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The Lead with Jake Tapper

New Release, Epstein Mentioned Trump Multiple Times in Emails; Soon, House to Vote on Ending Record-Long Government Shutdown; Bipartisan Push to Extend Obamacare Subsidies for Two Years. Now: Debate On House Floor Before Final Vote To End Shutdown. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 12, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

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

The breaking news tonight, Convicted sex trafficker and infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein mentioned Donald Trump multiple times by name in private emails over the last 15 years. According to a new batch of Epstein related documents released earlier today by the House Oversight Committee. The documents reveal emails Epstein sent to his associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, who's also been convicted of sex trafficking, and author Michael Wolf, in which Epstein alludes to Trump having spent hours at Epstein's House with Virginia Giuffre, a prominent Epstein victim who took her life earlier this year.

Although, we should note, Giuffre said in a 2016 deposition that she, quote, never saw or witnessed Donald Trump participate, unquote, in the sexual abuse of minors, and that she had not seen him in the house of Jeffrey Epstein. Another message from Epstein to author Michael Wolf suggests that Trump, quote, knew about the girls, unquote.

Now, President Trump, of course, has never been criminally charged or even accused of any wrongdoing in connection to Epstein or Maxwell, although, of course, his relationship with the convicted sex offender has spawned scrutiny and intense public outcry for years.

President Trump earlier today posting on social media that the Democrats are trying, quote, to deflect on how badly they've done on the shutdown, and, quote, only a very bad or stupid Republican would fall into that trap, unquote.

The flood of information comes just as any moment the House is set to take a key vote, setting up the final move to reopen the government and end the longest government shutdown in American history, with some Senate Democrats facing backlash from their House counterparts and from Democratic activists all over the country for the deal that they struck to get here.

Let's go to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who is at the White House for us. Kaitlan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Remarkable emails just in and of the fact that they are from Jeffrey Epstein, mentioning Donald Trump multiple times in this private correspondence, private until now, of course, over the last 15 years or so where Jeffrey Epstein is emailing back and forth with Ghislaine Maxwell and the author, Michael Wolf, and saying things like what about what the president knew at the time, of course, long before he was president, as Jeffrey Epstein said in that first email that was sent in April, 2011 to Ghislaine Maxwell, where he refers to Trump as the dog that hasn't barked, Jake, and then references what was redacted by House Democrats the name of Virginia Giuffre, who, of course, is one of Jeffrey Epstein's most prominent accusers who died by suicide earlier this year.

And Ghislaine Maxwell responded, as you can see here, Jake, and said, quote, I have been thinking about that, dot, dot, dot. That came a few years, I should note, just for context, for people who are looking at it, after Jeffrey Epstein negotiated that sweetheart deal that he got in Southern Florida when he only served a couple of months in prison on prostitution charges instead, of course, what we later saw him face in 2019. That was the date of another email that Jeffrey Epstein and Michael Wolf, the author, had been sending back and forth, including when Donald Trump was in office the first time where they were talking about Trump's denials about knowing about Epstein and saying that he had kicked him out of his Mar-a-Lago club. That is something that Jeffrey Epstein himself disputed, according to these emails, Jake.

And so obviously this has caused a huge amount of backlash here in Washington because it's further inflamed an issue that was already dividing the White House and some MAGA Republicans when it came to how the Justice Department has been handling its release or not release, I guess, I should say, of their Epstein documents, Jake. And, certainly, the White House came out today. They said these emails prove that Trump did nothing wrong. The question really is what Republicans on Capitol Hill think about that.

TAPPER: So, in the House of Representatives, you need 218 signatures on what's called a discharge petition to push and force any legislation onto the floor of the House, even if the speaker of the House opposes it, which Speaker Johnson opposes this bill to tell the Justice Department to release all the Epstein files. You and your team had a big scoop today about a meeting that took place in the White House about that discharge petition.

COLLINS: Yes, Jake. It was basically a pressure campaign that backfired spectacularly, where the White House was really putting the screws to Republicans and trying to get them to take their names off of that discharge petition, Jake, so it wouldn't reach those 218 votes you mentioned. And the two people that we were told, they believed were the most likely to take their names off of it where Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace, two Republicans from months ago said they would support that.

[18:05:02]

And Lauren Boebert herself was called here to the White House, had a meeting inside the Situation Room with the attorney general of the United States, the deputy attorney general, and the FBI director. That was who was planned to be there. And we saw two of those three here at the White House today and planned to have that meeting inside the Situation Room where, basically, Jake, they were going to try to convince her to remove her name from the discharge petition. And that included a phone call from President Trump to Lauren Boebert as well. But, Jake, it did not work because Lauren Boebert did not remove her name from that discharge petition, and that's why it reached 218 names after Adelita Grijalva was sworn in tonight.

But, Jake, I want you to listen to what the White House said earlier when they were asked by another reporter about this meeting that we had reported on and found out was happening here at the White House today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Doesn't it show transparency that members of the Trump administration are willing to brief members of Congress whenever they please? Doesn't that show our level of transparency? Doesn't that show the level of transparency when we are willing to sit down with members of Congress and address their concerns? That is the -- that's a defining factor of transparency, having discussions with members of Congress about various issues. And I'm not going to detail conversations that took place in the Situation Room in the press briefing room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: So, Jake, the White House says it shows transparency. It also displays a very unusual move by the White House to gather that kind of firepower here at the White House with a Republican House member to have a meeting like that. That is something that is very unusual and you often do not see. Maybe if it was a chairperson of a committee or something like that, you would see that level of a briefing. But, certainly, it just speaks to how much the White House did not want that discharge petition to reach those 218 votes like it did tonight, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins at the White House, thanks so much. And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Tonight, she's going to be joined by Republican Congressman Thomas Massie and Democratic Congressman Ro Khanna. Those are the two behind the Epstein discharge petition. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Let's bring in right now the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, California Congressman Robert Garcia. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

So, why did the Oversight Committee Democrats choose to release those three emails earlier today before the full House Oversight Committee released 20,000 documents?

REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): Well, it's because we think Republicans would've ever released those documents, so House Republicans and House Democrats on the oversight committee all got those documents on the same day, just a few days ago. We've been working to redact those to remove the victim's names, to go through 23,000 documents. But we also know it's important to get all these documents out to the public. So, we released those documents today, we released an additional set of documents of which Steve Bannon had some communication with Jeffrey Epstein, and, once again, we are pushing and forcing the House Republican Oversight Committee to then release documents to join us on the subpoenas.

And so we're glad that the Republicans released those documents. We're also planning on releasing all of those as well. And so we want to continue to get to the truth. And we, once again, need to ask is why is Donald Trump covering this Epstein scandal file up and why when he release the files today.

TAPPER: It's a good question. I wish I had an answer for you. I want to play something that Epstein's associate, Ghislaine Maxwell, told the Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who used to be President Trump's private attorney, personal attorney, this is what she had to say about Trump during her sit down interview with Todd Blanche in July of this year. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GHISLAINE MAXWELL, CONVICTED SEX TRAFFICKER: I think they were friendly like people are in social settings. I don't think they were close friends or I certainly never witnessed the president in any of -- I don't recall ever seeing him in his house, for instance. I actually never saw the president in any type of massage setting. I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. The president was never inappropriate with anybody. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, it is interesting to note that this email we're showing right now from Epstein to Ghislaine Maxwell directly references Virginia Giuffre, one of the victims who took her own life earlier this year, spending hours at Epstein's house with Trump, to which Maxwell says, I have been thinking about that.

Now, we should note again that Giuffre herself said, in a 2016 deposition, I don't think Donald Trump participated in anything. That would have to be another assumption, I never saw or witness Donald Trump participate in those acts. But was he in the house of Jeffrey Epstein? I've heard he has been, but I haven't seen him myself, so I don't know, unquote. It's a lot of conflicting and contradictory information. How is the Oversight Committee planning to move forward with regards to Ghislaine Maxwell?

[18:10:00]

GARCIA: Well, look, I think a couple things are important. Ghislaine Maxwell is, first of all, a monster. What she has done to children, to women and girls, is horrific. And this idea that the Department of Justice is now giving her special treatment, that she's having meetings apparently in this new facility which is much, much less restrictive than the one that she's supposed to be in, I think, should be an outrage to all Americans. We want Ghislaine Maxwell in front of the Oversight Committee to answer our questions. There are reports now that she wants a commutation. It's clear that she wants a pardon. It's also very clear through the release of emails today that she understands the relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. There was definitely certainly a relationship there.

And what we're saying is all of this can be cleared up today if Donald Trump and Pam Bondi would release the files that he campaigned he would do during the election. The attorney general has said they are on her desk. Why the secrecy? Why the cover-up? Why the extraordinary effort today to stop this vote of the Congress to get the files released? And so this only brings up more questions.

And I think that the American public, both Democrats and Republicans and everyone in between. Just want the truth and answers, that we can get all of that immediately if they would just release the files.

TAPPER: Congressman Robert Garcia, Democratic of California, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, thank you so much for your time today, sir. I appreciate it.

Let's bring in Liz Stein. She's one of the survivors of Epstein's abuse. She's now an advocate for the anti-trafficking movement. First of all, Liz, how are you doing? This has got to be a rough and traumatic day, I would think.

LIZ STEIN, JEFFREY EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: It's been an extraordinarily emotional day. Thank you for asking, Jake. But it's also been a really important day.

TAPPER: What has -- yes, no, it's a significant day. And I'm wondering what your reaction has been to the news today, the documents that have been released.

STEIN: I think that, you know, anything that we see that's released brings us closer to the truth, right? And I think that in releasing these emails this morning it really is just driving the point home of how badly we need this information released. We need the government to release everything that's in these files, of course, with the appropriate redactions to protect the privacy of the survivors. But we really need this information to be out there so these crimes can be investigated.

I think it's really upsetting to us that this is so politicized when it's not a political issue. This was a crime and it's a crime of sex trafficking, and we really just want to see justice for the crime that happened to us.

TAPPER: There's interesting comments made by Epstein and Maxwell in these emails. Epstein referring to Donald Trump as the dog that didn't bark, which some people interpret, like he has information, but he hasn't shared it. I don't know what Epstein meant, of course, saying that he knew about the girls because of the fact that Ghislaine Maxwell recruited Virginia Giuffre from Mar-a-Lago. I know you talked to a lot of your fellow survivors. What are you hearing from them today? What is the consensus? What are some of the thoughts and feelings that you've heard?

STEIN: There has definitely been a renewed sense of hope and a definite sense of joy among all of us. Both myself and Jess Michaels were privileged enough to be on the House floor during the swearing in. And there was a moment where Grijava actually called us out by name and everyone stood and applauded us. And, you know, she didn't have to do that, but we really just appreciated the support.

TAPPER: Let me just interrupt for one second, Liz. We have that clip. This is the swearing in of Arizona Congresswoman at Adelita Grijalva, who was the 218th signature on the discharge petition to force a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Here's that clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADELITA GRIJALVA (D-AZ): Our democracy only works when everyone has a voice. This includes the millions of people across the country who have experienced violence and exploitation, including Liz Stein and Jessica Michaels, both survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse. They are here in the gallery with us this evening. Thank you for being here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I just wanted people to see what you were talking about. Please continue.

STEIN: Thank you. It was just an incredible moment for us to see her sworn in and to see her sign the discharge petition. It's something we've been waiting for for 50 days, and it was really wonderful to just see it in person.

TAPPER: Lastly, as you know, we've been reporting all day about this pressure campaign from President Trump and the White House, especially there are four house Republicans who have signed the discharge petition.

[18:15:05]

And, obviously, Thomas Massie is not going to blink. It's his discharge petition. But of the other three Marjorie Taylor Greene, Nancy Mace, and Lauren Boebert, those three Congresswomen, Republican Congresswomen, were told that Mace and Boebert are really being pressured. Boebert was called to the White House where she met with the deputy attorney general, the attorney general, and the FBI director, who apparently want them to remove their signatures from the discharge petition to release the Epstein files. What's your message to Nancy Mace and to Lauren Boebert?

STEIN: Well, first of all, I really just want to thank them for being steadfast in their support of us. You know, it takes a lot of courage for them to break with party lines and to support us. And they're doing that because they know that they're on the right side when they are in support of us.

And I think that I'm hopeful that their courage is contagious to other Republican members who can also see that this is really a matter of looking at a crime and it really should not be, in any way, influenced by any particular administration. This case has been ongoing throughout five administrations of both political parties. And like I said before, what we're looking at is a crime and it is a crime of sex trafficking. This is not a political issue. So, they're right in their support of us.

TAPPER: Liz, I always say it and I'll say it again, it's incredibly brave of you to come voluntarily onto international television and talk about the worst experience of your life. Thank you again for your advocacy and thank you again for your courage, we always appreciate it so much.

STEIN: Thanks, Jake. These things happen because we don't talk about them, and I appreciate having the platform to do that.

TAPPER: Well, you always have it on the show. You always do.

Right now, the House is starting a key vote as they prepare for the final vote tonight to end the shutdown and reopen the government. Will this vote pass tonight and head to the president's desk. We're going live to Capitol Hill next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead right now, lawmakers in the House of Representatives, as you see right there, are taking their last key step required before voting on legislation that would end this historic government shutdown. And maybe this should be breaking news too. We have discovered that bipartisanship is not dead. It is alive and well, and let's talk about that with Democratic Representative Sam Liccardo and Republican representative Kevin Kiley, both from California. They just voted -- they both represent California and they're introducing a bipartisan bill to extend these Obamacare premium tax credits for two years, that has been for the Democrats at least part of this debate.

Congressman Kiley, is there a sense of urgency among Republicans or at least enough Republicans to pass legislation to do something about keeping healthcare costs affordable for constituents?

REP. KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): I think there is, there's a lot of folks on our side of the aisle who are extremely concerned about the prospect of this massive increase in premiums for a lot of our constituents. And so you've had a number who have come out publicly and said that they want to see some form of temporary relief. And I think that the proposal that Congressman Liccardo and I are offering is a great compromise because it provides this temporary time limited extension, but it does so in a way that actually has reforms such that we don't increase the deficit in the process. TAPPER: And just to give an update on what's going on on the right side of your screen, folks at home, the rule has passed and now it is an open for debate. So, they're going to be debating this bill, this legislation for an hour and then there will be a vote on this legislation. It is expected to pass, although it's narrow, it's a narrow majority the Republicans have.

Back to this bipartisan legislation, Congressman Liccardo, walk us through the basic outline of your bill. Who would it affect and how?

REP. SAM LICCARDO (D-CA): Well, Jake, as Kevin described, this would extend the tax credits for two years. So, the 22 million Americans who would otherwise see their premiums double will at least have those concerns squarely addressed. But it finds savings in a couple different ways. We borrowed from both Republican and Democratic ideas, a bill from Senator Cassidy in the Senate that would help go at the very high reimbursements that insurance companies are getting from Medicare Advantage. We think a lot of upcoding, an awful lot of studies has been done that insurance companies are really gilding the lily from the taxpayers on upcoding.

And so getting at those abuses is critical and can save a lot of money, the Congressional Budget Office said at about 124 billion over 10 years. And then we're going to go after broker fraud as well with the proposal that came from a Democrat colleague, Deborah Ross.

TAPPER: Congressman Kiley, unlike other proposals, you include a plan to pay for this extension by reforming Medicare Advantage, by eliminating something called upcoding, which your colleague just referred to. Can you explain more about what that would work and what upcoding is?

KILEY: Yes. And, importantly, this reform is actually supported by the AARP, and it's estimated that this could save $120-plus billion over the course of ten years.

The basic idea is that with Medicare Advantage, the sickness of the patient is what determines the amount that the medic -- that the insurance company gets paid. And there's been a lot of abuse or inaccuracies in this process, such that the patient is initially classified in a way that doesn't reflect their actual diagnosis. And so that means excessive money goes from the public treasury to the insurance companies.

So, this is also a good answer for those who say they don't like the extension of the premiums because the tax credits, they go directly to the insurers. This sort of balances that out as well. In addition to, as we've been talking about, our other reforms, in addition to this, make this fully paid for over the course of the two year extension.

TAPPER: Congressman Liccardo, one of the talking points we often hear is that insurance premiums are going up because of undocumented immigrants.

[18:25:03]

What is the reality behind that claim?

LICCARDO: Well, undocumented immigrants cannot purchase insurance on the ACA exchanges. They never have been able to, they cannot do so now. So, that argument is obviously specious with regard to this particular issue.

Yes, in some states, there are public dollars that undocumented immigrants can take advantage of, but that has nothing to do with the extension of these ACA tax credit.

TAPPER: Congressman Kevin Kiley and Sam Liccardo, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

We're keeping an eye on Capitol Hill where the House of Representatives is now one step closer to reopening the government and ending the longest shutdown in the history of these United States.

Stick with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: We're closely watching the floor of the House of Representatives of members are now taking the very final step before voting to end this 43-day-long government shutdown, the longest in the history of these United States.

[18:30:04/]

We expect that final vote to come soon. We're going to continue to keep you updated.

Meanwhile, a shocking request from President Trump tops our World Lead. President Trump wrote a letter, a formal letter to the president of Israel, asking for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be pardoned in a domestic corruption trial.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond reports on Trump's unusual and repeated requests.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Mr. President, why don't you give him a pardon?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): What began as an astonishing request that the Israeli Parliament podium in October now inked onto formal White House letterhead, the president of the United States urging the Israeli president to fully pardon Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister. Writing, while I absolutely respect the independence of the Israeli justice system and its requirements, I believe that this case against Bibi is a political unjustified prosecution, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. Netanyahu, welcoming the incredible support, writing, as usual, you get right to the point and call it like it is.

Trump's attempt to interfere in a sovereign country's judicial system marks an extraordinary breach of diplomatic protocol, but it is also the culmination of Trump's frequent criticism of the case. He first began floating the idea of a pardon for Netanyahu in June, calling the case a ridiculous witch hunt against their great wartime prime minister.

TRUMP: You know, we'll be involved in that to help him out a little bit because I think it's very unfair.

DIAMOND: The Israeli Prime Minister has been on trial for more than five years. Amid a slew of delays, he only took the stand for the first time late last year, the first sitting prime minister to do so in Israel's history.

He's facing charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust in three separate cases. In one, he's accused of receiving cigars, champagne, and other expensive gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for political favors. In the other two, he is accused of discussing quid pro quo arrangements to receive more favorable coverage in Israeli media.

Netanyahu maintains his innocence and hasn't asked for a pardon. While the Israeli president does have the power to issue pardons, his office says that can only happen following a formal requests from the person seeking it.

TRUMP: It's a little risque and I'm bringing up a pretty sore subject in Israel, but the people were fantastic.

DIAMOND: By wading into one of Israel's most divisive issues, Trump is putting his own sky high approval among Israelis on the line.

In a country where the mere mention of Netanyahu's name --

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu --

DIAMOND: -- often triggers a charged reaction.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: And our thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that report.

A live look at the U.S. Capitol now where the House of Representatives is currently taking the very final steps before they vote to end the government shutdown. Republicans seem to think they have the votes to pass this legislation. How close might it be? Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

DIAMOND: In our Politics Lead, using the FBI's private jet during the government shutdown to visit his girlfriend, and fly to a Texas hunting resort called the Boondoggle Ranch, these are just some of the reasons why FBI Director Kash Patel is under intense scrutiny by officials within both the Justice Department and the White House, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The Journal writes, quote, the FBI director is required by law to take the bureau's private plane instead of commercial flights in order to have access to secure communications, unquote. If the travel is personal, the director is required to reimburse the government for the cost of a commercial flight, adding, quote, a spokesman for the bureau said the director has taken only about a dozen personal trips since assuming the role in February, and had taken steps to cut down on travel costs.

CNN has asked the White House for comment. They pointed to a statement from Karoline Leavitt in the Wall Street Journal saying Trump is, quote, very proud of the work the FBI is doing under Director Patel's leadership, unquote, adding that the president views Patel as a key player on his law and order team.

CNN's John Miller joins us. John, you are very familiar as a former FBI official with the inner workings of the FBI tell us your take on this Wall Street Journal report.

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, things that are in The Wall Street Journal report, like the FBI Director, Kash Patel, showing up at a meeting with British Intelligence colleagues at a hotel in the U.K. wearing a green hoodie and a trucker cap, these are things that break with FBI tradition.

As far as the plane goes, I mean, there's two issues there. One is the FBI director is not required by law to fly on government aircraft, but there is existing government policy from OMB in the executive branch that says certain officials, and the FBI directors, one of them should travel on planes with access to secure and classified communications because of their responsibilities, and the fact that they shouldn't be out of touch for a five or eight-hour flight.

The question is, would he be flying to wrestling matches, to his girlfriend's concerts, to the Boondoggle Ranch for four days on government aircraft, if it wasn't a Gulfstream five, that's even if he's paying the coach fare to reimburse the government.

So, there's a lot in there that affects the image of the bureau in the eyes of agents who haven't been paid for a while and in the eyes of the public about whether this is the right tone for an FBI director.

DIAMOND: How do these actions by Kash Patel impact the rank and file of the FBI? Is it demoralizing?

MILLER: Well, that and so much more.

[18:40:00]

I mean, for instance, the flying to see his girlfriend in concert, you know, something The Wall Street Journal did not report, I'm told by my sources, is that Alexis Wilkins, his girlfriend, the country singer, now has an FBI security detail. Now, we put that question to the FBI. In general, they don't answer questions about who receives protection or who doesn't, but the question is, is there a specific credible threat? She's not a spouse, she's not a government employee. And the fact that 30 agents that worked on cases, and they don't get to pick what cases they're worked on, whether it was January 6th cases, Trump cases have been fired, that puts a dent in morale.

Take a look at this letter from the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, where this was sent out yesterday to members of Congress talking about the firings. These are career public servants who followed the rules, did their jobs and told the truth. Now they're being punished for it. That is not leadership. That is fear and politics. That's by Mike Kortan, who is the head of the Washington branch of the Society of Former Agents.

Now, tomorrow is the Big G-Man dinner. That's their annual dinner where active agents and retired agents get together. And every time I've been to that dinner, the FBI director has been the keynote speaker. The FBI director, because of that atmosphere and those firings, is not expected.

DIAMOND: And we should note that Kash Patel in the past attacked then FBI Director Chris Wray for, quote, jetting off on our taxpayer dollars. So, he was critical of Wray doing the same thing with his family, not just to see his girlfriend.

John Miller, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

As the House is now one step closer to reopening the government with a final vote expected this evening, I'm going to be joined by New Jersey Governor-Elect and current Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:44]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: In our politics lead, right now in Washington, D.C., the last hurdle before House lawmakers vote on legislation that would end the longest ever federal government shutdown. The bill already passed by the Senate does not include what was at the heart of the Democrats' fight, an extension of the expiring Obamacare subsidies.

Democratic New Jersey Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill joins me now. And, of course, she was just elected to be governor of the Garden State.

Congratulations on your promotion, Congresswoman.

We should note, along with other notable Democrats, you won last week after campaigning to a large degree on the issue of affordability. Right now, Democrats are voting on a bill that does not extend Obamacare subsidies. So, health care costs, insurance costs are going to go up significantly for millions of Americans on the Obamacare subsidies, on the Obamacare exchanges.

How do you square what Democrats like yourself ran on what seems to be an important issue for Republicans to wake up and pay attention to if they want to keep their jobs next year, and what's playing out on the floor of the House right now? REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR-ELECT: Well, I think, you know, I'm going to continue the fight. To me, this is unacceptable. The people were pretty clear when they spoke in New Jersey that that they wanted somebody to fight for them. And so, I'm going to keep fighting for affordability, to drive down costs. I will keep fighting against all of the attacks coming from Washington.

And then, you know, we are going to address the address the key ways in which Trenton is not working for them either. But this is a travesty right now to continue to raise prices on people. This -- with this bill, we're going to see prices on the affordable care market go up by almost 175 percent. It's just harming families across the nation, and certainly in New Jersey.

TAPPER: The congressional budget office estimates that a six-week shutdown will reduce the country's economic growth by half from the previous quarter. So, there is the argument to be to you in terms of the pain of the families that rely on food stamps and the pain of those who have been furloughed and not paid for 43 days, not to mention the damage to the economy. How do you justify keeping the government shutdown one more day, given all this pain?

SHERRILL: There's no justification. It certainly was time for Republicans to come to the table. I think after last Tuesday, it was pretty clear what the American people wanted. Trump himself said he thought that keeping the government shut down as he did was to blame for Tuesday. And the real success of Democrats. And so, it was time to come to the table and negotiate and really fight hard for the American people and get some Affordable Care Act support, because these markets are going to be so very bad.

So, to kind of back away in the face of victory, to me, seemed like a really bad idea.

TAPPER: In a new memo, your campaign manager offers advice to Democrats on how to follow your lead going into 2026. And he wrote in part, quote, "Lan into a modern approach to campaign that competes everywhere for every voter with a message relentlessly focused on the issues voters care about," unquote.

Many of the notable victories last week, we should also note, belonged to candidates younger than me, like you, and like Abigail Spanberger and like Zohran Mamdani.

We also saw your colleague in the house, Nancy Pelosi, announced her retirement. You were outspoken a year ago and calling on then President Biden to step aside and not seek reelection. You were the ninth House Democrat to make that call.

Do you think it's time for other Democratic older lawmakers to think about making way for a new generation of leaders?

SHERRILL: Well, certainly, I think if people are standing in the way of fighting for the American people, it's time to consider stepping aside. I mean, right now, we have a crisis on our hands in so many different levels. And if you can't meet that with grit and determination, then it's time to step down. And so, as I look to the future, I look to this new generation of leaders that we are seeing step up in the Democratic Party that we saw on Tuesday, how compelling these leaders are to voters.

And it takes a lot of work and energy. I was speaking to thousands of voters about affordability and about what it was going to take for them to really be successful, about what it was going to take to grow opportunities.

[18:50:07]

And that's why we were able to communicate so effectively, to take bold action, to say, on day one, I'm declaring a state of emergency on utility costs. This isn't kind of the old ideas of, we're going to work on a 10-year plan. This is right now, at this moment, people want to see leadership that takes on the crisis and meets the moment. And that's what I want to see in the Democratic Party.

TAPPER: New Jersey Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, thank you so much and congratulations again.

SHERRILL: Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

TAPPER: We're keeping a close eye on the floor of the House of Representatives tonight, as lawmakers are approaching that final vote to reopen the government and the longest shutdown in U.S. history.

Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our national lead, my friend and CNN colleague Bianna Golodryga and Israeli journalist Yonit Levi teamed up to write a new young adult book called "Don't Feed the Lion".

[18:55:07]

It's a novel that tells the powerful story of three Chicago middle schoolers who grapple with speaking up when one of their favorite soccer stars makes an antisemitic remark. The novel tries to help kids tackle the ideas of hate and bullying, and the story gets rather intense when a swastika suddenly appears on a school locker.

Bianna Golodryga and Yoni Levi join me now. They're the authors of "Don't Feed the Lion".

Thanks so much for joining us.

So, Bianna, I know the answer to this question, but I'm going to ask you anyway because I want everyone else to know. What inspired you to write this book?

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CO-AUTHOR, "DON'T FEED THE LION": Well, Jake, it was really 2022 when my then 10-year-old son, who is a huge sports fan, was a fan of Kyrie Irving's, and we were going to a Brooklyn Nets game, and there had been a lot of uproar about some antisemitic posts that Kyrie Irving had put on X or Twitter at the time, and there was really no apology. There was really no repentance. He ultimately apologized and was suspended for a few games.

But my son didn't understand why. Why did he post that? What does it mean? Can I not go to these games? Does he hate us?

And I had no answer for him. So, I sort of brushed it aside and decided that id reach out to the school the next day to talk about what resources they had for Jewish students. This is a post George Floyd's murder and all of the social justice resources and attention and investments that were thankfully made for students to understand that they need to speak out against racism and all forms of hate. And yet, when I asked about antisemitism, the answer was, you know, we don't really have anything to address specifically for that age group. We wait for them to ask questions in school.

And I thought that just wasn't a realistic, scenario, to have a ten year old ask a question in front of their class about antisemitism. Yonit and I have known each other for many, many years. And then you know that that seed was planted to write the book.

And then when October 7th happened, Yonit and I were talking, and we both knew that, sadly, we'd probably see another spike in antisemitism. And we decided to write the book we couldn't find.

TAPPER: Yonit, tell us the origin of this -- the title of the book, "Don't Feed the Lion".

YONIT LEVI, CO-AUTHOR, "DON'T FEED THE LION": Well, so, you know, as Bianna mentioned, we were talking, I think every night after October 7th, and the sort of heartbreak of what happened on October 7th in Israel and then the sort of tsunami of antisemitism in the U.S. and, around the world.

And very soon after, Bianna wrote to me like, let's do something, let's write a book for children. It was actually on October 20th that she wrote that to me, and we started working on this project. It started like the heart of the story is the grandparents of these two protagonists, there's another protagonist, a kid who's also 13 years old, and the original title was actually, I think "I love you, Talia Kaplan," the story of the grandparents. And then at some point, our editor said to us, no 13-year-old boy would pick up a book with that title.

(LAUGHTER)

LEVI: So, we changed it to "Don't Feed the Lion". The origin is one of the sort of lions that the grandfather has, and it kind of means, you know, don't feed the monster, don't feed that kind of hatred, but do something good. When something like this happens to you.

And I think it kind of tells the story of how, you know, kids grapple with this, with this hatred. And I think in the book and perhaps also in reality, kids know the difference between right and wrong, sometimes more than adults do. TAPPER: So, I'm a little older than both of you. I did not experience

antisemitism at all growing up, and unfortunately, my kids cannot say the same thing.

Bianna, this is just the new reality in the United States and other parts of the world. What's the one thing you would like children to take away from this book?

GOLODRYGA: That there's a resource for both Jewish children and non- Jewish children. It's also important for their parents and teachers, for whatever reason, we don't have enough time in this show to talk about why so many adults think this is a very difficult, polarizing conversation to have, and so they tend to sweep it under the rug.

This book isn't for antisemites, this isn't for the Nick Fuenteses of the world. These are for people that you know, they don't condone antisemitism, but they're not addressing it head on. And I think that's sort of what's led to this, sadly, being an acceptable reality that, you know, a swastika here or there is covered up. Maybe they talk about it at school the next day and everyone moves on.

And this is a subject matter and an issue that needs to be addressed and needs to be condemned and needs to be spoken about, even some of the difficult conversations. The same way we talk about other forms of hate against other minorities as well.

TAPPER: Yeah, the book is a must, must read for your kids.

Bianna Golodryga, Yonit Levi, thank you so much. Best of luck with the book.

GOLODRYGA: Thanks, Jake. Thanks for the blurb.

TAPPER: And don't miss out on the Ninth Annual Homes For Our Troops celebrity auction, which helps build specially adapted custom homes for wounded veterans. Just a few of the items you can bid on this year on eBay. A guitar signed by Jon Bon Jovi. Tickets for a taping of "Real-time with Bill Maher", along with a meet and greet, a signed poster from the Superman movie, and so much more. You can find more information at ebay.com/HFOT. HFOT, Homes For Our Troops.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.