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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Sources: Pentagon Considering Ground Troops To Take Kharg Island; Trump Calls NATO Allies "Cowards" For Not Helping With Iran War; Nearly 10 Percent Of TSA Workers Called Out Of Work On Thursday; Hundreds Of TSA Agents Have Quit Amid Partial Govt. Shutdown; Officials: Thousands More Marines & Sailors Deploy To Middle East; A Top FEMA Official Claims He Once Teleported To Waffle House; Singer D4vd's Connection To Missing Girl Found Dead In His Car. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired March 20, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:26]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: We're going to try something a little different today. Welcome to my office. The Lead starts right now.

TSA workers calling out of work at near record levels causing massively long airport lines. And it's about to get much worse. It's a problem caused by Washington, D.C., so when will Washington, D.C. fix it? We're going to talk about it all with Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy live on The Lead ahead. And the Pentagon is weighing deploying troops to Iran's Kharg Island.

Ground troops, boots on the ground. Why this small piece of land directly relates to the rising price of gas you're paying right now. Plus, the remains of a missing 14-year-old girl found in a Tesla. The car's owner, a TikTok superstar singer songwriter David with a four. It's the world's most googled name last year.

A grand jury is investigating. CNN is today going to trace the ties between the singer and the victim.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper coming to you live from my actual office. We thought we'd experiment, bring you to the desk where I actually work and put The Lead together with my team every day. We're going to have more on that in a sec because we got a lot of breaking news to get to.

Not the least of which for you traveling public members out there are the TSA troubles, workers who have not been paid in weeks, airline passengers facing hours, long lines. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is getting mic'd up right now. He's going to join me in moments. But first, let's talk about the war in Iran because sources tell CNN that the Pentagon is considering putting U.S. Troops on the ground, boots in the ground in Iran to take Kharg Island and also to potentially retrieve or further bury the highly enriched uranium that is under the rubble of the nuclear facilities that the U.S. bombed last June in the Iranian mainland. Now there is reportedly internal debate over what would obviously be a highly consequential decision because of the concerns over the number of ground troops needed and the obvious risks that come along with that decision.

Today, thousands more Marines and sailors were deployed to the Middle East even as those conversations continue to play out at the White House and in the Pentagon. This was President Trump just a short time ago when asked whether the U.S. would consider a ceasefire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't want to do a ceasefire. You know, you don't do a ceasefire when you're literally obliterating the other side.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So let's talk about this with two of the smartest people we know, David Sanger from the New York Times and Rebeccah Heinrichs from the Hudson Institute.

So, Rebecca, let me start with you. Mark -- Barak Ravid and Marc Caputo for Axios had a report this morning that a lot of people read with quite a lot of interest and included a senior official telling them, quote, "We've always had boots on the ground in conflicts under every president, including Trump. I know this is a fixation in the media, and I get the politics, but the president is going to do." What do you think? Is that assessment correct?

REBECCAH HEINRICHS, SENIOR FELLOW, HUDSON INSTITUTE: I think so. I mean, I think -- look, I mean, Americans didn't have a problem with boots on the ground when the president successfully was able to initiate the Maduro raid, captured Maduro, took him back to New York because it was successful and there was few troops and there was no casualties. So if the president determines, look, in order for us to, you know, take the Iranian ability to coerce global oil markets by taking Kharkiv and let's say it takes violent --

TAPPER: Kharg Island.

HEINRICHS: It's Kharg Island, then let's say, you know, it takes five 6,000 marines to do it and it's successful, then I think the American -- I think the American people would support something like that. And then last point, too, if the entombed nuclear enrichment material, then, you know, look, it's going to take American troops to go down there and either bury it further or retrieve it. Then that's something I think that we have to keep open as a possibility.

TAPPER: And, David, you've written about this already earlier this week, the president's open door about sending troops into Iran, and you're reporting, you write it's part of, quote, "the administration sending signals that it was bearing down for a longer fight." What are you learning from your sources about what might be coming down the road here for us? DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL & NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, these are two big decisions. Kharg Island is hard, not because of taking it, but because of holding it. You know, the difference between that and the Maduro raid or even the attack that they did in June against the nuclear facilities is you were in and out in an evening. Kharg Island is a giant facility to load fuel. And in order to make this work, they'd have to basically hold it and keep the Iranians from then sabotaging the undersea pipelines that bring the oil from the mainland out to the island.

[17:05:04]

TAPPER: Yes.

SANGER: Otherwise it's not terribly useful. Similarly for Isfahan, which is where we think most of that fuel is buried, it's down probably 300 or 400 feet. It's in canisters, probably 30 or 40 of them. You have to deal with them pretty carefully. If they get punctured, moisture gets in, it turns into a toxic gas. It's also somewhat radioactive.

And if you let them get too close to each other, you can start a radioactive reaction that could be not nuclear explosion, but something you don't want to be dealing with your troops. So this is a really hard operation. And of course, in both cases, the Iranians have seen the signals that the U.S. may be coming.

TAPPER: So, Rebeccah, the U.S. hit Kharg Island --

HEINRICHS: Yes.

TAPPER: -- last week, didn't hit the oil facilities. It was kind of like a flex in a way. What happens if the U.S. does actually take over Kharg Island, which is where most of the Iranian fuel is? What's the --

HEINRICHS: Yes.

TAPPER: -- result when it comes to the rest of the war, the economy, and also militarily?

HEINRICHS: Sure. Well, I would say it was more than a flex. I mean -- I mean, the admiral in charge, Admiral Cooper, head of CENTCOM, said that they took out like 90 percent of the military capabilities on Kharg Island. So they've already done that. And again, it was -- it was -- I think, though, indicating, look, we didn't touch the oil infrastructure, but we can. So I don't think that they'll do it until they have more sufficiently degraded some of the stuff that you're talking about there.

SANGER: I agree. Yes.

HEINRICHS: They're going to make sure that it's a minimal risk to U.S. forces before they do that. But if you can occupy that -- again, it's far from the strait, actually, you know, it's not -- it's not really close in proximity to the strait, but it does give the United States enormous coercive ability over the Iranians if they can say, we now have a chokehold on your ability to move -- to move oil in and out. And so we're going to cut off your bloodline, really, to the IRGC. And so now we're saying, look, you know, stop threatening the Strait of Hormuz. And then it would take some occupation.

I don't know how long what that would look like. But then this gets to the question of are we going to have international partners? Clearly, that's something that President Trump wants.

TAPPER: Yes.

HEINRICHS: He wants to have a lot more allies?

TAPPER: You think?

HEINRICHS: I think it does.

TAPPER: Are you getting that impression?

HEINRICHS: I do think he does.

TAPPER: Yes.

HEINRICHS: You know, it's -- I -- I've been saying, though, that we need to try a little bit more honey. It's been a lot of vinegar. But this is a moment of learning here where, look, the American people really do need allies.

TAPPER: Yes.

HEINRICHS: This is a perfect moment of opportunity.

TAPPER: And so let's talk about that, because the president again went on social media and really criticized our NATO allies, calling the countries cowards. He said, quote, "They complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don't want to help open the Strait of Hormuz." As Rebecca notes, that's a -- that's a lot more stick than carrot --

SANGER: Yes.

HEINRICHS: -- especially if you're asking people to put potentially their sons and daughters in harm's way. There -- I know there was a statement by a bunch of European nations, plus Japan yesterday, saying, basically, hey, we hear you. We're going to put together, you know, the equivalent of a Blue Ribbon Committee to figure out what to do. What do you see happening here? SANGER: So, first, the president's first mistake here, he's no fan of

alliance groups, as you know, and NATO in particular, was he didn't bring them in on the planning for this. Think back to George W. Bush when he was planning the run up to Iraq. Whether you thought Iraq was a good idea or a bad idea, he went out and worked the allies.

TAPPER: Oh, the coalition of the willing.

SANGER: Coalition of the willing. TAPPER: I'm old enough to remember.

SANGER: He got some, Jake. We were covering --

TAPPER: A lot.

SANGER: -- the White House at the time, right?

TAPPER: Yes.

SANGER: He didn't get others, but they all -- they all understood his case. Here, the president didn't present a case until after the U.S. had already taken action with Israel. And so their view is you didn't consult us on the way in. And once we're there, we may not have any voice in how long we have to stay or what we have to go do. So they don't feel a whole lot of agency in all of this.

TAPPER: Yes.

HEINRICHS: That may be true, Jake, but I'll just say that, you know, I've been talking with a lot of the allies, you know, lately, and they all understand, though, that it is in their interest to get the strait open very quickly.

SANGER: Yes.

TAPPER: Sure.

HEINRICHS: I think that interests are going to win the day in the end. I do completely understand why allies are frustrated they were not brought in. This, of course, comes on the heels of President Trump implicitly and explicitly at one point, threatening Greenland just a couple of months ago.

TAPPER: Right.

HEINRICHS: And so there's a lot of, you know, frustration on the part of the allies. But I do think -- look, you've got the U.K. loosening their grip. They're going to let the United States use their bases more than they in the past.

TAPPER: Yes.

SANGER: They already are.

HEINRICHS: They already are.

TAPPER: Yes.

HEINRICHS: But we do need -- look, the Baltic countries are great at minesweeping. They've got some great capabilities that we don't even have. So now is the time for everybody to kind of put aside their hurt feelings and I think, and pull together and do this together.

TAPPER: All right. Rebeccah and David, thanks so much. Next time we'll have cocktails here in the office. SANGER: I was looking forward to that.

TAPPER: Appreciate it.

SANGER: Disappointed we don't have it today.

[17:10:00]

TAPPER: Coming up next, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, what he makes of the extremely long lines we're seeing in airports across the country and when in the world the folks in Washington will fix it, notably U.S. senators. And if you're just tuning in, we are live in my office. In the next hour, we're going to head back to the studio. But for now, you're watching The Lead on CNN.

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TAPPER: And we're back with breaking news in our national lead. Those long growing TSA lines at airports across the country as TSA workers go without pay, many of them call in sick. This is a live look at the situation right now at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport, the busiest in the country. Our social media feeds are frankly just full of videos showing tons of people, a sea of humanity, and never ending lines waiting to go through security. By the way, because it's spring break travel season, today could end up being the busiest air travel day so far of the year according to TSA data.

Yesterday, 2.8 million passengers went through checkpoints. So how long are the lines right now? Well, check this out. CNN is tracking TSA wait times at major airports. We're going to put that up on the screen for you.

[17:15:00]

About 10 percent of TSA workers are calling in sick right now. It's higher at some airports as you can see here on the chart. You can log onto this yourself if you want. Houston and Atlanta around 31 percent. TSA workers just missed their first full paycheck since the partial government shutdown began. That's because funding for the Department of Homeland Security has lapsed.

Why? Well, Senate Democrats are refusing to support any funding bill that does not include major changes when it comes to Trump's federal immigration enforcement actions. Republicans, on the other hand, will not allow funding for TSA alone, they want all of Homeland Security funded. With no compromise in sight, TSA agents are going to miss a second paycheck next week in all likelihood. And if that happens, obviously, this is all going to get far worse.

Some small airports could even shut down. Let's talk about this with the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy.

Secretary Duffy, thanks for joining us. So the average TSA agent callout rate right now is about 10 percent. You have said if agents miss another paycheck next Friday, lines are going to get even longer and some smaller airports could be shut down. What airports are most at risk of --

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Right.

TAPPER: -- of having to be shut down?

DUFFY: Well, listen, it's the smaller airports, Jake, and it's those ones that where if you lose, you know, go from 10 percent to 20 percent. The airport can't function. TSA can't function because the teams are so small. I mean, but you and I live this through the last government shutdown and we had air traffic controllers who, when they came upon missing the second paycheck, their lives don't function. And this is very similar to TSA agents.

The only difference is TSA agents make a lot less than air traffic controllers. And so I think as we come into next week, that second paycheck is due a week from today as they're going to miss that. If they do, if a deal isn't cut, you're going to see what's happening today look like child's play. This is going to be -- these are going to be good days compared to what's going to happen a week from now as America tries to travel.

And again, is this still safe as you go through the airport? Yes, but it takes a lot longer because you have less agents working. The problem we have is if you look across the country, some of the attacks that have happened, whether they're nightclubs, clubs or in places of worship, we don't know who's in this country. There was, you know, whether it was 12 or 15 million people who were let in under a four- year period of time, they weren't vetted. So we don't know who's here.

And if you don't have Homeland Security, I think it creates a heightened risk outside of airports but across the country.

TAPPER: Airports with the highest call out rates right now, this is yesterday, include Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Houston's William P. Hobby Airport, New York's JFK International Airport. Why are these four worse than other airports when it comes to call out?

DUFFY: There's no rhyme or reason to it. And it can be bad one day and they can improve the next. And you know, you get a hot spot that pops up somewhere else. It's just the call out days per airport and the mood and the feelings of the TSA workers who work in those specific facilities. So again, I tried to do this in the last shutdown with controllers and there's -- you can't figure it out. It's day by day to see who's coming in.

And so then which is so important when you all at CNN put up the data, at least travelers know, hey, if I'm going through that airport, I may have to get there four hours early if I want to catch my flight. It's useful, but it changes day by day.

TAPPER: Yes. And TSA used to -- before the -- before the situation, TSA had an app where you could check that out, but they're not filling it in. So that's why CNN is doing it on our website.

So former TSA administrator John Pistole, he's also a former deputy director of the FBI. He spoke with CNN's Kate Baldwin this morning and he outlined two problems. One, he said massive crowds in the unsecure areas of the airport. And two, TSA agents, he said, might be distracted because they're unpaid. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PISTOLE, FORMER TSA ADMINISTRATOR: From the standpoint of a suicide bomber or a shooter wants to go in and just shoot up the -- this -- the area of the airport where people are these long queues. So it's a double problem. That whole notion of am I focused on my job to spot that putative terrorists who might be trying to do something to exploit what they see as a vulnerability.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It sounds like you share those concerns. I wonder if you think airports should consider increasing private security efforts to ensure that travelers are safe while waiting in line.

DUFFY: I think the real answer, Jake, is, I mean, let's open up the government. I mean, and I understand Democrats are saying we want new reform for ICE and how Donald Trump is executing on making sure we get those who came into the country out illegally. It's a -- it's -- it's a debate that you can have, but you don't hold the American people hostage. And even though ICE has been funded to 2029, I mean, this -- that's not even on the table. President Trump, being a negotiator, he said, listen, I'll give you some of the things you want.

He said, we'll put body cams on. If that's going to open up and make sure we keep America safe, I'll do that. I think one of the nonstarters has been when Democrats say, we want to make sure we can identify who every ICE agent is. When you do that -- we know why the purpose -- what's the purpose? They want to identify them, dox them, harass them, maybe protest outside their house for them or their children.

[17:20:21]

And I don't think that's fair to the agents, right? They are enforcing American law. And again, so I think that's a nonstarter for a lot of people. But there is a pathway to move forward. And the politics are hard for Democrats, but if they talk to their base about how ICE is already funded.

But this is the consequence over at TSA. Let's come together and figure out an American solution because this is not Republican or Democrat, Jake. You can disagree on politics all day long, but this is America. Like -- I mean, America's less safe. We're at war --

TAPPER: Yes.

DUFFY: -- with Iran. We have people who can have heightened emotion and take it out on the American people. So this is not about those fights. This is about, you know, coming together as a country and getting the job done.

TAPPER: On the subject of the war with Iran, I do want to ask you because it's obviously impacting the world's oil prices that is in turn going to impact air travel, probably already is. How is the airline industry preparing for this? And how much could we see ticket prices go up because of what's going on in the Gulf?

DUFFY: You know, I spoke to all the major CEOs of airlines asking about, you know, what is their pipeline for jet fuel. That's the biggest part for our air carriers. And they feel pretty good about where they're at. But you saw the Department of War lifted the Jones Act so we can move fuel around the country with non U.S. flagged vessels to make sure we continue to have that flow of jet fuel to make sure aviation doesn't suffer. But, but yes, you're seeing prices go up.

But again, I don't think you're seeing them go up as much had Donald Trump not actually taken so much -- put so much effort into, you know, making sure we're producing more oil and energy in America, driving those prices down. So you do have a little more room to play there. But -- and again, I look at this and go -- the president said we're going to have four to six weeks to execute this war. We're at week three right now and it seems like things are going very well. We have to give some space and grace to allow Department of War and Donald Trump to execute and I think get us to a better place.

I don't think that Iran should be able to hold America hostage and our -- and our economy hostage because they control the Strait of Hormuz. And so I think the world and America will better off and safer when we successfully execute this mission.

TAPPER: All right, Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, thank you so much, sir. Have a good weekend.

DUFFY: You too, Jake. Thanks.

TAPPER: So you're probably wondering what's going on, why we're in my office for the first hour of The Lead today. So it's an experiment. This is my actual desk where I do my actual work, not the desk in the studio. And we thought we would bring you into the space where me and my team do our actual journalism and plan the show every day. So here we are, giving it a shot.

You might also be wondering about the decor, the posters and the kerchiefs and such on my wall. Well, theme is these are all losing presidential campaigns. And this hobby started 26 years ago after I covered my very first presidential campaign in the year 2000. Campaigning and hopping from bus to plane to bus to plane. I collected the lawn signs and posters of all the candidates I covered.

And by the end of the election, I had a really great collection of, well, losers. And there's an autographed Gore Lieberman one from 2000. So anyway, this all became a hobby. Here, come back to me here. You'll see this is a -- this is one of the grand achievements in my collection.

It's an Al Smith poster. He lost in 1928, Democrat to Herbert Hoover. Republicans too, on the wall here. And from the modern era, there's autographed Romney and Ryan from 2012, autographed McCain, Palin from 2008. The oldest one in the corner there, 1844, that's Henry Clay of the Whigs.

And beneath that, you have the 2000 butterfly ballot, voting booth and a Jake Tapper muppet from a viewer.

[17:24:17]

There are increasing reports about the U.S. possibly sending ground troops to Iran. Where exactly would they go? A retired colonel will be here to help map it out. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to The Lead. We are live in my office. And let's get back to the world lead because sources say the Pentagon is currently weighing whether or not to sound -- send ground troops, boots on the ground, for a takeover of Kharg Island, which is off the coast of Iran. Officials say thousands more marines and sailors from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Boxer Amphibious Ready Group are now deploying to the Middle East. Let's talk about this with retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

So first of all, Cedric, what would a potential military operation to take over Kharg Island look like? I know enough to know that that is Kharg Island. You said it's about 14 miles off the -- off the coast of the mainland. Yes.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: That's right. So it's right here. This is Kharg Island. And of course, in order to get to Kharg Island, you have to go through the Strait of Hormuz right here. So a ship would have to come in through this way and kind of make its way through these islands and then go up to here to conduct operations of that type.

So this is a really tough thing to do from a military expeditionary standpoint. But --

TAPPER: Although we should note that allies of the U.S. here include Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE, I mean, these are allies of ours and opponents of Iran.

LEIGHTON That's correct.

TAPPER: Yes.

LEIGHTON: So what could happen in a case like this is they could potentially park the marines in a place like Qatar, right here, or Bahrain, or Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, of course, would also be a possibility. So if they did that, they could use these as land bases in order to go this way. So that, of course, has not been determined yet how exactly how they would do it. And of course, we wouldn't know until it actually happens. But that is a possibility, Jake.

[17:30:21]

TAPPER: Yes. OK. Can you tell us more about the MEU and ARG that are in play right now? LEIGHTON: Yes. So let's see here. Let me make sure that the magic wall here works. Let's see.

TAPPER: Well, let me ask you also, like while you're trying to figure that out, what else makes this operation so risky besides the massive amount of military force that would be needed to pull it off?

LEIGHTON: Yes. So one of the things that is extremely risky is the fact that right here you have a situation where the Iranians have a lot of missiles in this area and really along the southern coast, entire southern coast. So they can move these missiles undetected potentially if there's not enough overwatch from an intelligence perspective.

So what would happen in this particular case is these missiles that they could potentially use, they could use them to shut Strait of Hormuz, for example, or they could attack ships in the Persian Gulf. And the thing that you have here in this particular case is that each of these areas is also at risk of mines. So when the mines are, you know, doing these kinds of things, then it could really create havoc for that.

If, however, we prevent the use of mines and prevent the use of missiles and then also prevent the use of small boats, then you've got an issue where you could potentially use this and have the freedom of navigation. Let me do one more thing and just move this here because this shows the Strait of Hormuz and gives people an idea of exactly where from the Gulf of Oman, which is the southern part right here, you can then enter the Persian Gulf and go through this way.

But there are islands like this one right here that are major areas where the Iranians do have a military presence. So they use this as a way to cut this sea lane basically off if they choose to do that. So it would require the kind of operations, you know, if they do an amphibious operation at Kharg, they could also do the same thing here on this island, Qeshm Island. And if they do that, then, of course, it would entail the use of many forces in this particular case.

TAPPER: Is this the part of the Strait of Hormuz that the Iranians have really just basically just shut down this narrow part?

LEIGHTON: Exactly. It's this narrow part right here. And you have to keep in mind, it's really much narrower than 21 miles as far as the ships are concerned, because the shipping lane is only two miles wide in this area right here.

TAPPER: Yes.

LEIGHTON: And so that's because it's the deepest part of the Strait. And that's why this is a critical area right here. And that's why they can control it so easily geographically close like that.

TAPPER: Yes. So it's easier for them to weaponize it. All right. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much.

As this war stretches on, a special CNN town hall is going to take place tonight. We're going to bring in experts and take questions from a live studio audience. My colleague, Dana Bash, is going to moderate this town hall. You can look for this tonight at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN, or you can watch it live on the CNN app.

[17:33:28]

Coming up next on The Lead, the man leading FEMA's disaster recovery and response has talked in the past about being teleported. Where to? A Waffle House. What CNN's K-file uncovered ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CATHERINE ENGELBRECHT, HOST, "ONWARD" PODCAST: And so Greg, why don't you describe the very first time you were teleported?

GREGG PHILLIPS, ASSOCIATE ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: It was scary in a way. I mean, you know, you don't really know, OK, is this evil? Is this good? What is this? Is, you know, what do I do with this? How do I deal with it? I was on the phone. Oh my God, what's happening? And I was landed and landed about 40 miles away in a ditch outside of a Baptist church.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: No, that's not an actor from a low budget sci-fi movie talking about being teleported to a ditch. Those comments come from the man who's now in charge of leading FEMA's disaster recovery and response across the United States. Greg Phillips on the podcast onward, those comments and other posts were uncovered by CNN's K-file. Let's talk about this and other issues with Chuck Rocha and Ashley Davis are here in my office.

I hope the couch is not too uncomfortable. And I promise next time with cocktails. I will say --

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: It'd be much more fun.

TAPPER: -- there are at least three and a lot easier to talk about this subject though. There are at least three accounts of teleporting according to the host of Onward. Let's take a play more from Phillips talking about this time he teleported to a waffle house. Take a look at it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: I was with my boys one time and I was telling, I was going to go to waffle house and get waffles. And, and I ended up at a waffle house. This is in Georgia. And I ended up at a waffle house, like 50 miles away from where I was. They said, where are you? I said, a waffle house. I said, waffle house where? And I said, waffle house in Rome, Georgia. I said, that's not possible. You just left here like a long way to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: So again, this individual is in charge of the disaster relief response for hundreds of millions of Americans. And he thinks he can teleport to a waffle house in Rome, Georgia. Any thoughts?

DAVIS: Well, this position is not confirmed. And so he didn't have to go to the Senate. I'm assuming that the administration saw these reports. I mean, they do very good betting these days because of Susie. She put a very strict betting thing in place, but I mean, obviously --

[17:40:11]

TAPPER: Is that how we got Joe Kent? Anyway, keep going.

DAVIS: Exactly. But I'm just saying, obviously it's odd, but I mean, I think they knew exactly what they were going -- they were getting, and he's obviously very loyal to the movement. If you look at some of the other stuff he's been for, he wasn't a believer in 2020. I mean, we thought the election was stolen and all of that, so.

TAPPER: Yes. In fact, uh, take a listen, Chuck, because in addition to his belief that he can teleport, he has K-file also some dug ups, some rather questionable rhetoric he used. He said this about a former president Biden.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: I would like to punch that bitch in the mouth right now. He is a nasty, shitty, crappy human being, and he deserves to die. And I hope he does.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: K-file also found this 2020 tweet where Phillips falsely suggested that Michigan state officials said that China helped Joe Biden win the state in 2020. Again, this is the guy in charge of disaster relief for hundreds of millions of Americans.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I got it. But in his defense and hear me out, in his defense, I have ended up in a waffle house and wasn't sure how I actually got there.

DAVIS: That's because you were drinking.

ROCHA: That's one. Two, I thought that this president said he was going to get rid of waste, fraud, and crazy. That guy's crazy. How he got through. I used to think I could never work at the White House. I'm like, Chuck, you may not be, you're a political hack. You may not be bright enough. This man shows me I could run the White House. How does this happen? I think American people are a little tired of it.

TAPPER: So here is the response from FEMA to K-files reporting, "This is so silly. It's barely worth acknowledging DHS, FEMA, and Mr. Phillips are focused on the critical mission of emergency management and ensuring the safety of the American people. Many of the comments cited are taken out of context or represent personal, informal, jovial, and somewhat spiritual discussions made in the context of barely surviving cancer in a private capacity prior to his current role."

DAVIS: The only comment I do want to make is the fact that this is being covered by a lot of people. I've seen it today, but I think that that just makes the President dig in deeper to support some of these people. I mean, as you know, we've talked about this before, before Kristi Noem was actually finally let go. But like, if you're attacking his people, he kind of digs in around them. So I don't think this guy will go anywhere because of that.

TAPPER: So multiple, this is a more from the report by K-file, multiple FEMA officials speaking candidly to CNN expressed initial concerns about whether Phillips was up to the job. But after a few weeks, several of them told CNN that to their surprise, Phillips' hands on involvement during the spate of storms had softened some of their doubts. One high ranking FEMA official told CNN, Greg Phillips is FEMA's best hope at this moment. I can't believe I'm saying that." So rising in the job, rising to the moment, perhaps.

ROCHA: You know, you took the words out of my mouth about the seriousness of this job. I make light of it. But in all seriousness, it was Donald Trump who talked about FEMA's shortcomings in North Carolina. And when a storm comes through, my mama lives in Florida, my sister lives there. Like this is big time stuff, life and death stuff. And when you show that when American people see that, they equate that to life and death. It's not good for the Republicans.

TAPPER: Let's turn to the U.S. Senate race in Texas. Chuck, you know all about it. President Trump talked about the contest in a new interview with "MSNOW" in which he said that Senator John Cornyn, the incumbent Republican who's fighting for his life in a Republican primary, is, "Definitely trying to push," for an endorsement from the President.

The President added he still hasn't determined who he will support between him and Attorney General Paxton. Ashley, Trump previously said he would endorse and that once he endorsed, he wanted the other Republican to drop out. But the deadline to be removed from the ballot already passed this week. So do you think that says something? Do you think Trump, not having endorsed the incumbent Republican who John Thune wants him to endorse, who everybody thinks actually is the most electable of the two, what's your take on it?

DAVIS: Maybe. I mean, Chuck and I have talked about this a lot. There's a couple of things. One, that the President, that deadline's kind of false. I mean, there's no reason that they had to do that. Paxton said he wasn't dropping out unless they passed the SAVE Act, which was the Voter I.D. Act.

But number three, I think he doesn't love Cornyn and he would rather have Paxton. He's already making his base a little bit angry because of what's happening with Iran. And so this is just something else that's really going to make them angry. But here's the other thing. And Chuck and I disagree with this because everyone says everyone says that Cornyn is the one that's going to win. And I actually think everything bad about Paxton's out there. And I think he actually brings out a lot of the base that Cornyn does not.

TAPPER: So Chuck is an advisor to the Democratic candidate, Talarico, state senator or state rep candidate Talarico. You think that Paxton would be easier to beat or Cornyn? What's your take?

[17:45:00]

ROCHA: There was a poll out today. We released our internal polls and it shows us beating both of them. Here's why the President is upset or this is what makes him nervous. And you know this, Jake. In a Democratic runoff in the middle of May, nobody's going to show up except for the base of the base. And guess who they're with? They're with Donald Trump. That's why this thing sets up for Paxton because regular Republicans have no other reason to go vote except for John Cornyn. I think you only have MAGA folks show up. And I think this thing is Paxton's to lose.

TAPPER: Does your internal poll show that Talarico beats one easier than the other two?

ROCHA: One by one point, one by two points.

TAPPER: That's all within the margin.

ROCHA: But I'll say this also, you all. It's important because everybody's like, oh, Beto O'Rourke in 2018. Beto O'Rourke never had a poll. Even his own internals, it showed him winning in November.

TAPPER: Nobody was bringing up Beto O'Rourke. But OK. Ashley David and Chuck Rocha, thanks so much.

Coming up next, the remains of a missing 14-year-old girl found in a Tesla that belonged to a TikTok superstar. That's a singer-songwriter that goes by the name D4vd with a four for some reason. A grand jury's investigating what CNN uncovered when tracing his ties to the victim.

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[17:50:13]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead today, a disturbing mystery hangs over Hollywood. Last September, a missing 14-year-old girl named Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found dead. Her body was found decomposed and dismembered, separated into two bags, stuffed inside a Tesla. Now that Tesla is owned by a guy named David Anthony Burke. He's a rising music star who first became famous on TikTok. He's known by his millions of fans as just D4vd, but it's spelled D-4-V-D. CNN's Kyung Lah investigates now the mysterious link between the 20-year-old singer and the dead girl.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The ritzy Hollywood Hills, an unlikely place for a murder investigation until last September when neighbors became suspicious of a parked Tesla. LAH: Describe it.

PAYMAN DANIELPOUR, NEIGHBOR: So there was a big dent in the back and in the front. It looked like it had been hit multiple times.

LAH (voice-over): The Tesla was towed. Employees at the lot noticed a strange smell and called police. LAPD detectives found a body dismembered and stuffed into two different bags. The victim was a runaway, Celeste Rivas Hernandez. She would have turned 15 the day before.

STEVE FISCHER, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: She, for months, most likely months, was stuffed in that Tesla and just left there.

LAH (voice-over): Steve Fisher was hired to unearth evidence in the case, which starts here, a search warrant on the Tesla, the registered owner, David Anthony Burke. This is Burke, better known to millions of fans as the singer D4vd. He spells his name D-4-V-D, has hundreds of millions of views on YouTube and was the most Googled person of 2025.

Prosecutors and court records describe David Burke as a target of a grand jury investigation who, "May be involved in having committed one count of murder." David's lawyer did not want to speak with CNN due to the grand jury investigation.

FISCHER: The Tesla is owned by him. We have photograph evidence that she was with him over a long period of time.

LAH (voice-over): David was on the cusp of global fame. Celeste just beginning her troubled trail as a runaway. But she didn't seem to be hiding. This is David's Twitch stream, dated January 2024, about a month before Celeste is first reported missing. She's 13 here and it's after 3:00 a.m. People on the stream even mentioned her name. David and Celeste Island Trip, public statement from David's girl.

DAVID ANTHONY BURKE, SINGER: Delete everything. Delete everything.

LAH (voice-over): February 15th, the next month, Celeste is reported missing for the first time. Days later, a person close to Celeste sends this email shared with CNN. It's sent to d4vid@mogul.vision. Mogul Vision is David's management company. There's been talk that the artist D4vd possibly has something to do with the disappearance of 13- year-old Celeste Rivas. If that statement holds any merit, please do the right thing and take her home.

FISCHER: She arrived back home, she got -- she came back home.

LAH: After that e-mail was sent.

FISCHER: Yes.

LAH (voice-over): The person who shared that email with us didn't want us to say who they were, fearing for their safety. Celeste's hometown, Lake Elsinore, California, sits 75 miles from Hollywood. And we've learned David made that drive. We uncovered this photo taken in early 2024 in Lake Elsinore. That's David. LAH: We were able to track the exact location of this photo to this parking lot here in Lake Elsinore. It's about a third of a mile from Celeste's home. And looking at the construction in the background of this photo, we're able to determine that this photo was taken sometime between January and March of 2024.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like a small town. You're not really like celebrities just coming over here, chilling, you know.

LAH (voice-over): Ethan Maldonado posted the photos. He says he got them from a classmate. One photo shows David with other young people, but CNN cannot verify why this meeting happened. Here's why it matters. The photos were taken sometime in the months of Celeste being reported missing. The last time was on April 5th, 2024. But is she really missing?

This photo from May 2024 shows Celeste among family. CNN confirmed the time and place using geolocation to a relative's graduation.

LAH: She is missing.

FISCHER: When she's having contact with the family, first thing that you're supposed to do is call the detective or call 911 and say, she's here.

LAH (voice-over): We knocked on door after door in Lake Elsinore. No one, including Celeste's family, talked to us on camera. After Celeste's body is identified, David's online fandom erupts, partly because of something in his own music videos, violence.

[17:55:06]

"Romantic Homicide," released in 2022, includes a dead girl. And then, in "One More Dance," David puts his own body in a trunk.

LAH: Let's be very clear, though, because we are talking about art. There's no proof that he did this simply because he produced this art.

ANTHONY FANTANO, MUSIC CRITIC: People should be allowed to freely live out whatever kind of fantasies they want in the art that they create. I think, at the very least, it should sort of like, you know, cause us to call into question the series of events and start to at least look into it further.

FISCHER: She was 14 years old and stuffed in that trunk. I just don't know how anybody, even if you weren't involved, if you had any knowledge that she was in that car, how you could live with yourself and not report it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: It's now a little more than six months since Celeste's body was found in Burke's Tesla. So far, there have been no arrests for her death, but the grand jury is continuing to hear from witnesses. And we did reach out to Mogul Vision, David's management company, but did not hear back. And Jake, there is much more to this story. We have an extended video story on this case, which is now streaming for subscribers at CNN.com slash watch. Jake?

TAPPER: Well, it was fun while it lasted, but I'm being beckoned back up to the actual studio for the second hour of The Lead.

From an oil refinery hitting Kuwait to drone attacks in Saudi Arabia ahead, we're going to look at the war in Iran being felt across the entire Middle East. CNN is live on the ground there. That's next.

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