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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Government Barrels Toward Shutdown Amid Partisan Deadlock; Trump Strikes Deal With Pfizer To Lower Prescription Drug Prices; Riyadh Comedy Festival Stirs Up Controversy Among Comedians; Hegseth Defends Firing Military Leaders, Shuns Fat Soldiers, Says Combat Troops Must Sese "Highest Male Standard Only"; At Least 13 Dead After 6.9 Earthquake Strikes Central Philippines. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 30, 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 HOST: Welcome to the Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

We begin tonight with breaking news. You are looking alive at the floor of the U.S. Senate where voting is underway on a Democratic proposal to fund the government. Next, the senators will vote on a Republican House-passed version of this package to fund the government for seven more weeks.

Both bills are expected to fail. Both are not expected to reach 60 votes, which is needed, and that would bring Washington, D.C., and indeed the United States of America, even closer towards a partial federal government shutdown in just under six hours. That would seal the fate for hundreds of thousands of federal workers and their agencies, yet another self-inflicted wound in this struggling democracy that seems all too unable to govern itself at times like this.

President Trump today standing by White House threats to lay off federal workers for good and make massive government cuts unless Democrats back off their demands on extending Obamacare subsidies past December 31st.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Senate Minority Leader, Democrat Chuck Schumer accused Trump of using federal workers for his own purpose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): He is admitting that he is doing the firing of people, if, God forbid, it happens. He's using Americans as pawns, as I said. Democrats do not want to shut down. We stand ready to work with Republicans to find a bipartisan compromise and the ball's in their court.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's get right to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who's at the White House. Kaitlan, what's the latest?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Jake. I mean, you heard from the president there in the Oval Office now multiple times today in his conversations with reporters suggesting that a Democrat, that a government shutdown could be advantageous for this White House because what he is arguing there, Jake, is that it would undermine Democratic policies or things that Democrats want to keep, including when it comes to potentially firing federal workers, something that several Democrats have downplayed today, saying that was already happening under DOGE and Elon Musk and the efforts underway here since Trump took office back in January.

But also he mentioned cutting programs that they don't like and that his budget director, Russ Vought, who, of course, has been at the center of a lot of attention in the last few days because of this, that he could use this as the president said earlier, to trim the budget in ways that they would not be able to do so as the president articulated it, Jake, if there was not a government shutdown.

And he even went further in a moment just now in the Oval Office with reporters describing a government shutdown in positive terms like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A lot of good can come down from shutdowns. We can get rid of a lot of things that we didn't want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Now, he didn't say exactly what good things he meant there, Jake, or what programs we could see the White House try to cut. Should there be a shutdown, as it appears there is going to be in just a couple of hours from now, but that is something you should watch for in terms of the White House trying to use this moment, as much as they have said that this is not on them. They are arguing this is on Democrats, as we heard from the vice president, J.D. Vance, yesterday.

And, Jake, just to give you an indication of what is going to come if this shutdown is going to stretch more than past, just tonight and into the days to come, right now in the briefing room, the White House is playing basically a giant mash-up of quotes from Democratic senators in the past, warning about the damage of a government shutdown and the federal workers it would impact, Americans it would impact, they're using quotes from people like Senator Cory Booker, Senator Chuck Schumer, and many others, Jake. It's basically just playing on a loop inside the briefing room right now. Expect that message to continue from the White House for the days to come.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thanks so much. As the shutdown nears, Kaitlan is going to speak with House Speaker Mike Johnson on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Republican Senator from Wisconsin Ron Johnson joins us now to discuss. Senator, good to see you.

So, you told The Wall Street Journal that fiscal conservatives such as yourself are trying to stop reckless government spending, that, quote, mortgages are children's future. Moments ago, you voted no on the Democratic funding proposal. How are you going to vote on the Republican funding proposal that already passed the House that continues spending at its current level?

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I'll vote yes. Again, I don't like government shutdowns.

[18:05:00]

This is pretty simple for Democrats. If they don't want government shutdowns, they'll vote for the House bill. They could have voted last night to eliminate shutdowns for all time. That was my Eliminate Shutdowns Act. It just would establish 14-day rolling, continuing appropriations until, you know, Congress gets its act together and starts passing appropriation bills.

So, again, there are two different ways we could have avoided this shutdown. Democrats rejected both of them.

TAPPER: But as a fiscal hawk who wants to cut government spending, do you not see what President Trump clearly seems to be relishing an opportunity, in his view, during a shutdown to lay off federal employees forever, to fire them and also to make spending cuts forever? Would that not be what your long-term goal -- would that serve your long-term goal of reducing federal spending?

JOHNSON: Well, in the private sector, when a company is bankrupt, and let's face it, our nation is bankrupt, you know, in private sector, employees are laid off and they have to go find jobs elsewhere, which quite honestly shouldn't be that difficult if federal workers lose some jobs. I mean, in Wisconsin, you can't find enough workers. So, there are plenty of jobs out there. That's what happens at the private sector. I don't see why public sector employees ought to be immune from that exact same process.

TAPPER: In May, you came on State of the Union and you told me emphatically, quote, we have to reduce the deficit. What have you done since then to address the deficit in the last four months? Have you worked on anything with Democrats? Have you worked on anything with House members? Have you worked on any legislation? Where is -- I know that you're very passionate about this. What's the latest?

JOHNSON: Well, I fought very hard in the one big, beautiful bill to do a lot more in terms of returning to a reasonable pre pandemic level spending. Now, I was not nearly as successful as I wanted to be, but in the end, nobody, including Democrats, by the way, who could have increased taxes when they had total control, nobody wanted tax increase. That was the main reason why I voted for that bill to avoid a massive automatic tax increase. But bottom line is we were able to reduce government spending to a certain extent, not enough. Hopefully, I have another bite of the apple to do that.

TAPPER: A New York Times/Siena poll asked Americans whom they will blame if a shutdown happens, who they'll blame the most. 26 percent said Trump and Republicans in Congress, 19 percent say Democrats in Congress, 33 percent say, a pox on both their houses, 21 percent say they haven't heard enough to offer their opinion. So, clearly, at least according to this poll and this sample of Americans, the idea that this shutdown will be the fault of the Democrats, it's not a universally held truth.

JOHNSON: Well, let's face it. Legacy media will always blame Republicans and prop up Democrats. That's just the basic lay of the land. But in this case, it's pretty clear cut. The House has already passed a bill, they're not coming back. So, if Democrats want to avoid a shutdown, they got to support the clean C.R. by the Republicans.

By the way, I'm not that nuts about that one. I don't like these C.R.s that expire right before a holiday, which create pressure to just, you know, pass a massive 2,000-page onerous spending bill. That's basically the well home process of the unit party, the big spenders. I'm not that nuts about it, but I'm going to vote for it to avoid a shutdown.

TAPPER: President Trump posted an A.I.-generated depiction of Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in a sombrero and mustache Hakeem Jeffries. The Democratic House leader responded saying, bigotry will get you nowhere. What was your response to this if you saw it? Are you comfortable with your party leader posting things like this?

JOHNSON: I honestly haven't seen it. I don't know what you're talking about.

TAPPER: Okay. Republican Senator from Wisconsin, Ron Johnson, thank you, sir. Good to see you.

JOHNSON: Have a great night.

TAPPER: Well, President Trump just announced a website where Americans can buy prescription drugs at discounted prices. What that could mean for medicine that you buy. That's next.

Plus, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth today told a room full of hundreds of top generals and admirals that if they do not agree with his views against diversity efforts in the military, they should just resign. We're going to talk to our retired major general and discuss how he thinks that message went over.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:10:00]

TAPPER: In our Health Lead, President Trump today unveiled TrumpRx. It's a website where Americans can buy their medication at a discounted price. The president's also announced a major deal with Pfizer that he says will lower the pharma giant's drug prices.

CNN's Health Correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now. So, Meg, the president, has been after drug makers for months to lower their prices. So, just how discounted will medications be under this new plan?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not entirely clear, Jake. This was a bit light on specifics. And remember, this is just one drug company, Pfizer, and there are kind of two aspects to this plan. One is an idea known as the most favored nation rule, where essentially you take a list of other wealthy countries look at where they price their medicines, and you don't pay more in the United States than the lowest price in those comparator countries. Trump has been focused on this since his first term.

And here in this deal with Pfizer, they're going to apply that pricing strategy to Medicaid drugs. So, specifically and only for the start anyway, to patients who are enrolled on Medicaid. Also new drugs that Pfizer introduces its pledging not to introduce at a much higher price in the U.S. than the most favored nation price. But that could mean they're going to raise prices in those other wealthy countries, and we don't know what discount Americans are going to get.

Also, as part of this, Jake, is this idea called TrumpRx. This is a website essentially where they say that they're going to help facilitate consumers buying drugs directly from manufacturers. While they're saying that the discounts there could be 40 to 85 percent on a bucket of four drugs they provided examples of, one of those is Pfizer's Xeljanz for rheumatoid arthritis. But, Jake, that drug costs more than $6,000 a month on its list price before any discounts or insurance. And if you're taking a 40 percent discount off that, that only gets you down to about $3,600 per month that you're paying directly to Pfizer to buy its drug.

So, a lot of experts are sort of scratching their heads about how that is a real significant discount for patients on their medicines.

TAPPER: And how did big pharma, how did these pharmaceutical companies react to the president's news today?

TIRRELL: They were pleased, Jake, and they had been warning before this, that putting price controls into place would be bad for their business and bad for innovation. Pfizer's stock, if you want to look at it from that perspective, ended of the day almost 7 percent higher, adding almost $10 billion in market value to that one company alone. Other pharmaceutical companies also went up where essentially this was seen as favorable to the drug companies with an uncertain benefit to American patients.

TAPPER: Curious. Meg Terrell, thanks so much.

Apple T.V. has postponed the debut of a highly anticipated T.V. show about domestic extremism starring Jessica Chastain. What happened? Why aren't they airing it? The timing has many questioning whether this is all politics.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: In our Pop Culture Lead, if you go to Apple T.V. right now, you will not find one big show that was slated for release on Friday. It's called The Savant. And Apple postponed its release, offering no explanation other than saying that the company looked forward to releasing the series at a future date.

The move came just days after the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk, which I only bring up because in the show, Jessica Chastain plays an investigator infiltrating online hate organizations in the hopes of thwarting domestic terrorism. And Chastain on Instagram denounced all acts of political violence, and then said she and Apple are, quote, not aligned on the decision to pause the release of The Savant.

Let's discuss this with Aramide Tinubu, who is the T.V. critic for Variety who brought this to my attention in her column. Aramide, thanks for joining us.

So, you have seen the series. Did it contain anything potentially offensive about Charlie Kirk or anything potentially problematic or overtly political, do you think?

ARAMIDE TINUBU, TELEVISION CRITIC, VARIETY: It is not an overtly political series at all. I've seen all eight episodes of the series and had actually slated to have my review released in timing with the previous release date.

So, what happens is, is it's really based on a real life woman who goes into messaging chats and looks for sort of inflamed speech and tries to determine if this inflamed hate speech is going to turn into domestic terror attacks. So, that's her whole job, and that's the role that Jessica Chastain plays in the show.

TAPPER: Is there any risk, do you think, that releasing the show might offend Erika Kirk or any fans of Charlie Kirk, or is it just maybe that Apple was just concerned that the moment in this country is really fraught with all the political violence?

TINUBU: There's no connection at all to the Kirks or the Kirk family, whatsoever. It really essentially illustrates a problem that we have in America, which is violence, which is gun violence. And there have been many, many acts of violence and gun violence specifically this year alone, outside of Charlie Kirk's staff. And it's something that sort of illustrates where we are in a moment in America. Things are very fraught, things are very tense, and perhaps Apple didn't want to fan the flames there, but this is an American story. It's a real -- based on a real life story and I think they've really done themselves a disservice by pulling it just due to one person's assassination, which is horrible and horrific. But he is not -- this event that happened to him, it's happened to so many people across this nation.

TAPPER: So, you wrote in your column that you think Apple T.V. might be cowering to a presidential administration, unquote. And you compared Apple to Disney pulling Jimmy Kimmel off the airwaves and then reinstating him after blowback. Is that what's happened? Have you heard from anybody at Apple? Is that -- are you just hypothesizing? Obviously, it's a very fraught time in American media right now, but you hate to think that Apple T.V. would pull a show and you think you liked it, right? You liked the show?

TINUBU: I did like the show very much. I thought it was really well done. I thought it had amazing nuances. Not only do you hear from Jessica Chastain's character, but you hear from the people who are talking on these message boards with this speech, like you hear from their perspective as well. It's not a one-sided show by any means.

So, I think Apple is perhaps cowering to this administration. They haven't said as much. They're just saying that they're not releasing it at this time and then full stop there. But you can only imagine like this is coming off the heels of Disney snatching Kimmel down. And it's really concerning because part of being an American and part of the way that our entertainment system and our new system is set up is we're supposed to hear different voices and opposing voices. And no one voice should stand over the others. And that's what's really concerning to me about a move like this.

TAPPER: If Apple T.V. was nervous enough to postpone this particular series, do you think that they might start imposing more cautious approaches for other series, like The Newsroom or other shows that deal with current events?

TINUBU: I certainly would hope not. I think that it's very important for us, especially now when so much is happening in our nation to put forth the type of work that we all want to see, to put forth the type of work that people have worked hard. This was something that was made over the course of five years. It was not just done willy-nilly. And we see that from other aspects. We see that from more conservative- leaning shows and more conservative-leaning podcasters and things like that.

[18:25:00]

So, I think for now, what we have to really think about is like, why are we doing these things? Why are we taking down things that mean a lot to our country? And to say a lot about where our country is in the moment, I think, it's really disheartening to see something like that.

TAPPER: Aramide Tinubu, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on.

TINUBU: Thank you so much for having me.

TAPPER: Some big name comedians, including Dave Chappelle and Bill Burr, are performing at a comedy festival in Saudi Arabia. And for other star comics, that might not be a laughing matter.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARC MARON, COMEDIAN: There's a Riyadh Saudi Arabia comedy festival. I mean, how do you even promote that? You know, like from the folks that brought you 9/11.

ZACH WOODS, COMEDIAN: Now, there's a lot of drips, kill joys and (INAUDIBLE) who are saying, oh, they shouldn't do comedy over there because it's whitewashing a regime that just in June killed a journalist and killed Jamal Khashoggi and played a big role in 9/11.

[18:30:11]

Shut up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's Zach Woods. He's joking. He's not big serious there. In our Pop Culture Lead, more than 50 comedy A-listers are set to stake the take the stage this week for the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia. But those performers, superstars like Louis C.K. and Dave Chappelle and Kevin Hart and Pete Davidson and Aziz Ansari and others, are taking some backlash from the rest of the comedy world for participating in what many critics are saying is the country's latest tourism grab and whitewashing, despite the country's long history of what human rights watch calls pervasive human rights violations.

Joining us now to discuss, Comedian and Host of the Downside podcast Gianmarco Soresi. Gianmarco, thanks for joining us.

What do you think of your fellow comedians, at least according to those who say they turned down slots at the festival, taking big, big checks directly from the Saudi Royal family to perform in Riyadh?

GIANMARCO SORESI, COMEDIAN: I think those comedians that performs, next time they get asked who their favorite comedian is, they should stop saying George Carlin, because I think comedy has written off the name of speaking truth to power. And these comedians are allowing their images and their reputation, and, frankly, the brand of American standup comedy to be exploited for propaganda.

It's embarrassing how many of these comedians that, many of which are incredible joke writers, are willing to agree to the requirements for this festival, who are willing to slap their face onto the flyer. And it's embarrassing for the art form.

TAPPER: And we're looking at a picture of Louis C.K. and Hannibal Buress. Hannibal Buress is the guy that brought the Cosby scandal to the attention of popular culture.

We should point out David Cross, comedic actor known for Arrested Development and Mr. Show and much more, he wrote a scathing piece about the festival. He writes, I am disgusted and deeply disappointed in this whole gross thing that people I admire with an arguable talent would condone this totalitarian fiefdom for what, a fourth house, a boat, more sneakers? He said he can't believe that he got guff for being in the Garfield movie.

It's not like this is a festival for new undiscovered comics who need a big break. Does that make it worse, do you think?

SORESI: Yes. I think it's worse because, you know, I think there's lines. Listen if you have some kids you're trying to put through school, maybe a little bit less, but some of these comics, they got nothing to support at home. They got brand deals, they're making millions, they don't need to do this. Maybe they're in it for the adventure. And I say, if you're in it for the adventure, why don't you produce a local show there without the requirements?

I think it's embarrassing to go on stage and tell jokes that if some of the audience members tweeted from their own personal accounts could lead to them being executed. I think that's embarrassing. And I think we need to bring back some shame.

TAPPER: What are the requirements you're talking about? Because I haven't seen any of the contracts or anything.

SORESI: Sure. Atsuko Okatsukja, a phenomenal comedian who turned down the festival, posted them. I can read them for you. They're quite long, so feel free to cut me off.

TAPPER: Well, just give me the highlights.

SORESI: Artist shall not prepare or perform any -- sure. You shall not bring into disrepute contempt, scandal, embarrassment or ridicule, A, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including its leadership, public figures, culture, or people, B, the Saudi royal family, legal system, or government, and, C, any religion, religious, tradition figure, or religious practice.

TAPPER: Wow. I mean --

SORESI: That's a long list.

TAPPER: That's a pretty big list for a regime that that kills gay people and kills journalists. And, I mean, we all know what they did with Jamal Khashoggi, who was an American resident and Washington Post columnist.

At least one comedian set to perform has since withdrawn from the festival, Nimesh Patel. Here's what he said this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIMESH PATEL, COMEDIAN: No, I'm not attending. I just figured, you know what, I'll just do 40 shows that I had not planned on doing here in the perfectly clean, moral above everyone else, United States of America. I'm tired just thinking about it to make up for the lost bag.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: So, there is a point there that, you know, the United States, we have our own fair share of moral atrocities. But I don't know that you really can compare us to the Saudis. What do you think?

SORESI: Well, however you want to compare it, it depends on who's paying you. I would be critical if the Trump inauguration featured Mr. Bean. I would say, well, why are you taking money directly from a government figure? I think that changes it. Of course, no country has zero blood on their hands.

[18:35:01]

But taking money from a politician enters you into the realm of propaganda. And I think to be used in the way that all these comedians are is a different moral thing.

I was in Buffalo this past weekend. The taxpayers in America did not pay for me to go to Buffalo. Now, if they did, if Trump had sent me to Buffalo, I do think if I were to participate and take that money, I would at least have responsibility towards comedy to criticize the Trump administration or Israel, or really speak my mind on things that I think deserve criticism.

TAPPER: Gianmarco Soresi's debut special, Thief of Joy, is out now on YouTube. Thanks so much. It's good to have you on.

SORESI: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Let's bring in my panel, also expert comedians, and, well, we all know what we think is funny. We should note not every comedian who's been offered the gig has accepted, not just Mr. Patel, but Shane Gillis turned the job down. And here is what happened when he sent his no message to Saudi Arabia. They were offering him a big amount of money, which is called in comedy apparently a bag. So, here's what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They doubled the bag, the princes?

SHANE GILLIS, COMEDIAN: It was a significant bag.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

GILLIS: Yes. But I'd already said no, you know? I took a principled stand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Well, I mean, we're talking about potentially hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars here.

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR V.P. HARRIS: No, absolutely. And I mean, I think to sort of push back on what the previous guest said, I mean, we're seeing right here in our own country, there are consequences for speaking truth to power. Let us not forget about Jimmy Kimmel. This was just, what, last week or week before last. I mean, so it says a lot when people have to travel outside of the United States, go to Saudi Arabia to exercise their First Amendment right.

TAPPER: Well, not really. You heard the requirements, don't make fun of anybody related to Saudi Arabia.

ETIENNE: Well, I mean, I would -- I'm willing to bet that was -- no comedian on that list is intention at all. In fact, I want to believe they're going to Saudi Arabia and they're going to make fun of our sitting president.

So, I mean, I'm interested to see what they're going to say outside of the United States reflecting back to us what the world is seeing.

TAPPER: What do you think of this all?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So, I'm actually shockingly conflicted about it. I think the key point that the previous guy made that I think is right is if you're going to call yourself like George Carlin, if you're going to call yourself, your heroes are Lenny Bruce, and you're going to say that you're this figure who stepped -- who speaks truth to power, right, and that kind of thing, then taking blood money from Saudi Arabia is not great, right?

At the same time, there are a lot of people, and it's not just comedians, it's actors and singers and so forth, who want to do this thing, this sort of Jon Stewart thing of go back and forth over the line from being political commentators to just being funny people. And if you're going to do that, you're going to get yourself into trouble and you're going to get these kinds of problems. I wouldn't have anything to do with China. I mean, China has -- China's essentially an apartheid state. If you're not Han Chinese, you're a second class citizen there. No one ever talks about it. They're doing cultural and ethnic cleansing in various places.

TAPPER: But that's a great argument for what I was going to then say in defense of these comedians, which is Disney cooperates with the Chinese government, they have a Disney Park in China. The Saudis have their hands in everything. They have it in LIV Golf.

ETIENNE: Even in the White House.

TAPPER: They have it in -- I mean, Jared Kushner has money with the Saudis and the UAE. They're going to have the World Cup there in 2036. And if I were a comedian, I might think, why do I have to have higher moral standards than the president of the United States, right? I mean --

ETIENNE: No, I mean, I --

TAPPER: Not just this president, the previous president too, all the U.S. presidents get into bed with Saudi Arabia.

ETIENNE: No, I think you're absolutely right. I mean, again, I think the concern is we're slowly marching toward a dictatorship and authoritarian government or regime. We're seeing now Trump weaponizing the DOJ to go after his political enemies. He's going after private entities, law firms, the media, shaking everybody down to consolidate power. I mean, I would prefer these comedians and those that have objections to put their energy there, to make sure that we don't find ourselves in the same situation as the comedian said that the Saudi -- folks in Saudi Arabia do, because, you know, that is the main concern right now.

GOLDBERG: If you followed my writing over the last 25 years, you would not predict that I would have many kind words for Saudi Arabia, but at the same time, you know, David Cross and his big thing, he talked about how you can get -- that women can get caned and all the kind -- they banned caning about four years ago as corporal punishment.

I have all sorts of problems with MBS and all that kind of stuff, but if you're actually going to talk about the trend line of where Saudi Arabia is going, it's getting better, not worse.

ETIENNE: And let's talk about our trend line. I mean, that's --

GOLDBERG: Oh, our trend line's not going great, yes. But we're not becoming -- we're not -- there's time yet before we're going to be, become a fascist dictatorship.

[18:40:02]

TAPPER: So, let me turn to the breaking news that we have just in, the Democratic proposal to fund the government just failed, as expected. There is just over five hours left to make a deal.

Trump, of course, posted this A.I. rendering of the Democratic leaders with Leader Jeffries wearing a sombrero with a mustache after that meeting that didn't go well yesterday. CNN's Manu Raju captured this exchange about that video up on Capitol Hill in the last hour between Speaker Johnson and House Democrat Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): It's not my style.

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Not your style? It's disgraceful. It's bigoted. It's racist. You should call it out.

JOHNSON: Is it racist?

DEAN: Is it racist? You put a sombrero on a black man who's the leader of the House. You don't see that as racist? We need you desperately to lead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Madeleine Dean there urging Speaker Johnson to lead.

Republicans don't seem to really have an answer for that kind of post by the president. GOLDBERG: No. What I think is sort of remarkable. I didn't think it was funny. I think it was offensive and stupid and all that kind of stuff. But what you'll hear from a lot of people is, oh, I thought it was kind of funny. It's like, okay. Just because you think it's funny, you think it's okay for the president of the United States to do it? There are lots of things -- you know, I can do all sorts of pull my finger jokes here on CNN right now. It's inappropriate and it's definitely inappropriate for the president of the United States to do it. And I think that the Republican caucus is so cowed that they don't know how to draw any distinctions about defensible behavior, indefensible behavior, and truly venal corrupt behavior.

TAPPER: So, Ashley, let's elevate it from Mr. Trump's post there. You've been in the room with Speaker Pelosi for whom you worked while she was negotiating during prior shutdown disputes. What is likely going on behind closed doors right now, do you think?

ETIENNE: I mean, I think there's clearly infighting between the two faction, the factions within the Democratic Party. Now, you're still -- Schumer is still sort of under pressure from progressives to shut down the government. My position has always been that they should not shut down the government. They need to flip the script.

I mean, this is what Pelosi did so beautifully in that Oval Office meeting. She put Donald Trump on the spot and he accepted responsibility for the shutdown, which gave her the upper hand. So when we were in the midst of the longest shutdown in American history, we were holding our guns and he was falling apart and actually got blamed for it.

So, here's what I think though. The difference between Republicans then and Trump then and now is that they're willing to shoot the hostage this time, the hostage being the American people. Donald Trump --

TAPPER: Who's they? The Republicans or the Democrats?

ETIENNE: Absolutely. No. President Trump and Republicans are willing to shoot the hostage this time. They could care less about prices going up, inflation going up, unemployment going up, healthcare premiums going up by 75 percent. All the arguments that Democrats are trying to save them from, they could actually care less about it.

So, my point is, flip the script. Put the blame on Donald Trump. Make the point that he could -- we're not going to play his game anymore. If he wants to hold -- shoot the hostage, the American people, if he wants them to hurt financially, as they already are, and he wants to continue down this path, the shutdown is a double down on that effort.

It's not a process thing. We've been talking about it from the standpoint of a process. They don't want to meet with us. It's not bipartisan. Who cares about that? The point is they're willing to shoot the hostage and they're going to sacrifice the American people.

TAPPER: Ashley Etienne and Jonah Goldberg, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. A room full of top military officials listened to Secretary of War Pete Hegseth vow to remove all diversity efforts from the military while President Trump then delivered 71 minutes worth of remarks, rambling at times. I'm going to ask a retired general how he interpreted the whole shebang. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:39]

TAPPER: In our national lead, we're going to cover today's rare meeting hastily arranged for top military leaders, generals and admirals, all summoned to Quantico, Virginia, where they heard lengthy and at times rambling remarks from President Trump and less rambling from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

Here's some of what Hegseth had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: The era of politically correct, overly sensitive don't hurt anyone's feelings leadership ends right now. For every designated combat arms position returns to the highest male standard only if that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it. It's tiring to look out at combat formations or really any formation and see that troops. If the words I'm speaking today are making your heart sink, then you should do the honorable thing and resign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining us now to discuss, CNN military analyst, retired Army Major General Spider Marks.

General Marks, thanks so much.

You have more than 42 years of leadership in and experience in the army. What was your response to what you heard from the secretary of war, Pete Hegseth?

SPIDER MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I find it -- well, frankly, let's be up front about this. I think he's obviously a very polished public speaker.

TAPPER: Oh, absolutely.

MARKS: But the tone of his speech was accusatory, which is unfortunate. I mean, you walk into the room, you've got -- your secretary of defense, and eventually, you're going to have the commander in chief. You'd like to have that as an opportunity to ask some questions, and also, you'd kind of like to get an embrace that says, I know I've asked a lot of you guys, guys and gals, heavy lifting, a lot going on.

We're at this period where it may be described as pre-war. I really want your input. I appreciate what you're doing. Thank you every day. But it came across as accusatory. I'm sure he would debate that.

TAPPER: Yeah.

MARKS: But the other thing he asked the general officers, he invited them to resign if he didn't like what he was saying.

TAPPER: Yeah.

MARKS: The world I grew up in was if I don't like what you're saying, boss, I'd like to give you some feedback.

TAPPER: Right.

MARKS: When the door opens up, I'll be the most loyal guy on the team. But can I talk to you about this? Because I don't think I want to resign.

TAPPER: Well, he has a different view of leadership than you do, I guess.

MARKS: Well, and I also want to be on the team. And I want to be a warrior. If I'm not aligned, please tell me how I need to get aligned.

TAPPER: He also defended changing the culture of the pentagon by insulting three highly decorated generals.

[18:50:08]

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEGSETH: -- Chiarellis, And in with the Stockdales, the Schwarzkopfs and the Pattons. More leadership changes will be made of that I'm certain. Not because we want to, but because we must. Once again, this is life and death.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Chiarellis, the Mackenzies and the Milleys. Now, look, we know that the Trump administration has an issue with retired Joint Chiefs Chairman Mark Milley, who served honorably. Mackenzie and Chiarelli. What was your reaction to that?

MARKS: Well, I know Pete Chiarelli quite deeply. Less so Mackenzie and Milley, but I'm very much aware of them and very much admire what they accomplished. Pete Chiarelli is the example of the type of leader you want to lead any organization you want your children to be under his control. Pete Chiarelli is a magnificent guy and it's unprofessional -- unprofessional to call somebody out in public. That's uncalled for.

TAPPER: So one of the things that's interesting, and I don't know why he called out Pete Chiarelli, who I admire because he's been so active on talking about post-traumatic stress and bringing that into the -- into the open. MARKS: Yeah, one -- his one brain initiative.

TAPPER: Yeah.

MARKS: Absolutely phenomenal.

TAPPER: But beyond that, like Chiarelli was when he was vice chair he basically ended the career of a Colonel Steele that Hegseth admired for creating a situation. He didn't call it war crimes, but creating a situation where innocent Iraqis were killed during the Iraq war. Hegseth denigrates those three generals. But when he was at Fox, he convinced President Trump to pardon convicted war criminals.

I mean, how do you square that?

MARKS: Well, I -- it's difficult to square that. Not intimate with the issues that you described, but the legal system in the military works and it works exceptionally well. And for someone and I would even push back on your characterization that Pete Chiarelli ended Colonel Steele's career. Colonel Steele had a dog in that fight. There was a lot that he did.

TAPPER: Right.

MARKS: And decisions were -- you know --

TAPPER: Well, I didn't say he didn't deserve it, but --

MARKS: Yeah, but the recommendations came forward, right? Chiarelli, he had to make a go, no go decision.

TAPPER: I mean, that was Hegseth -- might have been Hegseth's point of view. Oh, this guy ended my commander's career. That's all.

MARKS: Correct. And Secretary Hegseth at that time was either a lieutenant or possibly a captain. And he's got a very focused view. His view is, how can I close with and destroy the enemy? And oh, by the way, I admire this man. What else is involved in all that? He may or may not have been privy to?

TAPPER: Yeah. I want to ask you, President Trump spoke for more than an hour after Hegseth and suggested that the military should use U.S. cities as training grounds. He also said this, and he wasn't specific about who he was talking about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're under invasion from within no different than a foreign enemy, but more difficult in many ways because they don't wear uniforms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your reaction to all that?

MARKS: Well, first of all, the army, I can speak for the army, has some tremendous capabilities to conduct training for combat in cities. If this is what the president was suggesting. And we also have laws, you know, Posse Comitatus, that would prohibit stuff like that. And having been the senior intel guy during the riots in Los Angeles back in the early '90s, there are very restrictive rules of engagement as well there should be primarily in terms of intelligence collection.

So, the Army can get about that particular task other ways.

TAPPER: Yeah. All right. Retired Army Major General Spider Marks, it's always great to have you here. Thank you, sir.

MARKS: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: The death toll is rising after a destructive 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck the Philippines. We'll bring you the latest on damage and casualties, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:22]

TAPPER: Our last leads start in our world lead. Video showing the dramatic moment that a 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck central Philippines today. Another video shows contestants running offstage when the earthquake hit during a beauty pageant. According to authorities, the earthquake killed at least 13 people and caused significant damage and power outages around the central Philippines region, where many are still recovering from Friday's deadly storm that left 27 people dead.

In our national lead, you're looking at video of the five houses that collapsed into the Atlantic Ocean earlier today along North Carolina's outer banks. The coastline is currently being battered by surf from hurricanes Humberto and Imelda. The national weather service is warning of water levels up to three feet higher than usual.

An intriguing story in our national lead, a reported stabbing attack on a Colorado park ranger prompted a multi-agency daylong manhunt in Staunton State Park. But now the prime suspect appears to be the park ranger himself, at least according to local authorities. The ranger radioed a distress call and a deputy found the ranger with a pocket knife sticking out of his abdomen. This kicked off the intensive search, but police say the statements just didn't add up. And then the rangers phone revealed a history of stabbing related searches. He has denied stabbing himself. He's set to appear in court tomorrow.

Breaking news, the White House has just sent paperwork to the U.S. Senate to withdraw the nomination of E.J. Antoni to head up the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's according to three sources talking to CNN. The withdrawal comes after CNN's KFILE reported earlier this month that Anthoni operated and since deleted Twitter account that featured sexually degrading attacks on Kamala Harris, derogatory remarks about gay people, conspiracy theories and crude insults aimed at critics of Donald Trump.

If you ever missed an episode of THE LEAD, you can listen the show once you get your podcast.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now. See you tomorrow.