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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump's New Claims Clash With Reality; Horrific Medical Mix-Up; Blanche Scores Enough Support For Confirmation; Poll Shows Tight Race For Texas Senate; NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook On His Missions Off Court. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 07, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, Todd Blanche could be confirmed as the next U.S. attorney general at literally any moment after securing enough Republican support for Senate confirmation. But Epstein survivors, who say Blanche is a disaster, are launching a last-minute effort to try to convince just one Republican lawmaker to change his vote. So, what are their odds?
Plus, President Trump says he deserves a 150 percent approval rating on the economy. Yes, he really said that, 150 percent. But his comments are coming just as the new jobs report is much worse than expected, and gas still averages more than $4 a gallon, and Americans say they are struggling to pay their bills. Is the president choosing to ignore all of that data, or does he really not think it's his responsibility?
And an Atlanta mother had multiple organs removed after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. But then her doctors came back and said it was all a mix-up, and she never had cancer to begin with. Hear her story and how the company says it's working to make sure this doesn't happen again.
We're going to start with our Politics Lead and President Trump's apparent disconnect, possibly even delusion, when it comes to his approval ratings and the state of the economy and what Americans want him to prioritize, which is affordability and not his personal construction projects.
[18:00:16]
Trump sat down with Punchbowl News on Thursday and suggested he had something of an epiphany after campaigning on the West Coast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I said to somebody, wait a minute, you don't understand. I won. I'm not campaigning.
I've had some great polls recently, real polls, but they're great polls. If I don't run, will those people go out and vote? And that's the one thing I can't tell. I'm going to ask them to, but I'm just watching guys like you, and you're very talented people. The question is, will they vote, because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans, to be honest with you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why is that?
TRUMP: They're angry at -- I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans, but they're not angry at me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's an interesting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: They're angry at Republicans, they're not angry at me, he said.
Okay, well, here's a reality check. President Trump is historically unpopular, with only a 34 percent approval rating, according to a recent CNN poll. These are numbers, disapproval numbers, that we've really only seen around this point of a presidency with Richard Nixon after Watergate, and with George W. Bush after the combination of the Iraq War and the failed response to Hurricane Katrina. Trump's polls are the opposite of, quote, great polls.
Here's another poll from his preferred network, Fox, a network whose business model is to appeal to Trump voters, 39 percent approval, 61 percent disapproval. The details of that poll show his approval is tanking among rural voters, and is at an all-time low with white voters, and is having a huge 13-point dip among non-MAGA Republicans since just the month of June.
Now, when it comes to the midterms, a Pew Research Center poll showed that 81 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning voters say that their vote in the midterms will be a vote against -- theirs will be a vote for Trump. Still, he thinks the economy is going gangbusters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: When I see polls on the economy, I should have 150 percent, not 100 percent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
TRUMP: Because we have the greatest -- this is the golden age of America. What's being built now in this country has never, ever been built. And we're really -- we are literally in the golden age of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The golden age of America.
This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that July data, which shows the economy unexpectedly lost 23,000 jobs, 23,000 jobs lost. That same CNN poll we referenced shows about three-quarters of the American people say the president is not in touch with the problems of ordinary Americans. The problems include not being able to afford groceries, not being able to afford to fill up their car with gas. Last week, The New York Times Maggie Haberman said that Trump spends, in her estimation, about 70 percent of his time on his renovation projects. That certainly seemed accurate when the president, earlier this week, a week of continued war in Iran, an economic struggle at home, detail -- derailed his 40-minute Q&A after signing an executive order creating a commission for military spouses, spending roughly 14 minutes talking about his construction endeavors.
Here's just a small sample.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Look at the beautiful ballroom and military center. It's a military center, much more than -- we have a drone port on top. We -- look at the grass in front of the White House, being all replaced with the top stuff.
You saw the new horses that just opened by the bridge with the gold. That was the way they were many years ago.
One of the bigger jobs was, not really the biggest, believe it or not, but one of the biggest was the Reflecting Pool. And we did a great job. We sandblasted the stone outside. It was granite, so it has a long life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Focused like a laser on the economy, just a little over an hour ago, President Trump demonstrated that the pool remains top of mind. He posted a rant on Truth Social, starting with, quote, now that people are able to see it up close, they are reporting pure vandalism at the Reflecting Pool, unquote. It went on from there.
It is not a mystery as to why a majority of the American people think the president has the wrong priorities. It is not a mystery why his disapproval rating is so high.
Joining us now is Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez from Florida. Congressman, President Trump says that voters aren't mad at him, they're mad at you and your colleagues.
[18:05:03]
Do you think that that's fair?
REP.CARLOS GIMENEZ (R-FL): Look, I really don't think so but I understand the frustration that the American people have. But, again, you know, he is the president, he's the president now. But I also believe that a lot of what's going on with America, especially the unaffordability, really started with the Biden administration and a 9 percent inflation rate during his time, the millions of people that were allowed into the United States, which depressed the job market for everyday Americans.
And so, you know -- and then the Iran war that rightly so has, you know, risen the price of gas. I mean, if we can get that over with, we can lower the price of gas and we can thing, get things somewhat more affordable.
But I think our message is, look it's not perfect right now, but if you go back to what we had with Biden and the Democrats, you're going to get out-of-control spending, which is going to jack up the inflation rate. You're going to get millions and millions of people coming across the border, which is going to actually make your job less valuable and your wages go down. And so the alternative is actually worse, much worse.
And so what the president is doing and right now it's going to take time for all these measures to come to fruition. We're getting more and more manufacturing coming back to the United States. This dip in the -- you know, employment numbers the explanation was that a lot of it had to do with the World Cup and the end of the World Cup, and you had hundreds of thousands of people employed by the World Cup and, you know, there's no more World Cup.
And so we need to see what happens in August, et cetera, okay, to see where the job numbers go. But, again, you know, I believe that we're on the right track. But, you know, a lot of people are saying, you know, a lot of bad things about the president and that he's not focusing in on the economy. I do think he is focusing in on the economy.
TAPPER: Yes.
GIMENEZ: And so it's just going to take a little bit of time for it to come to fruition.
TAPPER: I don't know that that World Cup spin is accurate. The World Cup lasted three weeks into July. And we had an economist on earlier who said that that just doesn't hold water.
In terms of Trump versus Biden, or at least the Trump economy versus the Biden economy, I mean, you guys had that election and you won that election. I mean, President Trump won quite handily in 2024. Now we're in 2026 and the American people are not -- I mean, I don't think that that is a selling argument for people who -- look, you're in touch with them more than I am. Your constituents, I mean, they are worried about their gas prices.
Now, they know that the war in Iran is one of the reasons why their gas prices are so high. They voted for Donald Trump because he said he was going to bring prices down. You know, a lot of groceries cost more. Aren't you worried?
GIMENEZ: Yes, of course I'm worried. But, again, our job is also to contrast what we're doing to bring the costs down versus what the Democrats are going to do, which is going to jack prices way back up again. They're going to have out-of-control spending. They're going to give all these social programs.
Look at what's happening in New York, okay? Government-run grocery stores, Medicare for all, Medicaid for all, I mean, all that stuff costs money. And so that's going to start -- you're going to have the cycle again of hyperinflation like they did with Biden. And then they want open borders. You want to have millions and millions of people coming across the border.
What do you think that's going to do to the job market for everyday Americans that are holding a job right now? He also -- remember during Biden, he also suppressed the oil and gas industry because he wanted to go all electric. And so gas prices were really up during the Biden administration, okay? And they're going to go right back up with these crazy policies.
And so we have to say, hey, yes, look, you got to stay the path. Yes, we're going to get there. But if you go back to that, it's going to get much, much worse.
TAPPER: I want to ask you, because I know that the drug trade and ending it is very important to you. On last night's show, we did an in-depth look at the individuals that were killed during the Trump administration's Southern Spear operation, which is transitioning. They're transitioning out of it to a new operation. We found in our report that a, that some of the men are innocent, according to their families, and there's been no evidence presented against them at all. A couple of them survived the strike, and were -- the Trump administration let them free.
But most of them probably were in the drug trade, but they were low- level couriers, not narco-terrorists the way that Pr- Trump suggests, the Medellin cartel, El Chapo, et cetera. There hasn't been a boat strike since the end of June. What are you hearing about why Southern Spear is ending and this new plan with 18 other countries is beginning?
GIMENEZ: Well, yes, I don't know why Southern Spear, you know, ended. Maybe a lot of the traffic may be down because of the actions that were taken during Southern Spear.
[18:10:01]
It is not a good idea to run a drug boat these days. I mean, maybe they started using some other routes.
The new initiative with 18 other countries is then to get boots on the ground with those 18 other countries and start combating this drug trafficking, you know, in inside the these countries themselves with the cooperation of those countries.
Look, you know, this drug trade killed over half a million Americans, okay? And, you know, you can't put that down. And so, yes, some drastic action had to be taken in order for that to start to come down, and we have had a reduction in fentanyl, et cetera, and fentanyl deaths here in the United States, not to zero but we need to get that down.
Those international drug cartels, multinational cartels, had declared war on the United States to the tune of killing more Americans, more Americans than had ever been, you know, killed in any war, all the wars combined, and so we had to take some drastic action.
TAPPER: I don't disagree with you. I mean, all of those Americans overdosing, but as you know, most of those deaths were either opioids, which is a whole other thing about the American pharmaceutical industry that we can talk about, or fentanyl, as you mentioned. And the fentanyl, the ingredients come from China, and then they go to Mexico, and they don't come that's not what is being hit with Southern Spear. I mean, I'm not taking issue --
GIMENEZ: Yes. But the -- what was hit with during the Southern Spear is the carrier of the fentanyl.
TAPPER: No, because the fentanyl's coming from Mexico.
GIMENEZ: No. No. What happened is that cocaine and stuff, it gets to Mexico, and then it's brought in, and it's also laced with fentanyl.
Most of the people that overdosed on fentanyl didn't know they were taking fentanyl. They thought they were taking something else, and so it's the carrier drug, okay, that was killing Americans. And so that's what was happening.
And, by the way, you're absolutely right. I would've done a heck of a lot more against China, who knew that they were making this stuff. And matter of fact -- yes, as a matter of fact they incentivized the production of the fentanyl chemicals to things that were actually illegal in China, knowing damn well it was going to come to America and kill Americans.
So, yes, I would've done a heck of a lot more against China, and I would've done a heck of a lot more, and still would like to have to do a heck of a lot more against those cartels in Mexico that have actually been killing Americans for the past decade.
TAPPER: Republican Congressman Carlos Gimenez of Florida, thank you, sir. I appreciate your time.
GIMENEZ: Thank you.
TAPPER: Up next: recent U.S. intel warns Russian leader Vladimir Putin may try to test the strength of NATO by launching an attack on a close American ally. Those details in moments.
Plus, what President Trump's top general is reportedly saying behind the scenes about the future of the Iran war and whether the U.S. should ramp up its military strikes.
Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
TAPPER: In our World Lead, there is new U.S. intelligence that is indicating Russian President Vladimir Putin could try to test NATO's unity with a limited attack on a NATO-allied country. The assessments warn that Russia could conduct a small-scale incursion or a cyber attack designed to test NATO's commitment to Article 5. Article 5 states that an attack on one member is an attack on all. Joining me now is Zach Cohen. Zach, what does this assessment tell us specifically about what Putin might be planning?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Jake. It effectively lays out that there's a window of time where Vladimir Putin believes he could test and see how much he can get away with effectively as far as encroaching on NATO territory, challenging the me- member states to their commitment to Article 5 to defend -- an attack against one is an attack against all.
And that is really predicated on this idea that U.S. officials and NATO officials believe that Putin is growing frustrated by taking serious losses in the war with Ukraine and could move to shift his tactic by focusing on NATO in particular. He does see potentially an opportunity here to expose some fractures within the alliance and could particularly target some of the smaller, less strong member states in an effort to see how much action he can get away with before crossing that Article 5 threshold.
And I'm told that this intelligence does suggest the most likely targets would be places like the Baltics or Poland, places where we've actually seen some recent Russian activity as far as --
TAPPER: Yes, drones and cyberattacks, right?
COHEN: Exactly. And over the last several years, we've seen a pretty steady pace of that kind of activity, but this intelligence lays out various scenarios and various ways Putin might want to test the alliance's strength.
Now, the one sort of other alternative here is that if Putin is able to secure some sort of a face-saving agreement of some kind to end the war in Ukraine, there is potential there for, you know, him not to have motive for shifting his attention elsewhere.
But, again, the talks, the dialogue between Russia and Ukraine intermediated by the United States has stalled, we're told. So, it's really up in the air here, and we are told senior officials are very concerned about this very real threat.
TAPPER: And on speaking of other threats you have some new reporting about what Trump's top general is thinking right now about the current status of the war in Iran.
COHEN: Yes, that's right, Jake. I'm told by multiple sources that effectively General Dan Caine has expressed in private that he is looking for a potential off-ramp to this conflict. As we're looking at the current state of play here, the military, their strikes, particularly just air power alone, are unlikely to accomplish the president's stated objective, which, of course, are at the top of the list is preventing Iran from ever acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Dan Caine has even said so in public that he thinks air power has its limits. But on the flip side of that, the diplomatic front doesn't seem to be progressing at a very rapid pace here. And we've seen the president threaten to escalate this conflict, but also be averse to putting U.S. boots on the ground.
And Caine has talked privately with other top cabinet members, including CIA Director John Ratcliffe, before these recent meetings with the president, where they've discussed the options for escalating, just to make sure they're all on the same page. But it also exposes that Caine is very aware of the potential risks, particularly with expanding this conflict and escalating it in the way that Donald Trump has been talking about.
[18:20:04]
TAPPER: All right. Zach Cohen, thanks so much.
An Atlanta mother had extensive surgery after being diagnosed with cancer, but then she found out it was all a mix-up. It's a horrible story. We'll tell you what happened next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our Health Lead, we're going to take you to Georgia, where a 45-year-old woman got a hysterectomy after doctors told her she had cancer. It turns out she never had cancer, and now the woman is suing Kaiser Permanente.
CNN's Jacqueline Howard sat down with the woman to talk about how this DNA mix-up changed her life forever.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CASSANDRA BARKSDALE, PATIENT: Hi, the words was that we sent in the wrong DNA. It was in your tissue that was sent in. It was mixed up with someone else.
JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER (voice over): It was a shocking mix-up that Cassandra Barksdale says changed her life. Last year, about seven months after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of uterine cancer, Barksdale found out the tissue sample used to diagnose her actually belonged to another patient, and Barksdale does not have cancer at all.
[18:25:08]
We don't know anything about that other person whose DNA that was.
BARKSDALE: That's correct. I was more worried about the other person, because I wanted to know, you know, was she still alive? Did she get the correct, you know, care that she needs?
HOWARD: You originally went to see your doctor last year at Kaiser Southwood Medical Center for fibroids and unusual bleeding.
BARKSDALE: Yes, a routine visit. That's correct. And she told me I had to do the biopsy. She told me that they found an aggressive form of cancer in my biopsy.
The first thing went to my mind is that I was going to die, and I was like, how am I going to tell my family? How can I tell my kids that I have aggressive cancer?
HOWARD: Barksdale says that her doctors recommended surgery. She had her cervix, uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes, and four lymph nodes all removed. The procedure plunged the 45-year-old into an early menopause with hot flashes and sleepless nights.
BARKSDALE: I'm still having panic attacks. I'm in a deep depression. It's just I have hard days.
HOWARD: Barksdale's attorneys filed a lawsuit this week against Kaiser Permanente seeking damages of more than $10,000.
DR. RODERICK EDMOND, BARKSDALE'S ATTORNEY: I haven't seen a case like this before. I mean, I've practiced medicine for 12 years. I've been doing medical malpractice for 25, and this is just a bizarre situation. It just doesn't happen.
HOWARD: In a company statement, Kaiser Permanente says, quote, Ms. Barksdale should not have experienced this. We have highly trained staff and very thorough processes in place to prevent errors like this from taking place.
After this occurred last year, we took immediate steps to ensure it could not happen again. We realize the impact of this incident and are committed to working with Ms. Barksdale and her counsel to resolve this in the most fair and accountable way we can, end quote.
Barksdale says that she's continuing counseling, finds hope through her church, and finds pride in her two sons, the younger of whom is attending Morehouse School of Medicine to study pathology.
BARKSDALE: So, once he found out what I was experiencing, he changed it to do pathology because he feel like he could make a difference in prevent things like this from happening.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD (on camera): And, Jake, mix up like -- mix ups like that are very rare. It's actually estimated that something like this occurs generally in about 1 percent of cases, and most of the time the mix-up is caught before it impacts the patient.
But as we heard from Cassandra just now, Jake, when there are impacts to the patient, they can sometimes be devastating and long-lasting as well, Jake.
TAPPER: And Jacqueline, the, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, they got a rare visit from HHS Secretary RFK Jr. earlier today. While I have you, how'd that go?
HOWARD: Absolutely, yes. Secretary Kennedy went to visit the campus here in Atlanta, Georgia, on the first anniversary of that tragic shooting that happened at CDC headquarters in August last year. During his visit, he did host a commemoration ceremony in honor of the DeKalb County officer, David Rose, who sadly was killed during that shooting last year. In a post on X, Secretary Kennedy wrote, quote, we honored Officer David Rose's extraordinary courage, service, and sacrifice by dedicating a memorial roadway and plaque in his memory.
And, Jake, we also heard that during Secretary Kennedy's visit, he also held a fireside chat with CDC staff. But, Jake, we've also heard from CDC staff that they still feel concerned about some of Secretary Kennedy's comments around vaccine skepticism, around public health workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. So, there were mixed emotions today with his visit among CDC staff. Jake?
TAPPER: All right. Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much.
We're standing by to see when the U.S. Senate is going to vote on Todd Blanche to be the next attorney general. It appears he has enough support to be confirmed. There is a last-minute effort by survivors of Jeffrey Epstein to try to flip one Republican vote. Those details are next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:30:00]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Epstein survivors were heartbroken this morning when Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, who seemed ambivalent about Todd Blanche, announced that he ultimately will vote for Todd Blanche to be the next U.S. attorney general, clearing Blanche's path for confirmation.
And now a group of Epstein survivors is trying to convince some other Republican senators to not support Blanche. Among the three they're targeting, Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, Utah Senator John Curtis, and Ohio Senator Bernie Moreno. Blanche's nomination could be derailed if just one more Republican senator votes against him.
Epstein survivor Annie Farmer joins us now. Annie and her sister, Maria, made the earliest known police reports against Jeffrey Epstein back in the 1990s, if only they had been listened to back then.
Annie Todd Blanche's deputy attorney general oversaw the rollout of the Epstein files that revealed victim identities while redacting the information of potential Epstein associates who perhaps committed crimes. Even the vice president referred to how this was done as a mishandling. It can't be easy to watch any of this confirmation process of Todd Blanche play out.
Let me just start with the basic question of how are you doing?
ANNIE FARMER, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Today has really been an emotional rollercoaster. I woke up to the news that Senator Murkowski would be voting against Todd Blanche's confirmation, which was, you know, really amazing news. I felt that she had acted with a lot of integrity. She had listened to her constituents, and she had listened to us and our concerns and taken them seriously. So, it was pretty devastating then to hear from Senator Cassidy that in his remarks on the floor, say, you know, he had met with Todd Blanche five or six times recently and yet he had never found time to meet with us.
[18:35:02]
And, you know, I think that is so important because, you know, he had himself expressed a concern about the weaponization of the DOJ, and I think this case actually illustrates that very well.
And, you know, when people talk about redaction errors, if they don't, if they don't know the details, and I think a lot of these people are busy and they don't know the details, right, they might imagine that's just -- that's incompetence perhaps, mistakes. But we're talking about individuals who have had their names released. Their attorneys have reached out. They've then been redacted. Those same individuals who then have been speaking out about the case have found their names once again revealed, and once again, their attorneys have to call and have them redacted, and that's even happened -- that's happened multiple times to numbers of individuals.
So, I think that's exactly the kind of thing that senators need to understand. That's not just a mistake. This is playing out. I think we are seeing a lot of people's concerns come to fruition right here in this case, that Todd Blanche is not acting in Americans' best interest. He's acting -- he is still acting as the president's attorney.
TAPPER: Tell us about this focus on Senators Sullivan of Alaska, Curtis of Utah, and Moreno of Ohio that Epstein survivors are targeting. Why were these three chosen? Are you being -- are you and your sister survivors, are you able to meet with them? And do you think at least one of them might vote against Blanche?
FARMER: I mean, that's what we're asking for right now is just a meeting. Because what we have found is when we're able to get in front of people and actually go through some of this and explain the details. It's compelling information, and people often are moved by these facts, right?
And so, you know, I think with Senator Sullivan, I think that Murkowski's statement says a lot. She said she heard very loudly from her constituents in Alaska that this is -- that they do not support Todd Blanche as attorney general, and these are his constituents as well, you know? So, we're hoping that perhaps he will also listen to his constituents and at least meet with us and allow us to share more information.
I think for Senator Moreno, you know, he has come out strongly against gender-based violence. And I think that's very much a part of what has -- at play in this case. So, saying you stand with survivors, you -- it doesn't make sense to then vote for Todd Blanche, who has so harmed survivors.
And then Senator Curtis, you know, we had there were some survivors that had a very good meeting with his office. Unfortunately, that came after he had initially said he would be supportive of Todd Blanche. But I think there's some new information came out in that meeting that they were very curious about. And so we're hoping, again, to have a meeting directly with him and be able to share more.
You know, I think one thing that really plays -- that plays, I think, on these senators is when they hear from their own constituents. So, you know, this is also an appeal to the people of Alaska, to the people of Ohio, to the people of Utah, that if you stand with us and if you also agree that Todd Blanche is not suitable to be our highest law enforcement officer, that you will reach out to these offices.
I mean, you know, just one piece of information that I think, you know, has been on my mind is thinking about, for example, this unprecedented meeting, this nine-hour meeting he had with Ghislaine Maxwell, that nobody could really explain, right? Why did this happen? It didn't seem to make sense. Of course, then she was transferred to a facility with less security.
And, you know, one of the things that happened in the last few months is that information from that meeting was used in President Trump's lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal, saying, look, Ghislaine said I, I did not draw this -- you know, drawing for the birthday book, right?
So, these are the kind of details that I think sometimes slip by people, but that's a great example of Todd Blanche's actions not serving the American people, not serving us as survivors, but serving the president.
TAPPER: Asking Ghislaine Maxwell for details about something theoretically so President Trump can then use it in a lawsuit against the Journal, interesting stuff.
Annie Farmer, thank you so much, and thanks, as always, for your courage. I know it sucks having to talk about this stuff, but we appreciate it.
FARMER: Oh no, of course. Thank you for having me.
TAPPER: James Talarico is making his pitch to a key group of voters as polls show a tight race for the U.S. Senate in Texas, of all places. But a Democratic lawmaker from Texas says don't trust the numbers. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
TAPPER: More politics now. U.S. Senate candidate from Texas, James Talarico, a Democrat, went on The Breakfast Club show this week and was pressed about whether attacks on his Democratic primary opponent, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, helped or hurt his campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES TALARICO (D), TEXAS SENATE NOMINEE: Attacks on the congresswoman I think make it harder for us to win this general election because the whole coalition has to be together. We need black Texans to win this race. And then, you know, when we win this race in November, I'll represent the most African Americans of any senator in the country. And so all these attacks have, I think, hurt our campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in the panel. Ameshia Cross, has Talarico and has his campaign done as much as they need to do in order to get black voters to rally around him in November?
AMESHIA CROSS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think his campaign is still doing the work. James Talarico, to his credit, has a very strong and long record in the Texas state legislature of working with -- through policies that protect and provide for jobs, economic development, housing for black people, and other low-income individuals across the state.
With that being said, I don't believe that James Talarico nor his campaign should have to issue apologies for things that people on the internet say. There were some very disgusting things said about Congresswoman Crockett during the course of that campaign. It got down and dirty, but none of that came from James Talarico nor his campaign.
I don't think that he can control internet chatter, nor can he control the racists that exist and the bots across the social media format. What James Talarico needs to focus on and what Texas need to focus on, quite frankly, and for Democrats is to win in November.
[18:45:05]
The primary is long behind us now. At this point it is aligning the base, but also extending beyond it and making sure that turnout is your number one priority.
I was really disappointed with some of the interview of the Breakfast Club, because there are issues and policies that matter to the Black community in Texas, whether or not there is still bad blood or bitterness around what happened with Jasmine Crockett is not the top priority of Black Texans.
TAPPER: Joe, the latest poll out of Texas Southern University shows really a jump ball. No clear leader in the race between Talarico and Paxton. Talarico is at 47 percent. Paxton's at 45 percent. That's within the margin of error. Statistically insignificant.
But they're basically neck and neck. Does that surprise you?
JOE MORENO, FORMER GOP STRATEGIST: It surprises me and it worries me a little bit. Jake. Normally I would say I'm not worried about this, right? It's been 30 years since a Democrat won statewide office in Texas.
TAPPER: Ann Richards?
MORENO: I think -- I think it was actually 1994, I believe the problem is here's what happens, 2024, right? The Republican is up by 2 percent, wins by eight. 2020, Cornyn is up 10 percent, wins by 10. 2018, Cruz is up 4 percent, wins by 2.6 over Beto O'Rourke, right?
Now, you've got Talarico even -- or maybe even ahead of Paxton. And Paxton is so flawed. I'm embarrassed as a Republican.
TAPPER: He's been both impeached and indicted, and his wife is leaving him for biblical reasons, he says.
MORENO: I mean, charged as well for securities fraud.
TAPPER: Right.
MORENO: I mean, and you got a diversion agreement basically means, you know, you kind of got off with a fine. So, this might be -- I know Democrats get excited every few years that this might be the year for Texas. I hate to say it, this might be the year for Democrats in Texas.
TAPPER: So, Ameshia, earlier this week, NBC News asked Congresswoman Crockett if she thinks Talarico could turn Texas blue. She responded, quote, "I don't know." She added that she does not buy the polls and is instead watching how both Democrats and Republicans spend their money. Quote, "Right now, neither one are investing, which tells me that their internals are saying the same thing. I won't get on the ground to really start to feel it until maybe end of September or October. As I start to dig into which races I'm going to help out in the races that I really feel like we can win.
What do you think? Do you -- do you -- I mean, that's a typically blunt Jasmine Crockett statement. But do you think she needs to be doing more to boost Talarico or what?
CROSS: Absolutely. Texas is her home state. Jasmine Crockett has gone across the country in various election cycles that are nowhere near Texas, and has not only full-throatedly given her support, but has also been someone who has stood out and gotten a lot of attention and fundraising for other candidates of the Democratic Party who are not in her home state.
This is -- this is really sad. At this point, the party should be in alignment. This Texas senate seat is extremely important. This is probably the closest that a Democrat has ever really been considering just the very poor behavior of the Republican on the other side.
And it just seems as though at every chance she gets, Jasmine Crockett seems to turn the knife again, and I am unsure as to what you know. The plan of action for the future is beyond this for her. I wish her well.
However, it is not helpful to have these types of commentaries while we are still working to, you know, get as many people out to vote as possible, increase interest in this race in addition to bring the money in, that is going to be necessary to reach all corners of the state. TAPPER: Joe, one of the most high profile politicians this week in
America is Congressman Max Miller of Ohio, who is in this ugly custody battle with his ex-wife, who is the daughter of Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio. He's not going to drop his election bid. Congressman Miller told me earlier this week, and he denies all the allegations against him from his ex-wife.
Here's something he said during our interview earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): I am going to be successful in this November because my constituents know who I am, and they also know who my ex- father-in-law is. And they also know who my ex-wife is. And that's why you've seen people aren't running from me. My numbers and fundraising are strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So, I don't know what his -- I guess we'll see when the FEC report comes out, what his fundraising numbers are. According to "The Wall Street Journal", Miller has decided to lend his campaign $1 million of his own money, telling "The Wall Street Journal" he's in this for the long haul.
What do you make of that?
MORENO: Well, that's probably legal. Frankly, I don't see a problem with that. I think the bigger --
TAPPER: No, no, I'm not saying it's illegal at all. I'm sure it's fine.
MORENO: but just the fact that he's staying in the race. I mean, look, I think we've seen a few examples now of house members that are either running or serving that are facing serious allegations. Okay. We've seen it with George Santos, who was facing charges. We've seen it with Sheila McCormick in Florida, who was also facing federal charges before she resigned, ultimately.
So the question is --
TAPPER: Swalwell.
MORENO: I mean, right, right.
TAPPER: Cory Mills.
MORENO : So in this case, he's not charged with anything.
TAPPER: Chuck Edwards.
MORENO: Yes.
TAPPER: It's a real murderers' row. Yeah. MORENO : A bad trend here, I guess, right? So, he's not facing charges. So I guess the question is do we give him his due process. The lawyer in me says, you know, innocent until proven guilty.
TAPPER: Sure. Of course.
MORENO: But do you want someone with such a distraction running for such an important seat?
Selfishly, I'd say no. I wish he'd step aside.
[18:50:01]
But I understand that, you know, somebody wants to say I haven't been proven guilty of anything. Not even formally charged. I'm not going anywhere.
TAPPER: Erick Erickson, the conservative commentator, says he's worried not only will Democrats win that seat, but that Max Miller will be a drag on two statewide races because the governor's race between Ramaswamy and Acton is close, and the Senate race between Sherrod Brown and Jon Husted is close. That Max Miller, if people in his district are like, to hell with this guy, but I'm not going to vote for the Democrat. That could be, you know, thousands of votes that just don't turn out for the Republicans.
CROSS: I think Erick's right. There is a risk here beyond a guy who just wants to stay in the race. This is -- this is -- it's quite frankly, really sad. But it's also -- I hear you on due process. But for voters, for those who are going to the polls, due process is not what they're taking into consideration. What is is your ability to lead, but also your ability to not be a distraction.
And even though this is a Trump era, people like to vote for people who they think are have a better sense of self, who can do things that are not as what it looks like beneath the pale, as this happens to be. And he's not helping himself with several interviews either, but it's going to be a drag to the ticket. And he has been asked by several people, some, you know, outwardly, some in whispers, to drop out for that reason. And I think that as those calls keep coming, he is going to have to make a big decision.
TAPPER: What do you think? Do you think it could have an impact statewide?
MORENO: Of course, it could. I mean, look, I remember -- I'm old enough to admit that. I mean, a single allegation of like infidelity back years ago would get a candidate out of a race or get a resignation.
TAPPER: Yeah, a long time ago.
MORENO: The amount of allegations that these guys face and they just shamelessly expect us --
CROSS: And the gravity. MORENO: I know and expect us to vote for them -- look, I wish for the
sake of politics in general, not just Republicans, someone facing like this sort of thing should tap out, deal with the allegations, and not put that choice to voters to kind of hold their nose and vote for them or stay home.
TAPPER: Yeah. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.
Coming up Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION", we're going to talk to the director the National Economic Council, Kevin Hassett, and we're going to talk to the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Michigan, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. That's Sunday at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern, only on CNN. I will be anchoring Sunday.
Coming up next, an incredible opportunity to give back for an NBA's all-star who calls himself blessed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:56:21]
TAPPER: We're going to close the week with our sports lead. You know, it's been a rough -- rough week of news. We need some good news to close-out this Friday.
In an email from our colleague, CNN anchor Elex Michaelson came right on time. Elex wanted to share his conversation with nine-time NBA all- star Russell Westbrook, one of the best point guards of all time. Off season, Westbrook also has a lot going on from community impact to fashion. And as the MVP put it to Elex, why not?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Russell Westbrook is using his talents on the court to transform his community off the court.
MICHAELSON: What do you see as your role in this community.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK, NBA ALL-STAR: To lead the way.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The former NBA MVP and Olympic gold medalist is known for playing with passion.
WESTBROOK: The passion just shows up in different ways.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): He's equally passionate about finding unique solutions to help the very same neighborhood he grew up in.
MICHAELSON: What drives you?
WESTBROOK: To impact and inspire others.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Westbrook started a nonprofit, a school, a fashion line, and more with one goal.
WESTBROOK: All stemmed from community impact, and that is the focal point of everything.
How are we doing?
KIDS: Good
MICHAELSON (voice-over): For 14 years, he's personally coached thousands of kids at free basketball camps
Callan Miner Mohammed (ph) has been coming to Russ's camp year after year since she was four years old.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: It's really helped my confidence. One, two, three, one up.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Russ's nonprofit is named is Why Not?
MICHAELSON: What do you mean by Why Not?
WESTBROOK: Make me feel I can do anything that I put my mind to.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The Why Not? Foundation funding reading rooms across the country. Food drives, affordable housing units, and free mental health care at the Westbrook Academy.
MICHAELSON: You have your own school.
WESTBROOK: That's crazy.
MICHAELSON: Is that wild?
WESTBROOK: That's crazy.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): A public school aiming to provide kids in underprivileged communities a world class education.
WESTBROOK: One of my graduation. They're so connected and so excited.
MICHAELSON: What's your graduation rate?
WESTBROOK: Last year, we graduated everybody, 100 percent. Yes, sir.
MICHAELSON: This is Honor the Gift here.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Honor the Gift is Westbrook's fashion line. He's personally involved in all the design.
WESTBROOK: Details are very important.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): The idea to create fashion, that his community is not only proud to wear, but can also afford to buy.
MICHAELSON: You love fashion?
WESTBROOK: Yes, sir.
MICHAELSON: Where's that passion come from? WESTBROOK: That started from my mom.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Over the years, Westbrook has modeled a variety of provocative looks, often showcasing plenty of skin.
MICHAELSON: Sometimes your eight pack is your greatest attribute.
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Westbrook personally designed his office space as well.
WESTBROOK: Creative office and creative space.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): It features basketball inspired art and a photo with then President Barack Obama.
WESTBROOK: Barack is the epitome of what a leader is.
MICHAELSON: That's one of your role models to get more involved in the community.
WESTBROOK: Absolutely.
MICHAELSON: Would you ever run for office?
WESTBROOK: No, no.
MICHAELSON: Flat no. That was fast.
WESTBROOK: Nope.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): Westbrook is the NBA's all-time leader in triple doubles, but he says the stat he cares about most is lives inspired.
WESTBROOK: The legacy is what I've used, which God has given me to be able to help and impact other people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: So, in addition to all that work, he's also a full time professional athlete. He's a free agent, but he wants to be back for his 19th NBA season in the fall. We'll have a lot more with Russ coming up on "THE STORY IS" at midnight Eastern, 9:00 Pacific, Jake.
TAPPER: Thanks so much, Elex. We'll look for more tonight on your show.
"THE STORY IS WITH ELEX MICHAELSON" at midnight Eastern, 9:00 p.m. Pacific, only here on CNN.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now. I will see you Sunday morning on "STATE OF THE UNION" with Kevin Hassett and Dr. Abdul El-Sayed. See you then.
