Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Sources: Trump Considering EPA Admin Lee Zeldin To Replace Bondi; Rep. Maxwell Frost, (D-FL), Is Interviewed About President Trump Fires Pam Bondi As Attorney General; Sources: Hegseth Asks Army Chief Of Staff Gen. Randy George To Retire; Trump: "Regime Change Was Not Our Goal"; Trump Targets Mail-In Voting With Executive Order; New Dash Cam Video Of Tiger Woods DUI Arrest. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 02, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thanks to my panel. And Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead."

And Jake, I just learned that you adopted a dog. Your family adopted a dog. Congrats.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: My son did a rescue. A rescue. I'll have -- I'll have more information when I'm allowed to share it. But he's --

BROWN: Breaking news.

TAPPER: -- a sweet boy. He's a hound dog rescued from a bear trap in West Virginia.

BROWN: Wow.

TAPPER: So, yes, we're really happy. We're lucky to have him. Thanks, Pamela.

BROWN: Absolutely. Have a great show.

TAPPER: We'll look for more in "The Arena" tomorrow.

BROWN: Sounds good.

[17:00:26]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Pam Bondi, you're fired. The Lead starts right now.

Sources telling CNN that the president had a tough conversation with now former Attorney General Pam Bondi just yesterday. And of course, today she's out. For law and justice lovers out there, though, don't get too excited. Part of the president's problem with her was that she was not successful enough in going after Trump's perceived enemies.

And Trump's crackdown on mail-in voting, hear from the head of one state election office vowing to legal action against the Trump administration. And the new body cam video showing the arrest of golf legend Tiger Woods. What he told deputies just moments before he was put in those platinum bracelets.

Welcome to The Lead and I'm Jake Tapper. Let's get right to the breaking news tonight. Pam Bondi fired as President Trump's U.S. attorney general. Another massive shakeup for the Trump administration as the president grapples with some of the lowest approval ratings of his presidency. His announcement calls Bondi a great American patriot and a loyal friend.

He adds that Bondi is moving into the private sector, though he does not specify where or what that job, that alleged job is. Unlike former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, who purportedly remains in Trump's administration. Noem and Bondi both serve Trump loyally, perhaps even to a fault. Both taking major heed over the Trump administration's handling of key issues to Trump's base. Just as the president's patience with both of these ladies wore thin.

For Bondi, sources tell us that the president's main problem with her has been her failure to successfully prosecute his perceived political enemies. The U.S. Justice Department had indicted former FBI Director James Comey and current New York Attorney General Letitia James, but both cases were tossed out. It has also been Bondi's handling, we're told, or rather mishandling of the Epstein files starting last February when she made this audacious claim on Fox.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: DOJ may be releasing the list of Jeffrey Epstein's clients. Will that really happen?

PAM BONDI, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's sitting on my desk right now to review.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Yes, that didn't happen. Bondi also invited a brigade of right wing influencers, shall we call them, to the White House to parade around binders titled the Epstein Files, Phase 1. They were full of already released materials.

All these moments spiraling into the fallout that resulted in the forced release of millions of Epstein documents. And Trump's administration earning a reputation for trying to hide information about this case that has a worldwide interest. Bondi is also facing a subpoena and the House Oversight Committee and their Epstein investigation. Bondi is expected to be deposed later this month. The committee says that Chairman James Comer plans to speak to Republican members and the Justice Department about the status of her subpoena and confer on next steps.

The firings of Bondi and Noem within days of each other come as President Trump is dealing with a major lack of public support overall and more specifically with his war against Iran. Both sit at just 33 percent approval in a CNN poll taken last week. That's, I guess, sweeping his immediate friends and family. He tried to change the tide with a hastily scheduled presidential address last night where he announced, frankly, nothing new. In fact, it appears to many that the U.S. is diving further into this conflict.

These are, frankly, the actions of a president who is struggling, struggling with the reality of his losses and his bad polling numbers and seemingly flailing as he tries to fix the problem by blaming loyal lieutenants at his side. Standing by for me right now, CNN Senior White House Correspondent Kristen Holmes, former Deputy Attorney General Tom Dupree, and former Trump White House attorney Jim Schultz. Thank you so much.

Kristen, let's start with you at the White House. What else do we know about how this firing unfolded?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, it was back in January that we first started hearing this drumbeat about Pam Bondi getting replaced for all the reasons that you mentioned, the Epstein files, President Trump thinking she wasn't moving fast enough on prosecuting his political enemies. But then it started to die down until Monday when we started hearing from allies almost consistently saying that President Trump was working the phones, that he was done with Attorney General Pam Bondi, that he was talking about who should replace her, culminating in this, quote, unquote, "tough conversation." That's how one source described it last night, in which President Trump essentially told Bondi that she wasn't long for that role as attorney general, talked about her likely being replaced and even floated some potential jobs for her. One source saying that judgeship was floated, others saying there was talk of her joining the administration in a separate capacity.

[17:05:23]

Now, President Trump at that point put out a statement. Statement, because the report started around this kind of questioning of her role, saying Attorney General Pam Bondi is a wonderful person and she's doing a great job. And I was told that President Trump himself was pushing that statement. He was telling his team to get that out there, which led many to believe that the firing might happen -- might not happen, excuse me. But today he did officially fire her.

He is replacing her for the time being with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche will be the acting attorney general while they look for a full time person. And of course, as you mentioned, this is now the second cabinet firing we've had in just last month after we saw a year of no firings. And of course that was intentional. Susie Wiles, the chief of staff. President Trump did not want this to look like President Trump's first term, which was a revolving door. Instead, they wanted this to look more consistent.

They obviously don't have that concern anymore.

TAPPER: Jim, this is the second firing in the span of just a few weeks from the second Trump administration. Does this say anything to you think about the way they're handling this current status when it comes to poor public approval ratings?

JIM SCHULTZ, CNN LEGAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I think in this particular case, especially all the things, all the laundry list of things, the Epstein parading around the binders, not, you know, the mistakes that were made early on, even in the signing of documents with respect to the Comey case. And then ultimately that kind of sophomore exchange that she had with the legislature in the hearings that were held. I think that ultimately -- and remember similar situation with Kristi Noem. You had a hearing that, you know, didn't go so well for Kristi Noem. President wasn't -- clearly wasn't happy with the results of that hearing.

She mentioned the president in that -- in that hearing as well. I think there's a lot of parallels here and it's not surprising because he's certainly becoming impatient on the process as it relates to some of these cases relating to his political enemies.

TAPPER: And Tom, Democrats want to move ahead with Bondi subpoena in the oversight investigation of Epstein. And in fact, it was Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who initiated the subpoena. Though she writes on X, quote, "My subpoena still stands. When the Oversight Committee moved to subpoena Bondi, I did it by name, not by or not as the sitting attorney general of the U.S." What do you make of all that?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: What I make of all of that is that they're not going to let Pam Bondi go that easily. To be sure, the fact she's no longer serving as the attorney general of the United States changes the calculus a bit if and when she goes to testify. But I think there's sufficient interest in Congress to hear what she has to say about the Epstein situation, about her handling of the materials, about the Justice Department's process of releasing the documents. So although she's no longer attorney General, my guess is she hasn't quite extricated herself from the controversies that she found herself embroiled in during her tenure.

TAPPER: And Jim, the person who's taking over the role on at least on an acting basis is Todd Blanche, Donald Trump's former personal attorney, the current deputy attorney general. But we're also told there are some other possibilities to become U.S. attorney general. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is said to be someone Trump's eyeing for the role permanently. What kind of leader do you think the Justice Department needs right now? And do either Blanche or Zeldin fit the bill?

SCHULTZ: So you've seen the trial balloon floated with former Congressman Lee Zeldin from New York, who's now EPA administration -- administrator. I think if you're looking for someone for that job who's going to immediately come in with credibility, someone like Jay Clayton, who is in the Southern District of New York, he's the U.S. attorney. There's no bigger stage other than the attorney general of the United States in terms of prosecutorial offices in the country than the Southern District of New York. He's a guy that the president respects. You know, the -- in the Southern District of New York, he's got the respect of the career prosecutors there.

He's a guy that's known to be measured. He's someone that's been that would likely push back on the president and give realistic expectations as to the cases. And you know, one thing you don't want to do, and I think a mistake -- a mistake that former Attorney General Bondi made, is that you don't want to over promise and underperform when with this president. And I think a lot of that happened there. I think Jay Clayton would be a good pick.

TAPPER: I'm not sure that the president wants those qualities you just mentioned. But I hear what you're saying.

Tom, what do you expect Pam Bondi's legacy at the Justice Department will be specifically among the career attorneys there?

DUPREE: Well, she caused a sea change, frankly, in the ranks of the career attorneys. From day one, it was clear that the political leadership of this Justice Department was going to take a very different approach than its predecessors. And so what we saw really throughout the department as a whole, lying prosecutors, FBI, very significant reduction in force. They would replace these people with people who they viewed as more supportive of the president's agenda.

[17:10:17]

Constitutionally, the president has total right to do that. But it does come at a cost. It comes at the cost of institutional expertise. And it also comes across, I think, with a cost of just potentially a lack of faith in the American public that you have Justice Department officials executing their duties in a neutral, impartial and nonpartisan way. So I do think that if you ask from the perspective of just line attorneys and the Justice Department, I suspect they will say that will be one of the legacies that Pam Bondi leaves behind.

TAPPER: All right, Tom Dupree, Jim Schultz, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

The reaction from Bondi's removal has been pouring including from survivors of Epstein's hideous sex trafficking ring. One of them, Annie Farmer released a statement that reads in part, quote, "This is not about a single person, is about government and judicial system that repeatedly failed Epstein survivors. Regardless of who holds power, survivors deserve accountability, transparency, protection from retaliation and assurance that those who enabled Epstein, Maxwell and others will be investigated and if appropriate, prosecuted." Unquote.

Here with me to discuss is Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost from Florida. He's a member of the House Oversight Committee.

You're not the only millennial in Congress anymore, are you?

REP. MAXWELL FROST (D-FL): Gen Z.

TAPPER: Gen Z. I'm sorry.

FROST: Still I am. Hopefully that changes.

TAPPER: You're the only. Are you that young? You're Gen Z. I --

FROST: Yes, yes, yes.

TAPPER: -- keep forgetting that. Are you -- you still are the only Gen Z. FROST: Still, but hopefully that changes.

TAPPER: Do you get offended when people say Zoomer? We have the --

FROST: Zoomer? No, no, I think it's a cool.

TAPPER: OK.

FROST: Yes, cool.

TAPPER: All right, Congressman, back to more serious matters. All right. What do you make of the decision to remove Bondi?

FROST: Well, number one, I'm happy that she's been fired. Many of us have been calling for either her impeachment, resignation or firing for many months for many different reasons. Number one, the weaponization of the Department of Justice to go after Donald Trump's political rivals. But also one that's very paramount for us, which is her slow rolling of the release of the Epstein files. She's obviously been engaged in a cover up and trying to cover for President Trump.

Obviously it wasn't enough or to his liking. But we're happy to see her fired. But I think it's important that the president understand and supporters of his understand that this doesn't stop the Epstein investigation. This doesn't mean she's not going to have to testify in front of us in a closed door deposition under oath. We're still continuing with that full speed ahead. TAPPER: So your -- the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight

Committee says "Bondi has been leading a White House cover-up of the Epstein files. She's weaponized the Department of Justice to protect Donald Trump and put survivors in harm's way by exposing their identity. She will not escape accountability, remains legally obligated to appear before committing a under oath." Do you have any idea what the Republican position on this is? It seems as though Mace is on board with you guys, the Democrats.

FROST: Yes. We've heard from Mace. We'll have to see what some of the other Republicans that voted with us. We got to remember that subpoena was a bipartisan subpoena with a few Republican members. My hope is that we'll stick to it.

Just because her employment status changed doesn't mean she automatically forgets everything that she did to cover up on the Epstein files and forgets everything she was told to do. So it's still important that she come and speak to us. This isn't about like Democrats versus Republicans or anything like that. It's about transparency on this very important investigation. So her employment status is irrelevant.

It doesn't matter if she goes to work at a restaurant next or she's an attorney or if she's not going to do anything, that subpoena still stands.

TAPPER: A restaurant?

FROST: No. I don't know. We'll see what she does next. I don't know where to go with. TAPPER: I'm not sure -- I'm not sure she's going to work at a

restaurant. Well, let me ask you one of the things that you said you objected to and also Garcia, Congressman Garcia, is the politicization, like going -- using the Justice Department to go after the president's perceived enemies?

FROST: Yes.

TAPPER: Apparently our reporting suggests in the reporting of others that one of the problems the president had with her, if not his chief problem with her, is that she wasn't successful enough at that. It's not -- I mean, again, it's a feature, not a bug. They -- she -- he wants --

FROST: Yes.

TAPPER: -- more of it. Do you --

FROST: Yes.

TAPPER: -- think Blanche or Zeldin would better? FROST: No, because she did go after political rivals. It's not about

that necessarily. It's about the fact that it wasn't successful. Why wasn't it successful? Because these were baseless accusations and baseless investigations that they push forward.

So it doesn't matter who was sitting in that chair. They were always going to get thrown out. And it's going to be the same thing with whoever he puts in that seat. And again, I think it's important to remember he's looking for someone who's going to protect him the most and work to go after his political rivals. And so that's why we're hearing people on this list are folks that he's most comfortable with taking that and moving forward, people who would be OK with doing something that's outside of the bounds of the law for him.

TAPPER: You just heard Jim Schultz, who used to work for Trump, say that he thinks a great replacement would be Jay Clayton, the current U.S. attorney of the Southern District of New York. Would you -- what do you think of that pick?

FROST: I don't know much about him. I have to look into it. I was listening to that interview. It sounds like he would be someone that a lot of the career officials would respect. That sounds like someone Donald Trump wouldn't want to be in that position.

He wants someone who's going to be a political lap dog for him. And again, if he says to do something that's outside the bounds of the law, something that's illegal, that they would do it. This guy, I don't know much about him, sounds like someone who might not do something like that. So I'm unsure that he moved forward. But if he told Donald Trump behind closed doors that he'd do it, maybe he's the guy.

[17:15:12]

TAPPER: All right. Congressman Maxwell Frost, thanks so much. Good to see you.

FROST: Thanks.

TAPPER: Much more reaction to the Bondi firing ahead. We're also tracking a dramatic day in the Iran war. The U.S. and Israel blew up a key Iranian bridge in a deadly strike. President Trump posted video of it vowing much more to follow. What will follow what?

What does that mean? He's also promising to wind down the war in two to three weeks. And we're going to take you to space. A live look at the Orion space capsule. There is breaking news with the Artemis II mission.

The clearance given just moments ago that marks a major milestone in this historic mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Breaking news in our politics lead, sources are telling CNN that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has asked Army Chief of Staff General Randy George, widely respected, long serving American patriot, to retire immediately. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell just tweeted, quote, "The Department of War is grateful for General George's decades of service to our nation. We wish him well in his retirement," unquote. The Army Chief of Staff role typically serves a four-year term. George was nominated by President Joe Biden, confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2023 just three years ago.

[17:20:07]

In our world lead, the markets were watching Trump's primetime address last night and apparently they didn't see anything to erase their fears. Oil prices soared past $110 per barrel. This morning, stocks opened in a slump, though they closed relatively flat last hour. The average price for gas rose again today. It was $4.02 a few days ago.

Now it's $4.08 per gallon. That's up 2 cents in just one day. Basically Trump's address revealed that nothing that he hasn't already said out loud or on Truth Social in recent days. And he of course, offered no clear exit strategy and no solution to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran, which has choked off about one fifth of the global oil supply. Trump told the American people that the conflict is, quote, "nearing completion," while also signaling that the U.S. is prepared to intensify its military response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong. Yet if during this period of time, no deal is made, we have our eyes on key targets. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously.

TAPPER: Today on Truth Social, the president posted, quote, "The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again. Much more to follow. It is time for Iran to make a deal before it is too late and there is nothing left of what still could become a great country," unquote. Local media in Iran says the strike killed two people. Let's discuss all of this with Richard Haass, the former president of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Richard, good to see you. So, first on the breaking news, sources confirming that the Secretary of Defense asked the U.S. Army's Chief of Staff, Randy George, General Randy George, to retire in the middle of a war before his natural four-year term would be over. What's your reaction?

RICHARD HAASS, FORMER SPECIAL ENVOY FOR NORTHERN IRELAND: Look, it's disappointing. Randy George is a good, good man, really professional soldier. I got to know him when he was a military fellow during my years at the Council on Foreign Relations. And to have this kind of turbulence, this is not a one off. We've had extraordinary turbulence at the highest level of the U.S. military.

It's hard to avoid, Jake, the conclusion that all sorts of politics are being injected into military selection, promotion and also early retirement. And that's never a good sign. I expect that in other countries, not in this one.

This is the most professional, successful institution, one could argue, in this country, and we're in the process of changing that for the worse.

TAPPER: Yes. General George I've known for more than a decade, just as a reporter, he's a great leader, widely respected, a true American patriot. It's odd to see this happen.

Let's talk about the president's speech last night. Your take was that Trump neither escalated nor de-escalated. You think he punted, So why did he give prime time address?

HAASS: A two word answer would be beats me. So I worked at the White House, as you know, for four years when -- for George Bush the senior, the idea that you would ask for 20 minutes of prime time to the American people and not advance the policy, essentially, again, punt whatever word you want to use, but neither embrace escalation nor exit, I was genuinely surprised. That didn't occur to me.

And when I was speculating about what the president would say, the idea that he would essentially avoid saying anything new in the way of policy, that wasn't on my bingo card.

TAPPER: French President Emmanuel Macron said it's unrealistic for the president -- President Trump, to urge other countries to help open the Strait of Hormuz. But do you think at a certain point other countries might be forced to contend with this militarily?

HAASS: I think it is in their interest to get involved. One locally they have interests, direct and indirect, the impact on the world economy. Also, I do think that Europeans have, in principle, an interest in trying to work with us on matters of concern, even though it's out of NATO's area of operations. And I would argue, and there was a meeting the British hosted today for many Europeans, there's things they could do both on the diplomatic side to perhaps come up with a new authority for operating the Strait of Hormuz. And then there's a whole range of military possibilities.

You don't have to seize Kharg Island to potentially make a difference. So I would hope the European leaders keep an open mind about what they might do.

TAPPER: There is always the possibility that the president will just declare victory in two or three weeks and then leave with Iran still holding the Strait of Hormuz hostage. But last night the president said, quote, "When this conflict is over, the strait will open up naturally," unquote. Is that realistic at all?

HAASS: That was the one thing that genuinely surprised me in last night's speech. I'm not sure it opens up naturally or unnaturally. I don't see it opening by itself. Iran has discovered that it has an awful lot of leverage through the control of the strait. So again, I think there has to be a mix of diplomatic pressures and incentives and potentially military.

[17:25:12]

I, as you probably know, have advocated a blockade in the Gulf of Oman, if that's what it takes to essentially tell the Iranians either the strait's going to be open for everyone or close to everyone, including you. But the idea that it's going to somehow resolve itself by itself, naturally, that seems to me, shall we say, more wishful thinking than strategy.

TAPPER: The president also said last night that he threatened to send Iran back to the Stone Ages by bombing them back to the Stone Ages. It's a phrase, and Hegseth repeated on Twitter like a hype man. We should note that 90 million people live in Iran, most of them, if not most of them, the vast majority of them, in fact, you know, being held hostage by this regime. What do you think they think when they hear that the president is threatening to bomb the country back to the Stone Age?

HAASS: Well, we're going to, you know, lose the Iranian population. I think they began this war hoping that regime change was in their future. And I think what we're doing through threats like that or hitting Iranian universities, we're going to lose the hearts and minds there.

Just as important, Jake, who are we kidding? If were to start attacking power plants in Iran or their energy infrastructure, you know what they would do. They would retaliate in kind against their neighbors, and they would attack power plants, refineries, perhaps water desalinization centers. This would be a fiasco, just a calamity for a part of the world that's central to the operations of the global economy. This idea that we're going to threaten or worse yet, bomb Iran to where we want to get them, you would have thought that a month of war should have taught us that that's not going to happen.

TAPPER: Richard Haass, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate it.

When this U.S. -- when the US first started this war, many Iranians were optimistic of the restrictive dictatorship days in Iran finally ending. But we're more than a month into the war. How are Iranians feeling now? I'm going to ask an Iranian-American who had almost been assassinated by the old regime. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:31:26]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Continuing with our World Lead, that was President Trump back on day one, February 28th, of the U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran. And here he is last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Regime change was not our goal. We never said regime change. But regime change has occurred because of all of their original leaders' death. They're all dead. The new group is less radical and much more reasonable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Less radical and much more reasonable, he says. With us now, Iranian activist and journalist, Masih Alinejad. Masih, always great to have you. You posted on social media, "Heartbreaking. This morning, right after President Trump's speech, the Iranian regime moved fast and hanged an 18-year-old protester. Yes, Mr. President, there are no less radical leaders in Iran." Tell us more. How do you see the situation? Has there been regime change?

MASIH ALINEJAD, IRANIAN JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST: Jake, you've seen me going everywhere and saying that I sacrificed my life to be the voice of Iranians. So, now, 90 million of Iranians, they are in dark. We barely hear from Iranians inside. Those have Starlink, barely. But those people who have welcomed targeted military strike against their killers are now worried when they keep hearing about regime change.

Yes, I have to say that directly to President Trump. That the reasonable leaders that you think they remain right now and you think the United States can negotiate with them are these people who are now right and like ready to turn the mass arrests to mass executions. Because it is the right of United States to say that we want to have diplomacy, but they cannot find less radical leaders in Iran.

Basically, these are the people like Ghalibaf, Zarif, every single member of Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Khamenei, every single leader from reformist to conservative, they are the -- you know, their mindset are exactly like the Stone Age mindset. So, if President Trump is saying that he wants to take Iran to Stone Age, I'm here to tell you that you don't need to do that because the Islamic Republic already did that.

TAPPER: Well, let me ask you, Masih, because --

ALINEJAD: So, no, I have to talk about the executions.

TAPPER: OK.

ALINEJAD: This person, this person who was hanged, he was only 18 years old. Jake, I mean, Hussein was 18 years old when he took to the street and it was not -- he was not a criminal. He took to the street and he was hopeful because he heard President Trump saying that take to the street, help is on its way. So, he was only one-year-old when President Obama was in power. 2009 Green Movement happened.

And I remember President Obama did a mistake. Instead of supporting the people of Iran who were naming him that time, he decided to negotiate with the Islamic Republic. And it took him a decade to say it was a mistake. I hope President Trump do not -- does not say -- do the same mistake negotiating with Stone Age mindset government.

[17:35:05]

You see that I lost my words because I couldn't sleep. I have been trying to save the lives of these people who are on their death row.

TAPPER: Yes. So, Masih, let me ask you. When President Trump says he threatens to bomb the country back to the Stone Age, how do you take that? Because he's talking about bombing Iran into the Stone Age. Obviously, the enemy is the regime, not the Iranian people. But what was your response?

ALINEJAD: Heartbroken. You know, I'm being very honest. I don't worship politicians. I make them accountable. And when he did the right thing, finishing appeasement, targeting calculated strategic military strike against Ali Khamenei, I welcome that alongside millions of Iranians. And now, when he says that he wants to take Iran back to Stone Age, it's very clear because Islamic Republic is not Iran. And I'm actually, I want to say to President Trump, when you say there are less radical leaders, you want to negotiate with them, they are exactly -- their mindset is from Stone Age.

Like Ghalibaf, he was in charge of bittening of his students. He was the architect of, you know, the ordering mass killing of his students.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALINEJAD: The uprising happened in the streets with empty hands. Ghalibaf and Mojtaba and other high-ranking members of revolution. Mohseni-Eje'i is in power. He is the one ordering massacre.

TAPPER: Yes. ALINEJAD: Why don't President Trump target Mohseni-Eje'i? Why don't he target Salavati who ordered mass executions? Why Iranians infrastructure? Because the people of Iran is saying that clearly, that if you don't change this regime, they will use diplomacy. They will buy time and they will take revenge, not only to their own people, but also to the people in the Persian Gulf countries, Arab countries. Also, they will rebuild their machinery, weapons and terror to take revenge of Americans everywhere.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALINEJAD: So that's why I am very clear. The Islamic Republic is not Iran. If it was Iranians, believe me, the vast majority of Iranians will negotiate with the United States because we don't want military weapons, nuclear weapons. We don't want to have ballistic missiles.

TAPPER: Yes.

ALINEJAD: We don't want to threat the neighbors. We don't want to have proxies like Hamas, Houthi, Hezbollah. These are the people of Iran. That's the Islamic Republic --

TAPPER: Right.

ALINEJAD: -- who do not want to negotiate with the United States of America. And we need to finish the job by ending Islamic Republic, not Iran.

TAPPER: Masih Alinejad, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

So who is allowed to get a mail-in ballot to vote? My next guest says President Trump's latest executive order cracking down on that list of voter rolls is an attempt to take power from Congress and state election offices, and he's threatening legal action to challenge it. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:13]

TAPPER: And we're back with the Law and Justice Lead. In the breaking news, President Trump firing Attorney General Pam Bondi today. Let's bring in Arizona's Democratic Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes. Secretary Fontes, what's your reaction to the firing? Did you have any interactions with Bondi?

ADRIAN FONTES (D-AZ), SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, she sued me because I wouldn't follow her instructions to break the law. She wanted me to turn over confidential voter information which is a violation of State Statute and the Federal Privacy Act of 1974. That lawsuit is still pending. But as far as Ms. Bondi is concerned, good riddance.

TAPPER: What are your feelings about the acting Attorney General? Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. President Trump wants him to run the Justice Department in the interim. FONTES: Well, I don't know Mr. Blanche. I really haven't paid a lot of attention to the shenanigans of this administration, outside of the areas that we've had to deal with. But, you know, like they say out here, God willing and the creek don't rise. This one will be better than the last one.

TAPPER: Two days ago, the President signed an executive order targeting mail-in voting. Among other actions, it directs the Department of Homeland Security to use various federal databases, including Social Security, to assemble a list of adult citizens that states can compare to their voter rolls. The President is also instructing the U.S. Postal Service to determine who should and should not receive a mail-in ballot. You have promised Arizona will challenge this in court.

It looks like you're going to have plenty of company, Democratic congressional leaders, as well as two separate coalitions of voter advocacy groups filed lawsuits today. What are your objections to this order?

FONTES: Well, this order essentially means that the President wants to pick his own voters. And that's not how this is supposed to work. The Constitution is very clear in Article 1, Section 4, that the legislatures of the various states are responsible for establishing the time, place, and manner of elections. And if not them, then the Congress can make rules as well. Nowhere does the Constitution indicate that the chief executive has any power to do this.

And the courts have already ruled on this based on previous executive orders that he's issued. But the larger question here I think all Americans should be concerned with is the accumulation of data as attached to voter data, which in most states means they know what your voter registration is. And given that we're talking about Social Security Administration, we're talking about Homeland Security, my worry is that this big, giant federal database is going to be able to cut off your banking, cut off your insurance, make it incapable for you to do all of the things that you need to do just because Donald Trump might not agree with your politics. And that's the real potential danger here aside from the other basic privacy violations.

[17:45:10]

TAPPER: You told "The New York Times" that Arizona's elections, which do heavily rely on mail-in ballots, are in good shape in your view. And you think the greatest threat to American elections is Donald Trump lying about elections. Are you worried at all about this year's midterm elections? The primaries in Arizona, we should note for our viewers, are in late July.

FONTES: Yes, I'm worried that these lies are going to continue to be promoted by the sycophants of Donald Trump. Because leadership matters in this country. And I think that's one of the things that some of these folks, they're kind of gaming through this. And I see a lot of politicians in this country sort of making the mouth noise that Donald Trump is asking them to make, but kind of not really taking it seriously on the backside. That's not courage. That's cowardice. And everybody needs to step up.

There's another really important piece of this, too. It's not politicians that run our elections. It's people. It's American people who do the polling places. They run the warehouses. They're the folks that help Americans cast their ballots. They're the ones that are doing the tabulation. And when Donald Trump lies about American elections, he's lying about the American people. And I resent that more than anything else.

TAPPER: So states, according to the Constitution, have the wherewithal and the power to decide how you do elections. I just have to say, as somebody who covers elections, your state takes a long time to count all your ballots. You have a lot of mail-in ballots. Is there any way that the process could be improved and sped up?

FONTES: Well, respectfully, Jake, that's a perpetuation of the mythology that election night has results. Election night only has network predictions. Actual results come at the end of all official tabulation of ballots. It takes Florida longer than Arizona. It takes Utah longer than Arizona. In fact, Arizona comes in pretty close to the middle as far as the speed with which we finally get to our tabulations.

And until folks start talking about election night network predictions for what they are and stop confusing them with actual results, then we can get to the truth of the conversation the way it should be. And that's the real thing that we need to be concerned with. And most Arizona's recent studies agree they'd rather have it accurate than fast. And I think most Americans would agree with that as well.

TAPPER: You don't think there's anything your state could do to improve it or speed it up?

FONTES: Yes, there's plenty of things we can do to improve it and speed it up. And that's going to cost a hell of a lot of money that Arizona taxpayers might want to spend. But the legislature certainly doesn't want to help us administer our elections better. But the reality is the question of speed is a question of storytelling. And, Jake, you know as well as anybody else, until we clarify the notion that election night does not give you results, it only gives you network predictions. The results come later. Until we're clear on that, this discussion is going to keep being bogged down in the mire of inaccurate storytelling.

TAPPER: I'm not disputing what you're saying. I'm just saying it does take a long time for the results to come in from California and Arizona. And anyway, I hear what you're saying, but --

FONTES: It takes a -- and, you know, Jake, do we want to get it? Do we want to get it right or do we want to get it fast?

TAPPER: You want to get it right.

FONTES: In a world now that's instant gratification. We want to get it right. So let the officials at the counties who are doing their job do their job. They do a damn good job and they will continue to do a good job. And it's unfair to them, particularly when they are so underfunded and understaffed, to levy unrealistic expectations onto them. They've been doing great work for a long time.

I have an enormous amount of confidence in the elections officials in Arizona and other states. And I'm not so quick to throw them under the bus just because some folks are impatient about when the results come in. They'll come in when they come in. We will have a peaceful transfer of power in this country. But we can't just go on these extra quick cycles just because some folks want to want to tell their stories quicker. We have to let the folks that are doing the job well do the job well.

Saying it any other way really helps to undermine the confidence that we should have in those regular everyday Americans who are actually tabulating these ballots.

TAPPER: I agree with what you're saying about the excellent work of the of the elections workers. And it sounds like I should be asking these questions of the legislature for underfunding what needs to be done. I appreciate it. Arizona's Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes. Thank you so much.

FONTES: Thank you.

[17:49:49]

TAPPER: Ahead, the new dash cam video that shows the very moments that led to the DUI arrest of golf legend Tiger Woods.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our Sports Lead now, CNN's Isabel Rosales, has the new body cam footage showing last week's arrest of golf legend Tiger Woods. Mr. Woods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Woods. Mr. Woods, I just keep you down here with us, please.

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Yes, I was just talking to the President.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Golf legend Tiger Woods tells a deputy he's just ended a phone call with President Trump shortly before what would be his DUI arrest. A scene for the first time in new body camera video released by a Florida sheriff's office.

WOODS: I looked down at my phone, and all of a sudden, boom.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to take a look at you.

WOODS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this comfortable for you? WOODS: Yes, yes/

ROSALES (voice-over): He has since pleaded not guilty and has demanded a jury trial.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How much have you had to drink today?

WOODS: None.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: None. Do you take any medication?

WOODS: I take a few, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's a few?

ROSALES (voice-over): Video shows deputies questioning Woods in an arrest report noting several signs of impairment, like extremely dilated pupils, bloodshot eyes, and lethargic movements.

[17:55:06]

WOODS: Motrin, ibuprofen, and what do you call it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you take all of them today?

WOODS: Yes.

ROSALES (voice-over): Part of the golf star's response, redacted by the sheriff's office. Deputies allow Woods to perform the field sobriety test sitting down on the bumper of a cruiser because of his physical limitations. Noticing his limping and stumbling, the 82-time PGA Tour winner tells deputies he had seven back surgeries and more than 20 operations on his leg, according to the arrest report.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't move your head, do you understand?

WOODS: You got it.

ROSALES (voice-over): During this hand coordination test near the golf legend's Florida house, he's told to shut his eyes, stack his fists, clap, and count. But the arrest report shows he failed to follow instructions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Place them behind your back. There you go. So at this time, I do believe your normal faculties are impaired, OK? And you are under the unknown substance, OK. So at this time, you are under arrest for DUI, yes, sir.

ROSALES (voice-over): During a pat-down, deputies find two pills inside his pant pocket, later determined by law enforcement to be the prescription painkiller, hydrocodone.

WOODS: That's a narco.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's a narco?

WOODS: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

ROSALES (voice-over): A deputy puts the pills away into a plastic evidence bag. After his arrest, video from the back of the sheriff's cruiser shows him cuffed and leaning back, eyes closed. And on Thursday, a Florida judge granted a request from his attorney to let Woods travel out of the United States in order to attend comprehensive inpatient treatment. In a statement, the 15-time major winner said he is stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment, saying, "This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Our thanks to Isabel Rosales for that story. You heard Woods there say he had been on the phone with President Trump. CNN reached out to the White House about that. We have not yet heard back.

Live images from space, ahead the major hurdle just cleared for the Artemis II crew and its lunar mission.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)