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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Progressive Wins Shake Up Key Midterm Races Across The U.S.; Man Arrested At Trump Golf Club As Investigators Assess Threat; Iran Says Talks With Oman On Strait Of Hormuz Are Progressing; Sen. Peter Welch (D-VT), Is Interviewed About Key GOP Senators Cassidy, Murkowski Meet With Blanche; Trump Speaks On Economic Agenda Ahead Of Midterms; Mexican TikTok Influencer Killed During Livestream. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 05, 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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[17:00:19]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right, thanks to my panel. Really appreciate y' all being here. Thanks to you at home for watching as well. Don't go anywhere though because you, Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead.

Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. We're going to look for more from you tomorrow in The Arena.

HUNTE: See you tomorrow.

TAPPER: Progressives got three more big wins in their battle against the Democratic establishment. The Lead starts right now.

Michigan's race for U.S. Senate now set progressive Abdul El-Sayed, the doctor, claiming victory in Michigan's Democratic primary. And now he will face off against former seven term Congressman Mike Rogers.

How Republicans are attacking El-Sayed in what is bound to be a fierce November midterm race and President Trump's west coast swing speaking soon in Las Vegas as the feds release new details about a man arrested at his California golf course, the suspicious activity leading to his arrest.

Plus, breaking news, two key senators meeting right now with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche with his nomination for the permanent position seemingly on thin ice.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We start in our politics league, the Democratic Party running further to the left in battleground Michigan. Progressives celebrating three key primary victories over more establishment or moderate Democratic candidates as voters in the Wolverine State say they are hungry for real change. In the state's U.S. Senate Democratic primary, progressive candidate

Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will narrowly defeat Congresswoman Haley Stevens, who was seen as the more moderate establishment candidate. This was the most expensive Democratic primary ever and the overwhelming majority of the money went to benefit Congresswoman Stevens.

Outside groups including AIPAC, spent more than $60 million to boost her campaign. That recently led independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who backed Dr. El-Sayed to frame this race as being between the working class and the billionaire class. Here's El-Sayed reacting to his victory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICBHIGAN SENATE NOMINEE: I got to meet so many of you, Michigan, so many. And you shared both what caused pain, but also what brought purpose. And we forged a movement out of that to get money out of politics, put money back in pockets and pass Medicare for all to guarantee healthcare in this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And now the November matchup is set. In this race to replace Michigan's retiring Democratic Senator Gary Peters, who had endorsed Stevens. El-Sayed will face former Republican Congressman Mike Rogers, who said in part, for more than 25 years, one party has controlled Michigan's two Senate seats and they've run our state into the ground. And now the same failed politicians are asking us to send Abdul El- Sayed to Washington. Abdul isn't just another liberal, he's an extremist.

Republicans claim El-Sayed is the candidate they wanted to face, and this barring is already getting spicy. El Sayed rebuked Mike Rogers and others in his party for quite pointedly referring to and mispronouncing his full name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EL-SAYED: You know, they think they want to use my whole name against me. Mike, listen, man, if you can't say the name, it's Abdul Al- Rahman. Keep the name out your damn mouth. I'll be happy to give you lessons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN also projects that State Representative Donovan McKinney, a democratic socialist, will defeat incumbent Congressman Sri Thanadar to win the Democratic primary in Michigan's 13th congressional district. CNN additionally projecting the Democratic socialist William Lawrence will win the primary in Michigan's 7th congressional district.

This all comes after other far left and DSA candidates racked up wins in recent months, from Colorado to Philadelphia to New York City. But the real test, of course, of their electability and of the direction for the Democratic Party will come in November for the general election.

Let's discuss all of this with two Michiganders, Jonathan Cohn, who is a senior national correspondent for the Bulwark, and Peter Meijer, the former Republican congressman from Michigan. Also with us, Jamaal Bowman, a former progressive congressman from New York who campaigned in Michigan for Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.

Jamaal, let's start with you. How are you feeling about this win? What do you think it was about El-Sayed campaign that resonated with Democratic voters?

JAMAAL BOWMAN (D), FORMER U.S. REPESENTATIVE: The majority of the American people that I speak to across the country, not just in Michigan, they want to get big money out of politics. They want to deal with the affordability crisis by putting more money in their pockets.

[17:05:04]

They want to stop funding the forever wars. They've been dealing with war their entire lives, just like me. And they want to be able to afford child care and education and health care and transportation, utilities, and all the things that the American system is supposed to provide to us as taxpayers.

And so young people were energized all across Michigan, just like they were here in New York for Claire and Darieliza and Brad, just like they were in New Jersey for Dr. Adam Hamawy and Analilia Mejia, same thing in Colorado with Mila Carros (ph). And so Michigan is charged up and excited and ready for change in a political system that hasn't met the bare minimum needs of dignity and respect and providing for the American people. And so that's what I saw.

And I think that's why his message resonated. And he is just an incredible candidate. He's an incredible listener and learner, and that's why he was able to cross the finish line with this victory in the primary.

TAPPER: So, Jonathan, you've been in the trenches with Michigan voters throughout this primary. And one of the differences between Dr. El- Sayed's victory and some of the House races and Mayor Mamdani is that the House races and Mayor Mamdani, generally speaking, are Democratic locks. I mean, even if Mamdani had lost, he would have lost to a former Democratic governor.

El-Sayed. This is a purple state. This is a jump ball. If the general election were held today, who do you think would win?

JONATHAN COHN, WRITER, THE BULWARK: Wow. I mean, you know, if you believe the polls that are out right now, that we have the polling out says that, you know, Mike Rogers would win that race. Now, the asterisk there is the polls also said Abdul El-Sayed was going to win by double digits, and they were quite wrong.

You know, I think we can't know based on the polling yet, because we have not seen two things. Number one, we've not seen Abdul El-Sayed under scrutiny, under attack from a Republican attack. We're starting it already. I mean, literally 20 minutes after he was declared the winner, the Republicans were up with an ad. The one you quoted cited attacking him as a communist.

And, you know, it's going to be brutal. It's going to be a mix of legitimate attacks and dishonest attacks and frankly, I think racist attacks. We're already seeing those anti-Muslim attacks. So we haven't seen the impact of that on the negative side.

On the other hand, as you know, Congressman Bowman was saying Abdul El-Sayed is an incredibly gifted politician. He is aggressive. He's already on the attack against Mike Rogers, attacking his history, for example, of taking pharmaceutical company donations at a time when health care is frustrating front and center. He is somebody who will not be intimidated.

And you know, he's got a pretty good hand to play on a lot of these issues. He can come as someone who is outside the system, outside the establishment. And so, you know, we will find out. We don't know how either one of those are going to play, but you know, that's where this will be decided.

TAPPER: Peter Meijer, in 2024, Democrats were portrayed as out of touch with the day to day realities and needs of most Americans, working Americans. Here's Dr. El-Sayed pushing a much more populous message than we heard from Kamala Harris, than we heard from Hillary Clinton. And he's he definitely, at least on today's facts, he seems more populist than Mike Rogers. What do you think?

PETER MEIJER (R), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Absolutely more populist. I mean, I think the, as Jamaal was pointing out, a lot of the things he's running on are nice things to say. I mean, it's an empty rhetoric at the end of the day because none of those goals have been achieved so far by Democrats. And I think that's part of the frustration that leads to folks wanting an outside candidate, wanting somebody who's outside the system.

Now, obviously there's a lot of comparisons between Abdul El-Sayed and some of the other DSA candidates. So he would refute being a DSA candidate. He's much more of a Bernie bro type politician. And as my predecessor Justin Amash was pointing out, his vote totals across the state and especially in places like Kent County where I live, in Oakland County where Haley Stevens lives, even in Washtenaw County where he lives, his numbers were very similar this year to where Bernie Sanders was against Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary in 2016.

So that populist rhetoric certainly has a lot of oomph behind it where folks are pissed, pissed off of the system. They don't like the way things are going and they're tired of the status quo. At the same time, you know, he's not just a Bernie bro. The company he keeps and what he tried to bring in and his momentum were not things that Haley Stevens could really attack him on because they probably would have just raised his profile and raised his positives among this Democratic primary base. But they sure as heck are things that Mike Rogers is going to draw a very fine line and distinction. People may not like the way things are going.

[17:10:00]

But are they going to be sold on the future that Abdul El-Sayed is, you know, offering to provide. Ask the question.

TAPPER: So we only have a couple minutes, so if you guys could keep your answers shortish. Jamaal, how will Dr. El-Sayed counter the narrative that he is too extreme to represent all of Michigan, which is a purple state?

BOWMAN: Well, he's already been a leader in Michigan on health care in Wayne County. He's been a leader on health care in Detroit in Michigan. 60 percent of Michiganders support universal healthcare. And so he's been running on that issue since the beginning of this race. That's number one.

Number two, young voters, new voters are inspired by him and excited by him. And being an outsider works to his advantage because both the Republican Party and the Democratic Party have failed to meet the needs of everything everyday Americans. We are a wealthy nation, but the working class is struggling. That has to change. And that's what he ran on and that's what he's going to win on in November.

TAPPER: Jonathan, how concerned are you as somebody who wants presumably. Well, I shouldn't speak for you. Do you think that Dr. El- Sayed will be weak, will perform weak with Jewish voters in Michigan? They are an important constituency.

COHN: Yes, no, I mean there are definitely Jewish voters here who are very concerned to the point that they would vote for Mike Rogers over him. Even if they traditionally vote for Democrats. There is a lot of work to do. You know, appearing alongside Hasan Piker has, you know, things like that have gotten around. People are upset.

You know, can he make amends? I think it's one of the big questions. Can he reach out to that community? Can he have discussions and, you know, we'll see. But there's definitely a concern.

TAPPER: And Congressman Meijer, Peter Meijer, what do you think? I mean, how is Mike Rogers going to reintroduce himself to Michiganders as, you know, one of them and not as a very, very wealthy guy who's taken a lot of corporate money.

MEIJER: I mean, the fact of the matter is Mike Rogers is an incredibly known quantity. He's a known entity. If you are concerned about the possible future that Abdul El-Sayed is trying to sell, if you think he's maybe too extreme, Mike Rogers is a turbo norm candidate that you can easily kind of fall back on.

And just one thing on what Jamal said about Abdul and what he was doing in Wayne County and the city of Detroit on the health side of the House, those are both a county and a city that he lost in this primary. So, you know, there's a very real schisms not only with the Jewish community, but even with the African American community. When you look at how these vote totals broke down.

TAPPER: Thanks to all of you. Really appreciate it. And you can hear from Dr. Abdul El-Sayed also on the Source with Kaitlan Collins this evening. That's at 9 here on CNN.

Coming up next, more men accused of behaving badly. We're going to lay out what the House Ethics Committee calls substantial evidence. North Carolina Congressman Chuck Edwards repeatedly made unwanted advances toward two of his own female staffers.

But first, the suspicious activity led to the arrest of a man at Trump's California golf course ahead of the president's arrival.

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TAPPER: In our National Lead, a court appearance delayed until further notice for the man accused of showing up with ammunition at President Trump's Southern California golf club. The feds are investigating whether the man posed a threat to the president. Authorities say he was spotted on the property Sunday appealing, appearing to surveil security plans and had a gun in his pickup truck.

As CNN's Nick Watt reports, federal agents say they found even more weapons when they searched his home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Was this man planning to kill the president? The Secret Service now investigating Jeanine John Taele from the nearby city of Downey was detained Sunday at Trump national in Palos Verdes, authorities say with ammunition in his pockets and a loaded gun in his pickup truck.

His arrest announced Tuesday while the president was in the air en route to a fundraiser, he here at the golf club that went off without incident last night. Here's what we know from the LA County sheriff and the FBI. Friday, federal agents spotted a suspicious man wandering on the course wearing an earpiece, taking pictures and video of security preps for the president's visit.

Sunday, the man was back, approached federal agents told them he was with the State Department. A background check revealed a warrant for a previous robbery and a pat down revealed a 16 round magazine scene filled with hollow tipped rounds in his pocket. In his car, deputies found a loaded pistol, binoculars and a badge that read security protection agent.

Monday, during a search of Taele's home, law enforcement say they found an illegally modified AR-15 style rifle, a pistol, body armor, more ammunition and multiple notebooks containing concerning statements and another badge. There was no immediate indication Taele was plotting to attack Trump. A federal law enforcement source told CNN the investigation goes on, including a search of Taele's phone in search of an explanation for why he was armed and at that golf club. There is no room for error, said an FBI assistant director, particularly in light of the previous attempts on the president's life.

A would be assassin set up a sniper's nest on the edge of another Trump golf course in Florida in the late summer of 2024. And of course, that failed attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania just a few months prior.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Now Taele has so far pleaded not guilty to three local weapons charges and a charge related to a robbery. When he does in court, appear in court on that federal charge, maybe we'll get more of an idea as to whether this was a serious threat to the president or perhaps a man suffering some kind of mental health situation. For now, Jake, we just don't know. Back to you.

TAPPER: All right, Nick Watt, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

[17:20:00]

Coming up next, talks to begin talks what the Iranian regime is now saying about the chances of future negotiations with the United States.

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TAPPER: In our World Lead today, a notable statement from Iran's foreign ministry today. They say talks with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are, quote, progressing and that as long as a third party doesn't obstruct the progress. A draft is in the final stage. President Trump also says a deal to reopen the strait could come this week.

Joining us now, someone with a lot to say about a lot of things, conservative broadcaster Erik Erickson, host of The Erik Erickson Show, who has lots of thoughts on Iran. Erik, you have said that President Trump, in your words, quote, choosing to lose the war in Iran, unquote. Why do you think that? Explain.

[17:25:08]

ERIK ERIKSON, HOST, THE ERIK ERICKSON SHOW: We're putting Iran in a stronger position than they were in before we decided to start bombing them. It was a war of choice. We choose to do it. We should choose to finish what we started. Instead. We know they're talking about fees for the Strait of Hormuz. Iran is working with the Houthi to jam up the Red Sea. They've been still bombing our allies, the Middle East.

The United Emirates dropped out of OPEC today to side with us and the UAE has taken Iran's wrath. A deal that leaves Iran in a better position isn't good, particularly when our own Secretary of State has said Iran uses its oil sale money to fund terrorism in the Middle East.

TAPPER: So do you think that we are worse off now than we were before the war was launched on February 28th?

ERICKSON: Yes, I actually do think we are. We have Iran in a position where it's going to get greater revenue than it had before the war, which we didn't have to do. We've pulled our punches. This tit for tat, you know, my father's 85. He says he feels like Iran, that every day he gets a message from the president's team texting him that it's your last chance to join MAGA. And the next day it's your last chance. And the next day it's your last chance. And this is the president with Iran. It's their last chance for a deal today, tomorrow, day after tomorrow. And all we're doing is letting them make money.

TAPPER: Let's turn to other topics because so much is going on. Even though it's August, you've been pretty clear that you think Republican Congressman Max Miller from Ohio needs to go following the abuse, physical abuse allegations by his ex-wife, not to mention two other women. Miller was on our show yesterday. Here's a little bit of what he had to say on The Lead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): In 2016, when President Donald J. Trump faced the most extreme allegations, he stayed in and he was resilient. And what the American people can see is that they can see that somebody is fighting who is resilient. And that is a quality that the American people cherish.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So he thinks that if he follows the Trump playbook, he can emerge victorious. What do you think?

ERICKSON: The American people have given Donald Trump a pass on a lot that they don't give anyone a pass on. Max Miller is no Donald Trump. And Donald Trump, by the way, didn't have physical abuse allegations against women, despite the various allegations. I mean, Max Miller has physical abuse allegations, not just against an ex-wife. People can say this is some sort of messy divorce. He's got physical abuse allegations against multiple women. He's no Graham Platner.

I mean, the Democrats pushed Platner out. They pushed Eric Swalwell out. They pushed Joe Biden out of a presidential race. The fact that Republicans won't push him out, he could cost the GOP not just his congressional race, but also the Senate race in Ohio and the governor's race in Ohio, where, by the way, Republicans are behind right now.

And you got multiple hundreds of thousands of Republicans in his district who may just sit it out because they don't want to vote for him. And I can't imagine why the GOP isn't going to the lengths the Democrats were willing to go to just to make sure a race is won in their column.

TAPPER: I think there were some allegations of physical abuse against President Trump. Not to put too fine a point, E. Jean Carroll and others, but I take your larger point that Max Miller is not Donald Trump. Explain why you think that he could not only cost Republicans his congressional seat, but also hurt Vivek Ramaswamy, who's running for governor in Ohio and Senator Husted, who's running for election to the Senate in Ohio. How could he hurt him, hurt them?

ERICKSON: This is a point Republicans got to pay attention to. There are 789,000 people in Max Miller's 7th congressional district. Of those, over 300,000 are registered voters. And of those, the majority of them are Republicans. Husted and Ramaswamy are running slight their Democratic candidates. If 100,000 Republicans in Max Miller's district decide, you know what? I'm not going to go vote. This is disgusting. They're not going to go vote for Ramaswamy or Husted either.

And if they lose by 50 to 75,000 votes, I mean, that could cost it. I mean, look up in Michigan, Mike Rogers lost his 2024 election to Elissa Slotkin by, I think, 30,000 votes. You could have this happen in Ohio. Every vote counts and suppress the vote with a bad candidate, you cost three seats, not one seat in Ohio.

TAPPER: You're a Republican in Georgia. You know that phenomenon pretty well. Erik Erickson.

ERICKSON: Yes, very much so.

TAPPER: Thank you very much. So, yes, thank you so much. Appreciate it. The breaking news on Capitol Hill right now. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanch meeting with two Republican senators who have yet to say how they're going to vote on his nomination to get the permanent attorney general position.

Coming up next, we're going to talk to how to a vocal Democrat to see how he sees this standoff.

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[17:34:11]

TAPPER: We have some breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead. Two key Republican senators, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska just finished meeting with Todd Blanche, President Trump's attorney general nominee. Now, the senators are critical to Blanche's U.S. attorney general nomination because he can only afford to lose one more Republican vote after Susan Collins announced she opposes his nomination. And neither of those senators, Cassidy or Murkowski, has announced whether they're going to vote for him or against him.

Let's talk about this with Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont, who's on the Judiciary Committee, and along with all of his colleagues, voted against advances -- in advancing Blanche's nomination. Before we get to Murkowski and Cassidy, I wonder if you could just tell me, are you surprised that ultimately, even after all their concerns were expressed, outgoing Senators Tillis of North Carolina and Cornyn of Texas, both of whom have butted heads with Trump in the past, that ultimately they both voted to go forward with, with the Blanche nomination, even though it doesn't seem as though that anti-weaponization fund that they oppose so much is necessarily actually truly dead.

[17:35:20]

SEN. PETER WELCH (D-VT), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: I mean, I was disappointed. There's an immense amount of intimidation coming your way if you're a Republican senator and you defy the President. We saw what happened to Cassidy. We saw what happened to Cornyn. We saw what happened to Joni Ernst when she was the one who could have made the difference on Hegseth. And Cornyn asked really brilliant lawyerly questions that revealed that even if the Justice Department said they wanted to get rid of the weaponization fund, it was a binding contract so that the other party, namely President Trump, could disagree and keep the weaponization fund. So, so I'll say I was disappointed. But, you know, they are among my colleagues, two of our best senators.

TAPPER: And so right now it's down to Murkowski and Cassidy, both of whom have butted heads with Trump in the past, both of whom have been subject already to these intimidation tactics. Cassidy lost his reelection contest as Cornyn did. Have you talked to either one of them? WELCH: No, I haven't. I mean, they know where I stand and they have to make their decision.

TAPPER: Tell me what you hear when people, I mean, you know, we all know President Trump goes on Truth Social or he gives a -- gives remarks in the Oval Office. I guess he doesn't do that many rallies anymore and bad mouths people, comes up with nicknames for them, et cetera, et cetera. And we've seen him chase people like Jeff Flake and Bob Corker out of the party or out of the Senate at least. What is the intimidation like? What happens to these people?

WELCH: Well, the fact is that Trump really stirs up the base and there's enormous peril. So some members get retired, that's what Tillis did. Some members get defeated, that's what happened to Cornyn. So there's a real world reality. Now, but you're bringing up something that really is an indictment of the Senate itself, because whatever intimidation any of us face, and I say this as a Democrat, so I'm not on the receiving end, so it's with some humility, but we have some constitutional responsibility where advice and consent is one of them, taxing authority is another.

Most members are against the tariffs, but we look the other way when the President is doing it. And on advice and consent, especially with somebody like with Blanche. The real question is will he be the people's lawyer or the President's lawyer? And that weaponization fund made it very clear he works for the President.

TAPPER: Interesting. Let's turn to the future of the Democratic Party following Dr. Abdul El-Sayed's primary win in Michigan last night, or I guess it was called this morning, this is almost certainly a must win state for Democrats if you want to take back the Senate. Normally it's not a concern. Normally you have a candidate who even Elissa Slotkin barely won, but she still won over Mike Rogers in 2024. El- Sayed now faces former Congressman Rogers. I want you to take a listen to what outgoing Democratic Michigan Senator Gary Peters had to say earlier today. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): We have to come together and understand that whatever differences existed between Haley Stevens and Abdul, those are very small compared to the difference between Abdul and Mike Rogers. And we're going to make sure our Democratic Party comes together in Michigan and reach out to independent voters to win the race.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Are you going to endorse El-Sayed and are you worried at all about his ability to attract the all-important independent voters of Michigan?

WELCH: Well, number one, I am going to endorse him because the voters of Michigan endorsed him. His defeated opponent Haley Stevens endorsed him. Senator Peters endorsed him. So it is really important to us to get unified. But second, if I had any advice for him, he won the primary, he's going to win the general and he's got to speak to the concerns of everybody, not just the Democrats who voted for him in the primary.

So any candidate going into the general election on the Democratic side, I think whether they're on the progressive wing, as he is, or the moderate wing, has to go to the through line for us in this campaign. And that is about affordability for people who are working, working hard and can't pay their bills, young people who think the system isn't working. And they're right, you know, there's an incredible wealth disparity, enormous wealth in this country, but the top 1 percent have wealth equal to the bottom 90 percent.

So if he is talking to Republicans who didn't vote for him, but expressing his concern about the well-being of their children, about their ability to pay the rent, pay the bills, keep their community hospitals open, that's where there can be unity. Not just talk about unity, it's unity around our common commitment to the well-being of working Americans.

TAPPER: Senator Peter Welch, Democrat of Vermont, thanks so much for being here. Appreciate it, sir.

WELCH: Yes.

[17:39:56]

TAPPER: This hour, President Trump is in Las Vegas. His reports are -- his remarks are supposed to be about the economy. That's what the White House wants him to talk about. We'll check out to see if he stays on message. That's next.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: People are making a lot of money. No tax on tips. And it's great. The Democrats created the worst inflation in 48 years. They had the worst inflation. I inherited those high prices just so you understand. I inherited them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: President Trump there out west, speaking in Las Vegas just moments ago, he's trying to promote his economic agenda and draw a sharper contrast with Democrats as Republicans fight to keep control of Congress in November's election. His trip comes as voter frustration with the economy grows and Trump's approval rating is hitting record lows. Let's bring in the panel. Shermichael, we played two, you know, relatively on message clips from President Trump. What do you make of it all?

[17:45:11]

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I think the President is right to focus on the economy and the economic pain points of most Americans. That's been a big contrast for many of my friends on the Democratic side in the, what, 40 plus special elections they've won over the past 16, 15 months, give or take. And so I think the recognition that a lot of Americans, specifically independents, have said, hey, you're focusing on everything else but this, you need to return to this in order to try to pull some of those people over to the finish line come November, I think is incredibly important. I think the next step, though, is the tangible when will people start to see some real results?

And I think that's why the president has been trying to resolve this conflict in Iran, because he recognizes that there is a direct through line to the conflict there.

TAPPER: The President there still blaming Democrats for the economy almost two years later.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. And he continues to use numbers that are just not true. Inflation is higher now than it was when Biden handed him the economy. And in terms of what he's talking about in Nevada, I talked to some culinary workers before this, and they're calling what's happening in Nevada the Trump slump.

They don't think the taxes on tips is effective. They don't think that anything he talks about on the economy is credible. When you have the President, in his own words, saying the affordability crisis is a hoax, when you have him saying, I don't care about Americans economic situation, when you have him focused on a war that no one wanted and no one needed and they're spending billions while they rip healthcare from the big horrible bill from millions of Americans, he's just not credible when he talks about the economy. And we all know he can go off on a tangent in a second and it's probably what he'll do.

TAPPER: There is a really unusual thing that happened on Twitter today, and my staff has no idea that I'm bringing this up. So there's not going to be any graphics for this. All right, so Matt Walsh, who's a conservative, like podcaster or something, he basically said, and I'm paraphrasing all of this because I'm unprepared for it, but I do remember it, he basically said the affordability -- like the prices of food are just way too high and we need to -- the Republicans need to focus on that. And Stop talk. And we need to get stop these forever wars.

And then somebody with talking points. Is that what it's called? Talking Points USA not Talking Points -- Turning Point USA basically said amen. And a student told me today that he's paying $20 for a burrito. And it's crazy. Then Marc Thiessen, who is a conservative columnist for "The Washington Post" who's supportive of the war in Iran, said something like, cry me a river, the burritos are included in your meal plan.

Now, here's the part of this that's important. J.D. Vance comes in and attacks Marc Thiessen. Attacks the guy who's basically defending the Trump administration, he says, you know, if you've met Marc, you know he has -- it doesn't look like he's ever missed a burrito or something like that, like it was a fat joke.

But what is interesting about it is it seemed to, and I'm reading into -- there's a lot of amateur psychology I'm about to. It seemed to be J.D. Vance saying, no, I agree with these guys, we need to be focused on the affordability and not Iran.

SINGLETON: Well, it's true. Look, traditionally I supported the conflict because I'm a traditional old school Republican. I recognize the threat of Iran, particularly with the connection to China. And I thought there was a legitimate message to communicate to the American people to make that case. We're beyond that point. I recognize the data. Most Americans say Shermichael, I get all the theory behind it. I get the long term approach. But right now I really don't want to hear that.

And I think that's what the Vice President recognizes, Jake, is that there are a lot of Americans, including in our own party, who are saying, hey, we support you guys. We elected you because we wanted a return to Trump first administration after four years of Biden, which was a disaster. And we're not seeing that. And so I think the Vice President, looking forward to 2028, but also looking at the now, recognizes that in order to build a stronger conservative coalition, particularly if you want younger voters, you have got to address this pain points of the economic issues.

TAPPER: So do you think that Shermichael and I are reading too much into a cheap fat joke? Or is there something going on?

SINGLETON: I don't know about the joke.

CARDONA: I mean, what's going on there is that I think Republicans like J.D. Vance are worried and they rightly should be worried. There was a recent poll that came out, I think it was Reuters, Ipsos that said for the first time, I think in months, if not years. Democrats are more trusted on the economy than Republicans.

TAPPER: That's pretty surprising.

CARDONA: Well, and so that's where you are seeing how the desperation of American families.

TAPPER: That happened with immigration, too, which has always been a Republican strong point and always been a Trump strong point, especially after he basically shut down illegal immigration on the southern border because of Minnesota. And these images we see.

All right. Let me turn to something else now. My staff, thank you for indulging me, beautiful, loyal, brilliant staff. All right. The U.S. attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, is on thin ice with the White House. President Trump criticized her decision to drop charges against former Olympian David Hearn, who was accused of vandalizing the Reflecting Pool. Yesterday, President Trump said he had not decided whether or not he's going to fire her. But here is what the Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:50:17]

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Hypothetically, if the President chose to fire a United States attorney, it turns out he's allowed to do that because he's the President of the United States. The D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office's body of work, they are doing a phenomenal job. Now, does that mean that every case goes exactly the way that President Trump or I want or U.S. Attorney Pirro wants? I mean, of course not. It doesn't. So I think that what you've seen play out in the press with respect to President Trump and U.S. Attorney Pirro, it's all out there already.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He's defending her in his way.

SINGLETON: Yes. Look, I understand why this was a big deal for the President, particularly the political optics of it. But I think Attorney Pirro --

TAPPER: Looks like it's a bullshit case.

SINGLETON: -- I think she looked at the evidence and she went to the President with that giant box and said, look, Mr. President, I get it, but I can't send attorneys before a federal judge and just make up something. I just cannot do that. And I think the President may not always like some of those things, but as Todd made very clear, she has an obligation to not put the President and his administration in a bad predicament by trying to move forward with a case where the evidence isn't, frankly, there. So I see this differently. I see her as protecting the President in many ways by not moving forward with a case that just didn't have any legs.

CARDONA: It's a little bit too late for that because her credibility is shot. And what's so ironic is I was on this air talking about this a couple of days ago, and I said that she should be fired. The President agrees with me, but for completely different reasons, right? And the fact of the matter is, judges have said they don't trust attorneys that come before them from the Department of Justice because they have all presented shoddy evidence. They don't trust these attorneys when they're saying this, what does that say about Department of Justice? SINGLETON: But in this particular case, can we both agree the right decision was made here?

TAPPER: So -

CARDONA: Well, finally. But at the beginning, remember, she did a press conference talking about all the evidence, and when it didn't exist, it made her look like a fool.

TAPPER: So Blanche said Trump is extraordinarily focused on making this country safe. And does that mean he's going to publicly and privately make sure that everybody in his government, not just DOJ, but everybody in his government is doing that? Yes. I don't think the American people should look at that as some sort of threat to me or warning to me. Making the argument that you just basically make, like that Pirro. So he's taking a bigger view of what you just delineated.

SINGLETON: Yes. And look, I think that is the correct view. The politics is complicated. We have, what, 90 days or so until a midterm election. The President sometimes wears his emotions on his sleeves.

TAPPER: Sometimes.

SINGLETON: We know that. We talk about it a lot on this show. But again, she's been very loyal to him. I think you keep loyal people around who are going to make the right decisions to keep you in the best predicament.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

One day after his explosive interview here on The Lead here, Republican Congressman Max Miller told CNN today about his political future. And Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards here what the House Ethics Committee calls substantial evidence of him repeatedly making unwanted advances toward two of his female staffers.

[17:53:08]

Plus, an online shocker, a TikTok influencer shot dead during a live stream, the details on this one, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our World Lead celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton shocked fans when he appeared to harm himself on a TikTok live stream. Authorities received multiple calls from concerned viewers and were able to safely get Hilton to a local hospital in Miami. Meanwhile, Mexican authorities are investigating whether the live streamed murder of a prominent TikTok influencer was a cartel related execution. Police say the attack may have been related to his posts about criminal groups.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has the details. And a warning, some of the content of this report is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is 23- year-old Cesar Gastelum streaming live on the social media platform TikTok with two friends. They're all dressed as delivery drivers outside a fast food chain for what seems like a benign prank. Seconds later, this motorcycle stops near the group.

The shooting took place in Culiacan, the capital of Mexico's Sinaloa State. Authorities there say Gastelum was killed in the incident and that a large police operation is underway. Gastelum had nearly 600,000 followers on TikTok and was known mostly for his comedy videos. Fellow social media star Alejandro Fierro was one of the two friends with Gastelum when he was shot. He'd been posting on his own Instagram ahead of the live stream and was among the first to pay tribute to Gastelum.

In a powerful message, he said he couldn't make sense of it and was heartbroken. Gastelum's case is not unique in Mexico. Little over a year ago, another influencer, Valeria Marquez, was also live streaming when a man entered her beauty salon, shooting and killing her live on social media moments later.

Authorities said at a press conference they believe her murder was possibly linked to Ramon Angel Alvarez, known as El R-1, who was arrested last week in an unrelated drug case. He's the leader of Los Rs, a criminal group linked to the Jalisco New Generation cartel. Mexico's attorney general's office said he has an attorney and has not been charged in connection with the murder.

It's unknown if the cartels are behind Gastelum's assassination. Multiple groups are extremely active in Sinaloa. The actual perpetrators and, if applicable, the mastermind must be arrested and the reason behind this tragic homicide must be uncovered.

Isabel Rosales, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[17:59:51]

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, a behind the scenes scramble for Republican leaders tonight as they try to deal with serious allegations against multiple lawmakers in the Republican Party. Speaker Johnson dodging questions about Congressman Max Miller after his CNN interview as another Republican accused of truly --