Senate Panel Votes to Hold Fauci in Contempt of Congress

25:26He leaves behind three children and a grandchild, according to El Clip. Does that sound to you like a narco-terrorist? Another victim was a fixture of his community. Here's investigative journalist Jose Luis Peña Redonda. I think about a Venezuelan guy called, I mean, his nickname was Pichirillo. I managed to speak to people who knew him very well. One of them told me, just tell everyone he was a super nice guy. Edouard Jamie, or Piccirillo, was a beloved local athlete. A family member tells El Clip he was also on the boat that was blown up on October 14th. None of these individuals seem to have even been mid-level drug traffickers.

26:03At worst, they seem like couriers. Remember when the U.S. struck what Trump called a drug submarine? There were two survivors. The U.S. military held them, then released them to their home countries. Again, raising questions about whether the Trump administration knew who they were targeting. Andres Tufina-Chila was one of those two men. His sister told CNN he was not a criminal. Last month, the Los Angeles Times followed the stories of eight fishermen from Mexico who vanished after the February 16th U.S. strikes. Quote, The men sometimes earned extra cash by transporting gasoline to the high seas, where they would refill speedboats ferrying cocaine from South America.

26:41They were all killed. A mass was held for the men at sea a few days later. This video provided by the LA Times shows mourners drinking beer and singing songs. There are many more of these stories from Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago. Maybe couriers caught in the crosshairs of the Trump administration's so far fruitless quest to end drug trafficking, often going after the lowest on the chain, men who felt they had no other choice and were executed by the United States. Executed without trial, we should note. As Monday night became Tuesday this week, Southern Command announced that Joint Task Force Southern Spear was ending.

27:27And it would be replaced by Joint Task Force Western Hemisphere. We asked the Pentagon if they knew who they were targeting during Southern Spear. They maintained, quote, targeting decisions are deliberate based on comprehensive assessments and reviewed through established processes. Every narco-terrorist killed in the Department of War Operations was an affiliated member of a designated terrorist organization, actively transporting illicit material. Again, we asked for evidence, and they provided none. Joining us now, Virginia Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who's on the Senate Armed Services Committee and has been digging into all the classified material on the boat strikes that he can get his hands on.

28:03Senator, first, any word from the White House since you sent that letter we refer to at the top of the piece? J.K., good to be with you. The White House made a public statement that they're only striking designated narco-terrorists, and they're lying. I have been looking at every bit of this, from the original presidential directive in July to the legal opinion issued by the Department of Justice authorizing military operations in September to the Department of Defense targeting criteria in October. All of this is classified, so I cannot really go into the contents, but I've reviewed all of it and I've reviewed the strike files themselves.

28:47And when this administration says they are only striking designated narco terrorists, I can tell you from a review of the record, they're lying. And the one thing I can tell you about the targeting criteria is what's not in the targeting criteria. And this stunned me when I finally was able to get it and review it. The Department of Defense does not require any evidence that the boats they are striking contain any narcotics. They could have had that as one of the targeting criteria. I can't tell you what the criteria are, but I feel able to tell you what they're not. They could have included a criteria that we will only strike craft that are carrying narcotics.

29:31They chose not to do that. And so they are striking boats and killing people far beyond what the president's directive was and far beyond what the White House and Pentagon spokespeople are saying they were doing. I mean, they're obviously killing low level drug dealers. You're not on a speedboat in the Caribbean delivering drugs if you're high up in a cartel. What are you hearing about this new mission as Southern Spear comes to a close and this Western Hemisphere Joint Task Force starts? I guess it has 18 member nations? Jake, but first I want to say, yes, some of these killed might have been low level, but I believe that many of them killed were not even that.

30:20Oh, absolutely. The Guardian has had some really good reporting about the bombing of fishing craft in Ecuadorian waters. And so we're not even talking about low level drug folks here. So here's what we know. And let me just add to that, if I can, Senator, those 18 Mexican fishermen who also delivered gasoline to boats are eight. I'm sorry, eight Mexican fishermen delivered gasoline to boats. I mean, they're delivering the worst thing they're accused of doing is delivering gasoline to drug boats of low level people. And they were killed, killed for delivering gasoline. Yeah. So here's what we know.

30:59And there's much we don't know. I met with the head of Southern Command in June and was aware since then. The last strike taken under Southern Spear was taken on June 21. And so there's been a pause for six weeks with no strikes taken under Southern Spear. Earlier this week, the Pentagon announced the ending of Southern Spear. It's over, thank God. I think it never should have been done. It's over. But what we now have is an 18-nation counter-narcotics collaboration. We want to go against narcotics, and we want to be collaborating with other nations. What I don't yet know is what are the military targeting criteria, if any, that they'll use.

31:45But I have a hard time believing that 18 nations will sign on to an indiscriminate rogue killing campaign. And so I'm going to get to the bottom of what the new rules are. But the fact that other nations are participating, and you'll recall Senator Rubio announced a, Secretary Rubio announced a multi-nation effort to combat narco-trafficking a couple of months ago. That is a good idea, so long as we're not forcing our troops to engage in killing folks with no due process far beyond what the legal rationale and justification suggests they can do. Well, there's been no due process here. And it also seems as a strategy to be like trying to end the drug trafficking in Baltimore by killing 14-year-old kids with dime bags on street corners.

32:34I mean, it might be easier to do it, but it's not going to end anything. Well, and I think, Jake, your reporting points out it's not just people like me saying it's not been effective. The Trump administration's own data, the Drug Enforcement Administration, is saying that this has not affected the quantity of cocaine coming into the United States. And it's also, they look at prices. If we were really reducing the quantity, you would see street-level prices going up. That's not happened. So you pointed out correctly, this isn't really about fentanyl, because fentanyl comes from Mexico, not Venezuela and Ecuador.

33:12this is an effort to go after cocaine trafficking. And if that was the goal, it has not been successful. Not to mention the ingredients for fentanyl are coming from China, but much easier to kill some poor Ecuadorians in the Caribbean than actually take on China. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate it. Absolutely, Jake. Next, what President Trump said moments ago about reports that he wants to see more support for Vice President J.D. Vance as the possible Republican nominee for president in 2028.

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34:26$15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. In the politics lead with the Senate staring down their August recess, Vice President J.D. Vance stopped by today's Republican Senate lunch to have a discussion about key legislative priorities before they leave town, naming, funding the government, and you guessed it, President Trump's desire to pass his controversial Save America voting security bill. My panel is here. Let's start with J.D. Vance because The Washington Post has an interesting story about 2028, President Trump privately telling donors to get behind J.D.

35:02Vance. Quote, at the end of the day, we need to elect J.D., Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors roughly two weeks ago, according to two people with knowledge of the comments. The piece noted that this doesn't constitute a public endorsement. President Trump himself clarified that this afternoon. Take a listen. There was a report that you told donors that they need to get J.D. Vance elected in 2028. Is that your official endorsement? No. I heard about it a little while ago. I think he's great. But we're way too early to even be thinking about that. And yet he's telling people to get behind him.

35:39What do you think? Well, who's telling the Washington Post that, right? A source familiar with the conversation? I think the real piece of information... You think donors don't talk? Donors got some big yaps. I think a lot of people talk. I think a lot of people who like Marco Rubio talk. I think a lot of people who like J.D. Vance talk. Okay, fair enough. Everybody's trying to place stories and drive news cycles. And the latest thing we're seeing more and more of, you told me not to bring up Michigan. I know we're talking about Michigan. We're going to talk about Michigan in the next hour. But people are now even placing polls to shape stories.

36:07So there is a trend now that is very much like people know how to shape the news cycles. And really, this is a story, I think, mostly about who's talking to the press than it is about who Donald Trump is thinking for 2028. What do you think? I can think of one group that would have an interest in this story being out there, and that is pro-JD Vance donors, right? I mean, over the past couple of months, we have seen all the early polling, which no one should pay any real attention to. They are. Right. Showing Rubio ascendant, Vance on the decline. Right. All the momentum within the Republican Party right now is actually with Rubio.

36:41Still super early. But that leak kind of feels like some some maintenance work that needs to be done by the Vance team. So, Jesse, let me ask you, because the Senate would usually be heading out of town for five weeks today. But they've been stalled over so many issues. Do you think J.D. Vance coming and pressuring them and pass the SAVE Act, etc., etc., is going to move it along? I don't know. I don't think, to be perfectly honest, I don't think it necessarily moves the needle. No. The vice president is out there pushing for the Save America Act. I think he's doing what he can to grease the wheels here.

37:14But the challenge is Democrats who are not going to vote for it. And that presents a major issue. I don't know. Maybe they can pass a clean SAVE Act, just voter ID, something of that nature. The president hasn't expressed a huge appetite for that. And just to tie a bow on that last component we were talking about, it should be said that J.D. is, of course, the prohibitive frontrunner for 2028. He is literally the RNC finance chair. That is unheard of. He has access to all of these donors. So, look, J.D. Vance has a lot of balls in the air right now. Moving the SAVE Act is a difficult one to advance.

37:44But I don't know. Maybe. It's not just Democrats. There are a couple of Republicans, you know, who said that they weren't on board yet. Murkowski. Right. I think Collins. But what's interesting to me is some of the reporting I've seen coming out of this meeting was that he went in to talk about the SAVE Act and he got peppered mainly with questions about the Iran war. That's the story of this moment we're in. This is the president's priority. He's sending the vice president in to talk about this when people out there, including senators, many of whom are up for re-election this year, care about the Iran war and affordability.

38:21So let's talk about the Senate Republican lunch, because it was hosted, coincidentally, by Ohio Senator Bernie Marino after the lunch, which was attended by Ohio's former senator, now Vice President J.D. Vance. The other Ohio Republican Senator, John Husted, called on Marino's former son-in-law, Congressman Max Miller, also of Ohio, to resign and drop out of his race for reelection in Ohio amid all these allegations for Marino's daughter, Emily, that Miller abused her. Miller, of course, denies all of that. Another Republican senator, Tim Sheehy from Montana, also called on Miller to drop his bid after the lunch.

38:59He wrote, quote, what kind of person would treat their daughter this way? This guy is clearly a degenerate sociopath. Max should step aside and seek help. Staying in this race makes it far more likely we lose the seat and hand Democrats a majority to impeach President Trump. This was about the blue bunny story. That's what Tim Sheehy was responding to. I don't know how in the weeds you are, but this is whole thing about Congressman Miller not giving his daughter's blue bunny to his daughter. And this was something that Senator Marino was talking about is an ugly, ugly story. But what do you what do you make?

39:36I mean, now you have senators who aren't even part of the Ohio story. Republicans. I mean, a degenerate sociopath. Yeah, look, Senator Sheehy, Senator Britt, these are the rising stars of the Senate GOP caucus. So if this is out there saying, I think it's probably the right course of action, I'm not going to opine on Blue Bunny or the family dynamics because the truth is what the president said is accurate. It's an extremely sad circumstance for all parties involved. These things are incredibly ugly. And I hope that all the parties who need help seek help, whether it's Max Miller or his young daughter who's caught in the crosshairs of all this.

40:09Well, what do you think of all this? I mean, I know there is the sadness of the story. It is also, tragically, because he's a politician, Max Miller, a political story, because this is a Republican safe seat. But maybe not if he's the nominee. That's the concern, anyway, from people in the White House. Yeah, and it's so interesting to see. And I'm happy to see the senators, the Republican senators who have spoken up, speak up. You know, it wasn't that long ago that my side of the aisle was dealing with something ugly. Swalwell. Well, I was thinking Plattner. Oh, Plattner. Who very similarly, you know, the story about about sexual assault came out just days before the deadline.

40:51Yep. And you saw a lot of people in my party then. Right. I think they came to it late, but they they broke then and they came out and they called on to resign or to step down. You're not seeing the same level. You're seeing some, but you're not seeing the same level. And I think that could be a real political issue for them. It is. But Eric Erickson, the conservative commentator, he's making the argument that Miller's not just about his race. He's a drag on the ticket because Trump won't be on the top of the ticket, which hurts Republicans in Ohio. And instead, you have these very competitive Senate and gubernatorial races.

41:27And then Max Miller could depress turnout in his district. And that could mean... Anyway, I'm told I have to wrap. So, Jesse, you're spared. But we're coming back to you in the next hour. Privately, President Trump has complained that reports on depleted missile stock makes the United States look weak. And moments ago, he was just asked about the reported shortage, his reply. And what we know about his frustration behind closed doors, that's ahead.

42:11Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, President Trump is reportedly fuming after details about the U.S. military's dwindling munitions stockpile became public. Sources say the president thinks it makes him look weak as he tries to strong arm Iran into a deal. But is he more upset about the stockpile and how it could affect the war and the troops or that you and I know about it? Plus, the office of Senator Mitch McConnell announcing this afternoon that the 84-year-old has been discharged from a rehab center weeks after a fall. He still has not been seen in public or released a video with him explaining what happened.

42:48Why not? Also, federal officials now adding six more states to the cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to lettuce. Just as Chipotle warns, it could be affected by a salmonella outbreak. What you need to know to keep yourself and your family safe from these foodborne illnesses. And the FAA now ordering the inspection of hundreds of passenger jets worried there could be cracks in the bodies of the planes. But officials are still letting those planes fly while the inspections are ongoing. So how big of a risk could this really be?

43:28Well, Lee, tonight the five-month war with Iran is draining the U.S. military stockpile of THAAD and Patriot missiles. And this is increasingly pissing off President Trump. But his ire seems not directed at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth or the dwindling stockpile of missiles itself. Sources tell CNN that Trump's been well aware of any potential problems regarding supplies of these missiles for months. These sources say that Trump is angry about the news media coverage of it all. Senior U.S. officials tell CNN that at last week's cabinet meeting at Camp David, the president complained about the news media coverage on the issue because, in his view, it makes the United States look weak.

44:09But a short time ago in the Oval Office, President Trump seemed to admit the reports were at least somewhat accurate. We have certain types of munitions that are very powerful, that we have unlimited, virtual unlimited supply. We have others where it's a little bit tighter. There in his comments, the president is not denying the lower supplies of THAAD missiles and Patriot interceptors, choosing to focus more broadly on munitions, a word that covers everything from bullets to bombs to missiles. Now, according to sources, since the start of the war with Iran, the U.S. military has burned through nearly 80 percent of its THAAD missile inventory and about half of its inventory of Patriot interceptors.

44:54These weapons are essential not only to the U.S., but to Gulf allies who rely on the U.S. air defense system to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones. Let's bring in an Iraq war veteran-turned-Republican Congressman Tom Barrett of Michigan. Congressman, thanks for joining us, as always. Just to note, you've actually voted three to... three times for the president to need to either end the war in Iran or come to Congress for full authorization. What is your reaction to the news that the Pentagon is running low on THAAD and Patriot missiles? You certainly know how important they are. Sure, they are absolutely important.

45:32And I think we're seeing an evolution on the battlefield where cheaper and cheaper drone technology is really presenting threats that weren't present, you know, even a decade or even five years ago. We've seen that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, how they're utilizing drone technology more and more and more. And we now have very relatively cheap drones that are complicating very expensive missile systems that are used to intercept these types of lower technology attack mechanisms. What we have to do is get better at developing technology that will counteract drone attacks. And, you know, there are some emerging things that are out there doing that.

46:14But we have to really ramp up our development of that type of capability to intercept lower cost, you know, attacks that could be coming from foreign adversaries or, you know, God forbid, a homegrown threat or something like that on the homeland. Eric Erickson, the conservative commentator, was on the show earlier this week. And he said that the United, you know, he's an Iran hawk and a big supporter of President Trump. But he said, that this we are the United States is worse off now than we were on February 27th before the war began. He was talking strategically mainly. But when you look also at the depletion of the THAAD missiles and the Patriot interceptors, it's also not hard to come to the conclusion that the United States is in a more vulnerable position today than we were before this war.

47:03You know, I don't think that America is in a vulnerable position. I think that we have a robust capability to defend ourselves against foreign threats or any other threat that we may encounter, but certainly there's not an endless depth of resources available. I think, though, what we have to look at is how are we going to acknowledge and really protect against emerging threats and be nimble to be able to protect against threats that aren't present today that are going to be used in the very near future. You're going to have drones that have AI capability attached to them. You're going to have systems that have upgraded technology added to dumb bombs, for example.

47:39And that's something that we're developing in the United States too, where we can take an unsophisticated bomb and really add sophisticated steering and technology to that. I know that work is underway and ongoing as well. But we have to be ready to attack any threat that we face, whether that's coming from Iran or whether it's coming from another foreign adversary, or you know, as we tragically learned on 9-11, something that could arise on the homeland as well. Yesterday on Fox, the vice president, J.D. Vance, said this about negotiations with Iran. Take a listen. It's going to be messy and it's going to take some time to get there.

48:14Where we will ultimately land, as you see, oil, I think, was at$79 today. Those oil prices are going to come down and stay down. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon and the United States will be in a stronger position. But we're kind of in the middle of the game. And I think people are trying to to prejudge exactly how this is going to go. I can tell you with confidence, it's going to go in a place that is good for the United States of America. What do you think? Well, you know, I think the president and J.D. Vance, vice president, are certainly trying to do everything they can to protect American interests in this.

48:48And that's what they should be doing, right? They should be promoting and pushing as hard as they can for America's interest for a resolution in this. My position is that any use of force authorization, as you pointed out when introducing me, has to have the authority from Congress to proceed. And I think that's an important protection. I think when we're talking about the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branch, only Congress is able to declare war. And we have to respect that. When we're sending men and women into combat, we should have the highest level of constitutional scrutiny that we apply to that.

49:22That's been my consistent position. It's born out of my life experience in the Army for 22 years that I spent during the 20-year-long war on terror, the time that I spent in the Middle East and other places in the world. That's a protection that I continue to hold and continue to vote in consideration of that because I think it's so important. Republican Congressman Tom Barrett of Michigan, thank you for joining us and thank you, as always, for your service. Thank you for having me on. I want to bring in another Iraq War veteran, former Undersecretary of the Army during President Obama's administration, Patrick Murphy.

49:53He's also a former Democratic congressman from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Do I call you undersecretary? Do I call you congressman? What do you what do you what do you want me to? You can call me Patrick. The toughest job I ever had, though, was being a security guard at the foot of the Eagles 700 level. That was good training for my time in Baghdad, Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division. As long as you didn't end up in the vet prison, I think you're OK. So let me let me ask the veteran stadium so people understand what I'm saying. nearly 80 percent of THAAD missiles are depleted along with about half of the Patriot interceptors.

50:27How big a deal is that, do you think? It's a big deal, Jake. I mean, whether I was a soldier as a captain in Iraq or whether I was in the Pentagon as the acting secretary of the army under President Obama, you know, we have a saying in the Pentagon, amateurs talk strategy, experts talk logistics. There is no doubt that these defensive weapons, the THAAD missiles and the Patriot missiles, are definitely decimated and puts us very vulnerable if we ever have to go toe-to-toe with China or North Korea. In his social media post where the president claimed that the U.S. has massive amounts of munitions, President Trump said, quote, quote, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S.

51:10as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country's history, unquote. First of all, munitions is a word that I know you know means anything from bullets to bombs to missiles. Second of all, that doesn't sound like an immediate solution. How much do you think this impacts America's ability to fight any potential threat in the near future? There's no doubt that we have to really re-energize the DIB, the Defense Industrial Base. But Jake, CSIS, very well-respected bipartisan think tank, or frankly, nonpartisan think tank, says it's going to take three years to get where we were pre-Iran war with DAD and Patriot missiles.

51:53Each of these DAD missiles, they cost about$12 to$15 million a piece. They're made in Troy and Huntsville, Alabama and Los Angeles, California. But the reality of it is, is that we can't make them fast enough and we are now depleted. So again, it's putting us in a vulnerable spot and not just us meeting our troops, because again, we remember we have about 50 ,000 troops in that region. It was the largest buildup since when I was in the Iraq war in the beginning. So, you know, when you see that and you also look at our allies like UAE, which buys these static Patriot missiles, we're all hurting to defend our troops and our families.

52:31There was a report, I think, in the Washington Post, and I believe the White House denied it, but it said that when Trump, President Trump, pressed Secretary Hegseth on this issue, Hegseth blamed the deputy secretary of defense. I don't know if you saw that story, but what would be your reaction to that? Listen, you know, as the great President Truman said, you know, the puck stops here. And we need leadership, we need accountability, and we need to make sure we're doing everything possible to defend our troops. If we send our daughters in the Middle East, we've got to make sure that we're protecting them by all means necessary.

53:07The Navy ships which have missiles are a little bit too far because you've got to remember these THAAD and Patriot missiles, the THAAD missiles specifically, they have about a 90 to 127-mile range. So you need them. They're usually truck-mounted, and we need them to protect their troops that are pre-positioned in places like Kuwait, Qatar, etc. So that's where these attacks, you know, these counterattacks from Iran have gone to date. But we've got to make sure we're doing all we can. And, you know, I know they're scrambling now, you know, obviously to really re-energize the DIB to the Defense Industrial Base.

53:43They're asking Congress, the NDAA, they're asking for basically, you know, another, I think I have it down here, another$95 billion in the NDAA. They're asking a supplemental, another$21 billion, you know, for these defensive missiles. But, you know, we're really in a bad spot right now strategically, Jake. There's no doubt about it. Former Undersecretary of the U.S. Army, Patrick Murphy, thank you for your time, sir. And as always, thank you for your service. Tonight, the Justice Department confirms it has received a criminal referral for Dr. Anthony Fauci after a Republican-led committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress today and then bypassed the normal process of having the whole Senate vote on it.

54:24We're going to explain why next. Plus, Chipotle pulls jalapenos from restaurants across multiple states as health officials investigate a potential link to a salmonella outbreak. And this comes as new states are added to the cyclist bariasis outbreak. What you need to know ahead.

54:43In our politics lead Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress because he pleaded the fifth more than 100 times in last Wednesday's hearing on the COVID response. That referral is supposedly already being delivered to the Department of Justice today, despite the fact that there was not a full Senate vote on the matter, as is precedent. The chairman of the committee, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, says that Fauci's preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden means that it was not OK for Fauci to plead the fifth during his hearing last week.

55:21That is a matter that is quite disputed. Joining us now, Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. During the pandemic, we should note Senator Alsobrooks was serving as Prince George's County executive in Maryland and hosted public health briefings with Dr. Fauci. So, Senator, let's let's get your response to the committee, at least for now, bypassing a full Senate vote and referring to the Justice Department these contempt of Congress charges against Dr. Fauci. Well, you know what? I think it's very clear that the Republicans are mastering the Jedi mind trick. The fact that they brought out of retirement 84, 85 year old Dr.

56:01Fauci to try to accuse him of something, instead of focusing on RFK Jr., the person who is presently causing harm to Americans, where we see cyclospora, people are asking why they're in the emergency rooms, measles at the highest rates that we've seen in 35 years, the fact that we've canceled important research. And instead of focusing on what is causing harm right this second, what is making Americans sicker and, by the way, poorer, they decide instead to do the Jedi mind trick and to focus on Dr. Fauci. So these people are so unserious. This clown show today was disgraceful. And I think Americans are going to be able to see through it.

56:39We're approaching midterms and they hope that Americans focus on this mess rather than what they see with their own eyes and what they're experiencing in their households. Former President Biden did give Dr. Fauci a preemptive pardon. Do you think that Dr. Fauci, because of that preemptive pardon, should have answered questions before Congress? No, I think Dr. Fauci did the right thing. He understood that there was their hope that they would entrap him in a lie of some sort. And again, remember that the focus of this shouldn't be Dr. Fauci. The focus ought to be on RFK Jr., the person they empowered to harm Americans who is full of conspiracy theories, who has, again, overseen the highest rate of measles in 35 years, cyclospora, because they have released and reduced the monitoring systems that allow us to find foodborne illnesses.

57:29We are now literally sicker because of this administration and because they know that Americans understand this as midterm elections approach. They decided to to dig out Dr. Fauci and maybe accuse him of something from six years ago. This is ridiculous. And Americans know it. So looking back on the covid response and without singling out Dr. Fauci, because President Trump was actually in charge of the country at that time, and then President Biden. What do you think could or should have been done differently? Obviously, the leaders, Trump, Fauci, Biden, everybody was responding in real time, and the information was evolving.

58:11But what do you think, if we'd known then what we know now, could and should have been done differently? Well, you know what? I was serving, as you mentioned, as county executive during COVID-19. and I can tell you that I work with Dr. Fauci and work with so many others and everyone did the best they could with a pandemic that none of us had ever seen in our lifetime and so I think that the intelligent thing to do if we really wanted to study this issue which by the way this administration has dismantled every opportunity we've had to study and to follow science and research they don't believe in it but if there is an interest in going back and looking at what we could have done better.

58:51I think that the intelligent thing to do would be able to keep all these systems in place, but they have dismantled them so much so, again, that they are causing a resurgence of hepatitis, measles. We had the worst flu season that we have seen. We are canceling cancer research, canceling Alzheimer's research. And so this is, these are people, by the way, who could care less about understanding what's sickening us. Instead, they're interested in lining the pockets of their friends, making sure that the billionaires get richer. And we are suffering under RFK Jr. That's what the focus ought to be right now, not Dr.

59:25Fauci, who I work with and who I believe did a tremendous job under circumstances we had not seen in over a century. Democratic Senator Angela Alselbrooks of Maryland, thank you so much. Thank you. They risked their lives to help U.S. troops and service members overseas. And now a new report accuses the Trump administration of falling down on its promises, despite having nearly five years to follow through. Those details next.

59:55Turning to our world lead and a story we've been covering now since the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan. Nearly five years after the August 2021 withdrawal, thousands of Afghan allies who helped our service members in country remain stranded under Taliban rule. The Trump administration's suspension of refugee and relocation programs has stalled processing for those vetted Afghan allies and their families. A new report from Afghan EVAC, an advocacy group for those allies, lays out where the relocation effort stands and what it will take to bring those Afghans to safety. Joining us now is the president and founder of Afghan EVAC, Sean Van Diver.

1:00:35Sean, what's the big headline from your report? Well, thanks so much for having me on today, Jake. The big headline is that we do this program well when we decide to do it well. And it got turned off in January of 2025 after the busiest year ever. 60 ,000 people were able to come here through the SIV program, refugee program, and broader Enduring Welcome program. And then it all got shut down, not for any particular reason other than the lack of political will. And we can turn it back on, and we need to. Otherwise, we're going to face grave danger whenever we send American service members down range to ask for help again.

1:01:16When you say turned off, you mean none of our Afghan allies that risked their lives in Afghanistan serving alongside our service members? None of them were admitted during the Trump administration's first year of the second administration? So they admitted several during the first year. And then January 1st, 2026, they shut it all down. There's been zero Afghan SIV principal applicants admitted in 2026. Of course, it's not just Afghans stranded in Afghanistan. Others remain stranded in Afghanistan. Others remain at this camp in Doha after being taken there by the State Department as part of the resettlement process.

1:01:57Many of them were scared when the bombs started flying during the Iran war. And now the State Department, we're told, plans to close that camp next month and has considered sending the evacuees to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What's the latest on that? Sure. Well, thank you for asking about that. To frame this up, there were about 3 ,500 Afghans at that camp on January 1st, 2025. A lot of the consular folks, the SIVs and others were able to get out. Now there are 1 ,039 Afghans stranded there. Most of them, over three quarters of them are women and children. And they're all in the refugee pipeline.

1:02:39150 of the people that are stuck at that camp are family members of active duty U.S. military. The State Department is running a prison camp for allies, and it doesn't have to be that way. The Trump administration decided that they didn't want to act on these folks, and they decided they were going to shut the camp down, but never came up with a plan on what to do about it. So right now, the camp is slated to close September 30th, 2026. I don't think that that's going to happen. I think that Qatar has been very gracious with these folks, and I imagine that there will be an extension. but as of right now, it's slated to close on September 30th, and they're not communicating anything to these folks, which means they're terrified.

1:03:20They're stuck in this limbo. There are missiles exploding overhead, and the State Department wanted to send them to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That only got disrupted because Afghan Ibek and others raised the alarm, and journalists carried the story, and the world had a great outcry, and then there was an Ebola crisis. So that plan is dead, but they keep trying to come up with even plans as bad as that one. The Afghan Temporary Protected Status Act was introduced in the Senate today. It's not a pathway to citizenship, but it would protect Afghans already in the United States, keeping them from being deported.

1:03:55Do you think that that actually has a chance? Jake, I got to tell you, I think it does have a chance because it's been introduced in the House by Representatives Crow, Bacon, Liccardo, and Salazar. And now today, Senators Coons, Murkowski, Cassidy, and Klobuchar introduced the Senate version. It's bipartisan. It's popular. And I got to tell you, there's a real opportunity to get this thing done. The American public supports it. We know that. And your viewers can go to afghanevac.org slash TPS. organizations can endorse it and individuals can write their members of Congress to let them know how important this is to them.

1:04:36And we hope everybody will do that and go to afghanevac.org slash donate to support us so we can keep doing this work. Sean Van Diver, thanks so much. Good to see you. Continuing in our world lead, massive piles of rotting trash are choking the streets of Havana, Cuba. Fuel shortages triggered by the U.S. energy blockade have brought garbage trucks in Cuba to a standstill. CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez is in Havana. Juan, how are residents dealing with this garbage crisis? This is a regular street scene in the Miramar neighborhood in Havana. Beach is right over there, at least the ocean. But now I'm going to show you what it's really like, and this is one of the consequences of a lack of fuel.

1:05:17The city of about two million people has to deal with this. Since there's not enough fuel to go around, trash accumulates on many corners. It's not only the historic old Havana, it's neighborhoods like this one, and we've seen the trucks picking up the trash. We've seen the workers at night and at day trying to clean this up, but there's just so much that you'll find this anywhere you go in Havana. This is one of the consequences of the lack of fuel. This is what the residents of the city have to put up with in the middle of this crisis. It's not only the rolling blackouts, which bring a lack of water, but then also the smell and the sight of trash on many of the corners of the city.

1:06:04All right, Juan Carlos Lopez in Cuba, thanks so much. This afternoon, we got an update on the health of Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, nearly two months after he was hospitalized. Those details next.

1:06:20In our health lead this afternoon, Senator Mitch McConnell's office announced that he has been discharged from the rehab center where he had been recovering after falling. McConnell's team says he will continue his recovery from home. The 84-year-old was admitted to the hospital in June. But his office did not explain the cause at the time. He has not been seen in public since. He has not issued any video statements or audio statements. and he's not running for re-election. Also in our health lead, officials are expanding their warning about the cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce served at some restaurants, including Taco Bell and sold in some grocery stores.

1:06:57Six more states have now been added to the outbreak list, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, separate salmonella outbreaks tied to eggs, jalapenos, and chicken have sickened hundreds nationwide. Joining me now is KFF Health News Editor-at-Large for Public Health, Dr. Selene Gounder. Dr. Gounder, thanks for joining us. So the number of cyclospora cases continues to grow, and more states have been added to the outbreak. What does that tell us? Well, food safety experts are pointing to something bigger than just the cyclospora outbreak or just the salmonella outbreak.

1:07:33There's a larger interagency system called FoodNet, which is a network that actively searches for these infections, a number of different foodborne infections. Until July of last year, it was tracking eight. That was now cut to two. Salmonella and E. coli, cyclospora was among those that was cut. And that was really important because it provided us a baseline against which to measure cases to know if there was an impending spike. And the reason for that cut was cited as being not enough funding at the CDC. In addition, the FDA has a new rule that would require companies that handle foods like lettuce, which is tied to the current cyclospora outbreak, require them to keep detailed tracking records so that investigators can trace contamination back to the source within 24 hours rather than weeks.

1:08:26And that rule was supposed to take effect this past January. But then March of last year, the FDA said it was pushing back the deadline by two and a half years to 2028. And right around that time, you have Taylor Farms parent company donating a million dollars to a super PAC that supports President Trump. Now, we don't know if that's correlation or causation, if that caused that delay. But then thereafter, Congress also reinforced that delay in a spending bill. So these are measures, whether it's funding cuts or regulatory delays, that have made us less safe in the interim. So you're saying that at least one of the contributing factors for the spread of the salmonella and cyclospora is the fact that there have been Trump administration funding decisions at CDC and the Trump administration implementation decision at the FDA.

1:09:23And that has hurt the ability of medical professionals to keep track and get a hold of these outbreaks. that's right and the cdc funding about um two-thirds three-quarters of that goes down to the states and that funds the local epidemiologists who investigate all of these different infections whether it's cyclospora or salmonella and because cdc funding was cut the funding that trickled down to states was also cut and so they have fewer people available to do the contact tracing to do the public outreach to offer the testing. On the matter of Chipotle, they've removed jalapenos from some restaurants while they investigate this possible salmonella link.

1:10:08That's a pretty bold thing to do for Chipotle to just to remove jalapenos. What does that kind of precautionary move tell you? Well, salmonella is a much more dangerous infection than cyclospora. Cyclospora causes watery diarrhea. We've heard explosive. It can be very unpleasant, but it's rare for that to cause death. Salmonella, on the other hand, can be deadly. It can spread into the bloodstream, into joints, into prosthetics in the body, and sometimes it can cause kidney failure. And so we are very much more worried when we see salmonella. And so it makes sense that they're going to be very aggressive here.

1:10:47Why are we seeing so many foodborne illness outbreaks this summer? Is there any sort of common thread connecting them? Well, there are a few things. One, we have a global food supply, increasingly global, which means that it's not just what's happening in the United States that affects us, but also what's happening overseas. That includes worker occupational health conditions. So do they have access to sanitary bathrooms and places to wash their hands and the like? In addition, we have those funding cuts. And then you have the processing of foods. When you process food, it could even just be chopping up salad to put it in a bag.

1:11:30Each point in processing represents an opportunity to introduce pathogens and contaminate the food. Dr. Selene Gounder, thank you so much. Appreciate your time. Progressive Democrats torched Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the campaign trail. So what do those divisions mean for the Democratic Party's hope of taking back the Senate in November? Hear what Chuck Schumer has to say about it all next.

1:11:59If you're Chuck Schumer, I'm dangerous. If you're Chuck Schumer, I'm dangerous. And our politics lead, that's Dr. Abdul Al-Sayed, who is now Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee, railing against his party's Senate leader on the campaign trail back in June. But Chuck Schumer is not giving up on keeping Michigan's Senate seat blue. Despite the narrow defeat of his preferred candidate, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, Schumer told Punchbowl News he is willing to look past his disagreements with the new nominee and, quote, do what it takes to win, perhaps unsurprisingly, because he won't become the Senate leader, a majority leader, if he doesn't have a majority.

1:12:36Let's bring in the panel. So Ashley Schumer took fire from El-Sayed as well as from Maine's Senate nominee, Troy Jackson. Both want to oust him from leadership, but Schumer tells Punchbowl, quote, the issue is not me, the issue is doing what working families want and showing clear distinction between the parties and showing the road to victory. And as leader of my caucus, I think we've shown that path to victory. And that's why so many people now are saying we have a damn good chance to take back the Senate. Do you think if Democrats take back the Senate that Chuck Schumer will be the Democratic leader, the majority leader?

1:13:08I'm not sure. I mean, I think there's an argument to be made to keep him. And then there's obviously an argument to be made to get rid of him. But, you know, I used to run communications for Speaker Pelosi and she would often tell candidates, say whatever you got to say about me on the trail, just make sure you win. So I do agree with Schumer. Like some of this stuff doesn't matter at the end of the day. What matters is that you win. But here's the thing. The DSA and candidates like Al-Sayed represent an existential threat to the Democratic establishment. You know, the Republicans have gone through three iterations in the last 20 years, from the Tea Party to the Freedom Caucus to now MAGA.

1:13:44Democrats have not. We've not gone through any transformation since dating back to Bill Clinton. You've got 34 percent of Democrats now that are identifying themselves with the socialist movement. And then CNN recently put out a poll that showed that the large majority of Democrats want radical change within the party. So there's a lot staring this party within its face. It needs to acknowledge those things, acknowledge the situation it's in, and really confront it and do some transformation and reimagining of the party itself. Jesse, Chuck Schumer might be on board with Abdel Al-Sayed, but John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's Democratic senator, who's increasingly kind of on an island.

1:14:24He had said this about Abdul Al-Sayed. Take a listen. He had a very arrogant campaign. And now today he just discovered that less than a majority of your state's only Democrats didn't even want you and vote for you. You came in around 48%. So you have a real situation as Democrats. now that puts that seat in play. I know you're a critic of Abdul El-Sayed. I mean, does Fetterman have a point? Well, I don't think Fetterman is on an island at all. Fetterman is with about 50 % of Michigan Democratic primary voters. This was a razor-thin margin. Yeah, I didn't mean he was on an island on that issue.

1:15:06He's with a lot of Democrats and he's with a lot of Republicans and a lot of independents on the core question of the fact that Abdul El-Sayed is unfit for the United States Senate. And I respectfully disagree with Ashley on the notion that the Democratic Party hasn't changed at all since the era of Bill Clinton. I don't think in the Bill Clinton Democratic Party we would have had a presidential candidate like we had just a couple of years ago saying that, you know, we should have government-provided sex changes in prison for illegal immigrants who are already there. I think the big thing about Abdul El-Sayed and really about Chuck Schumer is that Donald Trump has a nickname for Chuck Schumer, okay?

1:15:38He frequently refers to him as a Palestinian. That is a problematic nickname because Chuck Schumer is Jewish, not Palestinian. It is also a problematic nickname because Chuck Schumer doesn't really behave like a Palestinian. When Chuck Schumer loses a political battle badly, loses a war, he goes right there to the people who defeated him, apologizes, bends the knee, and says, you're the boss now. I yield to you. Clearly, Abdul El-Sayed is not going to return the favor for Chuck Schumer. He's out there saying he wants Chris Van Hollen, who is the leftmost Democrat in the United States Senate. I say Democrat because Bernie Sanders is an independent.

1:16:14He's an independent, right. And clearly, I don't think Abdul El-Sayed is going to help Chuck Schumer with much of anything. So I don't know why Chuck Schumer is helping Abdul El-Sayed. Do you think Abdul El-Sayed, Dr. El-Sayed, needs to motivate more Democrats to register? I guess the path is, does he try to win over the independents? Obviously, he's going to try to win over the Democrats. But does he try to win over independents in the middle, the ones that helped Slotkin beat Mike Rogers? or does he stay with his current campaign style and, you know, what he's doing and just try to expand the number of people that vote?

1:16:51No, I think he's definitely got to expand his appeal, but we've got to look at the reality of what's happening on the ground. Now, the conditions are right for Democrats winning that seat. 57 % of folks... That seat, the Michigan seat. That particular seat, 57 % of Michigan voters. Trump is at disapproval, 57 % within the state. His policies have hurt that state overwhelmingly more than any other state in terms of the tariff policies did not materialize, a manufacturing boom. It's increased prices. You've got the Iran war that's now got gas prices across the state of Michigan upwards of four dollars.

1:17:24So that's one factor. But the other second factor that I think needs to be considered is that you've got where Democrats have the advantage is on the ground game. Polls don't vote. Money doesn't vote. The ground game actually does. You've got Gretchen Whitmer, who has a complete machine. She's made inroads in these Republican counties and won a lot of Republican counties. She endorsed Stevens. Absolutely. But you're going to have a coordinated campaign now. All these Democrats are going to come on board to try to win the seat. We don't want to lose this seat. Then you've got Benson, who's running for governor.

1:17:52She's won twice statewide. You compare that to Republicans. You've got James and Rogers, who've both lost a total of three times statewide. They can't win statewide, especially not in these particular conditions. So what I think will happen is you'll have Gretchen Benson and others will have a coordinated campaign, and they'll probably bring El Saeed along. Do you, I mean, this is shaping up to be something of, which is not unusual, a wave election for the party out of power. I mean, we don't know, but it looks that way from August. Are you worried at all about the impact that that will have? Mike Rogers was not able to beat Alyssa Slotkin with Trump on the top of the ticket.

1:18:28In incredible good conditions. In good conditions with Trump winning Michigan. Now, Slotkin is a moderate Democrat and El Saeed is a progressive. he's not DSA, but he's DSA adjacent, let's say, Democrat. I mean, are you worried about that? Absolutely. It's challenging conditions. Any Republican who is over. By the way, I was out there saying that it doesn't make sense for Republicans to be cheering on Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan because some consultant's model in Washington, D.C. tells them Abdul is going to perform two points better. If you're someone who's opposed to, you know, Islamist sympathetic, communist adjacent politics, you should be opposed to Abdul El-Sayed winning a nomination or winning the seat in November.

1:19:05Republicans are going to be out there, and they better fight hard, because this is going to be a tough election. Abdul El-Sayed is a crafty politician. He's a clever politician. He will do things to pivot to the center. He won't moderate on economics. He won't moderate on foreign policy. What he will do is, you know, he's a devout Muslim. He certainly, who doesn't drink alcohol. He certainly has culturally conservative bona fides on issues like pot, porn, gambling. I wouldn't be surprised to see him come and moderate on some of those things. What is Mike Rogers going to do to separate himself from Donald Trump's GOP?

1:19:33He's got to do something. He can't assume it's nothing. Do the Susan Collins playbook. He's a moderate. He was out there in the Washington Post on January 5th, 2021, writing about how much he hates election denialism. We're going to have to do some of that if we want to win that. All right. To be continued, this is going to be, we'll have you back, because this is going to be a race to watch, and it's going to be, I wouldn't bet, money on either Canada right now. Thanks to both of you. Coming up next, why the FAA says hundreds of passenger planes need to be inspected, among fears that undetected damage could reduce the aircraft's structural integrity.

1:20:04Stay with us.

1:20:08Internationally, the FAA has ordered inspections of hundreds of Boeing 737 MAX jets after finding cracks on some planes. CNN's Pete Muntean has the details. Jake, just last week, the FAA proposed inspections of seat assemblies on hundreds of Boeing 737 MAXs, fearing that entire rows could come loose in an emergency. Now the agency is ordering inspections starting next month on a different part after it received reports of cracks in the fuselage or body of these planes. The FAA says that 471 Boeing 737 MAX 8s and MAX 9s may have cracked structural reinforcement near the forward service door. That is on the right side of the airplane near the forward galley that's used by the flight attendants.

1:20:53The good news is that this does not require any sort of grounding of these planes, and that's key during the peak of summer travel season, and especially since these planes have become the backbone of airline fleets. Boeing says in this case, it has already notified airlines on its own. The FAA also says that Boeing is addressing the issue on new planes before they leave the factory. The agency cracked down on Boeing after investigators said a quality control failure led to the omission of key bolts on one 737 MAX before it left the factory, leading to that dramatic door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024.

1:21:28By the way, this is not the first time the company has had a deal with structural cracking on 737s. In 2019, Boeing 737 Next Gen models, that's the 737, 700, 800, and 900, were ordered to be inspected after some planes were found to have cracks in a structural component connecting the plane's fuselage to the wings. Jake? All right, P. Montee, thank you so much. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:21:55Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. Well, now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three months,$90 for six months, or$180 for 12-month plan required. $15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra. Initial plan term only. Greater than 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. See terms. Go inside the sports moments that brought us together and made history.

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