Officials Still Probing Cause of Cyclosporiasis in Nine States

26:29But how are voters feeling about the race now? We're going to go live to the campaign trail ahead.

27:02Am I forgetting anything else? How about setting a calendar reminder for next year? Meta Glasses, available in more than 20 styles. International lead today marks exactly six months since Alex Preddy was killed. Alex Preddy is the VA intensive care nurse who was shot and killed by federal immigration officials in Minneapolis. is. His death coming just days after an ICE officer shot and killed Renee Good. This week, we here at The Lead brought you a special investigation called 18 Days in Minnesota with exclusive information examining the chaos and the lies and the cover-up surrounding those deaths, what was going on behind the scenes, why so many prosecutors resigned because of what they were being told to do by the Trump administration.

27:51We exclusively heard on camera For the very first time, Tom Calhoun Lopez, one of the federal prosecutors who resigned in protest over what he saw as unethical and immoral behavior and orders coming from the Trump Justice Department. Calhoun Lopez is a U.S. Army veteran. He said the Trump administration's Operation Metro Search in Minnesota, quote, had all the appearance and the mentality of a military occupation. He also dealt with cases before the shootings where immigration agents had claimed that they had been assaulted by protesters and they demanded arrests of those protesters. Law enforcement officers have a difficult job, and federal agents do their job very, very well.

28:30So it's important that prosecutors protect them where they can. And that means vindicating their rights if they're victims of assault. But I began to have concerns that agents were not being truthful. Making arrests with very little provocation, and then soon enough, no provocation. And even after that, I would learn that agents had instigated physical contact. And so they were arresting people not only who had committed no assault, but who had in fact been assaulted by federal agents. Six months later, federal agents lying about committing violence, still a major concern. The Trump administration's immigration enforcement policies criticized as overaggressive, unchanged, unarmed people who are not targets of those operations still being killed.

29:15Joining us now is the mayor of Minneapolis, Jacob Fry. Mary Fry, earlier this week, I spoke with two people who knew Alex Pareddy. One grew up with him. The other knew Alex is an ICU nurse at the VA who took care of her father, a veteran, in the hospital. Here's a little bit from those interviews. In particular, Alex's death, one of the former prosecutors said to me, that was a summary execution. And six months later, here we are, no charges, no explanation. What do you make of all that? And what is that like for you as somebody who cared about this person? It's absolutely unjust. I just am extremely appalled myself that this hasn't happened yet.

29:55The justice hasn't happened yet for either Renee Goethe or Alex. Mayor Frey, what's your reaction? She's absolutely right. We have not seen justice yet. Is it good progress that additional evidence is going to be handed over to our county attorney and the FBI is going to work at least a bit more with local officials. Yeah, that's progress, but let's be very real. We all saw with our own two eyes and through a video camera what exactly happened during the killing of Renee Good, the killing of Alex Preddy, the shooting of Julio Cesar Sosa, and the narrative that these federal agents were putting out was not one of the truth.

30:42They tried to call Renee Good a domestic terrorist. They said that the individual that was provocating what took place was Alex Preddy. They claimed that Julio Cesar Sosa had neighbors coming out that were beating up ICE agents with shovels. None of it was true. And without the videotapes, we would all be living a lie. And so I understand the frustration because we need to get justice for the families. We need to get justice for the loved ones of those that are deceased. And also, very importantly, we need to get justice because it needs to be clear that you can't do this again. So whether it takes six months or several years to get justice, we need to make sure that other agents that are operating outside of the Constitution and outside the law understand that if they go down that route, that there are consequences.

31:36And by the way, that is the same no matter who you are. It should not matter whether you're a local police officer or a federal agent, mayor of Minneapolis, the president of the United States. We're all subject to the law and the Constitution. As you note, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty announced a few days ago that the Trump administration finally handed over evidence they withheld in the shootings of Good and Pretty. Here's some of what she told us that day. We feel really good about the fact that we appear to have most, if not all, of the evidence. We will be able to invest or thoroughly look at what we have and make a charging decision at some point here.

32:16There have been no federal charges filed in either shooting of either Renee Good or Alex Preddy or an announcement that they aren't, you know, that the shooting, for example, by Ice Agent Jonathan Ross of Renee Good, you know, there could be a finding that clears him. We've heard nothing. Is there going to be a local, it sounds like there's going to be a local investigation. Do you anticipate how quickly there will be a decision there? And do you think we're ever going to hear anything from the federal government? I can't tell you what we're going to hear from the federal government. And I can't give you a timeline as to when the DA or, in this case, county attorney will ultimately make a decision on charging.

33:05That being said, the way this should work is an investigation is conducted. You've got the federal partners working directly with local officials. You've got transparency, at least, internally as to the evidence. And then you make a call. And sometimes it's a call to prosecute and to have a charge that is issued. Sometimes it's not. But I think it's good progress, again, to have all of the evidence that is turned over, and it can't come soon enough. So one of the reasons that we wanted to go back and look at what was going on behind the scenes in Minnesota during the month of January on this six-month anniversary of the death of Prattie and earlier this month of Renee Good is because there's so many crises in this country that reporters cover something and then a day later there's another outrage, another big story to cover.

33:59And it does feel as though the news media and also to a degree the national public had moved on. Not that they didn't care, not that we didn't care, but there was just newer things that happened. When I was in Minnesota covering the story, I could tell Minnesota has not moved on.

34:22Well, I think what you're referencing in terms of tactics from the Trump administration is something called muzzle velocity. And it's just pumping as many crises, BS, public narratives out there as he possibly can and recognizing that it will be difficult for the media or anybody else to fully latch on to any single incident. That's why it's so important that you don't just cover things when they're hot, but to your credit, Jake, you come back and see how everything is going. And, you know, there are multiple truths here. It is a truth that our city is resilient and tough and gritty. And hey, we're coming back big time.

35:02And for those of you that want to support the tens of thousands of Minneapolis residents that stood up and peacefully protested or dropped off groceries for those that were terrified to go outside. One of the big ways to thank them, come to Minneapolis. It's beautiful out right now. I mean, we're talking 80 degrees. It's a city of lakes. You can have a ball and go to an award-winning restaurant and, by the way, help out a lot of these Latino and Somali-owned businesses at the same time. So you can help by coming here. And at the same time, Yeah, you're right. There are tales to a federal invasion like we experienced.

35:39People feel that for the long haul. There's trauma associated with it. There are mental health issues. There's upwards of$700 million worth of damages, real damages to small and local businesses, to large businesses, to hotels, to people throughout our city. And so have we felt that impact? Yeah, absolutely. The most shocking and disgusting part of all of it is that, you know, crises happen. Emergencies take place. But usually those crises and emergencies are not instigated by our own government. That's the part that is the most frustrating. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Fry, thanks for joining us on this solemn anniversary of the death of Alex Preddy, a VA nurse.

36:28Thank you. Breaking news. Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery have agreed to delay their Hollywood mega merger in the wake of a pair of lawsuits. So is the deal now in jeopardy? California Attorney General Rob Bonta joins us ahead to react to his legal victory.

36:52Politics now. Tomorrow, Maine Democrats will officially select their Senate nominee in their bid to unseat Republican incumbent Susan Collins. Former state Senator Troy Jackson appears likely to replace the scandal-plagued campaign of Graham Plattner. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Maine with this look at how Democrats feel about the race with roughly only 100 days or so until Election Day. So just looking around at some of these signs here, I'm struck by just obviously this sign of how quickly things have changed. I mean, he was running for governor. There's a Graham Plattner sign. I mean, I mean, things have changed dramatically here.

37:33How do you think voters have processed all this? I'd say whiplash. It's been a roller coaster. That roller coaster could determine control of the U.S. Senate, as one of the most consequential races of the year is set to start over 100 days before the midterm elections. This weekend, Maine Democrats are selecting a new candidate to try what others have been unable to do for three decades, defeat Republican Senator Susan Collins. My name is Troy Jackson. I'm a fifth-generation logger from Allagash, a card-carrying union member,

38:08and the former president of the main Senate. One of the most picturesque summertime states in the country has endured one of the messiest Senate races in memory, with Troy Jackson set to replace Graham Plattner, whose campaign imploded after months of controversy. We're not from the left. We're not from the right. We're from the bottom. And we are rising. Jackson is a logger from the Northwoods of Maine, who found his way into politics nearly a quarter century ago. He came up short in the June primary for governor, but he quickly coalesced support as Democrats scrambled to find a new Senate candidate.

38:46We're not just voting for Troy. We love Troy. We respect Troy. But this is a vote for all of us. This is a vote for the issues that we care about for health care, for child care. His long record now faces fresh scrutiny, including a conservative to progressive evolution on same-sex marriage and abortion rights. Crystal Lapham, a volunteer organizer for Plattner, says she trusts Jackson and is all in for his campaign. Do you like Troy Jackson? I think in many ways, Troy is kind of the original in the state of Maine. The original kind of political outsider fighting for a different type of government that works differently for Mainers.

39:27But he's been an elected official for a couple decades. Yeah, at the state level, which is very different than at the federal level. There are still signs here of the Senate race that might have been. amid questions about whether Democrats are united as they work to win over independent voters and turn the focus back to Collins. There is such an appetite to send her back home and put someone new down there that I think that's going to go a long way towards galvanizing folks. Dan Kleban is the co-founder of Maine Beer Company. He ran for Senate last year, dropped out, and jumped back in after Plattner's collapse.

40:05He said meddling from Democrats outside Maine hurt their goal. Everybody up here on the Democratic side wishes that this primary didn't play out the way that it did. And I hope we learned our lesson so we don't do it again. Now, Jake, talking to so many voters here, one Democrat described this as disorienting, having so many different candidates, but now they do believe the race is on. But Senator Susan Collins has had a very easy summer. The question hanging over all of this is if Democrats can make the fall about her record. Of course, she's running for a sixth term in the U.S. Senate. She once promised she would only serve 12 years in the U.S.

40:44Senate. That was a long time ago, but she said she brings a lot of things back here to Maine. The question tomorrow after the convention is 100 days enough to prosecute a case against her. Jake? All right, Jeff Zeleny in Maine. Thanks so much. Sources tell CNN that President Trump met with top advisors today to discuss escalating military action against Iran. What would that look like? How soon could it start? That's next.

41:14Welcome to The Late. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Trump claims Iran is getting, quote, more serious about negotiations, but sources say the president also met with top aides and advisors earlier today to discuss possible military escalations against the country. So where exactly does this war stand after 13 straight nights of strikes? Plus, breaking news, the New York Times with new reporting about what the Times calls a credible threat that forced President Trump to switch to the old Air Force One in Turkey a few weeks ago. One of the reporters breaking the story joins us live in minutes.

41:47Also, the Trump administration is now admitting it canceled billions of dollars in grants to states simply because those were states that did not vote for him in 2024. That's also according to a report in the New York Times. We're going to dig into those details. And one of the greatest players of all time is headed to the city of brotherly love, LeBron James, announcing he's signing with the Philadelphia 76ers. And the reporter who broke the news joins me live to talk about the deal ahead.

42:19The lead tonight, right now, Iranians bracing for a 14th consecutive night of U.S. strikes this afternoon. President Trump was pressed on his exit strategy. Here's how he responded. There's a military exit where we just keep going just the way we are and we can even make it a heavier dose and it's knocking out everything they have. Or there's a smarter strategy that you make a deal and they want to make a deal. I just don't think they're ready yet. Earlier today in Iran, officials there say the military continued its attacks on U.S. positions and U.S. assets in the region, while Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait's military say They downed multiple Iranian drones and missiles.

43:01Also today, President Trump said he does not think that China and Russia are enabling Iran, despite his defense secretary suggesting that earlier this week. Here's Trump this afternoon. I will tell you that President Xi said he will not partake, and President Putin said the same thing. I think, you know, I trust them. I don't think they'd want to have me disappointed. He trusts President Xi and he trusts President Putin. Interesting. CNN's Kristen Holmes is in D.C. where President Trump is about to head to the White House Correspondents Association dinner. And Kristen, you have some new reporting about Trump's options with this war.

43:42That's right, Jake. We have learned that President Trump met with top advisers as well as cabinet officials over the potential for escalating this war in Iran. But when talking to reporters, the president indicated that no final decision had been made yet. He made a decision about the major strikes that you were referring to. Okay. Should we expect to see major strikes? Look, we're talking to them right now. I think they're getting more and more serious as the days go by for maybe the obvious reason. But we are talking to them right now. Look, there are two ways. I consider that the smarter way, but the other is probably the easier way.

44:21doing what we're doing. And we can take that to a much higher level if we want to. You know, we're prepared to do that, as you know. We're locked and loaded.

44:32And this idea of these multiple exit strategies, one being military, one being diplomatic, it really shows you the crossroads that President Trump is at. Now, certainly, when it comes to military, we've seen them preparing for some kind of escalation. We saw the fighter jets going in. We know medics have been sent to that Air Force base in Germany. But when I talk to U.S. officials, specifically inside the White House, there is very little appetite for any kind of military escalation. They want to be done with this war. Now, of course, that doesn't mean that the war is not going to escalate, because again, there are a lot of questions as to how President Trump gets out of this current impasse, particularly because intel is showing that the current level of strikes is not going to move the Iranians in terms of their negotiating posture.

45:15And, Kristen, you also have reporting on the Saudi nuclear deal that Trump had talked about a few days ago, much to the chagrin of allies and Republicans on Capitol Hill. Today, President Trump said his energy department didn't get out ahead of him when announcing the deal without, when they announced that they did not mention any condition that Saudi Arabia had to normalize relations with Israel first. Then the president, after he was criticized, talked about, oh, no, of course they have to, that's a condition of it. What are your sources telling you? Well, not only after he was criticized, after he watched conservative media criticizing the deal, specifically Fox News, the Wall Street Journal opinion page, which said how could he have this deal that Chris Wright had announced without asking for some sort of normalization and said that President Biden had been also seeking actual normalization here.

46:08That enraged President Trump. The other part of this is that while he did say that the energy secretary did not get out in front of him, he also later was asked very specifically if Chris Wright had permission to sign this. Did President Trump know he was going to sign it? And he said that the two of them hadn't talked about it. Now, I was told that this led to a lot of anger from President Trump because he did not believe, and neither did other White House officials, that this deal was finalized. And to be clear, it's not as though from any of these sources that he was always going to add this condition of the Abraham Accords.

46:38That appeared to have come later from all this criticism from conservative media. But instead, it was that President Trump himself wanted to unveil whatever the deal was. And the White House and these certain officials, these sources, has told me that the White House did not realize and had specifically told the Department of Energy not to do the rollout on that Wednesday, which, of course, now we know led to an enormous amount of confusion when President Trump came out and added this condition at the last minute. Kristen Holmes, thanks so much. Joining us now, CNN National Security Analyst Alex Plitzes.

47:08Alex, President Trump keeps saying that the Iranians make a deal, but it's not as good a deal as he thinks that they should offer. It seems this bombing campaign is intensifying. What is your read of the situation and the degree to which there actually is some sort of exit strategy? So my understanding right now is that there is a delegation from Oman in Tehran trying to get a final last minute, last ditch effort taken care of for the Strait of Hormuz, because Because that's really the central focus point. So if that doesn't work itself out and they can't find a diplomatic off-ramp here for the disagreement over the control of the strait, the military strategy at this point is to treat or degrade Iranian military capabilities along the strait and potentially infrastructure targets or other military targets inside of Iran in the hopes of bringing Iran back to the table.

47:54The total number of U.S. service members killed in the Iran war was reduced on the Pentagon's casualty database. It was 18, then it was changed to 14. There was four service members returned to the U.S. in a dignified transfer this week. The Pentagon says that they're working on fixing it. This is just a glitch. The New York Times says that three military officials told them that the four most recently killed inaction service members were removed, quote, because their deaths occurred after President Trump declared a ceasefire in the war in April. What's your take on this?

48:32So administratively, that's the problem is that they declared a ceasefire. Operation Epic Fury is technically over as a result of that. The troops are still in harm's way and they haven't left. And the hostilities were still ongoing on and off throughout the ceasefire. And so those casualties were then shifted under other operational names that were going on in the region, largely going back to the War Powers Act, where the president has up to 60 days at that point. And then if there's no resolution of Congress, he's supposed to withdraw. And when they had the ceasefire, they said, look, at that point, we don't need to do anything.

49:00We're within our time limit. Hostilities are over. If they were to recommence, it would be under a new military operation. So this appears to be administrative shuffling relating back to the War Powers Act with four dead troops caught in the middle who sacrificed their lives on behalf of the country. The Saudis just confirmed they carried out airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. This war does seem to be expanding by the day. I can tell you, I think we can break some news here regarding to that right now. Now, sources are telling me that the Saudis have made a decision that they are going to seriously escalate the military operations inside of Yemen, that they have had enough and that the Houthis' latest attacks on the ships were the final straw, that there is going to be a sustained and increased long-term campaign against the Houthis that has been green-lighted and for the first time was actually coordinated.

49:44If you recall previously, there wasn't coordination with the U.S. There were some sanctions as a result of that. But I'm told that Europeans, Gulf allies in the United States were consulted and that a decision has been made to escalate that significantly and to punish the Houthis for what they have done at this point. President Trump says that Chinese leaders, Xi Jinping, and Russian leader Vladimir Putin have personally assured him that they never would supply Iran with any help in this war, any weapons that seem to be a different answer from the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, earlier this week.

50:14You've worked in intel and defense contracting spaces. Do you believe what Putin and Xi have told President Trump and should he trust what they tell him? Absolutely not, because the Chinese have provided missile technologies over to the Iranians. They've also helped them with swarm technologies, advanced technologies that weren't yet known to be available on the battlefield that have been used against U.S. aircraft. They have absolutely been involved in providing lethal aid that has been used against U.S. forces in the region. So the president's language was careful. It seemed to be forward facing in terms of providing further support, because I think they were warned very clearly behind closed doors.

50:48But it is clear at this point that the Iranians have received intelligence support from the Russians, and they've received lethal aid as well. And advanced Shahid drones at that point were also provided. So absolutely support the background without question. Alex Plitzis, thanks so much. Always good to see you. Breaking news in our world league. Remember that presidential plane swap after Trump left the NATO conference in Turkey earlier this month? He went back on the old Air Force One instead of the new one that was a gift from Qatar. Well, the New York Times has some breaking news about why that swap happened.

51:20U.S. officials believe there was a credible threat from Iranian proxy forces, the Times reports, possibly planning to target President Trump and Air Force One. We should note sources previously told CNN and the New York Times that there was no specific new threat to Trump's life. Joining us now, Julian Barnes, one of the reporters who broke this story, which seems to have caught the ire of the administration. And Julian, we should remind our viewers, you were subpoenaed for the New York Times original reporting on the plane swap. Tell us more about what you and your colleagues are breaking right now, the new report.

51:52So, Jake, you kind of teed it up right. We had initially reported and others had reported it was a very generalized threat as the Iran war was heating up again as President Trump was in Turkey. But we learned that U.S. intelligence got information that there were Iranian proxies in Turkey that were discussing an attack on President Trump and Air Force One. It was considered credible enough that the Secret Service pushed for the change of planes. And, you know, as we know, the plane provided by Qatar was upgraded relatively quickly. It doesn't have the same missile defenses that the old Air Force One has.

52:41So if you were in a situation where you had new intelligence about a threat, it seems very logical that you would press to get the president on a more well-equipped, a more defensible plane. Initially, the president had this cockamamie story about letting people have a tour of the new plane while he went home on the old one. And then he went on, he and the White House, vehemently denying your reporting on the threat. Why do you think he did that? You know, this plane is very important to President Trump, right? Planes in general are important to President Trump, and he's paid a lot of attention to He takes a lot of pride in this new plane.

53:25And, you know, he wanted to fly it, fly it back. And, you know, he, you know, when pressed, you know, there was he started talking about threats against him later. So they sort of came cleaner than they did in the beginning. Like that was clearly a strange excuse to show it off to the troops in the United Kingdom. I don't think there were very many people who read that when he posted that on Truth Social and took that at face value. On the case against you, the shocking subpoenas against you and your colleagues for the National Security leak that they alleged. Today, Trump said he wasn't going after journalists.

54:09He was going after the leakers. What do you make of that? Well, look, I think the New York Times' lawyers showed the judge in a New York courtroom yesterday very clearly that the Department of Justice did not follow their own procedures, right? They are not supposed to go after the reporters as a first step. But the available evidence was that that's just what they did. That's what the judge found yesterday. And he forced the government to withdraw these subpoenas. And that was the right call. Look, Jake, you know, you at CNN are doing the same thing we are doing at The New York Times, which is pursuing independent journalism, looking to get out true facts to the public.

55:00And that requires journalists being able to speak confidentially to sources. And when you try to subpoena sources, it is an attack on the when you try to subpoena reporters, it's an attack on the First Amendment. So the courts did the right thing yesterday when they forced the government to withdraw these subpoenas. Yeah, there's a lot of evidence that President Trump does not respect the right of the free press or the right of free speech. Julian Barnes, thanks so much. Appreciate your presence here and appreciate your reporting. After months of back-channeling, lobbying, private meetings, today Democrats officially decided which states are going to get to vote first in their primary and caucuses in 2028.

55:42So who prevailed? And what does that mean for their efforts to retake the White House? Our panel weighs in next.

55:58In our Politics Lead, everyone's talking about LeBron James' move to the Philadelphia 76ers today, which means, of course, that President Trump is also talking about it. Here's what the president said in the Oval Office today when asked to weigh in on the age-old question. Who's the better player, Michael Jordan or LeBron James? Well, Michael Jordan's a guy that's a friend of mine, playing golf with him. He's a really good guy. And I think LeBron is, maybe he's a racist, but maybe he doesn't like Trump. I don't know. But I only like people that like me. Oh, boy. I have no idea what he's talking about, the racist thing.

56:38I think it's probably true that LeBron James doesn't like President Trump. Anyway, here's our panel. So Chris Gallant, he's a Democrat running for New York's first congressional district on the eastern end of Long Island. Ashley Davis, a former Homeland Security official during the George W. Bush administration. Ashley, how is... I knew you were going to me. First of all, are you excited he's coming to Philly? I'm so excited. Look, it's not even basketball season. I got my mug up. Yes, we're very excited. Maybe I was 14 when we last won a championship. Anyway, I digress. Well, no, but I do have to say my son called me at work today, got me out of a meeting.

57:08I'm like, oh, my God, something's wrong. And he's like, no, LeBron's going to the 76ers. He's so excited. He said you guys are going to win. Well, we'll see. We'll see. But I don't know why he's saying this. Obviously, this is something that he said, like, in 2022 or something. originally he called him a racist and obviously it's coming back but i i can't explain it i assume you're a nick fan but but separately what do you make of a definitely a nick's fan congratulations yeah well so you know we did we got the one this year so it's a very good uh enjoy it while you can so but but uh what trump calling uh lebron a racist as his first reaction to this huge news that is like you know it's not just philadelphians are excited it's just it's cool it's fun uh you know this is just typical it's he's always just knee-jerk reaction to a lot of things and it's a It's always a distraction.

57:50And it always turns into something that we can talk about. So he's also escalating this fight over history and who gets to tell history. We reported a few weeks ago about what they're doing to the president's house in Philadelphia, the Independence Mall. Today, The New York Times is breaking this story about what's going on at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. He signed an executive order, the president, calling on the museum to, quote, install temporary signage near the museum, informing visitors of the findings of the report. That's his report. And directing visitors to accurate information regarding America's history.

58:29This move follows a recent report from the White House about the American History Museum. The report said, quote, the Smithsonian and museum leadership have directed the museum's mission away from historical education and scholarship of a shared national inheritance to be celebrated. and toward extreme political activism rooted in Marxism to divide the spirit and discourage Americans. It went on to say, quote, the report demonstrates that the Smithsonian cannot be trusted to tell America's story honestly. Ashley. Look, I'm going to actually stick up for him on this one because I think a lot of the institutions, and I'm on a board of a bunch of them here in D.C., and the Smithsonian's run by taxpayer money, it did go to extremes, not just about our history, But we went through a lot of processes during, you know, after COVID and kind of that time that divided America.

59:16So we do need to kind of go back to the facts. But we I you know, he's picking this fight. The director was in front of the House Republicans today. This is a little bit reminds me of the college education situation. Look, I mean, this is a distraction and we should be focused on what's going on here at home. You can't rewrite history. This has never been a problem before in these museums. And it's, again, Donald Trump loves to distract. We need to be focused on things here back at home. I mean, we have an affordability crisis. We have a war that's going on, or, I mean, whether it's defined as a war or not yet.

59:53But these are the issues that American people are talking about. It's not the issues that whether Smithsonian Institute has things that might be, well, whatever Donald Trump was calling it at that point. But, you know, you cannot rewrite history. And this is what this administration is attempting to do. I think some of the issues, just I've covered this. So some of the issues that the Smithsonian have to do with how the history is told. I'll just give you one example. There is a Statue of Liberty, a statue that is portraying the Statue of Liberty as, I think, an undocumented immigrant. It's obviously an artistic interpretation.

1:00:33obviously it's a progressive view, et cetera, et cetera. And that's what you're talking about. Yeah, no, some of these institutions have gone extremely left. And you're right. I mean, this never was an issue, but it did become an issue during Biden. And actually during the first Trump administration, which is when the country, or a lot of the country swung so far left, and then you saw it swing so far right, and then we'll probably... But can I also say that they also don't like the fact, The Trump people don't like the fact that the Smithsonian mentions that our founding fathers, a lot of them owned slaves.

1:01:05I mean, that's one of the other things. So there's a degree of ideology. There's also a degree of whitewashing that they're trying to do. I mean, we should really be looking at our history and learning from it rather than trying to, you know, wash it away. Because if we can learn from our mistakes and the things that we've done in the past, then we can maybe grow as a country and do better in the future. So the New York Times is reporting that the Trump administration admitted, Department of Energy officials specifically admitted that billions of dollars in federal grants were cut because those funds were supposed to go to blue states, states that did not vote for Trump in 2024.

1:01:42And these documents, administration officials say those decisions were, quote, based solely on the political identity of the grant recipient state, i.e. whether the recipient's location and or place of performance was in a blue state or a non-blue state. I have to say, like, I am pretty shocked by that. Chris? Well, I mean, we continue to attack blue states all the time with this administration right now. I mean, look at whether it's ICE as an issue or, you know, whether it's the... Just taking away federal funding from anyone, whether it's a blue state or a red state or whether they voted for someone or they didn't, you're still affecting everyday Americans.

1:02:19You're affecting them all equally. So if you're taking money away from a blue state or a state that didn't vote for Trump, there are people in that state that voted for Trump and you're affecting them as well. It's never too soon to talk about 2028. Today, a key DNC panel selected South Carolina as the likely state to hold on to its first in the nation Democratic presidential nominating contest in 2028. Obviously, this happened, Ashley, during the Biden years because he lost Iowa and he lost New Hampshire and then he won South Carolina. Do you think the DNC made the right call by sticking with it as the first one?

1:02:55There's a couple of things. I was actually saw Debbie Dingell this morning. He was on the panel or on the rules committee that did this. And I think that the South Carolina being the first state for the Democrats actually helps a more mainstream Democrat get momentum through that first. And Nevada is not extreme left either in regards to a Democrat state. So I think those first two states help the so-called establishment Democrat candidate than it would like an AOC or someone else. But if they want to have it there, great. I mean, it doesn't matter. Obviously, it's over different issues. Well, I think the fact of the matter is that candidates are going to run wherever they're going to run.

1:03:35So as the president, they're going to run and they're going to run based off of their issues. And no matter what state they start in is really where things are going to focus on. As long as they come up with really clear policies and really good ideas, I think the American people can get on board regardless of where the vote starts. What's interesting to me is this$267 ,000 fine. There's a fine. If your state goes out of order after this is voted on, then you get fined$267 ,000. It's new. Yeah. Interesting. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Speaking a little LeBron, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who is from right outside Philly.

1:04:07He officially declared today LeBron James Day in the Commonwealth after the king announced he is heading to the Philadelphia 76ers. What this means for my hometown team's chances at a title that's ahead.

1:04:26Our health lead now for an upcoming report on CNN's The Whole Story on Sunday night. I met with former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse. You might know he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer last December, told he only had three or four months to live. He is still alive. He's spending the time with his family, especially his 15-year-old son, Breck. I recently joined them during their annual trip to the College World Series. Hey, Breck, Jake Tapper. This is Ben's son, Breck, back at the ballpark together. They've attended the College World Series for Breck's entire life. They're giving each other a hard time, just like most teens and their dads.

1:05:03This time, it's about Ben's taste in music. You're a little different. How is he different? I don't know. He's just, like, if Lady Gaga comes on in the car, he won't change it. She's pretty talented. That's not true. She's pretty talented. We're going to fight now.

1:05:25I was reluctant to ask Breck about the fact that his dad is dying. I can't imagine being that dad or that boy. But Ben said it was okay to ask. So, just, it must be pretty special coming to us with your dad today. Absolutely, yeah. Just given the challenges he's facing and the way he's facing them. Yep. It's, I love coming out here. This is one of the favorite places for me to hang out to. He seems like a pretty great dad. Most of the time. Most of the time? Most of the time? All right. Thank you, sir. Most of the time. Thanks, Breck. I appreciate it. Nice to meet you. My conversation with Ben Sasse, his wife Melissa, their son Breck, and more is the feature on this weekend's episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper.

1:06:13Look for that Sunday night at 8 p.m. Eastern here on CNN, and then you can watch it the next day on the CNN app. Coming up next, a new installment in our Dead in the Water series. Digging into an in-depth report just released today, making the case that the deadly boat strikes by the Pentagon should stop.

1:06:46We're back with our world lead in our continuing series, Dead in the Water. wherein we track the U.S. campaign of strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Looking at exactly whom these strikes have killed and whether the strikes are even legal, the Trump administration has bragged about killing more than 200 what they call narco-terrorists. The Trump administration has failed to ever produce any evidence that any of these people are guilty of anything, especially drug, including drug trafficking. Today, a human rights organization, the Washington Office on Latin America, or WOLA, released a sprawling report into the strikes.

1:07:24This report is called Killing Spree. The author of the report and director of defense oversight at WOLA, Adam Isaacson, joins us now. Adam, thanks for being here. So you say the frequency of these strikes has made Americans go numb to them, but you maintain that the Trump administration is murdering people, some of whom have no connection to the drug trade. Your report suggests certain avenues for accountability for these killings. What accountability do you think would be most effective or realistic? Well, I mean, the most effective would be go to the U.S. criminal court system. Basically, you have here violated with this policy Section 1111 of Title 18 of U.S.

1:08:02Code, which prohibits murder. These are cases of murder of people who premeditatedly were killed without even knowing who they were, without due process. However, there are a host of reasons, from the presidential pardon power to secret memos out of the Justice Department that could make that hard to do. There's still the possibility of litigation. Victims' families maybe could sue in the United States. Foreign courts could try to try U.S. officials because their citizens were killed by U.S. policies. There's international options. But it's going to be hard. It's going to be an uphill fight to get any accountability for these killings.

1:08:39So I'm sure that some of these people are drug traffickers, you know, and I don't think you would you would dispute with that. But I don't know who and I don't know what. And we've interviewed we interviewed a lawyer for a family in Trinidad and Tobago who said that their loved one was just a fisherman. We had the lead. We asked the Pentagon Pentagon Press Office a few direct questions yesterday and today. One, can you provide any evidence that these boats were carrying drugs? If so, what kind? How much? Two, can you provide specific evidence proving the people on the boats were drug traffickers?

1:09:11Three, if you're not able to provide this evidence because you say it's classified, why is it still classified? I mean, days after bin Laden was killed, we knew how that whole operation went down. They responded saying, quote, for operation security reasons, we do not comment on intelligence matters. The department is full confidence in the operational intelligence professionals who inform our missions. Every narco-terrorist killed in Department of War operations, that's what they call the Pentagon, was an affiliated member of a designated terrorist organization actively transporting illicit material along known trafficking routes in international waters, unquote.

1:09:46What's your response? And is it not at least odd that they're not providing any evidence at all? It's enraging that they're not providing any evidence at all. Because what we know about some of the victims is that they didn't have anything to do with it. The Trinidadians referred to were in Venezuela working on a farm. They'd been waiting for weeks to get passage back on a boat to Trinidad, and finally did, and the boat was blown out of the water. There are cases of bus drivers, fishermen. Yeah, there were people who maybe have been low-level drug couriers, but otherwise, no. So a few things we know about the Defense Department's incredibly squishy targeting.

1:10:24First of all, there's a secret list of terrorist groups. Apparently 24 of them, we don't even know really, that the Defense Department has added to this list. They're criminal groups, but this administration is calling them terrorists. Now, the people aboard these boats don't have to be card-carrying members of those groups. They can be affiliates, which is an incredibly squishy term. It may even mean three degrees of separation from the terrorist group, which could just be your neighbor or something like that. Also, there's no sense that the DOD has basically acknowledged in briefings with Congress that they don't even know the identities of everybody on these boats.

1:11:00Quite often, they don't know any of them. So they're going by just sort of life patterns and signatures and, oh, this guy was seen with that guy, and therefore we're going to knock out this boat. It seems to be really weak and really subject to confirmation bias. And ultimately, yeah, I think there's a very high probability we're killing a lot of people that had nothing to do with the drug trade. Or if they were, they were low-level couriers. All right, Adam Isaacson, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Coming up next, a mega update in that mega merger, the deal between Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery, which is the parent company of CNN.

1:11:32That deal has now been paused for months after lawsuits challenging the agreement. One of the attorneys leading that lawsuit, an attorney general, in fact, joins us next to react.

1:11:49Some breaking news in our money lead. The blockbuster Hollywood mega merger between Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery, which is the parent company of CNN, is now delayed. Both Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery agreed to push the combination off after a pair of lawsuits challenging the deal. As I said, we should note, Warner Brothers Discovery is the parent company of CNN. Here to break it down is CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter. So, Brian, why is Paramount agreeing to this delay? And does this mean that the deal is now in any sort of jeopardy? Well, Paramount's agreeing to the delay because it faced legal setbacks in the past two weeks.

1:12:25First, a coalition of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit. Then the judge overseeing the suit sided with those states and put a restraining order in place. Paramount lawyers concluded that the states would probably also win in the next stage, the preliminary injunction stage. And that would mean a judge would block the deal for months until a bench trial is held. So Paramount is saying, let's skip the injunction fight. Let's get right to a trial. Paramount wants to move quickly because this deal gets more expensive for Paramount starting in October. But there's no way there's going to be a trial before then.

1:12:56Now, here's what a Paramount spokesperson is saying this afternoon. Quote, the plaintiffs, the states, the way they're defining the markets, bears no relationship to the realities of today's marketplace and cannot withstand scrutiny. So we look forward to proving our case at trial. So Paramount's saying they're going to bring up experts, they're going to bring out evidence, and they eventually will win. If Paramount does not win during a trial, then they're going to go to an appeals court and go along into 2027. But, Jake, this is a major setback for Paramount. They wanted to complete the merger this week and take control of CNN today.

1:13:26Now this will be delayed for many months and likely into 2027. All right, Brian Stelter, thanks so much. Here to discuss is California's Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, who's leading this lawsuit from 12 states, challenging the Paramount takeover of Warner Brothers discovery. General Bonta, thanks for joining us. So Paramount says this delay is a significant win because it allows them to get this case to trial sooner. When is the soonest that you and the other states are going to be ready for trial?

1:13:57Well, let me just say this is a significant setback for Paramount and Warner Brothers. Obviously, it's a major development in the case in the favor of the states. and this is what we always sought, a block of the merger until a judge, the court, could decide on the legality of our case. And so we have that now. What we've got today is the functional equivalent of a preliminary injunction. They didn't even try to oppose it. They didn't argue it in front of a judge. They didn't try to concede it. So far from a major victory for them. It's a major setback. Trial will be decided by the judge. We're going to make a request for when we think trial should be.

1:14:36Paramount Warner Brothers will make a request for when they think trial should be. We are likely to make a request to have trial in 2027, which is very appropriate based on the expert discovery that needs to happen, the fact discovery that needs to happen before a trial can and should go forward. The process of discovery you just referenced, is there something you're hoping to learn during the process?

1:15:01Yeah, we always want to learn more. We did some pre-litigation discovery, but it was limited and there's more to do. We want to talk to employees. We want to talk to others in the entertainment industry. We want to depose their expert who seems to have a certain theory of the case. We want to probe. We want to ask questions. We want to test those theories. And so that all needs to happen, and that could lead to additional facts and information that support our already very strong case that the judge has already issued an order in our favor on with respect to the temporary restraining order. And we think that will make our case even stronger as we go to trial, hopefully, if we have, if our request is granted in 2027.

1:15:46What's your basic pitch to our viewers right now as to, or just to the public, why you think this deal should not happen? This is a classic example of a merger that leads to a monopoly, that leads to the substantial lessening of competition and impacts on your viewers, on the American people, on the people of California. It will raise their prices. It will raise their prices for cable bills, for satellite bills, to go to the movies. It shouldn't break the bank to watch your favorite TV show on the couch or go to the movies on a Friday night. It will raise your costs. It will also hurt workers.

1:16:24It'll cut jobs, lead to job cuts and lower wages for workers. It will reduce the quality of what you see. You will pay more as an American consumer for less. You will have less diversity of films, less volume of films and TV series, less quality. The quality will erode. Those are all things that we've seen in the past. History shows that that will happen. And so this is an everyday issue about affordability. Americans are screaming that their lives are too expensive, whether it be housing, health care, grass or groceries. And this merger, if it is allowed to go through and it shouldn't because it's illegal, will raise your costs even further.

1:16:58We can't have so much power in the hands of so few. We know what happens when that occurs. We get a rigged economy instead of a free and fair economy. We know that we shouldn't have any kings or oligarchs in the economy. We need to have a free and fair economy that's open to competition where quality, not cheating or being rigged, makes you prevail. California's Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta, thanks so much. Appreciate it. We're ending the week on a high note as the king, LeBron James, says he wants to bring a championship to my hometown, Philadelphia. What are the odds that this is going to happen?

1:17:30Well, the man who broke the news of LeBron's big move to the 76ers joins us live to weigh in. That's next.

1:17:43Huge news today in the Sports League. LeBron James is taking his talents to the Philadelphia 76ers. He is inking a two-year,$8 million contract with a player option, according to ESPN. The four-time MVP left the Lakers in June after eight years, multiple records, one ring, leaving fans buzzing about where he would land for what he says is his last decision. ESPN NBA senior insider Shams Sharaniah joins us now, who broke the story. Shams, fans thought LeBron would likely be heading back to his hometown of Cleveland or maybe back to Miami, maybe even to the Warriors. But he said in his post today, quote, I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship team.

1:18:23And I'm so excited to energize a new fan base and start this incredible journey one last time. Unquote. What are you learning about why he picked Philly over some of these other cities? Jake, LeBron James put his money where his mouth is because from the onset of this process, he wanted to go somewhere where he felt he would have the best chance to compete for a championship, compete at a high level, be a part of a winning culture. And he chose the Sixers over the Cavaliers, the Heat, the Warriors. And he felt that with Jalen Brown aboard, that's when all of this changed, right? Jake, when your Sixers went out and traded for Jalen Brown out of nowhere, they got on LeBron's radar.

1:19:04They got on the map. They were not on LeBron James' list before. The Sixers traded for Jalen Brown a couple days after LeBron James made the decision to part ways with the Lakers. They go get Jalen Brown. That puts them on the map. And then from there, it was a full-on pursuit that they had. Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid have close relationships with LeBron. They recruited him. Nick Nurse, your Sixers head coach, was the only head coach that LeBron James, I'm told, spoke to during this process. And how about Bob Myers? He's the president of Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment, which owns the Philadelphia 76ers.

1:19:38Ten years ago, Jake, he went out and got Kevin Durant's commitment, which changed the landscape of the NBA for the Warriors. Now, 10 years later, he gets another one of the goats of the NBA in LeBron James. And LeBron James felt like the Sixers were that team to potentially win a championship next year over anyone else on his radar. He did not clearly want to play in the Western Conference. It was about going out east now. And the last hurdle this week, Jake, was getting his family on board. He's got his wife, Savannah, his youngest daughter, young daughter, Zuri, in L.A., as well as Bronny James, one of his younger sons in L.A.

1:20:14Bryce James, his youngest son, is at Arizona playing basketball there. They're all on the West Coast, so getting their sign-off, getting them on board to go to the East Coast, where he could commute from New York, could commute from Jersey. We'll see what that looks like. But LeBron James to the Sixers on a veteran minimum contract, obviously a bargain for your Sixers. Yeah, total bargain,$8 million for two years. He's 41 years old. He says in his post today that he wasn't sure he had another season in him. And as we just mentioned, the contract, two years, eight million player option. What does that say about his priorities right now?

1:20:51I mean, because honestly, obviously, some teams would have paid, you know, much more than eight billion dollars. Yeah, at the beginning, I reported a few weeks ago at ESPN that LeBron James was not going to make a decision on finances. This was not going to be a money driven decision. This is going to be based on happiness, somewhere where he can go, Jake, and not have to gut a roster. He's not going to the Sixers and they're having to shed this salary or trade this person there or do all these different machinations. He's just sliding right in on a minimum contract. That's the most they could give.

1:21:25But that was the most the Cavs could have given. That's the most the Heat could have given. That's the most the Warriors could have given. So it's not, you know, it makes a lot of sense that his finalists were all teams that had championship aspirations, that had the minimum contract to offer him. And clearly for him, winning was the utmost priority. And the biggest takeaway for you, Jake, and every other NBA fan now is LeBron James believes the Sixers are championship material. And that's why he chose them. It's very exciting. And I'm sure you've seen the tweet that Joel Embiid wrote to him this month in 2014, asking if maybe he would consider being a Sixer.

1:22:07So this was something of a pipe dream for even Joel Embiid. yeah everyone was stunned in the nba this this was one of the most shocking things to happen in a long time of course the luka donchus trade is up there the jalen brown trade uh obviously was up there from from a few weeks ago but lebron james going to philadelphia now potentially a 24th season and a 25th season on the horizon for lebron james aspns aspns shams sarani thank Thank you so much. And congrats again on the great scoop that put a huge smile on my face and the face of all my Philly friends. Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, White House Borders are Tom Homan, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy.

1:22:53That's Sunday at 9 a.m. at noon Eastern on CNN. And don't forget, of course, on Sunday nights, the whole story with Anderson Cooper. I'll be doing that Big Ben Sasse interview. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, threads, accent on the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram with EliteCNN. If you ever miss an episode of Elite, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. I will see you Sunday on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, Sunday night.

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1:23:57From the underdogs to the rivalries and the miracles, The new CNN original series, Decades in Sports. Watch back-to-back premieres August 2nd on CNN and next day on the CNN app.