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The Lead with Jake Tapper

ICE-Involved Shooting In Maine Leaves One Man Dead; Trump Notifies Congress Of Renewed Military Action In Iran; Israeli Settlers Attack Journalists; Feds Turn Over Evidence In Renee Good And Alex Pretti Killings To Minnesota After Months Of Delay; Houston Locals Demand Probe After Man Fatally Shot By ICE; Trump Takes Questions From Reporters As New Attacks On Iran Commence. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 13, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST AND POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Darlene (ph) is now set to continue her brother's legacy as a senator, a statesman, and a friend. He will be missed.

All right, thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate you all being here. Thanks to you at home for watching as well. But don`t go anywhere, Jake Tapper is standing by with "The Lead." Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. How are you doing?

HUNT: Wonderful to see you. Congratulations on -- well, I should say, it was great to able to hear from the president on Sunday. Great reporting. I know you have a great show planned for today.

TAPPER: All right, Kasie, we'll look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

HUNT: See you soon.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is "CNN Breaking News."

TAPPER: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to begin with breaking news in our "National Lead" with another fatal shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE agents. This is the second such incidents in just the last week following last Tuesday's shooting death of a Mexican man in Houston about which there remain many unanswered questions.

Today's fatal shooting happened in the town of Biddeford, Maine. It's about 18 miles south of Portland. Cell phone video from the scene shows what appears to be a Kia sedan turning in a slow circle as law enforcement officials, ICE officials, pursue the van. One officer running along on the driver's side of the car. You can see it in the distance there. Other video obtained by CNN shows federal officers in Biddeford police providing aid to a fallen man alongside a white sedan.

According to independent U.S. senator for Maine, Angus King, who spoke with Department of Homeland Security secretary and former senator, Markwayne Mullin, the man who was shot was in his 20s. He had been ordered to leave the country after going through all the necessary processes. CNN's Jason Carroll is on the scene. Jason, what more can you tell us about what happened?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, first of all, Jake, let me tell you how unusual this shooting is, and it's unusual for several reasons. First of all, the shooting happened shortly after 7 a.m. right at the intersection that you see behind me. And normally, when shootings like this happen, you hear something from Department of Homeland Security, something from ICE, something from the FBI. We have heard no official statement from DHS, from FBI.

A couple things that I can tell you, the information that we have been getting, as you say, has been coming from Senator King. Now, he was initially told early this morning and put out information that he had spoken to the Department of Homeland Security secretary who told him that the person who was shot and killed was the target of a warrant.

Well, just a few moments ago, Senator King corrected himself, corrected the information that he had received from the Department of Homeland Security secretary and releasing the following statement: In the hours since his press release with the Maine press corps, Senator King again spoke with Department of Homeland Security secretary who shared that the victim of today's federal law enforcement shooting was not the target of the warrant.

So, the story has changed. The person who was shot and killed, again, right here at this intersection was not the target of the warrant. What we can tell you is the person who was shot and killed out here early this morning is a 26-year-old man. He is from Colombia. He had a social security card and apparently was on his way to work when the incident happened.

Still a lot of unanswered questions in terms of what happened out here at this intersection that in some way escalated to the point of a shooting. Again, these are some of the questions that we don't have answers to simply because we haven't heard from DHS, we haven't heard from the FBI. Who we have heard from are people who live out here in this neighborhood who told us about what they heard and what they saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EM AKERLEY, WITNESS: I understand that, you know, no one deserves to just die, right? Whether that be ICE or the man behind the wheel. But we were not the jury of his peers right now, and he shouldn't have been killed in the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: So, again, Jake, still so much uncertainty with this particular story involving ICE. You can imagine why so many people in this community are upset, why so many people are asking for answers. Again, we have not heard from ICE, we have not heard from the Department of Homeland Security.

What we do know is the initial story that was told to Senator King changed. The story from this morning where he said that the person who was shot out here was the intended target of this warrant changed. That person who was shot out here, again, not the intended target of the warrant.

So, we're going to have to find out. We're going to have to ask more questions about why the story changed and what happens next in terms of this investigation.

[17:05:02]

TAPPER: Two observations from covering law enforcement for a long time. One, often, the first matters that are -- first observations that are reported in such a situation are incorrect. And second, ICE has now a long history of saying things that are not true and demonstrably false, especially after video appears.

Jason Carroll in Maine, thank you so much.

With us now, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows. Thank you so much for joining us. What more can you tell us about the ICE-involved shooting, and do you know whether the agents were threatened, and if so, whether the threat was at such a level as to actually require deadly force?

SECRETARY OF STATE SHENNA BELLOWS (D-ME), MAINE SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first, I just want to say I am heartbroken and all the folks in Biddeford that I walked with today are heartbroken because this man was their neighbor and their kids play on that street and in the park where we gathered. This is small-town Maine. And you said it best, this is the 11th ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Patrol-involved shooting, killing of a person in our country since Trump took office, and that is unacceptable, and that is why folks were united today in saying ICE out. And quite frankly, this is why -- oh, go ahead.

TAPPER: No, no. Please. I'm so sorry.

BELLOWS: Many leaders will stand up that courage, the courage to see what's coming and to try to stop it. And, you know, back in January, when we were seeing what was happening across the country and even earlier, you know, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol asked for undercover license plates in January, and I said, no, we don't have secret police in a democracy.

So, I think it's -- you know, anyone who is watching could see that this could happen, and I think everyone who let ICE and Trump deploy these men on the streets needs to be held accountable. Quite frankly, that's why I'm running for U.S. Senate.

TAPPER: So, we've seen this happen now in Minnesota. We've seen it happen in Houston, Texas last week where there is a highly questionable shooting in which the official account is disputed by either video or witness statements. And what the federal government does is it just doesn't let state officials, state law enforcement cooperate with the investigation. That happened with the Pretti shooting, with the Good shooting. It happened in Houston last week. Are state officials in Maine getting cooperation from ICE and federal authorities or are they being frozen out? BELLOWS: There's a lot we don't know, and I can't speak to that, but what I do know is that Maine State officials remain tough. And I feel confident that Maine's Office of the Attorney General, with which I've partnered on, you know, protecting Maine voter data and on this issue of the license plates, they are going to lead this investigation. And we, the people, the Office of the Attorney General, and hopefully the next U.S. Senate are going to get ICE out.

TAPPER: On a different topic, as you mentioned, you've joined the race for the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate after Graham Platner dropped out last week following CNN's interviews with two women that had very credible stories of violence perpetrated against them by Graham Platner. One of them a rape, allegedly. He denies both incidents. The Democratic Party has scheduled a convention for July 25th. Are you satisfied with how the party is handling this, you know, unusual situation?

BELLOWS: Let's take a beat. Violence by our government and violence in our politics is never acceptable. Now, about the process, it has been fast-moving. Last weekend, I was at the America's 250 potluck and rafting on a river, the Kennebec, with my husband, and I think Mainers have had to go through a broad range of emotions very quickly, grief, anger.

And also, what I have observed over the last week is Mainers are coming together. We all understand that the through line to control the United States Senate runs through Maine and that everything that we care about is at stake, whether that is our friends and neighbors who are getting shot in the streets or saving our democracy or standing up for, you know, folks like the nurse who worked the overnight shift, got no sleep.

[17:10:00]

She said to me today was her first protest because she believes every American, no matter who you are, needs to stand up for what's right even when it's hard.

So, the movement that's happening in Maine isn't about a person, it's about the people. We're going to carry it through to November, and we're going to win. We're going to beat Susan Collins, but it's -- but it's about so much more than that. And --

TAPPER: But are you OK with the process? Are you OK with the process, by how this is coming?

BELLOWS: The process -- you know, the process is messy. There are a lot of emotions. I have confidence at the end of the process that we are going to be unified in the goal. And so, I think it has been evolving very quickly. People are doing the best that they can under very tight timelines and more information comes out every day.

But I do think that we are going to see as open and transparent and very inclusive process this weekend with the county committee meetings. I was talking to one of our smaller counties. She said, I think I'm going to get hundreds of people. Usually, she gets like 25 at a meeting. This is Washington County. So, I am confident in the process.

TAPPER: All right, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, thanks so much. Appreciate your time.

We have some breaking news. New video showing U.S. strikes on key facilities in Iran now. President Trump notifying Congress that military action has resumed. Notifying Congress? What's that about? Is this about to become a full-blown war? Well, we're going to ask two well-sourced White House reporters next then just days after a U.S. congressman was ambushed in the West Bank. CNN journalists went through a similar incident. See the moments in a brand-new report coming up here on "The Lead."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We have some breaking news in our "World Lead." The U.S. military has just said it began yet another round of strikes against Iran. It's shortly after President Trump this afternoon warned that more U.S. strikes on Iran would be imminent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (voice-over): We're going to hit them very hard tonight. And we're going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there's not a damn thing they can do about it. They have nothing. They have nothing going on other than they have big mouths.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's go right to CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House. Also with us, Axios White House reporter Barak Ravid. Kristen, what are you learning about these brand-new strikes?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, now, we've heard from Central Command, and they are saying that this is essentially the third consecutive night they were -- strikes that were given are being implemented at the president's demand. And it says these strikes will continue to impose a heavy cost on Iranian forces.

The reason why this is so notable is that heavy cost. We know that President Trump, U.S. officials have referred to the latest round of strikes as punishment, that these were not -- they were not just defensive, although they are calling it defensive at certain times, but they were also meant to punish Iran.

What we see now is a full-scale escalation when it comes to the United States. We also heard President Trump talking about reinstating the naval blockade. We heard from a military official that that's going to begin tomorrow at 4 p.m.

From our sources, U.S. officials, they have told us that they believe this is one of the most effective ways they have to go after Iran, that it will, at least in terms of finances, choke Iran and put a lot of pressure on that country.

This, of course, would have been one of the tenets of the ceasefire, but we've been watching the ceasefire just crumble over the last several days. This really appears to be the last move that the United States has right before we go back to a heavily-armed conflict. Of course, we're talking about boots on the ground, but we are talking about an escalation in missiles, and it seems as though we're barreling towards that rather quickly.

TAPPER: And, Barak, what are you hearing?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST, GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT FOR AXIOS: Well, I think, first, what we see over the last 24 hours, I think, is almost full disintegration of the U.S.-Iran MOU that we are all old enough to remember was signed less than a month ago. And President Trump just 30 minutes ago on a U.S. show called the MOU a test. He said, oh, we just wanted to see if the Iranians were serious. So, he tried to distance himself from the MOU.

I think what we see right now with the reinstating of the -- re- imposing of the blockade and those strikes, according to what I hear from U.S. officials, the plans that CENTCOM has is for multiple days of strikes. It's not something that will end soon unless there will be some sort of a diplomatic breakthrough, which doesn't seem to be in the offing for now. So, I think what we see here is, on the one hand, going back to the blockade and to putting economic pressure on Iran, and on the other hand, increasing the airstrikes.

TAPPER: Kristen, explain why President Trump has formally notified Congress about the fact that fighting resumed. It was a very unusual acknowledgment of Article I powers.

HOLMES: Well, it's very striking, just given the fact that President Trump has routinely said that he doesn't need to inform Congress that all this was defensive. He used the word excursion, saying that these were not things that you had to inform Congress of. But it also comes after the Senate passed that symbolic Iran War Powers Act with President Trump, essentially trying to curb President Trump's war powers.

Now, this is what he wrote in this letter directly to Congress, saying, United States ground forces are not involved in these strikes. These strikes are limited, measured, planned, and executed in a manner designed to minimize civilian casualties. United States Armed Forces remain postured to take further action as necessary and appropriate to address further threats and attacks upon the United States or its allies and partners.

So, again, it is striking that he actually did inform Congress of these acts. He is saying that they are defensive here, but also noting that they stand ready to take further action.

[17:19:58]

And as Barak said, there are a lot of U.S. officials who are saying this is a multi-day campaign, this doesn't just end tonight.

TAPPER: Kristen Holmes at the White House and Barak Ravid, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

For nearly six long months now, authorities, local authorities in Minneapolis, have been pleading with the Trump administration to share evidence related to the killings by Trump administration agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both of them 37, both of them killed by federal immigration officials. Today, that evidence was finally handed over. What does this change, if anything? Well, the lead prosecutor in Minneapolis is going to join "The Lead" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We're back with more on our "World Lead." Intimidation and violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, zealots. California Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna just returned from the West Bank. He says, last week, he and other Americans were -- quote -- "detained by Israeli settlers brandishing American-made M4s, assault-style rifles."

[17:25:03]

The congressman posted video of the incident. The congressman goes on to write, "When the IDF, the military arrived, they sided with the settlers and continued our detention. They made a huge mistake" -- unquote.

The congressman will be our guest tomorrow on "The Lead." But this obviously is not the only such incident. As CNN's Jeremy Diamond shows us, he, his crew, and the father of an American killed by settlers were confronted just this past Saturday. Here's Jeremy's reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Kamel Musallet hasn't been able to reach this land in over a year. This is the hillside where his son, Saif, an American citizen, was killed --

MUSALLET: FATHER OF AMERICAN KILLED BY SETTLERS: Looks like it's down here, if you want to walk.

DIAMOND: Yes.

DIAMOND (voice-over): -- beaten to death by Israeli settlers exactly one year ago. Since then, settlers have illegally occupied the area, preventing this father from getting the closure he so desperately seeks.

MUSALLET: We have to keep an eye because, usually, they'll come down that way.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We've come here in an armored vehicle wearing bulletproof vests because of how violent these settlers have been. But we've made it.

DIAMOND: What does it feel like to finally be here after a year?

MUSALLET: It's just like I'm (INAUDIBLE) imagine. I'm just imagining him. You know, like just (INAUDIBLE) on my head right now, like just what he went through at that moment.

DIAMOND: Let's take a moment.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But this solemn, sacred moment won't last. Within seconds, we spot a car speeding towards us. We start to leave. But as we drive away, we see that four settlers have set up a roadblock. Armed with clubs and rocks, they try and block our way first with their bodies. And then --

DIAMOND: And now it looks like he's trying to slash our tires. He's trying to slash our tires.

MUSALLET: Oh, he's got a knife. He's going behind --

UNKNOWN: Oh, my God!

DIAMOND (voice-over): A group of independent journalists and activists are in the car behind us.

UNKNOWN: Move! Move! Move!

(SHOUTING)

DIAMOND (voice-over): But their vehicle isn't armored.

(SHOUTING)

UNKNOWN: Move! Move!

UNKNOWN: Drive! Drive! Drive!

(SHOUTING)

UNKNOWN: Go, go, go! Watch out! Watch out!

MUSALLET: Without an armored car, without a bulletproof vest, how do I get to my land? The Israeli army should -- right now should be here and kicking them out. It's illegal for them to be there. It's frustrating. You're so angry and you can't do nothing about it. It just kills you from inside.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But the settlers aren't done. More arrive, blocking another road before chasing us and attacking us again.

DIAMOND: Now, they're trying to stop our car again. They're hitting us.

DIAMOND (voice-over): We finally make it back to safety, where I get on the phone with the Israeli military, which is responsible for security in this area. But settlers have also called the military. These soldiers are only interested in harassing us, refusing to take an action against the settlers. Minutes later, the commander of a different battalion arrives and sends his soldiers after the settlers, detaining them until the police arrive. The Israel police said they arrested four suspects and seized clubs and a knife. They vowed to -- quote -- "bring them to justice accordingly."

A full year later, Kamel Musallet is still waiting for his son's killers to be brought to justice.

MUSALLET: No one has been arrested. No accountability.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Saif was just two weeks shy of his 21st birthday when he was killed. A Florida native, he had been visiting his family in the West Bank. At the time, U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, condemned Musallet's killing as a criminal and terrorist act, and vowed to pressure Israel to bring his killers to justice.

DIAMOND: I reached out to the U.S. Embassy, I sent them a list of questions, and this is the response they gave me. They said, the Trump administration has no higher priority than the safety and security of Americans. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further information to provide at this time.

MUSALLET: I just feel if that was true, you know, they would do something about it. You know, at least an open investigation. You know, that's the least that they could do. If it was anywhere else in the world an American citizen was killed by a mob of extremists, of terrorists, what kind of outrage would there be? You know, how disappointed would Sayfollah be right now that, you know, his U.S. passport did nothing for him?

DIAMOND (voice-over): Saif believed in that blue passport.

SAIF MUSALLET, AMERICAN CITIZEN KILLED BY SETTLERS: Blue is blue. Not because he's a Palestinian-American. He's just an American.

(LAUGHTER)

DIAMOND (voice-over): But his family is still waiting for it to mean something, anything, in their pursuit of justice.

[17:30:04]

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Sinjil, the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that report. Coming up next, the top prosecutor in Minneapolis after finally getting access to evidence in the Renee Good and Alex Pretti killings. After pleading for this information for six longs months.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our National Lead, a major development tonight, after nearly six months, the Trump administration is finally turning over evidence to the local authorities in Minneapolis, Minnesota, regarding the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by immigration officers. This includes body camera footage and the statements of agents.

Joining us now is Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty. So this is obviously a very significant development for people who are not familiar with this. It is standard operating procedure for federal and local officials to work together.

[17:35:03]

It's how it worked in Minnesota after the Annunciation Catholic School shooting. It's how it worked after the assassination of former Minnesota speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the other two individuals. Why did the Trump administration not cooperate originally?

MARY MORIARTY, HENNEPIN COUNTY ATTORNEY: Well, I should say that it was also the way it was working. The day that Renee Good was shot and killed. The local law enforcement partners were on the phones. We had agreed we'd do a joint investigation, and then that got cut short.

I should also say that this -- these -- the agreement to exchange evidence was between local law enforcement here, the FBI, our BCA, which is the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the U.S. Attorney's Office, and our office. We've been having conversations, actually, since Renee Good was killed. Those conversations started up again several weeks ago, and we were able to exchange evidence late last week.

TAPPER: Right, but why didn't they cooperate? Why initially did the Trump administration refuse to allow the BCA, to allow Minneapolis police, et cetera to do the cooperation to do the investigation with them?

MORIARTY: So I can only speak to what they said publicly. They clearly stated they called both Alex Pretti and Renee Good domestic terrorists and essentially said there didn't need to be any investigation, which is puzzling, because I think anytime a government entity takes the life of a community member, it doesn't matter what you think about it. You have to do a full and thorough investigation. You have to make a decision about whether charges are warranted, and you have to be transparent about it. So that never made any sense regardless of what the Trump administration thought from looking at the video.

TAPPER: How much evidence is there? How long do you expect the review process to take? How confident are you that it hasn't been tampered with?

MORIARTY: So there's a great deal of evidence, terabytes of hard drives. We are getting that information. Our team started working on it late last week. They worked over the weekend. So we're taking a look at everything. There are body cameras from the federal agents who were interacting with Alex Pretti. There's also some physical evidence. The BCA does have Renee Good's car. We got that more than a week ago. That has been processed. And so we feel really good about the fact that we appear to have most,

if not all, of the evidence that will help us tremendously make a decision in this case. As you know, we filed a federal lawsuit in Washington, D.C. asking a judge to order the federal government to give us this information. Now, due to the local law enforcement agencies cooperating and evidence sharing and trying to get back to normal. We now appear to have most of that evidence.

TAPPER: The families of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, they've been waiting six months in Renee Good's case and almost six months in Alex Pretti's case. They've been waiting for answers. What's your message to them today?

MORIARTY: Well, my message to them has been the same from the beginning of this, that we are not going to stop until we get the evidence in this case and we are able to make a decision and we're able to be transparent with them and our community about exactly what happened here. They deserve no less than that. I know that they also heard about this in unfortunate circumstances. One of them heard from a reporter.

So there was never any proper communication to them, never any empathy. Having the federal government call their loved ones domestic terrorists was ridiculous. And so they have gone through a lot of trauma here. And in fact, Rebecca Good's widow was being investigated, as far as we know, by the federal government.

And so none of what happened to them should have happened. But what I can tell them now and what we have been communicating to them is we continue to work on this. And now this is a big moment in this investigation. We will be able to invest or thoroughly look at what we have and make a charging decision at some point here.

TAPPER: Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty, thank you so much for joining us today. Really appreciate it. These mounting calls for transparency in shootings involving immigration officials. Minnesota finally getting access to information. The exact opposite situation is playing out right now in Houston. And that story's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:43:40]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, as Minnesota officials finally, six months later, get their hands on the evidence in connection to the fatal ICE shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in January of this year, we are not seeing cooperation play out in Texas. Just last week, a Mexican homebuilder in Houston was killed at the hands of ICE agents. Today, the District Attorney of Harris County said the Trump administration is not cooperating or collaborating with local officials to find out what exactly happened.

As a result, the local DA says he is pursuing his own independent investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN TEARE, HARRIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: We are running this investigation so that we can be transparent, so that the community as a whole, all of Harris county, all of Texas, and quite frankly, all of the United States, can know what happened out there on that Tuesday morning. And if someone needs to be held accountable, they will be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The District attorney warned that this process could take many, many months, if not years. Let's bring in my panel. Shermichael, let me start with you. I mean, there is a pattern of this now of ICE agents killing people or shooting people. And sometimes, you know, it's a quote, unquote, good shoot, sometimes it's not.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure.

TAPPER: And we are seeing the Trump administration refuse to cooperate with local authorities. That happened in Minnesota. That's now being rectified, happened in Houston. We see. And we have no idea what's going to happen in Maine.

[17:45:04]

SINGLETON: Yes, look, I don't want to minimize the death of the gentleman in Texas, being in law enforcement is a very difficult job. I mean, I own two firearms companies. I spend a lot of time with Leo's. And that split second decision making that they have to make. Sometimes after the fact, when you reassess, you realize maybe the harm that I presumed in that moment wasn't there, which is why there's been this big debate about qualified immunity, et cetera.

That said, you know, my advice and counsel on these issues is that we want to make sure we strengthen relationships between federal officials and local officials. If the objective is to remove people out of the country who are here illegally and unlawfully, then you want those local officials to be able to direct you towards those who are committing the most heinous acts in local communities. And I think this makes that job a little bit tedious.

Remember, that's why the President brought in Tom Holman in Minnesota to do that cleanup. And I think here in Texas, it's an example that suggests, at least to me, that we're not quite there.

TAPPER: I think one of the, one of the issues here, at least as it's been explained to me by law enforcement officials, is when you have what looks like a cover up by the Trump administration, a refusal to cooperate with local authorities, which is how it's traditionally done, then you end up putting even good law enforcement officers under suspicion. Because, look, obviously most law enforcement are good people trying to do the right thing.

But ICE agents, HSI agents, Border Patrol agents, CBP agents, if there's a bad shooting or one that people are questioning, the idea of not cooperating makes every shooting look bad.

SAWYER HACKETT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST AND CONTENT CREATOR: Yes. And at this point, I mean, ICE could put out, you know, they don't have to write a new statement after each of these shootings. They could just copy paste the same details of each case after every single shooting. I mean, just like in Houston, we have officers claiming that he tried to turn his car to ram against officers. Now, we see on video that does not look like the case.

We have them trying to cover up evidence that would be released to the public. We have them trying to silence or deport witnesses who could attest to what happened in this case.

I mean, you know, that relationship between law enforcement and the community has already been frayed because you have thousands of these officers being deployed out into the country and casting this wide net, catch net to just, you know, interact with anybody who might not be fully a U.S. citizen and drag them into this process and put them in harm's way and put other, you know, members of the community in harm's way by, you know, having them all be armed and shooting at moving vehicles. This is not the actions of a law enforcement agency that deserves to be trusted.

TAPPER: And we should note our Priscilla Alvarez is reporting that these ICE crackdowns have been steadily increasing under Markwayne Mullin, the new DHS secretary. Even if we're not seeing them, that's interesting. I don't know if they're doing something different.

SINGLETON: Well, look, I just want to say to the point that was just made on trust, I mean, these guys interact with thousands of people, I would imagine every single day. And most of those instances, people are handled with care inappropriately. I would suggest based on the public numbers that we have now, is it material that these shootings occur to trust? I would certainly agree with you there.

But I think it's also material to acknowledge that the vast majority of law enforcement are doing their job with care and respect to the individuals that they encounter. And I think that's important to recognize.

HACKETT: I think even classifying these ICE officers as law enforcement is a disservice to officers who have spent years in training, spent years walking blocks and interacting with the community. These were folks who were not put into under strenuous training exercises. We already have reporting on that.

SINGLETON: The more recent ones. The more clarity. The more recent.

HACKETT: The surge of officers who were hired as part of that $70 billion slush fund that Congress appropriated for ICE expansion. And as a result, we've seen in both the Houston case, you know, and today in Maine that those individuals were not the targets of the enforcement actions, but were just caught in that dragnet.

And you know, blatantly you have officers apparently lying to the public in each instance immediately afterwards saying that, that vehicle was turned against them as a weapon when we have video that disputes that. TAPPER: Let's turn to Iran because President Trump says the U.S. is going to take control of the Strait of Hormuz and reinstate the naval blockade on Iranian vessels. This all follows Iran's strikes on a container ship over the weekend. Trump posted on Truth Social, the Hormuz Strait is open and will remain open with or without Iran. Shermichael, he's also expected to give a primetime address on Iran this Thursday. What do you expect from that?

SINGLETON: I want to know timeline. I mean, I know the president is stating 20 percent will go to the United States for protecting the Strait of Hormuz for safe passage. And that makes perfect sense for a temporary case here. But in the long run, we can't stay there forever. I think the question for the American people, cost and time.

And if we remove ourselves, our troops from the blockade, and Iran decides in six months or a year, they want to shut it down all over again, despite whatever agreement we come to, that's unstable. And so I have already stated at the onset of this, if we're going to go, you got to go all the way.

[17:50:00]

And by all the way, that does mean regime change. Now, I also recognize that the American people don't want that. And I get it. The toll, it's taxing the cost on American lives. I completely get it. But now we're in a perpetual back and forth where there doesn't appear to be any end to this. And I think the President's going to have to figure out a way to answer that question to the American people.

And by the way, there are a lot of Republicans I know who are running. We don't want to talk about this. We want to talk about cost of living and affordability. This disables that talking point, including the most recent housing bill that just was passed.

TAPPER: Not to mention on the subject of affordability, gas prices are going back up.

HACKETT: Yes. They're already ticking up as a result of this kind of flare up in actions in the Strait of Hormuz. And you know, it was less than a month ago that we were celebrating this MoU, this peace deal that Trump was saying would end their nuclear program and, you know, we would reestablish control over the Strait of Hormuz and there would be no tolls and no fees.

And now we're back into a hot war. He's already declared back to Congress that we're back into a military conflict with Iran. And it's about the Strait of Hormuz. It's about reopening a waterway that was open before he started. And it's just kind of a telling encapsulation of the Trump presidency that he would get us into this mix and not have a way to get us out. And ultimately, we end up fighting for a position that was, you know, the status quo pre-war.

SINGLETON: And I would just say quickly here, I think the biggest concern for the administration and administrations to come is whether or not Iran is in a stronger position. I would say they are. They are effectively a quasi superpower. They lack nuclear warheads, but they now have the ability to exert real control and damage over the global economy anytime they want. That's a problem.

HACKETT: Which is more powerful than a nuclear weapon.

SINGLETON: Yes, I would agree.

TAPPER: Thanks to both you. Appreciate it. Coming up, why it's been so hard to find out why the Trump administration is not delivering on President Trump's promise to build thousands of housing units for homeless veterans in the Los Angeles area. It's a story we've been following for years. Here on The Lead, we have an update for you. Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:56:00]

TAPPER: President Trump taking questions now in the Oval Office on the verge of another war with Iran. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is why God kept you here.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, we're doing a lot. You know, we have a country that I use the expression make America great again, and we've done far more than anyone thought possible, including maybe even me. We've done things that are unreal. At $19.2 trillion to money being invested in our country is more than any country has ever had by many times. We have trillions of dollars coming. And because of the tariffs and the proper use of tariffs, because all of the things, I think because of the election, November 5th was a very important day.

When you look at the military, we have the strongest military in the world. We rebuilt it largely during my first term. And we have recruitment now. We're setting records in recruitment. We had -- if you go back to the campaign, when I used to talk about it, the last administration, they couldn't recruit soldiers. We needed soldiers in every single branch of our military, and that included police and firemen. Nobody wanted to do anything having to do with the uniform in this country because they weren't proud of the country. And now the people are very, very proud to be an American.

Our country is doing phenomenally well. We're respected all over the world. If I go -- no matter where I go. We just got back from NATO and I think you saw the response. It was like a very beautiful thing. Actually. It was a total, total response, totally positive response. No matter where we go, we're respected again, maybe respected more than ever before.

So I appreciate the question, but that's pretty much it.

CAMERON ARCAND, SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, TOWNHALL: Mr. President. Thank you, Cameron Arcand of Townhall. I was curious about their reports about Iranian drones in Cuba. There are concerns about that. Where does the relationship with the U.S. stand there? Is military intervention still on the table?

TRUMP: Well, if they do have that, and they might very well have that, we'll take care of it. Marco is just in the other room. And if they do have that, we'll take care of it in short order. We're not going to have a problem. We're not going to allow that to happen. So it could be that they're storing some. We're looking into it now. It could be so. And it maybe isn't, but we'll figure it out fast.

ARCAND: And what are you expected to speak about on Thursday?

TRUMP: I'm going to speak on Thursday. We were thinking one of the next. But this has been such a busy news day today with all that's happening. A lot of very positive things have happened, including the Indy. We're going to have an Indy race, as you know, in 41 days, and that's going to be incredible, around the capital, around down Pennsylvania Avenue. It's going to be something to have 250,000 tickets or it'll be like UFC, which set every record in the book for that business, which is the business of fighting.

So we have the Indy cars coming, and it's going to be great. And I just -- while we're talking, I have to pay on behalf of Mike and myself, and I think everybody's standing behind me very strongly. I want to pay my respects to Lindsey, who was our friend. He was the friend of all of us. He was a great guy. He was a great politician, actually. And it's hard to believe he's gone. Spoke to me just before he passed away, just to say hello. He got back, he felt fine. He was a little tired. And then this whole thing happened, and it's -- boy, it's tough.

So the flags are at half mask until Saturday evening, which is an extended period of time, you know, generally speaking. But I think he deserves it. And he is -- he's a fantastic person. It was just -- he was a fantastic man. He was actually a great politician. He got along with almost everybody, and when he didn't get along, they knew it.

He was -- he was tough, but he was -- he was a good man. He was very much in favor of the Save America Act. He called me about that. We were talking about that and some other things, but he -- he just felt tired and but he felt fine. And then this horrible thing happened. Just a short time afterwards. So it was terrible. I just want to pay our respects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President.

[17:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you mentioned that Iran has agreed to a deal and then walked away from it.

TRUMP: Yes.