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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Urgent Search For Survivors After At Least 95 Killed In Texas Floods; Any Moment, Israeli P.M. Netanyahu Arrives At White House; DOJ Says, Jeffrey Epstein Wasn't Murdered, There Was No Client List; Shooter Killed After Opening Fire On Border Patrol In Texas; Officials: Russian Minister Dies By Suicide After Putin Fired Him; Garbage Overflows In Philly Streets After Mass City Worker Strike; Trump Extends Federal Hiring Freeze Through October. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 07, 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, Texas is bracing for even more rain as rescuers are still desperately searching for survivors after those catastrophic flashfloods in Central Texas that began Friday morning and that have killed at least 90 people, including 27 children at a summer camp.

[18:00:13]

Plus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was set to arrive at the White House any minute now as the U.S. continues to push for a ceasefire deal in the Middle East, which seems to be closer now that it has been in months, or so we're told.

And the Department of Justice and the FBI conclude officially that Jeffrey Epstein did not even have a so-called client list. Why is the move putting the Trump administration at odds with some of the president's most loyal supporters?

Our Lead tonight, urgent search operations underway right now for at least 24 missing people, almost half of them children in parts of Texas after that disastrous flooding killed at least 95 people over the July 4th holiday weekend. 27 of those killed in the floods are campers and counselors from Camp Mystic, an all-girls Christian summer camp that sits along the Guadalupe River. This as the threat of more rain and flashfloods loom.

CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Kerrville, Texas, neighboring Kerr County. Ed?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, all across the miles and miles of the Guadalupe River, search teams continue to fan out across the region looking for those missing victims of the flashfloods from early Friday morning on July 4th.

We're here along the banks of the Guadalupe River where there's a team that is out on the water right now doing that painstaking work. We caught up with one of these teams as they talked about how they feel the weight of the pressure, knowing that there are so many families counting on this work that's being done right here, Jake, to bring them the answers and the closure they so desperately want.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: At this point, I know that, you know, the hope of finding someone alive is very low. Does that make your job harder?

JAKE STOVALL, FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, GULF SEARCH AND RESCUE: There's always hope. I've done this long enough. I've found people four days later and 20 foot up in a tree, clinging into the tree, dehydrated. It's our job never to assume or never presume that somebody's deceased. We're out here trying to find everybody alive. And if we find them deceased, then we respectfully, and with dignity, recover them. But we never will presume they're dead. We work the same as if every one of them is alive out there waiting for us to save.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And Jake Stovall there is with a volunteer search and rescue group. They've got a team of nine people out here with a boat searching. And they said that they will be here until every last victim or survivor is found out here along the banks of the Guadalupe River, Jake.

So, it is painstaking work at this point because there's so much debris that has been pushed downstream by these flood waters. And that is what these crews are having to go through to find people at this point.

TAPPER: Ed, what are you learning about those who have tragically died in this horrific flooding, as well as those still missing?

LAVANDERA: Well, it's just absolutely painful and gut-wrenching. You know, like there are dozens and dozens of victims that we've been able to confirm at this point. And, you know, one of the themes, and I think the thing that kind of connects everyone is that they were all brought to the Guadalupe River, because this was a place that so many of them found a peace and comfort and enjoyment.

You know, the young kids that have spent generations coming to Camp Mystic, as well as all the other. Summer camps that that are dotted along the Guadalupe River, other families that came to spend the July 4th weekend in cabins and in campgrounds and R.V. parks all up and down the river as well.

And that's like, you know, one of the things that kind of ties all of these people together, that it was this river being along the banks out here in nature is one, one of the things that, that connects all of these victims. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Ed Lavandera in Kerrville, Texas, thanks so much.

Let's turn now to CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren at CNN's Weather Center. Chris, what was the forecast which led to this catastrophic flooding and when were warnings actually going out to people?

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the forecast was calling for the potential. It was there for some flash flooding. Now, for to see what happened actually happened, that is unimaginable and that's really a tough forecast to, in fact, the forecast has to be happening essentially while the event is ongoing, it's called nowcasting.

So, I want to walk you through, Jake, the timing of this, how it played out. By Thursday, there was enough going on in the atmosphere to say, hey, flash flooding is a possibility. So, a flood watch was issued, conditions were favorable for that.

[18:05:00]

And then 1:00 in the morning, and keep an eye on these times, 1:00 in the morning, a flashflood warning was issued with the language, life- threatening flash flooding. That triggers the emergency alert system. If your phone had the right checks, able to receive that and you're able to get a signal, you would get the alert on your phone at that time.

Flashflood emergencies issued at 4:03. In that time between 1:00 and 3:00, the water was rising from below flood stage to a two-storey house. So, that was the timeframe right in there. And remember, the National Weather Service has to see enough evidence on radar to issue this, right? Not this. Condition's favorable, the watch. But to issue this, looking at the radar, seeing the rainfall rates are really high, this is not looking good, we've got to issue these warnings. So, it's while it's raining, so while it is happening, they're looking at this. So, this is how it played out here in Kerrville.

Again, the timing, 11:00 in the evening, okay? It's not quite raining here in the Guadalupe drainage basin. The river here in the south fork, in North fork. Put this in motion. Now, midnight, now it's raining, 1:00 in the morning, life-threatening warning issued, okay? Emergency alert should be going off at this point, again, if your phone's dialed in for that, and still raining.

And you look at the timing here, few hours later, from around midnight to 4:00 in the morning, oftentimes, thunderstorms last minutes, not hours. And this was an intense storm that lasted a few hours. In fact, it rained for several hours even afterward. This was a system that stalled out, dumped a lot of water very fast, Jake, and you can see right here, a huge rise in the river, again, below a flood stage to a two-storey house in just a few hours.

TAPPER: All right. Chris Warren, thanks so much.

We have a tragic update in our breaking news. The death toll in the Texas floods has now risen to 104, 104 people.

I want to bring in former FEMA administrator during the Biden administration, Deanne Criswell. Administrator Criswell, thanks for joining us.

So, various parts of Texas experienced major flooding during your time as FEMA administrator. Did you ever have any discussions with officials in Texas or specifically Central Texas about preparedness, about evacuation plans, about mitigation when it comes to these flashfloods, which are frequent in the general region?

DEANNE CRISWELL, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR, BIDEN ADMINISTRATION: Jake, those are the kinds of conversations that happen with our regional administrator. So, Region 6 has (INAUDIBLE) area of responsibility. They work side by side with the state and local communities who built this, prepared these things (ph).

TAPPER: All right. I'm not sure if it's my audio or the audio on your end control room but I'll -- I couldn't hear that very well, but in any case, let me move on.

A decorated military leader and leading expert in search and rescue operations, Retired Lieutenant General Russel Honore, told CNN earlier today that the language around alert systems and evacuation need to change. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GEN. RUSSEL HONORE (RET.), U.S. ARMY: We need to improve the communications in those isolated areas, particularly those recreational areas. Because the same thing happened in 1987, in the same area where this flood happened along the Guadalupe, where ten people died from a flashflood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He referenced the 1987 deadly flooding that also happened along the Guadalupe River. I think ten campers died. Do you believe that this latest tragedy could have been prevented if steps had been taken?

CRISWELL: Jake, I think that what we're seeing is these storms continue to increase in intensity and do things that we have not seen them do in the past. And one of the most important things that communities can do is figure out how are you going to communicate to the communities when one of these threats happened. Time is everything. And sometimes, as you saw here, it's a very short period of time. And so we always have to be working alongside state and local officials to figure out the best way to get these messages out and to get people to safety.

And some of the programs that are available are like our mitigation programs that FEMA has to help fund early warning systems because they can be cost-prohibitive in some of these smaller jurisdictions. And so there's going to be a lot of time to look at how we can improve and what things can be done for the future. The focus right now needs to continue to be in that area and trying to find those remaining people that are missing. Those first responders are working so hard day and night to make sure that they can account for everybody in that community.

TAPPER: So, at least 75 people died in Kerr County alone and there are a lot of questions as to why Kerr County officials never implemented an enhanced flood warning system with sirens. Did you ever hear any complaints about lack of funding or grants being denied when it came to implementing such measures? [18:10:04]

CRISWELL: Jake, I personally didn't hear any of that, but back to kind of my first question, the first question that you couldn't hear, the regional administrator, those are -- the regions, those are the ones that are working closely with state emergency management offices as well as local on their preparedness plans, understanding what their needs are and taking and providing that assistance to help them apply for some of these grants. And so that's why we have ten regions and that's why they work so closely with them to help them through all of these preparedness efforts, because the storms are changing, communities are going to need this kind of information to be able to protect their citizens.

TAPPER: Last month, President Trump said that he was going to phase out the existence of FEMA after this year's hurricane season. A reporter asked him about this on Sunday. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Are you still planning to phase out FEMA?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, FEMA is something we can talk about later. But right now they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What'd you make of that?

CRISWELL: Well, I think what we're seeing in Texas, Texas is a very capable state. I've worked with the governor, I've worked with Chief Kidd, and they have a lot of resources. But when you see something like this, you understand that even a state like Texas can possibly need help. And if this were a smaller state with less resources, you might be in a very different situation.

I don't think that you can replicate everything that the federal government brings to the table at every individual state level. Those economies of scale that you get from a federal coordinated support are really going to be critical to help these states in times like this when we don't know if it's going to happen every month, every year, maybe every other year. I think the federal government has a role to play. I think the conversation needs to be what problems are we trying to fix and what's the best way to do that?

TAPPER: Former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

Coming up, the dramatic video showing just how quickly these flood waters rose on Friday morning. I'm going to speak to one woman whose son survived at one Kerr County camp.

And later, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will arrive at the White House soon for dinner with President Trump. Will the two be able to come to terms on a ceasefire deal? (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: Continuing with our National Lead, the updated death toll from the Texas floods now stands at 104. Dramatic video shows just how quickly the normally sedate and quiet rivers turned into raging torrents. Here you see the white leading edge of a surge of flood waters. This is from Friday in Center Point, Texas. And then look at how quickly the river overflows its banks and as the water surges on with a force that would be irresistible for anyone on foot or in a car. This is in real time.

Now we're going to look at these sped up pictures. In less than 30 minutes Friday, the flood waters engulfed this road and overflowed river banks, the water rising higher and higher. That's in less than 30 minutes, and yet rescuers ventured out and onto the swiftly flowing water, the rapids, in the darkness of night guided only by floodlights. This video is from Marble Falls, Texas, where a rescue team found two people clinging to a tree, brought them to safety.

Even when the water calmed down, it didn't go down. Helicopters had to be called in to lift people off of rooftops. And this has been going on all weekend. These pictures are from Sunday, a helicopter hovering over flood waters, lowering another rescuer.

Among those who are safe today because of the valiant efforts of all these first responders and volunteers are Keli Rabon's, two sons, nine-year-old, Braydon, who's joining us right now, yes, Braydon, we're talking to you about you right now, and seven-year-old Brock. They were at Camp La Junta. And Keli and Braydon join us now.

Keli, I mean, thank God, I'm so glad that your boys are okay. Where were they specifically when the flood hit?

KELI RABON, SONS SURVIVED TEXAS FLOODING: So, when the flood hit, of course, as a parent four hours away, I had no idea at the time, but since I've come to learn that Brock was in the most low-lying cabin. So, Brock just finished kindergarten and was coupled with probably a dozen other boys his age and maybe two counselors. And they were in kind of a larger cabin separated into three sub cabins. Well, because it was the closest and the lowest to the river, it took on water quite quickly. And as you saw in those images, when that wall of water came through it, it was quite dramatic.

So, once the water came into his cabin, they moved the boys from their lower bunks to then the upper bunk, and then ultimately hoisted them up into the rafters.

TAPPER: So, Brock --

RABON: It's, you know, heroic of those, you know, counselors and quick thinking meanwhile the cabin kind of started to deteriorate around them.

TAPPER: Where were you when the flood hit and how did you find out they were safe?

RABON: So, I was in Houston where we live, and I started to get periodic text messages from Camp La Junta sent just to all the parents with children there. They were brief, but they let us know that there had been a flood and that they had lost power and lost cell service and lost Wi-Fi and water but were keeping the boys safe.

[18:20:02]

Now, while that sounds promising, it still doesn't give you much detail, especially as the --

TAPPER: Oh, we lost Keli. Well, there's rain in the region. Our thanks to Keli, our thanks to Braydon, our thanks to them and the whole family. And, of course, our hearts go out to all the families affected by this. Keli, wherever you are. Thank you so much for talking to us. You too. Braydon.

Coming up, Prime Minister Netanyahu is set to arrive at the White House any minute now. Will they be able to come to an agreement on a ceasefire deal? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: And we're back with our breaking news on those horrific floods in Texas that have killed at least 104 people, that number updated.

[18:25:05]

We have our comms back. So, let's continue our discussion with Keli Raybon and her nine-year-old son, Braydon. Braydon and his little brother, Brock, were at Camp La Junta during the floods and were successfully evacuated.

Keli how are you doing? How's your family doing? How's Brock doing? How's Braydon doing? Are you getting everything you need?

RABON: We're getting everything we need, but at this point, I think we are still in the early processing stages of just coming to terms with what happened and the gravity of the situation and the emotions and the stages that are, you know, expected in some kind of trauma.

Although it's nothing that you can possibly expect or anticipate as a parent, you know, you just -- you wing it one day at a time. But we're really looking forward also to being able to utilize some of the amazing resources, therapeutic and counseling resources that have so generously like volunteered their services to all of the victims of these floods.

TAPPER: Bradeb, I'm just going to ask you one quick question. This must have been really scary. You and your little brother, Brock, must be pretty brave.

BRAYDON DAVIS, FLOOD SURVIVOR: Well, really, I was more worried about Brock than myself because I didn't really know what was going on. I just knew that the Guadalupe Bay River had overflowed a little bit and I didn't know if my brother was okay. I didn't see him until we met with our parents at a church in Kerrville. And, yes, I was just more worried about him than myself.

TAPPER: Oh, it sounds like you're a really good brother.

Well, Keli, you must be pretty --

RABON: Yes. And then actually --

TAPPER: Go ahead.

RABON: Yes. And actually seeing the devastation, I think, as you guys were evacuated out of the camp, that put it into a whole different perspective.

DAVIS: It did. Well, God bless you, Kelly, Braydon, and to Brock as well. We're so glad you guys are okay. What a horrible, horrible, horrible situation. Thanks for talking to us.

RABON: Thank you.

TAPPER: Turning now to our World Lead, any moment, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to arrive at the White House for a private dinner with President Trump. The visit comes after some positive momentum on a ceasefire and hostage deal negotiation between Israel and Hamas and the joint U.S.-Israeli operation last month that struck Iran's major nuclear facility.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. And, Kaitlan, President Trump promised to be, quote, very firm with Netanyahu. What does President Trump want to get out of Netanyahu's visit?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. And I should note we're not actually going to see what happened during that meeting between President Trump and the Israeli prime minister because it's happening behind closed doors tonight. The Israeli Prime Minister is staying right across the street at the Blair House for foreign leaders stay for visits like this. There's actually some protesters outside, a few dozen, of the Blair House right now, protesting the Israeli prime minister's visit to Washington here right now.

But in a few moments, he'll come over here to the White House in a car and have that meeting behind closed doors with President Trump. And, of course, we know what is going to be discussed here. Jake, the future of the war in Gaza is top of mind for both parties here. And the president has said he does believe that they are closer to a ceasefire in Gaza, that they have been in months. But we've seen these negotiations before, get close to the end and then be derailed by something, whether that be demands from Hamas or sticking points for the Israeli government.

And so, obviously, everyone's watching it very closely to see what happens there because we're already seeing some obstacles be thrown up some, challenges when it comes to Hamas, saying they want to have a permanent end to this war, and the prime minister of Israel saying that the IDF reserves the right to try to eliminate Hamas' capabilities, period, at governing and Gaza.

And so there are real questions about what this is going to look like. And this is the third visit that we've seen from the prime minister, Jake, since Trump took office just for the second term. And, obviously, just talking about that, talking about Israel normalized relations potentially with other countries, also the strikes on Iran that were conducted by Israel and then in conjunction with the United States.

Those are all big subjects that are going to be discussed as the prime minister is spending several days here in Washington after getting here overnight at about 1:00 A.M. That includes a meeting with Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy of President Trump's, and also the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is also the acting national security adviser.

The question is whether or not they get to an agreement and a ceasefire that they could announce while he is still here in Washington, Jake, as there are still hostages who are being held in Gaza. All of that is on the table as these two leaders are going to meet behind closed doors and just a few moments from now.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much.

[18:30:00]

Don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. That's tonight and every weeknight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern only on CNN.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now live from Tel Aviv. And, Jeremy, what are Israeli officials telling you about the status of any ceasefire negotiations?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, even as Prime Minister Netanyahu said over the weekend that the changes that Hamas was seeking to this agreement were, quote, unacceptable, he still sent a negotiating team to Doha to try and iron out those differences. And indeed Israeli officials are indicating to me that they don't believe that the differences between Israel and Hamas right now are totally something that can't be bridged. In fact, there is quite a bit of optimism that those differences can be bridged.

But at the same time, it is important to acknowledge that even as Israel and Hamas are closer than they have been since the last ceasefire collapsed to yet another deal there is still the possibility of talks collapsing. And that's because there are still major differences that do remain between the two sides. We understand that they're discussing everything now from the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the timetable and lines to which Israeli troops would withdraw during this 60-day ceasefire, even issues about the swaps of hostages for Palestinian prisoners.

But the fact that we now know that Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, will be traveling to the region after meeting today with Prime Minister Netanyahu suggests two things, on the one hand, that the Americans are really trying to make an effort here to get this across the finish line this week, on the other hand, it also signals that perhaps there are major differences that require a senior official like Steve Witkoff to travel to the region and to actually get involved in the negotiations directly.

But beyond the negotiations happening in Doha, Prime Minister Netanyahu's dinner with President Trump tonight is going to be critical, not only to this Gaza ceasefire deal, to the release of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza, but, of course, to everything else that comes along with it that may be necessary for Prime Minister Netanyahu to move towards an end of the war.

And when I'm talking about that, I'm talking about everything else happening in the region, the potential normalization agreements that are on the table above all. Jake?

TAPPER: Well, Jeremy, there was a ceasefire and hostage deal in January, but it broke down after phase one. Does this moment we're in right now feel any different?

DIAMOND: You know, it certainly does. And it's not that I can point to anything tangible at this point other than the sense of momentum and President Trump's real energy behind this ceasefire leading to an end of the war in Gaza. And we have seen President Trump particularly right as that 12-day conflict between Israel and Iran was ending, really put some pressure on Prime Minister Netanyahu when he felt like he needed to.

And so now, as Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing some opposition from right wing allies in his government towards ending the war, the prime minister himself has yet to commit to actually reaching that end goal, there's no question that real pressure from President Trump, if indeed it comes, would be very meaningful in this moment.

And just a note about the families of the hostages who are watching this all unfold and watching this temporary ceasefire seemingly in the making, many of them are also concerned that a partial deal will only bring some of the hostages back. Many of them want to see all the hostages come home and an end to the war in Gaza. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Israel, thanks so much.

Coming up, the Department of Justice and the FBI have closed their inquiry into the affairs of Jeffrey Epstein. They say there's no evidence that he kept a client list, that he definitely killed himself. He was not murdered. Lots of MAGA supporters are very upset. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: Back with our Law and Justice Lead and Elon Musk's favorite story, a new Justice Department memo reveals that the Justice Department has no evidence that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein blackmailed powerful people or kept a client list or was murdered in prison. The memo first reported by Axios is a sharp turn from the Trump administration's insistence that there was much more to uncover. Even Attorney General Pam Bondi pushed that theory while in office. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN ROBERTS, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: The DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen?

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's sitting on my desk right now to review. That's been a directive by President Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: But today, the White House says she didn't really mean to suggest that the list itself was on her desk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: She was saying the entirety of all of the paperwork, all of the paper in relation to Jeffrey Epstein's crimes. That's what the attorney general was referring to, and I'll let her speak for that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Evan Perez and Axios' Alex Isenstadt, who broke the story on Axios.

And, Alex, I have to say, I'm with the people that still have questions about this. I kind of don't buy the nothing to see here, and I don't know that the Justice Department helped their case. They released this video that show -- it shows no one entered the area surrounding Epstein's cell in the hours before he died.

But there's something significant about this videotape. What is it?

ALEX ISENSTADT, REPORTER, AXIOS: Well, here's one thing that some people on the internet are picking up on, which is that there is about a minute missing between 11:58 P.M. 58 seconds and 12:00 A.M. the night that Epstein was apparently killed or died.

[18:40:01]

And so --

TAPPER: The official story is that he died by suicide. That's what then Trump Attorney General Bill Barr said a few years ago.

ISENSTADT: Right. So, he just died. And so now there are -- you know, it's going to intensify more conspiracy theories about what happened the night of Epstein's death. And, of course, you have the DOJ and FBI now, which are trying to extinguish a lot of these conspiracy theories but that's not happened today online. If you look at the MAGAverse, they're inflamed about this? TAPPER: Well, I mean, no offense to Dan Bongino and Kash Patel and Pam Bondi, but they had a hand in igniting some of these conflagrations. I mean, in February, the White House invited these conservative MAGA influencers to get a first look at the declassified documents related to the Epstein case. Look at that, all those binders, they gave them binders that said Epstein files phase one.

And, Evan, at the time you wrote that this is something of a self- owned for the Justice Department. Why?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely was. Those binders, those documents in those binders, all of that was public for years. And that's what the influencers found out when they opened it up, they're like, wait a minute, all this stuff has been out there. And the Justice Department could have helped themselves and perhaps reduce the embarrassment if they had just picked up the phone and talked to some of the prosecutors in New York and some of the FBI agents who had done this case and they could have told them all of this stuff has been out there. But you know why they didn't do that is because they fired all these people, so they didn't have anybody to talk to, right?

And so, you know, this is something that they have absolutely fanned and so now they own this, and that is part of the problem here. And they've been struggling with what to do about this, Jake, for some time because agents spent overnight shifts redacting these documents and then what they ended up with were pages that were filled with blackout.

TAPPER: Yes.

PEREZ: They cannot release it because it would re-victimize some of the victims. Under federal law, there's a privacy act. So, that's what they were facing. They were realizing that they were going to release a bunch of black pages that would have only fanned the conspiracy.

TAPPER: And, Alex, a lot of people in the MAGA world are very upset, very disappointed with Attorney General Bondi, very upset with the director and deputy director of the FBI, Kash Patel and Dan Bongino. Mike Lindell of MyPillow fame posted on X, as trusted voices, like Bongino, Kash and Bondi align with the official story, many are asking who's still willing to demand real answers. Laura Loomer, who I only cite because, apparently, she has influence with President Trump --

PEREZ: Gets people fired.

TAPPER: She got National Security Council people file fired. She posted, if Attorney General Bondi doesn't get fired over this Epstein memo, people are going to be so black pilled.

They were obviously hoping for a different outcome. And I have to say, Alex, I find it hard to believe that we still don't know so much about this case.

ISENSTADT: Yes, and I don't think the conspiracy theories are ever going to stop. But big picture, this is sort of what happens when you have the MAGA influencerization of the DOJ and the FBI, right? You put Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, who before going into the FBI, were MAGA influencers and they --

TAPPER: Talking about this stuff.

ISENSTADT: Yes.

TAPPER: Yes.

ISENSTADT: And so now they come in and there are high expectations, they were going to deliver, and they came up empty handed. And so there's a lot of anger about that. And the MAGA universe is not happy today.

TAPPER: All right, thanks to both of you. I really appreciate it.

Let's go back to our breaking news at the White House where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to arrive at any moment for a private dinner with President Trump. The visit comes after some positive momentum on ceasefire and hostage deal negotiations between Israel and Hamas. But nobody should get too optimistic. This is the Middle East after all that we're talking about.

CNN Political and Global Affairs Analyst Barak Ravid joins us now from the White House. And, Barak, you have some new reporting in Axios this afternoon. Your sources are telling you that Israel is considering further military action on Iran if Iranian leaders try to revive the nuclear program and Israeli officials, you say believe Trump would be on board with this. What scenarios would lead Israel to attack Iran again?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Jake, good afternoon. I think that one of the issues Netanyahu wants to discuss with Trump in their dinner that is actually starting, as we speak, is, what are the understanding that the U.S. and Israel can get over future developments in the Iranian nuclear program?

For example, the Iranians have a 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium buried in the nuclear facilities that were attacked. One of the issues that Israel discussed with the U.S. last week when minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer was at the White House is, what are we going to do if they move this material?

[18:45:02]

And Dermer came back to Israel, according to my sources, and said that in such a scenario of the Iranians trying to move this material, the U.S. would give a green light to Israel to conduct another strike in Iran. Another scenario that would justify such a move. According to what Dermer understood in his talks in Washington, is if the Iranians will relaunch some sort of enrichment program, something that obviously they cannot do today.

And I think Netanyahu wants to try and anchor down those understandings with Trump about what would justify another Israeli strike on Iran. TAPPER: We just got news that Netanyahu met with the secretary of

state, Marco Rubio, as well as the president's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, earlier. Are you hearing this visit is going well so far?

RAVID: Well, I think it only started. Those meetings with Rubio and Witkoff, I think we're sort of like preparatory to lay the ground for the dinner with the president. I think the message the White House is trying to send Netanyahu is we want to end the war. Therefore, even if a deal is reached on a 60-day ceasefire, we want you to tell us, how do you see the end state, the end state that will allow the negotiation during those 60 days, the negotiation on a day after plan, how do you see this thing happening?

TAPPER: All right. Barak Ravid, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, President Trump just announced some new tariffs on several additional countries. But it's the small business owners here at home that are feeling the pinch. We're going to talk to one of them ahead.

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TAPPER: And we're back with our "Business Leaders" series, where we talk with small business owners from coast to coast about President Trump's tariffs. Some have been supportive. Many are feeling uncertain.

In Denver, Kokoro Restaurant has been serving up casual Japanese cuisine for nearly 40 years. Owner Masaru Torito joins us now.

Mas, thanks for joining us.

So, the restaurant industry can be really sensitive to disruptions in the supply chain or customers not feeling as footloose and fancy free because of stock market turmoil. How have the tariffs impacted you and your businesses?

MASARU "MAS" TORITO, OWNER, KOKORO RESTAURANT: Hi, Jake. Thanks for having me.

Yes, tariffs are just the latest round of challenges that we as restaurant owners are dealing with. And it's -- it's a hard one to deal with. Margins at restaurants are razor thin. Two, three, four percent. And any increase in cost is just really hard for us to bear.

TAPPER: Have you been forced to raise prices or make other changes to your menu, or anything to handle the increased costs because of the tariffs?

TORITO: Yeah, you know, having been open for 39 years and made it through 9/11 and a lot of other challenging moments in our history, we made sure we held on to a few pillars of our business. One is high quality food, good portions of taking care of our staff. And there's no plan to change that. But times like this, we do have to

raise our prices and make other changes, such as online. Ordering for takeout orders, a few automations here and there just to try to help us, you know, relieve some of the pinch points.

TAPPER: The Trump administration is about to move into another phase of tariffs with the end of the 90-day pause scheduled for Wednesday of this week. What do you want leaders in Washington to know about how their decisions are impacting small business owners like yourself?

TORITO: Yeah, you know, I think the feeling sometimes we feel is as small business owners, is that the approach of the administration is it's a game of chicken or a rock, paper, scissors. But the impact that has on us as small businesses, it feels like Russian roulette. And were just waiting for the next pull of the trigger, and for it to be the last one for all of us to shut our doors. So, it's a hard time right now.

TAPPER: What do you say to politicians or even customers who don't understand why businesses like yours can't eat the cost of tariffs or source products like avocados to places here in the United States?

TORITO: Well, we tell them we understand that it's hard. No one wants to see prices increase, but we tell them that if they want to continue having the quality food, we do everything we can to keep our prices low. But eventually some part of those increases have to be passed on to customers. But we do everything we can with a new loyalty system, you know, an automation. We -- they know we're doing our best.

TAPPER: Well, we're running little clips from your from your -- from Kokoro and it looks absolutely delicious. I'm getting hungry just watching it.

You -- if you -- if you're in Denver or you're traveling to Denver, you can find Kokoro restaurant.

Mas Torito, thank you so much.

TORITO: Thanks so much, Jake. Have a good day.

TAPPER: Coming up next, a man with a rifle and tactical gear is killed after exchanging gunfire with officials at a Border Patrol facility in Texas. We'll bring you the latest next.

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TAPPER: Our last lead now, the FBI is searching for a motive for the shooter who exchanged gunfire with officers at a border patrol facility in McAllen, Texas.

Federal agents ended up killing 27-year-old Ryan Luis Mosqueda after he allegedly arrived at the facility with a rifle in tactical gear and began opening fire. Officials also found a second rifle and ammunition in his car. The suspect injured two officers and a Border Patrol employee during the ambush. Before he was killed.

And a former Russian minister was found dead today after being fired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials say. Transport minister Roman Starovoit died by suicide, that's what they say, after his body was discovered inside a car in a Moscow suburb, a kremlin spokesperson denied any lack of trust toward the minister, but did not give any other reason for his dismissal.

In Philadelphia, this story stinks, today marks the seventh day of a strike that's resulted in a staggering pileup of trash and debris in the city. Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker instructed residents to drive their own trash to a number of collection sites during the strike, but the community is siding with the workers. Union members and city leaders met to negotiate higher wages and better benefits for sanitation workers.

Those talks, however, did not end in an agreement. Get it together, guys. This is not any way to have a city.

And our politics lead, the Trump administration is extending a hiring freeze on federal civilian employees within the executive branch through October 15th. Previous order was set to expire on July 15th. This means no open federal civilian positions can be filled, and no new positions can be created with a few exceptions for military personnel and jobs related to immigration enforcement, national security, or public safety. The executive office of the president, of course, also exempt.

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcast.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.