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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Witness: I Heard The Victim Say "I Tried To Stop"; Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), Is Interviewed About U.S. Launches New Wave Of Strikes On Iran, Blockades Ports, U.S. Using Patriot To Defend Kuwait From Iranian Attacks, Lindsey Graham; CDC Investigates Surge In Cyclosporiasis Cases; Tomorrow: Confirmation Hearing For Trump's AG Nominee; President Trump's V.A. Housing Plan Falls Short. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 14, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Thanks to my panel. Really appreciate you all being here. Thanks to you at home for watching as well. We really appreciate having you here in The Arena every day. But of course, do not go anywhere. Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead."

Jake, I'm sure you've got a great show planned today.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I hope so. I hope you think so, Kasie.

HUNT: I do.

TAPPER: Let me know when the show is over at 7:00. If I look at my phone at 7:01 and you have not responded, I will assume you're disappointed.

HUNT: Oh, OK. No pressure or anything.

TAPPER: All right.

HUNT: I do have to go watch two small children. Anyway, I'll see you later. Have a great show.

TAPPER: There's nothing that small children like more than hard news. Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: OK.

TAPPER: We're going to look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

[17:00:47]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: One week, two deadly shootings, countless questions. The Lead starts right now.

No more traffic stops, at least for now with ICE after agents shot and killed an unarmed man in Houston last week and then another one in Maine this week, both wall agents claim they were trying to get drivers to stop. Ahead on The Lead, we're going to hear from a man who saw the ICE agents in action in Maine. His newly revealed surveillance video captures the scene. Plus, President Trump dropping new hints about his quote, "really big speech" set for Thursday night in prime time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our country has to shape up. It doesn't get bigger because without free and fair election, you don't have a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The president leaning even harder into his deranged election lies. Will anyone in his administration or in his party on Capitol Hill stand up for the truth? And an explosive rise in the number of states reporting that nasty parasite that causes explosive diarrhea. And now it's been found in more than 30 states. What you need to know to protect yourself and your family as health officials narrow down the source.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with breaking news in our national lead. Yet another person killed after an encounter with federal immigration agents. This latest incident this morning in St. Augustine, Florida, southeast of Jacksonville.

This person was apparently trying to get away from agents. Florida Highway Patrol says the individual tried to cross a major highway and was hit by a tractor trailer. This comes after two deadly shootings at the hands of ICE agents, first last Tuesday in Texas and then yesterday in Maine. A source telling CNN that ICE agents have been told to refrain from most traffic stops for now until further notice. Senators from Maine are now pushing for a mandate for ICE agents to wear body cameras after none were worn in either of these shootings.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): There's no excuse for it. We've known for months that this was something that was necessary. Police forces all over the country have body cameras.

SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): This incident shows how imperative it is that we have a mandate for body worn cameras.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Neither of the two men killed appear to have been the actual targets of any immigration operation. And now memorials are growing in Houston for 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. His grieving son visiting the scene where his father was killed. And in Biddeford, Maine for 26-year-old Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero. In moments I'm going to speak with a man who says he clearly heard Duran Guerrero say I tried to stop.

First, CNN's Jason Carroll reports for us from Maine with what we're learning about the latest killing by ICE agents.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a major reversal of tactics, ICE now pausing most vehicle stops after fatal shootings in Texas and Maine in the last week drew criticism and outrage nationwide. Sources tell CNN the guidance applies to the enforcement and removal operations of ICE, the branch that serves deportation warrants. The agency has leaned on vehicle stops to ramp up immigration arrests. Officials say both men who were killed were not the targets of such warrants.

Maine lawmakers say there are still many unanswered questions about why ICE officers use deadly force when they stopped Johan Guerrero at this intersection early Monday in Biddeford, Maine.

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME): Homeland Security was saying that the officer feared for their life. That's what they always say, that the individual whip -- weaponized their car. But then we heard 12 hours later in the day that they feared for public safety. This man was shot four times through the windshield. So there was an ICE officer shooting him directly in the face.

CARROLL (voice-over): Democratic Maine Congressman Jared Golden posting on X, "Unfortunately, the ICE officers involved in this incident were not yet wearing body cameras, which could have helped to establish those necessary facts. DHS needs to make this a priority."

[17:05:02]

DHS releasing a statement blaming Democrats for no body cameras, adding "Body cameras have been deployed to more than half the field offices with the remaining half to receive them in the next 60 days."

Body worn cameras absent in both deadly ICE involved shootings in Maine and Texas, though $20 million in funding has been allocated for them. The department has pledged to roll them out for the past five months. That is little comfort to those calling for accountability and transparency.

MONTY ELLISON, LIVES NEAR SCENE OF SHOOTING: People have to realize this is not normal and it cannot become normal at all.

PEGGO HODES, VISITED SCENE OF SHOOTING: This is murder with impunity and this could be happening to any one of us. Any one of us. He's 26- year-old with a child. He has a legitimate reason for being here. He had Social Security.

It's horrific.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No justice, no peace.

CARROLL (voice-over): As protests continue, CNN is learning more about the man who was kill. His father telling Blue Radio, a popular station in Colombia, his son was working as a cleaner and a delivery driver hoping to build a better future for his family.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He has his wife and his three- year-old girl. He is a very hard working person, a very loving person and a person who loves his family very much. His daughter, his little three-year-old daughter, he worked for them.

CARROLL (voice-over): A neighbor telling CNN Duran Guerrero was, was a good husband and father.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): He wasn't a bad guy. And the speculation that he was a criminal and had an order of deportation, that's a total lie.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CARROLL (on camera): And Jake, you can see we're just now several blocks away from where the shooting took place at a park where you can see this memorial has been set up for Guerrero. His father also saying when he was speaking out all of this immense pain that is now -- the family is now having to deal with. His mother, Jake also saying in a post, she said the following, she said, "you went to search for the American dream and that same country ended your life." Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Jason Carroll in Biddeford, Maine, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Daniel Boucher. He's a native of Biddeford and he witnessed the aftermath of yesterday's deadly ICE shooting.

And Daniel, I know this is not pleasant to talk about. I'm sure it's horrible. But bearing witness, obviously very important. You say you clearly heard the victim say, quote, "I tried to stop." Walk me through what happened after you heard that.

DANIEL BOUCHER, WITNESS TO MAINE ICE SHOOTING: Well, initially I heard the pop, pop, pop, pop because I was in my living room in the rear of the apartment. I ran upstairs to the top window to see and I saw the vehicle being driven down the street towards my residence. And then an SUV, nice SUV bumped the vehicle and it came to a stop. I ran downstairs to the street level, to the entrance. My body wasn't completely on the sidewalk, but I was meeting out.

I could see them trying to open the door of the SUV -- not the SUV, of the sedan. Small white sedan. They were having a hard time opening it, but they eventually did. And they pulled him out. He had blood all over his head and his face, and they laid him on the ground.

And I understand that they handcuffed him, which was amazing to me. But after a while, they -- I heard somebody -- and during this -- before they pulled him out, the ICE officers were saying, you know, settle down, settle down or quiet down, something like that. So apparently he was still cognitive in the car. And when they pulled him out, I heard some -- I heard him say, I tried to stop. And then they put him on the ground.

And then I kept watching. And then eventually I saw that his stomach was no longer moving up and down. I knew he had passed away. And during this time, one of the ICE agents said, call 911. So shortly after that, the ambulance and a fire truck came. And then the Biddeford Police Department came. And then before that there was -- the ICE agent that had done the shooting was walking by me. I was in the entrance to the apartment building, and I just -- I had to tell -- and he was being consoled by another ICE agent. And at one point, the ICE agent had this gentleman's face in his hands, trying to talk to him. And finally I said, I hope you're satisfied with what you've done.

And he looked at me, the person that did the shooting, and he said, well, he was trying to run me over or something to that effect. And then he walked away. And then a little while later, there was a lady, a woman, a young woman sitting on the curb across the street, just hysterical. And that was obviously his wife, the mother of his child. I did not see the child as I left and went back into my apartment.

[17:10:18]

I'd had enough.

TAPPER: Man. Wow, that's a lot. At any point did you see the ICE agents trying to provide any sort of aid, any medical aid, something --

BOUCHER: They did. They brought -- one of them brought a -- brought a large bag, medical bag over. They were further up the street and brought that, like, towards in front of me. But I was like maybe 50 feet away at this point. It's not that far from the front door to where the car and where they pulled out the person that passed away and they started doing something. It didn't take long before they said call 911.

I mean, the amount of blood on his head and on his face was just horrific. Just horrific.

TAPPER: Did you talk to any witnesses who might have seen what happened before the shooting?

BOUCHER: It's strange because when I was standing in the doorway, I looked up the street and I looked down the street to see if anybody else was around, and nobody else. I couldn't see anyone else at that intersection at that time of day. But there was a young man that was across the street and had his phone, you know, videoing the scene. And then he disappeared. I don't know what happened to him, but he was across the street from me.

TAPPER: Daniel Boucher, thank you for bearing witness and thank you for sharing your story. I know it's not easy to share that with everybody.

BOUCHER: Thank you very much for having me. I appreciate it.

TAPPER: Breaking news in our World Lead, the U.S. Launching more strikes on Iran. That isn't the only major action. Hear why the president says he reversed course and backed off plans to charge tolls on ships moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Plus tomorrow's confirmation hearing for Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Republicans to watch who could derail his chances of getting the permanent gigs. Stay with us.

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[17:16:30]

TAPPER: And Texas Republican Congressman Mike McCaul, the former chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, joins us now.

Congressman, thanks for joining us. I have to say --

REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL (R-TX), FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Thank you for having me.

TAPPER: -- candidly, it does seem as though President Trump is kind of making this all up as he -- as he goes along. Is this the right way to deal with Iran?

MCCAUL: Wow. It's a broad question. I do support his changing course. I think this 20 percent toll would doing (ph) and in that sense validate their actions. I agree with the final outcome here, and that is the Gulf States can help pay for this effort because after all, they benefit probably a lot more than the United States does.

And Europe benefits by the straits being open as well. So I think that was a -- that was a good outcome. I think, overall -- look, we're in a battle over the Straits of Hormuz now.

You know, I came back from Ukraine and, and it was all about hitting the Shahed drones with their advanced drone warfare systems, hitting the launch pads in Iran just like Ukraine's hitting them in Russia. Getting to the source of the Shahed drones is where the military, I think, needs to focus in addition to this blockade that they are now going to ramp back up.

TAPPER: CNN Zachary Cohen and Pamela Brown report that the U.S. has been using its strained stockpile of Patriot missile systems to help defend Kuwait from Iranian attacks today. The U.S. is clearly expending precious resources here in this war that, frankly, has no end game. Are you concerned at all about readiness, military readiness right now?

MCCAUL: Well, we are depleting our stockpile. There's no question about it. We got to find a way to make these Patriot interceptors faster. I encountered this situation in Ukraine, and it's also an issue in the Indo Pacific, INDOPACOM. You know, our allies like South Korea, Japan, they're worried about that as well.

I was glad to see the NATO summit. I met with President Zelenskyy, very pleased with the fact the president is going to provide the licensing agreements to make the Patriot interceptors so that Ukraine can use its latest innovation and talent to, I think, make them faster. But, you know, right now, let's say in Ukraine, when I was in Kyiv several nights, we heard the bombings every night because they don't have any interceptors. They have no Patriots to defend themselves from the ballistic missiles and that threat. And Putin knows that, and that's why he's launching everything he has. So, you know, we have to find also, Jake, other countries that would be willing to put their Patriots into Ukraine. Greece comes to mind. They have hundreds of these Patriot interceptors. They are not threatened, in my judgment, and they would be in a good position to do this.

TAPPER: You were just in Ukraine, where you received the Medal of Freedom award from Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. You say morale seems higher in Ukraine than it was two years ago. There is this promising bipartisan Russian sanctions bill which you were set to introduce with the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Trump just gave Ukraine the green light to start making Patriot missiles. How can Trump seize on this momentum and help Ukraine negotiate a lasting ceasefire that gets rid of the Russian threat for good?

MCCAUL: Great question. And it's through deterrence. You know, I've been -- you know, Lindsey and I have been with Ukraine since day one in good times and in bad in both administrations. We finally have a breaking point at this NATO summit where the president's now going all in. He sees Ukraine as a winner, and he likes winners.

[17:20:12]

What I saw on the front line operations was the Ukrainians taking back Russian occupied territory. They're actually winning this fight now. So now is the time to put pressure on Putin. These sanctions that Lindsey and I have been working over the last year and have finally gotten White House, you know, the green light. His last comments on Earth were optimistic about how we were going to pass them into law.

So for purposes of peace, not war, because we achieved peace through strength. Zelenskyy is ready for a ceasefire today. He's ready to negotiate. It's Mr. Putin that is not willing to call for a ceasefire or have any agreement or negotiate. So maximum pressure needs to be put on Putin.

President Trump also endorsed the idea of hitting Russia and interior Russia. You know, Zelenskyy talked about hitting all the energy infrastructure in Russia.

Let me give just the cost benefit analysis here, $14 billion in Russian equipment and infrastructure were blasted by $14 million in Ukrainian drones. That is unsustainable by the Russian Federation.

TAPPER: The late Senator Graham also had just returned from Ukraine before he died, Senator John Cornyn of Texas suggested that there possibly could have been foul play. He said he was waiting for a toxicology report, given where Graham was and, quote, "the sorts of things he was advocating for," unquote. As of right now, there's no evidence of this. But do you think that it remains a possibility that he could have been poisoned?

MCCAUL: You know, I was -- I was there at the same time. Our meetings were back to back because I was on a personal mission to go to the front. He was there for a shorter period of time on a CODEL. I don't think there was foul play. I know that authorities are investigating this right now through an autopsy.

I know that Lindsey had -- his father had heart conditions. I think he inherited some of that. But, you know, Lindsey was a hard charger. He traveled so much. He fought with every ounce of fiber in his being.

I think unfortunately, his heart just gave out on him. I don't suspect there being any foul play.

TAPPER: Yes, I agree with you. Republican Congressman Mike McCaul, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

MCCAUL: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: Now to our breaking news in the Sports Lead. One half of the World Cup final is now set. The match between France and Spain just ended. CNN is there in the middle of the excitement. We're going live to Dallas, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:15]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our Sports Lead, the World Cup's first semifinal is now in the books with Spain defeating France to punch its tickets ticket to the World Cup final. They're now just one win away from lifting the sport's biggest prize on Sunday. CNN's Don Riddell has the hot ticket. He's outside Dallas Stadium in Texas.

Don, what's the atmosphere in the crowd like there?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: Terrific atmosphere if you're a Spanish fan. Not so much if you're a French supporter of Les Bleus football team. Those supporters are leaving with their heads hung pretty low here, Jake, because the French team has just been played off the park here in Dallas. A comprehensive win by the Spain team, winning by two goals to nil.

Mikel Oyarzabal gave them the lead with a first half penalty. His fifth goal of this tournament. What a story for him. He missed the last World Cup with injury. Pedro Porro then got the second.

And we were expecting fireworks from this French team on Bastille Day. They've just lit this tournament up with their swaggering, attacking football. But they were completely suffocated here today. They just never got a look in. And it's a bitterly disappointing end to their World Cup tournament.

As you say, Spain now are heading to the final in New York, New Jersey. It's their first final appearance since they won it in 2010. They are the reigning European champions. They will be very difficult to beat. They've only conceded one goal in this tournament, so it's going to fall to either England or Argentina to try and upstage them in the final.

The second semifinal is in Atlanta tomorrow. As I say, England, Argentina, that should be a boisterous affair. Bitter rivals, England and Argentina. This is going to be a rematch of some of the World Cup's most famous encounters. They famously met in 1986 when Diego Maradona scored a couple of goals.

One, the infamous Hand of God, the other one of the best goals the World Cup tournament has ever seen. They met again in 1998 when David Beckham was sent off in that game and he was vilified by his nation. That is going to be a terrific game tomorrow, but at this point, I think it's Spain's tournament to lose.

TAPPER: Don Riddell in Texas, thanks so much.

[17:29:18]

Time to get nasty. Well, to talk about that nasty bug causing so much diarrhea throughout the United States. The outbreak has now expanded to more than 30 states. We're going to bring in a doctor to discuss this explosive situation and how to protect yourself and your family from it. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Health Lead, officials now suspect lettuce or salad greens may be the source of an outbreak that has sickened more than 3,000 people in Michigan and Ohio alone. The parasite behind this all is called Cyclospora. It's transmitted through food and water contaminated with feces. The symptoms, well, let's just say you need to stay close to your restroom.

Dozens of people have been hospitalized. Infections have now been reported in more than 30 states. Joining us now to discuss Dr. Ryan Stanton, president-elect of the American College of Emergency Physicians. Doc, how serious is this outbreak compared to others you've seen in recent years?

DR. RYAN STANTON, PRESIDENT-ELECT, AMERICAN COLLEGE OF EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS: Well, it can be very serious, mainly because of the fact that we're seeing mainly 10 to -- up to 20 times the number of cases we typically see this time of year. But also those that are higher risk, especially those with chronic medical conditions, the elderly, those that are prone to dehydration. And now we're dealing with this during the hottest months of the year when we have higher risk of dehydration anyway.

[17:34:56]

And then you combine that with a lot of people traveling, the World Cup, America 250, a lot of reasons people can be spreading this infection. And anytime you have a doctor that's on T.V. talking about explosive diarrhea, it is not a good time to be going out and about and having that fresh salad. So the key here is to making sure that you prevent with washing those greens, washing any lettuce or anything raw, thoroughly wash your hands, soap and water. This is not one that is knocked out by your hand sanitizer. So doing everything that you can to decrease that spread.

If you have concerns following up with your doctor and more severe concerns, especially altered mental status, dehydration, anything like that, check into the E.D. We can get it checked out, hopefully get you some supportive care. But this does, right now, the standard of care is an antibiotic therapy for this lasting about a week to 10 days. If not treated, it can bounce back and forth for up to weeks. So this is a serious situation in thousands of cases around the country.

TAPPER: So just to be clear, people should not eat salad anymore? What exactly is the instruction?

STANTON: No, definitely you can still eat salads. We just want to make sure, especially if preparing at home, you want to make sure that it is thoroughly cleaned and washed those greens before you consume them. That's standard. We recommend that year round. Even if we don't have a cyclosporiasis outbreak going on, we at this point don't want to decrease people's intake of healthy foods. We just want to make sure that you're taking them in safely when you eat them. So wash them, clean them. There's a lot of products out there that you can use and eat safely. Seek help if you need it.

TAPPER: And in terms of washing hands, what do you mean, like, how often? I assume you mean back to like COVID-era washing of hands, where you're doing it between the fingers and thoroughly and up the wrists and everything for like a minute, just what, five times a day, anytime you go outside, anytime you're in public, how often?

STANTON: I would use anytime you've been out in public for a while. Definitely every time you've used the restroom. And before you eat, anytime before you eat, that's the most important. Wash those hands. Soap and water. Exactly. This hearkens back to the COVID days. But instead of having an oral or, excuse me, an airway based infection, this is a fecal oral infection where we have contamination and the potential of spread that way.

I also encourage you that if you're around a buffet where you're using utensils that are common use, wash your hands before you eat your food. That's where a lot of -- these are transmitted, is from contaminated utensils that are then spread from person to person.

TAPPER: How hard is it for health officials to track these cases to pinpoint the cause of transmission? I mean, this originated from some one person or cow or something, right?

STANTON: Theoretically, some of this is naturally occurring from farms, from produce or water supply. It could be a lot of different places. Thirty-one states at this point are involved, you know, 5,000 cases are being investigated. So a ton is out there. Narrowing it down is going to make a huge difference because then you can get that off the shelves and actually get back to hopefully allowing everybody to eat the rest of the food that's out there.

But making sure, tracking this is very difficult for one, not everybody can test for this. Two, it takes a while for the symptoms to develop. And a lot of people think it's just a G.I. illness, a stomach flu or whatever it may be. And then also our public health monitoring, tracking these types of things is lagging a little bit. It's dragging behind. We've seen it with Ebola in Africa. We see it here with cyclospora. So being aware, just understand right now with the thousands of cases that are reported, that's probably just the tip of the iceberg.

TAPPER: Dr. Ryan Stanton, thank you so much.

Coming up, the plea for more security as the U.S. Supreme Court justice reveals she has a bulletproof vest.

[17:38:38]

Plus, the key moments to watch tomorrow as acting Attorney General Todd Blanche auditions for the permanent role.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, in less than 24 hours, Todd Blanche has the biggest job interview of his life. He is currently acting attorney general. But if he wants to drop the acting title and be a Senate confirmed U.S. attorney general, he's going to need to win over every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, including some of the skeptics. One of them is Senator John Cornyn of Texas who was questions after a judge ruled yesterday that Blanche might have violated ethics rules when he helped set up President Trump's $1.776 billion slush fund.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Does that change the dynamics of his confirmation?

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): Well, it certainly is another area that I plan to ask about, and I'm certainly not making any commitments until after the hearing.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But are you leaning against him at this point?

CORNYN: I'm not going to make any commitments until after the hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Republican Senator Thom Tillis in North Carolina is also not a given. He has shared concern about Justice Department independence. Just remember, if one single Republican on this committee joins Democrats to vote no on Blanche, that could derail the whole nomination. My panel joins me now. Evan, how big of a factor will this judge's ruling be in tomorrow's hearing? And how do you expect Blanche to navigate questions about it?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think this is going to be the dominating series of questions for the acting attorney general, which is does he actually show that he has the ability to be independent of the President, to take independent decisions -- to make independent decisions? And this ruling from this judge really calls into question how far he is willing to just essentially act as President Trump's personal lawyers still even now as atop the Justice Department.

And so what this judge does in laying out what happened in the IRS settlement issue is really show chapter and verse of how much control there is from the President, from the White House, from Stephen Miller over Todd Blanche. Now, the job that he has is to try to show that he is, you know, calling balls and strikes. He is trying to, what, "fight the weaponization" that the President is very much focused on while at the same time trying to uphold the principles of the Justice Department. It's a tough job that he's trying to pull off right here.

[17:45:23]

Right now, Jake, they believe they have the votes. I mean, he's been campaigning everywhere. He went to Alaska to try to shore up support from Senator Murkowski. So he -- they think right now, unless something goes really terribly tomorrow, they think they have the votes.

TAPPER: Elie, you have a piece in the New York Magazine titled "Todd Blanche has Run Wild with the DOJ. Now He Must Answer for It." Tell us exactly what you think he's going to have to answer for beyond the judge's ruling about that slush fund that Evan just talked about.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, where to begin, Jake? I am sure that much of the focus and attention tomorrow will be on the most recent and most sensational scandals around Todd Blanche, starting with that weaponization fund, also the Epstein files. But to me, the cardinal sin that Todd Blanche has committed in his year and a half as deputy AG and acting AG is that political weaponization of DOJ's prosecutorial power. That is a red line that Todd Blanche has crossed time and again by overseeing and promoting and defending these bogus criminal investigations and charges against Letitia James several times over, Jim Comey several times over, Senators Mark Kelly, Elissa Slotkin and Jerome Powell on down the line.

That to me, as a prosecutor, that is the most fundamental abuse of power one can make. And so he's going to have to answer for all of it. But I think it's important that the more recent scandals don't overshadow the more core violations, derelictions of duty.

TAPPER: So, Katelyn, about 19 minutes ago, the New Mexico Department of Justice, which is trying to conduct a criminal investigation on Epstein and what happened at Zorro Ranch in New Mexico when Epstein was still alive. And the New Mexico attorney general says, today we sent another letter to the Justice Department. They're asking for files to help them in their investigation.

And this afternoon, the Southern District of New York, the Trump Justice Department, called to inform us they will not cooperate and will not support the only active criminal investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. That's some unfortunate timing for Mr. Blanche, I would think, because there already has been so much criticism about his role in the alleged cover-up of the Epstein files by survivors. And now you have his Justice Department just a few minutes ago saying they're not going to cooperate with the New Mexico investigation. KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, there's two different things that Todd Blanche is going to have to answer to about Jeffrey Epstein and the Justice Department's handling around everything related to that case and Jeffrey Epstein's death. The primary one is did the Justice Department do enough over all of these years? How does he respond to these latest investigations that may come up?

But the thing that's going to be right in front of him and really is the thing that is at his doorstep alone is how he handled the Justice Department's processing of the millions of files that were in the Epstein files and the release of them. The victims of Jeffrey Epstein are extremely angry with him. They are expected to potentially be there in the hearing room tomorrow.

They also have put out a public service announcement saying that they want the senators to vote no on Todd Blanche because they their personal info was redacted. There were nude photos of some of them that were out there unredacted. And they say that was specifically Blanche's failure. Now, he's probably going to talk about how much the Justice Department did to work through and release all of those files, but we know that it was not a smooth process.

And there's still a lot of criticism, including from Republicans, not just about how it was handled, about how the Justice Department has done everything around Jeffrey Epstein, including sending Blanche himself down to interview Ghislaine Maxwell, his the Epstein co- conspirator in prison last summer, last July.

TAPPER: Yes. And shortly thereafter, she ended up in a much nicer prison.

POLANTZ: Yes.

TAPPER: Today on Capitol Hill, we saw something rather rare. Two Supreme Court justices appeared before Congress. Justices Amy Coney Barrett, appointed by a Republican. Elena Kagan, appointed by a Democrat. They were asking for more security funding due to an uptick in threats against justices and judges. Here's Barrett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY CONEY BARRETT, SUPREME COURT JUSTICE: I didn't expect that performing this service was going to put me in the position of explaining to my children what a bulletproof vest was and why I had to wear one.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Evan, what more can you tell us about their appearance today?

PEREZ: Well, you know, it's so extraordinary to see them have to discuss some of this stuff, Jake, but it is a real fact of life of being a Supreme Court justice right now with the threat picture. And one of the things they're asking Congress for is more funding, $29 million more in funding. And one of the things that was very clear is that it's going to take years for the Supreme Court police to be able to handle this. Right now they're depending on contractors and U.S. marshals and so on.

[17:50:12]

The other part of this hearing that was interesting was also this discussion of Supreme Court ethics, which again, they don't often have to respond to questions like this. And so one of the things that you heard from both of them is that it's a real issue. They don't know how to tackle it, which is, you know, how do you enforce any violations, right, of the Supreme Court ethics pledge that they all make. And so the big issue is, you know, they can't depend on the Justice Department to enforce it or for Congress to enforce it. So they're kind of stuck.

TAPPER: A major legal setback for the President today. More than $5.6 million has now been transferred officially to E. Jean Carroll, three years after a jury found that Trump sexually abused and defamed her. Katelyn, Trump is asking the court to reconsider. But the money has already been transferred. Should we expect for this to go any further or is this case closed?

POLANTZ: We probably shouldn't expect it to go further, but Trump is still trying every single cunning move that he can in the court to see if he can get that money back. He's even asking the appeals court in over New York right now saying could I get a ruling that tells her to give the money back to me right now? Also, she has said that, that she's keeping it in an interest bearing account for her retirement. She's not planning on spending it. So it's there. But all of this is such a long shot at this point. Beyond a long shot, we've already been past the long shot. And Trump was losing there, too.

TAPPER: Yes, well, I mean, there is a track record of him taking things well beyond when everybody knows he already lost. But we'll get to the election nonsense in a second. Thanks, everyone.

Coming up, a story we're keeping tabs on here in The Lead, President Trump's promise for more housing for homeless military veterans in Los Angeles. The struggle to learn why there's such a lack of progress on this project, that's next.

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[17:56:06]

TAPPER: Now to the latest in our series, "Homeless in America." President Trump is falling quite short of his promise of some 6,000 new homes for homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area by 2028. It's a story that CNN has continued to follow. The project is behind schedule and transparency has been, shall we say, limited. And as CNN's Nick Watt reports, this is stirring controversy and legal battles and concerns about a site in West Los Angeles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Activists have pressured and federal judges have ordered the V.A. to return some of this land in lovely leafy West L.A. to its intended purpose, housing veterans. Progress has been slow. Then about a year ago, President Trump signed an executive order keeping promises to veterans and establishing a National Center for Warrior Independence. A key administration promise, within 120 days, submit a plan to create capacity here for 6,000 veterans by January 1, 2028. The House Veterans Affairs Committee has finally seen the Trump plan.

REP. MIKE BOST (R-IL), CHAIRMAN, VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: This report was received last night, 248 days late.

WATT (voice-over): But the plan, hailed by V.A. Secretary Doug Collins as a return to accountability, action and honor, details not 6,000 new units, but only just over 1,000 new units. The V.A.'s new press secretary told us via e-mail, by 2027, we expect to have capacity to house 2,048 homeless veterans. He dodged my question about the shortfall, but added, liberal California politicians and their staunch allies at the far left and extremely low rated CNN stood idly by for years as the West Los Angeles V.A. campus was mismanaged.

For the record, this land has been mismanaged by both Republican and Democratic administrations, and CNN started covering this story repeatedly and in depth in 2022 when Joe Biden was in the White House. Given two veterans for a home in 1888, this land has been used for a posh private school, sports facilities, UCLA's baseball field, parking lots, oil drilling and much more. Meanwhile, by latest count, there are still about 3,000 homeless veterans here in Los Angeles County alone.

In January, Trump's V.A. appeared to move towards satisfying a judge's order to build 750 to 800 new temporary housing units on this land by next spring. Available documents show they're seeking bids for just 260. No reply from the V.A. press secretary when we asked why. It's hard to find out exactly what is going on here because most of those involved in this project are sworn to secrecy, made to sign non- disclosure agreements drawing bipartisan criticism.

REP. MARK TAKANO (D-CA): Were you ever asked by V.A. to sign an NDA before this moment in June of 2025?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I was not.

TAKANO: So it's unprecedented?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Correct.

BOST: Since this is federal property intended to serve veterans, transparency should be a priority, not an option.

WATT (voice-over): The V.A. terminated the private Brentwood School lease in February. Under President Trump, V.A. is taking decisive action to ensure the West L.A. VMAC campus is used only as intended to benefit veterans, Secretary Collins said at the time. But the school's sports facilities are still there on veterans land.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, the President teasing a really big speech Thursday night that could be a barn burner and also a lot of lies. He says it's going to be on election security. Why? Is he laying the groundwork for chaos? Is he laying the groundwork to do something about the midterms? Is any Republican willing to call out the election lies that are already on the record?

[18:00:02]

Plus, breaking news, another person killed after an encounter with ICE. The latest in St. Augustine, Florida.