGUILAR (D), NEVADA SECRETARY OF STATE: I have to admit, I was pretty shocked when I read the opinion and heard the results. This has been a long time coming, you know, being one of 13 states sued over this issue. We know that in Nevada, mail ballots are the preferred choice of all Nevadans. It's not a Democrat or Republican issue. This is about access to the ballot box in a state that is extremely diverse. We are a 24/7 economy. We want to make sure as many people have a voice in our state moving forward.
But this is a great win for voters across the country. It has not been a good term for the Supreme Court when it comes to voting rights, and this is one opportunity where we can say we got a win.
TAPPER: So, Justice Samuel Alito dissented, and his opinion echoes the complaints that we hear from President Trump and other Republicans about voting by mail. Alito says, quote, allowing absentee ballots to pour in over the days and weeks after Election Day, by which point preliminary election results are being publicly reported, creates greater opportunity for fraud and risks further undermining the public's confidence in election integrity, end quote. What's your response to that?
AGUILAR: These justices don't truly understand the way elections work. Elections work at the state level. The county clerks are the one actually executing the elections. And in Nevada, less than 2 percent of mail ballots arrive after Election Day.
But that 2 percent is critical to deciding some important races. We know that the road to the White House runs through Nevada, and we're going to continue to see that in '28. We know that the '26 election is critical to who oversees the election for the '28 presidential. We know that secretaries are on the frontlines every single day pushing back on these issues.
If they truly wanted to know and develop policy that was strong from an elections perspective, they would be talking to elections officials rather themselves.
TAPPER: There are still cases that elevate Republicans' efforts to tighten voting rules. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court's going to examine the scope of the National Voter Registration Act. That's a 1993 law that governs how states maintain their voting rolls. And while this case is about how Arizona vets voters' citizenship status, it does set up a question with nationwide implications about when election officials can remove people from the voting rolls.
Are you concerned at all that this could push states to use federal citizenship data programs or state citizen databases to verify eligible voters? And if that is a concern, why?
AGUILARY: Absolutely. I think Nevada does a great job administering its elections. We run some of the most safest, secure, and accessible elections in the country, with accessibility being a priority. All the challenges and nuances around the voter rolls is just the president's attempt to control voters. He wants to choose his voters rather than voters actually choosing those who serve in office to service the voters. We need to look at what the true intent of this is. Is this chaos being thrown at us because of the fact that they want to control the elections, or is this in the good policy decisions? And it falls in the bad policy decisions.
TAPPER: Sources tell CNN that the Trump administration's threatening to withhold millions of dollars in federal Homeland Security funds from states unless they adopt election changes, such as using hand- marked paper ballots, running voter rolls through a federal citizenship verification database. How much does Nevada depend on these grants from DHS?
AGUILAR: Well, it's 3 percent of the overall grant. It's about $140,000 to the secretary of state's office, which is directly given to the counties, especially those counties that struggle with resources. We want to make sure that some of our rural counties have the resources to continue to run strong elections. We will make sure they do, and we will.
The challenge is really about whether or not the government can really build a database. When you talk about the bureaucracy of the federal government and they want to build a national database, not only is it just one federal bureaucracy, it's three. When have three major federal bureaucracies ever done something that's successful for the benefit of the citizen?
That is not going to happen by the time the general election comes about. We are going to be well beyond where we are with the general election and on to the '28 election by the time they have any idea how to build this database. Again, it's just an effort to intimidate elections officials. It's another way to force compliance when it know it's bad policy for elections across this country.
TAPPER: Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it.
Coming up next, we're breaking down another big loss for Trump in the Supreme Court today as the justices declined to take up his appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case, meaning he now has to pay her $5 million.
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Those details in moments.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, President Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5 million. Today, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the president's appeal of a 2023 verdict which found that he did indeed sexually abuse and defame E. Jean Carroll, a writer and former magazine columnist.
Now, that case stemmed from Carroll's claim that Trump sexually assaulted her in a New York department store sometime in the 1990s, and then that he defamed her by selling -- she made up the story to sell books.
The High Court may soon be faced with another request to take up a Trump appeal. Trump's lawyers are expected to appeal a second Jean Carroll verdict, where a jury in 2024 awarded her $83 million for defamation. With interest, Trump now owes E. Jean Carroll more than $100 million.
Today, the president continued to deny Carroll's claims with a post on Truth Social saying, quote, surprisingly, the Supreme Court declined to review a fake case brought against me by a woman I never met. I will continue to fight against this weaponization and lawfare case against me, including the ridiculous claim of defamation, with all of my power and strength.
[18:15:05]
Carroll's case is part of a broader pattern of allegation against Trump by women. CNN has found more than a dozen women have made accusations of sexual misconduct, ranging from groping to unwanted advances to rape. One of those women, Journalist Natasha Stoynoff, in 2016 she came forward publicly accusing President Trump of forcing himself on her during an assignment at Mar-a-Lago in 2005. She was a journalist. Trump's 2016 campaign told People Magazine that the incident never happened. Stoynoff testified in E. Jean Carroll's 2022 case against Trump.
Shortly after the verdict in that case, she told me this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NATASHA STOYNOFF: For all -- for many of us who came forward in 2016, it's been a long road and we've dealt with a lot of people not believing our stories. So, to give the story under oath and have a jury believe it is a very heart -- you know, heartwarming, vindicating feeling, just a feeling of hope that when you tell the truth, you can be believed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Jessica Leeds is also among the women who have publicly accused Trump of sexual misconduct. She says that during a flight to New York in 1979, Trump lifted the armrest, grabbed her chest, kissed her, and tried to reach up her skirt. Trump told a Times reporter that none of this ever took place before calling Leeds a disgusting human being.
In 1997, former Ms. Utah Temple Taggart said Trump gave her a non- consensual embrace and kissed her on the lips during a rehearsal for the Miss USA pageant. Temple was 21 at the time and says the behavior repeated later during a meeting at Trump Tower. Here's what she told CNN's Erin Burnett about the encounter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEMPLE TAGGART: I felt awkward, and I just remember in my mind going, what does he think this is? Like, I'm thinking, He's married. This is awkward for me. He's much older. This is not at all what I came here for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: In 2016, Trump told NBC News, quote, I don't even know who she is. I never kissed her. I emphatically deny this ridiculous claim, unquote.
These are just a handful of the many, many allegations of misconduct against Donald Trump. Many of the women came forward publicly in 2016 after the release of the 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump bragged about how he could grab women by their genitals without consent, because if you're a star, they let you do it. Trump dismissed those comments as locker room talk.
The president, we should note, has never been criminally charged or convicted in connection with any alleged sexual misconduct, and he has consistently and categorically denied all allegations of sexual misconduct from the women after women after women after women who have made them.
TAPPER: And joining us now is co-founder of the Lincoln Project, George Conway. George, thanks so much for joining us.
So, your reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's rejection of Trump's appeal in the E. Jean Carroll case?
GEORGE CONWAY, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: Oh, it's a long time coming, and it means that at least with respect to the first jury verdict, which was for $5 million for the sexual assault and for the defamation that Trump committed on, against E. Jean Carroll after he was president, Donald Trump is going to be held liable. The money has already been paid in court. And in a matter of days she should receive that money.
And it's really a very, very significant decision because it's one of the few circumstances where Donald Trump has been held accountable for his corrupt or depraved actions.
TAPPER: So, just to be clear, the president has already paid the $5 million to the court, and now the court will turn that money over?
CONWAY: Yes, he --
TAPPER: Yes, go ahead.
CONWAY: Yes. Yes. The money was paid in order to suspend efforts to collect the judgment. He was required either to post a bond, which he did in the other case, which is the $83.3 million verdict case, and he actually deposited $5 million in cash to a fund that the court holds in the United States District over the Southern District of New York. And so she's going to get that $5 million. And when the other judgment is finally either upheld or sort of is denied in the other case, when that happens, she'll get the -- she'll be able to collect on the $83 million bond.
So, she's going to get at least $5 million now, it's certain of that, and I think it's very likely that she's going to see the rest of it in the not too distant future.
TAPPER: That second case that you just referred to, the jury in 2024 awarding E. Jean Carroll $83 million for defamation, I assume Trump's attorneys are going to appeal that. Is it possible that the U.S. Supreme Court will take that case on?
CONWAY: That issue doesn't involve the underlying question of what Donald Trump did to E. Jean Carroll. That involves the question of who pays for it. And the question in that case is going to be whether under a law called the Westfall Act the United States of America should be held responsible for the defamation that Trump committed while he was president because, according to Trump, he committed that within the scope of his employment as president.
[18:20:17]
I don't think that's a good argument any more than an argument would be that he was immune for civil liability, because I don't think it is within the scope of the employment of anybody, let alone the president, to deny or to talk about an allegation of sexual abuse and rape that occurred when the person was not president and was not -- you know, had nothing to do with the duties of his office.
But the bottom line, the most important thing here is that second case does not call into question the judge's and the jury's finding, when the jury found here that Donald Trump had committed sexual abuse under New York law, which means technically, and pardon the explicitness of it, it means that he was found by the jury unanimously to have inserted his fingers into the vagina of E. Jean Carroll forcibly and involuntarily in -- at the Bergdorf Goodman dressing room.
And what the judge said about that, I think, tells us a lot. It says, he said in his post-trial opinion, one of his post-trial opinions, that the finding that Ms. Carroll failed to prove that she was raped within the meaning of the New York penal law does not mean that she failed to prove that Trump raped her as so, as many people commonly understand the word rape. Indeed, the evidence -- as the evidence at trial recounted in this opinion makes clear the jury found that Trump did exactly that.
So, it is absolutely henceforth and forevermore, now that this litigation is final, it's henceforth and forevermore accurate to say that he is an adjudicated sexual abuser, that he's an adjudicated digital rapist, that Donald Trump is an adjudicated racist, the president of the United States.
TAPPER: And we should note just for -- as long as you're using those technical terms, we should note the jury's finding of sexual abuse was limited to her claim that Trump digitally penetrated her, though, as you note, the judge later said even that finding still met the public's common understanding of the word rape.
George Conway, thank you so much.
CONWAY: Thank you.
TAPPER: Up next, we're live in an Ohio community that will be directly impacted by that recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, and it could affect thousands of Haitian immigrants in that city who have legal status, but might not for much longer.
Stick with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
TAPPER: In our National Lead, there is real concern for the nearly 350,000 Haitians in the United States whose temporary protected status is now gone following last week's U.S. Supreme Court ruling. Haiti has experienced decades of natural disasters and political violence, and since 2021, it's been operating under gang control.
The U.S. State Department says Haiti is too dangerous to travel to, but Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told me, that warning is only for Americans, not for Haitians who might be forced to return to the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: That advisory is to American citizens traveling to Haiti, not Haitians going back home.
TAPPER: I understand that. But based on everything I've read, including the U.N. and Human Rights Watch, it doesn't sound safe for Haitians. More than 8,100 killings documented last year. Those weren't Americans. Haiti is among the top five countries with the highest rates of rape and sexual abuse, with more than 1,200 cases of sexual violence last year. That's not Americans. 1.4 million people have been displaced. Those aren't Americans.
MULLIN: Is there a question in that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Well, yes. Anyway, in addition to those concerns, Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine says the move could directly impact communities here in the U.S. More than 10,000 Haitians live in Ohio alone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): It's Haitians who many times are taking care of your mom or your dad who has Alzheimer's, taking care of family members who might be in a nursing home. And to say we're going to pull all of those out is just not in our own self-interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Springfield, Ohio, where there's this very large Haitian community. Omar, how are they grappling with this?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of them just really don't know what to do moving forward. One of the things that we've seen is a rush to try and apply for a different form of classification of immigration here, so a lot of people trying to apply for asylum. We were at a community center where one of the people we were talking to was just trying to help process some of that immigration paperwork to hand over to immigration attorneys.
But bottom line, the path forward is just uncertain. For people's background, it's really over the past five years or so, the Haitian population here in Springfield, Illinois, really grew pretty suddenly here, and it put a lot of stress on things like healthcare infrastructure, also created some issues with driving, as we heard from local and state authorities as well. But the governor among them, the mayor here as well, have also credited the Haitians here with helping revitalize economically this area as well. And so that's where some of the tension comes from in terms of if they all just left, the economy would likely face a pretty significant hit.
And so one of the people we were with today, TPS as well and is waiting to hear back on asylum, he actually talked to me about your interview with DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and took exception with the fact that Secretary Mullin said that those advisories for travel not to go to Haiti from the State Department only apply to Americans.
[18:30:00]
Take a listen to some of what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not for Haitians, it's just for Americans. I mean, it's like Americans are human beings. Us Haitians, we are not. Any type of thing can happen to us as long as Americans are protected.
JIMENEZ: You're also on TPS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
JIMENEZ: And have applied for asylum.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
JIMENEZ: Are you worried right now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody's worried, but there should be a person to do the work. That's the reality. I --
JIMENEZ: So, even though you're dealing with this, you are also trying to help others?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes, that's the reality. Because at the end of the day, we are still on -- we are all on the same boat. If I see how that can affect me personally, I understand as well how that can affect other folks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JIMENEZ: And part of what he says he's been telling people that just don't have a clue of how to move forward, he said to find someone trustworthy, to give them power of attorney if they have kids in case anything happens to them. And so, really, again, just a lot of uncertainty here on the business side, but also for many of the migrants here who for years have called Springfield home.
TAPPER: Omar Jimenez in Springfield, Ohio, thanks so much.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio just briefed members of Congress ahead of a new round of negotiations with Iran, which are set for tomorrow. I'm going to ask a lawmaker who was part of that briefing and ask him what he learned. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:35:00]
TAPPER: In our World Lead, Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed House lawmakers earlier today on the tentative agreement with Iran ahead of a new round of talks set to take place in Qatar tomorrow. President Trump announced the meeting today. But Iran has yet to confirm any talks. In fact, Iran goes so far as to say no meetings are scheduled.
Today's briefing from Rubio comes on the heels of a weekend full of flare-ups near the Strait of Hormuz, where both sides exchanged fire. My next guest sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and was one of the lawmakers briefed today by Secretary Rubio, Republican Congressman Mike Lawler from New York. Thanks for joining us, Congressman.
REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): Thank you.
TAPPER: What can you tell us about what you learned from the briefing today?
LAWLER: Well, Jake, I've served as chair of the Middle East and North Africa subcommittee, so I've had extensive conversations with the administration over these past many months. So, I wouldn't say necessarily learning anything new, but I think they did answer a number of my colleagues' questions, and Secretary Rubio was able to address questions and concerns surrounding some of the language in the MOU.
Ultimately, what this boils down to is what a final negotiation will produce, both in terms of the highly enriched uranium, in terms of Iran's financing of terror proxies and obviously long-term control of the Strait of Hormuz. It is an international waterway and people should be able to freely operate within without a fee or a tax.
And, certainly, Secretary Rubio made clear that the United States would never accept any agreement in which Iran would seek to apply a fee or a tax, and that obviously was part of the flare-up over the weekend as Oman made clear that you could have safe passage through their portion of the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran did not take kindly to that.
So, this will continue to progress. But, fundamentally, to me, as I've said from the very beginning, while I have concerns about some of the language in the MOU, the ultimate deal is what matters. Secretary Rubio made clear that, you know, for instance, the $300 million investment fund --
TAPPER: Billion.
LAWLER: Sorry, billion investment fund is a nice to have, if you will, for Iran, if they behave. If they actually start to change, you know, the way they conduct themselves on the international stage. It will never include U.S. taxpayer money and very much will be, you know, up to their neighboring countries whether or not they would ever want to do something like that.
But that would only come if they actually comply on the issues that are at hand, which is primarily their financing of terror proxies and the enriched uranium.
TAPPER: I want to turn to the housing bill. Speaking of flare-ups, you're in support of the bill. President Trump refused to sign it last year because he was mad that the SAVE Act was not part of it. The speaker sent it to the president to sign today. Here's how the president characterized this bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think it's so unimportant by compared to the Save America Act.
Here's what I would like to say, much more than a bill, a big deal. It's a yawn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: He's calling a bill that would address housing affordability, one that you support, a yawn. Your thoughts?
LAWLER: Obviously, I disagree. This is an issue that I have been leading on since coming to Congress. Six of my bills are included in the overall bill. And I think housing affordability is one of the biggest issues that we could tackle as a country to address the issue of affordability.
If you look at the fact we're 8 million units under built, the average age of a first-time home buyer is 40 years old, and under Joe Biden, mortgage interest rates reached a 30-year high. We have cut that in half, but there is more work to do. We need to increase supply, we need to increase access to capital, and we need to reduce overall cost.
And that's what this bill does. It's the first bipartisan housing bill in 36 years that really tackles the issue in a substantive and serious way. And so I'm proud of the work that we did. And I certainly encourage the president to sign it, as I did reaching out to him directly over the weekend.
TAPPER: Let me get your reaction to the reporting we just heard from Springfield, Ohio, about the impact of the Supreme Court ruling, which allows the Trump administration to end temporary protected status for Haitians, despite the fact that it is very clear that Haiti is still not safe for anyone.
[18:40:04]
Hundreds of thousands of Haitians currently in the U.S. can now be deported to Haiti. It's not just Springfield, Ohio, of course. Your district would experience a huge impact.
LAWLER: No question. I'm proud to represent Spring Valley, New York, the second-largest Haitian diaspora per capita in the entire country. And many of our Haitian TPS holders work in our healthcare system. They work in our hospitals, our nursing homes. They service our intellectually and developmentally disabled community.
And as I've stressed to the administration for well over a year, while I don't dispute the president's ability to end TPS and the Supreme Court decision certainly affirmed his legal authority to do that, it is foolish to do it in this -- at this moment, because we are going to create a calamity within our own healthcare system as a result.
What I have been encouraging the administration to do is to extend the work authorization for every single TPS holder while their immigration case is adjudicated over these next six months. If they are applying for a work visa, if they are applying for a family visa, if they are applying for legal permanent residence.
Most of these folks, Jake, have been here over a decade on a lawful status. TPS is a lawful status. They are working in our communities, and I think in this moment, given the situation on the ground in Haiti, where the gangs are still in control, they are kidnapping, they are killing, they are engaged in drug trafficking, gun trafficking, it is a calamity on the ground politically and from a humanitarian standpoint.
And while, yes, the travel for -- the Level 4 advisory applies to Americans, the fact is, from a humanitarian standpoint, it is disastrous to send them back home in this moment, and it will have a profound negative impact on the American people, specifically on the issue of healthcare.
TAPPER: Republican Congressman Mike Lawler from New York, thank you so much, sir.
LAWLER: Thank you.
TAPPER: A Democratic California state senator who was gay and progressive and a strong critic of Israel, well, he showed up in a support of a trans march, but quickly found himself surrounded by protesters who berated him. He says their actions were anti-Semitic. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:46:04]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It breaks my heart that someone who wrote good legislation for queers is so terrible in Gaza. Scott, do you have anything to about Gaza? How?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: That was California state senator and Democratic congressional candidate Scott Weiner being surrounded and berated by pro-Palestinian protesters on Friday at San Francisco's annual trans march.
Weiner, we should note, is not only a prominent gay Democrat and one of the state's most effective legislators on trans rights, Weiner is also quite critical of the government of Israel. He doesn't take any money from AIPAC. He calls the Gaza war a genocide and on and on. He checks every box except for one. He happens to be Jewish.
Here is -- here was Weiner on CNN just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT WEINER (D), CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE: I have no problem with anyone talking to me about my views or asking me questions or challenging me. If people disagree, that's democracy. But when you start physically harassing and intimidating someone, putting hands on them, trying to drive them out of an event that goes way beyond First Amendment. So, was it anti-Semitic? Absolutely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: My panel joins me now. Thoughts.
AMESHIA CROSS, FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER: I agree with him. I think that once you move beyond a simple protest where you're actually threatening people to where you're, you know, bodily touching them, then there happens to be a problem.
We all live in a democracy. We're proud of this democracy. It is one where people disagree. It is one where that disagreement should be welcome. It is one where there are purists at times.
They believe wholeheartedly in their cause, and that can sometimes push them to do things that I personally wouldn't do and find objectionable, but I do think that there comes a point where both parties have to call out individuals who cross the line in terms of their grievances.
TAPPER: And it's something we see in the Democratic Party, something we see in the Republican Party as well. "Axios" has a new piece out, called the Republican Party is starting to turn on Israel, reports a growing number of Republican lawmakers souring on Prime Minister Netanyahu, and that one in five Republicans say the U.S. is too supportive of Israel, three times the number after the October 7th attacks three years ago.
Carine, why is this happening and why is it bipartisan, do you think? Is it just Netanyahu?
CARINE HAJJAR, EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER, THE WASHINGTON POST: I think for the Republican Party, if you break down that one in five, it's actually driven largely by young people. I think you especially have like a lot of anti-war young Republicans who the president campaigned again on not starting new conflicts in the Middle East and all of a sudden... He's pursuing a conflict against Iran with the Israelis.
Now, the buck stops at the president. I think that a lot of Republicans are conflating the president's decisions and Israel driving policy. That's not the case. The president is the commander- in-chief, and if we don't like some of his foreign policy issues, if you don't like the way that gas prices are ticking up, that's not Israel's fault. That's on the White House, and the White House has to respond.
TAPPER: Why do you think it is? Why do you think it is that so many people in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party, it's the same, don't hold Trump responsible for a decision Trump made and instead hold Netanyahu and AIPAC and Scott Weiner? And like why are why are Jews responsible and not the Secretary of Defense, who's not Jewish, the President of the United States, who's not Jewish, and on and on?
HAJJAR: Well, I really do think that support of Israel, unfortunately, on both sides of the aisle has become a litmus test. And even when it's not politically pragmatic, when you're looking at State Senator Weiner, for example, he is there in support of the same cause.
And because he is Jewish, I think the lines here are blurring between not just -- you can criticize Israel. You can criticize Israel's choices. You can criticize Prime Minister Netanyahu. He's up for election soon. We're going to see how that plays out.
But there's a line between making valid criticisms and straight-up anti-Semitism. And we know that anti-Semitism is rising across our society.
TRUMP: Let's turn to the DSA. There's a new KFILE investigation, Darializa Avila Chevalier, the New York Democratic socialist congressional nominee, who was likely to be a congressperson, who was also back when New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
[18:50:06]
She maintained a Twitter account with repeated sympathetic messages -- references rather, to communism and Marxist ideology and Soviet figures, including Vladimir Lenin. Now, the account's deleted. It also included calls to abolish the police, abolish prisons, abolish borders. I mean, her victory sent shockwaves across the party's establishment.
It's a blue district. She's going to be a member of Congress. What's your take on it all?
CROSS: Well, I think first and foremost, I respect the outcomes of elections. Beyond that, I think that this is somebody who, like many young people today, have a storied social media history.
TAPPER: Right.
CROSS: And unfortunately, with the advent of TikTok, with more and more people telling everything about their lives and every little idea they get, some of them not fully baked, you're going to have more and more people who may run, who will have objectionable posts that they wish they didn't do years later.
I think that some of her commentary on social media should have been deleted, should have never been said to begin with, but I also think that this is somebody who ran on the very things that many people want to see. They want to see affordability. They want to see housing prices reduced. They want to make sure that, you know, we are in a society that actually lives up to its creed when we talk about American idealism, when we talk about the American dream.
And there are also people to a point that was made a moment ago who are really frustrated with the ongoing war in Gaza. There are -- they're really frustrated with what they see as American riches being thrown away and a lot of money being thrown down the drain for war. They do not support and a president who looks to be doing everything for individuals that are himself, his family, and his cronies, but not the American people.
TAPPER: It's such a great point about young people running for office. You're right. This -- we're going to be seeing this for the next 50 years.
Carine, another person who has a social media history is Graham Platner. There's this new poll out of Maine. It shows that they're neck and neck, "New York Times" poll. I know that Susan Collins should not be counted out. She always closes strong, or at least historically has.
What do you make of the state of the race? I mean, that suggests that he's a lot stronger than I think a lot of Democrats thought he was going to be.
HAJJAR: But he's led by further before, too. And it's interesting, the more people learn about him, the more hesitant they are to support him. You had about 30 percent of voters in a recent poll saying that some of his scandals would cause them to question him at the very least. And so, I think, you know, Maine voters are very hardworking. You can't expect everyone to follow every in and out of this election, but they're starting to figure out that this is a guy that comes with considerable baggage.
And then when you stack him up against Senator Collins, somebody who has brought so much money to the state of Maine, who's been a very effective representative for Maine constituents, she's a steady figure in the state. And I would say neck and neck, if you look at previous polling from her race in 2020 against Sarah Gideon, is actually Susan Collins' sweet spot. She was trailing in that race all along and ended up coming out winning by almost nine points. So, I wouldn't count her out.
TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Great job. Appreciate it.
The JetBlue pilot reported the drone hitting the airliner as it landed in New York earlier today. That's next.
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[18:57:13]
TAPPER: Our national lead, multiple dangerous weather events are threatening millions of Americans this holiday week, starting out west, where dozens of wildfires are burning, fueled by dry air and strong winds. One of those fires along the Colorado-Utah border killed three firefighters and injured at least two others. Across the central and eastern United States, a record-breaking heat dome is settling, and many cities will experience multiple days of temperatures near or above 100 degrees, including here in Washington, D.C.
Also in our national lead, a JetBlue pilot reported hitting a drone while landing at JFK International Airport in New York earlier today.
CNN's Pete Muntean has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Right now, this is still a bit of a mystery, as JetBlue says it found no damage to the plane, and the FAA is just starting out on its investigation. But if this is a confirmed actual collision with a drone, it could be one of the first ever with a U.S. commercial airliner. This occurred as JetBlue Flight 948 from Las Vegas was descending to land into JFK International Airport Monday, 7:00 a.m. local time. One of the pilots reported hitting a drone at about 3,000 feet, about 10 miles from a waypoint, on the final approach into JFK's runway 13 left that would put this collision somewhere over Seabright or Sandy Hook, New Jersey, which jets out in the lower New York Bay.
I want you to listen now to how one of the JetBlue pilots reported this to the tower at JFK.
JETBLUE PILOT: We are clear to land, 13 left. Just quickly, I couldn't talk to approach, but we collided with a drone back there and the turn, as we were coming to ASALT. Just wanted to pass that to you.
JFK TOWNER: You said you collided?
JETBLUE PILOT: Yep, it hit us right -- right above the cockpit.
MUNTEAN: This comes only days after two commercial flights descending into nearby Newark Liberty International Airport reported seeing a drone. That happened on Friday evening. First, the pilot of a United flight reported seeing a drone. That was corroborated by a report from the pilot of a regional jet next in line to land.
It's important to note that officials have been very concerned about drones flying illegally near World Cup stadiums, and MetLife Stadium is not far from where these sightings occurred. The TSA says federal authorities have seized more than 300 unauthorized drones during the World Cup for flying in areas where flights are banned for security reasons.
Last Thursday, in Kansas City alone, the TSA says eight drones and controllers were seized. Operators could face fines up to $100,000 or criminal charges because hitting a drone with an airplane can do some real damage. Last January, a firefighting plane responding to the Los Angeles wildfires hit a drone, which put a huge hole in the wing.
One word of caution, though, with this story. It's possible this was not a drone at all. There have been cases where reported drone collisions turned out to be a bird strike or something else, like a mechanical problem -- Jake.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Pete Muntean, thanks so much.
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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.
