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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Aide Walt Nauta Pleads Not Guilty; FDA Grants Full Approval Of Alzheimer's Drug; Pence: "Trump Was Wrong" About My Authority On Jan 6; DeSantis Defends Campaign Ad That Attacked Trump On LGBTQ Issues: 'Totally Fair Game'; Beyonce's Pittsburgh Concert Canceled, 2 Others Postponed. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 06, 2023 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Specifying that this is a raid happening on behalf of agents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Investigative Committee, that this is part of a criminal investigation. And that all that has been seized. The cash, the weapons will now be held as part of evidence in a criminal trial.

An outrage as well. This is again designed to speak to the Russian people, outraged at the helicopter in the backyard asking, do you have that at home as well? No, of course you don't. Really insisting in a very disparaging way on the way that Yevgeny Prigozhin lived for us from the outside that have been hoping for an insight into what Wagner was for all of these years, suddenly we see how the man himself has been living. And yet, of course, no sign of the man himself even as we had that video released.

The timing also of what we heard from Alexander Lukashenko today, the Putin ally, remember, who had offered refuge to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the idea was, Jake, that as part of this deal, it wasn't just Prigozhin who would stay in Belarus, it was his Wagner troops that would be moved there. We also heard from Lukashenko that the troops themselves, the Wagner mercenaries, are still in fact on the Russian territory in their bases.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Melissa, Prigozhin is obviously a vicious warlord and he led an armed mutiny against Russia, so I'm not expressing sympathy for him, but experts say Russian authorities have a pattern of fabricating criminal cases against the Kremlin's challengers. You know, just look at Navalny. Is there any indication that this raid is part of some sort of bogus effort to entrap him?

BELL: Certainly it has to be part, Jake, an element of an effort to convince the Russian people that this is being pursued to discredit Yevgeny Prigozhin if himself. And yet what we also learned today from Alexander Lukashenko is that Prigozhin maybe in St. Petersburg, maybe on his way to Moscow. And what flight tracking websites suggest is that his planes have been going back and forth.

Now, if he is indeed in Russia and going to and from Russia with impunity, that does suggest a certain weakness on the part of Russian authorities, on the part of the Kremlin. Insisting today, Lukashenko did, that Vladimir Putin and Prigozhin went back some 30 years, it may be, Jake, that the criminal investigation is going on for purposes of propaganda showing that they are acting against him. But what analysts suggest is that Putin himself may have been convinced by the idea that Yevgeny Prigozhin was actually, as part of that coup, targeting some of the leading generals that are involved in the war in Ukraine, and may in fact, be allowing him home. Some Russian news websites suggesting that he may even have been able to get back some of his money, some of those weapons that has -- have been seized.

Of course, there are so many questions about the actual dependence of the Kremlin on this huge structure that was that is Wagner, not just in Ukraine and Russia, but in Africa and the Middle East. Are they simply too dependent that they had to let him back and negotiate? For the time being, we've seen no sign of the man himself since the coup happened and since we understood he'd gone back to Belarus, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Melissa Bell, thank you so much.

A 21-year-old, a 95-year-old and four others did not survive the night in Ukraine's far western city of Lviv after a Russian cruise missile obliterated an apartment building, according to Ukrainian officials. Dozens of others were hurt. CNN's Ben Wedeman reports for us from Ukraine where a city relatively spared from the worst horrors of Putin's war is in shock and still sifting through the rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even away from the front lines, nowhere in Ukraine is safe. This is the aftermath of a Russian attack in the western city of Lviv. A cruise missile struck a residential building overnight Thursday. Ages of the victims ranged from 21 to 95, including a World War II survivor. Authorities are calling it the most devastating attack on civilians in Lviv since the war began.

The Russians say that they're bombing military objects, but they hit a peaceful house. People were sleeping, says Lviv resident Vira Luben. How could they do it? World, help us.

The nighttime attack smashed the roof and top floors of an apartment building and damaged several others. Ukraine says the attack was carried out by a Russian caliber missile, a long range hypersonic missile that carries a payload of a thousand pounds of high explosives. Caliber missiles are extremely accurate and have been used frequently in Russian attacks on Ukraine.

Emergency workers and firefighters have been removing chunks of rubble from the blast site and have evacuated over 60 people so far. Standing atop the damaged buildings, they continued to sift through the rubble for any sign of life or or death.

[17:05:12]

The ministry of internal affairs says as many as 10 bomb shelters were locked shut in Lviv when the attack happened. An investigation is ongoing to understand why. But considering the city's relative safety, the strike was probably a shock for many. In the early days of the war, the city served as a refuge for tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing Russian attacks.

Given its proximity to the borders of, Poland and NATO member, many hoped they would be safer there. But as rescuers continued to clear the rubble and repair the damage, it's clear no place here is beyond Russia's reach.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WEDEMAN: Now, the last time I was in Lviv, which was in late April, the bars and restaurants and cafes were full. There were a lot of people out and about enjoying the warm spring weather and perhaps savoring the feeling that they were far away from the front lines, that perhaps they were out of harm's way. That may no longer be the case. Jake.

TAPPER: Yes. Ben Wedeman in eastern Ukraine, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military says three Russian jets harassed U.S. drones over Syria yesterday, releasing video of the Russian pilots, quote, "unprofessional maneuvers." An air force lieutenant general says the jets deployed parachute flares and engaged their afterburners, which burn extra fuel to quickly increase thrust, which interfered with the ability to safely operate the drone. CNN's Oren Liebermann is at the Pentagon for us.

Oren, why were these U.S. drones and Russian fighter jets in the same airspace over Syria anyway?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Jake, both the U.S. and Russia operate in Syria for two very different purposes. The U.S. is there as part of the coalition to defeat ISIS, while Russia's military is there basically to support the Assad regime. And because they're operating in the same airspace, there are supposed to be deconfliction protocols between the two militaries. The problem is, according to the U.S., Russia has increasingly, as of late, ignored those deconfliction protocols or simply approached U.S. military bases or in one case even tried to dogfight a U.S. Aircraft.

And the video you see now is but the latest example of what we're seeing. This is from yesterday over Syria, video from U.S. Air Force Central command, where the air force says three MQ-9 Reaper drones that were taking part in a mission against ISIS were suddenly approached by three Russian fighter jets. But that's not all, the Russian fighter jets dropped parachute flares. What you saw as those essentially streaming parachute objects right in front of the drones and forcing them to take evasive maneuvers. And one Russian fighter jet even lit its afterburner in front of a U.S. drone forcing it, again, making it difficult to operate there, Jake, and the U.S. is seeing more and more of this.

TAPPER: Oren, the Russians aren't just harassing the U.S. here with the drones, they're also doing this to other countries, you say? LIEBERMANN: It goes beyond that. Just today, the French put out a statement of their own from their military, saying that two of their Rafale fighter jets were operating along the Iraq Syria border when a Russian SU-35, an advanced Russian fighter jet, came and approached them essentially in a non-professional manner was the wording used on the official Twitter account of the Russian -- I'm sorry, of the French armed forces. They then say the Russians maneuver to avoid escalating there or rather the French maneuver to avoid any sort of risk of an accident before that situation ended. But again, you see the Russians essentially trying to set a new normal here and pushing the boundaries of what should and can be done in a safe manner over Syria, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Oren Liebermann at the Pentagon for us, thank you so much. He's carried Donald Trump's bags, and now he's pleading not guilty to hiding the former president's classified documents. That's next.

Then, the latest saga in the feud between billionaires Elon musk and Mark Zuckerberg, the new accusations of cheating, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:12:52]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, third time's the charm, Walt Nauta, an aide to former President Donald Trump, pleaded not guilty today to multiple counts related to the alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. The first time Nauta showed up in court, he did not have a lawyer. The second time, he missed his arraignment because his flight to Florida was canceled due to storms. But the third time was the charm indeed.

Here to discuss, CNN's Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig, the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Kaitlan Collins, Anchor of CNN's "The Source," which premieres Monday night at 09:00 p.m. Eastern.

Elie, Trump and Nauta seem to remain close. Just last week, they were seen ordering cheesesteaks at Pat's King of Steaks in Philadelphia. Despite this bonding moment, and I don't really need you to weigh in on whether you like Pat's or Geno's better, how likely is it that Nauta flips on Trump do you think?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jake, all indications are that Walt Nauta has no intention on flipping on Donald Trump. The decision whether to cooperate is really all about loyalty. And if we sort of add it up, Walt Nauta has been at Donald Trump's side literally for years now, he was his personal assistant. Essentially, he spoke to the FBI, they tried to get him to flip, and not only did he not cooperate, he lied to the FBI. He's now charged with false statements for lying to the FBI to protect Donald Trump.

His lawyers are being paid for by a pro-Trump committee, which is not illegal, but certainly makes it costly and difficult to cooperate. And even since the indictment dropped, Jake, they've obviously stayed side by side. The trip to Pat's is about as strong a statement of loyalty and camaraderie that you could possibly come up with.

TAPPER: Kaitlan, do you think there's any chance they don't take their cases to trial together?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it seems unlikely. It remains to be seen what the legal strategy is going to be here, so I don't obviously want to get too far out ahead of that because it's the Trump orbit. And as you know, Jake, it changes on a daily basis sometimes, especially when it comes to these legal decisions. I mean, they both showed up in Miami, as you were referencing earlier, for that first arraignment, and only Trump had a Florida based attorney, which is what was required, and why Walt Nauta was not arraigned and able to plead guilty until today.

[17:15:03]

But it is notable just to look at the relationship between the two of them and to the question of whether or not Walt would eventually flip on the former president, they are so incredibly close. This is someone who, inside the White House, was his valet. He would often go and get the former president's cokes, whatever he was -- those kinds of tasks, essentially. And then Trump took him to Mar-a-Lago with him. And so I do think there is a strong sense of loyalty there between these two, because I've been talking to people who worked with Walt Nauta inside the West Wing about what that relationship was like.

And so, clearly, that's not going to change. I think also the idea of who's paying for the legal fees is incredibly significant here because we have seen the filings that show the Super Pac is paying the firm that is representing Walt Nauta here. So that is not to be underestimated as a major factor here, even though Walt did have that new Florida based attorney with him today as well.

TAPPER: And Elie, sources say that Trump and Nauta are convinced that they should take the cases to trial and not plead out. Listen to what former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who's running against Trump, had to say about that on our show last hour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you make the case go to trial, if you force us to go and put the witnesses on the stand and the judge to take the time and the jury to take the time, and you're prosecuted and convicted, then it's almost certain that you would face jail. And so, it's a huge roll the dice for both of these guys to do that. And I think that's a lot of bluster right now. I think as this case gets closer, they may think differently.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Elie, do you agree?

HONIG: I agree with a lot of what Governor Christie says. I think he was a very good prosecutor, one who I actually worked under when he was governor, I was prosecutor. But here's how I see it. I think the indictment is strong, I think the evidence is straightforward, but I also do not see a world in which Donald Trump enters a federal felony guilty plea.

If they go to trial, the big X factor is going to be the jury. Let's remember, this is a jury that's going to be drawn from South Florida, where Donald Trump is quite popular. And I heard Governor Christie also say, well, jurors are selected carefully. They're asked about to their -- to put aside their personal beliefs, their political beliefs, and to decide the evidence just based on what they see in the courtroom, which most juries are good at doing. But this is Donald Trump, he is uniquely popular and unpopular polarizing. And so I think that throws a real element of uncertainty into any trial.

TAPPER: Kaitlan, let's turn to the federal investigation surrounding Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. You interviewed Rusty Bowers yesterday, the former speaker of the House in Arizona, who spoke to investigators. We just learned that the Arizona Secretary of State's office was subpoenaed as well. I want to watch a little clip of what Bowers told you last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Have you been subpoenaed by the special counsel?

RUSTY BOWERS, (R) FORMER ARIZONA HOUSE SPEAKER: I have -- that's a great question. I'm hesitant to talk about any subpoenas, et cetera, but I have been interviewed by the FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you make of his answer in the grand scheme of the investigation?

COLLINS: Well, it's notable because we didn't know that he had spoken to the special counsel's team. And, of course, it's on top of the new reporting from "The Washington Post" last week that there was also this pressure campaign from Trump on Governor Ducey, the Republican governor of Arizona at the time. And this is something that obviously Rusty Bowers felt as well. And the fact that he did sit down and speak to the special counsel's team for, he said, about four hours, and that he also gave his attorney a lot of documents of what, you know, Rudy Giuliani and these other attorneys were giving him that they claimed was evidence of election fraud, which, of course, we know it wasn't.

It just says -- speaks to the fact that Arizona has become a focus of Jack Smith's and he is still bringing in these high profile Republicans to talk to them.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan Collins. Elie Honig, thanks so much. Be sure to tune in for the official launch of Kaitlan's brand new show "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins, premieres Monday at 09:00 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN. And our congratulations to Kaitlan.

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis is now defending a campaign ad that's making headlines. Why is he defending it? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:23:42]

TAPPER: In our health lead, new hope for the more than six million Americans living with Alzheimer's, the FDA just granted full approval to a drug that could slow the effects of early onset Alzheimer's. With that approval also comes the opportunity for the drug to become more affordable perhaps. Let's bring in CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

Sanjay, tell us more about how well this drug works.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is the first time, I'll tell you quickly, Jake, that we've had a full approval for an Alzheimer's drug in about two decades. Just to give you some context here. So this is a pretty big deal in the world of Alzheimer's. I'm going to tell you the specifics in terms of how well it works, but I want to tell you that it is a monoclonal antibody drug, something that we've all heard a lot about over the past few years. It's essentially antibody that attacks these amyloid plaques in the brain.

I think we have an image of this, but these amyloid plaques are what are oftentimes associated with Alzheimer's. So, we have a pretty good idea of how it works and it received accelerated approval back in January because of that mechanism. What it does specifically, it slows cognitive decline in people who have mild early onset Alzheimer's, early signs of Alzheimer's disease. So it slows down how fast it progresses.

[17:25:02]

It's not a cure, Jake, and I want to be really clear on that, but it can keep someone independent for a longer period of time. It can keep someone able to recognize, you know, family members and function, have their regular activities of daily life more functioning for a longer time. That's essentially the most important thing about this drug.

There are side effects as well. There was some concern about brain swelling, brain bleeding. There were three patients who died in the initial trial, although that wasn't clear that it was related to the drug. But again, first time in a long time, you've had a full approval for a drug, totally new class that's been approved these monoclonal antibodies and, you know, about 27 percent decline or slowing down of cognitive decline.

TAPPER: So the step that the FDA took today, full approval of the drug, what does that change about access to the drug, which costs about $26,000 per patient per year?

GUPTA: Yes, yes, I mean, these are expensive drugs, Jake. You know, $26,000 -- I don't know if you could still hear me?

TAPPER: All right.

GUPTA: Could you still hear me? Twenty-six thousand --

TAPPER: Keep going, Sanjay.

GUPTA: Twenty-six thousand dollars for the drug median income of people who are older in this country, about $30,000, so $26,000 drug, super expensive, obviously. With this full approval, Medicare says they are going to now broadly sort of COVID this drug. We'll see what that specifically means tangibly, but they've been waiting for this full approval to get broader coverage, and hopefully this does it for people. It's expensive, it's for early Alzheimer's, so you know, out of the six million or so people who have Alzheimer's in the country, maybe a million people or so would qualify close to $26,500 drug. It's a lot of money, but Medicare says that based on what they're seeing, it could be worth it broadly covering it.

TAPPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

One of the Republican presidential candidates is using Chat GPT to answer voters' questions. Is that a good idea or a horrible idea? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:18]

TAPPER: Our 2024 Lead, you hear that? The exciting CNN election night music. I like it. I like it. So let's get to business. Former Vice President Mike Pence is ticking off visits to a few more of Iowa's 99 counties with stops in the western part of the Hawkeye state today. CNN's Kyung Lah in Missouri Valley, Iowa traveling with the Pence campaign. And Kyung, a PAC supporting Pence released a new ad today taking direct aim at his former boss, Donald Trump. Tell us about it.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Because it's the PAC, Jake, we do see them taking a much tougher stance, specifically naming Trump. We're seeing images of the PAC saying that Trump is shaking hands with Kim Jong-un, even calling him an apologist for dictators. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America doesn't stand with thugs and dictators. We confront them, or at least we used to.

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Mr. Gorbachev teared down this wall.

MIKE PENCE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There can be no room in the leadership of the Republican Party for apologists for Putin. There can only be room for champions of freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And you just saw Pence reflecting much more harkening back to Ronald Reagan something, Jake, we are hearing much more out here in on the campaign trail, minus the direct attack on Trump. Jake?

TAPPER: Wow, that's something. If Pence is not as direct as the PAC in taking aim at Trump, like my guest last hour, Governor Chris Christie, how does the campaign believe he's going to be able to chip away at Trump's lead in the polls? The PAC can't do it all.

LAH: Yes, the PAC cannot do it all. They understand that. What they are doing is deploying sort of that Pizza Ranch strategy, heading into the restaurants, the diners, the ice cream parlors, having small one- on-one meetings. Some of the groups that we've seen gathering this week for Mr. Pence have been about 50, 40, sometimes 30 people. And it's in these small settings that they feel that the persuasion campaign, that the real work goes in and will be successful. That is their strategy. Trying to get Pence in front of small groups in order to win them over, to convince them to caucus for him.

TAPPER: All right, Kyung Lah in Missouri Valley, Iowa. Thanks so much.

Let's discuss with my panel. So, Jackie, that ad is interesting and also an interesting moment involving Pence on the campaign trail when a voter confronted Pence about Trump's bogus claims about what Pence could have done to overturn the free and fair election. And he said basically that the former VP could have just sent the election results back to the states. Here's what -- how Pence handled it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you ever second guess yourself? That was a constitutional right that you had to send those votes back to the states.

PENCE: They did exactly what the Constitution of the United States required of me that day. I kept my -- I'm sorry, ma'am, but that's actually what the Constitution says. No vice president in American history ever asserted the authority that you have been convinced that I had. But I want to tell you, with all due respect, I said before, I said what I announced, President Trump was wrong about my authority that day, and he's still wrong.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you make of that?

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Therein lies the challenge of the Pence campaign right there, that exchange. And I think we're all going to get used to him saying that a lot and in an attempt to convince that voter and those sitting around her that perhaps they should give Mike Pence a chance. And whether that's persuasive or not, we'll have to see. But the thing about the Iowa caucuses, you change one mind, maybe they have a couple of friends that they tell that, you know, Pence explained this to me. It can be successful in a place like Iowa if he's able to make that case.

[17:35:01]

TAPPER: And obviously Vice President Pence is correct. He did not have the right to do so. If he did, then Vice President Al Gore could have declared himself to be president back in 2001. But can it work, do you think?

BENJY SARLIN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, SEMAFOR: Well, here's what Mike Pence's team thinks. Senior Advisor Marc Short talked to our reporters and said that they were confident when Republican voters hear his version that they think is different than the version they hear, either from Donald Trump or from the Nancy Pelosi's of the world, that they'll understand, he had no choice. It was the constitutional option. That was it. But he has the highest unfavorable numbers of any Republican running among Republican voters consistently.

TAPPER: Pence does.

SARLIN: Pence does. There's really only one reason for that. Like, there's one outlier, you know, characteristic about Pence compared to the rest of the field, and it's this. It's January 6th. So, I mean, the evidence that this is hurting him is just very significant.

JOE WALSH, HOST, "WHITE FLAG WITH JOE WALSH" PODCAST: He's just not -- Pence just isn't where the base is. I mean, the base believes that Pence could have done something on January 6th. The base believes the election was stolen. And listening to Mike Pence talk about a muscular Ronald Reagan foreign policy, that's not where Republican voters are. It's just so odd watching him. It's weird because he's so disconnected from the Republican base.

TAPPER: And meanwhile, DeSantis their campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the war room for DeSantis's campaign, released an ad last week that even many Republicans and conservatives called homophobic, attacking Trump for being pro LGBTQ. And in any case of Florida Governor DeSantis was asked about that, and he defended it. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think, you know, identifying Donald Trump as really being a pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream, where he was having men compete against women in his beauty pageants, I think that's totally fair game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: First of all, fact check, he wasn't having men compete against women in his beauty pageants. He was asked if he would ever be willing, if there ever would be a day where he could envision a trans woman to participate. And he said yes. I don't even know how many years ago that was, but he certainly does not hold that position today. Anyway, what's your response?

ALENCIA JOHNSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, first of all, this ad was so absurd and kind of crazy. And to the point, yes, it is homophobic. It is transphobic. And I'm not surprised that Ron DeSantis is doubling down. I mean, he doubled down with the policies that he has passed in Florida. I think the one interesting thing that we're not talking about is the fact that whether or not the majority of the Republican Party that's speaking on television or in rallies agrees with this and what Donald Trump says is the fact that the policies that are homophobic and transphobic is actually what the Republican Party is made up of.

So whether or not DeSantis gets the nomination and becomes president or Donald Trump is reelected, this is actually where their party has gone when it comes to how they legislate. And that is what I'm even more concerned about and how we have to be paying attention to this Republican primary, because no matter how much we can laugh at that crazy ad, that's actually the way in which they're governing to double down on their commitment to take away LGBTQ rights in this country.

TAPPER: You know, in one of I think it's Dave Weigel who made the argument that in 2016, Republicans tried to get LGBTQ votes by attacking Muslims. Remember, Donald Trump said he would protect gays and lesbians from being entire gays, really, by -- from being attacked by Muslims. And today, and this is Weigel's term, not mine, they're actually trying to get Muslim votes by using LGBTQ voters as the boogeyman.

SARLIN: Yes, it's been -- you might call it a bit of a shell game there, often minority outreach on Republicans is accompanied especially in the kind of Trumpy populace vein, by appealing to we're going to protect you from some other minority group. And in this case, there's been a really interesting movement, including right here in the D.C. area in Montgomery County, of Muslim parents who want opt outs for religious reasons in schools on LGBT content, which is one of the causes that has become very prominent on the right.

And Republicans, including some of the same conservative commentators who are often demonizing these same communities, have started to embrace them and see them as allies. And some of these groups, you know, Weigel you mentioned did a story on this, and you should check out on Semafor.com, you know, he was talking to some of these parent activists, and they're very well aware. You know, they're not naive about this.

They all remember what it was like to live here after 9/11. But, you know, things are changing a little bit as it becomes less of a focus for the Republican Party.

TAPPER: Very interesting. I want to bring in this news today, very interesting, a super PAC supporting Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is running for Republican presidential nomination, launched an AI chatbot that looks like Mayor Suarez and answers users questions about his campaign. So we ask the bot why it thinks a mayor could be elected president. Here's part of the chatbot's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:05]

MAYOR FRANCIS SUAREZ (R), MIAMI: Mayor Suarez's Miami model is a testament to his effective leadership and conservative principles. The Miami model is working and it's time for Mayor Francis Suarez to bring it to the national stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, that's better than several members of Congress could have done, I have to say. But what do you make of it?

WALSH: I don't understand. Yes, I feel old. I just -- I don't get that. I don't like it.

KUCINICH: But if you don't know -- if voters don't know who he is to begin with, I mean they're going to be like, who's -- I just don't know if that is the way to introduce yourself to new voters in chatbot?

TAPPER: Well, it's like the west world politics. What do you make of it?

JOHNSON: Yes, I mean, listen, we're laughing and as the millennial here, it is really interesting to see this. But, you know, AI has popped up throughout this cycle. And AI has been used before, and so I feel like these Republican candidates are trying to figure out what they can do with AI. But let's be mindful that ChatGPT has proven to be wrong on a lot of things, so they might need a good fact checker before they put another video.

KUCINICH: It's not without risk.

TAPPER: Any thoughts?

SARLIN: You know, well, this is his brand. The one thing I'd be worried about if you're investing in AI, if you're an AI company. Francis Suarez was all in on crypto this time a couple of years ago. He even invented Miami Coin, which ended up crashing with the rest of cryptocurrencies. So hopefully, you know, he's making a better bet here on which technology is going to be the growth area.

TAPPER: Let's hope so. Thanks to all.

The beehive is all a buzz. One show canceled, two shows postponed. What is going on with Beyonce's summer tour?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:45:48]

TAPPER: It's time for our Pop Culture Lead. One of the summer's biggest concert series is already facing some serious hiccups. Before the tour even starts here in the United States, in the last 24 hours, two show dates for Beyonce's Renaissance tour suddenly changed and another show date had to be canceled. And now her fans, the so called Beehive, they're buzzing and scrambling to find new tickets and to get their money back. CNN's Chloe Melas joins us now. Chloe, what exactly is going on?

CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Jake, you're exactly right. So Beyonce was set to perform in Pittsburgh on August 3rd, but that show, unfortunately, has been canceled. I've reached out to Beyonce's team for comment and they haven't responded. So we don't exactly know why. But here is what the stadium tweeted. They wrote due to production logistics and scheduling issues, unfortunately, the August 3rd Pittsburgh stop of the Renaissance World Tour will not be taking place.

They go on to say that refunds will automatically be issued at the point of purchase. And if you have any questions or issues regarding your ticket order, please contact your point of purchase. But I do want to point out that the mayor of Pittsburgh, Ed Gainey, he took to Twitter and he said that they are deeply disappointed and that they actually had a whole thing planned for Beyonce and that they were going to dedicate the day to her and to honor her for all of her success and achievements.

And he goes on to say that they are in touch with the promoter of the event in order to gain an understanding about what exactly happened and if there's any possibility that they can reschedule this and get her to Pittsburgh. But like you said, Jake, this isn't the only wrench in the upcoming tour, which is going to kick off in a few days. They have postponed two shows, but they rescheduled those dates.

One in Kansas City that was postponed about a month, and then the other in Seattle that was pushed back about 24 hours. Now, again, they have come out these venues and said, if you have a ticket to the Kansas City or the Seattle event or if you're watching this right now and you're concerned about your ticket at one of these shows, they say that they will honor that. But obviously, Jake, not everybody might be able to make those other dates.

But, you know, again, we've reached out to Beyonce and her team for comment. And I think it just goes to show you, though, that even a big star like Beyonce, whose tour has been acclaimed so far internationally, that even she too, can have some issues. It's not always perfect. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Chloe Melas, thank you so much.

Sticking with our popular Culture Lead, a new CNN original series called See It Loud: The History of Black Television premieres Sunday. It celebrates the creators who have made T.V. more reflective of the United States of America and brought black T.V. to life. The show and the series looks at the impact that this has had on American culture. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I think about the history of black television, I really think about progress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For the longest time, we were footnotes in history.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is so important for us to have African American representation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've talked about things that nobody in this country was willing to have a discussion about.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like, Martin, can you believe they call us icons? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was one of the first times I saw myself in the Sci-Fi genre.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That show was so successful, it launched Bravo Network.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have Tyler Perry, who owns a studio. In 1950, you could have never have imagined it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was an era to be as loud as possible and as black as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are the story.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our next guest is someone who needs no introduction but to a lot of us. We first met her as dance teacher Lydia Grant in the amazing 1980s T.V. series "Fame."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE ALLEN, ACTRESS, DIRECTOR, PRODUCER & CHOREOGRAPHER: You've got big dreams. You want fame. Well, fame cost. And right here is where you start paying in swift.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now, award winning actress, director, producer, and choreographer Debbie Allen. And, Ms. Allen, I have to tell you, I could recite that line from memory and I can't remember anything I learned in the 80s beyond that, like, no Shakespeare, no poems, barely any math or science, but you got big dreams. You want fame. I know that by heart. What did it mean to you playing Lydia in that show? And what do you -- do you hear about it still from oldies like myself?

[17:50:09]

ALLEN: Yes. You know, it's amazing. I love that story. Jake, "Fame" is just a biggest part of my legacy. I keep doing things, but it always goes back to "Fame" because we were a footprint that just took over the whole world. It just excited people. It inspired millions of people. And so many artists right now that are big time were inspired by the work that we did.

And even Shonda Rhimes told me that it was her favorite show and she used to put on the leg warmers and do the routines. So I want to know, did you dance? I want to know, did you dance to Jake?

TAPPER: I did, but not with leg warmer. Shonda, by the way, was a classmate of mine in college. So it's funny that you mentioned her. But Janet Jackson was on that show. I mean, like, you know, Mr. Shorofsky Leon. But I want to ask you, how does that show, do you think, compare to the roles or black led T.V. shows happening right now? Because obviously, the world of opportunity for black directors, actors, everything seems to have exploded in a great way. ALLEN: Well, we were kind of on the ground getting started. I mean, "Fame" wasn't a black show, but it was so defined by a lot of the talent that was black and the talent behind the scenes that was black, myself included. I became a director on "Fame." It was like going to film school for six years. I went into the vault and saw the old MGM movie scripts. And what I was doing was what they were doing, and nobody taught me. I had to learn it and figure it out on my own.

"Fame" was just an oasis of groundbreaking new talent and the idea of who we are as young people. It was about young people taking, you know, a real handle on their lives, being proactive about who they were. And the music and the dancing was just infectious. And I went to South Africa, and they were actually doing "Fame." They were actually doing the same scripts and stories with African actors. I love that. I went to China and they were just embracing me. I went to India, and it was like I was their guru.

TAPPER: Amazing.

ALLEN: It was just -- television has that kind of power.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALLEN: So we have a power with television, and that also brings a bit of responsibility, I would say.

TAPPER: So and since then, as you alluded to, you've been not just in front of, but behind the camera for so many black led T.V. shows, "A Different World," "Empire," "Scandal," "That's so Raven," "Everybody Hates Chris," the list goes on. But these shows were they were entertaining, every one of them. But more, right, they weren't just entertaining, they had a larger significance.

ALLEN: A larger significance and took on storylines and done with comedic flair. "A Different World" was more powerful than anything. We took on politics, race, education, religion, you name it. And were always what I called into the principal's office. That's when I got called into the network to tell me, stop that, you're going to mess up our advertisers.

But we did shows about that, we satirized the presidential election. We did a show about voter registration. When, you know, Jesse Jackson was a possible candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. It was a -- it's a show that still is so relevant. It needs to happen again. We all know that. And we tripled the enrollment of historically black colleges.

TAPPER: Yes. It was Hillman College, I think instead of Spellman College, Hillman College on a different world. Debbie Allen --

ALLEN: It was Hillman instead of Howard because I went to Howard.

TAPPER: Right.

ALLEN: And that was my -- we were the first school to take over the A building. It was before Kent State. TAPPER: Well, Debbie Allen, next time you're here in D.C. for a Howard reunion, you let us know and we'll have you back on the show. What an honor to have you.

ALLEN: I will.

TAPPER: Thank you so much. And be sure to tune in the all new CNN original series, See It Loud: The History of Black Television, premieres Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only here on CNN.

Coming up, the fight is getting nastier. The company behind Facebook is facing a lawsuit for its brand new social media app threads. Wait until you hear who's bringing on that legal threat. But first, here's CNN's Alex Marquardt. He's in for Wolf Blitzer with What's Next in The Situation Room. Alex, what do you got?

[17:54:38]

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: Well, Jake, one of the things we're going to be looking at amid all this news coming out of Ukraine and Russia is the Biden administration appearing set to send Ukraine highly controversial cluster munitions. That announcement from the Biden administration expected to come tomorrow as part of a bigger aid package for Ukraine. We'll have that and a lot more news at the top of the hour right here in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: This just in, in our Tech Lead, Twitter is threatening to sue Meta over Meta's brand new site, Threads. It's a social media site. Twitter accuses Meta of hiring its former employees and saying they still have Twitter documents and electronic devices. Meta is accused of using those employees to help create this new social media site, Threads. A Meta spokesman responded about Threads, saying, quote, no one on the Threads engineering team is a former Twitter employee. That's just not a thing unquote. Meta says Threads has 30 million user signups in its first day today. And as of this afternoon, Threads was the number one free app in Apple's App Store.

If you are looking for a summer read, I have a brand new thriller coming out Tuesday. It's called All the Demons Are Here. It's a wild ride through a bizarre era for our nation the 1970s. It has Evel Knievel and Elvis, post Watergate mistrust, cults, disco, the Summer of Sam, UFOs, and much more. I'd be honored if you would check it out. You can preorder it now. It comes out Tuesday.

[18:00:07]

Until then, you can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Threads, Bluesky, if you have an invite. I'm back on the TikTok. All of it at JakeTapper, or you can tweet the show at TheLeadCNN.

Our coverage continues now with one Mr. Alex Marquardt. He's in from Wolf Blitzer in a place I like to call "THE SITUATION ROOM". I'll see you tomorrow.