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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Melania Trump Calls On Congress To Hold Hearing For Epstein Victims; Rep. Josh Gottheimer, (D-NJ), Is Interviewed About House GOP Ignores Dem Attempt To Bring Up War Powers Measure; The DOJ Is Investigating The NFL's Online Streaming Model; Husband Arrested After Wife's Disappearance In Bahamas; Uncover Dangers Of Sites Where Teens Often Obsess About School Shooting. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired April 09, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:30]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks to my panel. Thanks to those at home for watching as well. But of course, don't go anywhere because as you can see, Phil Mattingly is standing by for "The Lead."

Hi, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kasie. Thanks so much. We'll look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

HUNT: Thanks.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First Lady Melania Trump talk about making a statement. The Lead starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: I am not Epstein's victim. I'm not a witness or a name witness in connection with any of Epstein's crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: A surprise statement from the first lady saying the lies about her and Epstein must end. But why is she making this statement now? And the request she has for Congress. Plus, Lebanon bombarded a series of fresh strikes from Israel as President Trump urges the Israeli prime minister to be more low key. Could Benjamin Netanyahu jeopardize the peace talks set to start in just days?

And is the NFL forcing you to pay too much to watch the games? The source says a new federal investigation nation is tackling that very question.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper. We start with our breaking news in our law and justice lead. A rare and very unexpected on camera statement today from First Lady Melania Trump distancing herself from dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The lies linking me with the disgraceful Jeffrey Epstein need to end today. I never been friends with Epstein. Donald and I were invited to the same parties as Epstein from time to time since overlapping in social circles is common in New York City and Palm Beach. To be clear, I never had a relationship with Epstein or his accomplice Maxwell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The first lady then called on Congress to take more action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I call on Congress to provide the women who have been victimized by Epstein with a public hearing specifically centered around the survivors. Give these victims their opportunity to testify under oath in front of Congress with the power of sworn testimony.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now, it is not clear why the first lady decided to make this statement. Now, she did specifically address one e-mail she sent to Maxwell in 2002, which the Justice Department released in January as part of the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Now that e-mail reads quote, "Dear G, how are you? Nice story about JE in New York Mag. You look great on the picture.

I know you are very busy flying all over the world. How was Palm Beach? I cannot wait to go down. Give me a call when you are back in NY. Have a great time.

Love Melania."

Now the first lady said the e-mail was quote, "casual correspondence amounting to nothing more than a trivial note."

Well, joining me now to try and figure all this out, CNN's Betsy Klein and MJ Lee. And Betsy, I want to start with you because I still keep a fairly close eye on pool reports and what's expected schedule wise from the White House on a day to day basis, this seemed to come kind of out of nowhere. Take us inside how this all came about.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, yesterday we got an advisory from the office of the first lady saying that the first lady was going to make a statement at 2:30 today. It did not provide any details on the substance, the topic, anything like that. And going in, none of us knew what this is going to be about. And that just underscores First Lady Melania Trump is incredibly independent. She does things her way. She also keeps a very tight circle of aides and advisors. But complete silence as she walked into the White House cross hall to give this statement. The optics of that very official statement setting quite notable there. Now the first lady has been very litigious on this issue in the past, but she had not addressed it publicly in remarks. She ignored a shouted question on the issue as recently as February, but she emphatically stated she was not Epstein's victim.

She had no knowledge, in her words, of his crimes. Their connection she said was purely social.

[17:05:03]

What's most notable here however, Phil, is that she is directly undercutting the president and some of his top lieutenants on this Epstein issue. Melania Trump showing her independent streak as she calls for public hearings in Congress and transparency. This is something that President Trump and former Attorney General Pamela Bondi have actively sought to tamp down.

The president repeatedly, publicly saying the country is ready to move on. And of course, there was that very notable moment at a hearing back in February when Bondi was asked to turn around and address the survivors and declined to do so. Now, one source familiar with the matter says that President Trump did get a heads up that this was coming. However, the President got off the phone a few moments ago with a reporter for MS NOW and said he didn't know anything about this. Now, as his team is trying to shift momentum away from the Epstein issue, this is clearly going to add more questions to that, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes, no doubt about it.

And MJ, the first lady called on Congress to create a space for Epstein's victims to testify. You've been speaking with many Epstein survivors. Some tell you they were caught off guard by this.

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they were very surprised. They some of them weren't even aware that the first lady had spoken about this issue. They were wondering, was there some news story that had broken about the first lady and Epstein? And, you know, there are many people, Phil, that these survivors talk about, wanting to hear more from about Epstein. And Melania Trump, frankly, wasn't at the top of that list.

So all of this was really puzzling to the people finding out that she had spoken. Clearly there were a few things that she really wanted to do here with these public remarks. She wanted to minimize her relationship with Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. She wanted to deny having had any knowledge of the criminal activities of Epstein. She also wanted to take the moment to acknowledge the victims, which, you know, far too often still doesn't happen whenever discussions are happening about Epstein.

I do want to zero in on on the part of Melania Trump's speech that you mentioned, where she called for a public hearing where survivors would speak about their experience. She said their testimony should be permanently entered into Congressional record. Then and only then will we have the truth. This is being seen as highly problematic for the survivors that I have been in touch with. They think that this is another example of the burden being put on the survivors to get to the bottom of what happened with Epstein when they think there are so many things that law enforcement and the government have failed to do so far.

Just a few things on the top of that list, the millions of files that have not been released so far by the DOJ, the Epstein files. They think many more people should be investigated, should be deposed. They think frankly, many investigations should be open into various entities and people who might have had information about Epstein. As a reminder, Ghislaine Maxwell is the only person in the U.S. who has been prosecuted for their actions related to Epstein. So I don't know that it's necessarily a questioning of her intentions, but there certainly is a concern right now about what might come from these public remarks.

MATTINGLY: Super important point coming from, as you have always noted in your reporting, the most important group to listen to throughout this entire process. Betsy Klein over at the White House, MJ Lee here on set, thanks guys so much.

Well, joining me now is Stephanie Grisham. She was the first lady's chief of staff and press secretary during President Trump's first term.

Stephanie, really appreciate you joining. Just before the statement, the White House being very tight lipped about what this was all about. I guess, I guess I'd start with where did this come from in your sense of things?

We're trying to -- I think we might have lost contact with Stephanie. So we're going to keep trying to see if we can work through that real quick.

One of the things that I think people are trying to figure out, I think this was the important point made by both Betsy and MJ is that there are clearly still a number of questions that are outstanding at this point in time. Obviously Congress has been working on this, but the story itself, which the president and his team had been really working hard and almost desperate to get off the front pages clearly had been off the front pages for a very long period of time. Now this kind of being thrust back into the center of things, a lot of questions about the timing, the why and the intent, we'll see as we continue to report this out over the course of the coming hours.

Well, later we will speak with an Epstein survivor as the first lady calls on Congress to allow them a moment for sworn public testimony.

But first, President Trump's ceasefire with Iran in place but not in Lebanon where Israel launched a new wave of strikes. Could Israel's instance on targeting the -- insistence on targeting the Iranian backed militia Hezbollah get in the way of the talks that are set for this weekend? What more next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:13:51]

MATTINGLY: We're back with more on our law and justice lead, First Lady Melania Trump's rare statement distancing herself from Jeffrey Epstein and calling on Congress to allow Epstein victims to testify under oath. Joining me now, Stephanie Grisham. She was the first lady's chief of staff and press secretary during President Trump's first term.

I think the thing that honestly, I don't really understand why this happened today. And so that would be my first question to you is no one seemed to know it was coming. It seems to be a month and a half plus removed from when this was really front and center of things. What's your sense of the why here?

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF FOR MELANIA TRUMP: You know, I've got a couple of thoughts. Either, you know, there -- her press shop has been getting inquiries and she's trying to head off a story, or her press shop has been getting inquiries and she just kind of got sick of all the nonsense. She can go so far and then she gets really tired of being interjected into some of her husband's shadier areas of life and then -- and then she will speak out. So, you know, I said it today on X and I want to say it again, kudos to her for speaking out and putting those victims front and center.

[17:15:00]

MATTINGLY: You know, the first lady's known for when she does speak out, she's willing to make bold statements. You know, you worked for her when she wore, of course, the jacket that everybody remembers the I really don't care. Do -- you know her well, the decision to come forward now and speak, you gave a good kind of run through of how maybe she thinks through things or what was happening at the time. Are you surprised that it happened now and not earlier on in this process?

GRISHAM: No, she -- Melania Trump thinks about everything she does. And she thinks about it for a very long time. And she does things very strategically. And she knew full well that walking out there into the White House residence behind that podium like that would make absolute waves. And so she chose this time.

Again, I don't know why. Perhaps again it's a story or she just got an inquiry or she saw something obscure that nobody else did see and it just -- it just made her upset. But she chose this very specifically and she definitely thought on it for a few days. And I'm going to say I called BS on our president saying he knew nothing about it because at the very least, I imagine she would have given him a heads up if she had sent an advisory out yesterday.

MATTINGLY: Is there anything he could do if she gave a heads up and he didn't want it to happen?

GRISHAM: Absolutely not. Absolutely not. She is -- I mean, I'm going to feel like I'm going back to my talking points from when I was her comms director and her chief of staff, but it's the truth. She's a very strong, very independent woman. And when she feels that she needs to do something and she feels very strongly and that it's the right thing to do, she will do it.

No matter what anybody says, be it her husband, be it her advisors, it doesn't matter.

MATTINGLY: That has long been my understanding from some of your former colleagues, some of the current White House officials as well. Stephanie Grisham, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

GRISHAM: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, turning to the world lead, a new message from President Trump just moments ago on Truth Social writing, quote, "There are reports that Iran is charging fees to tankers going through the Hormuz Strait. They better not be. And if they are, they better stop now. President Donald J. Trump." They are, for the record.

The two week cease fire deal on the Iran war for now appears to be largely holding. Fewer attacks have been reported across the Middle East today. But one of the main reasons the ceasefire has been described as shaky is Lebanon. On day one of the ceasefire, Israel conducted its biggest wave of strikes on Lebanon since the war began, killing at least 303 and injuring more than 1,000, according to authorities there. Iran, in response, claimed these attacks were a ceasefire violation and said it closed the Strait of Hormuz.

The strait, of course, is a key sticking point, the U.S. Insisting it must remain open for the ceasefire to hold. But the U.S. says Lebanon is not part of the ceasefire deal. Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will start talks with Lebanon focused on disarming Hezbollah, the Iran backed militia in Lebanon. Today, President Trump told NBC he is, quote, very optimistic a peace deal with Iran is within reach as a U.S. delegation led by Vice President J.D. Vance will head to Pakistan for further talks on Saturday.

CNN's Nada Bashir is in Beirut, Lebanon.

And Nada, you've witnessed some of these strikes firsthand today. What have you seen?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We have seen, of course, the continuation of Israeli strikes across Lebanon, particularly of course, in the south where they are ongoing. What we have heard today in Beirut was from the Israeli military is a new evacuation order for a broad area of southern Beirut. This includes areas that have not previously been under evacuation warnings. So that has of course, stoked concern around a possible expansion of the Israeli strikes here in the capital.

And of course, this comes just a day after we saw that large scale wave of airstrikes across the country, more than 100 targets, according to the Israeli military who said that they were targeting Hezbollah command and military targets. But of course, we were here on the ground in Beirut seeing those

strikes firsthand and the impact on the ground, which it has to be said were largely targeting civilian areas. We saw on the ground the aftermath of these strikes hitting civilian apartment buildings, residential buildings, local businesses in areas that were extremely populated and busy at the time.

And of course, we've been getting updates from local officials and authorities here. The health ministry saying the death toll across Lebanon from yesterday's large scale aerial assault is now over 300 with hundreds more wounded.

And of course, the total death toll in Lebanon since the war began so in just the space of just over a month is now over 1,800 according to the health ministry. And many here in this country, many of those that we've been speaking to have been calling for an immediate cease fire, an end to hostilities. Many here want to see an immediate end to the war. And that is something that the Lebanese government has been pushing for weeks, of course.

[17:20:02]

And it's important to underscore that while we are seeing the continuation of hostilities between Hezbollah, the Iran backed group in the south, and of course the Israeli military, the Lebanese government itself has been calling for a diplomatic resolution to this latest conflict.

In fact, the Lebanese president wrote to the United nations outlawing Hezbollah's military wing. We know that the prime minister has most recently called for its security forces to rid the capital of all non- state arms. The hope for many of course is that push for diplomacy will achieve some sort of resolution. But hearing from the Israeli prime minister that Lebanon is not part of the cease fire agreement has certainly raised concern tonight here in Lebanon.

MATTINGLY: Nada Bashir, critical reporting throughout the course of the day from Lebanon. Thank you very much.

Well, also today, House Republicans ignore Democratic efforts to introduce a measure that would rein in President Trump's military powers. Democrats still fuming over Trump's threat earlier this week to take out Iranian civilization.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): The words and actions of this president have proved that he is unhinged and unwell.

REP. SARA JACOBS (D-CA): Threatening genocide is not a negotiating tactic.

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): Let's have a vote to end this war because the ceasefire is a joke. This war should never have happened in the first place. And Congress deserves to say and the American people deserve a say. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Joining me now to discuss is Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey. Congressman, what's your view of your colleagues, both their point particularly in relationship to the president's social media post that has been referenced there, but also just the effort in general to move forward to restrict his war powers?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): Well, I mean you can't. First of all, thank you for having me. And you cannot look at what he posted and say anything but unhinged, unpresidential and unhelpful on every side. So I agree with my colleagues. It's insane what he posted.

You know the question now of course, and the most important question is what's next? What's going to happen this weekend in the talks which are critical? What's happening in the region? I mean you rightly reported and as was reported a minute ago, we've got a lot of issues to deal with. We're going to a negotiating table it appears, using Iran's 10 point maximalist demands, which is a crazy point to me, to start negotiating from including removing all sanctions, letting them control the straits, letting the Iranians regime keep control of uranium and of basically everything that I believe we have -- we must stand up to.

And the purpose of fighting against one of our top adversaries in the world has been just to shut down their nuclear program, to shut down their terror program, to shut down their ballistics program, missile program and drone program, you know, and it seems like we're now going to be singing from their song sheet. And I'm very concerned about that.

MATTINGLY: Is -- I mean, based on that, again, I think you make a really important point which is squaring the -- what the Iranians have on the table with what the U.S. has said their objectives are. It seems almost impossible at this point in time, although diplomatic talks, I think everybody hopes for a diplomatic off ramp, but that would also imply that the U.S. hasn't actually met the objectives that the president set out at the start of this conflict. Is that a fair assessment of things?

GOTTHEIMER: Well, listen, that's one of the questions that many of us have. And as somebody who believes it's critically important that we do everything we can to crush this Iranian regime when their banner death to America and has not only killed Americans and our service members and attacked our bases, but has continued to want to bring that kind of terror to America, not to mention our allies.

So understanding that broader objective, when I -- when we're getting these, you know, ambiguous briefings, the Joint Chiefs yesterday, the chairman said that 80 percent of air defenses were destroyed, which is obviously sounds like a very positive number, but you got to dig down into that. He said 90 percent of weapons factories were attacked. That doesn't mean I understand what the status is.

He talked about 80 percent of the nuclear industrial base was hit. Does that mean they were weakened or destroyed? You know, what does that exactly mean? And those are the kind of questions that many of us have, especially when the president or his administration hasn't come before the Congress to publicly brief on the progress. And you know, and even on the Intelligence Committee, even a lot of the briefings we've received, you know, don't give us the detail that I think we should be getting from an oversight perspective.

So, you know, there's a lot of questions. It goes back to the beginning of this conflict when there weren't -- when the objectives weren't clearly laid out, right? And it's tough to meet objectives if you don't exactly know what those full objectives are. And that's been part of the frustration even for many of us who believe, and I hope all Americans do, that Iran is our top adversary. They seek to undermine our freedom.

They've killed tens of thousands of their own people. And, you know, and they seek to do us harm. So they're an enemy of our country and leading state sponsor of terror.

[17:25:06]

We shouldn't -- we shouldn't make light of that. But how we actually execute this matters and when the Straits of Hormuz is literally only letting six ships in, normally 140 go through there and charging -- and Iran is charging $2 million for each ship that went through in crypto or Chinese currency, you know, you've got a problem.

MATTINGLY: Yes.

GOTTHEIMER: When Pakistan is the negotiator and they're good friends with, you know, another top adversary, the government of China, that's a problem. When the defense minister called for -- today, called for -- the Pakistani defense minister called for Jews to, quote, "burn in hell." That's a problem.

MATTINGLY: Can I just ask you, on the Strait of Hormuz, in the briefings you've received, have you been given any update about whether the U.S. feels like a military operation to reopen the strait is a feasible possibility at any point in the near term?

GOTTHEIMER: Obviously, I can't -- I can't get into the specifics of that, but I'll just say as what's been publicly discussed, it's very complicated. And you see that Iran is exercising a lot of control and using a lot of measures and including crass ones, you know, like with, dropped off by small ships. He's got mines and other sophisticated ways to really disrupt. And what -- what companies are going to want to send their ships through the Straits of Hormuz if there's a 20 percent chance that something bad could happen, right? I mean, it's really wreaked havoc on 20 percent of our global oil production.

MATTINGLY: Yes, it's a very complex situation. Obviously, a lot of complex elements going into the talks this weekend as the congressman just laid out.

Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey, really appreciate your time. Thank you, sir.

GOTTHEIMER: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

MATTINGLY: Well, up next, the NFL reportedly under investigation. Why the feds want to know more about the costly streaming fees many of you, most of you probably, paid just to watch the game. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:31:20]

In our Sports Lead, the Justice Department is investigating whether the National Football League is forcing viewers to pay too much in subscription fees. That's according to a person familiar with the matter.

Now at issue, whether the league, through its streaming model, engages in anti-competitive tactics that harm consumers.

Right now, individual teams are allowed to negotiate packages of TV rights. Former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams joins me now. Elliot, we all became experts in this issue, but you actually understand the law here a little bit today. Explain to people what the NFL is doing that could be unlawful here.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes. Think about. It's much easier to not think about the NFL as the NFL one entity because. And the NFL as 32 competing businesses that are allowed to work together, they have antitrust exemption that allows them to negotiate directly. It started with the television networks, CBC, CBS, NBC, and now also applies to streaming entities.

So, all teams can pull together and negotiate with Amazon or Apple or whatever else. Now that might pinch consumers because ultimately it's forcing people to have to subscribe to these entities. So that's what the Justice Department, with the backing of many in Congress right now, are starting to look into.

MATTINGLY: You mentioned the backing of many in Congress in February, Republican Senator Mike Lee, chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Antitrust. We were just talking about him on antitrust issues.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

MATTINGLY: He is one of the ones who's always on the front foot to the extent anybody is in Washington most days, submitted a letter to the Justice Department requesting a review of the antitrust exemption for the league. It read, in part to watch every NFL game during this past season, football fans spent almost $1,000 on cable and streaming subscriptions. That's Washington's view.

The NFL released a statement that says in part, the NFL's media distribution model is the most fan and broadcaster friendly in the entire sports entertainment industry, with over 87 percent of our games on free broadcast television, including 100 percent of games in the markets of competing teams. If you can find Peacock, depending on.

WILLIAMS: Right.

MATTINGLY: Who's right here?

WILLIAMS: I don't know about the league here. I really do think, you know, the senator is onto something because the Federal Trade Commission has found it's not just $1,000, it's $1,500. When the NFL can negotiate directly with streaming services, ultimately, consumers are in a position of having to either not watch their team, or just subscribe to Amazon.

The person who's pinched the most is somebody who doesn't live in the city that their team's broadcast is. You are a San Francisco 49ers fan. You live on the East. You could be in a position where, yes, your game might be broadcast on local San Francisco television, but to watch it here, you'd have to subscribe to some streaming service. Now aggregate that over an entire season and that's where they get that thousand dollar figure.

So there is some negotiation, negotiating that has to happen here between the league, between the streamers, but also Congress and, or the Federal Trade Commission.

MATTINGLY: How does this end?

WILLIAMS: I think they come to some deal. Now I don't think you can lift the antitrust exemption altogether because the last thing you want are the 49ers or the Eagles or the New England Patriots. Boo. But you don't want big market teams negotiating directly with Apple and Amazon or whatever else. Right? Because then that pinches Jacksonville or Phoenix, smaller market cities.

So, they will work something out whether it's new legislation that carves out some kind of exemption or requires more local broadcast or something like that. But there will be a deal that will be worked out. This is not going to go to trial.

MATTINGLY: There is no such thing as smooth as you were just inserting the unilateral boo for --

WILLIAMS: I'm a good American. I'm a good American. And we just. Look, Boston, I mean, come on. We just.

MATTINGLY: We're both Yankees fans. We're both the Yankees.

WILLIAMS: It's got to be Boston.

MATTINGLY: John Berman somewhere is punching wall. Ellie Williams. Thanks, buddy.

WILLIAMS: Appreciate it.

[17:30:00]

MATTINGLY: Well, next, a woman missing off the coast of the Bahamas. Did she fall overboard or is her husband to blame? What we're learning about an investigation into that very question. Up next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: In our World Lead, the husband of an American woman missing in the Bahamas is now under arrest. Brian Hooker claims his wife Lynette fell overboard Saturday when they were boating in choppy waters. CNN's Diane Gallagher has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARLI AYLESWORTH, LYNETTE HOOKER'S DAUTHER: It's been hard. I like go through texts and I start crying.

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Karli Aylesworth is struggling to cope with her new reality. Her mother, 55-year old Lynette Hooker, missing at sea since Saturday night. Her stepfather, Brian Hooker, now under arrest just days after reporting his wife fell overboard from their dinghy in rough water in the Bahamas.

AYLESWORTH: I just hope this was a freak accident, but I don't want it to just be swept under the rug.

[17:40:00]

So I would like to just know and I don't want anything bad to happen to him. I don't want anything bad happen to my mom, but I just want, you know, answers.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): He was taken into custody Wednesday night and police say he's being questioned. His attorney saying in part, Brian categorically and unequivocally denies any wrongdoing. He has been cooperating with the relevant authorities as part of an ongoing investigation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're finally leaving Kemah.

GALLAGHER (voice-over): An avid swimmer and sailor, Lynette loved to share their sailing adventures on social media under the playful username the Sailing Hookers. According to police, her husband told investigators the couple left in an 8 foot hard bottom dinghy around 7:30 Saturday night for Elbow Key trying to reach their yacht Soulmate. He reported her missing around 4:00 a.m. Sunday when he says he washed up miles away in Marsh Harbor.

He said Lynette, not wearing a life jacket, bounced off the boat during a rough current and was carried away. She was wearing the keys causing the dinghy to lose power. So he drifted through the night. Karli says her stepfather did not inform her Lynette was missing until Sunday night. He left her this voicemail Tuesday.

BRIAN HOOKER, Hello Honey, I just got a call from Hopetown Search and Rescue and they have found a flotation device that I threw to mom when she fell overboard. And so they're -- that's a -- they haven't found her yet but there's -- they can now focus all of their efforts in a smaller area. So I just wanted to update you and let you know. I love you. I'll talk to you later. Bye bye. GALLAGHER (voice-over): Karli told CNN the couple, married around 25

years, had past marital disputes. She was skeptical of Brian's story about the night of the incident.

AYLESWORTH: Why wouldn't he drop anchor and look for her? Why did he paddle the other way? If my significant other fell into the water, I'd be freaking out and going after him.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GALLAGHER: Now Brian Hooker's attorney says that he denies any allegations from Lynette's daughter. And it's important for us to point out that Brian Hooker hasn't been charged with anything at this point and we don't know what led Bahamian authorities to take him into custody.

The U.S. Coast Guard also has active criminal investigation into Lynette's disappearance. And Phil, her daughter tells me that she's still kind of hoping that maybe they'll find her mom who's been stranded on the island on the other side or something. But she recognizes that's probably not going to be the case. Bahamian authorities say that this is now a recovery operation.

MATTINGLY: Diane Gallagher with the latest. Thanks very much. Well, up ahead on The Lead, the eerie, alarming thoughts of one teenage girl.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I had over a 40 plus hit list of just people I hated and people I wanted gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: What's even more disturbing, she's not alone. Next, a must see report revealing a dark online community consuming true crime and why the behavior is so dangerous.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:47:30]

MATTINGLY: In our National Lead, a new investigation links a disturbing online community to recent school shootings in the U.S. in this dark corner of the Internet, teenagers And young adults obsess over shooters, often romanticizing them. CNN's Meena Duerson spoke with a teen who plotted a school attack. Now she's working to keep others from joining the group. Warning. This report contains disturbing content.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEENA DUERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is your old school?

LILYANNA DIONEFF, FORMER TCC MEMBER: That's my old school. I had over a 40 plus hit list of just people I hated and people I wanted gone. I could just picture myself in those moments, walking through those doors and, you know, just opening fire.

DUERSON: You really felt like that?

DIONEFF: Yes, in those times, I absolutely did.

DUERSON (voice-over): Just two years ago, Lilyanna Dioneff was writing a manifesto about the attack she wanted to commit at her high school.

DUERSON: It's very eerie to hear you describe it. Does it give you the chills to think about that?

DIONEFF: It does, definitely. I can sometimes just look in the mirror and I see that version of myself. It's like I don't recognize myself. It's like that girl isn't me. But I have to acknowledge that was who I was at one time.

DUERSON (voice-over): Lilyanna was part of an online community known as the TCC, the True Crime Community, a dark corner of social media that glorifies mass killers. Unsettling as this community is, understanding it could be the key to keeping kids safer.

We started with some of the only people who've been monitoring and analyzing this space for years and say for a fringe community, they found the TCC has an unusual gender balance.

CODY ZOSCHAK, SENIOR ANALYST, INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC DIALOGUE: If you were to pick out your stereotypical TCC member, it's probably a younger teenage girl. They're seeking that relationship, and that often tips into a romantic or a sexual obsession.

DUERSON (voice-over): Since January 2024, Cody Zoschak and his team at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue have linked the TCC to at least 23 attacks or disrupted plots, almost entirely targeting schools.

DUERSON: How do we bring attention to this in a way that doesn't make the problem worse?

ZOSCHAK: I think it needs to be balanced. Awareness needs to be coupled with alternatives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Lilyanna.

DUERSON (voice-over): Lilyanna, who's now 18, says after nearly 10 years in the community, she's not in the TCC anymore and wants to spread the word about how dangerous it can be. Her room still holds traces of her obsession with mass killers like Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the teenagers who committed the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School.

[17:50:07]

DIONEFF: This is a shirt that Dylan Klebold wore during a shooting.

DUERSON (voice-over): She says she first stumbled on the TCC at the age of nine through a video romanticizing Klebold.

DIONEFF: I was like, wow, he's kind of cute. So --

DUERSON: one of the Columbine killers?

DIONEFF: Yes. At the time I was a very isolated kid and I felt like I resonated with their isolation and their being bullied because I was a very severely bullied child.

DUERSON: In reporting this story, I talked or exchanged messages with more than a dozen people who'd either been formerly or were currently active in the TCC. It's important to note that most people in this community will not go on to commit violent attacks.

Many people were teenage girls who said they'd found the community because they were bullied or isolated or depressed. And they said that this was one of the only places that they felt they belonged. Other people described to me that they were attracted to the research or the psychology aspect. They all said that they do not condone violence.

Almost none of them would talk on camera because they don't want the people in their real lives to know that they're a part of this community. Most of them said their parents have no idea what they're doing online.

DUERSON (voice-over): Jamie Seitz was one of those parents.

JAMIE SEITZ: Want to make a bracelet? My daughter loved to make friendship bracelets. She had them all up and down her arms all the time. So.

DUERSON (voice-over): She didn't understand that her 13 year old daughter, Audrey Hein, had gotten into the TCC until it was too late. On the night of December 2, 2024, Audrey took her own life.

SEITZ: I told everybody it was an accident because I truly believe that. They took this notebook and the detective just shoved it across. I had no idea any of these drawings existed. Dylan Klebold.

DUERSON: Why do you think it was appealing to her?

SEITZ: Because she was unaccepted at her school. She was bullied. Do I constantly question myself of what did I do wrong? What could have I done? What did I miss? Of course I think of that daily.

DUERSON (voice-over): Even when parents do find out about their kids involvement in the TCC, it can be hard to know what to do. As Lilyanna quietly fell further and further into the TCC, her mom Heather, watched her health deteriorate.

HEATHER DIONEFF, LILYANNA'S MOTHER: You know, there's a little bit of sadness in those eyes. I just could never understand why are they bullying my child? I don't see an ounce of evil in her when I look at these.

DUERSON (voice-over): In 2024, Lilyanna told her therapist she had a plan to attack her school, triggering an emergency hospitalization. Even after that, she remained active in the TCC on and off for the next six months, until in 2025, she says, the FBI showed up.

DIONEFF: My mom pulled me aside. She's like, the FBI came to our old house. And I was like, oh.

DUERSON (voice-over): Heather says an FBI agent told her Lilyanna had exchanged brief messages with a 15-year-old school shooter.

H. DIONEFF: He showed me the text that she. She had a conversation with a girl that was involved in a shooting. I was like in shock.

DUERSON: Did you know that she was engaging in these online spaces where people were obsessed with school shooters?

H. DIONEFF: I thought, well, maybe they're just connecting and they're discussing. I was happy that she had a group to connect with because I've seen her struggle all through her life to make and keep friends. There's a couple times I wanted to bust in there and say, hey, you know, I think you should get off the computer, but.

DUERSON: And why didn't you?

H. DIONEFF: Because I trusted her. That was the thing. I trusted my child.

DUERSON (voice-over): Heather says she told the FBI her daughter was not a threat and the FBI had no further contact with their family. The FBI declined our requests for any comment on the TCC or any of the incidents described in this story.

Seeing that the online world she'd been a part of could spill out into real life and cause real harm was enough for Lilyanna to finally leave the TCC and speak out about it.

L. DIONEFF: My heart was in my stomach. I could have stopped this little girl. Like, I'm older than her. I should have, like, took what she said and I should like, report it to the FBI.

DUERSON: Is there a world in which you can just shut this down? Can the TCC just get shut down?

ZOSCHAK: If you pulled the plug on the Internet, maybe. You can't. It's a fandom. You can't.

DUERSON: What can be done?

ZOSCHAK It needs to come from individuals within the lives of these young people, showing them that community comes in a myriad of forms. You can find it in many places, and that this one in particular doesn't end well.

DUERSON (voice-over): Jamie Seitz has filed a lawsuit against Roblox, Discord, TikTok and ByteDance, alleging Audrey's encounters with the TCC on these online platforms led to her death. Stating Audrey was pushed to suicide by an online community dedicated to glorifying violence and emulating notorious mass shooters. A community that can thrive and prey upon young children like Audrey. These platforms declined to comment on the lawsuit, which is still in

its early stages, but each pointed to their safety protocols, noting this content violates their policies and they have teams dedicated to removing it.

[17:55:10]

Tumblr, which used to be a home base for the TCC, has removed most of this content in the past few months and said it works with a variety of partners to help prevent online rhetoric from spilling over into real world violence.

DIONEFF: You can hate me, call me whatever you want, but I am here to talk about my experience and I hope my experience can help children realize that this isn't what life is. Meena Duerson, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: If you feel you're in crisis or know someone who may need help, there is help. Contact National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can dial or text 988. And if you know of someone planning violence, report it at tips.FBI.gov.

Well, the breaking news here in Washington, first lady Melania Trump giving a rare public statement. The topic dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, a survivor of Epstein's abuse, joins us to react, next.

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