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The Lead with Jake Tapper

U.S. Measles Cases Reach 35-Year High; Massive Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Linked To Four More States; U.S. Teen Pleads Guilty To Killing Four People In 2024 School Shooting; Family Members Of Houston Man Killed By ICE Speak Out; Mayor Jacob Frey (D), Is Interviewed About No Charges Filed In Renee Good And Alex Pretti Killings; Maine Dems Expected To Tap Troy Jackson To Replace Platner. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 24, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

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KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate all of you ladies for being here. Thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. Please do join us tomorrow for The Arena Saturday at noon and 4:00 p.m. Eastern. We'd love to have you spend part of our weekend with us, but don't go anywhere. The Lead with Jake Tapper starts right now.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So maybe putting someone hostile to medicine and science in charge of our nation's health wasn't a great idea. The Lead starts right now.

Two preventable outbreaks spreading and infecting thousands of Americans. Measles cases in the United States just reached a 35-year high just as the massive cyclopsoriasis outbreak is linked to four more states. What you need to know to keep your family safe.

Plus, a heartbreaking day in court as survivors of a school shooting and loved ones of those killed describe how their lives have changed since the attack. Young students detailing how they now live in constant fear. Parents mourning what their children could have become hear their emotional accounts firsthand ahead.

And Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joins The Lead live six months to the day after federal immigration agents killed VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti. After our exclusive reporting this week about what was going on behind the scenes with prosecutors resigning disgusted by what the Trump Justice Department was telling them to do. Will there ever be justice for Alex Pretti or for Renee Good? That discussion in moments.

Welcome to The Lead. I am Jake Tapper. And we start tonight in the Health Lead as two different diseases spread rapidly across parts of the United States in an absolutely unprecedented way. First, measles cases just hit a 35-year high in the United States. 35 years. Despite the country declaring the disease eliminated in the

year 2000. That was, of course, before a man with disproven views of vaccines and conspiratorial notions of doctors became head of the Department of Health and Human Services. Public health officials around the country are crying out about the

level of incompetency that contributed to this crisis. As the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics put it, this essentially is a public health failure and it's avoidable, unquote. More than 2,300 cases of measles have been recorded so far this year, with South Carolina reporting the most of any other state, 670, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That traces back to an outbreak in Spartanburg, South Carolina that started last October and did not end until April.

We are also, of course, following the spreading parasitic outbreak known as cyclosporiasis, causing explosive diarrhea that can last weeks and those unfortunate enough to have consumed contaminated food or beverage. Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania have now been added to the map with health departments tallying more than 12,000 cases this summer so far.

The CDC says data continues to point to contaminated iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms as the source of the illness. The FDA is continuing to investigate. Both of these agencies report to RFK Jr's HHS. Kennedy, whose personal views on vaccines, medications, disease, food are impacting not only his department but thousands of Americans, their health, their livelihoods.

Well, in November 2024, you might remember the day RFK Jr's nomination was announced. I don't want to tell you I told you so, but well, America, I hope you like measles the news right after RFK Jr's nomination was announced.

I want to bring in CNN's medical correspondent Meg Tirrell for more on these developing stories. Meg, on the measles, give us some perspective on the last two years here.

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we have had more measles cases in the last two years than we did in the previous 25 years combined. So if you just look at this, you can see how absolutely out of step 2025 and 2026 have been with historical levels. Typically, we have fewer than 100 measles cases in the United States every year. And now as you pointed out, we've surpassed 2,200 in each of these years. And of course, we're only approaching August right now. We've already surpassed the historic year we saw last year.

Now you noted South Carolina's big outbreak really contributing to those numbers altogether from October to April, that outbreak approached a thousand cases. That came of course, after that big outbreak in west Texas in 2025 that led to the deaths of two school age children.

Right now we still have an ongoing outbreak in Utah and Arizona which started last summer.

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And of course, if that is determined to have been going on with sustained transmission for more than a year, that threatens our measles elimination status. And officials are expected to meet in November to discuss that. Jake.

TAPPER: What are some contributing factors to the measles outbreak?

TIRRELL: The contributing factor is declining vaccination rates. If you look at where they have gone from the before the COVID-19 pandemic, this is 2019, 2020 in kindergarteners, we were above 95 percent. That's the threshold that public health experts say we need to be at for measles in order to achieve herd immunity because this is the most contagious virus that we know of. And of course, throughout the COVID pandemic, we saw that number start to drop.

Now it's down to 92.5 percent nationally. And Jake, of course, it's much lower in certain states. And as you go into counties and communities, these vaccination rates get alarmingly low. And that's why we've seen these big outbreaks. And of course, they're mainly among school age children. And most of the cases, 93 percent, are in people who are unvaccinated or in whose vaccine status is unknown.

TAPPER: What more are you learning about the rising cyclosporiasis outbreak?

TIRRELL: Yes, so as you noted, it now has been linked to four additional states in this now nine-state multi state outbreak. This is the one that's tied to iceberg lettuce that's been tracked back to Taylor Farms. People have reported eating at Taco Bell. Now, importantly, Taco Bell said a week ago that it had pulled that product from its stores nationwide, but they are still tracing this and trying to figure out who got sick and who's linked to this.

Now we should note these other states also have cases of cyclosporiasis, but the FDA says it's investigating multiple clusters that are not necessarily linked. So there might be multiple things going on here, but by far the thousands of cases that are getting reported mainly in Michigan, but also in these other states around it as well.

TAPPER: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much. Let's talk about this now with Dr. David Margolius. He's the director of public health for the city of Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Margolius, earlier this month you talked to the Associated Press about what it's been like to look to the CDC for public health guidance right now.

You said, quote, basically everybody's got to kind of choose their own adventure as opposed to being led by a national public health department, unquote.

So what has it been like choosing your own adventure during this cyclosporiasis outbreak?

DR. DAVID MARGOLIUS, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH, CLEVELAND, OHIO: Yes, well, I think. I mean, you said it, and Meg said it. We can't rely right now on a national voice for public health. And so it is giving an opportunity for local public health directors like myself, representing Cleveland, to step up and try and fill that void.

But these infectious diseases, they don't respect city borders and state borders. So we really need someone at the national level, you know, designing the blueprint and cooperating with other countries as well.

TAPPER: What kind of guidance or support do you wish you had from either RFK Jr. or the CDC, or anyone in the federal government right now that you're not getting?

MARGOLIUS: Well, really simple guidance for our residents. Right now with the measles outbreak the advice should be get the vaccine. It's really unfortunate that our vaccination rate across the country has declined, and we're seeing this in other parts of the world where, after the COVID pandemic, fewer people are going back to get vaccines.

But in the city of Cleveland, our vaccination rate is about 75 percent right now for measles. We've been lucky and haven't had a case so far, but we're vulnerable, and we need the nation to step up.

TAPPER: 75 percent is shockingly low.

MARGOLIUS: Yes, and that's. Unfortunately, that's not new. And it's just like Meg pointed out, in different communities across our country, we've got more vulnerable populations who have less trust in medical systems and less access to care. And so, it's one of these things where if our national vaccination rate stays high, we're all protected.

TAPPER: At 75 percent vaccination for measles. How bad could an outbreak theoretically get?

MARGOLIUS: Well, I mean, it could get really bad here in Cleveland. Absolutely. And we're not alone in communities with lower vaccination rates. So, you know, this is one of these viruses that in med school, I barely learned about measles. I learned more about measles in history class than I did in biology class.

TAPPER: It sounds like the kind of thing that a federal government would, you know, initiate a major vaccination program to try to convince people to get vaccinated, especially in the midst of the worst measles outbreak in 35 years.

MARGOLIUS: Yes, absolutely. This is what public health systems are for, the national public health system. And I do want to emphasize that breaking the relationship with the World Health Organization was a huge loss as well, because Canada is going through this right now. Europe is going through this. Other countries across the world have high measles cases, and we need to be coordinating and talking to each other so that we can make this disease go away once and for all.

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TAPPER: Let's go back to cyclosporiasis. What are you hearing from the people in Cleveland who have fallen ill with this about what they're experiencing and what the link could possibly be?

MARGOLIUS: Yes, so, you know, we were one of the first few states that got hit with cyclosporiasis right behind Michigan. And our epidemiologists do reach out to every confirmed case. We found out what they ate 10 to 14 to 21 days ago. And, you know, we are concerned about the -- what you've heard about the national food supply going into Taco Bell and places like that.

And so we're hoping that we're hitting the peak of our caseload right now. But we're encouraging folks to either cook their vegetables, shop locally grown produce, or, you know, just be aware that this diagnosis is out there and to get tested if they have these symptoms.

TAPPER: Do you have a good handle on the latest from the FDA? Because they had said it was Taylor Farms and the lettuce there, and then Taylor Farms said the FDA had apologized to them and it was a false positive. What is the reality here? What is the status?

MARGOLIUS: Yes, the reality is that they -- the FDA did do a recall and take that iceberg lettuce offline that had been shipped out whenever it was a month ago or so. And the back and forth between the apology or not apology is irrelevant. You know, at this point, we've got to get the potential source of contaminated food off of our shelves, out of our food supply so that we can, you know, move on from this pandemic, this epidemic.

TAPPER: All right, Dr. David Margolius, thank you so much. Really appreciate it and appreciate the work you do.

Let's bring in Dr. Peter Hotez. Now, he's professor of pediatrics and molecular virology at Baylor College of Medicine and the co-director at the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.

Dr. Hotez, what's your reaction to this news? This is the second year in a row that the U.S. has had this record breaking number for measles, a disease that in 2000, the U.S. had considered eradicated in this country.

DR. PETER HOTEZ, PROFESSOR OF PEDIATRICS AND MOLECULAR VIROLOGY, BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Well, you know, Jake, what I think is going to happen is we'll officially eventually lose our measles elimination status. We haven't officially lost it yet. It was actually the criteria for elimination was determined, ironically, by the Centers for Disease Control back in 1999.

But, Jake, we've basically lost our elimination status. Measles is back in a big way. And of course, one of the huge issues has been our Health and Human Services secretary is from the beginning, you know, when we had the first big measles epidemic in early 2025 as he came on board, he put out a steady stream of disinformation.

He first of all said, the hospitalizations in my state of Texas, we had 99 hospitalizations were due to quarantine and isolation. And no, that wasn't true. It was because the kids were actually sick with measles pneumonia, measles encephalitis. We had two deaths among two otherwise healthy school children whose parents made the tragic decision not to vaccinate them.

Then came a steady drumbeat. He said, the measles, the MMR vaccine, the measles mumps and rubella vaccine is contaminated with aborted fetal remnants. Absolute nonsense. He said it was a leaky vaccine, whatever that means. It's not. He said it declines in protective immunity 4 percent annually, which is not true. If anything, it's 0.04 percent annually off by a factor of 100. He reverted back to the old talking fake talking points about vaccines causing autism, including MMR vaccine that we know doesn't.

This has a damaging and unfortunately, even though a lot of the state -- a lot of the policy for vaccines is set at the state level by state legislatures, it has a lot of impact. And so not only do we not have leadership on controlling measles in America, we actually have someone who's actually kind of egging it on.

And so now we've got a problem. The problem is if you're a new parent, say I have a six-month old child who's still six months away from their MMR vaccine, first dose of it, that you have to be worried about your six month old acquiring measles. And maybe we have to change our vaccination schedule now to give a first initial dose at six months and make it a three dose schedule.

TAPPER: Yes.

HOTEZ: That's an unforced error. So there's going to be a lot of catch up and a lot of things we're going to have to do now to do damage control.

TAPPER: Just 7 percent of the people who had the measles this year, only 7 percent report being vaccinated or at least having had one dose of the vaccine. Is it concerning that many vaccinated people would be ill? Is it typical? What do you make of that that 7 percent were vaccinated at least once?

HOTEZ: Well remember, one dose of the vaccine gives you about 90 percent protection, which is pretty good. But you need the two doses to get that full level of protection and you will do have the occasional immunocompromised individual.

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Look, that's one of the most effective vaccines we have. Two doses, 97 percent protective. But when you start getting thousands of cases, of course you're going to start having some of those among vaccinated individuals. But the numbers clearly show that vaccination is highly protective against infection.

And if you don't remember, 20 percent of kids with measles often require hospitalization from measles pneumonia. Measles, encephalitis cause permanent neurologic injury, including deafness. And then there's the mortality and it doesn't show any signs of abating.

Usually what happens with measles is you see the big peaks of epidemics historically is a late winter, spring disease. So if you look at those two years that we've had measles last year and this year, the big peak came in the spring and late winter, early spring. And the peak this year was far larger than the peak in 2025. So guess what 2027 is going to look like. We are likely to see a big massive peak next winter and spring. And it should be all hands on deck and avoiding that. And now's the time. We absolutely need a campaign from the Centers for Disease Control full on hands on, all hands on deck campaign to redouble down on vaccination. And I have no confidence that that's --

TAPPER: No, it's the exact opposite. It's the best you can hope for is that they're not out there saying that vaccines cause autism, which is a lie, of course, but that's the best we can hope for with RFK Jr. as the head of HHS, Dr. Peter Hotez, thank you so much.

Inside a Georgia courtroom today, a teenage school shooter faced the families of the children he killed. Here are their heartbreaking comments about how their lives have changed since that attack.

Plus, Maine Democrats are set to meet this weekend to officially choose a replacement for Graham Platner in the Senate race. But are they united between the man who appears to be the front runner? We're live on the campaign trail ahead.

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TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead a guilty plea amidst heart wrenching testimony earlier today in Georgia, Colt Gray, who's now 16, he pleaded guilty to all 55 charges against him, including four counts of murder, for the September 2024 mass shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

That morning in 2024, Gray, then-14, brought an AR-15 style rifle to school hidden in his backpack. He left it in a restroom and retrieved it just before he started shooting. He killed two teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, and he killed two students, Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo.

Mason Schermerhorn's sister was among those who gave statements in court earlier today about the impact of Gray's actions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALANNA SCHERMERHORN-WALLACE. SHOOTING VICTIM'S SISTER: You took away someone who chose kindness every day. You took away someone who still had so much life ahead of him. You took away the chance for me to see who my little brother would become. And that is something I can never get back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Colt Gray's notebooks were entered into evidence during today's court session. Some pages detailed his step by step plan. Others, such as this one, contained phrases such as stop, I'm scared, I am not a killer and suicide or live 50:50. The court also heard from students who survived the rampage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NAUTICA WILSON, APALACHEE SHOOTING VICTIM: I hated everything about you. I hated the scars you left on my body. I hate that you took innocent lives in front of innocent people. Most of all, I hated that I let you live in my mind. Red feet. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could hear was screams and cries.

NATALIE GRIFFITH, APALACHE SHOOTING SURVIVOR: I hate you and I'm mad at you because you had options. You had other options besides going in and killing a bunch of innocent people that did absolutely nothing to you. You had waited maybe even two months, you would have found friends. I would have been your friend, and I know a bunch more people would have if you had just waited.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Today's court session ended a short time ago. It's going to resume on Monday. Gray faces a sentence of life in prison. The only question is whether it will come with or without the possibility of parole.

One last note. Colt Gray's father, Colin Gray, is expected to be sentenced next week. He was convicted of second degree murder and manslaughter in March for having given his son the rifle even though he knew his son had problems and was prone to violence. This is the first time a parent in the United States has been convicted of second degree murder in connection with the school shooting carried out by his or her child.

After our CNN investigation 18 days in Minnesota, will there be any justice for Alex Pretti who was killed six months ago today, or for Renee Good? Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey joins me live to discuss, next.

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LORENZO SALGADO JR., SON OF LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO: Our mom called to tell us our dad was in trouble. We suspected it involved ICE. As a family, we talked more than once about what would happen if our dad encountered ICE officers. We dreaded the call, but we were prepared.

RONALDO SALGADO, SON OF LORENZO SALGADO ARAUJO: I learned again from a Facebook post that our dad had been shot, not because I could see him, but because I could hear his voice on videos posted online crying for help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Emotional testimony today from the sons of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the Mexican national fatally shot during an encounter with a federal ICE agent in Houston, Texas, earlier this month. His sons telling a congressional field hearing that their father was a humble, hardworking family man, recounting the moment they learned he had been killed. Lawmakers, family members, community leaders calling for justice today.

Joining us now is LULAC Chief Executive officer Juan Proano. Mr. Proano, thanks for joining us. What can you tell us about the forum today?

JUAN PROANO, LULAC CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER: Well, thank you so much, Jake. You know, we had the Congressional Hispanic Caucus here. We had the ranking member, Benny Thompson, Representative Silva Garcia and nine other members of Congress. I thought it was really important conversation that we had. But I was very disappointed that no Republicans nor DHS or ICE actually wanted to appear in today's hearing.

TAPPER: So the district attorney there in Texas has been trying to conduct an independent investigation, but they say they've been stonewalled from the federal -- by the federal government. What specific answers are you seeking from the Department of Homeland Security?

PROANO: Well, all the evidence that's available, which included obviously the vehicle, any radio transmissions, all of the information that they would typically can collect in an investigation where a person is killed, shot and killed.

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And so now what we understand now is they have received absolutely nothing. It's been almost two weeks, and there's been no real disclosures to the district attorney.

TAPPER: What questions do you have about the actions that day that the ICE officer took?

PROANO: First of all, why did it take so long for an ambulance to get there? Over 25 to 30 minutes is what we understand, Jake, that Lorenzo was actually on the street before they even put him in the ambulance and actually sent him to the hospital. I mean, that clearly showed that there was no preparation and no understanding of these DSHS -- DSH and ICE agents for what the typical protocol is in a shooting.

TAPPER: What changes would you like to see in ICE policies? I assume body cams would be foremost among them.

PROANO: Yes, we talked about in the field hearing today was body cameras. They have the funding to do it over $20 million, potentially even dash cams in all the vehicles. The vehicle should have clear identification that it is an ICE agency as well. And then we want them to stop shooting into vehicles. That's a directive that the ICE director can actually implement immediately that could potentially save lives as well.

TAPPER: What message do you want to send to the immigrant communities who might be fearful of interacting with law enforcement?

PROANO: Latinos have to continue to be very, very vigilant. You know, after Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, detentions and deportations effectively continued, unabated. And so now we find ourselves at the same exact moment where two immigrants have been shot and killed. Both of them were not targeted of an enforcement action.

None of them were actually using their vehicles as weapons. And in both cases, they basically said that they was the wrong targets and both of them have died. And we should take into account, they've killed U.S. citizens, Renee Good, Alex Pretti. They were citizens. They killed now two Latinos who are undocumented, but if they can shoot them and kill them, they can really shoot and kill anyone.

TAPPER: Juan Proano, thank you so much for joining us today.

This weekend, Maine Democrats are set to pick their candidate to replace Graham Platner, who stepped down after credible accusations of domestic violence and rape. But how are voters feeling about the race now? We're going to go live to the campaign trail ahead.

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TAPPER: In our National Lead, today marks exactly six months since Alex Pretti was killed. Alex Pretti is the V.A., intensive care nurse, who was shot and killed by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis. His death coming just days after a nice officer shot and killed Renee Good. This week, we here at The Lead brought you a special investigation called 18 days in Minnesota with exclusive information examining the chaos and the lies and the cover-up surrounding those deaths. What was going on behind the scenes? Why so many prosecutors resigned because of what they were being told to do by the Trump administration.

We exclusively heard on camera for the very first time. Tom Calhoun- Lopez, one of the federal prosecutors who resigned in protest over what he saw as unethical and immoral behavior and orders coming from the Trump Justice Department. Calhoun-Lopez is a U.S. Army veteran. He said the Trump administration's Operation Metro search in Minnesota "had all the appearance and the mentality of a military occupation." He also dealt with cases before the shootings where immigration agents had claimed that they had been assaulted by protesters and they demanded arrests of those protesters.

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TOM CALHOUN-LOPEZ, FORMER ASST. U.S. ATTORNEY, MINNESOTA: Law enforcement officers have a difficult job and federal agents do their job very, very well. So it's important that prosecutors protect them where they can and that means vindicating their rights if they're victims of assault. But I began to have concerns that agents were not being truthful making arrests with very little provocation and then soon enough no provocation. And even after that I would learn that agents had instigated physical contact and so they were arresting people not only who had committed no assault but who had in fact been assaulted by federal agents.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Six months later, federal agents lying about committing violence still a major concern. The Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies criticized as overaggressive, unchanged, unarmed people who are not targets of those operations still being killed.

Joining us now is the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Frey. Mayor Frey, earlier this week, I spoke with two people who knew Alex Pretti. One grew up with him. The other knew Alex is an ICU nurse at the V.A. who took care of her father, a veteran in the hospital. Here's a little bit from those interviews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In particular, Alex's death, one of the former prosecutors said to me that was a summary execution. And six months later, here we are, no charges, no explanation. What do you make of all that? And what is that like for you as somebody who cared about this person?

SARA MISNER, FATHER WAS CARED FOR IN HOSPITAL BY ALEX PRETTI: It's absolutely unjust. I just am extremely appalled myself that this hasn't happened yet. That justice hasn't happened yet for either Renee Good or Alex.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Mayor Frey, what's your reaction?

MAYOR JACOB FREY (D), MINNEAPOLIS: She's absolutely right. We have not seen justice yet. Is it good progress that additional evidence is going to be handed over to our county attorney and the FBI is going to work at least a bit more with local officials? Yes, that's progress. But let's be very real. We all saw with our own two eyes and through a video camera what exactly happened during the killing of Renee Good, the killing of Alex Pretti, the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa. And the narrative that these federal agents were putting out was not one of the truth. They tried to call Renee Good a domestic terrorist.

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They said that the individual that was provocating what took place was Alex Pretti. They claimed that Julio Cesar Sosa had, you know, neighbors coming out that were beating up ICE agents with shovels. None of it was true. And without the videotapes, we would all be living a lie. And so I understand the frustration because we need to get justice for the families. We need to get justice for the loved ones of those that are deceased.

And also, very importantly, we need to get justice because it needs to be clear that you can't do this again. So whether it takes six months or several years to get justice, we need to make sure that other agents that are operating outside of the Constitution and outside the law understand that if they go down that route, that there are consequences.

And by the way, that is the same no matter who you are. It should not matter whether you're a local police officer or a federal agent, mayor of Minneapolis, the president of the United States. We're all subject to the law and the Constitution.

TAPPER: As you note, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced a few days ago that the Trump administration finally handed over evidence they withheld in the shootings of Good and Pretti. Here's some of what she told us that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARY MORIARTY, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: We feel really good about the fact that we appear to have most, if not all, of the evidence. We will be able to investigate or thoroughly look at what we have and make a charging decision at some point here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: There have been no federal charges filed in either shooting of either Renee Good or Alex Pretti or an announcement that they aren't, you know, that they're -- that the shooting, for example, by ICE agent Jonathan Ross of Renee Good that, you know, there could be a finding that clears him. We've heard nothing. Is there going to be a local, it sounds like there's going to be a local investigation? Do you anticipate how quickly there will be a decision there? And do you think we're ever going to hear anything from the federal government?

FREY: I can't tell you what we're going to hear from the federal government, and I can't give you a timeline as to when the D.A. or, in this case, county attorney will ultimately make a decision on charging. That being said, the way this should work is an investigation is conducted. You've got the federal partners working directly with local officials. You've got transparency at least internally as to the evidence, and then you make a call.

And sometimes it's a call to prosecute and to have a charge that is issued. Sometimes it's not. But I think it's good progress, again, to have all of the evidence that is turned over, and it can't come soon enough.

TAPPER: So one of the reasons that we wanted to go back and look at what was going on behind the scenes in Minnesota during the month of January on the six-month anniversary of the death of Pretti and earlier this month of Renee Good is because there's so many crises in this country that reporters cover something, and then a day later, there's another outrage, another big story to cover. And it does feel as though the news media and also to a degree the national public had moved on. Not that they didn't care. Not that we didn't care. But there was just newer things that happened. When I was in Minnesota covering the story, I could tell Minnesota has not moved on.

FREY: Well, I think what you're referencing in terms of tactics from the Trump administration is something called muzzle velocity, and it's just pumping as many crises, BS, public narratives out there as you possibly can and recognizing that it will be difficult for the media or anybody else to fully latch on to any single incident. That's why it's so important that you don't just cover things when they're hot, but to your credit, Jake, you come back and see how everything is going. And, you know, there are multiple truths here. It is a truth that our city is resilient and tough and gritty. And, hey, we're coming back big time. And for those of you that want to support the tens of thousands of Minneapolis residents that stood up and peacefully protested or dropped off groceries for those that were terrified to go outside, one of the big ways to thank them, come to Minneapolis. It's beautiful out right now. I mean, we're talking 80 degrees. It's the city of lakes.

[17:44:57]

You can have a ball and go to an award-winning restaurant and, by the way, help out a lot of these Latino and Somali-owned businesses at the same time. So you can help by coming here. And at the same time, yes, you're right, there are tales to a federal invasion like we experienced. People feel that for the long haul. There's trauma associated with it. There are mental health issues. There's, you know, upwards of $700 million worth of damages, real damages to small and local businesses, to large businesses, to hotels, to people throughout our city. And so have we felt that impact? Yes, absolutely.

The most shocking and disgusting part of all of it is that, you know, crises happen. Emergencies take place. But usually, those crises and emergencies are not instigated by our own government. That's the part that is the most frustrating.

TAPPER: Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, thanks for joining us on this solemn anniversary of the death of Alex Pretti of the Yangers (ph).

FREY: Thank you.

TAPPER: Breaking news, Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery have agreed to delay their Hollywood mega-merger in the wake of a pair of lawsuits. So is the deal now in jeopardy? California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins us ahead to react to his legal victory.

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TAPPER: Politics now, tomorrow, Maine Democrats will officially select their Senate nominee in their bid to unseat Republican incumbent Susan Collins. Former State Senator Troy Jackson appears likely to replace scandal-plagued campaign -- the scandal-plagued campaign of Graham Platner. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Maine with this look at how Democrats feel about the race with roughly only 100 days or so until Election Day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: So just looking around at some of these signs here, I'm struck by just obviously this sign of how quickly things have changed. I mean, he was running for governor. There's a Graham Platner sign. I mean things have changed dramatically here. How do you think voters have processed all this?

SARAH BIGNEY MCCABE, MAINE AFL-CIO ORGANIZING DIRECTOR: I'd say whiplash. It's been a roller coaster.

ZELENY (voice-over): That roller coaster could determine control of the U.S. Senate as one of the most consequential races of the year is set to start over 100 days before the midterm elections. This weekend, Maine Democrats are selecting a new candidate to try what others have been unable to do for three decades, defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins.

TROY JACKSON (D-ME), FORMER U.S. SENATOR: My name is Troy Jackson. I'm a fifth generation logger from Allagash, a card carrying union member, and the former president of the Maine Senate.

ZELENY (voice-over): One of the most picturesque summertime states in the country has endured one of the messiest Senate races in memory, with Troy Jackson set to replace Graham Platner, whose campaign imploded after months of controversy.

JACKSON: We're not from the left. We're not from the right. We're from the bottom and we are rising.

ZELENY (voice-over): Jackson is a logger from the Northwoods of Maine who found his way into politics nearly a quarter century ago. He came up short in the June primary for governor, but he quickly coalesced support as Democrats scrambled to find a new Senate candidate.

MCCABE: We're not just voting for Troy. We love Troy. We respect Troy. But this is a vote for all of us. This is a vote for the issues that we care about, for health care, for child care.

ZELENY (voice-over): His long record now faces fresh scrutiny, including a conservative to progressive evolution on same sex marriage and abortion rights. Crystale Lapham, a volunteer organizer for Platner, says she trusts Jackson and is all in for his campaign.

ZELENY: Do you like Troy Jackson?

CRYSTALE LAPHAM, DEMOCRATIC ORGANIZER: I think in many ways, Troy is kind of the original in the state of Maine, the original kind of political outsider fighting for a different type of government that works differently for Mainers.

ZELENY: But he's been an elected official for a couple of decades.

LAPHAM: Yes, at the state level, which is very different than at the federal level.

ZELENY (voice-over): There are still signs here of the Senate race that might have been amid questions about whether Democrats are united as they work to win over independent voters and turn the focus back to Collins.

DAN KLEBAN (D), FORMER MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: There is such an appetite to send her back home and put someone new down there that I think that's going to go a long way towards galvanizing folks.

ZELENY (voice-over): Dan Kleban is the co-founder of Maine Beer Company. He ran for Senate last year, dropped out and jumped back in after Platner's collapse. He said meddling from Democrats outside Maine hurt their goal.

KLEBAN: Everybody up here on the Democratic side wishes that this primary didn't play out the way that it did. And I hope we've learned our lesson so we don't do it again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, Jake, talking to so many voters here, one Democrat described this as disorienting, having so many different candidates. But now they do believe the race is on. But Senator Susan Collins has had a very easy summer. The question hanging over all of this is if Democrats can make the fall about her record.

Of course, she's running for a sixth term in the U.S. Senate. She once promised she would only serve 12 years in the U.S. Senate. That was a long time ago. But she said she brings a lot of things back here to Maine. The question tomorrow after the convention is 100 days enough to prosecute a case against her. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny in Maine. Thanks so much.

[17:54:53]

Sources tell CNN that President Trump met with top advisors today to discuss escalating military action against Iran. What would that look like? How soon could it start? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Trump claims Iran is getting, "more serious about negotiations." But sources say the President also met with top aides and advisers earlier today to discuss possible military escalations against the country. So where exactly does this war stand after 13 straight nights of strikes?

Plus, breaking news, "The New York Times" with new reporting about what "The Times" calls a credible threat that forced President Trump to switch to the old Air Force One in Turkey a few weeks ago. One of the reporters breaking the story joins us live in minutes.

Also, the Trump administration is now admitting it canceled billions of dollars in grants to states simply because those were states that did not vote for him in 2024. That's also according to a report in "The New York Times." We're going to dig into those details.

[18:00:00]

And one of the greatest players of all time is headed to the city of brotherly love. LeBron James announcing he's signing with the Philadelphia 76ers.