Israel Prepares Major Military Operation in West Bank

26:02And that's what she was doing. But now during this administration, all that has changed. So peace, people who are peacefully living here and complying with everything, perhaps a year and a half ago, are now living in fear that this may happen to them. Carlos Garcia, thanks for the update on Sister Letty. We're going to stay on the case. Coming up, the sharp response from a Republican after Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called for an investigation into Senator Mitch McConnell's ongoing absence from the Senate and the pictures that keep popping up of his hospital stay. No videos popping up, just photos.

26:37Stay with us.

26:46We're going to cue the music for the politics lead one week from today. Voters, there it is, the election jam. Nice. Voters in Michigan are going to head to the polls for a very closely watched Democratic Senate primary. The race has served as something of a bellwether, pitting the party's more establishment side against its progressive DSA-ish flank. This is a pivotal battleground state. Congresswoman Haley Stevens is going up against Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, and they made their case and took some swings at each other at last night's debate. When you ask$60 million to come into a race for you and then say that somehow you're electable, I think you don't quite understand what electability means.

27:26If you need a$60 million crutch, you probably can't be elected on your own terms. I know it's great to host rallies and have these fun events, but everywhere I have gone in Michigan, I have taken the time to visit a minority-owned business. A panel joins me now. Sochi, did you watch the debate? Who do you think about it? Some of it. I saw some of it, and I thought Haley Stephens did very well. Listen, I think they both are trying to make the case about who is more electable. He's trying to make the case that she needs all of this money in order to come to the top. She was trying to make the case about him that he is someone who just wants the fame.

28:02He is looking for his next thing. He's going to use this to potentially run for president. He doesn't care about the people of Michigan. So I found that very interesting. At the end of the day, Democrats are going to have to make the decision about who is most electable in the state. It is key in order to winning the Senate that we hold onto the seat. And I think Democrats are very nervous about those prospects. Haley Stevens has been touting all day today that she is ahead against Rogers, that she is the person who could actually win in this race, especially as people are voting. And so I think that that dynamic is going to be one that is going to appeal to Democrats because ultimately they want to win.

28:38Do you think Mike Rogers would prefer to run against Al Sayed? I mean, that's that's that's the Haley Stevens spin. And I think Rogers was caught saying that somewhere. Well, given that he lost to a more establishment woman two years ago, yeah, I would say yes, he does. I also think it would be an easier race for Republicans to run, and it will be a continuation of what, you know, this Democrat civil war that's going on between Democrat socialists and more establishment players. So, yeah, I think Mike Rogers would much rather run against El-Sayed. This really is a bellwether in terms of, like, if Abdul Al-Sayed, Dr.

29:13Al-Sayed wins, this is really going to embolden the DSA side of the party. Although if he wins but then loses in November, it could have an opposite effect. Yeah, I mean, in some ways this is a proxy for these splits all over the country. I mean, he's technically not a DSA guy. No, no, no, of course. But his agenda-wise is very simpatico with it. There's a lot of DSA people campaigning for him, but he is not DSA. Right. But at the same time, like one of the things I find fascinating about this race is sort of the dog whistly kind of subtext to everything. Stevens, she's really leaning into her Michigan accent, right, which is a subtle way of saying, I'm like you.

29:54I'm like the rural voters. I'm a Michigander through and through. Syed, I understand his sort of quasi-Marxist stuff about special interests controlling America and that if we weren't funding Israel, we'd be able to pay for good schools, which is just a demagogic lie. But one of the brilliant things about it is he's basically using this left-wing populist thing to also signal how anti-Israel he is. And I think it's an effective thing for the constituencies he needs to turn out, particularly college town white kids, sort of left-wing activists in Ann Arbor and Lansing and that kind of stuff, but also the sort of uncommitted Arab American, Muslim Americans who like are one of the reasons why Kamala Harris lost Michigan in 2024, because they said they weren't going to vote for Biden because of what was going on in Gaza.

30:44And so it's a subtext where the main, the forthright way of talking about the issue isn't being said, but I think it's being picked up in a lot of ways. The issue of ICE and whether or not federal immigration agents should be reined in was also part of the debate last night. Take a listen. This isn't working for us. This is abuse of power. And I am standing up to Trump right now on these abuses of power, not shouting into a bullhorn, not getting in front of the first camera I see, but doing the hard work. Yeah, that somehow we can't say abolish ICE because we're so afraid of what they're going to say when we've seen ICE terrorize people in our streets.

31:24To me, it is exactly the kind of cowardice that we don't need from Democrats. So yeah, I'm going to take the bullhorn and I'm going to say that I think we need to abolish ICE because I am not afraid of what they're going to say about me. What do you think? That is what we're going to see in 2028. That is just a little bit a preview of what I think the primary will be like on the Democratic side as we head into potential debates into 2028. There are some in the Democratic Party that have taken abolish ICE stances. There are others that said, wait a minute, we need enforcement of some kind. We need to reform ICE, and it's not realistic to abolish ICE.

32:00I think that Haley Stevens made a very good point. She's trying to do stuff there, but actually abolishing ICE is just not going to happen. And I do think at the end of the day, if you look at all of the polling, people would like border security. They would like to make sure that there are leaders who will pay attention to that and then keep people in this country who have played by the rules. They don't want to just completely wash their hands of any enforcement whatsoever and go back to what people call the Biden days, which were the worst days when it came to immigration. Although, Jonah, I mean, immigration enforcement used to be a place where President Trump polled really strongly.

32:35But post-Minnesota, six months ago, he's underwater. Yeah. So there is room there. I don't know if abolish ICE. I mean, I could be proven wrong, but I don't know that Abolish ICE offends people the way it might have like two or three years ago. Like even normies, I mean. Yeah, so part of the problem is Michigan primary, independents can vote in it. And I think Stevens needs to get those people in. And I think the message on this is to make Abolish ICE seem radical by basically taking a Clintonian approach. Affirmative action was generally unpopular in America when Clinton ran in 1992. but at the same time people didn't like the idea of getting rid of it entirely.

33:13Mend it, don't end it. So his message was mend it, don't end it. If you have a similar message to mend it, don't end it on ICE where we say we're going to fix it, the cruelty is outrageous, you get to say all the talking points while at the same time reassure people that you still believe in border enforcement and that kind of thing. This was all a better answer to who Mike Rogers would like to run against. Both of these. I mean, I think it answers itself. Someone who's for border enforcement? Well, no, I think the men, you know, Mike Rogers wants to create a very stark difference between himself and whoever the Democratic nominee is.

33:46And I think there's one candidate on the Democratic side that provides that for him. So let's just turn one second to the fact that Republican Senator Rand Paul is slamming Kentucky Democratic Governor Andy Beshear. Beshear has called on the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, to investigate the health condition of former Majority Leader Senator from Kentucky Mitch McConnell. He's calling it a campaign ploy. Rand Paul is calling it a campaign ploy because Bashir might be running for president. But I do think that there are some serious questions about where Mitch McConnell is. And they keep they've now posted the second photo.

34:18But I don't know if they know this, but the photo, the camera function on your phone actually also has a video function. So if Mitch McConnell wanted to say something instead of just smiling in a different shirt, he could. And he could text it to you. He could also. That's right. And I'm sure there's producers that can reach out to him and see if he can do a live interview. We just went through this in 2024, and not as bad as this. I mean, Joe Biden was not in the hospital. No, I said not as bad. No, I know. But I'm just saying this idea of, like, transparency and hype. What would you tell the McConnell people?

34:53Just keep doing what you're doing. That's what I would tell the McConnell. Look, he's going to miss Fancy Farm, which for him is a huge deal on Saturday. I mean, well. That's a big Kentucky thing. Oh, it's a huge Kentucky thing. It's actually where he got the start to his political career in 1984. Not that I'm going to go deep. It's like Roger Goodell missing the NFL draft. It's like you don't do it. It is. You don't do it. And for him, this is a big thing. So, yes, is Mitch McConnell under the weather? Yes, he is. But does that raise to, which is really your question about Governor Beshear saying, demanding that he prove himself here.

35:32So I assume if Mitch McConnell resigned from the Senate, Bashir would get to a point. He doesn't. No, he doesn't. Okay, so that's good. The Kentucky rules are different. I was wondering why it hadn't come up. I think they changed it. They did. They changed it because of Bashir. That's right, I forget. I remember that. They didn't want Bashir to be able to do it. They knew he would be here. The whole thing is so suffused with sort of partisan stuff. Mitch McConnell doesn't want to give his enemies the benefit of the doubt, the boon here. He's a stubborn guy. It's sort of the personal health version of the Merrick Garland strategy.

36:06And I think everyone's got a perfectly credible argument that, you know, senators and that disinfirmed, maybe they shouldn't hold the seat. Thanks, everyone. Coming up, the long wait times to see a therapist at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some veterans are waiting months. The new CNN analysis is next.

36:50We'll see you next time. dollars for three months, 90 dollars for six months or 180 dollars for 12 month plan required. Fifteen dollars per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Breaking news in our law and justice lead. Colt Gray, the Georgia teen who shot and killed two teachers and two students in Appalachee High School in 2024, was just sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The decision concludes a three-day sentencing hearing that featured Gray's guilty plea to 55 charges, emotional victim impact statements, his confessions to police, and insights into his motive and mental health, including chilling references to other school shootings.

37:30The 16-year-old did not audibly react to the sentencing, while families of the shooting victims gasped and cried as the announcement was read. In our national lead, the long waits, despite a Department of Veterans Affairs report showing the number of veterans who received mental health care from the VA jumped 78 percent between 2009 and 2024. And predictions that the number will keep going up through at least 2033. A CNN analysis of the department's own data shows significantly long wait times before some people are able to see a therapist for the first time. Brian Todd is part of a CNN team that's been crunching the numbers.

38:05Brian, what can you tell us? Jake, this is new reporting from myself and our colleagues Tammy Luby and Alex Leeds-Matthews. We looked at what veterans go through when they try to get seen for mental health appointments, since dealing with mental health is so crucial for so many veterans. The issue here is it's confusing for veterans to figure out whether the VA is consistently providing timely appointments when a veteran wants to schedule a mental health appointment at the VA for the first time. The VA and its secretary, Doug Collins, say it only takes 15 days on average for a veteran to see a provider for a first-time mental health appointment.

38:39That falls under the VA's own target of 20 days to get an initial appointment. But when a veteran actually goes to look for an appointment by going to a VA website called Access to Care, they get a different picture. We crunched the numbers on the Access to Care website for most of the month of July. We found that based on what Access to Care says, veterans across the country frequently have to wait weeks or even months for initial mental health appointments. Our analysis showed that wait times at 541 VA facilities exceeded the VA's target of 20 days for first-time mental health appointments. Those 541 facilities make up two-thirds of those that reported numbers.

39:17At a handful of VA facilities, waits stretched nearly five or more months. Another 22 facilities reported wait times of at least three months, way more than the 15 days the VA is touting. The VA's contention? It says analyzing the numbers for wait times on its own Access to Care website is inaccurate for several reasons, including that a few patients with long wait times skew the numbers, and that the Access to Care website does not reflect certain situations like when mental health appointments are sometimes moved earlier, meaning they ultimately are not waiting as long as the website says. The VA also stresses that new patients only make up roughly 10 % of all mental health patients, and that wait times for established patients are generally shorter.

40:00So the VA contends its own website listing wait times for veterans is not a good measure of reality. We spoke to some veterans who were frustrated with the confusion over this. One veteran who only wanted to give his first name, Dennis, says his anxiety grew when it took him a few months to schedule an appointment with a psychologist at his local VA facility. Dennis said, quote, By the appointment being delayed, I couldn't be helped sooner. My mental state probably declined a little bit more. Now, there is an important caveat to all this. Under the VA's policy, a veteran having an emergency mental health crisis can be seen on the same day they report it, at an agency facility, an emergency room, or with a private provider.

40:39So any vet in real crisis should still seek help and not necessarily look at those wait times on the website. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Dick Tapper. And tonight, two White House meetings, no cameras rolling in either of them, just a few snap photos, what we know about President Trump's conversations behind closed doors with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Plus, breaking on Capitol Hill, a man who did not want to say that Joe Biden won the 2020 election could become the next director of national intelligence later this hour.

41:16We're going to be watching that vote. Plus, why Thursday's vote for Todd Blanche's nomination to get the permanent gig as attorney general might be in jeopardy. Also sheer disaster in Japan after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake. People trapped inside buildings, a shopping mall collapsed. What the race to find survivors looks like there tonight after this day of horror. And of all the changes in D.C. these days, there is another. See the brand new national monument dedicated to those who served.

41:52The lead tonight, a major convergence of wartime leaders at the White House today. President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and separately with Ukrainian President Zelensky. Top of mind for Netanyahu, the Iran war. Before the meeting, President Trump said Netanyahu wants him to, quote, stay involved in the war. White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said the leaders had, quote, excellent chemistry, while Netanyahu called it, quote, one of the best conversations they'd ever had. this despite major differences between the two leaders, including over Trump's desire to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey.

42:25Meanwhile, Ukraine's Zelensky says he spoke with Trump about licenses to manufacture U.S. Patriot missile systems, a huge, if not far off, win for Ukraine. Zelensky also paid his respects to Senator Lindsey Graham, whom he called a true friend of Ukraine. Graham's funeral service is the reason both wartime leaders are in town right now. Sharing a handshake and quick conversation before the services began. Lindsey Graham notably stood by Ukraine since the beginning of the war when Russia invaded, even when the Republican Party support began to ebb. And as former Vice President Mike Pence put it to my colleague Diana Bash earlier, Graham also spoke consistently and with, quote, moral clarity about threats from Iran.

43:06CNN's Kaitlin Collins joins us now. And Kaitlin, the official readouts from Trump and Netanyahu's conversations with Trump are both very positive. Yeah, Jake. And one thing that stands out here, though, is what we did not see today. And that was either of these world leaders actually meeting inside the Oval Office with President Trump. Typically, pretty much any world leader who comes to town has this meeting in the Oval Office with the president. He calls reporters in and that's where they take questions, sometimes both of them, from the press that are gathered in the room. And so it stood out today that not one but two world leaders were in the West Wing.

43:41And yet the cameras did not see them actually inside those meetings. We only saw the world leaders coming in, President Zelensky first, and then truly moments after he departed from West Exec right outside the West Wing. Then we saw the motorcade for the Israeli prime minister showing up at the White House. And, Jake, when you look at these two meetings, obviously both of these are two wars that the president is dealing with right now that he has not yet been able to solve, one that was obviously underway well before he got into office. and the Iran war, though, that has started since, of course, earlier this year and one that has gone on much longer than the president initially told Americans that it would go on for.

44:19And I thought it was pretty interesting in terms of the roles of these two leaders. The president has typically had a very warm meeting or a warm relationship with the Israeli prime minister. But, Jake, just a couple of hours before Netanyahu showed up in the West Wing today, despite those positive descriptions of that meeting, he was asked about some intelligence that Netanyahu had said he planned to discuss with the president about a site in Iran, and the president dismissed it on Fox, saying that he did not need Prime Minister Netanyahu to tell him that intelligence, that he already knew it, and basically sounding frustration that Netanyahu had been talking about it publicly and not simply discussing it with him privately.

44:54Obviously, that's a role reversal because typically about a year ago, it was Zelensky that he was frustrated with and not Netanyahu. And it seems like that relationship has changed over the course of time and over the course of this war in Iran. So meanwhile, I can only read into why they didn't allow reporters to come in and ask questions. But obviously, you know, that meeting where Trump and Zelensky got in almost like a shouting match with J.D. Vance involved, too, last February comes to mind in terms of maybe they just didn't want any issues of contention or disagreement brought up between either Trump and Zelensky or Trump and Netanyahu.

45:32But Trump and Zelensky have had such a warmer relationship in recent weeks and recent months, especially, obviously, Lindsey Graham, as you look at the moment today with his funeral happening here in Washington today. Ukraine was one of the last places he visited. He had just gotten back from Ukraine before he passed and had been talking about that meeting with President Trump. And obviously the other thing that stands out, Jake, in addition to the fact that they did not bring reporters into the Oval Office for these meetings that are typically status symbols for these world leaders because they get to show that they have a seat next to the president of the United States.

46:08Both of them have visited the White House several times, Netanyahu way more than Zelensky, was that the White House has not put out an official readout or their version of events of that meeting either. Instead, it has been these world leaders who are putting out their version of it in terms of what they are describing in details. We just heard in vague details from the press secretary earlier today saying both meetings were positive and constructive, but not really getting many more details than that, Jake. All right, Caitlin Collins, thank you so much. And don't miss Caitlin tonight on her show, The Source with Caitlin Collins.

46:39Her guests, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, who we just discussed. He's a Democrat calling on Republican Senator Mitch McConnell to explain his medical absence or to resign. Look for that tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern, only here on CNN. Thanks again, Caitlin. Joining us now, former ambassador to Turkey and former Republican senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake. So many things I want to ask you about. You know a lot about a lot of these topics. You recently said, let's start with Iran. You recently told CNN that President Trump, in your view, doesn't really have any cards when it comes to negotiating with the Iranians to open the Strait of Hormuz.

47:13borrowing a phrase from when Trump told Zelensky he didn't have any cards. Do you think right now the U.S. is worse off than before the war started five months ago today? Immeasurably. Yes. Yes. I think, you know, before the war started, there were a lot of economic levers that could be pulled, which were really damaging Iran. They were really damaged by the tough sanctions that were imposed. So I think the president, if he really wants to turn their nuclear clock back, You can do that economically. And we were doing that, frankly. So, yeah, I think we're immeasurable because they've discovered this Trump card, if you will, the Strait of Hormuz.

47:54And that's very difficult to deal with. But I was so glad to see the president not make those meetings public or not discuss in public what he'd talked to Netanyahu and Zelensky about. We're a lot better off if we, you know, deal with or let our diplomats actually deal with this stuff. He has been more publicly critical or willing to criticize Netanyahu than any Republican president, maybe even any Democratic president in recent memory. Yeah. And frankly, he has the gravitas to do that because he's been so close to Netanyahu. So it means more when he does that. So, yeah, I think a lot of us who have been out there, particularly in the Muslim world, have been glad to see some more pushback, at least.

48:41Yeah, I want to ask you about Turkey in a second. But before I do, Ukraine's foreign minister said he called his Iranian counterpart and urged de-escalation. This comes as Iranian officials are threatening Kiev after a recent attack by Ukraine on an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. It's tough to keep track of all this. but the Ukrainians attacked an Iranian vessel in the Caspian Sea. So can Ukraine afford to engage in another war with Iran? It's difficult. We're certainly learning a lot from Ukraine. They're teaching us a lot about drone warfare. Yeah, the Shahed drones. You bet. So that's extremely useful.

49:17I'd be surprised if Ukraine gets really involved in the Iranian conflict. That seems a bit far afield. So you were the U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the Biden administration. So you You know this F-35 jet issue better than anybody in this building combined. President Trump wants to sell these F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. Turkey wants them. Netanyahu doesn't want them to have them. I want you to take a listen to what President Trump said yesterday about this. Turkey's been a great ally for me. You know, I think he's done a very good job. He's done a good job with Syria. He's a friend of mine.

49:57And nobody tells me what we should be selling. Turkey's been a tremendous ally for me. It was up to Turkey. Turkey's not a big fan of Israel. You know that, right? And not a big fan of Bibi. OK, so before we get into the jets, it is remarkable how personal the president's message is on all of this stuff. Turkey has been a great ally, not to the United States, to me, he says. He's done a very good job. He's a friend of mine. And nobody tells me what we should be selling him. I mean, that's really interesting. Well, I mean, in truth, Turkey has been a good ally to the U.S. I know, but I'm just saying that's not how he said it.

50:39But beyond that, what do you think? I mean, I presume you think that Turkey should have these jets. It pays to back up a little here. Turkey was part of the F-35 program. In fact, hundreds of parts of the F-35 were initially made by Turkey. Turkey owns six F-35s that we are storing for them right now. But they were kicked out of the program when they bought a Russian weapons system in 2019. Now, they should have been kicked out of the program. You can't have a NATO member have a Russian weapons system that could gain information on the F-35 if they were to have those as well. So we did the right thing.

51:15And they're getting rid of that defense system. We hope. And that's the kicker there. And I was with some of my former colleagues today at Lindsey Graham's funeral and talking about this. Obviously, this is a congressional issue. In the NDAA, there is language that says that Turkey cannot possess the S-400 and get F-35s. So Turkey has to get rid of the F-35 somehow. And during my time there, we worked on a lot of issues as to how Turkey could do this. We just never got them across the finish line. And so, yes, Turkey deserves to be part of the F-35 program again if it disposes of the S-400. Former Ambassador Jeff Flake, always great to have you here.

51:56Thank you so much, Senator. So much for a four - to six-week conflict. Today marks five months since President Trump launched his war against Iran and five months since that strike on the Iranian elementary school that killed nearly 200 people, most of them children, according to Iranian state media. Coming up next, stories from victims that you have not heard as we wait and wait and wait for any semblance of accountability from the Trump administration and the Pentagon.

52:29In our world lead five months ago today, when the Iran war began, a U.S. Tomahawk missile struck an Iranian elementary school. Preliminary reports suggesting it was unintentional. We are marking this day as we have every month since it happened, because after all this time, five months, there has been no accountability from U.S. leaders for the mistakes that ultimately cost nearly 200 people their lives that day, according to Iranian state media. And one can hate the Iranian regime and love the Iranian people because these were mostly children. Children you see here. We want to show you some of their faces.

53:09We want to tell you some of their names because the Pentagon and the president and the Trump administration, they won't even acknowledge this.

53:20This is Atima Shamali Najat singing a Persian children's poem. smiling and making faces at the camera while her mother fixes her hair. Her family shared these videos to remember her. Atana was killed on February 28th. One of 168 children, according to Iranian state media, who lost their lives when a U.S. Tomahawk missile struck the Shajareh Tayabe Elementary School in Minab, Iran, on the very first day of the war, five months ago today. In Iran, the parents, the families, and the city of Minab still grieve. for those who were killed. They call them the martyrs. This is Madis Nazari. Madis' body and one of her classmates were found in the embrace of their teacher beneath the rubble of school, according to the head of public relations from the Iranian Ministry of Health.

54:13He wrote that the teacher held Madis and her classmate, quote, tightly in her arms, as if she had tried with her own fragile body to become a shield against the onslaught of stone and iron. Fourteen adults were also killed that day, according to Iranian state media. For Amar's Pega lost both his daughter, Adrena, and his wife. He describes how it felt to receive both of their bodies, calling his wife his pillar and his daughter his hope and aspiration. Adrena and her mother were together on the stairs of the school when they were killed, her teacher, who survived the strike, told the BBC. In addition to what we gleaned from other news media, our own information sources are limited to the families whose social media posts we found through anti-regime human rights activists and Iranian media.

55:05That's because the Trump administration and the Pentagon have revealed nothing about the lives they took, apparently by accident. Critical and costly mistakes happen in war. This tragedy happened five months ago to the day. But today, the U.S. military and its top leaders and the commander-in-chief have yet to even acknowledge the errors that led to the deaths of nearly 200 children and adults in Iran on day one of this war. CNN's Zach Cohen reported earlier this month that according to three sources, senior U.S. military commanders bypassed warnings in critical databases that intelligence about potential targets in Iran was severely out of date and approved some strikes, including the one that hit the school in Manab.

55:53Two of the sources said the decision by senior commanders to ignore the warnings was made for expediency in a rush to provide targets to start the war. Messages indicated the targets for the strike list were based on intelligence that was more than 10 years old. Three sources now tell CNN's Cohen that the investigation into this strike still sits with military command. The first two stages of the review focused on answering basic questions, including whether the strike hit and damaged the intended target had been completed, indicating that the U.S. was responsible for striking the Shajire Tayebi school in Minab, the sources said.

56:31The third stage, a more holistic review of what took place and its impact on the overall mission, was not ordered. That review would almost always be conducted in the immediate aftermath of a noteworthy strike, they said. But it had not begun as of early July. We reached out to the Pentagon today with questions about the status of the review. An official told us the investigation is ongoing and there are no updates at this time. Meanwhile, President Trump's own downright refusal to acknowledge the U.S.'s responsibility for the strike continues to evolve. There are images from this site that show fragments that appear to be from U.S.

57:07Tomahawk missiles. Is it possible that old intelligence or a mistake during a very active time in the war led to this event? It is, but it's also possible that those images that you have are AI-generated. Because a lot of what they do is AI-generated. They're actually very good at it. So I don't think that anybody, you know, I know we're waiting for a conclusive report. I don't think there can be a conclusive report. Will you release the report when it is finished? I guess so. I mean, I have to ask the military people. There might be a reason why they can't. In a statement to the lead this afternoon, the White House said, this investigation is ongoing.

57:42As we have said, the United States does not target civilians. For the families of Atina, Madis, Adrena, and the nearly 200 others, most of them children who were killed five months ago, images from before February 28th are now what they rely upon to keep their memories alive. A photo of Atana and Madis holding hands hangs here on a banner outdoors. It reads in Persian, Heavenly Angels, may your martyrdom be honored. As of now, the Pentagon and the Trump administration have not come even close to honoring the memories of the 168 children and 14 adults that by all credible accounts were accidentally killed by the Trump administration five months ago today.

58:30Doing this to discuss is Democratic Congresswoman Yasemin Ansari from Arizona. She is the first Iranian-American Democrat in Congress. Congresswoman, it's been five months, no investigation from the Pentagon, no details from the Trump administration about these innocent people that were killed in Minab from the strike. I said it before, I'll say it again. You can hate the Iranian regime and still feel like the United States needs to own up to this. What's your reaction to it all? this is a national shame we're five months past this horrific war crime i believe it's a war crime credible human rights organizations like amnesty international and human rights watch believe this could be a war crime it needs to be investigated this happened during the first few hours of a war that the united states started under donald trump's leadership that he still has not been able to articulate to us what it was even about, what the purpose of the war was, what the strategy has been.

59:27Months have gone by. I'm not surprised that there's been no accountability for this, but the more reporting that comes out about this war crime in Iran, the more devastating it gets. We know, thanks to CNN's reporting, that the Department of Defense under Pete Hegseth's leadership has been instructed to move quickly and that they've never, They're working at an extraordinary pace. We know that artificial intelligence was used to look at vast amounts of intelligence data, and then human beings are moving quickly and not doing thorough due diligence. And so the United States government used outdated intelligence and targeted a school not knowing that it was a school or not looking at the right intelligence because all of this was done in such a rushed manner so recklessly.

1:00:15And as a result, count, you know, 100 some 170 some civilians were killed in this instance, children. But thousands of other Iranian civilians have been killed. I just think it's the most devastating story and truly a shame, truly a disgrace, truly something that this country will not be able to move past very quickly and that the international community will look down upon us for. I wrote to Secretary Hegseth very shortly afterward, led a delegation of some 120 Democratic members asking for accountability and for an investigation. They responded shortly after to us saying that they'd be happy to brief us in a classified briefing.

1:00:58Then when we tried to schedule that briefing, they said we'd have to wait until the results of the investigation were finalized. It's been five months. It's long overdue. They need to be transparent and apologize and take accountability for what happened. Today, you're talking to us from Texas. You're visiting Dilley Immigration Processing Center, the only family detention center left in the country. You signed on to a letter urging the Homeland Security Secretary, Mark Wayne Mullen, to shut it down, detailing the conditions. Quote, parents describe horrendous conditions at Dilley leading to severe depression, homelessness, hopelessness and suicidal ideation amongst their children.

1:01:34Children have reported that their food is often contaminated with worms and mold and that they feel sick after drinking tap water, unquote. What are you hoping to learn by being down there today? Did they let you in? Yeah, we just wrapped up the visit a couple of hours ago. I actually got to speak with a 16-year-old girl who was on her way to church when she was detained by ICE. Her and her father have asylum status. They actually had legal status until 2028. She told us that she was detained by ICE, and then ICE called her father and said that if they don't come pick her up right then, she would get sent to another state.

1:02:11and then and they promised they assured the family that they they would be let go then the father came to pick her up and they were both detained i can't tell you how heartbreaking it is to talk to a 16 year old and her dad her dad was shaken you could see how distressed he was knowing that there was not really anything he could do to get his daughter out of there they don't know when they're going to be able to leave they don't know they don't have a lawyer they don't know anything about their case. We are traumatizing children. We are traumatizing families. We already know we're traumatizing entire communities and cities when ISIS murdered people on the streets.

1:02:47At the bare minimum, children should not be detained using your tax dollars. It's really that simple. I don't believe we should have for-profit detention centers anywhere, but at the bare minimum, children should not be detained. Families should not be separated like this. So we're going to continue to push this. I think there is a lot of support around this. from Americans from all walks of life, because these are not American values at all. Democratic Congresswoman Yasemin Ansari from Arizona joining us from Texas today. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time. A shopping mall explosion, then the building collapsed.

1:03:20That's only a splinter of destruction authorities in Japan have been dealing with all day after a 6.8 earthquake. A new damage report coming up next.

1:03:35some breaking news in our world lead you're looking right now at a partially collapsed shopping mall in southern japan where rescue efforts continue after a 6.8 magnitude earthquake there two are confirmed dead dozens are injured or missing for years cnn's will ripley was based in japan and covered quake prone areas extensively he joins us now from taiwan will we've received reports that a 400-bed hospital near the epicenter is already at capacity. Are officials prepared to handle this influx of patients? Well, they're trying to handle them. Obviously, you have the hospital closest to where the most damage is that's really struggling right now.

1:04:12Getting patients to other hospitals in the region is proving to be a challenge because they have expressways that are shut down. There's a huge damage to the infrastructure. Even parts of a bridge were collapsed, as you've seen from all of these dramatic videos. So even transportation, the Kumamoto Airport closed, airlifting in relief efforts. Very much a challenge at this stage, given the extent of this damage and the severity of this quake. In a country like Japan, which is used to dealing with a lot of earthquakes, they have earthquakes every single day. In fact, many earthquakes every single day.

1:04:39Usually people just look at their watch and then keep on going. But that obviously was not possible. With shaking that was reported to be so severe because this quake was so shallow, people had a hard time standing up in some cases. We know that more than 50 people, as you said, are confirmed injured. There are people who are missing the casualty numbers expected to rise. You have that shopping mall collapse, of course, but you also have house collapses, some of which haven't even been gotten to by emergency responders yet. And you also have fires that are burning, which is creating this kind of ongoing rescue demand that's been continuing through the overnight hours here in Asia ever since that earthquake happened.

1:05:11Local authorities and emergency services are triaging patients, and they're saying that the aftershocks are also complicating those operations, Jake, because it's really difficult to get in and rescue people and then treat them when you have potential debris falling all around you. And how does this compare to recent earthquakes in Japan? And what does the recovery timeline look like for a country that has been battered by earthquakes in the past? So this quake was a magnitude 6.8. It struck Kumamoto. Initially, they thought it was a 7.1. But people who experienced the earthquake would say that it felt a lot stronger than what a 6.8 earthquake usually feels like in Japan.

1:05:50That's partially because it was such a shallow quake. And this brings back memories for people in Kumamoto, of course, of the 2016 earthquake that caused, most notably, pretty severe damage to the Kumamoto Castle, which I visited after that earthquake in 2016. And I'm not sure if we have the video, but you can actually see a piece of this 400-year-old historic fortress's walls that were collapsing. This is a fortress that has survived many, many earthquakes over the centuries, and yet in this quake, you had a huge amount of damage to that castle that they were still in the process of repairing from the last earthquake a decade ago.

1:06:23So obviously, this is going to be a very, very long process. The immediate needs, of course, of the people are to make sure that they have food, they have medical care, they have clean water, they have shelter for those who are displaced. But then there's this really long-term recovery, and that's going to take a very long time. The good news is that Japan has a lot of experts in how to recover from earthquakes. They've been dealing with this for centuries and they know how to get people in and get people the help that they need, Jake. And that will be happening in the coming hours and days and months ahead.

1:06:50All right, Will Ripley, thanks so much. We have some breaking news on Capitol Hill. A Senate vote is right now underway to confirm Jay Clayton as the next director of national intelligence. Why this vote has surprisingly become quite controversial. Plus, what could now stall the votes at Thursday to promote the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, to the permanent role? Stay with us.

1:07:20Breaking news in our politics lead. The U.S. Senate is right now voting on the nomination of U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton to be Director of National Intelligence. This coming the same day as the acting Director of National Intelligence, Bill Pulte, announced a fifth and near final round of firings of staff at the top spy agency. CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill for us. Manu? Yeah, Jake, this nomination of Jay Clayton's was supposed to sail through about a month ago or so because of the Democrats and Republicans. Their concerns about Bill Pulte holding that role as interim director of national intelligence, despite not having a national security background and acting as a political attack dog of sorts for President Trump.

1:08:05But President Trump pulled back on the Clayton nomination, his leverage, tried to force the Senate to pass what's known as the Save America Act, a legislation to restrict voting laws in this country. That did not happen. The Senate still moved ahead with that Jay Clayton nomination. Then in his confirmation hearing about two weeks ago, he refused to answer whether or not he believed that Joe Biden actually won the 2020 election. And that caused Democrats to revolt, which is why we're seeing a party-line vote in the United States Senate. We do expect him to get confirmed here in just a matter of minutes.

1:08:37But the big question here, Jake, is that whether that this will lead to a renewal of expired surveillance authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that has been expired for more than a month over this issue, over the fight over Bill Pulte. Democrats tonight, Jake, are telling me that this confirmation does not mean that this could be resolved before the August recess. So that key surveillance authority could continue to be expired as Congress goes on to recess and return sometime in September, Jake. And there's a second major confirmation vote scheduled this week. Todd Blanche, the acting U.S.

1:09:10Attorney General, to be permanent U.S. Attorney General. But now sources are telling you that could possibly be postponed? Yeah, there's a Thursday vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance this nomination, send it to the full United States Senate. At the moment, Senate Republicans plan to push ahead for that Thursday vote. But just one Republican defection would be enough to scuttle this nomination, derail it all together on the committee. And we are looking at two Republicans in particular, John Cornyn and Tom Tills. Both of them want assurances, actually language written, to effectively kill that 1.8 anti-weaponization fund that the Justice Department has pushed and that Donald Trump has pushed.

1:09:48And that concerns among lots of members here that actually January 6th rioters could have access to taxpayer money through that fund. Now, John Cornyn today said that the talks that have been going on with the Justice Department over this issue have yet to bear any fruit and warned that he could vote against this nomination on Thursday. For the last 24 hours or so, I think my staff is talking to him, but we're not. They know what they need to do. They just don't want to do it. Would you recommend that it be postponed if it's going this way? That's being discussed. That's being discussed. but hopefully it won't be necessary.

1:10:31Now, Jake, I just caught up with the other key swing vote on the committee, Tom Tillis, and he told me he sounded actually more optimistic than John Cornyn. He said, quote, that things are going pretty well. He went on to say, hopefully we can get the White House to execute. But then I said, well, what happens if there is no deal on this issue to kill the weaponization fund, written language that both sides could agree upon? He said, I think me and Cornyn are of the mind that this has to be done. So expect these talks to intensify. And if they are not to the satisfaction of either member, either one of those Republicans could derail Todd Blanchett's nomination to be attorney general.

1:11:07All right. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. Thanks so much. We've got this Clayton vote happening right now on Capitol Hill. Plus, this just in. CENTCOM saying moments ago, Iran is launching new strikes on U.S. forces in the Middle East. Busy evening is getting even busier. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

1:11:30Breaking news in our world lead. The U.S. military says that Iran just launched multiple missiles in a surprise attack on U.S. forces in the Middle East. The CENTCOM announcement adds, quote, all Iranian missiles were successfully intercepted. U.S. forces remain vigilant and at a high state of readiness. The U.S. and Iran had seemed to have been in a momentary pause in fighting since Friday. but apparently no longer joining us now on the breaking news, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Layton. Colonel Layton, what do you make of the timing of this? Yeah, it's really unfortunate, but it does coincide with Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit here in Washington.

1:12:07And that, of course, is, I think, significant. So in my view, the Iranians are sending a message that the war, as far as they are concerned, is still on. Negotiations are basically off. and they are basically flexing their muscles now. It doesn't seem a particularly wise decision on their part to do this, but they are clearly pointing out that they have the weapons that they need in order to impact targets in Jordan and other parts of the Middle East. CNN analyst and Axios contributor, Barack Revita is reporting from a U.S. official who tells him the ballistic missiles were launched toward a base in Jordan.

1:12:45What kind of U.S. presence is in Jordan? So one of the bases that we use is called Mufawak al-Salti. It is a base that we actually had three service members killed recently, and it is a base that has F-35s at it. F-18s, F-16s have been there as well. There's also a presence of aerial refuelers sometimes at these bases. And of course, there are reconnaissance assets that includes drones that the U.S. uses to launch against targets in Iran. Based on the very little information we have, what type of missiles do you think were likely fired by Iran? And when the U.S. says that they were intercepted, how can they do that?

1:13:32Yes. So there are several possible missiles that the Iranians use, Jake. Some of them, like the Quram Shah missiles, are medium to long range missiles. What we basically do is we use missiles like the Patriot to go in, Patriot missile batteries, to take out incoming missiles. So this is what you're seeing is basically a response from a Patriot battery or similar installation, either operated by the U.S. or by Jordan, that probably took those missiles out. This comes after both Israel and the White House said that President Trump's meeting with Netanyahu went well. Do you think that maybe could have contributed to Iran resuming strikes, the idea that there was diplomatically at least a show of success and support?

1:14:19Yeah, I think so. If the U.S. and Israel are seen to be working more closely together once again, the Iranians are probably going to use that as an excuse to say, if these two countries are working together, then we need to preemptively strike, at least against the U.S. Interestingly, though, they have not struck Israeli targets at this point. And that, I think, is significant as well. We just learned there were no more than four ballistic missiles, according to initial estimates, according to a U.S. official. What is your current assessment of the Iranian stockpile? How many missiles do they have that they can fire at us or our allies?

1:14:57Yes. So there might be missiles in the stockpile, but not all of them are able to be fired against targets that include U.S. installations. So they may have somewhere around 2 ,000 to 3 ,000 missiles that are still actively listed in their inventory. That's of over 6 ,000 that are probably in that category before this war started. and as far as the ones that are usable it might be somewhere around 1 ,000 to 1 ,500 but they may be impacted by launch difficulties they may be impacted by you know the fact that the U.S. is keeping an eye on where those missiles are being launched from and I think that could have really dampened their ability to move those missiles to a launch point so a lot of the missiles that they use are going to be impacted by our reconnaissance efforts in this case so let's say 1 ,000 to 1 ,500 500 missiles are at their disposal at any given time.

1:15:52All right, retired Colonel Cedric Layton, thank you so much. My panel joins me now. Let's start by talking about the war. And obviously, this is a political panel, not a military panel. But this is a political liability for President Trump. I have never seen, usually there is this rally around the flag effect when the U.S. goes to war, we're five months in and there is 61 % disapproval of this war. And there appears no end in sight. Again, it's too early to call it a quagmire, but I don't know how he's going to get out of it. I don't think he knows either. I mean, look, I think all that, the political side of it is all downstream of the fact that he thought it was going to be like the Venezuela operation, thought it was going to be over very quickly, thought it was going to be equally successful.

1:16:37whether or not the Venezuela thing turns out to be successful remains to be seen. And so he never built a case in Congress. He never built a case in the public until after the fact. And that is so the public didn't have buy into the idea. Congress didn't have buy into the idea. And that's, I think, one of the reasons why no one feels particularly obliged to sort of defend the thing in a way that they would have in another in previous wars. We also keep hearing conflicting statements about the status of peace negotiations. President Trump just yesterday said Iran was asking nicely for a conversation.

1:17:13And here we Iran denied it. And, you know, they're putting their shekels where their mouths are. You know, by that's not nicely firing missiles at U.S. service members in Jordan. Yeah, it's unfortunate. He's learning the hard way in real time that the Iranians aren't to be trusted. We've known that for a long time, but we need to wrap our brains around the fact that nothing substantially will change in that region, especially with respect to Iran, until that regime is crippled. Which brings us to the point of not just the selling it to the American people, but also understanding how much longer are we going to keep pushing them.

1:17:49When he took the foot off the gas in the first negotiations, there were many people saying, why are we stopping now? We're actually applying pressure. Including your friend Lindsey Graham. Indeed. God rest his soul. But keep the foot on the gas and keep the pressure on them. Now, when you take it back, now they could perhaps resupply. They can do all sorts of things. But the other missing thing here is this also needs to come from within. We were told at the outset that the people would rise up, that we'd have some sort of, we'd foment some sort of rebellion. That remains to be seen, whether or not that's coming or what that even looks like.

1:18:23So look, I think the United States military has acted incredibly bravely, And I think they've done tremendous work. But now comes the hard part of the logistics of actually how to figure it out. But you talked about trust, right? Clearly, the Iranians can't be trusted. But the problem is, is that the American people don't trust Donald Trump or this administration on anything that they say, including the Iran war, because everything he talks about, everything he says is completely the opposite, you know, five minutes later, 10 minutes later, the next day. And so the American people have yet to understand why we went into this war.

1:18:57The majority of them didn't want it. It was a war of choice by Donald Trump. Meanwhile, they're trying to make ends meet. And so everything that they see Donald Trump doing is completely the opposite of what he promised in 24 and completely the opposite of what they are looking for him to do. So Jeff Flake, former Republican senator Jeff Flake of Arizona, obviously he's a Trump critic. He served as ambassador to Turkey to President Biden. And I don't think he necessarily has adopted democratic foreign policy views. He still sounds like a Republican, although critical of Trump. He said unequivocally, we are in worse shape now, the United States, than we were on February 27th before the war launched.

1:19:39And he was able to tick through a number of things, including the fact that the Iranians now know that they have this leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. And everything is about getting back to February 27th, not even about the nuclear deal. Yeah, I mean, look, I generally agree with that. I'm very much in favor of Iran regime change. I agree with you. All of this, none of this is going to change unless that regime goes. The problem is that the cost of trying to get rid of that regime now is higher than Donald Trump's political pain point. And the Iranians have a much higher tolerance for pain than the United States does.

1:20:13And they've convinced themselves, and I think they're right, that having sovereignty over basically a toll booth in the Strait of Hormuz is worth enduring a lot of pain. One of the things I think we're all missing, my friend Ken Pollack, who's at the Middle East Institute, is making this point to me on my podcast this week. One of the things that does not get a lot of coverage or a lot of attention is that the negotiations with the United States are not necessarily the most important negotiations. There are a lot of bilateral negotiations going under the radar between the Gulf states and Iran.

1:20:46cash is exchanging hands. And they have a vested interest in proving that the United States cannot protect those ships. And they are doing shakedown deals in the region that are sustaining the region. Oh, give us this amount of money and we'll bomb and we'll attack Jordan instead of country X, Y, or Z. Saudi ships until this Houthi attack had not really been attacked recently. And all of this stir up. We only have a few minutes left, but I know you went to the funeral today of Senator Lindsey Graham. And I wonder if you could like bring us inside there and also just talk about, you know, what you'll remember about him.

1:21:22Well, I thought it was a great celebration of his life. I thought the words of his niece, even the president and Sean Hannity had a lot of really great moments highlighting what made Lindsey Graham, Lindsey Graham. I don't think people who are overly online or who didn't know him in person get that unless you knew him and knew him well, I don't think you understood the essence of him, the love, the loyalty, the humor, the wit. Those are all things that I'll take away with me. And there was one, the pastor there from Seneca, who was the guest homiliest, had a little story about Lindsay checking in on him one Sunday that he didn't make it to church, just to say, how you doing?

1:22:04Are you good? Is your family good? And it was a small kindness that I've been on the receiving end of. I remember one time I was supposed to play with him in a foursome. I got booted for this executive from a company that shall not be named. And I didn't take offense to it until several more golf rounds to be had. But after I got word of that, he called me. He said, hey, T.W., I just want you to know I really appreciate you. And this has nothing to do with you. And I feel really bad about it. How are you doing? You're doing a great job. It's big for a senator to do. It's very rare and it's kind.

1:22:33And I'm blessed to have known him. I'm blessed to have been inspired by him. And I'm going to miss him. What do you think, Jonah? What are you thinking about when you think about him? Look, I think he's a very consequential senator. I think that he, you know, there are uncharitable views about how he wanted to stay in the mix and he needed to stay in the mix and all that kind of stuff. Which he would admit. Which he would totally admit. Yeah. Yeah. And at the same time, and those views can be stated with greater or lesser degrees of charity. At the same time, I think he sincerely and honestly wanted to make the world better as he saw it.

1:23:05And as much as he enjoyed being in the mix, it wasn't just to be in the mix. It was to be constructive and productive as a senator. Yeah. And he did work across the aisle a lot. I mean, he was consequential, not just in terms of his foreign policy views and having real relationships with people like Zelensky, but also working with Democrats. He did. And what I took out of this, not just at the funeral, but from the moment that he passed, is how many Democratic senators came out to say exactly that, that he was somebody that worked across the aisle. He was somebody that they could work with. He was hilarious.

1:23:40He always talked about people's personal lives, asked about their families. I remember the Gang of Eight, the immigration bill. He was critical in that. You know, we sadly couldn't take it across the finish line, but he was one who always talked about how this is something we needed to get done for the country. I'll just say that as a as a cub reporter covering John McCain's first presidential race in 1999, 2000 on the Straight Talk Express, there were a few of us that had a permanent birth. And it was when we were in South Carolina and there were these two little children congressmen, Mark Sanford and Lindsey Graham.

1:24:11There were very few people that endorsed John McCain in 99-2000. George W. Bush had a juggernaut. But they were the two, and they were a trip. That was a long time ago. I had a lot of mileage on the Stray Talk Express since then. But that was absolutely a joy. And did you work for him? I did. I was his communications director on his 2020 race. No better place than with Lindsey Graham on a campaign bus. Non-stop hilarity. He is a very funny guy. And we were just running clips of him in his last meeting with Zelensky. And you see, he's just the old Southern. And his personal story for people who don't know, his parents died when he was young, like 1920.

1:24:53He raised his sister, who now has the Senate seat. We're sending all our love to the family and friends of Senator Lindsey Graham today. Thank you so much for watching. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, ThreadsX, and on the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can follow the show on X and on Instagram at The Lead CNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. Thanks for watching. See you tomorrow.

1:25:22I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. Many times snoring may just be harmless, may not mean anything. but sometimes it can be an indication that there's a more serious health condition underlying all that something known as sleep apnea so this is a significant problem it's been a growing problem in the united states for a long time there's all sorts of strategies to try and deal with sleep apnea i want to talk about it with dr paul hoff he is an ent doctor ears nose and throat doctor who focuses on sleep what percentage of that 80 million know that they have sleep apnea about 20 percent.

1:26:01So they're really 80 percent of people are undiagnosed. So it's a huge population that's undiagnosed. 80 percent. That's a gigantic number. Yeah. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now wherever you get your podcasts.