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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Sources Say, Trump Admin Close to Deciding on Charging James Comey; Kimmel's Show Returns, Trump Threatens to Sue ABC; One Detainee Killed, Two Wounded at Dallas ICE Facility. Harris Embarks On Book Tour For Buzzy Campaign Tell-All. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 24, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jack Tapper.

This hour, the breaking news, potential federal criminal charges are coming for FBI Director James Comey, as ordered by President Trump, what sources are telling CNN about a possible indictment.

Plus, nearly 13 years after the Sandy Hook massacre, why a Trump ally appears to be backing off his intention of investigating an FBI agent who responded to the scene and testified in court that it actually did happen.

Also, new conversations behind the scenes after some local T.V. station groups blocked airing the return of Jimmy Kimmel to late night. How long will these station groups refuse to air speech they don't like?

And what you may not know about Kamala Harris and her new book. Hear the former V.P. in her own words, in her own voice dishing on Joe Biden's senior staff and what she thought when her former boss put on a red MAGA hat.

Tonight, breaking news in our Politics Lead, sources are telling CNN that the Trump administration is close to deciding on whether to charge former FBI Director James Comey with lying to Congress. We don't know specifically what the lie that they're alleging is. President Trump just posted on Truth Social a couple days ago, urging his attorney general, Pam Bondi, to go after his political opponents, including Comey, who he named. And here it is in black and white, what about Comey, Adam Shifty Schiff, Letitia, referring to Letitia James, the New York attorney general. They're all guilty as hell, President Trump asserted. Trump added, we can't delay any longer. It's killing our reputation and credibility. They impeached me twice and indicted me five times over nothing. Justice must be served now.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. Kaitlan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. I mean the one thing the president made clear in that post over the weekend, which I should note he posted one version of, then deleted, then reposted, was that he doesn't believe these investigations and to the people that he clearly wants prosecuted, some of them who have prosecuted him and gone after him in New York in the case of Letitia James, or those who are his political opponents, he doesn't think that they're moving fast enough.

And that is why the person that he cites there at the end, Lindsey Halligan, is in the position that she's in, in this U.S. attorney's office. That's because the person that President Trump had put there just a couple of months ago, Eric Siebert, back in May, didn't believe there was a strong enough case against Letitia James or a, a case against James Comey. I mean, it varies in terms of where they should think the strength of the evidence is in relation to the former FBI director.

And, Jake, obviously, we'll have to wait to see if this indictment comes down, what this actually looks like if they move forward with trying to charge him. And as you noted, what exactly that charge looks like, but this very clearly seems to be the direction that the president wants it to move it and where he is going, and he didn't think it was moving fast enough. And that's why Eric Siebert is no longer in that job.

And for people who aren't familiar with Lindsey Halligan, she's actually someone she's been seen at the main Justice Department in the last few days since she was named to this interim position. But before that, Jake, she had an office here at the White House, and she was a personal attorney to the president before he retook the White House, someone who was on his legal team, who was here in Washington at times when they were trying to convince Jack Smith and the Merrick Garland- led Justice Department not to indict President Trump when it came to the classified documents case, and now she is the person who is going to be leading the charge in what is going to be one of the most high- profile cases, certainly the most high-profile indictments that we've seen in the, the second Trump term that she will be leading on.

And so it's raised a lot of questions about what that is going to look like, Jake, and what the strength of that case, if at all, really is.

TAPPER: You said that the issue that President Trump had was that Eric Siebert, the former U.S. attorney, wasn't bringing the charges against his political enemies fast enough. Isn't it more accurate to say that he didn't find evidence that justified any sort of criminal prosecution after five months of looking into it?

[18:05:02]

And then that was a problem for the president because he wants a prosecution, he wants an indictment, and it almost doesn't even matter what the charges are.

COLLINS: Well, that's our understanding with Letitia James. Obviously, with James Comey, it remains to be seen what exactly this is going to look like. He had not brought charges while he was in there, Jake. He'd been there since May. And so that seems to speak for itself.

TAPPER: Kaitlan, speaking of the FBI, you have some brand new reporting today about this Trump ally at the Justice Department, Ed Martin, forced to retract a letter that he sent to the lawyer for an FBI agent, an agent who responded heroically to the Sandy Hook School shooting. It implied that this FBI agent was under investigation. What's this about?

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, Jake, what we're just talking about is Trump going after his political opponents. This is also evidence of the top Trump Justice Department officials looking out for people who seem to be their allies, because this is Ed Martin, who was briefly in the U.S. attorney's position here in D.C. He couldn't get enough support from even Republican senators to get confirmation for that job. So, now he's been moved over to the Justice Department where he is basically in charge of this task force that's on weaponizing -- the weaponization of the federal government.

And he is someone who -- just to give you some background here, he's appeared on Alex Jones' show. There are photos of him with the conspiracy theorists that are online. And Alex Jones was touting a letter that Ed Martin, this top Trump ally, had sent to the attorney representing the FBI agent who was one of the first people, Jake, to respond to the Sandy Hook massacre that day, someone who testified at trial about what it was like and what he saw that day, and also someone, Jake, who was harassed online by the conspiracy theorists that were ginned up by people like Alex Jones, who obviously had all of these lies about the case and had a defamation lawsuit brought against them with a billion dollar judgment.

And Ed Martin had sent this letter basically saying that they were investigating his role that this FBI agent played in that trial that day because he was one of the plaintiffs in the defamation lawsuit against Alex Jones. Well, now we have found out that the deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, has forced Ed Martin to retract that letter and to withdraw it, and he sent a brief note to the FBI agent's attorney today basically saying that there is no investigation into him, that they are not investigating him, and therefore he withdraws his letter and demand for information from this FBI agent, Jake.

It's caused a lot of backlash inside the White House. I'm actually going to speak with Bill Aldenberg's attorney later on tonight about this remarkable development.

TAPPER: Can you imagine losing your child in a school shooting, and then somebody like Alex Jones lies, says that it was all fake and his legions of deranged fans harass you while you're mourning? One family had to move, they were being harassed so much. And you find that there is support for this horrific person, Alex Jones, from within the Trump Justice Department. It's just unbelievable.

Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thank you so much. Also, tonight on Kaitlan's show, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who's going to be doing an interview with Kaitlan after today's horrific deadly shooting at the ICE facility in Dallas, that's tonight on The Source with Kaitlan Collins tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern only on CNN.

Also in our Politics Lead, of course, Jimmy Kimmel is back and local news giants, Sinclair and Nexstar, which own a host of local T.V. stations, well, they're digging in. Today, Nexstar announced that it's talking to Disney executives, but they won't budge on their announcement to preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live, this after Kimmel was pulled off the air for a week following a direct threat made by FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, and also threats by President Trump.

Trump is clearly upset that ABC and Disney reinstated Kimmel's show. He issued this threat seemingly undermining the claim that this was not being done at his behest. He said, quote, I think we're going to test ABC out on this. Let's see how we do. Last time I went after them, they gave me $16 million. This one sounds even more lucrative, unquote.

Here is part of what Jimmy Kimmel's monologue contained last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE: This show is not important. What is important is that we get to live in a country that allows us to have a show like this.

One thing I did learn from Lenny Bruce and George Carlin and Howard Stern, is that a government threat to silence a comedian the president doesn't like is anti-American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now, the only Democrat serving as a Federal Communications Commissioner, Anna Gomez. Anna, what do you make of Nexstar and Sinclair's decisions to continue to preempt Kimmel show? I mean, presumably they can't do it forever. At some point, they would be in breach of contract with ABC and Disney, I would think.

ANNA GOMEZ, FCC COMMISSIONER: Yes, I do think it's a contractual issue with Disney. I think that these behemoths that own a lot of the local broadcast stations throughout the country are trying to curry favor with this administration. It's very clear that this administration would like very much to get rid of Jimmy Kimmel and anyone that dares to speak out against them. And so they want to get favorable treatment.

They want the FCC to grant their transactions.

[18:10:01]

There have some mergers that they want to do. They want the FCC to relax the ownership limitations so they can get even bigger. And they want the FCC to help them to transition to this new technology that presumably is going to make them a lot of money. So, they have a lot of business before the FCC and I think they are trying to curry favor with the administration in order to get what they want.

TAPPER: Ted Cruz, of all people, came to Jimmy Kimmel's defense and said the government should not be in the business of telling local officials or local businesses what to air. Ted Cruz and Jimmy Kimmel are longtime rivals, is why I said that. And he said that Brendan Carr sounded like a mobster. Well, Jimmy Kimmel last night taking a page from Ted Cruz's book, had Robert De Niro playing the new FCC commissioner. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMEL: It seems like the FCC is using mob tactics to suppress free speech.

ROBERT DE NIRO, ACTOR: What the (BLEEP) did you just say to me?

KIMMEL: I didn't mean any offensive, you know, you can't curse or we'll get fined by the FCC.

DE NIRO: I'm the (BLEEP) FCC. I can (BLEEP) say whatever the (BLEEP) I want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: It was a mob boss playing the new FCC commissioner. What did you make of that comparison or Ted Cruz's?

GOMEZ: First of all, I was very heartened by the bipartisan pushback against the threats of censorship that were coming from this administration. It is correct to say that if they come for one, they're going to come for others, or at least to have that fear if you allow this to happen. We don't want this to be the new normal.

And with regard to the Jimmy Kimmel segment that you just showed, that's satire. That's protected by the First Amendment. That is how comedians push back against government and is a rich tradition of this country to have comedians do that, and we should continue to support that.

TAPPER: In fact, Kimmel quoted this 2022 tweet by Brendan Carr back when people were making fun of Joe Biden and there were questions about censorship, and this read, quote, political satire -- this is Brendan Carr, just to remind people. 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.

We used to have Brendan Carr on the show back -- when during the Biden administration. I thought he was a refreshing free speech voice. What happened? What why did he change his opinion on this? When did he become this person that goes on a podcast and, you know, sounds like Henry II saying, will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? I mean, when did this transformation happen?

GOMEZ: Well, you'd have to ask him. But what I see is it's just part of this larger campaign by this administration to censor and control any content it does not like.

TAPPER: All right, Anna Gomez, Commissioner Anna Gomez, thank you so much for being here.

Brand new video shows authorities searching a car near the scene of today's horrific sniper-style shooting at that ice facility in Texas. What we're learning about that vehicle and the shooter and his motives. One of our most well-sourced law enforcement analysts is coming up with the new details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: Turning to our Law and Justice Lead, the Department of Homeland Security says a sniper open fire on an ice field office in Dallas this morning. Three detainees were shot. One, we're told, is dead. And two other detainees are in critical condition. The ICE facility itself has also some damage from the bullets. The gunman, we're told, subsequently killed himself, he left behind a bullet scrawled, according to a post by FBI Director Kash Patel, with the message, anti-ICE.

CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analyst John Miller's with us. John, what are you hearing from your sources about this attack and about the gunman?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, one of the things they're investigating now is a car, a blue Toyota Corolla, which was found near the scene, which had signage in the window, including a map talking about where, you know, radio activity had passed over these areas. This apparently refers to, you know, testing that happened in the 50s and 60s. And they believe that this is the car that belonged to the shooter. Of course, before they went into the car to search it, from a public safety standpoint, it was cleared by the local bomb squad and other investigators. And they're conducting additional search warrants at what they believe to be the shooter's residence just outside Dallas in the suburbs.

So, he is a 29-year-old man, not a significant criminal record, nothing involving violence. There's a charge for someone of the same name with the same date of birth going back to 2016 for allegedly delivering marijuana. But the focus of the investigation is, is he connected to others or a particular movement given the anti-ICE, literally, statement written on the bullet and the targeting.

TAPPER: Well, that's the thing Kash Patel posted on social media that this is not a one-off. Is there evidence of some kind of conspiracy? Obviously, there have been a number of attacks against ICE, horrific acts of violence, and this appears to be an act of political violence motivated possibly from the left.

MILLER: So, it's early in the investigation, but I think what the director of the FBI is referring to is with this political message found at the scene and targeting what appears -- the targeting appears not to be aimed at detainees who were in a van, where bullets, you know, struck three of them, but it appears that the target were ICE agents, law enforcement, people operating in the building, in the parking lot where that van was.

And if you look at the two incidents in Texas, one in July 7th, a gunman opened fire on another ICE facility, but the one on July 4th is the one that authorities are going to be taking a close look at. [18:20:01]

You've got a dozen people all dressed in black who were shooting fireworks at the ICE location and vandalizing ICE vehicles. That is classic black, block Antifa-related tactics that were being used to commit property damage.

Here's the turn though. When police arrived at the scene, they say one of the people dressed in black gave a signal with their flashlight. And from a wooded tree line, a distance away, an individual hidden in the woods opened fire on law enforcement, striking an officer in the neck, having corrections officers pinned down.

Now, they've got 12 arrests in that case. One thing you can be sure about is they're going to be looking into this person's background to see, is there any connection between him and any of those people? If there are no connections between those people when they get into his electronics and social media, was he visiting the same propaganda sites, subscribing to the same ideology and so on?

But as of now, as far as I have been told by people who've been briefed on the investigation, they don't have those connections at this time.

TAPPER: All right. But the investigation is still very early.

CNN's John Miller --

MILLER: Very early, very active.

TAPPER: -- thank you so much.

Nearly eight months since that horrific crash that killed 67 people near Reagan National Airport, who's to blame? There's a widow who wants answers. Her first step today towards getting those answers, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, the widow of a man killed in that tragic in-flight collision in Washington, D.C., earlier this year sued the FAA, the U.S. Army and American Airlines earlier today. It's the very first federal lawsuit filed in the collision that killed 67 people when that Army Black Hawk helicopter and the American Eagle Flight 53 42 collided over the Potomac River.

CNN's Brian Todds at Reagan National Airport for us right now. Brian, what's the latest.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this lawsuit was filed by the family of Casey Crafton. He was a passenger aboard American Eagle Flight 5342. He was killed that evening in January over Reagan National Airport. The lawsuit alleges wrongful death and negligence. The family, as Jake mentioned, is suing American Airlines. It is suing the regional operator, PSA air, and it is suing the federal government.

Essentially, the lawsuit claims that all of those defendants knew or should have known that that passenger plane was transiting one of the busiest airspace in the United States that evening, and that the defendants knew or should have known that there were safety risks, including the possibility of a mid-air collision. The lawsuit claims that the Army Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high, and it says that the pilots of both aircraft failed to see and failed to avoid each other.

But what's interesting here is that the lawsuit alleges -- make some new and interesting allegations against American Airlines, and essentially accuses American of manipulating and abusing what it calls the arrival rate system here at Reagan National Airport. Essentially, the lawsuit accuses American of continuing to add more and more flights per hour here at Reagan despite knowing that there could be danger involved in that.

Here is Bob Clifford. He is the attorney for the lead plaintiff, Rachel Crafton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB CLIFFORD, ATTORNEY FOR CRAFTON FAMILY: It is known that American had the ability, because of their notice of near misses, a massive number of near misses that they nevertheless allowed their customers to be exposed to the dangers associated with those near misses, even though they sought additional gates, they sought additional landings and takeoffs, and they did everything possible to maximize their ability to shuttle passengers in and out of that airport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: Now, contacted by CNN, American Airlines issued a statement saying that the Black Hawk helicopter was, quote, above the published helicopter route altitude. Also, Americans said this, quote, we continue to support the ongoing NTSB investigation and we'll defend American and PSA airlines against any legal action claiming the airline caused or contributed to this accident.

The U.S. Army contacted by CNN declined to comment, citing respect for the families in setting the ongoing investigation.

Now, this lawsuit also faults the FAA for allowing the congested airspace to exist that night and also faults the FAA for the actions of the air traffic controllers. We contacted the FAA, they issued a statement saying this, quote, our hearts go out to the families who lost loved ones on that tragic January evening. Since the accident, Secretary Duffy and the FAA have acted decisively to make the skies over our nation's capital safer. We will continue to work closely with the NTSB to ensure that no family has to suffer this pain.

Again, the FAA, also providing CNN a list of safety measures that it has taken since that accident, including establishing procedures to eliminate helicopter traffic around this airport and shutting down that one helicopter route that was used by the Black Hawk helicopter that night.

We should also say, Jake, that the NTSB has not yet established a probable cause for that mid-air collision. That final report not expected to come out until early next year. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. CNN's Brian Todd, thank you so much.

We're now one day since President Trump's complete 180 on Russia's war against Ukraine, when the president said Ukraine can win. But is Ukraine going to get more than just words? I'm going to ask my next guest, U.S. senator who just met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy moments ago. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, the Trump administration is escalating tensions with Vladimir Putin after President Trump seemed to reverse course when it comes to Russia's war in Ukraine. President Trump writing on Truth Social, quote, I think Ukraine with the support of the European Union is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form. With time, patience and the financial support of Europe and in particular, NATO, the original borders from where this war started is very much an option, unquote.

Just hours ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the United Nations and called for global unity against the Kremlin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: We count on the United States. I appreciate the support we are receiving. Yes, much depends on the G7 and G20. But in the end, peace depends on all of us on the United Nations.

So, don't stay silent while Russia keeps dragging this war on. Please speak out and condemn it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: For more now, I'm joined by Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, who just is back from his own meeting with President Zelenskyy.

Senator, Vice President J.D. Vance insisted this afternoon that this is actually not a, quote, shift in position, what President Trump said. What do you make of that?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): I think everybody recognizes there has been a seismic shift in President Trump's stance on Ukraine. But rather than arguing about whether there's been a change or not, what's encouraging and very positive and reaffirmed in my meeting with President Zelenskyy just now is that it offers tremendous promise that the United States will continue to sell arms to NATO countries who can then transfer them to Ukraine and also continue to provide intelligence, which is so critical, and hopefully support the Graham- Blumenthal Sanctions Bill that will stop the flow of revenue from China and India and Brazil buying Russian oil and gas and fueling that war machine.

[18:35:37]

But I will tell you, President Zelenskyy is very clear-eyed. President Trump may have referred to the Russian Army as a, quote, paper tiger. But President Zelenskyy is very realistic about the threat, not only to Ukraine, but to all of Europe, in fact, all the world and the advancing arms race in drone technology and production.

TAPPER: Right, especially with those Russian drones that flew over Poland, not to mention what happened with the jet over Estonia.

You just met with Zelenskyy. He said earlier that the world can't stay silent while Russia drags this war on. What specifically did he tell you behind closed doors?

BLUMENTHAL: He emphasized how important military aid is, not only the long range artillery, but also more of the drone production that he needs. And Ukraine is at the tip of the spear. It's ahead of all the other nations in the world in developing drone technology, but they need to produce more drones. So, he needs the financing for it, and he needs the defense in Patriot missile systems that will protect his cities from this murderous absolutely barbaric slaughter by Putin through drones and missiles, literally hundreds, almost every night, killing civilians using hospitals and schools as targets. And the Ukrainian situation could become desperate without that kind of military, but also the sanctions that will prevent Russia from fueling its war machine with its sales of oil and gas. And we can stop it with sanctions up to 500 percent on those nations buying Russian oil and gas.

TAPPER: The Kremlin's pushing back hard, calling Trump's remarks deeply mistaken, mocking him for calling the Russian military a paper tiger. Does the Kremlin's defiance make this shift in tone, dangerous, do you think?

BLUMENTHAL: I think it's dangerous for Russia to belittle President Trump. Because as we all know, he can be very personal about insults coming his way. And the Kremlin spokesman said that Russia is a bear and there are no paper bears. Well, Russia will simply be crippled economically if its revenue sources are denied and that's the purpose of the Graham-Blumenthal Sanctions Bill.

But also if there is support, unified support from NATO, and that was Zelenskyy's call to arms, the danger here is not just to Ukraine, but to all of Europe. And you're absolutely right in mentioning the jets over Estonia, the drones over Poland, the interference with Moldova. Putin is testing us. He is probing. It's classic Russian strategy, seeing how far he can push. And what we're seeing is a kind of slow motion Munich. If we appease Putin now, it will be much more costly in the future.

TAPPER: Senator Blumenthal, Democrat from Connecticut, thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it.

BLUMENTHAL: Thank you.

TAPPER: In our Earth Matters Lead, an unlikely duo, Arnold Schwarzenegger and former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, a former Republican governor and former labor prime minister, they've paired up before pushing for bipartisan climate action, and now they're bringing that same message to the U.N. Our newest CNN anchor, Elex Michaelson, caught up with them today in New York where Governor Schwarzenegger revealed where he found common ground with Prime Minister Blair and not with President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R-CA): The bottom line is that he just never believed in it. And to me, I said to myself, okay, then I cannot really go and be on his team because I'm a big believer that we have to do something about reducing pollution and we have to do something about, you know, having people die, 7 million people a year die. And so I felt very strongly about what the way I was thinking, and I totally understand that not everyone has to think like me.

But what is important is that we let people know, okay, so that's how our president feels, but that doesn't mean we should stop everything.

[18:40:06]

Because so many people say, oh my God, if America doesn't move forward, then does it make any sense to move forward at all? It's nonsense because the fact of the matter is that every state in the United States has its own environmental laws.

TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We got to focus on what we can actually do. And if you -- see, where I think we've been at risk in the climate argument is not in persuading people that there's a real problem, because I think most people accept they can see their --

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump doesn't.

BLAIR: Well -- but people are going to take different views of it. But one thing I think that's really important is to accept that a lot of the time we've been making this argument on climate, we've not been making in a way that's likely to persuade people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And you can see more of that interview tonight on The Source with Kaitlan Collins at 9:00 P.M.

Asked -- coming up ahead, what you likely haven't heard from the new Kamala Harris book, what a campaign staffer handed her right after Biden's disastrous debate with Trump, what she thought of Biden putting on a MAGA hat after she became the nominee. We're going to let you hear the former V.P. dish on all this in her own voice, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:45:07]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our politics lead, Democrats are souring on former Vice President Kamala Harris as she launches her book tour this week. Her book is called "107 Days". It came out yesterday.

I read it. It's breezy. It leaves no stone unturned, except her own stones. No bridge unburned, except her own bridges. And she recounts her abridged 2024 campaign and subsequent loss to Donald Trump.

She criticizes President Biden for what she says was a reckless decision to run for reelection without having any serious conversation about it. And as she tells it, his stamina was cause for her to up her campaign duties even before she became the nominee.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: His voice was no longer strong. His verbal stumbles more frequent. Even so, his inner circle, the people who knew him best should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far, and that in its rigors, he'd be perpetually, increasingly, unavoidably exhausted. They should have counseled him accordingly.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: Pretty stunning. She details the pattern of trying to smooth over the truth from the Biden campaign, from meetings where Biden aide Mike Donilon filtered the polling information to make it seem as positive -- as positive -- as possible to the list of talking points she was handed by a campaign staffer immediately after Biden's disastrous debate against President Trump.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: Joe Biden won in all caps highlighted. He fought through his cold as he is fighting for the American people. I was not about to tell the American people that their eyes had just lied.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: Harris's qualms with President Biden did not cease once her sprint to election day began as the nominee in July, but the stakes for her seemed even higher, especially when his gaffes spilled out into the op and the moment offered a chance for the opposition to pounce, such as the unfortunate photo op during their stop at a firehouse on September 11th.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: Joe was sharing a joke with some guys in MAGA hats. One of them took his hat off and offered it to Joe. Don't take it, I thought. He took it. Don't put it on. He put it on.

Cameras clicked. Within hours, the picture was all over. Joe Biden in a MAGA hat with the caption, Biden endorses Trump over Harris. (END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's just a little bit from the "107 Days", which, again, I read in like a day. It was a much more candid than you normally get from folks.

Let's bring in my panel.

Eva McKend, doesn't really paint a pretty picture of the Democratic operation of 2024. Does not paint a pretty picture of the Biden campaign, and the senior Biden advisers, but a lot of Democrats are not receiving this book rather well.

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, in the conversations that I'm having -- I'm hearing something different. There are a section of the party that feels as though this is her right, that she was put in an impossible situation, and it is Congressional Black Caucus week here in D.C. So you have Black elected from all over the country here. And those are some of the conversations I'm having. And they feel as though black women in particular, are put in these situations to clean up the mess, often when it is too far gone.

So, they believe that she has every right to tell her own story. There have been several books about this campaign. There will be several more. She was the main character of this episode, a person close to her told me, why shouldn't she have this opportunity to frame this as she sees it?

TAPPER: One of the reasons why some people are not happy about it is because she has some unflattering things to say about people that she did not pick as her vice presidential nominee. Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania. Mark Kelly, senator from Arizona. Pete Buttigieg, who she says she says she didn't pick him because he was gay. She didn't think the country could take it. It was too much a black woman in a gay man.

That's what she said. Not me out there. She also said some not-so- great things about her own running mate. A debate performance.

TERRY MORAN, JOURNALIST: Yeah, she's settling a lot of scores. Seems a little thin-skinned and looking, I think, for excuses. Maybe this is a way of clearing the table for her to have a political future.

She didn't lose because of any of that. She had a shortened campaign. That's tough. She lost because she didn't make a persuasive case to the American people. And that's why she lost.

Is that in the book?

TAPPER: Going to soundbite in the question three for the control room. Jeff. She also writes about the infamous moment on the view, where she said that when she was asked by Sunny Hostin is there anything she would do differently from Joe Biden? She gave an answer and then Hostin kind of pressed. She hadn't really answered the question. And she said nothing really came to mind. Here's Harris on that moment.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HARRIS: I had no idea. I just pulled the pin on a hand grenade.

[18:50:01]

I wasn't braced for the explosion that was coming. Stationed at various places around the set. My staff were beside themselves. Political operatives have an eye to see a moment, and I could kick myself for giving the other side. That moment.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

TAPPER: She had a few moments like that.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: She did. But that was one. If you happened to miss it the first time -- well, chances are, if you were in a battleground state, you were going to see it again and again and again, because that became really a recurring soundtrack of the Trump campaigns ads against her. But I was really struck by that. She didn't know that she had pulled the grenade.

That really speaks to one of the central issues of her political acumen. That has really been a question. She is no doubt was a huge talent. Initially, when she got in in 2019. Those early days on the primary campaign trail, I remember it well, but she never quite lived up to the expectations that that people had for her -- her staff had for her, her supporters had for her. And it was something about her gut, her instinct there. So not knowing in that moment on the view that that was a problem was obviously a problem.

But her inability to sort of separate herself from Joe Biden, yes, it was loyalty. But in the end that was much more damaging than Joe Biden putting on a MAGA hat. That did not lose her the race.

Her previous statements did, the shortened time frame did, and her inability to separate herself from Biden. Now, who knows, even if she had said on "The View", you know, taken a different path, I'm not sure that would have solved things, but it wouldn't have given the Trump campaign a huge campaign commercial that played endlessly until election day.

TAPPER: Terry, earlier this hour, President Trump posted on truth social he was quite angry about the escalators not working when he went to the un. They stopped. Right then he and the first lady got held up. They were walking.

He wrote, quote, "I demand an immediate investigation. No wonder the United Nations hasn't been able to do the job that they were put in existence to do," unquote.

We should note that Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, quoted a I think it was "The Times of London" article from Sunday that in which somebody was making a joke about were they going to stop the elevators when he -- when some U.N. person, when the president showed up.

MORAN: Well, he goes up the elevator escalator, it stops. Prompter doesn't work. And there was one other thing that he said wasn't working.

ZELENY: The audio.

MORAN: The audio wasn't working in the hall. Melania and the people actually sitting there couldn't hear him. So just because you're paranoid doesn't mean that the world isn't out to get you. So, there is that possibility. It should be investigated. I suppose.

That said, what a thin-skinned fellow he is, you know? We all know that. But he's president of the United States and man, he can whine. It works for him, but it's clearly who he is.

TAPPER: Jeff, in Oklahoma, the state superintendent announced last night that Turning Point USA chapters will be instated at every high school in Oklahoma. What do we know about this effort?

ZELENY: Look, we do know that Turning Point, which is obviously Charlie Kirk's organization, had already been very successful in high schools. I'm not sure how many high schools it was already in Oklahoma, but it was very popular in red states.

But this is just going to be one more example of how Turning Point lives on beyond Charlie Kirk is his late wife, or as his wife is going to be running it. But I think what it speaks to is the idea of requiring Turning Point to be available. Of course, I'm guessing you don't have to be a member of it. It's just available if you want to join, but certainly speaks to the lingering effects of that movement.

And it's not just college students. It's high school students as well. It's a very popular organization in red state America.

TAPPER: It does seem that that conservatives who have issues with liberal indoctrination are not seeking the end of indoctrination. They're just -- they just want right wing indoctrination.

MCKEND: We are -- we're on the same page here. I think that there's an intellectual inconsistency here. They spent a very long time talking about how schools have been weaponized by the left to indoctrinate children on left wing ideology, but now, every single school must have a turning point chapter. It'd be one thing if it's the students who are organically coming up with this and saying that this is something that they want, but it coming from high from the superintendent. It seems a little intellectually inconsistent to me.

TAPPER: Thank you so much to the panel. Great panel.

Coming up, a big update for the major league pitcher hit in the face with a 99 mile per hour fastball.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:58:25]

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our world lead. For the third time this week, an airport in Europe has had to close after a serious series of mysterious drone sightings. This latest incident is in Denmark. Norway shut down its airspace over Oslo yesterday.

On Monday, another airport in Denmark, had to close down. Police in Denmark say these are not amateur or hobby drones, but rather large drones that likely had a capable operator. Europe has, of course, been on alert since Russian drones violated Poland airspace earlier this month. Authorities are investigating who's controlling these latest drones.

In our world lead in southern China, nearly 2 million people have been evacuated as powerful typhoon hurtled into one of the world's most densely populated coasts. This typhoon battered Hong Kong with its lashing 100 mile per hour winds, knocking down trees and scaffolding. It also caused major flooding in the mountainous regions of Taiwan, killing at least 17 people. More than a dozen remain missing.

In our -- as of Thursday morning, the storm is weakening but still bringing heavy rain to China.

In our sports lead, a warning here. This is going to be a sports highlight. Thats actually a low light and hard to watch. Cleveland Guardians designated hitter David fry is out of the hospital now after getting hit in the face by a 99 mile per hour pitch. I want to show you what happened, but police know there is good news to share.

Okay, here we go. Scary moment happened during yesterday's game. Bang, seeing the Guardians and the Detroit Tigers.

The guardians say fry has some facial and nasal fractures but did not require surgery, which is great news. He is expected to make a full recovery in six to eight weeks. That is great news for what was no doubt a terrifying moment for him and his fans and his family.

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

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.