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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Army Says, Five Wounded Soldiers Are Stable, Suspect in Custody; Epstein Strategy Dinner in Flux After Intense Coverage; The Economic Impact of Trump's Megabill in Battleground Arizona. Sources: Netanyahu Weighing "Full Conquest" Of Gaza; UCLA: White House Has Frozen $584M Of Research Funds; Apple Will Invest $100B To Make iPhone Parts In U.S. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 06, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: The Lead tonight, breaking news from Georgia, key new details about the suspect accused of shooting five soldiers at Fort Stewart earlier today, a law enforcement official now telling CNN that the suspect had a disagreement with one of the victims yesterday, which allegedly erupted in shocking violence today.

[18:00:11]

The suspect is a 28-year-old army sergeant. He's in custody. All five victims are expected to recover.

I want to get straight to CNN's Ryan Young, who just arrived at the base, Fort Stewart. Ryan?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. Jake. We learned from CNN's Mark Morales about this new information that apparently the suspect had a beef with a fellow coworker, then showed up with a weapon, opened fire on that co-worker, and then shot for others. And, of course, we've learned about how. Other soldiers jumped in to subdue him. He was taken into custody very quickly.

Right now, the base is back to normal operations coming from the standpoint of all the gates back here open. This place is massive. As someone who's been in this area at this base several times before, I can tell you this is like a mini city here. It's one of the largest bases, of course, across from the Mississippi. And people know this for how many, how much work this base does across the world.

But we do know the soldiers who were injured in this, suffered those injuries, we know they will survive. Three needed surgery. But listen to the general talk about what happened here today and how soldiers jumped in to help out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIG. GEN. JOHN LUBAS, FORT STEWART: Soldiers in the area that witnessed the shooting immediately and without hesitation tackled the soldiers, subdued him, that allowed law enforcement to then take him into custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: So, Jake, I've been able to talk to a couple soldiers through text message and they were able to tell me, look, they were shocked by this. This was put on lockdown. They were worried about what was going on.

We do know, apparently, this soldier bought this weapon back in May in Florida. I know several federal agents have been trying to track down where this gun originated from, but we now know through that CNN reporting from Mark Morales that they were able to track this gun back to the purchase in Florida, in May. And there was some disagreement at work, and then he showed up with that gun in opened fire.

Hopefully, we get more information about the motive. We know the suspect is now in military custody.

A lot of times, Jake, when we talk about cases like this, you think about a first court appearance, that's something that we will probably not see in terms of him being held in front of the camera and facing a judge. So, we'll have to see what he faces.

But also the good news here, even after two soldiers had to be moved to Savannah to get that expert trauma one level care, that all the soldiers involved in this should survive. So, people are in shock here, especially in the small community that surrounds this area. But at the same time, this is going to turn out with those soldiers being able to make it through this. Jake?

TAPPER: Ryan, can you talk about any of the major questions investigators are still seeking answers to.

YOUNG: Well, I think one of the things that they'll be focused on is one, his preparation, in terms of bringing that gun onto the base and showing up at that facility. There's been a lot of question about what happened proceeding that shooting. So, of course, they'll analyze the gun, they'll see what happened. There's also been that conversation about him being pulled over for DUI. So, I'm sure they'll be scrubbing through his history to figure out exactly what started this sort of cascading event that may have led to this shooting and what could make someone so angry enough to show up to work with a weapon to shoot a co-worker.

Again, this is a large footprint area. Everything around here is touched by this military base. Even on the way in here, it really shocks you in terms of all the firepower that you see here. But at the same time, weapons are usually under control in this area. So, Jake, just a lot of questions about how this happened and what was his motivation even after we know it was a beef.

TAPPER: Yes. Ryan Young at Fort Stewart, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Donell Harvin, he's the former chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence for the D.C. government, also with us, Darrin Porcher, former NYPD lieutenant.

Donell, what do you make of these new details that the suspect had a disagreement or a beef with one co-worker the day before and then allegedly brought a gun to the workplace today?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE, D.C. GOVERNMENT: Jake, this isn't that dissimilar from other workplace violence we've seen in other settings. I think what's so shocking is that it happens on a tightly secured military base.

I'll also add that the Department of Defense after the Navy yard shooting, which we recall in D.C., implemented a very robust program to detect what we call insider threats. These threats that emanate from inside your organizations, in this particular case, the DOD, are extremely hard to detect, extremely hard to interdict and deter, and so they'll be looking at that, I'm sure, at the Pentagon over the next days and weeks on how they could have perhaps prevented this.

TAPPER: Darrin, what do you think investigators are looking into right now?

DARRIN PORCHER, FORMER NYPD LIEUTENANT: Well, you're going to have CID, criminal investigations division of the Army that's going to investigate this. I'm a former executive officer in the Army, so on many occasions I've introduced discipline against soldiers. The investigators are going to sit down with everyone that worked in that workplace area. He was a logistics specialist.

[18:05:00]

So, I take it he worked in a warehouse facility. So, all of those individuals are going to be interviewed.

But what's really interesting about this is there was a 40-minute gap from the time when the shooting started to when the shooter was, quote/unquote, taken into custody, which is kind of strange because there were people that were in that workplace that were able to take him down and I want to say neutralize him pending the arrival of law enforcement. But, once again, it's going to be a contingent of various interviews as to what the dispute was, and did anyone have information that revealed there was a propensity for him to come back and introduce violence in the workplace?

TAPPER: Donell, is it odd that the suspect's chain of command did not know about his recent DUI? Is that something that the local law enforcement would automatically notify the military about, or the military would be alerted about in some way?

HARVIN: I mean, not necessarily if you don't disclose to the law enforcement what your occupation is. But I will tell you that once again, this is an aspect that came out of the after action report from the Navy yard shooting. There was a lot of red flags with that individual shooter who took the lives of nine people -- 12 people, rather, excuse me, at the Navy yard that day. And there was a whole host of things, interactions with law enforcement that weren't picked up.

And so after that the Department of Defense started doing more regular background checks. All these individuals who were on bases, whether they're uniformed or not, ho through a rigorous background check process. But what they found is that once you go through that initial process, they weren't doing follow-ups. And so those follow-ups that have been in place now are there to pick up things that happened just like this, and hopefully they'll look at that and see if that would've triggered some follow-up investigation in this individual.

But, once again, Jake, unless he told somebody or he made a threat, it's really, really hard to interdict and stop somebody who's debt determined to hurt somebody at their workplace.

TAPPER: Darrin, do you think other U.S. military installations need to be doing security reviews in the wake of this shooting, maybe just to fend off any copycats or maybe there are lessons to be learned?

PORCHER: There's going to be an after-action review that's going to be quite telling to other military bases, be it the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. And that information would be extracted to make a robust -- a more robust security component in any base. But what's interesting about this is you, as an active duty soldier, you have an access badge that affords you the ability to get on base. Those individuals that have access badges are not searched as they enter the base. Bear in mind, this was a personal weapon that he came on base with. And we have to trust our soldiers because these are the individuals that we arm in combat to protect and defend the democracy of the United States abroad.

So, we're just not going to search them when they come on base, and this was one of these things that more so slipped through the cracks, but I agree that we need to do a more robust job in terms of creating that security matrix on base.

TAPPER: All right. Darrin Porcher and Donell Harvin, thanks to both of you.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time a deadly shooting took place on a U.S. military base. CNN's Brian Todd joins us now. Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, Brigadier General John Lubas today the, he's the commander of the Third Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, he told reporters this afternoon that other soldiers in the area who witnessed this shooting, in his words, quote, immediately, and without hesitation, tackled the alleged shooter. Now, General Lubas said, without a doubt, that prevented more casualties.

But there have been other mass shootings at U.S. military bases where some worst case scenarios did, in fact, unfold. November 5th, 2009, a U.S. Army major and psychiatrist at Fort Hood, Texas, he shot more than 40 people. He killed 13 of them. He was shooting his fellow soldiers at a processing center on the base at Fort Hood. Prosecutors said the shooter, an American-born Muslim, underwent a progressive radicalization that had led to that massacre. That shooter was convicted and sentenced to death. He is currently being held at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. This remains the deadliest shooting ever on a U.S. military base, that shooting on at Fort Hood on 2009.

Now, on December 16th, 2016, a defense contract worker and former Navy reservist killed 12 people at the Navy yard right here in Washington, D.C. At least eight other people were injured in that shooting. The shooter was then killed in a gun battle with police. Subsequent investigations found that the shooter had suffered mental health problems, but despite those issues, he still held on to a security clearance with the Navy, allowing him access to that base. Jake, I remember you and I both covered that shooting and that whole issue with his access and the clearance was a big deal at the time.

Now, on April 2nd, 2014, another shooting, let me just get to that one, that was it, another shooting at Fort Hood in Texas. A soldier opened fire on fellow service members killing three people, wounding more than a dozen before he killed himself.

[18:10:04]

That shooting actually played out in multiple buildings at the base on Fort Hood as the shooter moved around. That was before he was engaged by military police.

And on December 6th, 2019, an aviation student from Saudi Arabia opened fire in a classroom at Naval Air Station Pensacola, in Florida. He killed three people and injured another dozen people, including two sheriff's deputies. The shooter was killed at the scene by deputies. Investigations later revealed that the shooter had self-radicalized and had been in contact with Al-Qaeda operatives in the years prior to the shooting.

Jake, in all of these incidents, including today's shooting at Fort Stewart, one common thread, the shooters all had access to the basis in question. As for the weapon, well, today, General Lubas said the Fort Stewart shooter had used his own weapon, a handgun, not a military-issued weapon. But, Jake, horrible precedence for the shooting today. Thankfully, no one was killed today in that incident.

TAPPER: Yes. Brian Todd, thanks so much.

Moments ago, President Trump and Vice President Vance responded to CNN reporting that Vance had been scheduled to host a dinner with other Trump officials this evening. And among the topics they would discuss would be the fallout around the Epstein file scandal and what if any other materials they should release. Those new comments are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, sources tell CNN that a dinner scheduled today for top Trump officials to meet and discuss, at least in part, a strategy over the administration's handling over the Jeffrey Epstein case is now in flux due to intense coverage. CNN previously reported that White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche were expected to gather and dine at the residence of Vice President J.D. Vance. However, those not included include any of Epstein's victims, the people most impacted by this entire ordeal sentence. Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. And, Kaitlan, President Trump and Vice President Vance were just asked about this dinner. What did they have to say?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. The president, said he wasn't aware about this dinner, but then turned to the vice president, J.D. Vance, who was in the Oval Office with him just now, as Tim Cook was making an announcement inside the Oval separate from this. But they were asked multiple questions about Jeffrey Epstein overall.

I want you to listen to not only what President Trump had to say, but also the vice president, J.D. Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Vice President Vance hosting a gathering this evening to talk about how to respond to the Epstein situation.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Is he working on what?

REPORTER: Is he hosting some kind of gathering of top advisers this evening to talk about how to respond to the Epstein situation?

TRUMP: I don't know. I could ask you that question. I don't know of it, but I think here's the man right here.

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: I saw it reported today and it's completely fake news. We're not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation. And I think the reporter who reported it needs to get better sources.

TRUMP: Look, the whole thing is a hoax. It's put out by the Democrats because we've had the most successful six months in the history of our country. And that's just a way of trying to divert attention to something that's total bullshit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, Jake, as you heard Vance denying there, that they are meeting to talk specifically about the Jeffrey Epstein situation and how this administration has been handling it. Of course, you just listed the people who are expected to be there at that gathering at the vice president's residence tonight, and all of them have played a role in terms of what this looks like, whether it was public comments they've made about Jeffrey Epstein or Todd Blanche's meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell that lasted for nearly ten hours, as there are still questions about what the next step forward here are going to be when it comes to Jeffrey Epstein for this administration, if they release a transcript of that conversation with Ghislaine Maxwell or what that looks like.

You referenced, Jake, no survivors being invited. That is something that an attorney or the family of Virginia Giuffre, the late Virginia Giuffre who died by suicide earlier this year, noted in a statement earlier. And that is a complaint that we've heard from a lot of survivors and victims in recent days and weeks, Jake, is that they feel that they don't have a seat at the table in the conversations that are happening, whether that be here at the White House or Republicans on Capitol Hill in terms of what they are trying to do and achieve here with the release of the Epstein documents that we know lawmakers are seeking.

So, still major questions, Jake, about what that strategy is going to look like, what those next steps look like for this administration.

TAPPER: It's odd, Kaitlan, hearing President Trump call this a hoax invented by the Democrats because it's actually J.D. Vance and Pam Bondi and Dan Bongino and Kash Patel and Trump himself who talked about releasing the Epstein files. And the reason --

COLLINS: And the outrage has been from the MAGA base and Republicans.

TAPPER: And the reason that this is all in the news is because, A, they promised they would release the stuff, they didn't, B, Elon Musk said Trump is in the Epstein files, providing no evidence for it, and then, C, they themselves keep doing things to keep this in the news, like the deputy attorney general flying down to Tallahassee and having two meetings with Jeffrey Epstein's co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell.

COLLINS: And also moving her from the prison that she was being held at the correctional facility in Tallahassee to a much lower security one in Texas that has been described for its way more relaxed conditions there, as you've seen other people there who've committed, you know, white collar crimes and whatnot are stationed there.

And so that has been a real question in terms of, you know, who authorized waivers for Ghislaine Maxwell to go there. Remember, yesterday, the president told me he was not aware of that move before it happened. I've talked to a lot of people who said they're skeptical of that because it is such a big decision by this Justice Department to make to not keep the president in the loop on that. But he said he didn't know about it before, Jake.

TAPPER: Weird stuff. Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thanks so much.

And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins.

[18:20:03]

That's tonight and every weeknight at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.

Let's bring in Crisis Manager and Attorney Lanny Davis. He served as special counsel for President Bill Clinton during Clinton's impeachment. He's represented Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen. Thanks for being here. I really appreciate it.

So, you heard the vice president say this Epstein strategy session is fake news. And you heard the president say it's, quote, bullshit. Either way, the five reporters who broke the story, including Kaitlan, had excellent sourcing on the fact that this dinner was supposed to take place and this was going to be discussed, and it upset Virginia Giuffre one of the victims of Jeffrey Epstein. And as you heard Kaitlan say, her family put out a statement saying, missing from this group, of course, any survivor of the vicious crimes have convicted perjury and sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein. Their voices must be heard above all.

So, stepping aside from this back and forth between the White House about the dinner, this is an issue, right? These files, the release of it, the administration has to deal with it. It's not going to go away. What should they be doing when it comes to the victims?

LANNY DAVIS, LEGAL CRISIS MANAGER AND ATTORNEY: Well, first of all, the victims should be in the room and should be part of the conversation, and I don't see them even being consulted much less in the room.

Secondly, Vice President Vance, President Trump, and Chairman Comer, who has issued these subpoenas, need to answer one simple question, and this is quite simple for everybody watching and for the American people, Democrat or Republican, release the files.

TAPPER: Yes.

DAVIS: Why not release the files? Did President Trump answer the question? Did Vice President Vance answer the question?

TAPPER: Right.

DAVIS: Why not release the files? They made this an issue and the victims are suffering because it continues.

TAPPER: One of the things that was odd, so, James Comer, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, issued a bunch of subpoenas from that committee, among the people subpoenaed, including -- included two former FBI directors, I think, five attorneys general, if you look at them, two Democrat and three Republican, I'm trying to do the math there, they're not all listed, or three Democrat and three Republican, and Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Not on the subpoena list is Alex Acosta. Alex Acosta was Trump's former secretary of labor in the first term. He was the Bush era U.S. attorney that negotiated this sweetheart plea deal for Jeffrey Epstein that allowed him to only do minimum time in state prison with work release and he would never be prosecuted for anything else.

Can you think of any explanation why they wouldn't go after the testimony of Alex Acosta?

DAVIS: Look, there's a political machinery going on here that's diverting attention from the simple question, why not release the files? Chairman Comer and all these subpoenas is simply changing the subject. Throwing out names is changing the subject. There's only one subject the Republicans raised, as you pointed out, the files are on Attorney General Bondi's desk. She said she would release them. Why is Chairman Comer issuing subpoenas rather than getting the files?

TAPPER: Well, in his defense, he did also issue a subpoena for all the documents from the Justice Department. We just don't know what's going to be turned over. So, he is seeking that.

DAVIS: I have not heard him say to the president of the United States and the attorney general. He's a Republican chairman of the Oversight Committee, release the files. So, whatever else he's doing, he's not said publicly, release the files. Republican leaders in the House have opposed releasing the files.

TAPPER: I think we can all agree that the names of the victims should be redacted.

DAVIS: Of course, of course.

TAPPER: What about the people, and there are no doubt dozens of, not hundreds of people who are mentioned in the files who were Epstein Associates who didn't do anything wrong, but maybe they were flying down to Epstein Island to try to get him to contribute money to a university or whatever? I'm sure there are people who did things wrong also that are in these files also, but one of the arguments is going to be made, oh, you know, we can't be naming people that didn't do anything wrong, and that's one of the reasons why these files, in general, are not released. What about that argument?

DAVIS: It's too late for that argument. The transparency argument has to -- I'm sympathetic with people whose names are innocently in about, including Donald Trump whose names may be --

TAPPER: Or Bill Clinton. I mean, nobody has any evidence that either of them did anything untoward --

DAVIS: It's too late to say, we need to be worried about embarrassing people whose names are mentioned in the past. It's far gone. This needs to be transparent. Donald Trump has deliberately not told his attorney general, it's not unintentional, just released the darn files. Susie Wiles hasn't said that. Chairman Comer hasn't said it publicly. He may say he's subpoenaed. He doesn't need to subpoena anything. Call the president of the United States, hold the press conference and say, Attorney General Bondi, release the files.

[18:25:00]

We all know what's going on here. It's not magical. Something is being hidden. They're embarrassed about something or there's a reason why they're not releasing the files. And I'm just being logical, not political.

TAPPER: You're saying they're playing hide the ball?

DAVIS: For some reason, and it's got to be that, but I am focusing on the victims. The children who are now adults are living through this nightmare every day, and we ought to be focused on them.

TAPPER: And they get mad. You just heard the president get mad. You heard J.D. Vance call fake news, this report about the meeting that they're supposed to have, they get mad about it. And, you know, as my late father-in-law used to say, you're maddest when you're mad at yourself. They created this situation. They created it. DAVIS: It's very strange. It's their issue. It's been the podcaster MAGA industry that raised this issue. If it's an issue of transparency, then release them, unless you have something to hide.

TAPPER: Release the files. Lanny Davis, thank you so much.

Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez today called on Democratic leaders to unite behind the Democratic nominee in New York City's mayoral race. They have not. Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have not endorsed Mamdani. The report involving President Trump that got her fired up, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: Back to our Politics Lead, the president and Vice President J.D. Vance now responding to CNN's report about a scheduled strategy meeting dinner between or among top Trump administration officials on the topic, at least partly, on how to handle, squash, discuss the lingering public interest in the Jeffrey Epstein case. Vance, who sources tell CNN, was set to host this dinner, he called the report fake news.

My panel's here with me now. Bryan, let me start with something on Vance but peripheral to the Epstein thing. The idea that J.D. Vance was going to have this dinner, and let's say that Epstein was just one of many topics, but also there was going to be the FBI director and Attorney General Bondi and the chief of staff and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. This comes just a day after Trump basically said that Vice President Vance was the heir app apparent to the MAGA movement. You know, he said there are other good people.

But how do you see Vice President Vance? I mean, because this, that would be a leadership role and I don't doubt it, whether it was about tariffs or Epstein, I think it was probably about lots of stuff, but Epstein certainly on -- it's certainly it's something they have to deal with, but beyond that, the leadership of Vance within the administration. You have good insights into this administration. How do you see it?

BRYAN LANZA, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Listen, I think it's a good influence and it's not just this moment. You've seen these leadership moments during the campaign where he was involved in debates and helping in the second debate for President Trump. You've seen these leadership moments during transition where he was heavily engaged in the helping staff of this government. And so -- but what now you're seeing is now it's being highlighted as vice president.

This isn't the first dinner he's had with cabinet officials. He's actually had several dinners with cabinet officials throughout the year or throughout these six months so far. But what you see is J.D. bringing people together, finding the right focus and making sure that this team can execute. I think that's what President Trump likes in J.D., is that he can go into a room, he can command, he knows how to create a plan from this and figure out what we can do to execute. And he's going to have more dinners like this, and it's a good thing.

TAPPER: Yes, it's interesting. And, Mo, as CNN's Kristen Holmes pointed out, Vance carefully said, quote, we're not meeting to talk about the Epstein situation. It's Washington language. Like they're having dinner, they're going to talk about lots of stuff. I'm sure they're excited that the Phillies are in first place in the elis (ph), but they didn't deny that the dinner was happening and they didn't deny that that was going to be a topic. And, by the way, they should. This is an issue. They have to deal with this.

MO ELLEITHEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGETOWN INSTITUTE OF POLITICS AND PUBLIC SERVICE: This is my point. I mean, they didn't deny who the guests were at the dinner. It just so happens that these are the -- that all these guests are the ones who are on the front line of dealing with the incoming on the Epstein case every single day. I'm not sure this is the group that he would pull together to talk about tariffs.

TAPPER: They're probably not.

ELLEITHEE: Right? But, yes, they should have this dinner. And they should invite someone in to represent the victim's point of view, but they should have this dinner because they have yet to figure out how to solve a problem that they created themselves. It's shouldn't be a very long dinner, because at the conclusion of the dinner, they should say, all right, we got to release some stuff, because that's the only way to make this go away. Every single day, this is in the news, it is because it is self-inflicted, because they are the ones who are putting it in the news.

TAPPER: And let me ask you, Elliot, looking at the guest list, is it -- let's say that -- let's assume that they were talking about the Epstein files because, frankly, they should be. And if people think that we're talking about it a lot, turn into MAGA media if you want see people talking about it a lot, not Fox, but everyone else.

But beyond look at the guest list. Is it unusual to have a meeting like this, vice president, FBI, director, White House chief of staff, deputy attorney general, attorney general, is that --

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is, Jake. It is spectacularly unusual and I have to disagree with both of my esteemed colleagues here in that, no, it's not just an ordinary dinner when the FBI, director and vice president of the United States get together. There is, going back to Watergate, a separation between the work of the Justice -- the day-to-day work of the Justice Department, the policy and prosecution work of the Justice Department and the White House.

And I know the argument of, oh, the president appoints the attorney general and the FBI director, that's not the way, you know, the conduct of the actual work of the Justice Department works. And so this idea that they're merely getting together to just talk, it's remarkable.

And so, you know, we just need to -- yes, the White House has a problem. [18:35:00]

Yes, the White House has a P.R. crisis on its hands, but this is a P.R. crisis dealing with the conduct of prosecutions and the rights of victims and the rights of defendants. And it's bad, bad, bad for this meeting to be had.

TAPPER: Let's switch gears because I just saw a tweet from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She was quoting a New York Times story suggesting -- well, let me read the clip. President Trump just denied this, by the way, from The New York Times story. In a previously undisclosed call in recent weeks, Mr. Trump spoke with the New York City mayoral race -- about the New York City mayoral race directly with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, an old associate and foil, who is running in the mayor's race as an independent, according to three people briefed on the call who were not authorized to discuss it. And what AOC wrote is New Yorkers knew Andrew Cuomo was backed by Trump's orbit. That's why he lost the primary. Now we have confirmation it's time for Democratic leaders to unite behind Zohran Mamdani. If they don't now, how can they call for party unity later?

Now, Trump said it to reporters. I haven't, no, I haven't, in response to talking, but one of the things so interesting is how frustrated AOC is that both Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, the House and Senate Democratic leaders, have not endorsed the Democratic nominee for mayor.

ELLEITHEE: Yes. Well, you know, the other interesting line in there was that Trump's thinking about weighing in, in order to consolidate the anti-Mamdani vote. He couldn't do that. He actually could against whoever he doesn't -- or, you know --

TAPPER: Just endorse Mamdani.

ELLEITHEE: Right, if he wants Mamdani to lose, he should endorse Mamdani. But there is a lot of frustration amongst a lot of people in the party that we're still having this conversation, you know, weeks after the primary was settled, and there's a Democratic nominee that we're still having this conversation about should we endorse or should we not, he's the Democratic nominee. And there are a lot of times when you don't like your party's nominee for one reason or another. My party has nominated several candidates in my lifetime that I wasn't crazy about.

TAPPER: Yes.

ELLEITHEE: But if the other options are Eric Adams and Cuomo and you weren't thrilled about either of them, then get on board.

TAPPER: Last word.

LANZA: Sure. Pick the socialist. Pick the socialist. If everybody else sucked, pick the socialist who's going to make everything worse. I'm glad the Democratic Party's having the civil war. This is a green cursor to the presidential elections in a couple years from now that we're even going to see a larger civil war. I mean, they have to decide, the Democratic Party, and this is why their approval ratings are so low. They have to decide who they are. And I think they're struggling to figure out their identity. And this civil war that's taking place, I'm just going to love watching it.

TAPPER: It is -- I mean I don't think he's overstating the case. The poll between the normies, the normie Democrats, and the DSA Democrats is going to be considerable.

ELLEITHEE: Yes. And, look, I don't know nationally what direction the party goes in. Because you look at some of the other primaries that are happening around the country, and you've got the normie, the establishment Democrats beating socialist candidates or progressive candidates.

So the party is --

TAPPER: Not in Minnesota, not in the Minneapolis mayor's race the party endorsed the DSA candidate.

ELLEITHEE: Right, but not in Arizona, in the special election, Congressional election there. It went the other direction.

TAPPER: Let me take my point. It's going to be --

ELLEITHEE: It's going to be interesting.

TAPPER: Brian will have the popcorn.

LANZA: Get your popcorn.

TAPPER: All right, thanks to my panel.

Coming up, President Trump was able to get his mega bill through Congress. How's it playing out in battleground states? That'll be key to the midterms. We're going to take you to one next.

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[18:40:00]

TAPPER: President Trump was able to get his big, beautiful bill over the finish line, but now, of course, he and Republicans have to sell it to voters, especially those in swing states ahead of the midterm elections. While some say that the mega bill will help the economy, others warned that it hurts the social safety net.

In his latest installment of All Over the Map, John King checked in with voters in Battleground, Arizona.

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JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A scorching summer in the Arizona desert, a risky time to open a new restaurant, add in higher beef prices, and an unpredictable economy.

RAY FLORES, ARIZONA VOTER: Confident, hopeful, I believe a lot in this brand. I believe a lot that what we do is different.

KING: Charles Steak North is just about ready. The bar is stocked, supplies delivered, the team is hired, and for that, Ray Flores gives President Trump some credit, specifically the new law lowering taxes on tips and overtime.

FLORES: We had a really robust hiring fair, lots of applicants, way more than we've had in previous hiring fairs, a lot of quality applicants, a little higher quality. I do believe that those messages of some kind of tax relief created some of this.

KING: This is Arizona's sixth Congressional district, one of the battlegrounds that will determine whether Republicans keep their house majority after next year's midterms. Republican Juan Ciscomani is the incumbent. Charles Steak North is in his district. And Flores, an independent, has supported Ciscomani in the past.

How they sell that bill, whether that bill actually improves the economy because of the tax cuts or the no taxes on tips or overtime, that's a big deal for his political fate.

FLORES: Yes.

KING: What do you think at this moment? Got a ways to go, but what do you think now? I mean, I think, unfortunately, for them or for us, to give a good answer right now, we're in the middle of the off season, right? I think it's probably a question that needs to be asked, you know, a year from today.

CLAUDIO RODRIGUEZ, ARIZONA VOTER: So, welcome back to Sun, Arizona.

KING: This food bank serves both the sixth and seventh Congressional districts and is already dealing with some Trump changes.

RODRIGUEZ: I believe these are from Mexico right now.

KING: Right. You are correct.

RODRIGUEZ: That's going to change pretty soon with the tariffs and all that. So, we're going to be definitely seeing less produce come in.

KING: But the biggest test is down the road. The politically popular tax break on tips in overtime takes effect immediately, but the politically risky changes to Medicaid and food assistance don't take effect until 2027 after the next election.

RODRIGUEZ: I know some things are going to roll out after the midterms, which is a very nice play, you know, for some folks to wait until after that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KING (on camera): Jake, this is a place we have visited now a half dozen times in the last year's campaign and now into the first Trump term. Fascinating for a number of reasons, the economy and the big, beautiful bill, as Trump calls it, those social safety net programs, and what happens when the changes in the cuts begin to kick in.

Also, to me, one of the greatest laboratories (ph) of the question, can Republicans continue their growth among Latino voters? Trump's growth, he grew to 44 percent last year among Latinos in Arizona. That's why he won, and that's why he's back in the White House. This district, 25 percent Hispanic voters. So, if the Democrats are going to fix their problem with Latino voters, it's a great place to watch.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Fascinating stuff. John King, thank you so much.

Today, UCLA announced that the Trump administration has frozen more than half a billion dollars in research funds. The reported reason is next.

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TAPPER: In our world lead now, we are waiting on word from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet, who are meeting to decide reportedly whether Israel is going to move forward with what Netanyahu has reportedly described as a, quote, full conquest of Gaza.

The IDF says it already controls about 75 percent of the Gaza Strip, but polling shows most Israelis want a deal that frees the 50 hostages still in Gaza. Most Israelis seem more focused on that.

Humanitarian access remains limited. The Israeli agency that coordinates aid says nearly 300 trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday. Hamas officials say that the actual number is 84, and that the territory needs at least 600 trucks of relief and fuel per day.

Meanwhile, Hamas says it will allow the Red Cross to deliver food and medicine to hostages, but only if permanent humanitarian corridors are opened and airstrikes are halted during deliveries.

[18:50:09]

Let's bring in now Fabrizio Carboni. He is the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation to the United States and Canada.

Thank you so much for being here. Obviously, grim times in that region. What is the current status of the Red Cross's efforts to deliver food and medical aid to the hostages in Gaza?

FABRIZIO CARBONI, INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE RED CROSS: We're still in the same situation in the sense that our movement in Gaza and accessing hostages is only possible if all the parties give us the needed security and tell us that we have the green light to visit the hostages.

But I mean, first, the hostages should be released.

TAPPER: Right. CARBONI: I mean, because, I mean, this is a very important point.

This is illegal. Us visiting hostages is a failure to release the hostages.

And the second point, it's again, there are conditions to visit the hostages is more humanitarian assistance in Gaza. And this is again one of the main issue we face in Gaza is that everything is conditional, while it shouldn't be conditional.

TAPPER: By everybody or by Hamas?

CARBONI: All parties.

TAPPER: All parties.

CARBONI: All parties always are often conditioned humanitarian assistance and protection to other parameters which shouldn't be involved. In this case, we should have access to hostages because this is the right thing to do when people -- and we saw the images, are exposed to lifesaving challenges. The same goes for the civilian population in Gaza.

TAPPER: Right.

How does the Red Cross operate safely in what is obviously a battlefield, Gaza, given reports of your colleagues being shot at -- and in some tragic cases, killed?

CARBONI: We don't. We don't operate safely in Gaza today. We take a level of risk that we're not taking in any other region of the world.

And one of the reasons we're taking those risks, it's also to be there when we are needed for the release of hostages to visit them, to assist in our hospitals. So, we're taking a level of risk. We have a number of security incidents and casualties that we never had in other places, or when we have them, we leave.

Here, we decide to stay because we know that the stakes, the humanitarian stakes are so high that we need to accept those risks.

TAPPER: What's the reality on the ground? You talked about the starving population in Gaza, the Palestinians that are starving because of lack of access to food and aid. What is the reality on the ground for civilians there? We hear these reports about famine, malnutrition, just horrific conditions. What are you hearing from your aid workers on the ground there?

CARBONI: Look, I mean, if I take our field hospital -- field hospital? We receive over the last six weeks, 300 and 400 weapon wounded, 250 died, most of them, if not all of them, gunshot wounds. And they were on their way to a food distribution.

I think people are so desperate today that they're ready to risk their lives to have access to assistance, because they are on the verge of -- there is a breaking point.

TAPPER: Are they all shot by IDF? Are they -- some shot by others in the region? Or do you --

CARBONI: Look, you know, this is to some extent I would say from our perspective, not the point. Its that there are too many people wounded and killed to have access to essential services. The dialogue with all the parties, we do it in a confidential way. And if we have findings on who is responsible, we deal directly with the authorities involved.

But today, the point is that we shouldn't reach a point where we see those hostages in unacceptable situation. We see those patients our own staff. We can't feed our own staff, our surgeons working in this field hospital are struggling to find food and function every day.

TAPPER: Too much suffering, too much death.

Fabrizio Carboni with the International Committee of the Red Cross -- thanks for being with us.

CARBONI: Thank you for having me.

TAPPER: The $100 billion announcement today from Apple that could affect your future iPhones.

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[18:59:095]

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our national lead. The University of California, Los Angeles, says that the Trump administration has frozen more than half a billion dollars of research funds. UCLA is the latest school to be targeted by the Trump administration over claims of rampant antisemitism during pro-Palestinian protests in 2024. This comes just days after both Brown and Columbia University said federal funding restored after signing settlements with the administration over similar claims involving tens of millions of dollars.

In our money lead, in the Oval Office today, Apple announced a $100 billion investment to expand its operations in the U.S. President Trump doubled down on his tariff strategy by threatening 100 percent levies on semiconductors and chips made internationally, but said companies that have committed to building in the U.S. would not face a charge. For Apple iPhones and watches, the company is also broadening its partnership with a glass supplier in Kentucky. Apple CEO Tim Cook presented Trump with glass made at that facility.

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcast.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now. I'll see you tomorrow.