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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Israel Says It Struck Hezbollah's Central HQ In Beirut; CNN Poll: Harris Leads Trump In Key Nebraska District; CNN Poll: Robinson Trails By 17 Points In N.C. Gov. Race; Harris Visits Arizona Border Looking To Close Gap With Trump; Vance To Campaign With Evangelical Who Accused Harris Of Witchcraft; Helene Leaves Extensive Damages Across The Southeastern U.S.; Indicted NYC Mayor Adams Pleads Not Guilty, Released From Custody. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired September 27, 2024 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, IDF SPOKESMAN (through translator): And there's a risk of buildings to get away as soon as residents moving there because IDF is going to destroy (inaudible) is stored under the buildings. Well, (inaudible) can cause buildings to collapsed, and therefore we know about Iranian transfers of weapons into Lebanon. And Air Force is attacking right now in the area of the Beirut airport. So far, the civilian airport was not used for weaponry transfer from Iran. We are informing that this is an airport in Beirut for civilian use, and we're not going to allow any transfer of weapons through this airport.

We are in constant touch with the United States. And I'm --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Allright, we're going to break away from that. That's a spokesman for the IDF. CNN National Security Analyst Beth Sanner joins us now.

So Beth, our Jim Sciutto just reported that a former senior Israeli official says that the Israeli military must have been sure that the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, was there in those apartment buildings. But now Israel appears to be warning that there might be more strikes to come. We still don't know if Nasrallah is dead. What do you make of it all?

BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: They are trying to basically eliminate now all of the Hezbollah leadership that might be in that neighborhood that is the center of power for Hezbollah. They wiped out six buildings by, from what I'm hearing from CNN reporting, along with the headquarters building, and now you know they want to clean up basically. This is their opportunity, as they see it, to really decapitate the entire Hezbollah political as well as the military leadership that they have already eliminated almost all of the top leaders.

TAPPER: U.S. officials say that Israel did not give the White House what they would qualify as a heads up on the strike, planes were already in the air, they say. What do you make of that? And the kind of terse way Secretary Austin described the lack of communication and the lack of American buy in, he seemed to imply in this strike?

SANNER: Well, I'm shocked, shocked, Jake.

TAPPER: Right.

SANNER: You know? I mean, you know, why would they tell us? Why would they tell us when what are we going to say? And in some ways, you wonder, you know, what would we have said? We would have said, don't do that, and then they would have done it anyway.

So, I mean, we are really at a point where it's obvious that the United States, and I would say this would be true no matter who was in the White House, but Israel is going to do what Israel is going to do. And yet, I think that we also have to remember that while Israel is determined to do these things because they see these as existential threats, they don't control, you know, a part of their country because of what Hezbollah chose to do after October 7, so they're doing this. And you know, but at the same time, no matter who's in the White House, I believe, and certainly, this administration is not going to leave Israel out to hang them out to dry. We will be there to defend them. And you know, that is having a deterrent effect right now on Iran, and it certainly has on Hezbollah.

TAPPER: The strike happened right after Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York, and Netanyahu threw cold water on a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. What message is Netanyahu sending to America, to President Biden here?

SANNER: Well, I mean, I think the message is, look, we're just going to do what we're going to do. And, you know, they know that they're isolated and they don't care, you know, because this is too important to them. I do think that it is -- there's an expectation that we will be there to do clean-up on aisle seven if, you know, no matter what happens. And I think that's true, but I also think that it's not very much of a good relationship when that's the case. And so, there's damage to this relationship, and I don't know how far it goes.

[17:05:04]

I mean, I don't think it means we're abandoning Israel anytime soon, but there is certainly a probable sense of distrust right now.

TAPPER: You heard or maybe you didn't, I don't know, but Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska, who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, also a colonel in the Marines, he blamed a lot of this on the Biden administration lessening, weakening, in his view, the deterrence that the Trump administration had set up against Iran, in his view, and that of, I've heard a lot of Republicans say this, the Biden administration, hoping to have more of a rapprochement with Iran, hoping to maybe have another Iran deal, releasing some of the funds that were frozen in exchange for hostages being held in Iran. All of this, in his view, emboldening Iran to send funding and encourage its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, to attack Israel, as they have been doing. What do you think of that argument? SANNER: I think it's half true. I think that the Biden administration does not have an effective deterrent strategy related to Iran, although we've -- I think we've seen that they've gotten over the idea of having some kind of nuclear JCPOA deal with Iran, 2.0, that they abandoned that, you know, a long time ago. But I think it's unfair to say that Trump had done -- had been effective in deterring Iran over the long run. The Soleimani hit was an important one. But deterrence isn't about one thing.

It is about consistent policy, follow through, and the sense that you will hold your enemy to account for going over your red lines. President Trump didn't do that when he decided to end a retaliatory strike just as it was about to go off, especially because that became public. So, you know, I don't think that any administration has had a very solid Iran policy for decades. And it's hard, right? It's easy for us to sit on the outside and say, like, you guys suck, but it's hard.

TAPPER: Yes. Beth Sanner, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Let's go now to our team of correspondents across the region. We have CNN Ben Wedeman, who is in Beirut, and Jim Sciutto is in Tel Aviv.

And Jim, we just mentioned briefly with Beth Sanner, tell us more about this new reporting on Israel's intent to target the head of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm told, Jake, that Israel had a very high degree of certainty that Hassan Nasrallah was on that location, in that location, when it carried out this massive strike. A former senior Israeli official tells me the following, and I'm quoting, "Israel would not have attacked with such scope and power if it was not sure, with a very high degree of certainty that the ultra-terrorist was there." The ultra-terrorist the description there of Hassan Nasrallah. So, clearly communicating, Israelis clearly communicating that they believe their intelligence was sound when they carried out this attack.

And Jake, we should note their track record in recent weeks, a number of senior Hezbollah commanders taken out via air strikes, and of course, this enormous attack on Hezbollah pagers that injured 1000s of Hezbollah fighters and militants and operatives and took out their communication system. So one thing that has been clear through these recent weeks that is Israel has quite good intelligence penetration of Hezbollah and its networks, including, I'm told, human sources of intelligence, and they believe that their intelligence on this massive strike was good prior. They have not yet confirmed that Nasrallah was injured or killed in this strike, but they do believe, with a very high degree of certainty that he was there at this location when this strike happened.

TAPPER: Ben Wedeman, in Beirut, CNN weapons experts say that Israel likely used 2,000 pound bombs in this strike. Give us a sense of the scale of destruction and where exactly these, I believe it's six buildings that were flattened. Where these buildings are in terms of the city of Beirut? BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they're, of course, in the southern suburbs where Hezbollah has a strong presence, southern suburbs that are also densely populated. In fact, we drove by that area this afternoon as we were returning from South Lebanon and saw, well, I mean, actually, into the evening, saw a huge plume of smoke still rising from the scene. Now, in addition to 2,000 pound bombs, they're talking about bunker busters as well, flattening six buildings. And even though the Lebanese Ministry of Health until now has still put the death toll at two, with 76 injured, the assumption is that it will be much higher given how densely populated that part of the city is.

[17:10:14]

Now, at this moment, there seems to be an exodus of people out of that part of Beirut where hundreds of 1000s of people live, because the Arabic spokesman for the Israeli military has put out a tweet warning people to leave three buildings in two neighborhoods of the southern part of Beirut and an area of 500 meters around them, the message is quite grim. It says, if you are near interest belonging to Hezbollah for your safety and the safety of your loved ones, evacuate immediately and go at least 500 meters away. So the anticipation is that in the coming hours, we may see more such similar strikes in southern Beirut. And I should stress that I've been in trying to get in touch with Hezbollah contacts since we heard of this strike in Beirut, they're not answering messages and they're not answering calls regarding the fate of Hassan Nasrallah. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Ben Wedeman in Beirut, Jim Sciutto in Tel Aviv, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Both of you, please stay safe.

Another big story we're following, Vice President Kamala Harris arriving in Arizona, a big battleground state. She's on her way to the southern border trying to address an issue that voters think Donald Trump would do a much better job on, border security and immigration. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:58]

TAPPER: Vice President Kamala Harris at the border today tops our 2024 lead. The Democratic nominee for president just landed in battleground Arizona in hopes of turning one of her biggest political vulnerabilities on its head, or at least shrinking the chasm. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is near the border for us.

Priscilla, you knew reporting on what Vice President Harris plans on saying, tell us.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, a senior campaign official telling me that she plans to have quite a tough message on border security, going further than President Joe Biden has. And the way that she plans to do that is to talk specifically about the border restrictions that this administration has implemented dating back to the summer, saying that she wants the threshold to lift those restrictions to be even harder to reach. It's a notable position, Jake, because it demonstrates the shift within the Democratic Party that we have seen play out over the last three years as this administration has grappled with multiple border crises. So now the Vice President trying to take a tough position on the U.S.-Mexico border as they try to narrow that polling gap with former President Donald Trump, who oftentimes is leading by double digits when it comes to who voters trust on this very issue.

Now the Vice President also going to be talking about that bipartisan border measure that was tanked by former President Donald Trump earlier this year. She's expected to say, and let me read this excerpt to you, quote, "The American people deserve a president who cares more about border security than playing political games." So you can imagine that that is going to be the through line of her remarks here at the U.S.-Mexico border today.

Her border plans, Jake, also talking about more resources for border agents and also more technology for detecting fentanyl. So all of this coming together for her second visit as Vice President to the U.S.- Mexico border today, Jake, as they try to close that gap with the former president on this very issue.

TAPPER: The question is going to be from skeptics and even maybe from open minded undecided voters. You know, you've been vice president for since January 2021, why now? Why didn't you do this back when the border started surging?

ALVAREZ: That's a very real question, Jake. It's one that her advisors have had to grapple with as well as they try to amplify this message. Of course, the executive action she's talking about today, it happened in June. It was announced by the President. It is the reason that Homeland Security officials say the border crossings have plummeted over recent months.

Of course, this has been an administration who had dealt with record flows of migrants over the western hemisphere as soon as they got into office, and it did take years for them to reach this point where they have taken a much tougher approach to the U.S.-Mexico border, one Jake that oftentimes looks like the Trump administration, and that has been the criticism by immigrant advocates. So today, when the Vice President announces all of this, she's also going to have to contend with corners of the Democratic Party who do not like this approach. And so that is a line they're having to straddle.

In her ads, though, however, one that is going to air here in battleground Arizona, starting today, as well as other states, the message goes back to her days as California Attorney General and the work that she did there to tackle transnational criminal gangs. So that is how they are going to message over the next few weeks, not just what this administration has dealt with, but also what she did when she was attorney general. Jake.

TAPPER: When she was running for president in 2019 she embraced a lot. There was -- and the context was a lot of the candidates, a lot of the Democrats were running to the left, not the ultimate winner, President Biden, then Vice President Biden, but she joined in. She raised her hand when asked if she supported decriminalizing crossing the border illegally.

We're watching Vice President Harris right now at the border. I believe that's Senator Kelly in the baseball hat to her right.

In any case, I understand that the message today is tougher on the border than the position she embraced in 2019 when she was running for President and trying to compete in Democratic primaries that where the base wanted her to be more liberal, more progressive in these issues, has she addressed that question of why did she view the issue that way in 2019 and why has she evolved and have a different position today?

[17:20:19]

ALVAREZ: Well, when that question has come up, she has pivoted to the work of this administration, which, of course, didn't decriminalize crossings. But I will say, Jake, that you have to zoom out here a little bit, because the Democratic Party of today is not where it was when President Joe Biden took office. Of course, remember that there were so many crises on the U.S. Mexico border over the last three years with so many migrants crossing and then being sent to Democratic led cities that now Democrats across the country have started to raise concerns about what they have seen play out on the border.

TAPPER: Priscilla Alvarez, our White House correspondent, with Vice President Harris in Douglas, Arizona, thank you so much. Always great to have you on the show.

Also in the 2024 space today, brand new polls giving us a snapshot on how voters in two crucial areas feel about the presidential race right now. Plus, the incredible damage reports one day after that deadly Hurricane Helene made landfall. Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:36]

TAPPER: Also in our 2024 lead, brand new CNN polls out of Nebraska and North Carolina, including in Nebraska, out of Nebraska's second congressional district, that's the famous blue dot, the one game changing electoral vote that could be key to Vice President Kamala Harris's wrote a 270 if there's a 269 to 269 tie, Harris currently leads Trump by 11 percentage points in that blue dot. Here now panel political experts.

Karen, how important is the blue dot really, the Omaha dot?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN COMMENTATOR: It's very important. Look, we've got to have every single pathway to 270 open for as long as we can. We saw that, you know, just before President Biden got out of the race, we had stopped talking about the south, and we were really talking about the blue wall in the Midwest, and now we've got, you know, some different options. So particularly when you're six, what is it? Six, five weeks to go?

I'm losing track. I don't know.

TAPPER: Yes.

FINNEY: It's coming, this election.

TAPPER: Yes. Soon. It's soon.

FINNEY: Right. It's very soon. You want to have as many pathways for as long as you can.

TAPPER: So let's turn to North Carolina where it's a tie, according to this poll, likely voters there are split. It's a state in 48 percent, 48 percent in this new poll. The state that only Obama has won on the presidential level in the last 44 years in 2008, that was a wild year. Obama won Indiana, can't believe it. Yes, kids look it up.

Down ballot, Harris is being outperformed significantly by the candidate for governor, Josh Stein. He's the attorney general. He's popular. He also has the privilege of running against Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson by 17 points. You might remember a week and a day ago when Lieutenant Governor Robinson had turned out, according to CNN reporting, had posted some unusual claims on a porn site several years ago.

What's the obvious -- do you think obviously Republicans are competing on the presidential level for North Carolina? What about the governor's race? Is that just that Republicans are just like, never mind?

MACHALAGH CARR, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, SPEAKER MCCARTHY: I think that's fair. I think what you look at all of these polls, they're still within the margin of error. And you like it or not, Trump doesn't really poll well historically. In fact, he outperforms his polls he did in 2016, he did again in 2020. And so I think here we're looking really at kind of how close we can keep those numbers, and North Carolina still very much within the margin of error.

TAPPER: And Karen, Vice President Harris visiting the border today, trying to work on one of her biggest vulnerabilities. Not just hers, in fairness, Biden was --

FINNEY: Yes.

TAPPER: -- vulnerable on the issue too, their trust to handle immigration among North Carolina likely voters, 49 percent trust Trump, 38 percent trust Kamala Harris. It's an 11 point gap. That is significant, and it is a big issue for a lot of voters. Do you think this one trip to the border and this announcement of tough immigration policies that are kind of new to her, at least in the last five or six years?

FINNEY: Well --

TAPPER: It will do anything?

FINNEY: But let's remember, we've been focused on the Biden Harris record during the last four years. What a lot of people don't know about is her record as attorney general of the State of California. She led a bipartisan delegation to Mexico to strategize on which she later prosecuted transnational gangs, guns, human trafficking, drug. So she actually has a record as a law enforcement official dealing with these issues, also dealing with our dreamers and comprehensive immigration reform. So, part of this is -- and remember what this campaign is like, what 100 days, several -- you know, it's a few weeks.

So, this is the right moment, I think, to go to the border to not just talk about, you know, the current record, but to talk about what she would do, but also get people more familiar with her actual record, as well as a senator, as an AG and remind people she was a law enforcement official. She knows something about this. I think you're also going to hear her talk about the fact that Trump and Vance are not serious. They're not really putting forward serious proposals to try to solve the problem where she's actually trying to put forward comprehensive, practical, pragmatic solutions.

TAPPER: Machalagh, J.D. Vance, the vice presidential nominee for the Republican, senator from Ohio, he's going to campaign in Pennsylvania tomorrow. He's going to be joined at a town hall by a fellow named Lance Wallnau. Lance Wallnau is a self-proclaimed Christian nationalist. He's big evangelical influencer. He's a Trump supporter.

I want you to listen to how Wallnau has described Vice President Harris.

[17:30:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE WALLNAU, EVANGELICAL LEADER: She can look presidential. And that's, we'll go to this later, that's the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

WALLNAU: That's the manipulation of imagery that creates an impression contrary to the truth, but it seduces you into seeing it. So that -- so that spirit, that occult spirit, I believe, is operating on. When you're up against that, the good news is, if we're going to go full tilt Pentecostal, Jezebel may be the spirit you're up against.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I was just waiting for Jezebel. I don't -- I don't know how about you. As soon -- as soon as that clip started, I'm like, I know -- I know what Jezebel is coming. Look, I wouldn't even ask you about this, but J.D. Vance is actually appearing in event in Pennsylvania with this fellow.

I don't know who this person is. Never heard of him before. I --

TAPPER: I just told he's a -- he's a -- he's an evangelical influencer, and --

CARR: So maybe that's -- that's my fault for not being incredibly aware of him and his political dialog. What he's speaking to, and I think what the voters are seeing is that there is a history here of rhetoric of Kamala Harris continually trying to act like she is moving to the middle, continually trying to take positions that she has not taken in her record.

And when you -- when you compare her rhetoric with her record, there is -- they are diametrically opposed in many areas. And what we were just talking about on the -- on immigration and the border is one of those things, 11 point difference where Republicans are trusted more. She is continuously saying, I'm going to be strong on the border. Well, she had -- she's had three years to have that administration take some steps, and she's failed to do so.

TAPPER: Yes. It sounds so much more reasonable when you say it.

FINNEY: Yes.

TAPPER: Then when you invoke Jezebel and witchcraft.

FINNEY: Yes. And anytime you invoking witchcraft, I think you're in trouble.

TAPPER: Unless you're Sinatra and you're singing the song "Witchcraft."

FINNEY: OK.

TAPPER: One last thing, a new message is obtained by "The Washington Post." J.D. Vance was quite critical of -- of Trump's first term. He wrote in February of 2020, quote, Trump has just so thoroughly failed to deliver on his economic populism, accepting a -- a disjointed China policy, and in June -- June 2020, Vance said, I think Trump will probably lose. CNN has reached out to the Vance campaign for comment to verify the authenticity of those direct messages that "The Washington Post" uncovers, now J.D. Vance has said that Trump's economic agenda and successes as president transformed him from a Never-Trumper in 2016 to a big supporter in 2020. But these messages suggest that -- that's -- that the -- that the conversion came later than 2020.

FINNEY: Yes, indeed. And so if we're going to talk about hypocrisy here, I would say that J.D. Vance's hypocrisy is very well documented. I mean, he was diametrically opposed, and then, as a craven politician does, he seem to have abandoned all sorts of positions to meld himself into a VP nominee for Donald Trump, versus what I would say with Kamala Harris, you know, you come from California, you have one perspective. You are VP for four years. You see a different perspective. I mean, and she has talked about her values remain the same, but how we get there is -- can change.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you for being here. Stay dry out there.

[17:33:09]

Coming out of the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, and emergency crews rushing and now to a hard hit area Florida, I'm going to speak with a woman who survived a landslide in the mountains of North Carolina. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Back to our breaking news. In our National Lead, that deadly catastrophic storm, Helene, CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam caught these scenes in Apalachicola -- Apalachicola, Florida, hours after Hurricane Helene made landfall as a category four storm. Now he's just south of there in Keaton Beach. Derek, what's -- what's the latest where you are?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we are reporting live from this very tight knit community here along the Big Bend of Florida's coastline. And what you're looking at behind me is what remains of Keaton Beach, Bums gasoline station that in just three days' time was about to celebrate its five year anniversary of being open. Instead, it's left in ruins. There are bathtubs and roofs of homes from the homes that used to reside 500 yards over my right hand shoulder.

As we got closer to the coastline, became increasingly more difficult for us to traverse the roads. There were down power lines. There was a strong sense and smell of gasoline as we approached the region. That's because of a gas tank that toppled over in the surge. And Broward County is actually responding to that particular incident over my left shoulder here. So it shows you that interagency coordination of -- of Broward County that's hours away from here as well.

And -- and I just want to show you the -- the destruction that storm surge can bring, because this is so important. Let me take you to the sky. Not only did we take the brunt of 140 mile per hour cat four winds, but the ocean that is over a quarter mile behind me, pushed all of the water in from that shallow Gulf of Mexico, and it took all of this debris along with it as well.

Storm surge is just so incredibly dangerous. And, you know, it's 15 feet of storm surge or more, and that is exactly what the National Hurricane Center had forecast. And I can confirm that that is indeed what happened, because we saw debris high in the trees that still stand within this area, indicating the tops of the water levels that impacted this particular region.

Now, there are homes that used to stand here that have been completely leveled or brought forward or inland by a quarter mile, and those are homes with people's memories, people's belongings. Let me take you to one person who evacuated, listen to the evacuation orders, but this is what he had to say about coming back home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC CHURCH, HURRICANE HELENE SURVIVOR: Man, I just lost my house. I have nothing else to go. My house was laying in a pile. It was sitting right over there. There's pillars up in the ground. I got a wife and two dogs here with me. What am I supposed to do? We wasn't expecting the water. We expect some water, but not a dag and my house just disappeared.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [17:39:59]

VAN DAM: Jake, you can evacuate from the coastline during a hurricane like this, but you can't evacuate your home, can't evacuate your car as well. It is so important to remember that, you know, you can hide from the wind, but you can -- you need to run from the water, and -- and that is certainly what people here had to do to get off out of harm's way. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Derek Van Dam for us, thank you so much. Stay safe.

Right now in North Carolina, just north of Florida, excessive rainfall leading to disasters not seen in that region we're told since 1916, dangerous floods and even landslides which two people narrowly escaped while driving in the black mountains area of North Carolina. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY KEFFER, ESCAPED LANDSLIDE IN NORTH CAROLINA: As you can see by the mud on the door inside, in the windows and the shattered back window, we narrowly escaped --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A landslide.

KEFFER: -- a landslide.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Virginia resident, Kelly Keffer, there are taking this video after she and her husband survived a very close call with falling boulders. And Kelly is joining us now. Kelly, we're so glad that you -- you're OK. You too, made it out unscathed. Obviously, the same cannot be said for your car. Let's show people here that your -- your back window blown out, your roof dented, covered in mud. Who was driving? What was going through your minds? Tell us about this horrible moment?

KEFFER: Well, fortunately, my husband was driving. Alan had very quick reflexes. He happened to look out the window on his side of the car and saw the whole side of the mountain start sliding down, and he stepped on the gas. Unfortunately, some rocks and dirt and trees apparently hit us, obviously doing a bunch of damage to the car.

TAPPER: Did you have any idea you were taking a risk driving when -- when -- when and where you were?

KEFFER: No. We had planned to come home Friday after visiting some friends in Pigeon Forge for a while. And we are from Chesapeake, Virginia. We are familiar with hurricanes. Just thought it was going to be some rain that we could drive through.

TAPPER: Are you still planning on driving home today? Is it -- is it safe enough to do so?

KEFFER: Yes, we've been driving all day. We just pulled in. We're less than a mile from our house.

TAPPER: What would you tell --

KEFFER: We made them safely.

TAPPER: What would you tell anyone else in the future, watching right now, if they find themselves in a similar situation, they're driving and all of a sudden it seems as if a mountain is falling upon them? What -- what do you do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Step on the gas.

KEFFER: Get out of there.

TAPPER: Step on the gas. Get out of there. Well, we're so -- we're so happy you and your husband made it home or about to make it home in a -- in a -- in a mile. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Stay safe out there.

KEFFER: Thank you. Thank you very much.

TAPPER: Coming up, a dramatic day in a federal courtroom as the mayor of America's largest city, that's Eric Adams of New York, appeared in front of a judge facing criminal charges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:46:57]

ALEX SPIRO, ADAMS ATTORNEY: There are no emails, text messages or any corroboration whatsoever that the mayor knew about anything having to do with these campaign donations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That was the defense attorney for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, he was in court today. He pleaded not guilty to five felony charges, including bribery and fraud. Prosecutors allege that Adams has engaged in a multiyear scheme to solicit illegal foreign campaign contributions and did not report gifts such as flight upgrades or expensive hotel rooms or other lavish travel such as rides on luxury yachts.

Prosecutors also allege that the mayor and his aides routinely deleted messages so as to hide their misconduct. CNN's Kara Scannell was in court today for the mayor's arraignment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPIRO: The mayor entered a plea of not guilty, he's innocent.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York City Mayor Eric Adams making his first court appearance sitting beside his attorney in a packed courtroom, Adams spoke in a clear, even voice when he entered his plea. Leaving court, Adams was silent, but he showed no signs that he's planning to step aside as New York Governor Kathy Hochul is said to be considering a provision in state law that would allow her to remove Adams from office.

SPIRO: This isn't even a real case. This is the airline upgrade corruption case.

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK: And I asked New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments,

SCANNELL (voice-over): Adams is facing five criminal charges related to conspiracy, bribery, soliciting foreign donations and wire fraud.

DAMIAN WILLIAMS, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the law, laws that are des -- designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Prosecutors alleged for nearly a decade, Adams sought thousands of dollars in illegal campaign donations from Turkish government officials and businessmen, and he received more than $100,000 in free or discounted business class flights and stays in luxury suites, prosecutors say.

According to the indictment, by 2021 a Turkish official told Adams it was his turn to return the favor. Adams pressured the fire department to allow the Turkish government to occupy the consulate, even though the skyscraper did not pass a safety inspection, prosecutors alleged. Four days after he intervened, Adams allegedly asked his Turkish allies for another free upgrade on an international flight.

Prosecutors say Adams tried to hide the alleged crimes by creating a fake paper trail and excluding the gifts from public disclosure forms. When authorities sought his phone last year, they said Adams claimed he forgot his password and was unable to unlock it. The indictment also details a conversation where a staffer texts Adams, allegedly saying, to be on the safe side, please delete all messages you send me. Adams responded, always do. If convicted, the 64-year-old Adams faces up to 45 years in prison.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be best for Mayor Adams to step aside.

SCANNELL (voice-over): Calls for his resignation have grown louder, with many New York officials demanding he step down.

[17:50:03]

ADAMS: I look forward to defending myself.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCANNELL: Now -- now, Jake, we reached out to the Turkish consulate for comments on these allegations, they have not gotten back to us. The mayor walked out of here on his own today, and he headed to a birthday celebration at a senior center, continuing his mayoral duties under this cloud, his lawyer said that when they come back to court next week, he's going to ask the judge to dismiss the indictment, and if that fails, they're going to try to get this case to trial as soon as possible. Jake?

TAPPER: And Kara, it seemed clear today that investigations surrounding Adams aren't done. Tell us about a subpoena that was served and a search warrant that was executed.

SCANNELL: That's right, Jake, I mean the investigations around City Hall are just continuing. And this investigation is by the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, that's different than the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York that brought the charges against Adams. Now we're seeing this expand, but authorities had approached one of Adam's closest aides at the airport as she disembarked from a flight and was going through customs. They served her with a search warrant and seized her cell phones.

We also have video of authorities at her home removing boxes, certainly a sign that they are continuing investigations surrounding City Hall amid those wave of resignations. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Kara Scannell in New York, thanks so much.

There's a new effort to energize young voters in this election, and this effort involves video games. We'll explain how it works, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:55:47]

TAPPER: Playing with politics, a new video game is attempting to bridge the gap between Gen Z voters and the election season. It was created by a group of young Gen Z engineers and political enthusiasts who were inspired by the 2016 election. In this game, you can be a campaign manager and make your best effort to win an election. Audie Cornish, CNN host of The Assignment Podcast, spoke with one of those engineers on her podcast, The Assignment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST, "THE ASSIGNMENT" PODCAST (voice-over): Today, we're taking The Assignment to an arcade in Northern Virginia to meet up with Lakshya Jain, the 27-year-old CEO of Split Ticket. It's an organization he started with a small group of friends, bonded by a love of politics and distrust of punditry.

After playing a few rounds of arcade games and unveiled attempt at a dance challenge, Laksha told me how he's using a game to tell a better, fuller story about politics for his generation. I'm Audie Cornish, and this is The Assignment on the road.

CORNISH: So you designed this online game with a new site, "Politico" called "You Be the Campaign Manager." The premise of this game is your campaign manager with two months to go, where do you focus your resources? Which states and why, which groups and why? What was the goal here? LAKSHYA JAIN, FOUNDER, SPLIT TICKET: I think the thing is that people only engage with stuff that they find compelling. So if we wanted to show them really how the nation was split up and how the nation behaves, we had to go for a more gamified approach that would capture their imagination and allow them to engage with certain choices more deeply, and in doing that, they would then understand the tradeoffs of coalition building better than if we just wrote an article talking about it, because if you read an article, it's very passive understanding of things.

CORNISH: It says you need to go after soccer moms in the suburbs. You need to go after, right, like it's pretty straightforward language.

JAIN: Yes. Right. This is easy to understand language. It's an easy to play game, but it's also something that forces you to engage with the material rather than just getting it through on your phone when you're in bed.

CORNISH: What have you learned about political behavior that was like unexpected?

JAIN: Voters are substantially stranger than most political analysts like to believe. I think that when I use the word stranger, it means that to us, we have a harder time understanding what drives them, what drives their motivations and what drives their choices than what we would believe, because it's not always a linear process. It's hard for people to understand why a conservative may vote for a liberal senator.

It's hard for people to understand why someone who shows up in 2024 may not have voted in 2020. It's hard for people to understand why someone who votes in a midterm election for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot could potentially just sit out 2024 or choose to back the Republican at the top of the ticket and Democrats down ballot. To me, the biggest thing that we've learned in all of this is that all of this is substantially harder with a lot more uncertainty than anyone covering it would have you believe.

CORNISH (voice-over): You can hear more of this conversation on The Assignment Podcast. We're taking the show on the road to meet the people shaping the election in the weeks ahead. Find us online or wherever you get your podcast.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: The Assignment with Audie Cornish. And our thanks to Audie for that report.

Coming up Sunday on State of the Union, I'm going to speak with Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina plus Democratic governor JB Pritzker of Illinois. That's Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern, and again at noon only here on CNN.

We end tonight with some very exciting news. The newest member of The Lead team has arrived, Maisie Anne Sciotti arrived Wednesday afternoon to our wonderful producer, Mikael (ph) and her husband, Mason (ph). Maisie weighed six pounds 11 ounces. She's 20 and a half inches long. Mom says Maisie is pure perfection. We do not need a second source on that. Congratulations to Mikael (ph) and Mason (ph) and the entire Sciotti family. Maisie, we can't wait to meet you.

[17:59:54]

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and on the TikTok at JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X at TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can listen to all two hours once you get your podcast. The news continues on CNN with Wolf Blitzer in The Situation Room. I myself, I'll see you Sunday morning.