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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE), Is Interviewed About Trump: No Talks Happening Or Scheduled With Iran, Republicans Confront Growing Midterm Peril As Iran War Drags On; Meta Faces Trail Over Child Safety, Social Media Addiction; M.N. AG Sues Texas Gov. Abbott Over Extradition Of ICE Agent Accused Of Shooting Man In Minneapolis; Prosecutors Show Jury Graphic Autopsy Photos Of Rapper's Body; Sen. Ossoff Calls Trump "Draft-Dodging, Crook President"; 14 Charged In Penn State Fraternity Cocaine Trafficking Case. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired August 18, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Don't forget you can now stream The Arena live or whenever you want to in the CNN app. Just scan the QR code below. You can also catch up by listening to The Arenas podcast. You can follow the show on X and Instagram.

We are at thearenacnn. But of course don't go anywhere because Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead."

Hi, Jake. Have a great show.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thank you so much, Kasie. We'll look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

HUNT: See you soon.

[17:00:27]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The president said today no talks are happening with Iran, but that is not what he said yesterday. The Lead starts right now.

One hundred seventy-two days in and still no path out of the war with Iran. No clear path. Anyway, remember when the president said this would only last four to six weeks? What else he said today, giving war watchers pause?

Plus, Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison will be here to discuss why he's suing Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott over the shooting of a man at the hands of an ICE agent. We'll explain.

And an alleged ringleader of a campus cocaine ring now in custody. How authorities say he supplied fraternities with drugs sold to students at Penn State.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. And we're going to start in our World Lead and the state of talks between the United States and Iran as the war stretches to nearly six months. Remember, President Trump predicted that the war might only last until the middle of April. So it's not exactly uplifting to see Trump's update on Truth Social earlier today, which read, quote, "There are no talks or conversations going on or scheduled with the Islamic Republic of Iran," unquote.

OK. OK. Then he goes even further. New CNN reporting says Trump told top administration officials today to stop conversations with Iran, according to a U.S. official. A source says White House officials have recently communicated to political allies that they're shifting their strategy going from hammer Iran ASAP to strangle them over time.

Now the sounds of silence may not fall pleasantly on the ears of Republicans who are growing quite impatient with Trump's unpopular war. They are worried it will hurt them in the midterms, especially because just yesterday Trump says his administration had established a backchannel with Iran. Iran denied that any back channel talks with the United States were taking place.

As for Trump's claim today about no talks happening, that's not what Trump's son-in-law -- son-in-law, special envoy Jared Kushner, told Fox just yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JARED KUSHNER, U.S. ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: I will say that the conversations between the U.S. Government and different areas of the Iranian government at all areas is probably more robust than it's maybe ever been. And so there's been a lot of good dialogues, which I think is very, very helpful, right? We are having very positive and active conversations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Then there's the messy situation in the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also wrote on Truth Social, quote, "The naval blockade remains in full force. In effect, the Hormuz Strait is open and operating. All water mines have been removed or detonated," unquote.

We've heard Trump say this many times before despite slow lagging ship traffic and Iran asserting otherwise. In fact, global oil prices are now at their highest level since July as hopes of a resolution for this conflict fade away. That said, it does appear as though the United States is gaining some control over the strait.

The 60-day deadline to finalize a peace deal expired yesterday. So now the future overall is in limbo.

Joining us now, Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska. He's a U.S. Air Force combat veteran who retired as a brigadier general and is now in the House representing Nebraska and on the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, Trump is essentially saying that now the strategy is, you know, giving Iran the old talk to the hand treatment. What do you make of this? Is this what you would advise him to do?

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): I think this is a better strategy than what we have had. The blockade is probably the easier thing for us to enforce. Right now we've been able to choke almost all the traffic going in and out of Iran. That's good. Their economy is really struggling. It's going to really weaken the regime. However, I would say that Iran had been fairly effective up until now, shutting off about 90 percent of the flow of traffic. But we're starting to see more traffic get in and out of there and that's a good thing.

The problem, I think with the president early in this fight, he over promised, it's going to be a quick fight and then he tried to go it alone without trying to bring in Democrats or trying to involve Congress. And you can't fight a war in a partisan manner. You got to -- it's got to be a bipartisan fight. And he should have anticipated more of a longer term fight. And I really think this is handicapping him now because the Democrats do not want to work with the president on this and this needs to be a bipartisan effort.

[17:05:02]

I have to remind folks, Iran has killed a thousand Americans. They were the leading exporter of terror. They had a thousand ballistic missiles. They were trying to produce a nuclear weapon. Some action had to be taken, if not with this president, maybe previous presidents, but something -- this could not be allowed to continue like this.

I think the president is onto a strategy of blockade. I also recommend say less. There should be fewer people talking on this because there's contradictory messages going out there. Speak softly but carry a big stick.

TAPPER: So as I don't need to tell you, even though you're not running for reelection, the war is very unpopular. It is weighing heavily on whether or not many of your colleagues are going to be reelected in the fall. Barrett Marson is a Republican strategist in Arizona. He told CNN, quote, "There is one person in this country who doesn't care about gas prices, just one, and unfortunately, that one person kind of controls our fate," unquote.

At some point, do you think Republicans are going to be forced to really distance themselves from Trump given how unpopular both he and the war and the ensuing high gas prices are?

BACON: Well, there's some reasons why this war is unpopular. I'd like to address that first. First, he didn't try to bring Democrats on board at all. And you cannot fight a war in a partisan manner. You know, Ronald Reagan would have Tip O'Neill over and they would -- and they would try to come up with a bipartisan thing.

I do believe there would be Democrats would have been more supportive if the president made an effort because Iran was the leading exporter of terror. They killed a thousand Americans. They had those deadly roadside bombs in Iraq that killed over 600 Americans, for example. So the case was there, but the president tried to go it alone. And then it was going to be a quick fight. We'll make a deal tomorrow.

We're going to make a deal next week. A deal is (inaudible). I think these things have undermined or undermined this effort. But we have to go back, what do we need to do now? If we stop this now, Iran wins. TAPPER: Yes.

BACON: And Iran could still produce a nuclear weapon. Maybe not as soon as it could have, but with China's or Russia's help or North Korea's help, they can rebuild this capability and they will still be the leading exporter of terrorists. I think the president has to keep this blockade on it and find the -- he's got to -- in the end, he's got to prevail in this fight because if he doesn't, we're going to have a worse threat on our hands down the road. But he sort of put us in a spot where he's backed into a corner with this being an unpopular war. And I just -- it goes back from the beginning.

He had to, this had to be a bipartisan effort, not a one man band.

TAPPER: Yes.

BACON: That's what it became.

TAPPER: In 2024, Republicans hammered Democrats for being out of touch over the cost of living on affordability issues. And it worked. Republicans control the House, the Senate, the White House. So now that Trump is getting hammered over the affordability issue, why are so many Republicans still willing to stay loyal to Trump at the risk of meeting the same fate as 2024 Democrats who were defeated?

BACON: Well, it's a very good question, Jake. I -- I'm generally supportive of Iran because I think it's the right thing for the long term future of our country. I don't agree with all the tactical steps that were taken, but there are things the president can do for affordability. First of all, we should be honest. There is a problem here.

We have to also be candid. It dates back to when it was 9 percent inflation under Joe Biden and we've never recovered. Even though the inflation rate went back down under Joe Biden towards the end of his presidency, it's -- our -- the inflation now still is around 3 1/2 percent faster than wage growth. And so the American citizen going to the supermarket, going to the gas station, buying, paying for everyday bills, they have less spending power today. We have to say -- we have to acknowledge this, it's true.

But there are some things the president could do. I think we, as Republicans, we should acknowledge tariffs are not working. I've been one of the Republicans speaking up, saying tariffs have added costs to our everyday goods. Global tariff is a tax on the American consumer. So I think there are things that we could do to help bring down costs suffered from the Iran fight here.

And I would encourage the president to engage on that.

TAPPER: Yes.

BACON: It's hard to do tariffs against individual countries, but global tariffs are not a wise economic policy.

TAPPER: Let me ask you, as long as I have you, because you're a veteran. Some family members of crew members aboard the USS Lincoln have been warning about terrible conditions on board, horrible morale amid their long deployment. President Trump's response to this reporting has been that it's not true that families are complaining, that the deployment's not nearly long enough. What is -- what have you thought of his and Secretary Hegseth's response to this new story?

BACON: I wish he wouldn't have said that the deployment wasn't long enough. There should be some empathy here. And also a thank you to the servicemen that are out there. They were out there for about 10 and a half months. That's what's going to be when it's all said and done.

[17:10:04]

And one of the issues with this aircraft carrier was they didn't have port calls or the ability to resupply as much on this deployment. So this was a tougher than normal deployment for the Navy and for an aircraft carrier. And we should acknowledge that. And by the way, they were effective. You know, 92 percent of the Iranian Navy is gone.

Two hundred drones were shot down by the Navy. So they've done some extraordinary good work. We should praise them for it. But I would also point out that we've had long deployments on aircraft carriers since World War II. In fact, I was on an aircraft carrier as an Air Force guy.

And we also had morale problems done. We had a couple of suicides in 1996 when I was on the USS Carl Vinson. So some of this stuff is not abnormal and we're going to see some of it in the future. When I was in Iraq, army soldiers and Marines were out there for 18 months.

TAPPER: Yes.

BACON: And so this is not unusual. But that said, we should say we understand this is hard on families. You know, you got young marriages and they're out there for 10 and a half months. Very hard on young marriages. It's hard on old marriages.

I've been married 42 years. You have some people are new dads or new moms and they're away from their kids that long. We should acknowledge that it's hard, man, but also thank them. They were very effective. They did a great job.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Don Bacon, appreciate your time. And as always, sir, thank you for your service.

BACON: Thank you.

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, fresh off invoking Trump aide Natalie Harp today, Georgia Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff started a new line of attack, this time calling President Trump a draft dodging crook president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Guys, give it up --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Always (ph) give a comment for yourself. But first, day one in a major legal case against Meta accused of knowingly creating addictive products harming children. How Meta is attempting to defend itself next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:42]

TAPPER: Topping our Tech Lead today, Meta facing what could be its most consequential social media addiction legal fight yet. Today, opening arguments began in the federal trial where Meta is accused of purposely designing features to get children addicted to its many platforms. Meta denies the allegations. Four states, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are collectively seeking $1.4 trillion in damages and changes to how Meta's platforms operate. Joining us to discuss, the CNN contributor, Kara Swisher.

Kara, who do you think has the stronger case here, the states or Meta?

KARA SWISHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it depends. There's a lot of cases and that's what's going on here. This is a little bit like the cigarette companies as they began their journey to obscurity, really, in terms of their strength versus where they are now. They're still big businesses, but they definitely got hit hard.

And so that's where we are. We're in that sort of existential moment. This is an important case. And I thought that -- I thought that what was really struck me was the opening. The attorneys have kind of got the argument down well with this hook, hold, harvest, hide idea is they hook users, they harvest as much as they can about the data and then -- I'm sorry, hold them as long as they can, harvest as much data and then hide the truth.

I thought that was a pretty powerful statement. But it's about product liability instead of section 230 and the other things that have protected these companies for so long.

TAPPER: Even if the court ultimately awards smaller damage -- damages instead of $1.4 trillion. The four states are also seeking changes --

SWISHER: Right.

TAPPER: -- to how Meta's platforms operate.

SWISHER: Yes.

TAPPER: What changes could that be? How would it theoretically fundamentally change Meta?

SWISHER: Well, you could see what happened in New Mexico where they, I think they're on the hook for 900 million. In this case, many people think it'll be around two --even the states, 200 billion. You know, it's got to be a significant number. Infinite scrolling. The way they deal with teens and how they bring teens in and keeping teens off the platform. All manner of addictive things they try to do to keep you there. Disclosure of privacy of what they're taking from you, the harvest, really, all manner of things. But there's just all kinds of things they could do.

And then a disclosure of the impact that they know they're having on people. Not again, unsimilar to the cigarette trials that went on and there were hundreds of them before they really started to hurt these companies.

TAPPER: How much have you heard, anecdotally, what I have heard, which is that so many tech executives do not let their children have phones the way that the rest of us will?

SWISHER: Yes. Well, I think, you know, I think it's a little much. It's a little bit of a media story. They let them use them, it's just that they're aware of them and they use them responsibly. I think that's it.

Some don't, some do, some don't. I haven't really -- I don't see it as an overall trend, although a lot of them sort of are a little performative that way. I don't let my kids do this, I don't let my kids do that. I don't know if it's a real trend exactly, but they definitely are aware of the damages that they can cause. And you know, this started with children.

But it's about all of us. All of us and the addiction and the stealing of privacy. And they would say they're not stealing privacy. I would. And the various ways they've sort of gotten into our lives in ways that aren't regulated.

And I think that's where this is all headed. And product liability is a really interesting way to go at it. Nuisance, public interest, things like that. It's also similar to opiate, the opiate trials.

TAPPER: Yes.

SWISHER: And you know, we've seen this before.

TAPPER: Speaking of safety protections for kids, OpenAI is rolling out so called chat GPT for teens experience.

SWISHER: Yes.

TAPPER: So tools such as encouraging teens to take breaks, setting quiet hours, reminding teens to think twice if they try to upload a private or sensitive image to the chat bot. Do you think these protections go far enough?

SWISHER: Well, how about teens not using them? I think that would be -- that's how far I would go. You know, it depends on the age of the teen. Anyone under thirteen probably should not be using these things. We have rules around cigarettes and drinking and I know kids get cigarettes and kids get to, you know, find a drink somehow, but we should be thinking about it in a much different way, I think, you know, providing them these products to hook them into these things.

They should use it maybe in school where they're being monitored, or they should have classes on how to use it. You could see that kind of stuff. But anyone under 13, I'm not really clear what the -- what the efficacy is.

[17:20:04]

TAPPER: Kara Swisher, always great to have you. Thank you.

SWISHER: Thanks for that.

TAPPER: Next, how Trump's immigration crackdown wrangled a staffer on payroll with the San Diego Padres. Plus Minnesota Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison coming up. Why he's filing a brand new lawsuit today against Texas Republican governor Greg Abbott.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our National Lead, a catching coordinator with the San Diego Padres is in the custody of ICE accused of being in the U.S. illegally. Oswaldo Pirela was in El Paso for work when he was detained at the airport. Pirela is from Venezuela. He filed for asylum in 2014. The Department of Homeland Security says he was granted permission to stay in the United States until 2018, but quote, "overstayed his welcome."

[17:25:11]

A spokesperson says Pirela didn't have legal documentation on him, adding that a work authorization or a pending visa application did not count.

And in Minnesota, this today from the state's attorney general.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Christian Castro has been charged with breaking the law in Minnesota. He must face justice in Minnesota. Governor Abbott has a mandatory obligation to issue the governor's rendition warrant for Castro. He has no discretion. I repeat, he has no discretion to decline to do so.

None.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And Attorney General Keith Ellison announcing he's suing Texas Governor Greg Abbott to force him to hand over ICE agent Christian Castro. Hennepin County prosecutors in Minnesota charged Castro with four counts of second degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime in connection with the January 14 shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis.

Now, you might remember originally Sosa-Celis and his cousin, they were the ones facing charges based off a statement from Agent Castro about the shooting. But those charges were later dropped after video of the encounter contradicted the agent's account. A polite way of saying that the agent was lying. It's a story that we brought you last month when we traveled to Minneapolis to report on those chaotic 18 days in Minnesota between the deadly shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

Let's discuss this now with Attorney General Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota.

General Ellison, thanks for joining us. So you say that in the last five years --

ELLISON: Thank you.

TAPPER: -- Minnesota Governor Walz has honored all 21 of Governor Abbott's requests to extradite fugitives from Minnesota to Texas. And that Abbott has honored all 11 of Walz requests to extradite prisoners from Texas to Minnesota. So why do you think this case is being treated differently?

ELLISON: Well, more than that, Jake, I mean, he's -- Abbott has signed three warrants. There have been three warrants signed between Minnesota and Texas since Castro was charged. So your question is very appropriate. Why? What's wrong?

What's the difference here? What's the matter here that concerns Abbott? Well, he won't tell us, so I can't do anything but speculate on what his motivation would be. I can tell you he simply doesn't get to say, I like this one, I don't like that one. It is his responsibility.

It is his constitutional duty. It is the sort of cooperation states have grown used to. There is a Supreme Court decision on this matter. I think it must be some sort of political motivation. But I cannot give you much detail because he's not talking.

He's not even telling us why. He's just saying no. And he has executive discretion. He does not have executive discretion. He must sign.

He must send Christian Castro back to Minnesota to face justice.

TAPPER: Agent Castro is currently in the custody of Texas officials. He could theoretically be released next week once the State hits --

ELLISON: Right.

TAPPER: -- the 90-day limit on his detention. Sosa-Celis' attorney, Sosa-Celis is the one that -- originally charges were brought against him.

ELLISON: The victim.

TAPPER: Yes, exactly. But Castro, it turned out, was lying. Sosa- Celis' attorney released this statement to CNN about your lawsuit, quote, "Based on the allegations in the civil complaint, there is a serious risk that Mr. Castro could flee to Mexico and avoid all accountability for his unlawful actions. This would be a double injustice for Mr. Sosa-Celis and a profound blow to the rule of law," unquote.

How concerned are you about that? Do you think that actually that might happen?

ELLISON: I am concerned about it. Number one, he could waive extradition and be back in Minnesota to face these charges if he has a case to make. Two, the governor could simply have signed months ago now, and he has not done so. Three, you know, Mr. Castro, you know, it has contacts to Mexico. We are aware of those.

And so, yes, there is a realistic fear of flight. And that is why we have to act expeditiously. We gave them every opportunity to do the right thing. We wrote letters, several -- I wrote a letter to Abbott, the county attorney wrote one. He's well aware of what his legal obligations are.

He simply has refused to abide by them. But, you know, Governor Abbott tells us that he's the -- he's the rule of law guy. He's the law and order guy. Well, the law and the order is the constitution says, governor, you must send us this individual who is lawfully charged with a crime in Minnesota back to Minnesota.

TAPPER: And we should note there's no dispute over the facts in this case. Trump's own U.S. attorney in Minnesota dismissed the charges against Sosa-Celis with prejudice because it was --

ELLISON: Right.

TAPPER: -- it was so obvious that Castro was lying. While I have you, sir, what is the status of the investigation into the Pretti and Good shooting, has there been any progress on this in the last month?

[17:30:06]

ELLISON: Yes, thank you for asking about that, Jake. We work on those cases every single day. As you know, the federal government would not comply with us, would not cooperate with us to give us the information we needed, the evidence.

We have received some evidence, and there has been some evidence that has been shared, not all of it. So we continue to work on this matter on a daily basis. We are working very hard to make sure these cases come to justice, but so far we have not received the full and complete file, and we hope the federal authorities will provide those to us immediately, because justice demands it.

But thank you for asking. We're working hard, diligently, but they have yet to give us the entire file. We're hoping that they do.

TAPPER: Minnesota's Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison, as always sir, thank you so much for your time.

ELLISON: Thank you, sir. TAPPER: Ahead, the case where the defense is trying to prove their client is not credible, their own client, they're trying to prove he's not credible. Coming up next, the trial for the man accused of orchestrating the 1996 murder of Tupac Shakur, and the new evidence never seen until now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:35:33]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead, right now, the former head of security for Death Row Records is testifying in the Tupac Shakur murder trial. Meantime, never-before-seen images were shown on this day two of the trial. Today, jurors saw graphic autopsy photos, the body bag that held Shakur and a bullet fragment removed from his body.

Duane Davis is the man accused of orchestrating the fatal 1996 shooting of Shakur. He had no visible reaction to the photos being shown. CNN's Jean Casarez is following the trail for us. And Jean, the evidence shown in court today was so graphic. Tupac's sister and step brother left the courtroom. What did the autopsy findings show?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, objectively, it showed the trajectory of the bullets. But Jake, we have never heard this before. I mean, these autopsy reports and all the investigative files, they've never been made public before. And that is what is coming out.

Now it's evidence. But the medical examiner that actually performed the autopsy passed away. And so a medical examiner currently with Clark County in Las Vegas is the one that testified. And there were multiple gunshot wounds, but the first one entered under the right armpit and cut through the chest. Let's listen to her testimony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. LISA GAVIN, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: It entered here in the right lateral aspect of the chest, just below the axilla, the armpit, and then went across the right chest space, went across the right lung. The injury to the lung would have collapsed the lung and also caused the lung to bleed. He had about two liters of blood in his chest cavity when they put in the chest tube to try to save him. They ended up removing that lung. He wasn't able to breathe. He was bleeding out in that area from that injury.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to move on to his next wound.

GAVIN: That bullet entered in the lateral aspect of the right thigh and then went upwards into the abdomen and damaged his intestines. They ended up operating there and removed a portion of his intestines.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Just amazing the way those bullets traveled in his body. There was another bullet that went into a finger, through another finger, and then ended up sort of in the web of the finger. You know what's something that is amazing is that when this all happened, the first officer on the scene, he was on a bicycle, but he stayed with Tupac until the ambulance came and he actually went into the ambulance with him.

So as they're driving to the hospital, he says to Tupac, who did this to you? And he said, no. He said, we'll take care of it. So he was aware, he comprehended, and that was the code of the street. You do not talk about who did what to police. You take care of it with retaliation.

TAPPER: So prosecutors also showed never before seen video after the MGM Grand Casino brawl, where Tupac and his entourage confronted Orlando Anderson. Orlando Anderson is the nephew of the murder defendant.

CASAREZ: Right. And so this is sort of, you know, Tupac wasn't affiliated with a gang, but this is sort of the Bloods versus the Crips. And you see there Tupac, he is with Suge Knight, and they are walking very quickly. Suge is having a difficult time keeping up with him, but they just hit and kicked Orlando Anderson, Keefe D, the defendant's nephew, and they're getting out of there. And about two and a half hours later, that's when prosecutors say, Keefe D, partly because of this brawl, partly because the Crips were embarrassed and humiliated, put gunshots into Tupac Shakur.

TAPPER: And Jean, one thing, this is just, I love this so much, that because this trial's in Nevada, jurors are allowed to submit questions for witnesses after cross-examination. We saw that yesterday. We saw it again today. Tell us about that.

CASAREZ: It's very common. You know, I'm licensed in Nevada, and that is something they do a lot in West Coast states. But it's fascinating because jurors can write questions based on the testimony, but they don't automatically get asked of the witness. The question goes to the judge. If the judge thinks there's a possibility, she calls up the attorneys. They all decide whether it's relevant. And if it is, then the judge asks the witness the question, and then the attorneys can actually have some more direct and cross-examination. That's fascinating.

TAPPER: Jean Casarez, thank you so much.

[17:39:43]

Up next, the new line of attack from Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia today after capturing the attention of the president and the White House, to say the least.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): The draft-dodging crook president who has plunged our nation recklessly into a war he knows not how to end or to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Just a little smidgen there in our Politics Lead. Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, ramping up his feud with President Trump. Ossoff is up for reelection this year, campaigning today with Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and his wife, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in Columbus, Georgia. This time Ossoff did not mention the name of President Trump's executive assistant, Natalie Harp, after he drew fierce backlash from the White House for saying this over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSSOFF: He wants to build his ballroom and travel with Natalie on their apparently defenseless flying palace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:45:02]

TAPPER: Let's jump right in with the panel. Jonah, the White House is very offended by the fact that Jon Ossoff went after, or I shouldn't say went after, mentioned Natalie Harp because that's what he did. First of all, what do you think of that? What do you think of the fact that he mentioned her? What do you think of the whole kerfuffle?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, so look, I don't like the politics that this all represents and all of that. At the same time, the idea that this White House has much standing to be offended at insinuation. I mean, the things that Donald Trump has insinuated about, I don't know, Ted Cruz alone are worse than anything that was allegedly insinuated here. That said, this is smart for Ossoff in an era of negative polarization.

It was one of the key things for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's success, was being attacked by the right people draws your own side to you. This is giving a lot of momentum and energy to Ossoff in a Democratic world. It's sure it's great for fundraising, probably doesn't cost them a single vote. And at the same time, it's just it's a sign of how ugly the next couple of years in our politics are going to get.

TAPPER: And Tia, to that point about how offended the White House is, I don't have the time. I only have a two hour show.

GOLDBERG: I understand.

TAPPER: I don't have the time to go through everything he said, even in one month. But here is just a sample of some of the things President Trump has said. He called Senator Mitch McConnell a, "broken old crow." He called Nikki Haley a, "bird brain." He called Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, lying Ted Cruz and lightweight choker Marco Rubio.

Trump also insulted the physical appearance of Senator Cruz's wife and linked Ted Cruz's dad to the JFK assassination. He called Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, "Wacky Marjorie 'Traitor' Brown." On Chris Christie Trump posted this image and said, "Chris Christie at a Roy Rogers at 11:00 p.m. in the evening, trying to console himself.

On Congressman Thomas Massey, he said, "the worst Republican congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress, even worse than Crazy Liz Cheney, Crying Adam Kinzinger." He called Senator Tom Tillis, "weak and ineffective" and a "nitpicker." And those are just the Republicans he insulted.

So, Tia, do you think most Georgia voters, I mean, Jonah says this isn't going to cost him a vote. I suspect it's because that's the history here.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: It's I mean, I don't I don't think it costs us off a vote for two reasons. Number one, as you guys have laid out, Donald Trump really doesn't have much standing to, like, talk about someone hitting below the belt. It just -- it's part of his brand. I think there are Democrats who want to see fighters.

Now, does this bode well for, like, bipartisanship? Not necessarily. But we know Democratic voters have said they want their candidates to fight more against Donald Trump, match his energy, go low. But the other thing is, particularly for Georgia voters, when Ossoff attacks Trump or his rival, Mike Collins, he always associates it back to the affordability issue.

He says, you know, because these guys are crooks and doing bad things and hanging out with bad people, they're not focusing on what you, the voter, is focused on, which is the price of gas, the price of your groceries, the cost of your health care. So the fact that he bakes it into his central message is one of the reasons why these attacks are so effective.

TAPPER: I mean, I think the White House really took the bait here. I mean, I was trying to explain to a White House person that all -- by going nuclear against reporters for bringing this up or whatever, all they were doing was guaranteeing the story. And now we're sending cameras to Georgia to see what Jon Ossoff has to say. I want to play for you, Jonah, what Ossoff said to "MS Now," speaking of trying to get Democratic votes, when he was asked why he mentioned Natalie Harp by name.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSSOFF: Well, I've heard this particular aide referred to as his security blanket. And I think we could say that about any number of the senior aides in the White House. They're not telling him what he needs to hear. They're telling him what he wants to hear. And the nation is at war and we cannot afford that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So he seems to be suggesting that he could have claimed he could have mentioned Susie Wiles. Do you buy it?

GOLDBERG: No. At the same time, look, on the merits. I mean, "The Washington Post" write up about all this had, you know, quoted Maggie Haberman pointing out that, you know, Ray Nauda (ph) and a couple of other people, men, played the same role as this woman does in terms of being sort of like a security blanket kind of thing.

And so I think there's a defense there. I think what Ossoff has to be careful of is that people have priced in for Trump the fact that he is, he hurls insults, he plays low, he plays dirty in a way that they hold other politicians accountable to. Trump imitators tend to do badly.

TAPPER: Right.

[17:49:59]

GOLDBERG: So it's probably smart for him to try and not try to triple down on this. He got the White House to take the bait and then to try and like not. If you're going to get into an insult war with Trump, you're going to end up, you know, it's like fighting with pigs. You get dirty, too, kind of thing.

TAPPER: Right. And the pig likes it.

GOLDBERG: Yes.

TAPPER: You were at the rally where Ossoff said this over the weekend. How did the crowd respond? Did they know who Natalie Harp was?

MITCHELL: I think there were enough people who did that there was like a notable like, oh, like people were like, oh, he went there. But I think he also -- Ossoff is very measured. So I think it's not a mistake that he mentioned Natalie didn't use her last name. So it was kind of like, if you know, you know. And then he didn't go further into details.

Like, you know, he's being accused of insinuating things. And I don't think people are wrong necessarily. But it's not like he went there and flat out expounded more beyond saying this is an aide who travels a lot with the president. And those things are factual, you know.

So I think Ossoff said it in a way that he can defend it and say, you know, I didn't go so low as to get into the rumors.

TAPPER: Yes.

GOLDBERG: Also, when you get people to look at like what the hell is all this about? And then you have it explained. Well, he left the secretary of state and, you know, the secretary of the Treasury on a plane and took this woman in a catering cart. Normal people. Well, that's weird.

TAPPER: Yes.

GOLDBERG: I'm not saying -- I'm not going to send you anything. It's weird if it was a male aide when he left the two most important cabinet secretaries on the decoy plane.

TAPPER: Yes. And meanwhile, Ossoff picked up the endorsement of two Republican mayors in Georgia. He talked about that today. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSSOFF: There will be more new bipartisan friends joining us in the weeks ahead, because this is a campaign for everybody who longs for decency and sanity and competence and quality public service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I guess that's what you have to do if you're a Democrat running in Georgia.

MITCHELL: Yes, I mean, but I don't think it's necessarily common, you know, in the two mayors who endorsed him. They are nice sized cities. These are not small town mayors. These are mayors of midsize cities, cities that if you live in Georgia, you've heard of. If you've driven through Georgia, you've heard of Tifton. You've heard of Valdosta in cities of that size. So I think what Ossoff is trying to say is he's building a coalition that goes beyond just the normal Republican and Democratic boundaries.

TAPPER: Erick Erickson, conservative radio host, has praised Ossoff for his constituent service and says it has not. You know, he doesn't care if you're a Democrat or Republican. Anyway, thanks to both. You appreciate it.

Coming up next, unraveling an alleged cocaine ring on the campus of Penn State. What authorities say now about a suspected ringleader in a drug pipeline to fraternities.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:57:12]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, the ringleader of the alleged cocaine trafficking ring involving two fraternities at Penn State University was denied bail after surrendering to authorities this morning. More than a dozen former and current students and even a student's father now face criminal charges. CNN's Danny Freeman has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Disturbing allegations out of Happy Valley this week as state prosecutors announced a sweeping cocaine trafficking bust at Penn State University.

DAVE SUNDAY (R), PENNSYLVANIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is very serious criminal conduct. There was nothing junior or childlike about this type of conduct.

FREEMAN (voice-over): A grand jury charging 14 people, 13 were students when the alleged drug trafficking occurred in 2023 and 2024. The 14th was a father of one defendant accused of tampering with evidence and hindering the investigation.

SUNDAY: This was an upper level trafficking organization for this region in Pennsylvania.

FREEMAN (voice-over): According to Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday, the drug crimes centered at two off-campus fraternities at Penn State, Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi. Accused ringleaders Agostino Abbatiello and Thomas Robinson would make regular trips to Philadelphia and New York to get large quantities of cocaine back to state college. Other fraternity brothers and pledges then would assist them in preparing and packaging the cocaine for resale.

SUNDAY: In fact, we found a pattern of events that showed cutting and bagging cocaine was, for some pledges, an indoctrination into the Delta Upsilon and Sigma Chi fraternities.

FREEMAN (voice-over): The cocaine was largely sold on campus to other students, according to prosecutors. In a statement, Penn State's vice president for student affairs said, "We are horrified by these serious allegations against current and former students. Criminal activity, including hazing such as this, has no place at our institution and we will cooperate with law enforcement any way we can." The university said it put Delta Upsilon on interim suspension and noted Sigma Chi is not a recognized organization and operates outside of the university's support and oversight. CNN reached out to the local chapters and international headquarters for both fraternities.

Delta Upsilon International told "The Associated Press" it was aware of the allegations that and those involved in the drug ring were expelled or suspended if they did not resign. Sigma Chi International told CNN this conduct is an egregious violation of its values and involved members have been suspended. Agostino was denied bail after surrendering Tuesday. An attorney for Agostino had no comment when reached by CNN. Attorney information for Robinson was not immediately available. His bail was set at $1.5 million, according to court documents.

SUNDAY: It's extremely serious. Law enforcement takes it extremely seriously and we will continue to investigate and prosecute individuals that decide to deal drugs on college campuses.

[18:00:04]

Danny Freeman, CNN, Philadelphia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)