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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Lawyer Says, Fed Governor To Sue Over Trump's Attempted Firing; House GOP Oversight Panel Subpoenas Epstein Estate For His Will, Birthday Book, Other Documents; Hostage Families Say, Hundreds Of Thousands Protests In Tel Aviv; Taylor Swift & Travis Kelce Announce Engagement; Trump Calls For $500 Million Harvard Settlement. Aired 6- 7p ET

Aired August 26, 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 on Jake Tapper.

This hour, President Trump's attacks on the Federal Reserve entering a new phase as he defends his decision to try to fire one of the Fed's governors, Lisa Cook. And now Cook's lawyer says she is going to file a lawsuit against Trump challenging her removal. But how much of any of this is about Cook's alleged misconduct and how much is about Trump wanting to control the Fed?

Plus, blocked highways and burning tires in Israel today as protesters, Israelis, call for a ceasefire deal in Gaza that would secure the release of the remaining hostages.

[18:00:09]

Are negotiators anywhere near an agreement? We're going to talk to the Israeli ambassador to the United States live.

Also, President Trump makes a new demand of Harvard University, a demand to the tune of half a billion dollars. That's a billion with a B. Harvard the only school so far to take on the White House in court, but after Columbia University and Brown University both settled, will Harvard cave next?

And he knows how to fall, she knows Aristotle, and now Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged. We're diving into the Instagram announcement that broke the internet with more than 10 million likes in just the first hour.

The Lead tonight, President Trump defending his decision to try to fire Lisa Cook, a governor of the Federal Reserve, saying he soon expects to have a, quote, majority at the seven-member Fed. It's Trump's most significant escalation in his pressure campaign to remake the Central Bank, which is supposed to be independent.

Well, Lisa Cook is digging in saying she has no plans to resign, as her lawyer says they plan to challenge the president in court, setting up a legal battle that is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is live for us at the White House. Kaitlan? KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. The president today basically making clear that even as Lisa Cook and her attorney are bowing to fight this, that he is planning to move ahead and try to basically reshape the Federal Reserve Board more to his liking, more with people that share his ideology and his worldview and even says he has some names in mind for who he might put on that board.

Of course, the question, Jake, is if there's even going to be that opening and what the status of that is right now after the president said yesterday that he was attempting to fire her. The view very much here at the White House is that he will ultimately be successful in that, but that still remains to be seen given she is vowing to fight it in court.

But, Jake, all of this centers around allegations that are being made by allies of the president, a referral to the Justice Department over mortgage applications by Lisa Cook. And I want you to listen to what President Trump had to say today in a very lengthy cabinet meeting about this very move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: She seems to have had an infraction and she can't have an infraction, especially that infraction because she's in charge of, if you think about it, mortgages. And we need people that are 100 percent above board, and it doesn't seem like she was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, obviously, Jake, she's been pushing back on that and saying that she's very much going to rely on any court's decision here of what that could look like. They're going to be fighting this in court and likely a lawsuit is going to be coming very soon.

And when it comes to the Federal Reserve's actions, the question as this is playing out in the court is, do they treat her like she's a member of the board? How does that happen? They basically said today, Jake, that they are going to basically abide by any court decision and essentially wait to see how all of that plays out.

TAPPER: And, Kaitlan, the president's also suggesting an aggressive effort in his push to reduce crime here in Washington, D.C.

COLLINS: Yes, Jake. I want you to listen to what the president had to say about that today during his cabinet meeting and then on -- after you hear what he had to say about this, we can talk about the obstacles that he would likely face if they try to push ahead with this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Anybody murders something in the capital, capital punishment, capital punishment. If somebody kills somebody in the capital, Washington, D.C., we're going to be seeking the death penalty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now immediately, Jake, when the president said that anyone who lives in Washington knows it is typically the D.C. Superior Court that handles any of these murder cases. Capital punishment is not in the city's code. But, of course, the president's ally, Jeanine Pirro, is in the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office here, and she certainly could try to seek that.

I think one real question is if they do try to move forward with this, and we'll obviously wait to see if that looks like is what juries in Washington would do.

Because, historically, when you talk to legal experts, and as our team at CNN, including Katelyn Polantz has done, that is something and has been a major obstacle for them to try to get over, even if the jury votes unanimously to convict someone actually getting to capital punishment has proven to be quite difficult.

But it just kind of speaks more, Jake, to the president's effort to have this federal takeover of Washington and to be in charge of how the city is handling that as he was speaking at length today about not just that, but also potentially going into other cities with the National Guard as well.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins. Thanks so much and don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guest tonight include the interior secretary, Doug Burgum. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

CNN's Phil Mattingly is here with us. Phil, walk us through the magnitude of this decision by President Trump to try to actually remove a sitting Fed governor and, you know, nominated by President Biden, voted on, confirmed by the Senate. No president has ever even tried to do this before.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CHIEF DOMESTIC CORRESPONDENT: Since the Fed's creation in 1913, this has never been moved on.

[18:05:01]

This action's never been taken. We don't really have much precedent for it even being weighed by any president up to this point. And I think what's critical to understand about why this is such a big deal is what this would mean if the president is able to actually get this done.

Now, before we get to that point, Jake, I think it's pretty important to note that there are a number of roadblocks in place. This is very clearly the president's clearest path that he's had up to this point. He's talked often about the potential for firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, didn't ever have cause to do so. Even if he did, it was kind of legally dubious. He believes he has cause, he can move forward on this. There is a very real and completely unprecedented legal fight that's about to play out.

If he wins that legal fight, then you have the issue of actually confirming your nominee. One has already been appointed, needs to go through Senate confirmation in September. Stephen Miran, for the open seat that opened up at the start of August, then you would have your second nominee. How do Senate Republicans deal with that? We don't actually know yet. Yes, they have a majority. Yes, they traditionally do what Trump wants them to do, including on nominees. But Federal Reserve independence is something many of them talk about often publicly as important, but also privately acknowledge they're uncomfortable about the direction that this has all gone.

So, you have to get two nominations through, be able to move forward with that in the near term. Then he would have a majority. That majority, Jake, though, their ability to reshape the Fed, not just on interest rate policy but on Federal Reserve precedents, on budgets, on operational structure, all of that with a majority can pretty much go however Trump wants.

TAPPER: All right, Phil, thanks so much. I really appreciate it.

Let's talk about this with my panel right now. Hey guys. How's over here?

So, we haven't heard much from Republicans about this attempt to remove Lisa Cook from the Fed, but Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska, who is retiring and has been emerging as something of a critic of the president in his retirement, he told Politico, quote, it would be one thing if she was found guilty, but she is entitled to due process. This is his way to gain control of the Fed. Mike, do you agree?

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I think financial fraud is cause, but Don Bacon's absolutely correct. There's been an allegation that's out there. She hasn't been charged with the allegation. These charges have to be proven, but even if it is brought, DOJ brings the charges forward, I think there is an argument that there's cause there because it goes directly to what she oversees. I mean, financial fraud is cause.

TAPPER: So, Semafor's Burgess Everett posted quote, individual senators have a lot of sway over the Fed. Just one Republican on the Senate Banking Committee could jam up any attempt to replace Lisa Cook in committee. But, Eva, do you think there's any Republican appetite to challenge Trump on anything?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: So far, we haven't seen a lot of courage from Senate Republicans in terms of wanting to take on the president. But I think that, historically, at least Republicans who were in power or had power before, like Senator Mitch McConnell, they were concerned about the long game. And we might see some of those voices emerge because Trump may win this particular battle.

But this precedent is not great. And what happens when Democrats take back power? I mean, they are changing the rules of engagement so dramatically for institutions and systems that historically were not supposed to be imbued with this level of partisanship. TAPPER: And President Trump was asked if he's weaponizing government to go after people he disagrees with by digging into his mortgages. You have this person at the Federal Housing Agency who has found -- he's made allegations against Cook against Senator Schiff, against Letitia James. It's not difficult to imagine a president AOC, because Democrats right now are like literally saying, okay, we're just going to do whatever Republicans do.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. Turn around and it's fair play, absolutely.

TAPPER: Here's what Trump was asked when he said if he's weaponizing government, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: No, they're public. I mean, you can find out those records, you can go check out the records yourself.

And if you did your job properly, we wouldn't have problems like Lisa Cook.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, I guess my question is, do you think President AOC, you know, comes into office and starts using the IRS or federal mortgages or whatever to like pick apart different people of the Fed, replacing them, et cetera, I mean, Republicans would be like, oh, this precedent's fine, we allowed it, so a president AOC can do it?

FINNEY: Yes. Well, no, they wouldn't like, whoever it is, let's not just put that on AOC, any kind of Democratic, but, no, of course not. But Democrats are getting to the point where they're feeling like, you know what? If you're not going to play by the rules, why are we playing by a different set of rules?

Although what concerns me is that the rules happen to be the Constitution of the United States, which happens to say innocent until proven guilty. Donald Trump actually got that benefit. So, before we all, you know, arm our weapons, let's find out whether or not any of this is true.

[18:10:01]

Here's the thing, though, that I think is a bigger problem and what I hope Democrats will focus on. Absolutely, let this legal case play out. It's in the courts. Let's do that. But what this really says, there's a different trend here, and that is Donald Trump doesn't actually know how to fix the economy unless he can control all the levers.

So, he's now replaced the person who's telling us the truth about the labor statistics. He wants to control the Fed, presumably so he can tell them what to do.

TAPPER: To lower interest rates. FINNEY: Yes. But, however, whether or not, though, that may not necessarily be in the best interest of the economy, that may not necessarily show the truth about the impact tariffs are actually having on the economy.

And so the point is, what concerns me more is he doesn't know how to fix this. He just knows how to rework the decks on the Titanic, like you would if you owned a company where you get to say to your shareholders what you want to say, regardless of what's really going on.

TAPPER: What do you think?

DUBKE: Well, there's so many things that you brought up in that. One on your first answer and to your question, Harry Reid unleashed something very similar with judges years ago where you have the unintended consequences.

TAPPER: And then it was chipped away by Mitch McConnell even more.

DUBKE: Yes, absolutely. So, I mean, there is historical precedent to this. And I think it's a very good point.

On the Bureau of Labor Statistics, we had a head of that division that had an 85 percent correction in May of just this year from her preliminary numbers to other numbers. Those -- she was not doing a good job in the short period of time that she was there. There were multiple massive corrections. So, each one of these points --

FINNEY: Which is not that unusual, by the way.

DUBKE: It is unusual, the extent of the corrections. 1, 2, 3 percent was norm, is a norm. And she had 30 percent one time, 85 percent in May, and we can check those numbers when the fact checkers want to fact check me.

FINNEY: Come on, Daniel Dale.

DUBKE: But my point is I think you're overreaching a little bit by saying that he wants to have all levers of the economy --

FINNEY: Of control.

DUBKE: Of control.

FINNEY: He wants to control the information.

DUBKE: I think this really does revolve around the singular issue of our interest rates are too high in this country. They're much higher than the rest of the industrialized world. And Donald Trump is known to try all different things to get --

FINNEY: Regardless of the impact.

TAPPER: Look, I want to talk about one other thing that President Trump is pushing, which has to do with sending National Guard troops into cities to address crime. Really interesting moment on that other channel, I forget what -- it's M.S.-something now, but it's Joe Scarborough, we know him, on Morning Joe. He had the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, on his channel. MS, what is it, NOW? And I'm not trying to be cute. I really forgot the name, M.S. NOW. And there was this really interesting moment. Let's roll that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, M.S. NOW HOST: Would you also like to get federal funding to help put 5,000 more cops on the street in Chicago? Would that help drive down crime?

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D-CHICAGO, IL): Well, look, policing by itself is not the full strategy.

SCARBOROUGH: Do you believe that the streets of Chicago would be safer if there were more uniformed police officers on the streets of Chicago?

JOHNSON: I believe the city of Chicago and cities across America would be safer if we actually had, you know, affordable housing.

SCARBOROUGH: I just need a yes or a no.

JOHNSON: Look, we are working hard to make sure that our police department is fully supported. I don't believe that just simply putting out an arbitrary number around police officers is the answer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: This is a fight President Trump wants to have. And answers like that, I think, are part of the reason why.

MCKEND: Well, I disagree. I don't think that this issue of public safety has to be a liability for Democrats. I think in my conversation with voters, it's actually going to be more of a liability for Democrats if they don't stand up to Trump. And what's not being discussed enough is some of the interventions that President Trump is trying to reverse, like eliminating cash bail, like a separate track or restoring a different track for juvenile defendants. Democrats historically championed those because those systems caused undue harm to certain segments of the population. And so reversing their policy positions is not necessarily the answer. Even if some voters agree with them, I think that they get more credibility when they stand on principle. So, this doesn't have to be a liability for them.

TAPPER: All right, thanks one and all.

Coming up, the estate of Jeffrey Epstein is now on the clock to turn over documents to the House Oversight committee. What questions might those records answer or prompt? I'm going to ask a lawyer who represented multiple Epstein victims. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00] TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, the estate of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has less than two weeks to hand over a trove of documents to the House Oversight Committee. Epstein's will, his financial documents, a reported collection of letters gifted in the so-called birthday book for Epstein, Epstein's non-disclosure agreements, and any information that could be part of potential client's list all on the list, all to be turned over.

Let's bring in Jack Scarola. He's an attorney who has represented nearly 20 victims that Jeffrey Epstein and spent 18 years litigating cases against him. Jack, thanks for joining us.

So, the House Oversight Committee is also finally going to interview former labor secretary for Donald Trump, Alex Acosta, who was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida back in 2007, 2008, when he negotiated that sweetheart deal with Epstein.

I want you to take a listen to what Epstein survivor Liz Stein told me she wants to learn from that interview with Acosta. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ STEIN, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: Why -- if he was being investigated by the FBI, why was he able to only have to face one charge, a state charge and no federal charges? And so I think that what I would really like to see and what I hope for is transparency with Mr. Acosta.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you or any of the victims you've represented want to hear from Acosta?

JACK SCAROLA, ATTORNEY FOR EPSTEIN VICTIMS: I think the one question that was identified in that interview is an important question, but it is not, by any means, the only important question.

[18:20:06]

Not only was Jeffrey Epstein given an incredible sweetheart deal, but he was provided with a non-prosecution agreement that immunized named co-conspirators and unnamed co-conspirators from federal prosecution for any crime that they may have committed up to the time of the execution of that agreement. That's an incredible, unprecedented and totally unjustifiable concession to a criminal defendant that has never been explained, and I don't know how it could ever rationally be explained.

In addition to that, the terms of that agreement were actively concealed from the victims when federal law required them to be informed of the agreement and to have an opportunity to be heard about it. Those are questions that need to be explained and Alex Acosta, if appropriately questioned by someone who is prepared and knows what the answers should be conducts the interview and the interrogation of Alex Acosta. TAPPER: Well, on Friday afternoon, the Justice Department released the transcript of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview with Epstein co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell. Would you describe Todd Blanche the way that you said you hoped an interviewer would be equipped to interview Alex Acosta that same way? And what were your thoughts after reading through the transcripts?

SCAROLA: I would not describe Todd Blanche that way. I have read every word of two days of interviews with Ghislaine Maxwell. Those interviews resembled more a choreographed dance than the interrogation of a convicted child-molesting conspirator and an accused perjurer. This was not an effective interview by any means, but simply a platform for Ghislaine Maxwell to rewrite history.

TAPPER: What's one question you would've asked had you had a chance?

SCAROLA: There are a lot of questions that I would've asked had I had the opportunity to do that, but, principally, I would have confronted her with the testimony that was presented against her at her trial. And we have a situation where the person sent to interview Ghislaine Maxwell is known to be the president's criminal defense lawyer.

That criminal defense lawyer was there on behalf of an individual who walks around with a pocket full of get out of jail free cards, which he has demonstrated a willingness to distribute freely. Who could possibly believe that under those circumstances, Ghislaine Maxwell is going to remember anything whatsoever that is disadvantageous to the man with the pocket full of get out of jail free cards? It isn't going to happen. And she needed to be confronted about that motive and never was.

TAPPER: Jack Scarola, thank you so much. We'll have you back. Always insightful, I really appreciate it.

Protests filling the streets of Israel today demanding an immediate ceasefire and hostage release deal. Where do negotiations stand right now? Well, the Israel Ambassador to the United States will join me next in studio. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: Our World Lead takes us to Israel. An estimated hundreds of thousands of protesters flooding the streets today to demand the release of the hostages still being held by the terrorists of Hamas in Gaza, burning tires, blocking highways, demonstrating their mounting anger over the lack of a deal to end the war and bring those hostages home. Today, Israel's security cabinet meeting ended with no major decisions. This is nearly a week after Hamas reportedly accepted the latest ceasefire proposal from mediators from Qatar and Egypt.

CNN's Oren Liebermann takes us to Israel right now where many are placing the blame on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): The fires on the roads burned as hot as the anger on the streets. Across Israel, protesters blocked major highways, burning tires, shutting down traffic. This sign in Tel Aviv says, we're stopping everything until everyone returns.

The demonstrations marked the beginning of what organizers called a day of struggle, demanding an end of the war, and the return of the remaining 50 hostages held in Gaza.

Yehuda Cohen's son, Nimrod, is among the 20 hostages, believed to be alive.

YEHUDA COHEN, FATHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE NIMROD COHEN: Another day for protest, another day to make sure the issue of the hostages stays in high priority another day to pressure Netanyahu and force him to end the war and get a hostage deal.

LIEBERMANN: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a two hour security cabinet meeting Tuesday afternoon, but according to two sources, familiar with the discussion, the latest ceasefire proposal was not on the agenda.

HALM WEISS, ISRAELI PROTESTER: This is a shame. This is beyond words, beyond words. There are no words to describe this government anymore. This government should be dealing with one and only thing, ending the war and bringing back the hostages.

[18:30:04]

LIEBERMANN: On Monday, President Donald Trump said in the Oval Office, there's a diplomatic push underway to end the war. But one day later, he walked that back.

TRUMP: There's nothing conclusive, but, hopefully, we're going to have things solved very quickly with regard to Gaza and also with regard to Ukraine and Russia.

LIEBERMANN: It's a promise these protesters have heard too many times to believe.

Even so Idit Ohel holding a sign with the face of her hostage son, Alon, says it's up to Trump.

IDIT OHEL, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE ALON OHEL: We still need, you know, the United States to be with us. We still need the Trump administration to push through it and make sure that all the hostages return. I think he has the power to do it. I think he has the power to talk to Netanyahu and tell him about how urgent it is.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LIEBERMANN (on camera): Organizers say this isn't a one-time protest. And in addition to the weekly Saturday night protests, we have seen that appear to have grown in size over the past recent weeks and months. They will plan continued protests and disruptions to let the government know and frankly to let the world know that they're calling for a ceasefire to end the war and bring home the remaining hostages.

It was President Donald Trump who said just a couple of days ago that there might be a conclusive end of the war in the next two to three weeks. That is something that people here desperately want to believe. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Oren Liebermann in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.

Joining us now, the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Yechiel Leiter. Ambassador Leiter, thanks so much for joining us. I really appreciate it. So, we see a lot of Israelis clearly frustrated.

We're told, and you correct me if I'm wrong with any of these assertions I'm about to make, that Hamas signed on to this ceasefire and hostage deal more than a week ago, put forward by the Qataris and the Egyptians, and we're told that it's largely in line with what Israel previously had agreed to. So, what is the holdup and can you guarantee that the remaining 20 hostages who are still alive will come back to Israel soon?

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: Well, we can't guarantee that the 23 hostages will come back soon. They're being held by Hamas. We can guarantee that we're going to do everything in our power to get them out.

We started this, there were 255 hostages being held by Hamas. Under Prime Minister Netanyahu's leadership, 205 have been released through negotiation and through military pressure. We've never achieved any release of hostages without military pressure alongside with negotiations.

So, this is under discussion. We're looking at what the possibilities are for a ceasefire, a temporary deal. But at the same time, it has to be very clear this war ends when Hamas ends. We need to see this war end where Hamas is disarmed, where Gaza is demilitarized, and all of our hostages are out. None of this -- as the president has said repeatedly, none of this drip, drab kind of thing, a few hostages now, a few hostages later. If we are not careful, what's going to happen is we're going to get a few hostages out now and we're never going to see the rest of the hostages again.

TAPPER: So the Arab League several weeks ago called for Hamas to surrender and to no longer be in charge of Gaza, right? Whatever happened to that? Has there been sufficient pressure on Hamas from the Arab League to achieve that to end this war?

LEITER: Well, there was a great declaration by the Arab League and I think that is a very positive development overall for the Middle East, which probably is a result of our taming and our degrading Iran and the extremists in the Middle East. But, no, they haven't applied the necessary pressure if they could.

The interesting thing is that we've seen this before. We're both old enough to remember when we defeated the Palestine Liberation Organization in Lebanon in 1982, '83, and Hamas' predecessor, Yasser Arafat, left. He laid down his arms and left by boat. This is the same thing that can happen today. Hamas has to leave. We're not going to go back to a situation like on October 6th when the country was being held hostage. We cannot have a situation where the country is being held hostage by jihadists living at our border.

TAPPER: But what is the holdup? Like why -- I mean, if this agreement, as we're told basically is 98 percent of what Israel agreed to a month ago, and Hamas has agreed to it, why isn't this been agreed to so there can be a ceasefire?

LEITER: Well, isn't this interesting? I mean, the answer is in your question itself. Israel --

TAPPER: It's the 2 percent.

LEITER: If Israel agreed to it two months ago, what happened? Where was Hamas? Obviously, something's changed in the ingredients and Hamas is moving in such a way so that they remain standing, okay? They've reconstituted themselves through the lull in the fighting. They've reconstituted themselves. They've moved up to 25,000, 30,000 fighters. They are now regrouped in an area of 25 percent of Gaza. That has -- and that's where the hostages are. And that remaining 25 percent has to be completely disarmed. We want to see Hamas out, because otherwise the country's going to go back in a situation where we're going to be held hostage again. We can't do that.

TAPPER: So, Netanyahu, the prime minister --

LEITER: Excuse me one second, Jake.

TAPPER: Yes.

[18:35:00]

LEITER: Under a situation when we were held hostage on October 6th, 1,200 of our people were slaughtered. We can't go back into that scenario.

TAPPER: I understand. Let me ask you about the horrific events from yesterday. Prime Minister Netanyahu called the Gaza strike that killed five journalists, he called it a tragic mishap. You posted on Twitter or X, quote, President Dwight Eisenhower once said, war is a grim, cruel business, a business justified only as a means of sustaining the forces of good against those of evil, wars especially grim when fighting a death cult like Hamas.

But I do wonder at this point, 18 months into it, with so much of Hamas degraded, so much of Gaza destroyed, so many unnecessary or so many tragic, innocent people killed the killing of journalists, the killing of aid workers, children starving to death, this is not what you are trying to achieve, you argue, but it is being -- it is happening anyway. Is it worth it at this point? Are you not afraid of what Israel is doing? And also the status of Israel, many supporters of Israel are worried that it's becoming a pariah.

LEITER: Many supporters of Israel don't have to face what we face in the Middle East. Look, you got to ask yourself a question. A country that's capable of taking out the control of all of Iranian airspace in 72 hours, allowing for the B-2s of the United States to come in and obliterate the nuclear weapons operations in Iran is not capable of ending this war sooner? Of course we are, but it's because we're taking precautions that no other country has ever taken. No other country has had to face a situation of 450 miles of terror tunnels under an area that's 24 miles long.

We're dealing with a ghoulish, fiendish organization that's not only hiding behind civilians but it's using civilians as cannon fodder. They enjoy this is a death cult. They say this. You have to read their stuff. They're a death cult that appreciates the fact that people die. So, they put them out in front. They want to see as many people die. By the way, the numbers that you're quoting are Hamas Ministry of Health numbers. I mean, that's like saying that MS-13 officials are issuing statements.

TAPPER: The only number I quoted was the five journalists.

LEITER: Well, you know, we're talking about, you said the many non- combatants, the many civilians. If --

TAPPER: You wouldn't dispute that in 18 months Israel has killed thousands of innocent people. I'm not saying you're trying to, but you have.

LEITER: We're actually doing everything we can to avoid it like no one else in the past has. And some experts actually say, we have the lowest non-combatant ratio to combatants that have ever existed in war.

TAPPER: My only point is that it's too many.

LEITER: It's too many who want to end this war. Let's get this war over with. Put the pressure on Mr. Qatari, Mr. Egyptian, come down and say to the Hamas, this is enough, okay? Get out of there. You're not going to get any more support.

You have to understand that, you know, Hamas leadership is sitting in Istanbul. Where the hell is Mr. Erdogan? Why are Hamas leadership sitting in Qatar right now? Why is the international community not saying the leadership of Hamas is being closed down, period?

So they're there. They're leading this campaign of de-legitimization of Israel. It's very P.C. now. You know, Israel's responsible for genocide. Israel's responsible for apartheid. Israel killed children. Everybody kind of jumps on the bandwagon. We don't. We do everything we possibly can. My own son was killed because we do not kill innocent civilians. He went in on foot into Gaza and led the troops at the beginning of the war, was killed when he went into a Hamas booby trap.

If we were doing what we're being accused of doing, okay, maybe he'd be alive today and so many of our soldiers that have died or been alive today, and the demonstrations you showed are only half of the demonstrations. The other half of the demonstrations are families of soldiers who are saying to the prime minister, you have to end this war with a defeat of Hamas, because otherwise we're going back to October 6th.

TAPPER: Before you go Mr. Ambassador, the name of your fallen son?

LEITER: Moshe.

TAPPER: Moshe. May his memory be a blessing. Thank you for being here today.

LEITER: I appreciate that, Jake. Thank you so much.

TAPPER: And I hope that the war ends soon.

LEITER: I do too. Thank you.

TAPPER: Ambassador Leiter, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: And we're back with our Business Leaders series where we hear from small business owners from coast-to-coast about the impact of President Trump's tariffs. Some are in favor, many are frankly struggling to cope.

Content Bookstore in Northfield, Minnesota, has been an independent bookstore for 11 years, employing 16 people. It also has a dedicated space for children's books and children's toys called Kids Content.

And owner Jessica Peterson White joins us now. Jessica, which of your products are you seeing impacted by the tariffs directly?

JESSICA PETERSON WHITE, OWNER, CONTENT BOOKSTORE: Well, toys, games, puzzles and like stationary and gift products are by far impacted the most. We are starting to see some price increases in the book world as well, though books are generally published by really big companies that have a little more time and space to absorb those margins. So, it's a slower burn with books.

TAPPER: Have you had to raise prices for customers or limit stock or eat the tariff cost? What have you been doing?

WHITE: Yes, we've done a little of all of those things, unfortunately. The tariffs are creating an unprecedented level of chaos and expense for my business and for my customers. I have one example here of a chaotic thing that happened that's creating a big hole in my inventory. So, we carry these little Besty bottles that come from Canada. They've been a great seller for us. I placed an order to restock them at a trade show that I was at in June. And then they weren't ready to ship yet in June, and they come from Quebec. And about three weeks ago, I got an email from the company that was going to ship them to me, saying, hey, your order's ready. Can you send us the payments, we can ship them out. And at that point, the tariffs would've been, I think, 30 percent from Canada on that order. And then I would've, in addition, had to pay the carrier FedEx or UPS brokerage fees on top of that. That might've even been more than the tariffs themselves.

So, this item here, we used to buy it for $15 and then we sold them for -- high quality stainless steel water bottle for kids, and they're adorable.

[18:45:02]

They have different little animal heads. And with the tariff surcharge, we would've -- in order to maintain our margin and, you know, keep our lights on and make payroll, we would have had to raise the price to over $40 for this item.

So, I had to cancel the order because I don't think my customers are going to pay that for this product. And that's just one example of so many things where the tariff price increases are killing the product for us --

TAPPER: Yeah.

WHITE: -- and then creating a hole in our inventory where I have to scramble and find something else that my customers are going to buy. So, and that they're going to --

TAPPER: Northfield, Minnesota has two colleges. Are you seeing your customers behavior start to change when they come shopping for books or toys?

WHITE: Yeah. Well, there are a lot of things that are changing. I do think that customers are becoming more price sensitive, and we're trying to adjust our assortment accordingly, which is extra difficult right now given that nine out of ten invoices on my desk show a price increase compared to what we were paying in January, either -- either just a permanent price increase on the product or a tariff surcharge that's 10, 20, sometimes 30 percent on the invoice.

So, customers are starting to notice that. And I think they're also some of our customers are tightening their belts and, you know, are aware that that the economy is changing and are spending less money.

The interesting thing for us, I think, is that on the -- on the other end of the spectrum, were a bookstore and we have a lot of new customers coming to us right now, actually, who have recently decided that they're not interested in helping to fund Jeff Bezos's wedding. And so they're coming to us instead to buy books and other things that they would normally --

TAPPER: We lost you, Jessica.

But you can shop at Content Bookstore in Northfield, Minnesota, or on their website. Content Bookstore, Northfield, Minnesota.

Jessica Peterson White, thanks so much.

Coming up at the announcement, out of our wildest dreams. Not -- no, it's not Jeff Bezos's wedding. It's Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. They are engaged, but we're learning about the proposal, the ring, the possible wedding timeline of this American royalty. That's next.

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[18:50:52]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR SWIFT, SINGER: I was like, if this guy isn't crazy, which is a big if, this is sort of what I've been writing songs about wanting to happen to me since I was --

JASON KELCE, PODCAST HOST: Yeah.

SWIFT: -- a teenager.

TRAVIS KELCE, NFL PLAYER: Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Okay, that's sweet.

In our pop culture lead, that's Taylor Swift talking about the beginning of her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

That clip less than two weeks ago on his and his brother Jason Kelce's "New Heights" podcast, and now, the big news, the two are officially engaged. And honestly, best of luck for a lifetime of happiness to you two crazy kids. We at THE LEAD here were all unrepentant Swifties.

Let's bring in CNN's Lisa Respers France and Melody Chiu, the executive editorial director at "People".

Lisa, I know you predicted this just a few weeks ago.

So, tell us, how are Swifties taking the news?

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Well, Jake, I feel bad for any employer that has Swifties working for them. They got no work out of that employee today. The Swifties are going crazy. I mean, the cat lady announced her engagement on national dog day, so come on.

I mean, the Swifties are -- they're over the moon about this news. They're super excited. And now, we're having conversations about what are we wearing to the wedding, Jake.

TAPPER: Well, I haven't been invited, but congratulations.

Melody, you have interviewed Taylor Swift before. What do you think it is about her and Travis and their engagement that might even transcend just music and athletics?

MELODY CHIU, EXECUTIVE EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Absolutely. I think they're just -- despite being two of the biggest stars in the world right now, they're just so relatable. You root for them. Their joy is infectious. You want to celebrate them. And she is exactly what you see. Like you said, I've interviewed her and she is exactly that person and you just want her to find love. And she did.

TAPPER: Just for the -- I root for them. I don't root for him in the Super Bowl, but I do root for them as a couple without question.

Lisa, if you had to guess now, when do you think we're going to see a wedding? Do you think this is like a summer engagement for a summer wedding next year?

FRANCE: Yeah, I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon, because we have to keep in mind that Taylor has a new album coming out on October 3rd. He has a little thing called the NFL to play for, so I don't think we're going to see a wedding anytime soon, Jake.

TAPPER: And, Melody, as was just noted, Taylor is about to drop this new album. Travis is about to start a new season.

Do you see the hype around this couple trailing off anytime soon, or is it just going to get even bigger now that they're actually engaged?

CHIU: Oh, no, there is no stopping them. They are on top of the world. I think he is gunning for that Super Bowl ring, and she is going to break all the records. And then we'll hear wedding bells. Like Lisa said, maybe in the off season next year.

TAPPER: Lisa, I have to say that rock is big. I don't know that it's as big as the Super Bowl ring, but it's pretty close.

FRANCE: Yeah, reportedly, he designed that ring and he did good because that ring is something else. It is. It's gorgeous. It is utterly gorgeous.

TAPPER: They even got, good wishes from President Trump in the -- in the cabinet room earlier today, Melody. Which is not a small thing, but considering the fact that she's, you know, famously a Democrat and not pro-Trump.

Do you think they at this point, they might even transcend politics?

CHIU: I think so, and like you said, they she and Trump have had a history. And the fact that even he came around and offered congratulations, not yeah, not expected today.

TAPPER: All right. Lisa France and Melody Chiu, thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

Coming up next, why President Trump is now demanding $500 million from Harvard University. That's next.

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[18:58:42]

TAPPER: Our last leads start in our law and justice lead. Tomorrow, a federal judge will consider how Kilmar Abrego Garcia case to avoid deportation will unfold. Deportation to Uganda. The hearing comes just two days after a district judge barred immigration officials from deporting him, while he challenged the Trump administration's plans to deport him to Africa.

In our world lead, Australia is kicking out the Iranian ambassador after Australia's intelligence agency concluded that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind at least two antisemitic attacks on Australian soil, both arson attacks one in October 2024 targeting a kosher restaurant in Sydney, another last December, where two masked assailants threw liquid into a synagogue in Melbourne, then lit the liquid on fire. Thankfully, no one was injured.

In our national lead, President Trump is calling for Harvard University to pay a $500 million settlement to restore its federal funding after the fight over how they handled antisemitism on campus. Harvard is currently the only university challenging the Trump administration in court. A judge is expected to rule in the case any minute.

In our sports lead, Cadillac revealed its Formula One team for its inaugural season, signing Grand Prix winner Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas on multi-year deals. Both drivers with multiple wins under their belts, are returning to the grid after being dropped from their previous teams at the end of the 2024 season.

You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode, you can listen to the show whence you get your podcasts.

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