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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump Takes Questions From Reporters; Trump Wants $230 Million From DOJ For Investigating Him; Virginia Giuffre's Posthumous Memoir Details Alleged Abuse By Epstein And Others; Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Is Interviewed About Government Shutdown Now 21 Days, Tying Record For 2nd-Longest; VP Downplays Ceasefire Concerns, Admin Officials Privately Worry; GOP Curtis Sliwa Defies Pressure Campaign To Exit Mayor's Race. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 21, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks very much to my all of you for being here. Really appreciate it. Thanks to you at home for being with us as well. If you miss any of today's show, you can always catch up with our podcast, scan the QR code, follow along wherever you get your podcast.
You can also follow us on X Instagram. We're slowly getting on TikTok X and Instagram at The Arena CNN. Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead. Hi, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. We'll see you back in The Arena tomorrow.
HUNT: Have a great show.
TAPPER: A Jeffrey Epstein victim left behind many clues about who may have been involved in the sex trafficking ring. The Lead starts right now.
In her posthumously published memoir that hit shelves this morning, Virginia Giuffre exposes details of the horrors she endured at the hands of Jeffrey Epstein, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, and their very powerful friends, among whom were included a well-known prime minister who beat and raped her, she said.
Plus, in the New York City's mayor race, growing calls from Republicans and moderate Democrats for the Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa to drop out in hopes his voters might then go to disgraced former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and block a victory for Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani. Will Sliwa consider this? I'll ask him. He's joining The Lead live.
Plus, one of those January 6th rioters who President Trump pardoned just earlier this year was just arrested on a charge that he threatened to kill the House Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to get to all of
that in a moment. Right now, President Trump is taking questions from journalists at the White House. So we're going to take a listen.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: She's doing good, right? She is doing good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, my question is, you had a great relationship with the people of India when you visited India and with the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, and also with the Indian American community. Where do we stand today, all those generations from 45 to 47 in the future? Mr. President, please. Thank you.
TRUMP: We stand great. And the people of India, I love the people of India. And we're working on some great deals between our countries. I spoke to Prime Minister Modi today as I mentioned before, and we just have a very good relationship.
And he's not going to buy much oil from Russia. He wants to see that war end as much as I do. He wants to see the war end with Russia, Ukraine. And as you know, they're not going to be buying too much oil. So they've cut it way back, and they're continuing to cut it way back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President.
TRUMP: Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An appeals court recently ruled that you can send the National Guard into Portland, Oregon.
TRUMP: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel unfettered to send the National Guard to every city right now?
TRUMP: Well, I guess so. That was the decision. I can send the National Guard if I see problems. I looked at Portland over the weekend. The place is burning down, just burning down. We weren't there. We didn't spend much time there because we were waiting for that decision.
But the court, probably that maybe that influenced the court. But you look at a place like Portland, it's just -- it's ridiculous when they say that there's no problem. The place was -- it was on fire over the weekend. But we did. We won the case in Court of Appeals. I think it was a nice 9th Circuit. So that's pretty good.
And very strong opinion that we have the right to use the National Guard. You would think that would be common sense. We have the right to use the National Guard to put out trouble. Well, that's how I got elected. One of the reasons I got elected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What changed your mind after talking to Vladimir Putin between then and now, why did you think that a Budapest summit would be -- might be wasted and might be wasted time? TRUMP: Well, I didn't say anything. I didn't say it would. And, you
know, you never know what's going to happen, but a lot of things are happening on that front, on the war front with Ukraine and Russia. And we'll be notifying you over the next two days as to what we're doing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear --
TRUMP: A lot of -- a lot of things are happening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you hear something from the president?
TRUMP: Yes, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, on Ukraine, do you still see a chance for a ceasefire? And what is Putin --
TRUMP: Say again? What?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you still see a chance for a ceasefire? And what is Putin asking for?
TRUMP: I do. It's vicious. Look, it's a vicious war. Does it really affect us? We sell equipment to them, we sell equipment to NATO and NATO gives it to Ukraine, but we don't pay anything anymore. Biden spent $350 billion. The war would have never happened if I were president, would have never.
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Not even a million years. And Putin knows that, too. Would have never happened. But it did happen. And I came in and I have to see if I can put it out. But it doesn't affect us because we're not losing soldiers there. Although when I first came in, that could have ended up. It's not going to happen. But it could have ended up in World War III. That was really out of control.
So now it's -- they're shooting and they're killing people. And I think Putin wants it to end, and I think Zelenskyy wants it to end, and I think it's going to end well.
KAITLIAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: He said he reached out to you about meeting on the government shutdown. Will you meet with him before you leave for Asia on Friday?
TRUMP: Well, I will, actually -- I'd love to meet with them. I just want them to open up the country first. You know, the country is so hot right now, and they've never voted against, you know, continuation. They've never voted again. They've never done that. They're doing this because they have Trump derangement syndrome.
But I will -- I would love to meet. I would like to meet with both of them. But I said one little caveat. I will only meet if they let the country open. They have to let the country open. The people want to go back to work. They want to be served. They want to -- they need the services of some people, and a lot of people need the money, the payroll. So I'll do it as soon as they open up the country, I'd like to meet.
COLLINS: Just to be clear, you won't meet with them until the government?
TRUMP: The government has to be open. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
TRUMP: You know how long it would take for them to do that? Just say, OK, government's open. That's it. There is nothing.
COLLINS: How long did they not negotiate?
TRUMP: What they're doing is saying they lost the negotiation. When we got the great big beautiful deal done, they lost that negotiation. Now they're saying, well, we want to get some of the things we lost. But the problem is the things they lost are very bad for our country. We don't want to have people come over from all over the world, from prisons and all, and have them have their health care paid for. We want to take care of people that are -- that are American citizens and all.
So they want $1.5 trillion of money to be wasted and jeopardize the healthcare of other people. We're not going to do that. So, we're going to -- I would love to meet with them. We want the country open for us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, a new poll shows that if Curtis Sliwa dropped out of the New York mayoral race, then Andrew Cuomo would only trail Mamdani by four points. Would you call Curtis Sliwa to drop out of the race so that can happen?
TRUMP: Well, I looked at the polls and looks like we're going to have a communist as the mayor of New York. It'll be very interesting. But here's the good news. He's got to go through the White House. Everything goes through the White House. At least this White House it does. And we'll have to see what happens.
But if he dropped out, he's not going to win. And not looking too good for Cuomo either. But maybe. I don't know, if he dropped out, maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance. But not much, because it looks like the lead is -- it's not a great lead, but it's big enough that he should be able to win.
So, you know, I don't know that I want to get involved. It's really a question of would I rather have a Democrat or a communist? And I would rather have a Democrat than a communist.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you meet Mamdani, if he wins?
TRUMP: Yes, I'll speak to him. Obligation to speak to him. But look, I love New York. I've always loved New York. I just can't believe a thing like this is happening. I left New York and we had a Mayor De Blasio who was a disaster. But when I left, it was sort of before he could really take hold. And boy, New York was a hot city. And now it's sad to see what's
happening, frankly. And with the communists in charge, look, you just go back a thousand years. I mean, it's been done many times. A thousand years. It's never worked once. So it's not going to work now either.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, you're building your ballroom right now. They're also building the Obama Presidential Library. I'm wondering if you've seen it.
TRUMP: He needs help.
UNIDENATIFIED FEMALE: Have you seen pictures of the architecture and --
TRUMP: Yes, I did. It's not too pretty. No, but it's closed. It stopped. They ran out of money. Means building a library slash museum, you know, you call it some museum. And usually they call both. They call it Library and Museum. That's the official name.
And they're stuck. And he wanted only women in DEI to build it. Well, that's what they got. And the construction workers are standing out there and saying, we want to be able to build it. You know, you have great -- I built a great building in Chicago, as you know, a big, beautiful building, one of the tallest buildings in the country. And we got it built very quickly, very well. And we use the construction workers of Chicago. They're great workers. They're great construction people. And I suggest that he get them involved.
But they're hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, and I think it stopped.
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I'm reading these terrible stories, but that's the way our country was run under President Obama, too. Nobody knew it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Mr. President. Russia remains China's top crude oil supplier in September. Are you considering tariffs on China?
TRUMP: Well, I mean, you read the same papers as I do, but I don't have to read the papers because I'm the one. Right now, as of November 1st, China will have about 155 percent tariff put on it. And I don't think it's sustainable for them. So I want to be nice to China.
But China has been very rough with us over the years because we had presidents that weren't smart from a business standpoint. Some were good politicians, some weren't even good politicians, but they allowed China to take advantage of us and every other country to take advantage of us.
If you see, I made a deal with the European Union, I made a deal with Japan, with South Korea, made a lot of these deals that are great deals. And I was able to do it. It's really national security. I was able to do it because of tariffs. And we're getting hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars paid into the United States. We're a very rich country again.
We'll start paying off debt. We'll do a lot of things. We'll probably make a distribution out of some of the tariff money. I think we're going to make a distribution over the next fairly short period of time to people because we took in so much money from the tariffs. Just European Union $650 billion, Japan, $550 billion, South Korea, $350 billion. That's even a lot of money for you guys, right? That's not bad. Right?
But now we're taking a lot of money and it keeps people like this here because that's why they're coming in. I mean, you wouldn't be, I mean, I'm not going to speak for you, but generally they won't be coming in if oil for tariffs. They come in here and they don't have to pay any tariffs.
TAPPER: All right. We're going to continue to monitor President Trump's remarks, what he's saying there about tariffs. He's not mentioning that those tariffs are largely paid for by American consumers and by American companies.
Let's bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House now. And Kristen, the president obviously addressing a number of topics, including this brand new demand he's making that the Department of Justice pay him $230 million because of past prosecutions against him. Explain what this reasoning is all about.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, this is something that Trump had filed the first time back in 2023. He's essentially seeking damages for the cases brought against him. He's brought charges, the Justice Department as well as the FBI for searching his Mar-a-Lago home. That was brought in 2024.
He was asked specifically about the fact that this has been revealed, that he is demanding this $230 billion, excuse me, for damages, for these lawsuits. And it wasn't clear that he knew exactly what he was being asked. Multiple times he seemed to say that he was not being compensated for being president and then saying, you know, he doesn't get paid. And the person asking the question had to ask several times, finally, this is what he said about these seeking these damages.
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TRUMP: As you know, I didn't take it in the first four years. I've not taken it in these four years either. But as far as all of the litigation, everything that's been involved, yes, they probably owe me a lot of money. But if I get money from our country, I'll do something nice with it, like give it to charity or give it to the White House.
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HOLMES: Yes, so we'll hold him to that if he does get that money. I mean, this is unprecedented for a number of reasons, but one of them being the people who would likely have to approve this kind of settlement or damages are the people who actually represented him in some of these cases, who are now leaders of the Department of Justice, like the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, for example, like these other leaders who were his personal attorneys and now would be in charge of this review when it comes to actually getting this money, and would likely would, one would think, approve it because they were part of the process of the original filings.
If you look back at 2023 and 2024, this was his legal team, who is now in the Department of Justice, running the Department of Justice, who would likely have to sign off on something like this.
TAPPER: Yes. And they do seem very allegiant to President Trump and in fact, have been accused the Justice Department leadership of being more focused on persecuting President Trump's perceived political enemies than protecting the American people. A former assistant U.S. Attorney said that a few weeks ago. Kristen Holmes at the White House for us. Thank you so much.
You heard President Trump asked there whether he would request that the Republican nominee for mayor of New York, Curtis Sliwa, drop out of the race.
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So as to help independent candidate disgraced former New York governor Andrew Cuomo beat the Democratic nominee, Mamdani. We're going to get Curtis Sliwa's reaction when he joins us live later this very hour.
Look next at the brand new memoir from a prominent Epstein victim that just hit shelves today. Explosive allegations published posthumously.
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TAPPER: And we're back with our Law and Justice Lead. The harrowing posthumous memoir "Nobody's Girl" by Virginia Giuffre hit shelves today, making major headlines and causing political repercussions around the world. Many know Giuffre as perhaps the most outspoken of dead convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein's accusers, as well as Epstein associate and convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell and disgraced British Royal Prince Andrew.
But Giuffre, of course, was also a person, a sister, a mother, someone who advocated for sexual abuse survivors. She died by suicide in April. She was only 41.
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But her words will never be silenced. Detailing a lifetime of sexual abuse that began when she was a child, she says to new revelations about the exploitation she suffered in Epstein's sex trafficking ring. Giuffre's memoir, published by Penguin Random House today, shows some of the most horrific and cruel realities that too many survivors of sexual abuse endure.
Giuffre also had this message regarding those who knew what Epstein did, quote, anyone who spent any significant amount of time with Epstein saw him touching girls in ways you wouldn't want a creepy old man touching your daughter. They can say they didn't know he was raping children, but they were not blind. Even the men who didn't partake of the favors Epstein offered could see the naked photos on his walls and the naked girls on his islands or by his swimming pools, unquote.
In just moments, we're going to hear directly from someone who knew Giuffre extremely well. But first, CNN's Max Foster outlines some of the abuse that detailed in Giuffre's memoir, one of which accuses a former prime minister.
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MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Virginia Giuffre, a key accuser in the Jeffrey Epstein case, has released a posthumous memoir revealing harrowing details of her abuse and exploitation. The book, titled "Nobody's Girl," sheds new light on Epstein's sex trafficking ring. Published almost six months after her death, Giuffre's memoir details how she was repeatedly exploited and trafficked to wealthy and influential men.
She describes the physical and psychological abuse that she says she endured, including instances of violence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were on Epstein's island when I was ordered to take this man to a cabana. Immediately it was clear that this man, whom I've taken pains to describe in legal filings only as a Prime Minister, wasn't interested in caresses. He wanted violence.
FOSTER (voice-over): Giuffre doesn't name the prime minister or most of the other men involved. Her co-author Amy Wallace says it shouldn't be up to survivors to out their abusers, but instead up to the authorities, which is why she's calling for the so called Epstein files to be released.
Among those who are named Prince Andrew, whom Giuffre accuses of sexually abusing her as a teenager, something the British royal vehemently denies. The memoir also reveals new details about alleged tactics she says Andrew's team used as her story came to light.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After casting doubt on my credibility for so long, Prince Andrew's team had even gone so far as to hire internet trolls to hassle me. The Duke of York owed me a meaningful apology as well. We would never get a confession, of course. That's what settlements are designed to avoid. But were trying for the next best thing, a general acknowledgment of what I'd been through.
FOSTER (voice-over): Prince Andrew hasn't responded to the book and denies any wrongdoing in relation to Giuffre. CNN has reached out to him regarding this new allegation. Despite the denials, the fallout has been significant.
Last week, under mounting pressure, Prince Andrew announced he would relinquish his Duke of York title, amongst some others that he's been using. The memoir does also mention Donald Trump. Giuffre recalls meeting him at his Mar-a-Lago resort whilst working as a locker room attendant. Giuffre makes no allegations of abuse against Trump in this book.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It couldn't have been more than a few days before my dad said he wanted to introduce me to Mr. Trump himself. They weren't friends exactly, but dad worked hard and Trump liked that. I'd seen photos of them posing together, shaking hands. So one day my father took me to Trump's office. This is my daughter, dad said. And his voice sounded proud. Trump couldn't have been friendlier, telling me it was fantastic that I was there.
FOSTER (voice-over): The Epstein scandal has already had political and social consequences on both sides of the Atlantic. Giuffre's memoir adds a powerful and tragic voice to the ongoing call for accountability and justice.
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FOSTER: I mentioned on the show yesterday, Jake, that the British police are looking into an allegation that Prince Andrew asked a royal police officer to dig dirt on Giuffre to try to undermine her reputation. We now learn that head of that protection force is one of King Charles closest aides. No suggestion he's done anything wrong, but again, questions about what the palace knew about this scandal, when and how much more they can do to distance themselves from Prince Andrew.
The King due at the Vatican tomorrow on an historic trip. It was meant to mark an occasion where the head of the Church of England, Charles, praise with the Pope for the first time since the Reformation. It's going to be a huge frustration, I can tell you, Jake, if the scandal overshadows that.
TAPPER: All right, Max Foster in London for us. Thank you so much. Sigrid McCawley fought for justice side by side with Virginia Giuffre and several other survivors of Epstein. She joins us now. Sigrid, thanks for joining us.
So you were more than just Giuffre's lawyer. You cared for her. She deeply trusted you.
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It has been six months since her passing. Before I ask you questions about her book and more, I want to know how you're doing.
SIGRID MCCAWLEY, LONG-TIME LAWYER FOR VIRGINIA GIUFFRE: Thank you. That's really kind of you to ask. I think this is really a difficult moment. It's bittersweet that her book is getting such great attention, but it is heartbreaking to me that she can't be here to witness it. So it's been a difficult week.
TAPPER: What did Giuffre want to come out of this memoir?
MCCAWLEY: I think her goal with this memoir was to tell her true story and also to shine a light on abuse victims. I mean, this is very hard to read, as you well know. It's a difficult story, but it shines a light on abuse and how it happens, and that there were many people in this instance who could have stepped in, been the adult in the room and helped, and they didn't.
So I think it's a really important message related to the abuse that she suffered and that many individuals suffer.
TAPPER: Giuffre did not name some of the men that she says Epstein trafficked her to, including this, quote, well known prime minister, unquote. I know you can't tell me who this prime minister is, but is there anyone who knows? Did she tell law enforcement? Are there people at the Justice Department right now who know who this law, who know who this prime minister is?
MCCAWLEY: Absolutely. Virginia cooperated with law enforcement from the very beginning, as did many of the survivors. I mean, she really wanted them to hold the individuals who harmed her accountable. And you heard the horrific abuse described in her book. And that was just, you know, the book doesn't outline everything that she went through. So certainly there were many more of those instances. And she shared that information with law enforcement.
I attended interviews with her. She was in full disclosure with everything that had happened to her. And we were always hopeful that law enforcement would continue to move forward after they convicted Ghislaine Maxwell. We were hopeful that other individuals who participated in these crimes would be held accountable.
TAPPER: One would think that if a prime minister, by definition, somebody from another country, came to the United States and raped an American girl or American woman, that would be in law enforcement's interest, in the interest of justice, to investigate, to interview that person, perhaps even to prosecute.
Do you know of any actions taken by the Justice Department investigators under any presidency to do that, to talk to this prime minister?
MCCAWLEY: Not that I'm aware of, but we've seen the example with Prince Andrew, who she has publicly named for example, and, you know, he has never been prosecuted in the United States for the crimes that, you know, he committed with respect to Virginia.
So this is an area that's a big frustration to not only, you know, Virginia, who was my client, obviously, but to many of the survivors that law enforcement and, you know, our government is not moving forward with prosecuting those people who were involved.
TAPPER: When former U.S. attorney Jeffrey Berman was on the show, he wrote about how he tried to get Prince Andrew to cooperate and the royal family was completely uncooperative. So he did try, and the royal family was not helpful.
Giuffre also wrote about how cathartic it was for her when she learned that Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted. She wrote about her phone call with you. How do you think Giuffre would have reacted to the Trump Department of Justice moving Maxwell from this more restrictive prison in Florida to a minimum security prison camp in Texas, with even public discussions of whether or not she's going to get pardoned?
MCCAWLEY: She would have been devastated. I mean, it's really -- that has been very troubling to many of the survivors, this movement of Ghislaine Maxwell, what appears to be favorable treatment that is, you know, completely just abhorrent. So that would be really devastating to her to have to hear that.
And I think, you know, the hope is that after, you know, Ghislaine Maxwell has now been convicted, that she will stay in prison for the remainder of her sentence.
TAPPER: You also helped Giuffre with the settlement against Prince Andrews. How do you think she would have felt about the British royal being forced to give up his titles?
MCCAWLEY: I think she would have been thrilled. I mean, we experienced some of that during the time that she was with us. And this moment in time that now we've seen him, you know, having to give up those titles is really significant.
TAPPER: Sigrid McCawley, thank you so much for being with us again and may Virginia Giuffre's memory be a blessing.
MCCAWLEY: Thank you.
TAPPER: The Gaza ceasefire is holding barely for now. A look at why it appears to be on shaky ground. That's next.
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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, congratulations, Congress. This current government shutdown has officially tied the record for the second longest in U.S. history. Awesome. Twenty-one days of stalled government work, missed paychecks, mass firings, air traffic control shortages. Moments ago, President Trump said he would, quote, with a pretty important caveat, they need to first open the government.
Joining us now, Democrat from Illinois, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy. Congressman, a group of 13 centrist Republicans sent a letter to Speaker Johnson urging him to, "immediately -- immediately turn focus to health care cost, as soon as the shutdown is over." The group was clear, though, end the shutdown, then negotiate with Democrats on the Obamacare premiums. Basically in line with what Trump was just saying. Is there any appeal to that at all, if there's a commitment to talk about these Obamacare premiums?
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REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): No, let's just do it right now. Trump can easily end the shutdown in, like, 30 minutes by agreeing to Obama -- Obamacare tax credit extensions. Next Monday, Jake, millions of people are about to receive notices in -- in the prelude to open enrollment on November 1st, showing that their premiums are going to spike by 200 and 300 percent in some cases. Four million people are about to lose their health insurance as a consequence within the next year. And 22 million Americans are going to see their health care premiums increase. And so we want to take that off the table right now and just extend those Obamacare tax credits so that we can avoid these health care costs skyrocketing very shortly.
TAPPER: Take a listen to your fellow Democrat, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman.
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SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): It's Groundhog Day, you know? And I'm just saying, and it -- and it's not entertaining. That's a great movie, but this is shitty. And now it's like now real damage is going to -- are now touching the lives of -- of regular Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I mean, Fetterman has a point, right? This is affecting regular Americans, and Democrats are playing a role in the shutdown by refusing to vote for the continuing resolution to let the government open for just a few more weeks.
KRISHNAMOORTHI: I think the problem, Jake, is that the status quo is not working for anybody. It is completely unacceptable. Here in Illinois, for instance, not only we -- are we dealing with these skyrocketing health care costs about to happen, but also, for that matter, ICE is out of control and raids on communities throughout the area. The National Guard is literally staged just half an hour away from where I'm sitting right now. And so people don't like the status quo.
At a minimum, what they're saying is this, which is take the Obamacare issue off the table because those tax credits are about to expire imminently, and they don't want to see their skyrock -- they don't want to see skyrocketing health care costs in addition to the increasing food costs, electricity costs, and housing costs that they're already seeing in this Trump economy.
TAPPER: Turning to another subject, you and a fellow Democrat, Congressman Robert Garcia, requested all intelligence materials related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, be delivered to your committee from the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. And you said today as the deadline, have you heard anything back from the office of the Director of National Intelligence?
KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, the day's not done, but so far we haven't heard anything. It's been crickets. I'm hopeful that the intelligence community does cooperate so that we can actually see the files on Epstein that they -- that are in their possession, because there are numerous reports now of basically inexplicable ties between Epstein and foreign governments, intelligence agencies, and inexplicable wealth that Jeffrey Epstein has.
And so we want to get an opportunity to see those files, obviously in a classified setting so as not to reveal sources or methods in the collection of that information. But in general, we just, especially in light of what Virginia Giuffre's book has now revealed as well, we need to -- we need to get the full Epstein files in the hands of the federal government to be able to give justice to those survivors, the thousand-plus victims of this child sex trafficking ring, and to prevent this from ever happening again.
TAPPER: Democrat from Illinois, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, thank you so much, appreciate our time.
Turning into our World Lead now, the Trump administration sent its heavyweights to Israel today in hopes of stabilizing a shaky ceasefire. Here's Vice President J.D. Vance, flanked by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
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J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think it's actually advisable for us to say this has to be done in a week, because a lot of this work is very hard, it's never been done before, and in order for us to give it a chance to succeed, we've got to be a little bit flexible. I think what you're seeing from our Gulf Arab friends, certainly from our Israeli friends, is a certain amount of impatience with Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Still, sources tell us that some administration officials remain worried that the ceasefire deal could fall apart. Joining us now, CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk, who served in senior national security roles under four presidents. So, Brett, one U.S. official characterized this visit as, "bibisitting," a play on Netanyahu's nickname. What do you think U.S. officials are preparing for Netanyahu to do next?
BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think there's some -- look, this is the most complicated issue imaginable. Right now, this is a ceasefire deal, not a peace deal. So you have -- you have Gaza bifurcated by what's called a yellow line, with Israeli forces controlling half of Gaza, Hamas controlling the other half.
[17:40:13]
All the people right now are where Hamas is. That's really not a sustainable situation. So on Sunday, you had Hamas militants come out of a tunnel, killed two Israeli soldiers. That led to Israeli airstrikes, got it back on track. But, I mean, I agree with one thing the vice president said here. This is going to be a long road. This is not going to be imminent.
And what they were doing there, I saw in the background, Admiral Brad Cooper, he's the commander of CENTCOM. They opened today this civil military command structure with a number of American personnel to help oversee not only the ceasefire, but also, eventually, we hope, some international force to go into those areas behind the yellow line, where the Israeli forces are now. That has to happen. Otherwise, you just have this pressure cooker environment, and any day it can reignite.
TAPPER: On the subject of that international force, because everybody agrees that the Israelis there is not going to keep peace, Trump posted on Truth Social earlier today, "numerous of our now great allies in the Middle East and areas surrounding the Middle East have explicitly and strongly, with great enthusiasm, informed me that they would welcome the opportunity, at my request, to go into Gaza with a heavy force and straighten out Hamas. If Hamas continues to act badly," he added, "there is still hope that Hamas will do what is right." So two things, and I acknowledge I'm very skeptical, not of President Trump, but of peace in the Middle East, because I have eyes and ears.
MCGURK: Never lose money bet -- betting against.
TAPPER: Yes. So first of all, I find it hard to believe that there's a huge international force eager to send their young men into Gaza. And second of all, this idea that -- that President Trump continues to express hope that Hamas will do the right thing, it's a terrorist group, and it's in their charter to wipe Israel off the face of the map.
MCGURK: Yes, two things. Like, I've built military coalitions before. It's one of the hardest things to do. Every country has their own laws. They need their own rules of engagement, own commands. It's very complicated, so it takes time to build. I also, I am very skeptical that you will see any Arab force going into Gaza to fight Hamas. That is highly unlikely. I could envision a force going into the areas where Hamas is not to provide stability, allow Israeli forces to pull back.
You flood the areas with shelter, with aid, to encourage the population to get out of the grip of Hamas. This is what actually happened in the counter-ISIS campaign, Jake. I mean, all those areas that ISIS controlled, we created areas.
TAPPER: In Iraq and Syria?
MCGURK: In Iraq and Syria. Eventually, you just saw a mass movement of civilians to get out of the grip of ISIS. This is not identical to that situation, but you want to try to do that. You want to try to create safe areas so people can get out of the grip of ISIS. But you're right, or Hamas. Hamas has one demand, and I've -- I've negotiated with them for, you know, from October 7th through the inauguration in January.
They want to stay in power in Gaza. They have never accepted, the one thing they'll never accept is any alternative force, not a Palestinian security force, not an international force, not Egyptians, nobody. They make that demand very clear. They'll accept a new political structure above Gaza. They say they'll cede political power. They will not cede security power, and they rule with a ruthless force.
So I do not see them just giving up their weapons. But it's important now to keep the pressure on everybody, keep the pressure on the Israelis, keep the pressure on Hamas. Hamas still has to return these remains. They're coming out about one or two every day. That includes two American sets of remains, Itay Chen and Omar Nutra. You know the family, I've met the family a number of times.
So a lot of work to do here. I think it's good the Vice President was there and Jared and Steve to oversee the opening of this command node, but this is going to be really hard work. And I -- to build a military coalition is one of the hardest diplomatic tasks. Imagine what makes it harder here, Jake, is that the Israelis have their own interests in Gaza. They demand freedom of action to act against threats. So you can imagine the reluctance of countries to go into that morass. It's going to take a lot of work.
TAPPER: It's a 20-point plan, and point six is Hamas lays down arms or leaves. I think that that's going to be a real tough one for Hamas to do. Brett McGurk, thank you so much.
Earlier this year, President Trump pardoned more than 1,000 people charged in the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. And now one of them is notably back in jail -- jail because he's been accused of threatening to kill a high-profile Democrat. We're going to tell you that story next.
[17:44:20]
Plus, imagine if your own boss was publicly calling for you to quit your passion project outside of work. That's happening right now to Curtis Sliwa, and his passion project is to be the next mayor of New York City. He joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURTIS SLIWA (R), NEW YORK CITY MAYOR NOMINEE: The elite, you see, they're trying to push me out. And they're trying to silence you. You, the hardworking people that make this city work. The billionaires are not going to determine who the next mayor is. You, the people will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, that is Republican nominee, New York personality, founder of the crime prevention group, the Guardian Angels, Curtis Sliwa, who remains characteristically defiant as pressure for him to drop out of the New York mayor's race ramps up. The cover of "The New York Post" says, "just walk away, Beret, even allies tell Sliwa to drop mayor bid. Don't let Zohran win." This is all, as the subhead would suggest, a last minute effort to boost the chances of disgraced former governor, Andrew Cuomo, in terms of his ability to beat the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani.
A recent "Fox News" poll finds registered voters backing Mamdani, 49 percent. Cuomo has 28 percent. Sliwa has 13 percent. Current mayor Adams, who dropped out of the race, is pulling up the rear there with 3 percent. Congratulations, Mr. Mayor. Election Day is just two weeks away. New Yorkers can cast early ballots starting this Saturday.
[17:50:04]
And here now is Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee for New York City mayor. Let me also note that we have been asking for an interview with Zohran Mamdani for months and with Governor Cuomo for years. And we'd like to remind them that they have a warm, open seat to come answer questions about public policy. Mr. Sliwa, a pleasure. Thanks for joining us.
So just moments ago, President Trump was asked if he thinks you should drop out. Here's what he said.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I looked at the polls and looks like we're going to have a communist as the mayor of New York. It'll be very interesting. If he dropped out, he's not going to win and not looking too good for Cuomo either. But maybe, I don't know, if he dropped out, maybe Cuomo would have a little bit of a chance, but not much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What's your response, sir?
SLIWA: I remember when many of the same powers to be were asking Donald Trump to drop out in his re-election bid and they wanted him to move aside for Ron DeSantis. How did that work out? Look, people have a right, but I was taught in elementary school, one person, one vote. I was never taught one person, one vote, but let the -- let the billionaires decide or the political elite.
We have an election taking place. There are three major candidates. I trust the people to make the right decision. I'm the only Republican. I have the law and order values. I believe that Andrew Cuomo was the architect of no cash bail and the apprentice is Zohran Mamdani. Raise the age. The architect is Andrew Cuomo. His apprentice, Zohran Mamdani.
And finally, the architect of closing our prison, Rikers Island, was then Governor Cuomo. The apprentice is Zohran Mamdani. They agree on all these issues that are pro-criminal and I'm the only one saying law and order, pro-victim. We're in a city, Jake, where we're best known for locking up toothpaste and not criminals. So now we let the voters decide. By November 4th, we'll have a new mayor and there are three candidates in it.
I would hope that Andrew Cuomo, instead of moaning and groaning that I should drop out, low-energy Cuomo needs to get out on the campaign trail. As you see, "The New York Post" reported he's been missing in action on the campaign trail for 10 days. You've got to campaign at least 20 hours of a 24-hour day if you hope to become the next mayor of New York City.
TAPPER: So the owner of WABC Radio, where you famously hosted a program before you became a candidate, said yesterday that if you love New York, you would get out of the race. He was on "Fox" earlier today. He said this. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN CATSIMATIDIS, CEO OF RED APPLE MEDIA AND WABC NEW YORK: The President is the head of the Republican Party. And the President is telling you, go for -- vote for Cuomo. So you vote for Cuomo and go one-on-one, and if he doesn't, if -- if Curtis stays in, let him stay in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I assume that that's -- that's a gentleman you're friends with. What do you say to him?
SLIWA: Well, newsflash, we just heard the President not endorse Cuomo, not endorse me, and pretty much think it's a fait accompli that Zohran Mamdani is the next mayor, which is not true.
Look, John Catsimatidis is part of that billionaire class. They think that they can pick the next mayor. How did that work out? They went to Cuomo in the primary. Cuomo was up by 40 points. Zohran Mamdani was down at 1 percent. Zohran Mamdani won the primary convincingly at 13 percent.
So throw the polls right out the door. And secondarily, whatever happened with the people deciding who the mayor should be? So I should drop out? I am the only Republican. I am a designated candidate. The only independent candidate is Andrew Cuomo. You have to go through a maze to find him on the ballot. Let him go out.
He gets his people to vote for him. I get my people to vote for me because I have a get-out-to-vote effort. We know Zohran Mamdani did a great job in the primary getting his vote out. There's nothing complicated about this. It's called democracy, the people's right to vote. And the billionaires don't want the people to make this decision. I trust the people, not the political elite and not the billionaires.
TAPPER: Let me ask you, sir, what can you point to from your background that would give voters the confidence that you have the experience needed to manage more than 350,000 New York City government employees?
SLIWA: Well, thank God I'm not a professional politician, Jake -- Jake, because I got to tell you, de Blasio did a horrible job. Cuomo fled Albany after 10 years of being in danger of being impeached by his own Democrats.
And as you know, Eric Adams, who I ran against before, I warned them he would be corrupt and there'd be chaos, and he's won and done. So I bring a fresh view. Having been in the streets and the subways, the only candidate to be in the subways each and every day, I will get the best and the brightest.
I'm not all-knowing. I will get men and women who have dedicated their lives to improving New York City. They will have an opportunity to do so in my administration. I'm going to cut taxes, corporate tax, property tax, which a mayor can cut, the property tax, income tax, and I'm going to shrink this budget, which is well out of the practicality of what taxpayers can fund. And this way, we stop the flight.
[17:55:18]
My whole goal is improve, don't move, back to blue, hire more police. We don't have enough. Provide public safety and quality of life. That's what differentiates me from Cuomo, the architect of the state's destruction, and Zohran Mamdani, the assembly one -- assemblyman who was his apprentice. They have similar values. I have a completely different value system. Let the people determine who they now want to be their mayor.
TAPPER: All right, Republican nominee for New York City Mayor, Curtis Sliwa. Thank you, sir. It was a pleasure to have you.
SLIWA: My pleasure, Jake.
Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Jamie Gangel, and CNN Washington bureau chief and former New York One employee, David Chalian. So, David, what do you -- what do you make of the -- this whole, first of all, what do you think?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it's just interesting to listen. He obviously, he wants to group this whole, he did this in the debate last week, architect and apprentice, and he wants to group the two of them together. But actually, his rhetoric should be grouped with Mamdani's, oddly enough.
I know he's the Republican nominee, but this attack on the billionaire class and the elites, that is -- that is what you hear from Zohran Mamdani on the campaign trail every day as well. It's interesting to hear Sliwa sort of swimming in that same stream.
TAPPER: Jamie, you've spoken to a number of New York political strategists, Democrats and Republicans. What -- what are you hearing?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: To quote William Shakespeare, a plague on all their houses. Look, by and large, the people I spoke to, both Democrats and Republicans, they don't like any of these candidates. They think that Cuomo is done.
They have real problems with Mamdani being able to manage the city. And with all respect to Sliwa, from my childhood, he's not going to win this race. They're -- they're concerned about a competent mayor coming into a city that really needs it.
TAPPER: I want to play a little bit of what a prominent New York rabbi said on the Sabbath Saturday about Mamdani. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community. A vote for Sliwa, whatever his merits, is a vote for Mamdani. There is a path to victory, but it means that every eligible voter must vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What are you hearing from Jewish New Yorkers?
GANGEL: Right. So the Jewish vote is not a monolith, but the latest poll gives Mamdani about 38 percent of the vote. I -- I've spoken to Jewish voters who will vote for Mamdani, despite some of his rhetoric in history. I have spoken to many who absolutely will not under any circumstances.
CHALIAN: But it's worth noting, Mamdani has been making a lot of outreach. He just -- he knows where his vulnerabilities are, so he's been doing a lot of outreach to the Jewish community. He's been doing a lot of outreach to the business community as part of -- since becoming the nominee in June, as part of a whole summer, and he walks out of some meetings.
Now, some of these Jewish voters and leaders that he talks to, they have the same concerns they had walking in. He doesn't move the needle. But some he does. And it's interesting to me that he doesn't, I just find it noteworthy that he has taken these huge questions about his record and tried to turn them into an actual outreach and education experience, and we'll see if people buy it or not.
TAPPER: All right, David Chalian, Jamie Gangel, thanks to both of you.
In our Law and Justice Lead, we are learning new details about a January 6th rioter pardoned by President Trump earlier this year. Christopher Moynihan, the man seen in this gray hat, he was arrested yesterday and charged with allegedly threatening to kill Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, CNN's Kara Scannell, is live for us in New York. Kara, what are you learning?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, we are learning new details about the alleged threats made by this 34-year-old man, Christopher Moynihan. Now, according to a criminal complaint, he made these threats on Friday about the House Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. He wrote, Hakeem Jeffries makes a speech in New York City. I cannot allow this terrorist to live, even if I am hated, he must be eliminated. I will kill him for the future.
Now, according to the New York State Police, the FBI had received anonymous tip about these text messages. And then state officials moved in quickly and arrested him. There's, of course, a lot of heightened attention around political threats and political violence as we've seen a number of attempted assassinations and the murder of Charlie Kirk. So we saw law enforcement move quickly.
Now Moynihan behind bars. He will next appear before a judge where he is facing a felony charge of making a terrorist threat. His lawyer is not known to us, so we couldn't get a reaction to these charges. But he is someone who was in the January 6th. He was convicted of obstructing a congressional or an official proceeding. He was not involved in any violence toward law enforcement.
[18:00:06]
Now, the top Democrat in the House did issue a statement. He said, threats of violence will not stop us from showing up, standing up and speaking up for the American people. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Kara Scannell, thanks so much.
