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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Cassie Ventura Wraps Up Four Days Of Dramatic Testimony; Source: Secret Service Interviewing Comey Right Now; Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-PA) Is Interviewed About Federal Cuts Could Threaten Momentum Of Overdose Declines; Bill Belichick Girlfriend Amid Relationship Questions. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired May 16, 2025 - 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: All the makings of one, there's white frosting, there are lights, there is a cake topper. But this cake topper can dance, apparently. And the gummy bears are animated by air. The LED candles are powered by rechargeable and edible chocolate batteries. Batteries that you can eat.

Jake Tapper standing by for "The Lead."

Jake, I have no interest in eating any batteries whether they're chocolate or not. Anyway, it's Friday. I think I'm going to go have a cocktail instead of some cake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Not even salt? Not even a salt and battery. All right, Kasie, we'll see you back in "The Arena" next week.

HUNT: Have a good show.

[17:00:37]

TAPPER: Some of the most humiliating days of one woman's life relived in a New York courtroom. The Lead starts right now.

An explosive day in the Sean Diddy Combs trial. His ex-girlfriend, the star witness bursting into tears. Coming up, the final testimony of Cassie Ventura as the case enters a new phase. Plus, an air traffic controller who says two planes almost crashed on his watch earlier this month. The intense stress of the job in the airport he calls unsafe. Just one week before the busy travel season begins.

And what's really going on with 73-year-old Bill Belichick and Jordan Hudson, his 24-year-old girlfriend. New comments today from the football coach as we get insight from one of his former players from his days with the Patriots.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake. We begin in the law and justice lead in the Sean Diddy Combs racketeering and sex trafficking trial. Today, Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura just wrapped up four days of difficult, graphic and at times emotional testimony. Ventura herself describing what Combs did to her as quote, "disgusting, humiliating and horrible."

This morning started with another round of intense cross examination by Combs legal team. One of their final questions to Ventura was about an Instagram post shortly after CNN published this 2016 hotel video broken by CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister. The video shows Combs violently grab, shove, drag and kick Ventura. Ventura posted, quote, "Domestic violence is the issue."

When the defense attorney asked her if she still felt that way, Ventura confirmed writing the post but said, quote, "There was more to it." Combs defense admits that the tape proves he committed domestic abuse, but they argue that domestic abuse is not the same thing as sex trafficking and is not, in fact, a federal offense. Prosecutors have charged Combs with two counts of sex trafficking, two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution and racketeering conspiracy, all charges that Sean Combs has denied. Let's go straight out to CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister live outside the courthouse in Manhattan.

Elizabeth, Ventura burst into tears when prosecutors resumed redirect. What happened?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this was an incredibly emotional day, as you said, wrapping up four days of testimony. And Cassie Ventura, Jake, she stuck to her story through all of the questioning, through cross and redirect, the facts of her story never change.

Now, something that came up today, which, you know, of course, all of her testimony is personal, but this was an incredibly personal moment is she was asked about her rape allegation against Combs because in her civil lawsuit, she did say that in 2018, around the time that they broke up, Jake, that she alleges that Sean Combs raped her.

While her husband, Alex Fine has been in the courtroom all this week and he was there during that, but he actually had to be outside of the courtroom for this particular moment. And that was a request, actually, from the defense because they may be calling him later on in the trial as a witness.

The reason why is because what was revealed today is that she was dating her now husband during that moment when she told her husband, he understandably got so angry that he punched a wall. So that could give us a clue into who we may see called when it is the defense's turn towards the end of this case.

TAPPER: We heard from another witness. Tell us about that.

WAGMEISTER Yes. So after Cassie wrapped up, we heard from two witnesses today, Jake. One is Dawn Richard, who is a former member of the band Danity Kane, which was formed by Sean Combs on his MTV series, Making the Band. Well, she was asked by prosecutors what she observed with Cassie, and she said that she observed Sean Combs beating Cassie.

She told this horrific story where she said they were at Sean Combs' home in Los Angeles for a recording studio session and Sean Combs came downstairs while Cassie was cooking eggs. He took the hot skillet and threw it at her. She cowered down to the ground and then he began beating her on the ground. Again, this was in front of people, according to Dawn Richard's testimony.

And last point, Jake, the other witness that we heard of was a special agent who was there on September 16, 2024 here in New York when Sean Combs was arrested. She took out a bunch of photos that she took that night from his hotel room where the arrest took place. There were photos of numerous bottles of baby oil, drugs.

[17:05:15]

And they actually had a bag of evidence, Jake, that had those drugs. It was pink powder which they said was ketamine and MDMA. They passed around the bag of drugs for the jury to observe for themselves. So that was a very compelling and of course theatrical moment in that courtroom.

TAPPER: Elizabeth Wagmeister, thanks so much. Let's bring in criminal defense trial attorney Stacy Schneider and Loni Coombs, a former prosecutor.

Stacy, as a criminal defense attorney, how effective do you think the cross examination of Cassie Ventura by Sean Diddy Combs legal team was?

STACY SCHNEIDER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE TRIAL ATTORNEY: For what the defense has to do in this case which is show this wasn't coercion. Cassie was a willing participant in a 10-year relationship that involved violence and sex and sex workers, they did a good job. They didn't attack her. They stayed with her. And they brought out some extra points today on the second day of cross examination where she still was willingly going to Sean Combs even in 2018, which was the year that she alleged that he raped her.

She was meeting with him to have a conversation about the relationship. There's no real testimony from Cassie that she wasn't participating in this domestic type of relationship. And the Instagram post, which also the defense focused on today and which you talked about in the beginning was very, very significant because the defense's whole case is he's charged with federal racketeering and sex trafficking offenses regarding her and she is now posting that she was involved in a relationship involving domestic violence. So those words are going to come back to haunt the prosecution's case a little bit later on.

TAPPER: Ventura's attorney, read the statement after she finished her testimony today. I want you to take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS WIGDOR, LAWYER FOR CASSIE VENTURA: I hope that my testimony has given strength and a voice to other survivors and can help others who have suffered to speak up and also heal from abuse and fear. For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember. And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: How do you think, Loni, how do you think Ventura's testimony played?

LONI COOMBS, FORMER PROSECUTOR: You know, I thought she was an excellent witness. This is some of the hardest testimony to give on the stand as a sexual abuse survivor. You know, these are things that she said she had shame and humiliation over. She didn't even want to tell her mother about it when it was going on. They had to show pictures from these videos that she said she used to be blackmailed, that she, you know, would want to talk about what was happening.

But he would say, if you tell anyone, I will show these videos. These still photographs are shown to these strangers in front of her. She had to describe in detail what happened to her and read text messages. It's very difficult for witnesses to be able to talk about this, and yet she was able to do it straightforward, very open, not defensive at all. She didn't change in her testimony.

And the beauty of this was, I think usually in these kind of cases, you're wondering about the credibility of the victim. In this case, I think people are going to say she was very credible. I mean, she talked about the good and the bad. She talked about, yes, I was in love, yes, this was a long term relationship, yes, I could go date other people, but I kept going back to him. So when the jury looks at this, they're going to actually be able to say, OK, well, we're taking what she said to be true.

And then does it fit the elements of the crime? And as far as when she posted about that was domestic violence, remember, it can be both. It can be domestic violence and it can be racketeering and it can be sex trafficking. And when she wrote that post about it being domestic violence, I'm sure she had no idea about what federal crimes were, the sex trafficking, the racketeering. What she knew was that she was being physically abused in that relationship and that's what she was talking about.

TAPPER: And Stacy, we just heard about Ventura bursting into tears after she was asked about the $20 million settlement from her civil suit against Sean Combs, saying, quote, "If I never had to have freak offs, I would have had agency and autonomy." What do you make of that?

SCHNEIDER: Well, I'm sure she believes that, but the defense is going to hone in at the end when they get to closing arguments. These statements where -- these text message statements, you know, you can't erase a text message statement where at one point she said, leading up to the 2016 hotel assault video, that we've seen many. many times and the jury has seen over five times, she said to -- let to Sean Combs in the text, let's have fun. I don't want you to think I don't want to do this. So, she can be a victim at the same time.

But the issue in the entire case is, was she coerced to engage in these sexual acts or did she do that as a willing participant, as the girlfriend of Sean Combs, and there are many text messages where she's upset with Sean Combs throughout the 10-year relationship that he isn't giving her enough attention, that he's dating other women, that she wants to break up with him. So all these things will come back and it's going to be in the jury's hands to figure out the law.

[17:10:19]

TAPPER: And Loni, during her cross, Ventura was asked by lawyers for Combs defense attorneys if she hated Combs. Cassie Ventura said, quote, "I don't hate him." "Do you still have love for him?" She was asked. Ventura replied, "I have love for the past and what it was," unquote. You kind of touched on this already. But as a former prosecutor, how do you think that will affect the jury?

COOMBS: You know, it's powerful testimony for the defense. And this is where this case is really going to be a litmus test for where our society is now after the MeToo movement, right? It was so big and when it hit, everyone was saying, believe the victim, believe the victim. Well, there was an issue with that because there wasn't due process for the people that were being accused. And then we found out there were false accusations.

So we're kind of swinging back as a society. And the question here is, can people look at this and understand that in abusive relationships there are good and bad moments, right? There are times when you're in love and you want to do things to please, but that doesn't mean you aren't being coerced at other times. And it doesn't have to be 100 percent of the time that she was being coerced. If there's just one time when she was being coerced, that could be enough for this crime.

So that's -- we have to look at it as a whole and the jury will really have to be able to see it that way.

TAPPER: All right, Loni Coombs and Stacy Schneider, thanks to both of you.

We have some breaking news internationally. A manhunt in Louisiana for several inmates who escaped from a New Orleans jail behind a toilet. Police say some of their own may have helped with the escape. CNN's Isabel Rosales is covering this.

And Isabel, tell us more. Because several of these escapees were serving times on murder charges. You tell us.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is a very serious situation happening in Louisiana. An active manhunt right now for 10 inmates who escape, nine of which remain at large, and they of them a serious criminal history. Anything like you mentioned from murder to aggravated assault with a firearm to false imprisonment. Now, the Orleans Parish Sheriff, Susan Hutson, says that the cells had defective locks. And this is why they have -- why this happened.

At 12:23 in the morning that they were yanking on these cell doors, knocked it off of the sliders, they were then able to run through a hole in the wall, scale a different wall, and then run through the interstate. And that is how they made their escape. And she also says that they have evidence have been help from the inside. This might have been an inside job.

Now, officials discovered that they were missing during a routine headcount. This happened seven and a half hours later from when they're piecing this timeline together. We do have some pictures here from the sheriff's office where you can see the sizable hole behind a toilet. And also, I don't know if we have the picture here, but of graffiti that these inmates left behind, taunting and mocking law enforcement with a doodle with its tongue out, saying too easy and we are innocent.

I spoke with the Orleans Parish District Attorney, Jason Williams, after there have been a ton of criticism over how long it took for the public to be notified. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JASON WILLIAMS, NEW ORLEANS DIDTRICT ATTORNEY: This is not a moment to come up with the perfect press release or the perfect press conference not notifying the public as soon as this happens, not only puts witnesses and victims in harm's way, but it really puts the family members of these inmates in a very difficult position as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And the public was notified two hours after the discovery. A wider alert didn't go out until six hours after that discovery was made. That DA says that two of his attorneys are taking their family out of town because they were involved in the prosecution of one of these inmates. So pointing to major security issues here, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Isabel Rosales, thank you so much.

Coming up, President Trump's new comments about James Comey after the former FBI director's social media post on Instagram that Trump says was a threat on his life.

[17:14:02]

Plus, what could be the first steps towards a major deal between Ukraine and Russia after the first talks in more than three years. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our world lead, for the first time in three years Russian and Ukrainian representatives were in the same room for direct peace talks while a representative from the host country Turkey said the talks were, quote, "More positive than expected and the two sides did agree to a major prisoner swap." There is still no sign as of yet for a major breakthrough in terms of ending the war.

Ukraine's defense minister thinks getting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the same room needs to be the next step. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSTEM UMEROV, DEFENSE MINISTER OF UKRAINE: Our president was expecting the high level discussions in here and I think the next step would be that the leader's level meeting should be organized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Moscow for us. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Kyiv, Ukraine.

And Nick, let's start with you. A source tells CNN's Russia -- tells CNN's Russia team that the -- source tells CNN that the Russia's team made the demand that Ukraine give up four major regions in eastern Ukraine that the Russians annexed back in 2022. Presumably Ukraine says that's just a nonstarter. They're not even going to entertain that, right?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL SECURITY EDITOR: Yes. I mean these four regions are partially occupied by the Russians. And so essentially it seems, according to a source in negotiations that a Turkish source too, that essentially this was the Russians saying give us up the rest of those regions.

The sort of maximalist demands from the early stages of Russia's full scale invasion echoed through early parts of their peace discussions, partially with the Americans raising fears. I think that this was part of a slow rolling of a peace process by Moscow coming to these talks, bringing very junior level officials despite Ukraine asking for President Putin to attend a meeting with Zelenskyy, Ukraine Defense Minister, as you said, is a sign of their seriousness about the talks.

[17:20:01]

But really bringing maximalist demands with a minimal seniority of delegation to try and make these talks about talks and essentially means guaranteeing down the line that there has to be further negotiations for anyone remotely gets anywhere. What they did get out of this, the prisoner swap you mentioned, we've seen those on smaller numbers before.

They also agreed to keep talking about Zelenskyy and Putin meeting. Well, Zelenskyy already offered that, so it's not a huge amount to negotiate a bar whether Putin wants to attend. And they also agreed to keep talking about a potential cease fire, while Ukraine's already offered that too unconditionally for a month, demanding it on Saturday.

So ultimately here the question is what pressure do they still have left? The Europeans were pictured around the phone with Zelenskyy today in Albania talking to U.S. President Donald Trump again, like they did last weekend, where he told them he supported their truce proposition and potentially sanctions if Russia ignored it. They're on the phone again with him today. But really, Trump seems to think a meeting with Putin is the only way to progress this. And that puts the ball really in the Kremlin's hands.

Jake.

TAPPER: Fred, speaking of the Kremlin, President Trump currently on his way home from his Middle east trip and he was asked if he would call President Putin at the Kremlin. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to meet. He and I will meet. I think we'll solve it, or maybe not, but at least we'll know. And if we don't solve it, be very interesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do Russian officials think about that?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, as far as that call is concerned, the Kremlin announcing earlier tonight to Jake that President Putin might have an international call, but instead of President Trump, they then announced that he would have actually a call with the leader of Turkmenistan.

But as far as a meeting with President Trump is concerned, the Russians are also saying that as something that would be very important, also something that needs to happen if the Ukraine conflict is to be solved. But at the same time, they don't seem to have that same sense of imminence and that it's necessarily imminent as the White House and as President Trump seem to.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, he came out earlier today and said such a meeting is important. However, it needs to be carefully prepared because the two leaders, especially of countries like the United States and Russia, need to deal with the most important question surrounding the world. Of course, first and foremost dealing with the conflict in Ukraine.

But as far as Nick, as what he was saying, the Russians certainly do believe that right now the ball is very much in the hands, as he put it, of Vladimir Putin is quite interesting. That scene that Nick was just talking about Vladimir Zelenskyy and the leaders of those European countries speaking to President Trump on the phone, that was actually something that played really big on Russian state media just a couple of minutes after that -- those talks finished.

And the Russians saying, look, all of these leaders and Vladimir Zelenskyy are speaking to President Trump. But President Trump wants to speak to Vladimir Putin. And President Trump believes only talks between Vladimir Putin and the U.S. leader are something that could stop the conflict in Ukraine, certainly not speaking to Vladimir Zelenskyy and speaking to the Europeans, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, CNN's Fred Pleitgen in Russia, Nick Paton Walsh in Ukraine, thanks so much.

Turbulence ahead. Buckle up for this next one. An air traffic controller says he, quote, "Didn't want to be responsible for 400 people dying," unquote. Hear what he said about the pressure of the job and the safety of one of America's busiest airports.

But first, new video just in of former FBI director James Comey on his way to be interviewed by the USS -- by the U.S. Secret Service after his Instagram post yesterday that President Trump said threatened his life. We'll tell you more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:41]

TAPPER: In our national lead, truly terrifying remarks from an air traffic controller who oversees planes in one of the busiest stretches of the East Coast. His team manages pilots flying into Newark International and smaller regional airports. Jonathan Stewart is his name and he told the Wall Street Journal that his job is like playing 3D chess at 250 miles an hour. But what happened on May 4th, that's just 12 days ago, well, it left him shaken. CNN aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN STEWART, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: You play God because you cannot fail. You cannot make a mistake.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jonathan Stewart is the latest air traffic controller to take trauma leave from the malfunctioning Newark Approach Control facility in Philadelphia at the center of weeks of staffing shortages and delayed and canceled flights. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Stewart says he took the 45-day leave after he says two planes nearly collided head on May 4th.

STEWART: When that's over, then it really hits you. Then it hits you. I almost, you know, had a really bad error. You know, I could have, you know, done something terrible.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): After controllers warned of issues for months, Stewart says the Newark approach control facility is unsafe and the stress is insurmountable. A 90 second failure of radar scopes and radio communications on April 28 triggered five controllers to take trauma leave. Two more failures occurred on May 9 and May 11, though the Trump administration insists in the latest case that a software patch and a backup telecom system kicked in.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I believe the system is safe. There are multiple redundancies throughout the system that keep people safe. Even the frustrations in Newark. When we've slowed traffic down, the key is not efficiency, the key is safety.

MUNTEAN (voice-over): New video obtained by CBS News appears to show the May 9 blackout with some radar screens in the Newark approach facility blank. That outage prompted one Newark controller to broadcast this message to a FedEx flight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: FedEx 1989, I'm going to hand you off here. Our scopes just went black again. If you care about this, contact your airline and try to get some pressure for them to fix this stuff. New York departure now 120-point-8.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 120-point-8. Sorry to hear about that. FedEx 1989, I'm switching, good luck guys.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN (on camera): The FAA has confirmed to me that Stewart is on trauma leave. And the agency is also investigating the near collision incident that Stewart referenced in his interview with the Journal.

The last piece of the puzzle in solving Newark delays rests on the airlines that fly there. Friday, the Department of Transportation continued the third consecutive day of meetings with airlines. The Trump administration says airlines are over scheduling flights and the system simply cannot keep up. Jake?

[17:30:24]

TAPPER: All right, Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

Turning to our Law and Justice Lead now, new exclusive CNN video shows former FBI director James Comey leaving his house just moments ago. A source telling us he is right now being interviewed by the U.S. Secret Service. That's because President Trump says that Comey called for his assassination because Comey posted on Instagram and later took down a picture that he says he just happened upon a scene of seashells arranged in the numbers 86, 47, as in 86, get rid of 47, the 47th president of the United States.

After many of the President's supporters expressed outrage and alarm, Comey took down the post. He -- he says he didn't mean it in a violent way, but President Trump, of course, does not buy it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He knew exactly what that meant. A child knows what that meant. If you're the FBI director and you don't know what that meant, that meant assassination. And it says it loud and clear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We're joined now by CNN's Evan Perez and John Miller. And Evan, Trump's Homeland Security Department and the Secret Service are investigating this. Tell us more.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is being treated as a very serious investigation by the Secret Service, by the Homeland Security Department. And because of the context, obviously, the president has had two assassination attempts in the past year. And so they take every one of these very seriously. And so that that is the -- we should open with that, right?

TAPPER: That's incredibly important context.

PEREZ: Right. It's an important piece of context here. Jim Comey says that he saw this cool shell formation on the beach and that he posted that photograph of that -- of that shell formation that you saw. And then when he -- when he -- when he realized that the reaction, he says he took it down and he says, I didn't realize some folks associate those numbers with violence. It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind. And so I took it down, took the post down.

And look, the -- the -- the bottom line here is that Comey says he has no ill intent in this. And so you see him there. He is meeting voluntarily with the Secret Service or John Miller reported that in the last hour. And so we anticipate that that would be, you know, a -- a normal course of action for the Secret Service to say, what did you mean when you did this? You know, do you plan to do anything like this?

And the question is, Jake, you know, we know, obviously, that the President supporters are -- are pouncing on this. But, you know, you have a lot of examples. I think we have a post of one of a prominent MAGA supporter who has been welcomed in the White House recently to, you know, one of these influencer briefings. He posted this in 2022, 86, 46. Obviously, a reference to Joe Biden.

TAPPER: Joe Biden, 46th president. Yeah.

PEREZ: Right. Exactly. And so the question is, are they choosing to interpret it this way now because of Jim Comey and the -- the -- obviously the history behind these two men, which is, you know, obviously Comey investigated the president. The president fired him. And there's been enmity ever since.

TAPPER: John Miller, you have an extensive resume in law enforcement. What do you make of all of this? The Trump administration's determination to investigate Comey for the post. The FBI director claiming he didn't know that 86 had any sort of possible violent connotations. What do you think?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, first on the news, I'm told by our other colleague, Jonathan Wackrow, who's a former Secret Service agent, that Jim Comey is right now in the field office in Washington being interviewed by the Secret Service. Interesting -- interestingly, not the FBI, who would also have jurisdiction here, and that they are putting him through the paces of a threat interview, which goes to your question, Jake, which is, what did you mean when you posted it, when you were going down the beach? Did you place the shells there or did you find them there already?

Did you intend any threat? What does 86, 47 mean to you? They'll go through all that because under Title XVIII, Section 871, threatening the president of the United States, family member, vice president, any of those officials is a federal crime. It's a felony. But it also has to be a direct threat and one that a reasonable person would take as a threat on its face.

And this appears to be much grayer than that, since Director Comey says he thought it was a political message. And when it was interpreted as a message of violence, he took it down right away. And as Evan pointed out, there's untold amounts of merchandise on eBay, on Etsy, on -- on Amazon for 86, 46, get rid of Biden, 86, 47, get rid of Trump, with all kinds of people wearing it and posing in it. And there are no investigations into that.

[17:35:04]

So the question is, is this a double standard? Is it selective prosecution? But they are definitely trying to make an example of the former FBI director, former U.S. attorney, former Deputy Attorney General of the United States because of his profile.

PEREZ: I should note that also, you know, to add to what John was just saying, one of the things that I think you have to keep in mind, too, over the last, say, you know, 10 years of -- of Trump being in the -- in -- in -- where he is, right, the -- the -- the public figure that he is, he has repeatedly called, people have interpreted some of his statements to be calling for violence against, you know, Hillary Clinton, against, you know, other Democrats. And people on the right have always said, oh, you are misinterpreting that you guys are making a big deal of that. And so that's what we're hearing from the other side as a result of this.

TAPPER: All right, John Miller and Evan Perez, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. One big headline this week, overdose deaths down in the United States, still too high, but down. My next guest is a member of Congress and on a personal mission to stay, make sure that those numbers continue on the downward trend.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:40:17]

TAPPER: Topping our Health Lead with welcome news. Overdose deaths in the United States plummeted by 27 percent from 2023 to 2024. That's according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Now, the numbers are still too high, 80,000 is still too high, but still, going down is a good sign. You might wonder, how? How did this happen? Why is it going down? And how can the United States keep this trend going? Experts say it's likely several factors, a gradual decline in cities and states' use of opioids, a lower satisfaction with the illicit opioid supply, which forces many drug users to reach an inflection point, and many then, hopefully, decide to seek help. And that help is often funded by opioid settlement dollars and federal funding.

Joining us now, Democratic Congresswoman Madeleine Dean from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, also the chair of the bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus, and somebody with a personal experience with this, we'll get to in the second question.

But first, you questioned Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. this week about the Trump administration's plans, at least it seemed like there were some plans being floated, to make massive cuts to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. RFK Jr. told you no addiction centers would be shut down. He just wants to make it more efficient. Tell us more about that. Is that accurate, what he's saying? REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Well, I don't think so. Because if you take a look at the so-called skinny budget, it zeroes out program after program after program that has to do with addiction, mental health, substance use disorder, recovery, treatment, access, not to mention the Medicaid threatened cuts, and how that will impact those who are addicted and seeking treatment. One of the things that's very troubling is with SAMHSA.

They already fired 19 people who were doing data collection around overdose deaths and recovery. And so when you go in and you say, they actually have asked that they will eliminate SAMHSA and put it into something called AHA. I don't know what that is. We have MAHA, we have MAGA, now we have AHA. They're going to shift and shaft, as I see it, at a time when you just reported what is remarkably good news.

TAPPER: It's working. Yes, it's working.

DEAN: When you have a 27 percent decrease, just let's think of the numbers. I call it a jetliner a day. As a result of COVID, there was a great, sad spike in overdose deaths, 110,000 people a year dying. That's 300 people a day, 365 days a year. I call that a jetliner a day.

TAPPER: Yes, that's vivid.

DEAN: Last year, it was down to 220 people a day. Still horrifying.

TAPPER: Still too, yes.

DEAN: Still bad. And, you know, really cratering families and communities. But when you have a 27 percent decrease, and we know some of the reasons for it, why in God's name would you shudder SAMHSA that is doing this good work?

TAPPER: So viewers of the show know, because I interviewed you and your son.

DEAN: You did.

TAPPER: That this is a personal story to you. You co-wrote a book with Harry, your son, about his battle with substance abuse. It's called "Under Our Roof: A Son's Battle for Recovery, a Mother's Battle for Her Son." Honestly, no matter what you accomplish legislatively, this is an incredible legacy, what you're doing here with your son.

DEAN: That's nice for you to say.

TAPPER: I just think it's true.

DEAN: That's nice for you to say.

TAPPER: You also talk about being lucky to have the financial means that you could help Harry.

DEAN: Yes.

TAPPER: A lot of people don't. Talk about that if you could.

DEAN: A lot of people don't have access to recovery. I've met way too many parents, mothers, who have lost their sons, and their kids were hoping to get to treatment, and they're on phone call after phone call asking for help. We had the ability, pre-insurance, but now many insurance policies cover the beginnings of recovery, but not nearly enough. Every single child of God, every single American who is struggling with addiction, let's remember it's a disease.

TAPPER: Yes.

DEAN: It's some failing of the human being. Everybody should have the access that my son had. We had the ability to -- to get him somewhere to save his life. And I will tell you, thank you for the kind interview you did with Harry. Harry is 12.5 years in long-term recovery, and he's doing the work of helping others get to recovery.

TAPPER: Yes, he's a good kid. What's this bag you got here? What is this? It's an emergency overdose kit.

DEAN: I literally carry this with me in my pocketbook every day for a couple of reasons. One, you never know who you might run into, who might be struggling, who might have gotten a poisoning from fentanyl. You don't have to be an addict to die of fentanyl poisoning.

TAPPER: No, in fact, your former colleague, Ted Deutch, a Democratic congressman from Florida, his nephew --

DEAN: Correct.

TAPPER: -- was taking like an herbal supplement that had fentanyl in it and died.

DEAN: That was laced with fentanyl.

TAPPER: Yes.

[17:44:59]

DEAN: And that is now tainted in so many substances, cocaine, marijuana, you name it. I carry that. We have it in my office for a couple of reasons. To help if we were ever called upon, but much more, reduce the stigma, reduce the shame, and say, we can save a life. And if you can save a life, it's possible you'll get that person to the help they need.

TAPPER: All right. Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, such an important conversation. I think we've had -- we've talked about this twice this week, and it still feels like it's not enough. We had Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen come on, whose mom is a survivor of opioid addiction as well.

DEAN: She's a leader in this caucus.

TAPPER: Is that right?

DEAN: Yes, she's terrific.

TAPPER: OK. Cool. Well, keep up the great work. It's really, really important.

DEAN: Thank you.

TAPPER: And let's hope that these numbers keep going down.

DEAN: And let's hope the administration does not cut SAMHSA at all.

TAPPER: So, Congresswoman Dean, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, the new comments today from legendary football coach Bill Belichick and the 73-year-old football great's relationship with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. One of Belichick's former Patriots players will be here to discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:26]

TAPPER: In our Sports Lead, former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was once again pressed about his controversial relationship this morning in an interview on Good Morning America. Here is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BELICHICK, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA: She's been terrific through the whole process and she's been very helpful to me. She does the business things that don't relate to North Carolina that come up in my life so I can concentrate on football.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So just a couple things there. Former Patriots wide receiver Donte Stallworth is here with me. For people who don't know, Belichick now coaches at UNC Chapel Hill. But the way he talked about his girlfriend, his love, it sounded like he was talking about like an employee. I mean, kind of. Is that just how he is? Is that just how Bill Belichick talks?

DONTE STALLWORTH, FORMER NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS WIDE RECEIVER: Yes, that's how he is. He's not -- he's not too personal of a person unless you know him. I think the one thing with Belichick is that -- that hit home with me watching all this unfold over the last few weeks, I guess a couple months, is that he always preached to us to not to never be a distraction. Speak for yourself. Do your job. He had a few mantras that he really hit home with us from early on from the -- from the very beginning of our meetings of the season.

And to see this become the headline is really interesting. I know that Belichick is going to when he's speaking to Mike earlier, he's going to deflect those -- those -- those topics or at least deflecting the best he can. But in today's age, in today's media, social media --

TAPPER: Well, look at that. Look at this post.

STALLWORTH: Yes.

TAPPER: Donte, don't be a distraction. That -- that -- that's not paparazzi in the post.

STALLWORTH: Yes. Right.

TAPPER: They -- they posted that.

STALLWORTH: Right. It's -- it's -- it's -- it's -- it's mind blowing. If you asked me two or three years ago, if Belichick would even be on social media, let alone have his own social media pages, I would have bet every cent that I had that he would never do this.

TAPPER: And that's Jordon. That is a 24-year-old girlfriend's Instagram page. Look at that one. Don't be a distraction, right. Donte, what's that? That's a distraction.

STALLWORTH: It's --

TAPPER: I mean, how would you let me ask you this question? OK, maybe this is unfair. How would you feel if you were right now a player on the UNC Tar Heels football team and that was going on? You want attention for yourself. You don't want your, you know, I don't know what that is even but.

STALLWORTH: It's -- it's interesting because I'm sure he's preaching the same thing to these -- to these young college students as he did to us about distractions and doing the right things and staying off the radar as much as possible. But yes, he's not staying off the radar. And one thing I'm kind of reminded of is that he had a year off of football and he was on this total media blitz where he was working with the media.

He had a relationship with ESPN. He had a relationship with, I think, someone in Turner Network. He was doing all this media stuff that we've never seen him do before. And he kind of opened himself up. And I think in the midst of that, he kind of opened himself up maybe a little too much with all this social media stuff.

TAPPER: Yes.

STALLWORTH: And this is kind of the result of what's happened.

TAPPER: So he's 73. His girlfriend, Jordon Hudson is 24. Look, they're consenting adults. I mean, there's nothing illegal about what they're doing or necessarily even untoward. It's just kind of odd because this is Belichick describing their relationship during the interview on ABC. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did Jordon mean to you?

BILL BELICHICK, HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA: Well, we have a good personal relationship. Michael, you know that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I know that coach. But I'm saying, are you happy?

BELICHICK: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You look happy.

BELICHICK: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Is there part of you that thinks, like the rest of us, you, me, Strahan, we should just take him at his word and just move on from this? Just let him be happy?

STALLWORTH: I think no matter what happens this season, that's going to be a part of the story of the season, right? Whether they're successful or not, what -- what they're trying to build at UNC is something that I believe is he's trying to model this, maybe not necessarily directly, but somewhat directly, indirectly of what Nick Saban had at Alabama, where he's bringing in these student athletes and he's ushering them, tunneling them in, funneling them through to the NFL. And that's going to be, you know, being taught -- taught great technique and all these different things.

But when you see this, it's like I said, it's something that's new to anyone who's ever played for Belichick, anyone who's ever been around him. And I just don't know how that's going to translate with these college student athletes in today's world.

TAPPER: Yes. And -- and I think the thing that was -- the most shocking out of all of this, other than the fact that their age difference and him all of a sudden on social media with the mermaid and everything, the controversy really blew up when he was on CBS and she, Jordon, interrupted the interview that was going on. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How did you guys meet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not talking about this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Not talking about this.

[17:54:58]

STALLWORTH: Yes, yes. Well, like I said, you know, I think he opened himself up and he just kind of allowed her to be his spokesperson. And that's the result of that. That would have never happened in any, any coach that I played for under Belichick.

TAPPER: Do you think this is all because the Eagles so soundly trounced the Patriots in 2018. It set them off into some sort of spiral where you had to find happiness? I'm just joking.

Donte Stallworth, thank you so much. Appreciate it. It's always good to have you here.

Brand new data today reveals how Americans really feel about the U.S. economy.

Plus, the new turn today in Trump's tariffs and the unexpected notification. He's sending the countries around the world how this all affects your money at home. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, a major blow for the Trump agenda. Just as the President warns the clock is ticking for 150 countries to make a deal with him or face higher tariffs. Coming up, what went wrong for the President today and what does it mean for your wallet?

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