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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Judge Grills Trump DOJ Lawyers In Tense Deportations Hearing; Washington Post Reports, Top Social Security Official Threatens To Shut Down Agency Over DOGE Access To Taxpayer Data; Top Pentagon Spokesman Reassigned Following DEI Website Purge; New Museum Honors Medal Of Honor Recipients. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired March 21, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, an incredibly tense court hearing today as a federal judge is trying to get answers from the Trump administration about those deportation flights. The judge promising he's going to get to the bottom of whether the White House directly violated his orders.

[18:00:03]

So, what happens next?

Plus, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith is joining The Lead with the message he wants the White House to hear loud and clear and the personal challenge he has for President Trump.

And a stunning new space that honors the lives and legacies of America's finest. Our team got an inside look at the brand new Medal of Honor Museum, which has not yet opened. And we met some of the heroes whose stories will be told within its walls.

The Lead Tonight, President Trump, just moments ago reacting to the contentious hearing where a district judge called the Justice Department intemperate and disrespectful.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: It doesn't sound like this judge who the DOJ is arguing with today about the deportation flights, he wants to know why the proclamation was signed in the dark, his words, and why people were rushed onto planes.

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Because we want to get criminals out of our country, number one. And I don't know when it was signed, because I didn't sign it, other people handled it. But Marco Rubio's done a great job and he wanted them out and we go along with that. We want to get criminals out of our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now with details from the hearing. Kara? KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. So, during this hearing that lasts about an hour-and-a-half, the real focus of it, the judge spent his time asking questions about what role judges have in overseeing this use by the executive branch and the president of this law from 1798, the Alien Enemies Act, that was used to remove these non-U.S. citizens that the administration says were members of a Venezuelan gang.

You know, the judge saying that without any judicial role here, he said it was awfully frightening what the potential implications were by using the act that the way that the president is. It has only been used. Previously in wartime, the war of 1812, World War I and World War II. The judge saying that under this expansive, unprecedented use of it, it's potential to see a Chinese fisherman in U.S. waters could be taken into custody, put in prison, and then deported. So, really sort of exploring what the possible ramifications here are.

And as you said, he, again, was not letting go of what the administration has done here and whether they have defied his court order from last weekend. At the very beginning of the hearing, he asked the lawyer from DOJ what his understanding was of when the judge issued his order from the bench saying, did you not understand my statements in that hearing from last weekend?

The lawyer said that he did understand what the judge was saying, that he knew that he wanted him to stop the planes, then when he made those statements from the bench. That's, of course, in contrast with the administration later saying that they thought it was only an official order when -- a written order followed that.

But the judge getting this lawyer locked in saying that he understood what the judge meant at that time, that the lawyer said that he couldn't speak to what he said to members of the executive branch because that would be covered by attorney-client privilege.

Now, the judge also circling back to this at the very end of the hearing, telling the lawyer from DOJ, I will get to the bottom of whether they violated my order, who ordered this and what the consequences will be.

So, the judge continuing to focus on whether the Justice Department and the executive branch violated his order from last weekend, he's not letting that go, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Kara, just moments ago, the Justice Department announced a criminal investigation into a leak of what they say is classified information related to the Venezuelan gang at the center of this deportation fight. Tell us more about that.

SCANNELL: Yes, the New York Times had a story saying that intelligence officials had determined that the gang, that is the justification for eliminating these non-U.S. citizens, is that an intelligence assessment found that they were not related to the Venezuelan government. That is, of course, in contrast to what the administration is saying, that this is a gang was part of the foreign government, part of a government controlled Venezuela, which is why they were able to apply this aliens act.

Now, the Justice Department's saying they're starting an investigation into what they believe were leaks about that intelligence assessment. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Kara Scannell, thanks so much.

Our panel knows a thing or two about the law and President Trump. Jim Schultz is President Trump's former White House lawyer. Elie Honig is the former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Elie, a lot going on in this hearing, but the ultimate question in this case is whether the president's use of the Alien Enemies Act signed into law in 1798 by John Adams to speed up these deportations is lawful. The judge seems to indicate he thinks this is not an appropriate use of the Alien Enemies Act. What is his reasoning and do you agree or does it matter, it's going to be up to the Supreme Court?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, it is going to be up to the Supreme Court, ultimately, but it does also matter what this district court judge does because he has the ability to freeze these deportations for now.

[18:05:01]

His reasoning, and the judge indicated quite clearly, he's very skeptical of the application of this law to this situation, and I agree with him. First of all, to argue that we're in a situation like World War I or World War II is inherently a stretch.

Now, the argument that DOJ has to make is that the presence of this gang amounts to an invasion, A, by a foreign government, B, and I think that is a major uphill climb. My view is, look, if these folks have committed crimes, prosecute them. If they're here illegally, they can be removed under normal immigration authority. But it seems to me that this specific law is a bad match for this specific set of facts.

TAPPER: Jim, Judge Boasberg said it was concerning that Trump's proclamation was essentially signed in the dark and that the migrants, these deportees, were rushed onto planes. When he asked the Justice Department attorney for more information on the timing of all of this, the department attorney, Drew Enson, said, quote, I don't have operational details. How could a Justice Department lawyer not have the operational details by this point, by Friday?

JIM SCHULTZ, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR: Well, obviously, he also said that he had attorney-client privilege in terms of what he communicated, the administration, which is true. And the fact that he didn't have operational details, the lawyer might not have operational details as to what goes on in other departments in the agency.

And that being said, I mean, we've heard the president call for the impeachment of this judge, which is well within his right. People called for his impeachment when he over a phone call that they believed was inappropriate, he could call on it, but he still needs 67 votes for that.

Another tack that he could take is to say, you know, the authority of the court of these foreign policy decisions is given to them by Congress. The president could call on Congress to strip them of that authority if he was serious about -- if he had serious issues with what they're doing.

TAPPER: Jim, let me, while I have you, let me just ask you, do you think that the administration should just provide the details about who these -- I think it's 261 -- who they are just to show the country, to show transparency that they are actually doing the right thing and these individuals have been vetted and were members of this dangerous gang?

SCHULTZ: Look, these are these, this is information that is obviously which is probably top secret information, is certainly intelligence and sensitive information, and things that you don't bring before the court in a public forum unless the proper, appropriate protections are in place for that information.

So, no, the American public doesn't have a right to see, to know everything that's going on about these individuals. The president has characterized them as criminals, that he wanted to remove from the country, that they were a threat to this country. Beyond that, no, they don't have -- the general public does not have a right to certain intelligence information. That's why people have security clearances.

TAPPER: Elie, do you agree?

HONIG: No, I disagree. Well, first of all, I agree the general public doesn't necessarily need to know. Why can't they give it to the judge, what we call in camera? Let the judge see this. It's also kind of hard to accept an argument from the administration that it's so secure who these people are, when the video that we were just showing, that was given to us, the public, by the administration. It shows their faces. So, there's a little bit of double talk happening here from the administration.

TAPPER: All right. Elie Honig and Jim Schultz, thanks to both of you.

Joining us now, Democratic. Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, also a U.S. Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan.

Congressman, your district was directly impacted by immigration in 2023. You asked President Biden for help when there was this influx of migrants in Massachusetts that pushed the commonwealth's shelter system and other resources to the brink. Now, one of President Trump's many moves to mitigate issues at the border. The southern border is invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport what he says are dangerous Venezuelan gang members. What do you think? Do you think it goes too far?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Jake, good evening. Thanks for having me on. Deporting dangerous transnational gang members, deporting criminals is an important and popular issue. Of course, we should be doing that. The administration, though, is going to have to demonstrate the facts that substantiate that claim in front of a judge. Nobody is above the law in this country, not the president. Nobody's below the law in this country, not a newly arrived immigrant.

And the second issue that we have to address is the laws themselves. The Alien Enemies Act was a poorly advised law when it was passed under John Adams administration. It remains a law that has too many loopholes in it 250 years later, and Congress now needs to act. On the 250th anniversary of our overthrow of a king, Congress needs to step in and say that the presidency has become too powerful. We've got to look at the abuse of emergency authorities, the abuse of tariff authorities, the abuse of domestic law enforcement authorities, and we have to reign in Article 2 because we have allowed presidents to usurp too much power from the legislature and from the courts.

[18:10:01]

TAPPER: Today, Elon Musk visited the Pentagon at the invitation of the secretary of defense. President Trump today pushed back on a report in The New York Times, and I think The Wall Street Journal had one too, that Musk was going there to be briefed at the Pentagon on the top secret plan for potential war that might break out with China. Take a listen to the president pushing back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't want to show that to anybody, but certainly you wouldn't show it to a businessman who is helping us so much.

You know, Elon has businesses in China. And he would be susceptible perhaps to that, but it was such a fake story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you think happened here? Do you think that this was a fake story or do you think that people were concerned about this briefing happening, so they leaked it and then it was canceled?

AUCHINCLOSS: I think the latter scenario, Jake, is the much more likely one. I think this briefing was going to happen and it got leaked, and the administration felt like it had touched a hot stove and flinched. But it's just another example of this administration picking fights or pursuing veins of effort that are distractions from taking care of business, right? They are you know, picking fights with Canada and Panama and Greenland, as opposed to getting tough on Russia. They're going after the Department of Education when millions of kids in this country are suffering from post-COVID learning loss. It doesn't seem like they have their priorities in order right now. Americans right now care about cost of living, and they want more stability and less chaos in Washington D.C.

TAPPER: A lot of Democrats are in a bedwetting, handwringing wither the Democrats face, wistfully staring at the moon. In a new interview with TIME Magazine, you spoke about the flailing state of your party. You said, quote, I can assure you there's no shortage of ambition out there. Candidates will emerge. There's a shortage of ideas. It's all kind of hand waving unless you actually have some big ideas. Let's put the big ideas out there. Let's talk about them. Let's see what people will get excited about, unquote.

So, I know you weren't saying that you have those big ideas, but do you have any big ideas? What kinds of big ideas are you talking about?

AUCHINCLOSS: I think Democrats need to talk about big ideas in at least three veins. One, we have to talk about lowering costs for Americans, particularly by mass producing housing and by taking on the health insurance corporations that are the middlemen of a healthcare system that is inflating at two X the cost the rate of inflation in this country.

Number two, we have to be the party that's serious about the rule of law and ending corruption in Washington, D.C., getting rid of closed primaries, getting rid of gerrymandering, both partisan and racial gerrymandering, and about taking back authorities at the presidency as usurp from Congress and the courts.

And then finally, Jake, Democrats need to come forward with a set of ideas about how we're going to sanction the social media corporations that have been attention fracking our kids, and that have been corroding our civil discourse. We should be taxing their digital advertising revenues, using those funds, which will be in the hundreds of billions of dollars every year to support local journalism, to support one-on-one tutoring for kids and to rein in the most powerful, the most wealthy corporations in the history of the world that have no sense of responsibility to their users.

TAPPER: Those are some pretty big ideas.

All right, Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, good to see you, sir.

The acting leader of the Social Security Administration reportedly is threatening to shut down the entire agency. We're going to explain the court ruling at the heart of that fight next.

Plus, the Pentagon trying to explain why it removed and then put back an article about U.S. Army veteran and baseball legend, iconic Jackie Robinson, their latest explanation ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: Just into our Politics Lead, The Washington Post is reporting that the acting Social Security commissioner is threatening to shut down the agency over a federal court ruling, temporary blocking -- temporarily blocking Elon Musk and DOGE from accessing taxpayer data. The commissioner tells The Washington Post, quote, the judge's ruling was overly broad, and that a reference to DOGE affiliates could apply to all employees who access personally identifiable information. He adds, everything in this agency is PII or personally identifiable information. He went on to say, quote, unless I get clarification, I'll just start to shut it down. I don't have much of a choice here.

Okay. Let's discuss. Meghan Hayes, any response to that from the acting Social Security commissioner? He is going to shut it down?

MEGHAN HAYES, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO PRESIDENT BIDEN: I'm confused why he needs to shut it down, but I'm also confused why DOGE needs access to this personal information. They don't need to go through fraud, waste, and abuse with people's personal information and how they're connected to other agencies in the government. And I think that these court orders -- I mean, I think it's up to the Trump administration whether they're going to defy other court order or not, and whether people are going to be standing for that.

TAPPER: Greta.

GRETA JOYNES, FORMER HOUSE AND SENATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR: Well, I think as you look at all of the PII that's at the Social Security Administration, everything is on these aging systems. It's impossible to go in and take a look at all of the various ways that Social Security could be running more efficiently and effectively without having access to some of it without clarification from the judge. This really is just an attempt to shut down DOGE.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Can I just say one quick thing?

TAPPER: Sure.

GANGEL: If this acting director does this and closes down Social Security, that's the third rail. I mean, it's done. I don't think this is going to happen.

TAPPER: Yes.

GANGEL: But it's crazy.

TAPPER: So, let's talk about President Trump earlier today praising Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now, in this case, Marco Rubio has a lot of big decisions to make, and he's a fantastic person, a great man. I think he'll be our best -- I think he has a chance to be our best secretary of state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Jamie, you have some new reporting about Rubio, in some instances, you're hearing, taking a back seat to one of Trump's closest friends, Steve Witkoff, who's been leading some negotiations with Russia and as special envoy to the Middle East.

[18:20:05] GANGEL: Well, I'm laughing because that President Trump saying that was not an accident. He knew our piece was coming out today, and so that was rapid response ahead of time. And I don't think Marco Rubio has ever had such a good day with Donald Trump as today with that.

Look, what we are hearing from more than 12 sources is Marco Rubio went into this job with eyes wide open. He knows that Donald Trump fires people by tweet. He knows what it's like to be called Little Marco. But we have been told that Rubio is frustrated because Steve Witkoff, who is Donald Trump's good friend, billionaire, has made many high-profile trips and carried out policy that, as once were said to me, he's flying around the world looking like the secretary of state.

So, that statement by Trump today was to reassure everybody that Marco Rubio is still his secretary of state. I don't think his job is threatened at all by this. But I think you can sum it up with one picture. Remember in the Oval Office the famous Zelenskyy meeting and you saw Marco Rubio sitting on the couch. One source called it the couch slouch.

TAPPER: Yes.

GANGEL: This comes with the territory, especially when you're working with Donald Trump.

TAPPER: So, Rubio is denying CNN's reporting saying in part, quote, Witkoff is one of the people I work with, the closest on our team.

Meghan, you know about dynamics in the White House. It's not unheard of that there are -- there's vying going on. What's your take on that?

HAYES: Absolutely. I think the most important thing is what our friends and enemies abroad think and when they send Marco Rub or Witkoff to negotiate, who are they going to take more seriously? And it seems like they're going to take Witkoff more seriously 'cause they know that Trump has backed him more so than Rubio.

There's a lot of things that you can do for diplomacy traveling around the world, so it's not like Rubio's not doing things, but in these high-profile situations, the rest of the world is taking Steve Witkoff much more seriously than they're taking Marco Rubio at this point,

TAPPER: I want to just bring up this one thing, because today, in terms of Elon Musk, who is also very close to the president, President Trump defended the first buddy, he warned that those caught vandalizing Tesla vehicles. And let me just say, obviously it's horrifying, horrifying, this is happening. It's insane. If you don't like Elon Musk, you don't blow up cars. It's crazy. But he said anybody caught vandalizing Tesla vehicles could face lengthy jail time and good. But he also said this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And those cars, not one or two, like seven, eight, ten, burning, exploding all over the place. These are terrorists. You didn't have that on January 6th, I can tell you. These are terrorists and that's an organized event. You know, take a look at the signs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, you had me and then you lost me. What's your take on the you, know, all the, you didn't have that on January 6th?

JOYNES: Well, I think the president is certainly pointing out, this is a very organized group who's going out and finding various ways to try to disrupt the American people and the cars that they are using and enjoying, Elon Musk or whomever else. It's --

TAPPER: People also enjoy Congress and, you know, democracy.

JOYNES: Well, yes, I would say generally most people do enjoy Congress, at least a certain extent, but I do think that the president is comparing and contrasting what was a one day event, which is what is a multi-week event, and it continues to keep ramping up. And especially when you have people like Governor Walz going out and saying that he's enjoying watching the stock price drop the more that these actions continue. I think that's a serious problem.

TAPPER: All right, thanks one and all.

He's known for never holding back, especially when it comes to his takes on hot political issues, including, of course, sports issues.

Stephen A. Smith is here next with his passionate message about Jackie Robinson. Take a listen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: Talking about the military again in our Politics Lead, a top Pentagon spokesman who gave different responses as to why the Pentagon removed and then put back an article about U.S. Army Veteran and baseball and American Icon Jackie Robinson. That individual has been reassigned to a different role inside the department. Pentagon officials did not tell CNN what new role this former spokesperson was given, but they did say this employee was essentially sidelined after giving different statements without senior approval about Jackie Robinson's information on the website, regardless of the damage is done. The Pentagon is in damage control mode.

Chief Pentagon Spokesperson Sean Parnell did not mention Jackie Robinson by name in a video that they put out there yesterday, but he did attempt to explain kind of how there are mistakes that continue to be made while the Pentagon is so vigorously trying to remove what they call DEI, diversity, equity inclusion content.

Here's part of what Mr. Parnell had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEAN PARNELL, CHIEF SPOKESPERSON, PENTAGON: Every now and then because of the realities of A.I. tools and other software, some important content was incorrectly pulled offline to be reviewed. We want to be very, very clear. History is not DEI. When content is either mistakenly removed or if it's maliciously removed, we continue to work quickly to restore it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It's still not exactly clear why removing content about our veterans is being left up to robots, which only adds to the risk of sullying true heroes such, as Jackie Robinson.

[18:30:05]

What is the urgency about removing articles from websites here? Why can't they assign actual human beings to do it if it's so important? I guess it's up to you out there if you want to accept the Pentagon's explanation for what happened here as they remove what they call DEI content.

By the way, the story dedicated to Jackie Robinson on the defense.gov website that they took down, then they put back up, it's still quite difficult to find.

My next guest needs no introduction, but just in case if you don't know, he's one of the most influential voices in sports. He definitively does not shy away from giving his honest takes on politics. Stephen A. Smith, thank you so much for joining us.

So, I watched your take, a lot of us did, watched your take on the Pentagon's initial removal of Jackie Robinson's history from its website. For those who did not hear it, explain why it was so important for you to call out the Trump administration on this.

STEPHEN A. SMITH, ESPN HOST: Well, I just think it was egregious on their part, and I think it's along the lines of what they've been trying to do. I think they're trying to gloss over and scrape history. They're trying to move forward and it's almost as if they want our nation to forget a history that involves racist behavior on a part of the white power structure that has existed in the United States of America. It's almost as if to say, look at what we are doing and this is the problem. We keep looking back and we need to forget all of that. They want folks to forget.

Well, you don't get to make that decision and you don't get to erase history. History in all its forms is history in and of itself. It's historic. It's something that needs to be acknowledged. It's something that needs to be remembered and recalled whenever necessary. And for an administration to be making a concerted effort to do that is incredibly alarming in and of itself. But when you think about who they're capitulating to, who they're trying to appease along the way, it just gives the impression that there's tens of millions of American who completely and unequivocally support such a thing. And obviously I'm not one of them, so I spoke out about it and I stand by it. TAPPER: So, Jackie Robinson, for anybody who hasn't read his memoir, I Never Had It Made, all he writes about in the section about his time in the U.S. Army was the racism he endured? That's Jackie Robinson's version of Jackie Robinson's history. So, it's amazing that they want to pretend that that's something that shouldn't be included.

SMITH: Well, absolutely. And the thing about it is, you know, you know, Jake, I've often told this to a lot of white folks that I have the pleasure of knowing and befriending over the years. I say, guess what, if you're not a racist and you're not somebody who believes in those things, obviously we're not talking about you. And I think that one of the problems that exists in the United States of America is that everybody's finding an excuse to personalize things as if you're talking about them. That's certainly not the case. But nevertheless, history is history. These things have happened. It's subjugated you know, a portion of our population here in the United States of America, and there's a lot of suffering that has taken place because of it.

And when you take that into consideration to gloss over it, to try and scrape it, to ignore it, to literally eradicate it from history, what you're saying is you don't want people to know about the deeds of your ancestors and beyond. That's what you're trying to do. And you're using it as an excuse to point to whatever debilitating issues people may feel they're experiencing in their communities, in their homes, in this day and age, you know, you're looking for somebody to blame, per se.

This is the reason we're held back. This is the reason we can't march forward. This is the reason that there's so much strife and there's so much stress in this world, so we have to put a stop to it. Oh, I see. But the same folks were fighting to preserve the Confederate flags, you know, in places like South Carolina and Mississippi and beyond, it just amazes me how people conveniently engage in selective amnesia from time to time but it's the job of people like myself, people like yourself and others, to remind them we can march forward while in the same breath looking back, because sometimes reflecting on history ensures that we won't repeat it.

TAPPER: Yes, absolutely. You challenged President Trump, Vice President Vance, Defense Secretary Hegseth, to come on your show to debate with you about the DEI. I mean, I obviously would watch that. Have you gotten a response? I haven't really seen, especially Vance or Hegseth, be willing to step outside the safe spaces of conservative media.

SMITH: Well, I'm not going to go that far, but what I will say is sit down with me is just a little bit different, Jake, I mean, especially as it pertains to President Trump. I have not spoken to him in many years, obviously, since he strolled down the escalators in 2015 to announce to the world that he was running for the presidency.

But prior to that, myself and a bevy of folks in the media, in sports media, we all knew Donald Trump. Donald Trump was somebody that we would see at the Trump casinos hosting boxing matches. He's somebody we would see at Knick's games. Honestly speaking, we got along with him very, very well, believe it or not.

[18:35:01]

I mean, we didn't see some of the tendencies we believe we have seen since he's become president of United States. First is 45 and now is 47. But I remember I've told this story on many occasions and I repeat it to you for your audience over the national airwaves. In 2014, Donald Trump wanted to purchase the Buffalo Bills. The price tag was about $1.4 billion. According to my sources, he had about $1.1. billion dollars.

And he called me to talk to me about his desire to own the Buffalo Bills. This is the last time we ever spoke. And he said to me, and I'm quoting, Jake, I'm quoting, he said, talking about the NFL owners, if them m'fers get him my way, I'm going to get them all back. I'm going to run for president. And sure enough, that's what happened. He didn't get the team, and because he didn't get the team, he turned around and he ran for president and he won. So, the NFL joke's with me all the time. So, it's our fault. It's our fault that he's the president. And I'm like, yes, maybe. But that's the situation right now.

And in all seriousness, you know, people can have their feelings or what have you, but you know what? When we talk about the history of this country and the iniquitous acts that have taken place to sit up there and try to scrape it from history and then to blame it on, you know, a computer or whatever, to allude to your earlier point about having computers make these decisions, you know what that's about, Jake. It's about plausible deniability. See, the machines did that.

TAPPER: Yes.

SMITH: Not us.

TAPPER: Right.

SMITH: You get to navigate your way through that terrain. That's what they're doing.

TAPPER: You said Hegseth, Secretary Hegseth is a DEI hire. What'd you mean by that?

SMITH: Yes, because everybody keeps talking about diversity, equity, and inclusion as being DEI. My definition of DEI as it pertains to this particular subject is didn't earn it. That's DEI, didn't earn it. Just because you're a DEI hire doesn't mean that you're not qualified. There's plenty of people that have benefited from DEI, just like there were plenty of people who have benefited from affirmative action and other things. And I got news for you. Some reports say white women benefited more from affirmative action and DEI than even black folks have. I don't know whether that's factually correct, but according to my research it is. So, if you take that into consideration, obviously, that's something that they need to take into consideration when they bring up DEI.

But the one thing they can't refute, they can refute diversity, equity, and inclusion and what kind of role must that play or should that play in corporate America, but you can't dispute didn't earn it. You didn't earn it. Hegseth has served our country as a military man. I saw military officers being very supportive of him when he was going through Senate confirmation hearings to become the defense secretary.

I'm not here to cast any aspersions on him whatsoever, personal or professional. What I'm saying is that if you're a weekend host on a network and then you turn around and you're the defense secretary of the United States of America overseeing 3.5 million people, I mean, one plus one equals two. It ain't hard to comprehend that. That was not something that was earned. There is nothing about the job that he was doing that qualified him for the job he has now. Yet he has it and it's as defense secretary of the United States of America. I guess as the saying goes, only in America, only in America.

TAPPER: Stephen A. Smith, thanks so much. I appreciate you.

SMITH: No problem. Take care.

TAPPER: A live look at London's Heathrow airport. Coming up next, the scramble there right now after authority, shut down this major travel hub for some 20 hours.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: Our World Lead, and now some travelers are still stranded after the fire that knocked out the power at Europe's busiest airport, including one of our own, CNN's Richard Quest, who is temporarily stranded in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

But, Richard, you were supposed to be back in London by now, correct?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Oh, not only back, but working, presenting Quest Means Business. So, they kept put us on the plane. We waited four hours, then they took us off the plane, and then I had to come and have for a hotel, and I've been working here in Sao Paulo. But all being well, tonight, I should be heading back to London because I had one advantage over many other stranded passengers. Our plane was already here, Jake, so we were able -- we're hopefully going to get back tonight.

TAPPER: Some flight paths have reopened at Heathrow, but delays are predicted to keep coming. How do officials choose which planes to prioritize as they try to get things back on track after an airport reopens?

QUEST: So, in case of British Airways tonight, they're sending out the long haul stuff from Heathrow. That's when they would normally go. Otherwise, it's really basic. It's which flight's most important, which has the most connectors, which are strategically the most important for the root network. How am I going to get all my planes back into the right place in the quickest amount of time? And the computers are highly sophisticated and will do a lot of that for the airline, but it is, at the end of the day, a three dimensional chess game with hundreds of planes across dozens of airlines.

TAPPER: And what exactly caused these problems? Was it avoidable?

QUEST: That is the question. Okay, so you have the fire, and maybe arguably that was or was not, but it's this knock-on effect that everybody's going to concentrate on, the ability of Heathrow to stay running. Look, they say that the electricity was the equivalent of a small tower or small sitting. So, I understand that it was going to be dramatic.

But did the whole airport need to fall over? That's the real core question. But it's similar. You know, let's say remember Delta with the computer problem and the outage that happened? When airlines go wrong, they do go wrong spectacularly. And I think we've had a really good example of that today.

[18:45:01]

As for travelers, Jake, really simple. If you're on a -- you -- if you're flying out of the U.K., you're entitled to hotel bills and everything else like that. If you are flying into the U.K., then it's only if you're on a U.K. or European carrier. Then you get your hotel bills and things paid.

So have a look and see what you can get back.

TAPPER: Yeah, a reminder that Murphy's Law was created by somebody working in the airplane world.

Richard Quest in Sao Paulo, thank you and safe travels.

A new museum is set to open next week. This one is dedicated to honoring the lives and legacies of some of the nation's bravest heroes. We're going inside to get a sneak peek. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our national lead, next Tuesday is National Medal of Honor Day. That's the day that our nation salutes the heroism and legacies of more than 3,500 very special men and women.

[18:50:01]

This year, it's also the opening day of a new museum dedicated to preserving and passing on their stories. And every one of them is a story worth hearing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice-over): Steps from sports icons rises the new home for a different kind of hero.

CHARLOTTE JONES, CHAIR, NATIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR MUSEUM FOUNDATION: I hope when people walk through this space, they say, oh my gosh, how did they do this? TAPPER: The National Medal of Honor Museum, opening March 25th in

Arlington, Texas, honors recipients of the highest military award for valor in the United States.

SAL GIUNTA, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: I'm a five-foot-nine guy from Iowa. There's nothing special about me.

TAPPER: Sal Giunta hardly blends in with tourists, getting an early look at the exhibit. Nor should he. Giunta is a war hero among more than 3,500 medal recipients whose bravery and sacrifice is now enshrined here.

GIUNTA: I remember looking out and there was hundreds if not thousands of orange glowing bullets coming in.

TAPPER: In 2007, Giunta's platoon with the 173rd Airborne Brigade was ambushed in Afghanistan.

GIUNTA: I just ran into the ambush to fight next to my buddy. So he didn't fight alone. He wouldn't let me fight alone.

TAPPER: His friend, Sergeant Joshua Brennan, had been hit and was being dragged away by the enemy.

GIUNTA: The world was -- was blowing up around us, and all I could think of is, why are these guys running that way with him? I ran closer and realized it was two enemy carrying Sergeant Brennan. I eliminated the threat and I grabbed my buddy and just took off running back the direction I came.

TAPPER: Brennan ultimately would not survive, but the actions Giunta took at great risk to his own life ensured that his buddy came home.

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Your courage prevented the capture of an American soldier and brought that soldier back to his family.

TAPPER: In 2010, Giunta was the first living Medal of Honor recipient since the Vietnam War.

(APPLAUSE)

TAPPER: Actions like his and thousands more weave a tapestry of heroism displayed publicly for the very first time since the Medal of Honor was first authorized in 1861, during the civil war.

GIUNTA: This museum allows me to talk about my -- my buddies because none of this was me. It was always us.

TAPPER: You were awarded the Medal of Honor for hugging a suicide bomber.

Over the years, Medal of Honor recipients have been on the lead, sharing their stories, such as Flo Groberg, who's featured in the museum.

FLO GROBERG, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: I had the most direct path towards the suicide bomber, and I just did my job.

OBAMA: Ty has spoken openly.

TAPPER: Ty Carter told us of the post-traumatic stress that lives on years after his sacrifices.

TY CARTER, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: I didn't believe it was real until I experienced it. I thought it was just an excuse.

CLINT ROMESHA, MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT: I told him I was sorry.

TAPPER: And Clint Romesha movingly shared his regrets that he could not save even more of his battle buddies, returning years later to say he channeled that emotion into helping others.

ROMESHA: And that's where I've really started to try and focus. What are we going to do tomorrow to make stuff better?

TAPPER: Their strength is represented in the Medal of Honor Museum's design, 31,000ft of exhibit space hoisted into the air by just five pillars, each representing a branch of the U.S. military.

JONES: I think it's just a great symbolic vision that we need each other.

TAPPER: Charlotte Jones not only chairs the museum, she is from that Jones family, also an executive with the Dallas Cowboys.

JONES: These are great American heroes are the ones who inspires our guys. And so, it's our job to tell those stories and to share it with more. I think we've never seen a more divided country than we have today, and to be able to bring our country together, to remind everybody that we actually have the same values.

TAPPER: The museum is interactive. Visitors can virtually handle a medal or fly on a Vietnam War helicopter mission, making heroism and sacrifice of the past and inspiration for the future.

GIUNTA: It's not an infantry museum or an army museum or a navy museum. This place says if you put your mind towards service of people, of care and compassion, not camouflage and guns, you can accomplish anything.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: We owe them so much. You can read and see much more on the museum's website. That's MOH, Medal of Honor, MOHMuseum.org.

Coming up, a history making series I would love for you to check out this weekend. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:04]

TAPPER: Tune in Sunday for a new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL". This week, we're digging into the story of Anita Hill, who in 1991 accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment. The accusation led to a series of unprecedented Senate hearings and sparked a decades-long conversation about sexual harassment and gender dynamics.

Here's a little preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANITA HILL, LAWYER: It seems to me that the behavior has to be evaluated on its own with regard to the fitness of this individual to act as an associate justice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's not just calling out Clarence Thomas. She is calling out an entire cottage industry of sexual harassment, of good old boys. It is telling of the reaction of the senators to her testimony.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you are not now drawing a conclusion that Judge Thomas sexually harassed you?

HILL: Yes. I am drawing that conclusion. That is my --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, then I don't understand --

HILL: Pardon me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then I don't understand.

HILL: Well, let me try to explain again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Don't miss this new episode of "UNITED STATES OF SCANDAL". That's Sunday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and again 9:00 p.m. Pacific on CNN.

Coming up, Sunday morning on "STATE OF THE UNION", Education Secretary Linda McMahon, Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. That's Sunday morning at 9:00 Eastern and again at noon only here on CNN.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now. Take it away, Erin.