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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Now: Trump Takes Questions In The Oval Office; Trump Attacks Free Speech As CEOs Try To Cash In; Architect Of Epstein's "Sweetheart Deal" On Capitol Hill Today; University President Resigns Amid Uproar Over Gender Ideology. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired September 19, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And one of the reported frontrunners is Michael Anton from the State Department.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who's that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's just authored the National Security Strategy. Also in the mix is Mike Flynn and Steve Witkoff. Can you give us an indication for --
TRUMP: Well, they're all good. No, we'll make a decision soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
TRUMP: But we're doing very well. You know, I settled seven wars more than that, I think, but actually, we settled seven wars. I have -- we're working on Gaza. It's a tough one, but we'll get it done somehow. And we're also working with Russia and Ukraine.
They hate each other so much you wouldn't believe it. President Putin and President Zelenskyy, they hate each other to a level that you wouldn't believe. So, they're having a little bit of a problem with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And are you considering Steven Moran for Fed Chair?
TRUMP: I hadn't thought of it too much. He's doing a great job. Just got approved. He's -- his vote was a very good one. The Fed should have done more.
You know, too late. Powell is terrible. He's terrible chair. I think he's just terrible. But despite that, we're powering through it.
We have another record stock market today. We're very, very high levels, and we're at the highest levels. So we're setting records.
[17:01:08]
Many, many days during my administration, we set records and we'll see what happens with 50,000. Fifty thousand is a pretty big number.
Never come close. We're not so far away from it. So, that's because they see what's happening. Not so much what's happening exactly right now, but they see all the plants that are being built. They say -- see the kind of investment that's going to be made when you take $17 trillion.
So Biden had $250 billion. OK. Or putting a simpler way, they had much less than a trillion, but they had less than a trillion for four years. I have 17 trillion for eight months. Nobody has ever seen anything like it.
And I think they're looking at that. And they're saying when those plants open right now, they're being built, a lot of them, and some are starting over the next year. Takes a while, but we're getting fast permits. And when those plants get built, I don't think there'll be anything like what we're going to experience.
Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
JOHN: Mr. President, if I can -- on the subject of free speech, Ted Cruz compared Brendan Carr to a mob boss, the way he's threatening television stations and saying it's absolutely dangerous for the government to determine which speech is OK. And which is not. What's your reaction to Ted Cruz?
TRUMP: I think Brendan Carr is an incredible American patriot with courage. You know, it used to be -- I remember in the old days that networks would have to get licensed, relicensed, and it was always a big deal. You know, they had to show honesty and integrity. When you have a network again, I'll use the same numbers, whether it's 90 or 94 and 97, all different numbers. But when you have networks that give somebody 97 percent bad publicity or 94 percent bad publicity.
I think that's -- I think that's dishonesty. And, you know, they're getting free airwaves, right? You can know that, right? You get them for nothing. These airwaves, they make millions and millions of dollars.
The news makes millions of dollars. ABC, your network, I mean, your network wrote very badly about me and they had to pay me $16 million.
JOHN: But you think it was a right for the --
TRUMP: I wasn't looking for that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- Brendan Carr has a right to take away the license?
TRUMP: No, I think Brendan Carr -- I think Brendan Carr is a courageous person. I think Brendan Carr doesn't like to see the airwaves be used illegally and incorrectly and purposely, horribly. Doesn't like to see a person that won the election in a landslide get 97 percent bad publicity before the election. I mean, it's amazing that I won the election with that. But here's what happened, the people have given your networks no credibility.
They don't give them any credibility, John. If they did, they wouldn't vote for me. They wouldn't have voted for me. When you look at -- I mean, you could also say the liberal media, the liberal left, when you look at these stories and papers, but we're not talking about that, we're talking about -- I assume you're talking mostly about the networks --
JOHN: Yes.
TRUMP: -- but they have a licensing procedure and you can read it as well. They have to show honesty and integrity. And when they take --
JOHN: Who decide?
TRUMP: -- when they take a good -- well, I think the people decide that's why I'm president. When they take a --
JOHN: So that means you decide whether --
TRUMP: -- when they take great success, like you often do, and you make it into like it's a loser or you put a negative spin on it, I don't think that's right. So I think Brendan Carr is a great American patriot. So I disagree with Ted Cruz on that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Mr. President, Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- at the U.N. next week. You're going to the U.N.
TRUMP: I'll be at the UN. I'll be making a speech. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And are you meeting at other world leaders --
TRUMP: Many of them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who are you meeting, Mr. President?
TRUMP: Well, I'm just a meeting --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Syria, Zelenskyy?
TRUMP: They're being set up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your goal from attending that meeting? What do you hope to get out of it?
TRUMP: World peace. Nobody's done a better job than I've done on world peace. Nobody settled so many -- so many wars as I have.
[17:05:09]
You know, I've been here probably a little bit more than eight months, and I've settled seven. And that doesn't include the destruction of a vast potential nuclear disaster in Iran, which we wiped out totally, as I say, obliterated. We obliterated it. It's been turned right with this beautiful plane right here. We just ordered some more of them, by the way, the B2 bomber just ordered some more of, the more updated version. Not that we needed that, we just need the plane because it was so flawless. These pilots flew 37 hours flawlessly. Not an engine problem, not a -- not a screw, not a bolt came loose. It was an amazing. Compare that to many years ago, Jimmy Carter, same -- same country with the helicopters and problems and the prisoners and the hostages, what a mess.
You know, these -- these planes flew 37 hours without a stop. They fueled up. We had 52 tankers fueling the planes along the way. It was an incredible. And every single bomb hit its mark.
And then we fired 30 of them from submarines, from a submarine. What a job that was. And I don't even include that. But that stopped a war. That stopped maybe a catastrophic war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: So, you know -- so I think that nobody has ever done anywhere near that. Now, on top of that, we're working very hard to get Russia, Ukraine settled. We'll see what's going to happen there. I hope we're going to get it done. President Xi and I spoke to him about it, and I believe that he really would like to see it done also.
And I think he's going to work with us to help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your message to --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on the U.N. --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your message to President Xi on the war in Ukraine? What are you asking --
TRUMP: Well, it's the same as his message to me. He would like to see it done. He would like to see it. I believe he would like to see it ended. Yes, I do believe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Mr. President, these two wars that you were talking about, Gaza and Ukraine, are escalating at the same time, you're going to take the stage of the U.N. back at the stage after these years. Do you plan to setting any kind of red lines for these two countries? And you said before --
TRUMP: Well, I'm not --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- you are frustrated with Putin.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you also frustrated with Netanyahu?
TRUMP: We have a long time to go before I get up and speak at the U.N. because every day is a long time when it comes to Gaza, when it comes to Israel and the Middle East. So we have a long time to go. But, you know, a lot of my opinions, and remember this. You can't forget October 7th either. People are forgetting October 7th.
They forget it too quickly. That was one of the worst days in world history. It was the most evil attack that I think you could really say. Babies were involved, little babies were involved and having their heads chopped off and all of the things that took place, you can't forget that. I don't forget that.
A lot of people do, but I don't.
Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But how about -- just a little more, President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What goes into retaking Bagram? Does that require boots on the ground?
TRUMP: We'll see what happens with Bagram. We're talking to Afghanistan. It should have never been given up. It was the most embarrassing day in the history of our country. There was no reason to give it up.
I was leaving Afghanistan. I was leaving. I was the one that got it down to 5,000 soldiers. But were going to -- we were going to keep Bagram, the air base. It's -- I said it yesterday and we had an incredible trip, as you know, to U.K. and I said it during the press conference.
It's one of the most powerful runways ever built in terms of weight, length and load, what it can -- what it could take and we just gave it up for nothing. We gave it up for nothing. There was no reason to give it up. We weren't going to leave Bagram. Joe Biden didn't know what he was doing.
We had a man that didn't know what he was doing. We had a man, by the way, that didn't approve, if you take a look at what's happening in Congress, we had a man that signed everything with almost everything with an auto pen, and he didn't tell the people from the auto pen whoever was using it. The one man that used it predominantly said that Biden only spoke to him twice, and it was only about the weather. It was about nothing. So those pardons that he gave are illegal.
He gave illegal pardons, and that includes the congressman that destroyed and deleted all the information from J6. They deleted everything because it turned out that they were wrong. It turned out that I offered 10,000 National Guard or soldiers whatever they wanted and you wouldn't have had a problem and they turned it down. Nancy Pelosi turned it down. And the mayor of Washington, D.C. turned it down.
They deleted everything and they destroyed it. Illegally destroyed it. And Biden gave them a pardon. And Biden gave a lot of other people pardons that frankly, would be in jail if it wasn't for those pardons. But those pardons now are illegal, according to just about every --
[17:10:05]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was your --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Letitia James --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- are you disappointed that the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia has not prosecuted Letitia James? Do you intend to fire him?
TRUMP: Well, we're going to see what happens. I am not following it very closely. It looks to me like she's very guilty of something, but I really don't know. I know that the U.S. attorney from the Eastern District or from that district in Virginia, that he was approved by two Democrat senators, who in my opinion are among the worst. And when I learned that, two senators, Democrats, because, as you know, it's very hard with the blue slip, it's very hard for a Republican to get somebody approved if you have one senator that's a Democrat because of an old custom.
It's not a law, it's a custom. It's a ridiculous customer. But if you have a Democrat senator, you have to get that senator approved. Well, in this case, we had two.
When I saw that he got two senators, two gentlemen, that are bad news as far as I'm concerned, when I saw that he got approved by those two men, I said, pull it, because he can't be any good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you -- so you want him fired? You want him out?
TRUMP: Yes, I want him out. Yes. When I learned that he was blue slipped through by two Democrat senators in Virginia, people that would never vote for -- the people that haven't voted for us for probably years, OK, probably years. Two -- in my opinion, two bad guys, you know, they are Warner and Kaine, two bad guys. Bad senators, too.
They do a terrible job for the people of Virginia. But when I saw that he got approved by these two terrible people that haven't voted, they just don't vote, no matter what it is, we could give them the greatest deal ever and they still wouldn't vote. And they voted for this guy. And I have other people, judges, and I have U.S. attorneys from other states where I have the same situation and they can't get approved. So when I learned that they voted for him, I said, I don't really want him.
OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, do you want --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- do you want -- do you want to get -- have you seen the --
TRUMP: (Inaudible) , please?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen the polling, the Gallup poll, the out of Ukraine that shows 23 percent less than a quarter of Ukrainians actually support continuing the war against Putin. We saw the European leaders come here and try to say the word -- the world is united for the war effort, but Ukrainians have war fatigue themselves.
TRUMP: I don't blame them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen the (inaudible) on your thoughts on it?
TRUMP: I don't blame them. It's a war that never should have started. It's a war that never would have happened. If I were president, that war never would have happened, ever. That's a disgrace that war happened.
And the losing anywhere from five to 8,000 people a week on that war, which is the worst since the Second World War. That's a war that should have never happened.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if you consider --
TRUMP: Would have never happened. And it didn't happen for four years. When I was here, it didn't happen.
Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you considered cutting funding, even promises made by the Biden administration?
TRUMP: Well, we're not spending any money on the war. You know, we're being paid for everything we've sent. Unlike Biden, he gave him $350 billion. And it's just -- it was shocking. We're not spending any money on the war.
The war is being funded by NATO. NATO is buying our equipment. In fact, I don't want to make money on that war. I don't want to -- but we are actually making money on that war because they're buying our equipment, as you know. But we -- NATO, as you know, very important, is funding the entire thing.
They're paying for the missiles, for the tanks, they're paying for any -- anything they're sent over there, it goes to NATO, and then NATO does what they want with it. In this case, I guess, they give it to Ukraine. It's a very sad war. It's a war that never should have happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can I ask question, please?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going back to TikTok, could you tell me, is the U.S. government going to take a board seat in the company, and will the U.S. government get a board seat within the company?
TRUMP: Well, we're going to announce that. Are you talking about TikTok?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, TikTok.
TRUMP: Yes, we're going to announce it, but it's a great deal for our country. It's a great deal for all of the young people in the country that wanted it and people generally. I was happy with it.
Look, I wasn't a fan of TikTok. And then I got to use it and I became a fan, and it helped me win the election in a landslide. So I think that it's a deal that's going to be great. And it's also controlled by very powerful and very substantial American people. All -- by the way, all American people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Mr. President --
TRUMP: Yes, please --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: Go ahead, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, a question from Newsmax, last year, before you took office, there was an estimated 6.8 million men not actively seeking work of prime working age. So if you and Secretary Lutnick could talk about the efforts your administration is taking to help our American gentlemen get back to work.
TRUMP: Yes, well, what we're doing is they're building plants all over the United States. And frankly, because of tariffs, we're taking in trillions of dollars, trillions of dollars. And countries that have ripped us off for years. And everyone knows this, countries that have ripped us off for years like nobody has ever been ripped off before. They're now having to pay up.
[17:15:10]
They're paying a lot of -- they're paying a lot of money to America. And we're reducing taxes with that money. And we're doing things that we would never able to do before. So it's -- you're going to have a lot of jobs. You -- the jobs are being created right now.
And the tariffs -- the tariffs are protecting our country. And we didn't use -- you know, tariffs were used against us, but we didn't use them against others. But we're really better at it than anybody else. And we've taken in -- we will have taken in trillions of dollars. Nobody has ever seen anything.
Even people that were against the tariffs, now they see the way they're working. And by the way, with no inflation, with no problem, we're just building up cash and we're using that cash to reduce taxes, reduce debt and other things. It's a great thing to watch. And your honest reporters are saying they've never seen anything like what's happening. Our country is becoming very rich again, only because of tariffs.
If we didn't have it -- if we didn't have -- if I didn't get elected, this country would be -- it was a dead country. Look, were a dead country a year ago. And now we're the most successful, most vibrant country anywhere in the world.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Health care --
TRUMP: Nice to see you. You're good on television.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir, I tried. Tonight, in a few minutes, Steve Bannon will appear on my show -- TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- he floats the idea that you should dual hat Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, not only as Treasury Secretary, but as interim Fed Chair. Would you be willing to entertain that?
TRUMP: In other words, you likes Scott?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir, very much.
TRUMP: So do I. And I like Steve, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you like to see that, him dualizing --
TRUMP: Well, it's certainly -- dualized? It could save a little bit of salary. I think I could maybe make a deal where we just give him one salary. You know, I have a couple of them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think he need --
TRUMP: I have Marco. No, I don't think so.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).
TRUMP: We have --we have Marco, he's got about three positions, right? He's doing great also.
No, no, I don't think that's going to be necessary. Actually, I went to Scott and I talked to him about that position and he loves what he's doing right now. So, you know, he's not in the mix because he's -- he loves being Secretary of the Treasury.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Quick follow up, today is the first day of early voting in the Commonwealth of Virginia, are you planning on campaigning for Winsome Sears, John Reid or Jason Miyares?
TRUMP: Well, I'm going to have to look at some of them. As you know, you know, it's sort of a semi local election. I've been watching it. I've been seeing the ads.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would appreciate it as a Virginia voter, just --
TRUMP: Who do you like of the group? Who do you like?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole -- the whole ticket, sir.
TRUMP: All of them, you like them?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of them, sir.
TRUMP: All right. Well, I'll take a very strong look, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir. Appreciate that.
TRUMP: For you. I'm going to look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what about my question about --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Secretary Kennedy's panel vaccine changed its broad recommendations on COVID-19 vaccines today. Are you comfortable with that change or would you like to see Americans take the vaccines that were developed under your tenure?
TRUMP: Yes. Well, the vaccines, according to a lot of people, and if you look at George (ph) said, have had a tremendous, you know, Operation Warp Speed was just, according to just about everybody, was one of the greatest things that any president has ever done in this country. So we're very proud of it. I'm very proud of it.
I'm also very proud of Regeneron and some of the things that came out of, you know, all of the labs and all of the research that we've done. So I don't know exactly what the final determination is, but I had the vaccine. I was very happy with it. Here I am, right? Here I am.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, you --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you had it again --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bobby Kennedy -- Bobby Kennedy seems to be undoing what you did with Operation Warp Speed.
TRUMP: No, I put him in -- I put him in there because I want to have opposite views. That's OK. I think we're going to have something very, very big coming up soon on autism. Autism is totally out of control. And one of the biggest -- one of the most important things that in my opinion I had to do is to see what's going on with autism.
And we're going to have a news conference early next week on autism. And I think you're going to see some things that are amazing that we've learned that somebody else wouldn't have learned. It's out of control. Autism out of control. And I think we maybe have the reason why.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But is Bobby going, -- is Bobby Kennedy going too far and unwinding the vaccines?
TRUMP: Well, no. He's saying for older people. Yes, he's saying for older people. A lot of people agree with that. And -- but I can tell you this, Operation Warp Speed, one of the greatest things a president has ever done for this country.
And you can say the world, because when we came up with that vaccine, the whole world opened up. But I put Bobby there as somebody that will go either way. And I want -- you know, I want the facts. But I also look at facts from Pfizer, where they spent a lot of money, and the other drug companies, they spent a lot of money on finding out the results after the fact. The results were amazingly good.
[17:20:01]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, after your conversation --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm wondering if you've seen the video put out by former Israeli hostages. It's addressed to you. One is a widow of one that died. And these are people who are freed, thanks to you. But they're actually encouraging you to force a ceasefire -- force Netanyahu into a ceasefire.
And they didn't address it to him because they think you're the one who might actually listen to them and get it done. They're worried that the hostages who are still there are more at risk if the war continues. Your thoughts on it.
TRUMP: Well, they might be. They also maybe they'll be freed because of that. You know, you never know how it's -- look, war, I was saying, yes. War, a lot of strange things happen, a lot of results take place that you would never think were going to happen. As you know, I was able to get most of the hostages out.
We're down to 20, and we have 32 dead people, you know that. We have 32, maybe more, 38, but between 32 and 38 people that were dead, mostly young people. And I've dealt with some of the parents, and we got all our Americans out, as you know, but now we're talking about mostly Israelis. But I dealt with parents, I spoke to parents, and they want the body of their son. I believe in almost all cases, sons.
But they want the body of their cherished, beautiful son. They want the body back as much as as though he were alive. It's so sad to see. But I've dealt with the mothers and fathers. Please, sir, please, the body of my son.
They know he's dead and they want -- they just want him back. They want him back as much as though he's alive. I mean, it's -- it's very terrible. And, you know, we have very close to 40 bodies that are included in the -- the whole thing, but we have 20, probably 20 that are living. It might be a little bit less, because a couple of things.
Look, young people don't die, OK? They just don't die. They can take a lot. But these, a lot of people died in these horrible tunnels. They're mostly in the tunnels.
I know a lot about it. I got them out. I got them out. But I always said the last 20, when you get down to the last 10 or 20, it's going to be very tough. It's a nasty -- it's a nasty situation.
You can't forget October 7th, but it's a nasty situation. Terrible. Terrible.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on Gaza, the U.N. concluded this week that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. What are your thoughts on that?
TRUMP: Well, I haven't seen that, I'm looking at it. But did anybody commit genocide on October 7? What do you think about that? That was genocide at the highest level. That was murder, genocide, you can call it whatever you want, but little babies were chopped in half --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And in Gaza --
TRUMP: -- arms were cut off, people, heads were cut off, people. It's genocide -- it's genocide also, I guess.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, a question on your interest deployment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible) a fee from that deal? What is that fee going to be to --
TRUMP: Well, it hasn't been fully negotiated, but we'll get something. From the standpoint that we worked hard, we put up a lot, we spent a lot of money on letting this come and -- and letting this, you know, it's a -- it's a very, very big deal. Very -- it's a very powerful deal. And the United States, really -- I see it. I mean, people were saying, save TikTok, save TikTok, so many people.
It's a big thing. And, you know, China can be very proud that they were able to get that started. And so I very much appreciate it. JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right, welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. The president there starting to be asked some of the same questions twice because he's just open to so many questions there in the Oval Office, taking questions, making some news. Our lead tonight is on one of the things he said just then indicating a president quite determined to rid from the airwaves. Criticism in and mockery and speech and speakers he does not care for.
He's no longer only targeting comedians that he doesn't like. Now he is coming for network newscasts. He said it on his way back from London on Air Force One, and he repeated it just now in the Oval Office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The newscasts are against me. The stories are 90 -- they said 97 percent bad, so they gave me 97. They'll take a great story and they'll make it bad. See, I think that's really illegal, personally. When somebody is given 97 percent of the stories are bad about a person, that's no longer free speech, that's no longer -- that's just cheating.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So he called network newscasts illegal, and it's not free speech and it's cheating. And this is in addition to what he said on Air Force One yesterday.
[17:25:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP; I read someplace that the networks were 97 percent against me. I got 97 percent negative. And yet, I won it easily. I won all seven swing states, popular, I won everything. And if they're 97 against, they give me only bad publicity or press.
I mean they're getting a license. I -- I would think maybe their license should be taken away.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The President there saying about T.V. news networks because he doesn't like what they report. Maybe their license should be taken away.
Now we should note first that this 97 percent figure is wrong. It's actually 92 percent and that figure comes from a non-scientific, frankly non credible analysis done by a far right pro Trump group looking at the NBC, CBS and ABC evening news broadcast. So to be crystal clear, just to reiterate the point here, this is the President of the United States threatening to use the power of the presidency, the Federal Communications Commission or FCC, to remove or change news in news networks. Removing it from the airwaves, theoretically, because their coverage is not pro Trump enough. It's just factually what he is saying now. And these threats frankly can no longer just be discounted as mere talk because it has been only two days now since President Trump's hand-picked chair of the FCC, Brendan Carr went on a far right wing podcast and told local T.V. channels out there very clearly that they should stop airing the show of Jimmy Kimmel, a late night comedian with a show on ABC and a critic of President Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRENDAD CARR, FCC CHAIRMAN: Have a license granted by us at the FCC and that comes with it, an obligation to operate in the public interest. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So what was the offense? Well they say it has to do with comments he made on Monday night, Jimmy Kimmel. And here are those comments in full.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY KIMMEL, AMERICAN HOST: We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger pointing there was grieving. On Friday the White House flew the flags at half-staff which got some criticism. But on a human level you can see how hard the president is taking this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My condolences on the loss of your friend Charlie Kirk. May I ask sir, personally, how are you holding up over the last day and a half, sir?
TRUMP: I think very good. And by the way right there you see all the trucks, they've just started construction of the new ballroom for the White House which is something they've been trying to get as you know, for about 150 years, and it's going to be a beauty.
KIMMEL: Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief construction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: There have been a lot of interpretations and frankly, some downright fabrications about what Kimmel specifically said in terms of his characterization of the shooter, the assassin. But let us assume, for the purpose of argument, the absolute purity of his critics. The question is, are they upset that this comedian invoked a horrific act of violence to make jokes? Because I don't recall any of these voices expressing any dismay after former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband was brutally attacked by a home intruder with a hammer, resulting in Paul Pelosi's lifelong debilitating injuries. The president's son joked about it, posting a Paul Pelosi Halloween costume.
And others mined this vicious attack for fun.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We'll stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi who ruined San Francisco. How's her husband doing, by the way, anybody know?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BACKGROUND VOICE)So are they upset because they say Kimmel was misrepresenting, lying. lying about the shooter's political views? Now, Kimmel's defenders say he was not saying that this was a MAGA person. But even if he had been saying it, here's the question, are lies consistently problematic for the Trump administration and its allies? Do lies offend President Trump?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you count the legal votes I easily win.
In Springfield, they're eating the dogs. The people that came in, they're eating the cats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Or is what's going on with Kimmel's show right now all because, as President Trump said on Air Force One yesterday, all these T.V. networks do is, quote, "hit Trump," therefore, they should have their licenses taken away. We should note it is an American right to mock any president. In fact, during the Biden years, then FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr said political satire is one of the oldest and most important forms of free speech. It challenges those in power while using humor to draw more people into the discussion. In January, Carr, who is now the chairman of the FCC, said, quote, "Free speech is the bedrock of democracy." Hear, hear to both of those sentiments.
[17:30:09]
But then this week, Carr went on that right wing podcast and said it was time for local T.V. stations to, "step up" and declare that this, "garbage," meaning a Kimmel show, is not something they want on their airwaves. Moments ago, Trump called Brendan Carr a, "courageous person."
Now enter Nexstar. Nexstar is the largest owner of local T.V. stations in the entire United States. Nexstar is also trying to purchase its largest rival, Tegna, for $6.2 billion. If the FCC were to approve the sale, well, then nexstar would be violating an FCC rule about owning too many more than 39% of local T.V. households. So Nexstar not only needs Carr's approval for this acquisition, they need Carr to change the FCC rule. So it's perhaps not surprising that literally within hours of Brendan Carr announcing all this, telling local T.V. stations to jump, Nexstar said, how high?
Now it goes to Disney's Bob Iger. Disney owns "ABC" and Disney pulled Kimmel from the airwaves for now. Now, we should also note that Iger, as he decides what to do with Jimmy Kimmel and his show, Iger, also needs the Trump administration to approve ways for Iger to make even more money for Iger and for his stockholders. Iger's trying to close in on a megadeal between Disney and Fubo. Critics say that merger would create a mega sports streaming monopoly. Right now, this merger is under a Justice Department antitrust review, and Iger needs Trump to approve it.
All of this, at the end of it, is about money. It's about rich men and women who need the Trump administration's approval to make even more money. And it's about a president and his minions openly using the powers of the presidency to silence speech and speakers that President Trump does not like.
Critics of his coming for the comedians, now coming for the journalists. We should note this is the exact opposite of what President Trump claims to have stood for when he was running for office and when he took office. It's the exact opposite of what he and his administration promised that they would do when it came to free speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I will also sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America.
Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponized to persecute political opponents.
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And under Donald Trump's leadership, we may disagree with your views, but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: They're not doing that. In fact, they're doing the opposite. Now, at least one prominent Republican is sounding the alarm today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): If the government gets in the business of saying, we don't like what you, the media have said, we're going to ban you from the airwaves if you don't say what we like, that will end up bad for conservatives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Senator Cruz is right. This is all contrary to the spirit of the First Amendment, to -- to those who value free speech. If a journalist cannot cover the President, if a comedian cannot make a joke about the President, an offensive joke even without fear for his job, because the President will use the powers of his administration to lean on his rich bosses who want to make even more money, well, is that a country you want to live in?
[17:34:08]
My next guest says that the Kimmel controversy can have implications well beyond censorship and the T.V. business. We'll get into that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: And we're back with the Money Lead and the Jimmy Kimmel Show suspension as we've been laying out for a couple days now. There's a very obvious money trail well worth your following.
Nexstar, the biggest owner of local T.V. stations in the country, needs the FCC to approve their effort to buy their biggest rival, Tegna. And this week, Nexstar followed the lead of FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, who said they -- he wanted local T.V. stations to announce they were no longer going to air Kimmel by announcing that their ABC-affiliated stations would preempt Jimmy Kimmel because they said they objected to Jimmy Kimmel's comments.
With us now is former Federal Trade Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya. He was fired by the Trump administration this past March. We should just clarify that you were with the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, not the FCC, the Federal Communications Commission. But either way, some of these mergers and such would probably need FTC approval as well -- as well.
There's a lot of money to be made. Nexstar has ample reason to try to endear itself to the FCC, so does Bob Iger and Disney, for that matter. What do you think is going to happen next?
ALVARO BEDOYA, FORMER FTC COMMISSIONER: So I don't know what will happen with this, but I can tell you that this is much bigger than Late Night. Because maybe you go to bed at 10:00, maybe you just don't have cable. But you do buy groceries. You do have prescription medicine. And what this President is doing is using these rules that are supposed to protect the public against mergers that are going to hurt them or raise prices.
And he's using those rules to hurt his enemies and help his friends. And so it's not going to matter if grocery prices go up or drug prices go up. What's going to matter is who's given how much to the President and his friends.
TAPPER: Because just to -- just to reiterate for people, the more companies there are, the more competition there is. And that keeps theoretically prices as low as possible unless there is, you know, antitrust violations going on. And you posted on social media that you think that this is broader than censorship, broader than Late Night. Fifty media companies controlling 90 percent of the market down to five companies controlling 90 percent of the market. Tell us more.
[17:40:09]
BEDOYA: It used to be 40 years ago, 50 companies were around controlling that market. If you censor company number 50, good luck with the other 49, right? But now we have a situation where there are just five media conglomerates controlling 90 percent of the market. And the President can literally hold out his hand and say, we got Colbert, Kimmel's next. And now it's Fallon and Meyers, right? So people need to understand that this has been years in the making and that consolidation not only is bad for free speech when a couple of people control what we watch on television, it also paves the way for this kind of censorship and overreach.
TAPPER: And we should know that when you say Fallon and Meyers are next the Late Night comedians on "NBC," you're quoting him. He said --
BEDOYA: Yes.
TAPPER: Yes. But beyond that, one of the things that people might -- might need to understand why Colbert first, why Kimmel next.
BEDOYA: Right.
TAPPER: There are opportunities to squeeze these companies because of mergers that happened with Colbert.
BEDOYA: That's right.
TAPPER: It's happening now with Kimmel and Disney and Nextar. The reason it hasn't happened to the "NBC" guys is because their parent company isn't trying to merge with anybody right now.
BEDOYA: That's right. So Richard Nixon actually did this. And there are actually tapes where he's don't mess with my guys when it comes to their merger. We are now seeing that on steroids. And so what used to be a process that was supposed to protect the American consumer, make sure people had choices with respect to their media, with respect to their grocery stores, has basically been hijacked to advance this President's agenda.
And the one thing I will say is that this is years in the making. And Republicans and Democrats have created a legal system that kept on letting these companies get bigger. The Telecommunications Act in 1996 paved the way for each of these companies to gobble each other up more and more.
TAPPER: Yes. And that's because a lot of these telecommunications agencies gave a lot of donations --
BEDOYA: Exactly.
TAPPER: -- to Republicans and Democrats alike. Alvaro Bedoya, thank you so much. Come back soon. Good insights. We appreciate it.
TAPPER: Coming up next, former U.S. attorney Alex Acosta's testimony about that sweetheart 2008 deal. He negotiated for now dead pedophile, Jeffrey Epstein. What the former prosecutor had to say, what he did not say behind closed doors of the House Oversight Committee earlier today. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REP. YASSAMIN ANSARI (D-AZ): Strike a sweetheart deal. He thinks that justice was in fact served in this case. Alex Acosta does not seem to be a credible witness to me. He is extremely evasive, very difficult to get straightforward answers out of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Investigative reporter, Julie K. Brown, from the Miami Herald joins us now. She's the author of the great book, "Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story," and a lot of her reporting on this back in the first Trump administration is why we're even talking about it today.
[17:45:11]
Julie, are you at all surprised to hear what the congresswoman said about how Alex Acosta seemed evasive when it came to questions about his plea deal in the closed-door hearing today?
JULIE K. BROWN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE MIAMI HERALD: No, I'm not surprised at all. The one thing that Mr. Acosta has been is consistent in his explanation and reasoning for giving Epstein or approving this sweetheart deal or so-called plea bargain that he did with Epstein back in 2007.
TAPPER: Congresswoman Ansari told CNN's Boris Sanchez earlier today that Acosta repeatedly said he did not recall, he did not have the minutiae of this case available. Do you think that's a possibility, given what we know about Epstein and how incredibly significant this case was?
BROWN: Well, let's just put it this way. Even if we take it at his word that he didn't know all the minutiae, you would think that he would find out because he did meet with one of Epstein's lawyers privately to discuss the case, and there was a lot of evidence of correspondence that went between Acosta himself personally, the head U.S. attorney in Miami, communicating directly with this suspect's lawyers. So if he's doing that, one would think that he would know a little bit more about the case.
TAPPER: And just for people at home, and we could go into detail about this for an hour probably, but the reason we think we're describing this as a sweetheart deal is because he had work release, he got out early, they only used one of the witnesses against him, even though there were several, and he honestly, like it was very, very -- it was a slap on the wrist considering the crimes of trafficking and -- and pedophilia and -- and minor girls that he was with.
Earlier this morning, Julia, the chairman of the oversight committee, James Comer, said that this was going to be a hard-hitting session. He said it was going to be bipartisan. Congresswoman, who's a Democrat, said from what she heard, she felt the Democrats were pressing Acosta harder. Do you think any of the politics matter here, or was Acosta just not going to bend in his view that this sweetheart deal as we see it was actually justice?
BROWN: Well, definitely, I think I knew that Acosta would stick to his plan. He has said these same things consistently, that this case, he didn't believe that he had a strong enough case to take -- to prosecute, and he felt that there was some problems with the girls. And remember, the victims were 14, 15, 16 years old.
So anytime you have a case with the main witnesses and victims being that age, it's going to be a difficult prosecution. So yes, this would have been a difficult case, but then again, you have a very dangerous man out there who at the time they knew he had done this to at least 32 girls. That's how many victims they had when they made this deal.
And somehow they whittled this down to make themselves believe that there were only two that they could go to -- to -- to some kind of a case with, which is absurd, because even if they picked the two best victims, they could have made a case. They also, by the way, had cooperating evidence in the form of e-mails and these appointment books that they seized. So they had other evidence besides just the word of these girls.
TAPPER: Yes, I would have loved to have been able to ask Acosta some questions today. I'm sure you feel the same way. Julie K. Brown, thanks so much for your time and your -- and your excellence on this subject. We appreciate it.
Let's go back to our Politics Lead. A backlash over a viral video of a lecture which led the president of Texas A&M University to step down from his position today. In the video, you can hear a student pushing back against a professor when it comes to a lesson about children's literature, gender, sexuality, and more. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not entirely sure this is legal to be teaching because according to our president, there's only two genders. And he said that he would be freezing agency's funding programs that promote -- promote gender ideology.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you are uncomfortable in this class, you do have the right to leave.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we are doing is not illegal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, before resigning, the school's president, Mark Welsh, fired that professor and others in that department, but then pressure mounted with the lieutenant governor of Texas saying that the president of the university, Welsh's "ambivalence on the issue and his dismissal of the student's concerns by immediately taking the side of the professor is unacceptable."
Let's get into this with the panel. So Brian Harrison is the Texas state representative who posted the video that went viral. He's -- he's a Republican. He posted online, "as the first elected official to call for him," meaning president Welsh, "to be fired, this news is welcome, although overdue. Now," and he wrote it all, I think it's in all caps, yes, "and all DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination in Texas."
[17:50:07]
Mo, you think this mimics Trump's playbook when it comes to, and not just the all caps of it all, but -- but when it comes to higher ed?
MO ELLEITHEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, GEORGETOWN INSTITUTE OF POLITICS & PUBLIC SERVICE: Yes, 100 percent. And in a subsequent tweet after that one, he said, now let's get a conservative president in here.
TAPPER: Right. At Texas A&M University.
ELLEITHEE: At Texas A&M. That's sort of saying the quiet part out loud. Look, you know, I spent my life working in politics, very partisan. Now I work at a university and I believe in my bones that universities should be places of where there should be more ideological diversity. I'm a Democrat. I bring Republicans to speak on campus all the time so that our students can engage with them.
And that's, over the past week, what's been so, one of the many reasons the Charlie Kirk murder is so tragic to me is because it took place on a college campus where there's supposed to be a free exchange of ideas.
TAPPER: And he was murdered for his ideas.
ELLEITHEE: For his ideas --
TAPPER: Yes.
ELLEITHEE: -- while debating people --
TAPPER: Yes.
ELLEITHEE: -- for them. That's what you're supposed to do on a college campus. And so the fact that this president and that professor are being penalized, punished for --
TAPPER: Their views.
ELLEITHEE: -- their -- for having a conversation, an ideological conversation. That student could have walked out of the class if they didn't like it. But, you know, let me say this to that student. Like, hey, you're going to have a tough life if you think that for the rest of your life you can self-select which ideologies you can engage with. Life is about that. And that's what you're supposed to learn in college.
TAPPER: So Doug, the -- the president of the college, former president, says he fired the instructor because the course, "contained content that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course." "The Washington Post" reports that the book in the class was Jude Saves the World. An attorney for the fired instructor said, "the main character, Jude, is non-binary. The plot largely deals with Jude's difficulties with ADHD in school, their relationships with their friends, mother and grandparents, and their friend group's attempt to build an LGBTQ-accepting social club in their town." Now, look, this isn't kindergarten, right? This is university. And presumably, anybody in that class signed up to be in that class. Is this something a professor should be fired for?
DOUG HEYE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, it certainly isn't something a president of a university should be fired for. And I do have questions of why children's book might be taught at a university, but that's sort of neither here nor there. I'm on a board for my alma mater, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
And in that role, I've learned there's a real difference between public universities and private universities. They do answer to state legislatures. So politics enters the classroom in public universities a lot more than it would, say, at a private school like Georgetown or that school nine miles away from Chapel Hill that I don't acknowledge.
But -- but this university president isn't somebody who could really readily be defined as -- as woke or anything like that. He was a four- star general. He was on the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It's really hard, I would think, to really credibly then pigeonhole somebody as being woke or anti-this or anti-that, unless you're looking at this purely through, not just a partisan, but a real ideological lens where anything will bend to that lens.
TAPPER: All right, thanks to both of you.
Testing the waters, Venezuela's plans for military drills as tensions rise with the U.S., while Vladimir Putin is also pushing the limits, flying Russian jets over NATO territory. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:55:28]
TAPPER: We have breaking news for you now on our World Lead. Russia is apparently at it again, flexing its muscle in another NATO country. This time it's Estonia, which is calling the move by Russia unprecedentedly brazen.
NATO says today that three Russian jets lingered in Estonia's airspace for some 12 minutes, far longer than just a casual, oops, just flying by, sorry, guys. Let's bring in Brett McGurk. He served in senior national security roles under Bush, Obama, Trump's first term, and under Biden.
Brett, thanks for joining us. So today's incursion comes after NATO jets scrambled to shoot down Russian drones that flew into Poland. That was just last week. U.S. and Western intelligence officials were split on the question of whether Russia sent the drones to Poland on purpose or by accident. What are your thoughts now, given what just happened above Estonia?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Jake, I think, look, you have two incidents in the course of two weeks, incursions by Russian military aircraft, today manned aircraft into NATO airspace. There's an old European proverb, fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. That's kind of my conclusion here.
I think -- I think Putin is clearly testing the defenses of NATO. I think what he's doing, if you look at the -- at the Ukraine situation, he's really not making much progress on the battlefield. Over the course of the summer and these warmer months, he hoped to have a breakthrough on the ground. That hasn't happened. And perhaps he's now kind of sending a signal to NATO allies that this can get worse.
I think it's dangerous. I think NATO has to really come together and put some more pressure on --on the Russians, particularly economic pressure.
TAPPER: Venezuela is also showing off. Earlier this week, Venezuela released new images of Russian-made jets. And now Venezuela says that that country is going to launch military drills in the Caribbean. And just look at this lineup. Venezuela mobilized more than 2,500 soldiers, 12 various naval ships, 20 smaller boats, 22 aircraft. The U.S. deployed, in response, 4,000 Marines and sailors to that region last month in response to all of the unrest. What -- what is your opinion about what's going on here? This seems like a rather troubling region to watch right now.
MCGURK: Look, I think the Trump administration's saying our first priority is our hemisphere. That's going to be the -- the core of their national security strategy. They're looking at these kind of narco-traffickers, but you see the military maneuvers. I mean, it looks like you're shaping up for a major military operation. I'm not ready to predict that. But if you really step back here, Jake, try to connect all these stories.
You know, there's something called CRINK, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea. You might want to maybe add a V in there. But our kind of adversaries are really starting to coordinate. That Beijing summit a couple weeks ago, I think the imagery was not only symbolic, also kind of a preview of where this might be going. They're working together in Ukraine, Iran, North Korea, Russia, and China.
And you look ahead, you know, over the course of, I think 2026 is becoming a really critical, pivotal year because we know Xi Jinping has told the People's Liberation Army to be ready for a Taiwan invasion, be prepared by 2027, the 100th year anniversary of the PLA. I don't think he's going to act that soon, but he's preparing. So these are really turbulent waters. I think 2026, Jake, is going to be a critical year.
The U.N. General Assembly next week, you know, watch for what's said. But my experience at the U.N. General Assembly is often what's not said. I remember being there in 2013. Nobody predicted ISIS would suddenly be a sweep to the global agenda within a few months. 2023, the U.N. General Assembly, nobody predicted Hamas would invade Israel, light up the Middle East.
So I'm just -- I'm really seeing 2026 shaping up as a pivotal year. And it's how you kind of connect all of these threats. I think it's good though, Jake, that the President's speaking with Xi today. They're going to meet at the APEC Summit in South Korea later in October. That's good.
But look, diplomacy without leverage as you and I have talked about for some time is like music without instruments. And you got to put some leverage behind the diplomacy. That's with China, and that's also particularly with Russia and Ukraine.
TAPPER: So Trump described his call with Xi Jinping today as productive, TBD on specifics, but Trump says they talked about trade and fentanyl, this still pending TikTok deal, Russia's war in Ukraine. Two Fridays ago, Putin was in China, as you noted, at times in close huddles with Xi. Could China start flexing even more muscle here if it wanted to, given this alliance with Putin?
MCGURK: Absolutely, Jake. And I think they will. There's a story in "The Washington Post" today that the Trump administration is also pausing a $400 million arms package for Taiwan. I think the -- the official statement was it's still under review. I really hope that -- that's kind of has to move forward. That's kind of the bread and butter of our national defense strategy. And I think it kind of shores up any diplomacy we're going to have with -- with the Chinese.
[18:00:04]
The TikTok deal, again, very much in our interest. We want to get that algorithm out of ByteDance, the Chinese company. If you're going to have TikTok here in the United States, if that's what that deal does, that's good. But details to be revealed, we still don't really know the details of that -- of that agreement that's being worked.
TAPPER: All right, Brett McGurk, thanks so much.
MCGURK: Thanks, Jake.
