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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Source Says, Hegseth's Denial Over Chat Is A Shocking Obfuscation; Rubio Unveils First Stage Of Major State Department Overhaul; Pope's Coffin To Be Transferred To St. Peter's Basilica Tomorrow; Inside One Of The World's Most Ambitious Conservation Projects; Russian Artist Reveals Trump Portrait Gifted By Putin. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 22, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

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

This hour, standing by their man, the White House firmly backing Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth today, at least publicly, even after Hegseth admitted to sharing sensitive military information in a group chat with his wife and personal attorney and brother. My new reporting tonight about what's happening behind the scenes.

Plus, the Vatican releasing new details about Pope Francis' funeral and the last words he spoke before he passed away. We're live in St. Peter Square and we're talking to a CNN correspondent who used to travel with the pope and even got a special papal blessing.

Also, last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin, gifted President Trump a mystery portrait. But the portrait itself was never publicly revealed until right now. And CNN has an exclusive look at this gift.

And on this Earth Day, a stunning look at one of the most ambitious conservation projects on Earth. Come along with CNN's Bill Weir, and a dedicated team and a wild jaguar across Argentina.

Our Lead Tonight, as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says, President Trump, quote, stands strongly, unquote, by embattled Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. I am hearing new information from sources after Hegseth essentially admitted to that second group chat. First, listen to what Hegseth this morning said on the channel that used to employ him as Weekend Fox and Friends co-host.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: What was shared over Signal then and now, however you characterize it, was informal, unclassified coordinations, for media coordination and other things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, sources in the know tell us that that was mostly an accurate description of that Signal chat until the moment that Secretary Hegseth started sharing sensitive information on the pending attack on the Houthis on that Signal chat, information that was similar, if not identical to that that he shared on the infamous chat that inadvertently included Atlantic Magazine Editor Jeffrey Goldberg. A source with direct knowledge of this second chat tells me that he thought Hegseth's comments on Fox this morning were, quote, an eyebrow-raising attempt to mislead, unquote, and, quote, shocking obfuscation, unquote.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is covering this all from the White House. Jeff, what are your sources telling you?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, as of now the president is standing by his defense secretary. Of course, he expended so much political capital in getting him confirmed in the first place by the slimmest of votes in the Senate by a one vote difference. So, the White House is standing by the defense secretary. That does not mean there are not significant questions and concerns behind the scenes as you've just been reporting. There are about his judgment, about some of the statements he's been making. But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, the president, at least for now, is with Hegseth.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: They were Pentagon employees who leaked against their boss to news agencies in this room.

The secretary of defense is doing a tremendous job and he's bringing monumental change to the Pentagon. And there's a lot of people in this city who reject monumental change. And, I think, frankly, that's why we've seen a smear campaign against the secretary of defense since the moment that President Trump announced his nomination.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, the smear campaign that she's talking about, there are actually loyalists who worked closely with him that he has dismissed from the Pentagon. So, the real questions are, what is going on in the leadership of the Pentagon, the Defense Department. There are many concerns from longtime veterans as well as just administration officials who do not believe that things are in order there. But for now at least, the president is standing by his defense secretary.

Jake, the question is, next week, once the Senate comes back to Washington, will there be any senators who raised some questions about him? Of course, Republicans have been very silent about this. But just because the president is with him now does not mean that support is everlasting. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. CNN's Jeff Zeleny at the White House, thank you so much.

Joining us now to discuss is Nebraska Republican Congressman and retired Air Force Brigadier General Don Bacon. Sir, thanks for joining us. If you were president and this were your secretary of defense, what would you do?

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Well, I wouldn't tolerate it. I would hold them accountable and I'd fire them. You can't put classified information, and I guarantee it, if you're talking about when you're launching aircraft to attack Yemen and you do that two hours before the mission, that is classified.

[18:05:00]

That's operational details that you want to protect. And it's was just wrong to put that on an unclassified application and to send it to people who are not cleared or in the need to know. We would fire a second lieutenant for doing this.

And so as a military guy, and this is not a Republican view or a Democrat view, I think it's an American view that we protect our security, we protect our servicemen and women, because those details, if they would've got out early to the Houthis, could have endangered our airmen. And I guarantee you Russia and China are all over the secretary of defense's cell phone and they got hundreds of people focused on his phone and what he's putting on that because he is like the top priority target for their Signals collection.

So, I just -- what I want to see from the secretary is to just be honest. Admit you did wrong, take responsibility and apologize, because that lets us know that you understand that was wrong. When he does not admit to it and tries to obfuscate, that further lowers his credibility on this. He's got to come clean and be honest and just take responsibility.

TAPPER: Well, the truth of the matter is that if he had just done what you're recommending, that he had just like said that was a mistake, I shouldn't have done it and I'm not going to do it again, we wouldn't be talking about this now, because, A, the news about the second chat, he could just say, yes, I already said I made a mistake, I'm not going to do it again. And also we wouldn't know the details of what he actually sent out. The only reason The Atlantic published those details is because Hegseth was lying and Jeffrey Goldberg and the Atlantic said, okay, fine, if you're going to make us out to be liars, they checked with some people about stuff still not to include, but they posted it. So your advice is not only ethically correct, it's politically correct.

BACON: Absolutely. If he would've said right up front, I did wrong, and thank God our air crews hit the targets, had a successful mission, I learned my lesson, I'll never do that again, this story had been long over it. We would've focused on the successes of our military and what they're doing in Yemen.

But the problem is it was, first of all, very foolish to put classified information on these applications and to send them out. You expect better out of the secretary of defense, but he could recover from that with candor. But when you deny it's a problem, I think it even makes it worse. It's saying -- I mean, it lowers our trust. And I want to be able to trust our secretary. I want him to be successful. I want our military to be successful. But if you're trying to deny that sending operational details two hours before a strike is not a problem, then I have concerns about your competence and just -- and your ability to do this job. I mean, it just -- it makes it worse. He's digging a hole. He should stop digging.

TAPPER: Has any member of the Trump administration reached out to you since you began speaking honestly and candidly about the actions of Secretary Hegseth?

BACON: Not on this topic, no. We've talked more about the reconciliation bill. I've had multiple meetings on that. And, I mean, again, I wish the president's success. What I don't really care for with the secretary's comments today, I like the focus on combat capability that he's bringing to the Pentagon. So, I don't come forward trying to undermine his strat or his desires to talk more about combat performance, combat capability. I embrace that as a 30- year Air Force guy and retired general. I'm literally focused on putting classified information on an unclassified system. It's a violation of operation security and I just feel like it's obfuscation, as you already mentioned in your, you know, your lead up to this, and he's just not being candid. We want him to be successful, but he's got to stop digging this hole.

TAPPER: Why do you think you are the only Republican official on Capitol Hill, as far as I can tell, who has said anything like this?

BACON: Well, I have had people tell me, Don, it's just inexcusable putting classified information on an unclassified system. So, I have heard that from my peers. But I think in my case, because I am an active duty -- I was an active duty general, retired 11 years ago. I was a signals intelligence officer. My job was to collect on the bad guys. I happen to know that I was being collected on from the time I was at Ramstein Air Base as the base commander there. I was being collected on when I was in Iraq. So, I know what the other guys are trying to do to me.

I know that we have some of the best signal capabilities in the world, so I understand what's going on out there and I think I just more -- probably just more troubled that our senior -- the most senior of our senior leadership is putting operational plans, operational details on a device that I know that Chinese and Russians are working overtime to collect everything on that.

So, I think I see it in a black and white way, and I don't see any ambiguity.

[18:10:00]

And I don't say this as a Republican or Democrat. I say this as an American, as a veteran. We want our service men and women to hit their targets and come home,

TAPPER: And we thank you for your service, sir. Republican Congressman from Nebraska Don Bacon, I appreciate it, sir. From the Pentagon to the State Department now, where a massive shakeup is underway, today, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced what he calls a, quote, comprehensive reorganization plan that will bring the department into the 21st century.

Now, CNN has seen the reorganization documents, which will affect more than 130 offices, including 700 jobs.

And joining us now, Investigative Reporter from The Free Press Gabe Kaminsky. And, Gabe, you and your co-author, Madeline Rowley, were the first to re report on the reorganization, documents and plans. Your report reveals the following offices are on the chopping block, or facing massive overhauls, the Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations, countering violent extremism activities at the Bureau of Counterterrorism and the Undersecretary for Civilian Security, Democracy and Human Rights, which includes the Office of Global Criminal Justice. Those sound like important offices to me. What are some specific examples of what they do?

GABE KAMINSKY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE FREE PRESS: Yes. So, I mean, in the case of the Office of Global Criminal Justice that's a, that's an office at the State Department that is being eliminated as part of this overhaul. Part of its work is to investigate war crimes.

And the telling of the State Department, this reorganization is to essentially consolidate programs that it believes overlap. But as we've seen after our report in The Free Press, it's already kind of sparking concerns among Democrats in Congress, as you know, expected about potentially the United States loosening its American diplomacy abroad and they have national security concerns.

TAPPER: Now, the State Department told you that some of these offices do not require congressional approval for Secretary Rubio just to get rid of them. But you do report a lot of the consolidation has to do with the targeting of USAID, the International Aid Agency, and eliminating USAID would require congressional approval, I believe. So what are Republicans and Democrats telling you about this approach they're taking?

KAMINSKY: So, USAID under this new reorganization is being shuffled into bureaus within the State Department. The State Department says that is in alignment with its -- under the law. However, there's a notable aspect of this reorganization, which is that under it, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is still the acting administrator of USAID. And that is a tell that they are recognizing that Congress actually has to be the body that has to be able to dismantle it. They're moving the functions of USAID into the State Department but they don't have the authority to outright dismantle it statutorily.

TAPPER: And what's the deadline for all these massive changes you reported on?

KANISKY: So, by July 1, within 30 days actually. Specifically a really notable part of this reorganization, the State Department is telling undersecretary officials at the agency to reduce staff by 15 percent in all of those six offices. That's tens of thousands of people combined in those jobs. And they're asking agencies within 30 days to give plans to reduce staff by 15 percent. But for July 1st, that's the date that the State Department is looking to reorganize USAID.

TAPPER: All right. The Free Press' Gabe Kaminsky, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

So, what kind of impact could these State Department cuts have not just here in the United States but in projects around the world? We're going to ask Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin in moments.

Plus, what first buddy Elon Musk just said on a Tesla earnings call about his time spent with the Trump administration and when he plans on stepping away from the role as Tesla shows real financial losses.

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TAPPER: This just in. Billionaire Elon Musk just said his time with DOGE is mostly done. He spoke moments ago on an earnings call for Tesla after his car company reported a 71 percent drop in profits. Musk added that his time allocated to DOGE will drop significantly starting next month.

And now, more on the chaos and controversy dogging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a slew of firings and resignations at the Pentagon, and the now confirmed second Signal chat raising more than a few eyebrows in Washington about Hegseth's aptitude and maturity when it comes to this job, though President Trump is standing by him, at least now, for now at least publicly.

Michigan Democratic Senator Elissa Slotkin joins us now. Senator, I want to play a little bit of the secretary's explanation over how the dismissals and the report of the second Signal chat are allegedly connected. He said this this morning on where else, Fox and Friends.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: Why would it surprise anybody, Brian, if those very same people keep leaking to the very same reporters, whatever information they think they can have to try to sabotage the agenda of the president or the secretary? So, once a leaker, always a leaker, often a leaker.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: For the record, the three employees deny being involved in leaking any information. And it's not really even the point. I mean, the point is that he sent sensitive, maybe even classified information on Signal chains, one that included a reporter and the other one included his wife and his brother and his personal attorney.

Now you worked at the Pentagon and you're a former CIA officer. What do you make of the situation?

SEN. ELISSA SLOTKIN (D-MI): Yes. I mean, I think it's just a continuation of what we saw before, which is it was putting sensitive operational materials on an unclassified system again in a way that our adversaries could get a hold of, right? That's why we don't have these conversations on an unclassified system. He put the time and place and type of attack that we were going to conduct. Anyone, from a junior lieutenant to a young CIA officer who had done any of that, would be immediately pulled from their job and their case would be reported to the Department of Justice because they put the U.S. military at risk with their sloppiness.

[18:20:10]

And, you know, I've heard you talk about this, you know, for the last sort of 30 minutes. I think it's the way he's handled this tells you all you need to know about the secretary of defense. If he had just manned up, owned it from the beginning, said, you know what, that was sloppy, I shouldn't have done it, I've put in protocols, so we're not going to do it, but I'm the head of the Defense Department, so I want to set an example of accountability for the force. I think this wouldn't be a story anymore. But he did the opposite. He's punching everybody else because he knows he made a mistake. He's yelling at everybody else. He's handling himself in a way that we would be embarrassed to see a uniformed officer. So, I think it's enough already. Let him resign. He's a distraction to the U.S. military right now.

TAPPER: You're on the Armed Services Committee in the Senate. And my impression is that your chairman, Republican Roger Wicker, he seems like a serious man. He and the ranking Democrat, Jack Reid, they called for the inspector general to look into the first Signal chat, do an investigation. Are they considering asking the I.G. to launch another inquiry into the second Signal chat?

SLOTKIN: Yes, there's certainly a lot of conversations going on about what do we do, you know, when we come back on Monday, I mean, we're right now in our home states but there's certainly a lot of back and forth and chatter about what is the next step, what exactly do we do. Actually, who's leading right now? Who's in charge? We have so few staff in the secretary's front office right now. You know, there's very sensitive information that goes on at only the secretary of defense level, and he's got no one around him. So, exactly how are things functioning right now?

And, look, because we have had one Republican bravely come forward, Don Bacon, who happens to have been a one star general, I know that there are serious Republicans who are thinking about this privately with their teams talking about it. And I just urge them to do the right thing. Just don't -- this is not a political thing. We need serious people leading the U.S. military, especially now. And so I just -- I urge them to look inside themselves and make the right call.

TAPPER: Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched a plan today to overhaul the State Department. CNN reports its 700 positions in Washington alone could be eliminated. Rubio wrote, quote, in its current form, the department is bloated, bureaucratic, and unable to perform its essential diplomatic mission in this new era of great power competition, unquote. The Senate, as you know, voted unanimously to confirm Secretary Rubio. Do you trust that these cuts will be good for the overall vision of the State Department?

SLOTKIN: Yes, I have to look at them. I mean, to be honest, I did a rotation in the State Department and there is definitely fat that you could cut. I think what we've seen over and over again though is this isn't responsible change, it's reckless change. We just have to understand that the missions that they're cutting aren't something that is going to help keep Americans safe. That's all we care about. That's why these organizations exist and we don't trust them anymore because they've been firing people on a Friday and hiring them back on a Monday. There's this sloppiness to it that doesn't give one faith that they're thinking thoroughly through the strategic implications. So, I want to see it and make a call after that.

TAPPER: Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan, good to see you.

SLOTKIN: You too. Thanks.

TAPPER: What the Vatican is revealing today about plans for Pope Francis' funeral and the opportunity for the public to pay their respects, that's next.

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TAPPER: Our faith lead now, just hours from now, Pope Francis' coffin will be moved from his papal residence to St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing. Today, the Vatican also announced the funeral will take place Saturday morning outside in St. Peter's Square.

CNN's Clarissa Ward is live for us in St. Peter's Square. Clarissa, what are you seeing as mourners start to gather, to say goodbye to Pope Francis?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, you can probably see behind me now there's just about a few dozen people, but in the coming hours, there are going to be many thousands. In fact, we were just talking to some police officers over there who've actually been through this before. They told us the line sometimes starts as early as 3:00 or 3:30 in the morning, and that at 11:00 people will be allowed to file in to pay their last respects. As Pope Francis lies in state, he will be lying in state for three full days. So, a lot of people will have the opportunity to mourn and to grieve and to participate in this historic moment.

Up until this point, really, Jake, it's primarily been people who were already here in Rome, many of whom came to see that Easter service, which now obviously will take on such a historic quality, who then have been coming to pay their respects. But tomorrow, we expect to really start to see the real crowds and really start to feel that spirit of solemnity as we head into this funeral, which will take place, as you mentioned, on Saturday morning. Jake?

TAPPER: And, Clarissa, tell us what you're learning about plans for the funeral on Saturday. WARD: So, the funeral, as you said before, Jake will take place outside in St. Peter's Square. And then after the Eucharist, the casket of Pope Francis will be moved inside the basilica. It will stay there for the remainder of the service, and once the service over, his casket will be taken to the church, Santa Maria Maggiore. As we have talked about before, Pope Francis requested a very simple burial, a tomb, basically a single stone with a single word, Franciscus.

[18:30:06]

That is Pope Francis' name in Latin. Really, in keeping with the path that he tried to chart, one of simplicity, one of humility, a return to the values, as he saw them, of Jesus Christ, of tending to the poor, to the migrants. At the same time, it's important to underscore, Jake, that this will be an incredibly extravagant event, a historic event just by its very nature. We are expecting world leaders from all four corners of the Earth. President Trump will be attending, the British prime minister, the French president, the Ukrainian president, Zelenskyy, will be here. President Putin will not, of course, be here. But it will be an incredible spectacle to behold. And also thousands of mourners will also be pouring in to try to glimpse this historic event. Jake?

TAPPER: And also from all corners of the globe, the cardinals who are already starting to arrive in Rome. And after the funeral, they will gather and all attention will turn to the conclave.

WARD: And this is something that is millennia in the making. It's shrouded in so much secrecy. It's been the topic of many Hollywood movies. And there's so much we don't really know about the politicking that will be going on during that session. But I think what's important, the question people here are asking is, whoever the next Pope is, will he chart that same course that Pope Francis was laying the way for?

And if you look at the math and the cardinals who can vote, they have to be under 80, Pope Francis himself appointed four fifths of them, Jake. So, there is a very good chance that this is going to -- certainly, it's going to be the most diverse geographically conclave that we have seen. There's a definite generational shift, but also some initial positive signs that this next pope will be cut from a similar cloth to Pope Francis.

TAPPER: Yes. For people who don't know, popes -- I'm sorry, cardinals over the age of 80 cannot vote, cannot participate in the conclave.

Clarissa Ward, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

In 2015, CNN correspondent Rosa Flores met Pope Francis on board the papal plane during the historic trip to Pope made to the United States into Cuba. Flores has covered the pope's visit to nine countries, and she's joining us now. Rosa, so good to see you.

One of the most memorable moments you had covering Pope Francis happened just seconds after you met him. Tell us about that. ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was a blessing that I received from Pope Francis, and I have to tell you, Jake, being in the presence of Pope Francis was humbling because he was such a humble giant. And what I mean is here's this world leader who's respected, who has moral authority across religions, across political spectrums. And he was just so humble around everybody, including journalists.

So, as journalists, we sit in the back of the papal plane and we travel with the pope. And when I met him, and I've met him four times in four different papal plane trips, each and every time, he would take time to meet with every journalist, he would look at you in the eyes. He would listen to you. And my most memorable moment was when he gave me my blessing.

But I have to tell you, Jake, he popped a joke in the 45 seconds that we were speaking. And everybody around us started laughing, including myself. He also expressed a lot of kindness. He blessed Virgin of Guadalupe cards for my family. And so in just those seconds, I saw the spectrum of Pope Francis. And I have to tell you that every single time that I was on the papal plane, I would pinch myself. I would take a deep breath, I would close my eyes, and I would take it all in and say thanks, because I knew that at some point, those opportunities would come to an end. And I am just so grateful, Jake, to have that opportunity.

TAPPER: Yes. It's pretty incredible, so glad you had that opportunity. Yesterday, in a post on social media, you said, quote, mercy was the one word you kept thinking about when thinking about those trips. Why? Why mercy?

FLORES: You know, because the pope's motto was, with mercy, he chooses. And what I witnessed, Jake, across all those countries that I -- country hopped with Pope Francis for several years, what I witnessed was that mercy. And in other words, what I saw was the pope opening the doors of the church and heading out to the peripheries and going to the people that were most in need. The phrase that he used was that the church was a field hospital.

[18:35:00]

And there was triage going on while the church was in this field hospital state, which was the pope's church. And when you triage, you help the people that need the most help first, the most injured. And that's exactly what we witnessed and what we saw while we covered Pope Francis across so many countries and some of the most remote places, including the Amazon, Jake. So, that's why I say mercy, because he was going to those areas where there was most need.

TAPPER: I remember when you did that trip for us at CNN. You did a great job and I'm glad it was also meaningful to you personally.

Rosa Flores, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Our next guest is a small business owner with a grim message for President Trump. Please reverse course on your tariffs, he says, or millions of companies will go out of business. That owner joins me live next to explain his view of the real world consequences of President Trump's trade war.

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TAPPER: In our Money Lead, we have been talking to small business owners all over the country for weeks now to hear their thoughts on President Trump's wide-reaching tariffs. Some of them are enthusiastic and excited about them, many are not. My next guest from Nashua, New Hampshire, Scott Anderson joins us now his business, Five Star North, designs and sells a variety of products and many of them are manufactured in China.

Scott, can you tell us more about your business and which products of yours are the most impacted right now?

SCOTT ANDERSON, CO-FOUNDER, 5-STAR-NORTH LLC: Jake, thanks for having me on. Yes, our business -- my wife and I started this business 30 years ago. We've kept about 20 people employed for all that time. We've designed dozens of products and seven different brands, everything from, laptop security cables on the business side to liquid chalk markers on the consumer side. And, yes, we have almost all of that made in China, so all of them are being impacted. This is a drastic hit for us.

We have a quarter million dollars in inventory stuck in China right now. We can't ship it here. We don't have $400,000 to pay the tariffs that Trump wants on those right now. So, we've had to freeze all shipments, all orders, all production, and, sadly, we've had to let go of most of our people already this year. If these tariffs don't end tomorrow, we're out of business in months.

TAPPER: You've had to let go of people? How many people have you had to let go?

ANDERSON: Yes, we've had to -- we had 12 people at the beginning of the year. We're down to five employees now. We had 24 six years ago when the first tariffs went in.

TAPPER: Wow. And you also faced some disruptions during the COVID pandemic, of course, and during Trump's first term with the tariff policy then, as you note. Were you able to prepare in advance at all for this latest disruption?

ANDERSON: Well, we started thinking about it over a year ago, trying to figure out options. Can we stock up like we were able to do in COVID to get through that? Can we, you know, get a year's worth of inventory? Can we bring manufacturing here now. Unfortunately, Trump's tariffs six years ago raised our tariff from 5 percent to 20 percent. That's cost us over a million dollars in the last six years. That's all of our profit, and then some.

We're a small business. We can keep people employed, but we don't make a ton of money. So, no, neither one of those was an option. And, yes, we did look into is there any government help out there? They've collected $260 billion in these Trump tariffs to bring manufacturing here. But all I could find for help was for microchips and electric cars. There was nothing available for all the small businesses that are funding these tariffs.

TAPPER: So, you just lost a million dollars, or did you try to pass that on to consumers? What did you do with that -- I mean, a 5 percent to 20 percent is a huge tariff increase. How did you try to make up that difference?

ANDERSON: Yes. Unfortunately there, we've been trying to pivot, but, no, there's -- we've basically just lost that money now. There's -- unfortunately, there's a misconception that all businesses can pass tariffs onto the consumer for millions of e-commerce businesses like us. We can't do that.

I'll give you an example. We sell a lot on Amazon. 62 percent of what you buy on Amazon is from third party sellers. Like over half of those are based in China. Those companies don't have any consequences for lying about the customer's value. So, they're paying a small fraction of the tariffs that we pay. So, we can't raise our prices because they don't have to. And there's over a thousand -- excuse me, a million U.S. companies selling on Amazon right now that are all in the same boat. That's a pretty big collateral damage from this trade war.

TAPPER: Scott Anderson, thank you so much. I appreciate it. So sorry to hear that.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

TAPPER: Coming up next, it's an international adventure you don't want to miss on this Earth Day. Come along with CNN on an ambitious project hoping to repopulate some stunning at risk animals.

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[18:45:03]

TAPPER: On this Earth Day, we are heading now to the Earth Matters lead and a stunning inside look at one of the most ambitious conservation efforts on Earth.

CNN's Bill Weir traveled across Argentina with team relocating a wild jaguar as part of a project trying to revive dwindling populations of some of the world's most at risk animals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This beautiful big cat is a wild jaguar. She's smaller than most, so they call her mini. And a vet just sedated her ahead of a critical mission that could have a huge impact on her entire species.

The first couple times you went through this process, it must have been exhilarating.

KRISTINE TOMPKINS, PRESIDENT AND CO-FOUNDER, TOMPKINS CONSERVATION: It's exhilarating still, but so many things can go wrong. WEIR: Mini is set to become the first wild born jaguar to be relocated

for the purposes of conservation.

I saw you combing her hair like a like a mom.

TOMPKINS: Yeah. It's a little like that. Yeah, it's a little like that.

WEIR: Kristine Tompkins used to be the CEO of the apparel brand Patagonia. She is now an icon of species conservation, and earth repair. Along with her late husband, Doug, founder of the North Face, the couple was so inspired by the success of the U.S. national park system that they wanted to replicate it in South America.

Fueled by a burning desire to protect the Patagonian wilderness from the ravages of cattle ranches and soy plantations, they purchased 2 million acres in Chile and Argentina.

[18:50:00]

But that didn't feel right. So, they decided to give it all away in the largest private land donation in history.

TOMPKINS: Crazy though it may have seemed to them then, we were doing what we were saying.

WEIR: That spurred investment from the governments of Chile and Argentina to create a much larger series of parks. But many of the animals were already gone.

You want to describe the passenger behind us, Kris?

TOMPKINS: So, you are sitting, I'd say eight inches from the head of a wild female jaguar who is awake.

WEIR: If everything goes according to plan and she hooks up with all these other jaguars --

TOMPKINS: Yeah.

WEIR: -- in Chaco --

TOMPKINS: Yes.

WEIR: -- what a story she's going to have to tell them.

Okay, Mini the jaguar.

TOMPKINS: Okay, Little jaguar.

WEIR: We are here.

TOMPKINS: Mini.

WEIR: Mini's new home is here in El Impenetrable National Park. It sits within the second largest continuous forest in South America called Gran Chaco. Stemming from an indigenous word meaning hunting, land and hunt, they did over centuries. Here, ranchers hunted the big cats until they were nowhere to be found.

But then in 2019, hope, a park ranger, discovered the tracks of a solitary male jaguar and then a second one a little later on. The only problem? No females to mate with, meaning these lone males might have been the last ones left.

After a bumpy and dusty ride through the Gran Chaco Forest, Mini's finally set for the first stage of her release.

(MUSIC)

WEIR: She spends five months in this enclosure, adjusting to the drier forests of El Impenetrable. Now, with regulatory approval cleared, she's free.

But no pressure, Mini. If she's successfully managed to mingle with one of those two males, the regions top cat could be back.

TOMPKINS: So many species were gone. And now I can honestly say this. They're back and they're thriving. I mean, we're really proud of what we're doing and we're not going to stop it, but we need to be looking at a continental scale. This is like the Hail Mary pass of conservation.

(LAUGHTER)

TOMPKINS: That's how I see it. And I'm 74, so I'm not going to see the end of this. But I'm happy about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Bill Weir for that special Earth Day piece. Thanks, Bill and team.

Vladimir Putin's mystery gift to Trump has finally been revealed. You do not want to miss this CNN exclusive. It's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:56]

TAPPER: In our world, lead mystery gift revealed. Last month, CNN learned that President Trump had been given a portrait of himself by Russian President Vladimir Putin. Well, take a look.

The Kremlin has confirmed to CNN that this is the artwork.

CNN's Matthew Chance recently spoke to the artist behind the Kremlin commissioned piece in this CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIKAS SAFRONOV, RUSSIAN ARTIST (through translated text): It was very important to me to show the blood, the scar and his bravery during the attempt on his life.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well, this is the first glimpse of what we're told is a portrait gifted to President Trump by Vladimir Putin in March. You can see the Russian artist who we met in Moscow was pretty kind, showing Trump looking heroic, even trim.

SAFRONOV (through translated text): He didn't break down or become afraid, but raised the arm to show he is one with America and will bring back what it deserves.

CHANCE: The painting handed to Trump envoy Steve Witkoff was clearly meant to flatter, as Trump and Putin discuss ending the Ukraine war and rebuilding ties.

And apparently it worked. Witkoff said Trump was touched at what he called the beautiful portrait.

Safronov is one of Russia's most famous artists and has painted dozens of world leaders before. The late Pope Francis and, of course, Vladimir Putin. The Trump painting, he told me, was commissioned by a patron he suspected was the Kremlin.

SAFRONOV (through translated text): I realized this could bring our countries closer.

CHANCE: Later, he says he was contacted by President Putin himself, who told him the flattering Trump portrait was an important step in Russia's relationship with the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Our thanks to Matthew Chance for that report.

I have two books coming out. In May, "Original Sin", about President Biden's decision to run for reelection and the cover up of his decline.

And in October, "Race Against Terror", which is about the hunt to prosecute an al Qaeda terrorist who killed Americans and wanted to kill more. You can check them out at jaketapper.com and order them there, preorder.

If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcast.

I hand it out -- hand it over now to my friend Erin Burnett.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.