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The Lead with Jake Tapper

U.S. Doctor With Ebola Being Treated in Germany; Trump's Ballroom Funding in Limbo; U.S. Indicts Former Cuban President Raul Castro. Trump Warns GOP Rep. Fitzpatrick: "Voting Against Me Doesn't Work Out Well"; Barney Frank, Liberal Congressman & Gay Rights Trailblazer, Dies At 86. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 20, 2026 - 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.

This hour, an American doctor with Ebola is now being treated at a hospital in Germany, and his family -- as his family is admitted to a special isolation ward. What we're learning tonight about their conditions and the experimental treatments being considered to treat Americans who are exposed to this strain of the virus.

Plus, the Justice Department today announced the indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro. The 94-year-old is charged with conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals over the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian planes. The acting attorney general saying he expects Castro will end up inside a U.S. prison.

[18:00:03]

Also, Republicans in Congress signaling today they may not be able to give President Trump the nearly $1 billion in security funding that has been discussed. Some of that money was supposed to be used on his new White House ballroom. So, what happens next?

The Lead tonight, the rare Ebola strain with no vaccine and no specific treatment as of now is spreading fast and poses a high regional risk in Africa. That's according to the World Health Organization, which calls the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, though the deadly outbreak is currently largely in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where there are now at least 148 suspected Ebola deaths and 575 suspected cases.

The World Health Organization, or WHO, says the outbreak likely started months before it was first detected.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANAIS LEGAND, TECHNICAL OFFICER, WHO HEALTH EMERGENCIES PROGRAMME: We are thinking that it has started probably couple of months ago, but investigations are ongoing, and our priority is really to cut the transmission chain by implementing contact tracing, isolating, and caring for all suspect and confirmed cases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the overall risk to the United States remains, as of now, low. At least one American citizen, Dr. Peter Stafford, tested positive for Ebola after treating patients in the DRC, in the Congo, before the outbreak was identified, and now six people who had contact with Dr. Stafford are being taken to Europe for observation. This includes Stafford's wife and his four children. They will be monitored at the same hospital where Stafford is in Berlin, Germany. And Dr. Patrick LaRochelle, another American citizen, will be cared for in the Czech Republic, we're learning.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is near the hospital in Berlin. Fred, what is the latest on his conditions?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Jake. And I think what you see behind me is the flashing lights of the convoy that we believe just a couple of minutes ago actually brought the rest of the family of Peter Stafford here to Berlin to that isolation unit.

We have gotten some updates from the German Health Ministry, but then also from some colleagues, from Dr. Peter Stafford as well, the German Health Ministry saying that he is here in isolation. He, of course, was brought here late last night, in the early morning hours of this morning. He's in stable condition, they say, and, of course, he is still in that isolation ward and already receiving treatment.

Now, I was actually also able to speak to the director of the organization that sent him and his family to the Democratic Republic of Congo. They're called SAGE (ph). And they say that he's actually currently in the condition where he's able to communicate with them via text message. So, he certainly still has that capacity.

They also say that he is still showing signs of possible Ebola symptoms, fever, nausea, also apparently lightness of the head as well, which they say is something that is very much in line with the Ebola. He of course did test positive for it.

At the same time, they say that they have cause for optimism at this point in time because they say when he was brought out here to Germany, when he was getting ready to go into that flight that brought him here, the medevac flight, he was having trouble even getting into the isolation container to get onto that flight. Now, appears as though he is already a little bit stronger than he was yesterday.

They say that possibly that is a good sign, but at the same time, of course, this is a very dangerous disease. And so therefore they say that they are still quite concerned.

As far as Patrick LaRochelle is concerned, the latest that we have is that he has been brought to the Czech Republic. He, of course, has also tested negative, as well as the family of Dr. Peter Stafford, whom we believe have arrived here just a couple of minutes ago. That would be his wife, Rebecca, and his four children, all of whom were in contact with him, were in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but have so far also tested negative for Ebola. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Fred Pleitgen in Berlin, thank you so much.

Tonight, the U.S. State Department is taking exception with the account that we shared here on The Lead last night. Specifically yesterday we told you about the concerns of a former USAID official who had once been based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or DRC, and that official says, a former official says, that because of the Trump administration's decision to end USAID funding, the response to the current Ebola outbreak was delayed and that cost lives.

Now, the State Department disagrees, and as part of their pushback, they pointed us to a document stating that on May 15th, the State Department, quote, leveraged its outbreak response and humanitarian assistance capabilities to establish an interagency coordination cell and incident management system in Washington, D.C.

[18:05:00]

The key two words in that statement are May 15th, May 15th. The State Department was proving the point made by our source, because May 15th is three weeks after the first suspected case in this outbreak, which was April 24th, and ten days after the WHO received an alert regarding an unknown illness. That was May 5th.

Well, in their conversations with us, the State Department continued to push and ask, so what would have been different if USAID had been there? So, here is the official's more detailed explanation. First, number one, detection. The former USAID official says, USAID would have acted at the very latest, within 24 to 48 hours of the World Health Organization getting that alert, saying, quote, we would have been able to help facilitate to get the right test faster. We would have started with communication, isolation, and PPE distribution, unquote.

Now, by the right test, this former official means a test that would have detected this particular strain of Ebola, and that's point two, the timing of the testing, because also on May 5th, the WHO received the alert regarding an unknown illness with high mortality in Ituri Province, including four healthcare workers.

The testing, however, of what they had, that didn't happen until May 14th. Now, that's according to WHO. Now, more on that in a second, but that dovetails with point three, which is the quality of the testing, what the official meant by the right test. Because according to the WHO, the initial testing in Ituri was designed for the more common Zaire Ebola virus, not the Bundibugyo strain, which is what this outbreak is.

And it wasn't until May 15th that the Bundibugyo strain was detected, the former USAID official told me, because that's because those on the ground at the time in Ituri Province did not have the ability to detect what this strain was. But, the official said, if USAID had been still on the ground, the former official says USAID would have helped to get a team there faster, to collect more samples, and transport them. Now, where would they have been transported? Likely to the National Reference Lab in Goma, if the ongoing conflict in that region allowed that, the official said. Otherwise, to Kinshasa, which would have taken a bit longer, since charter flights don't have sufficient range to get all the way across the country. So, that's the answer.

Now, in response to our reporting and conversations with the former USAID, official a spokesperson for the State Department told us in a statement, quote, USAID staff never did testing. Anyone pushing this argument is either lying or doesn't understand the facts. Core Ebola- related USAID programs were brought under State's Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy. State has also continued to fund partners in the field. The CDC, which does lead on testing, saw no cuts in staffing levels in the region.

We see CNN agrees that the unfortunate reality is that WHO delayed in informing the world of the May 15th alert until -- May 5th alert until May 15th, breaking with past precedent. This has had an impact. We mobilized a wide-ranging response within 24 hours of being informed, unquote.

Now, to be clear, the official we talked to never said that USAID did the testing, quite the contrary. The official said that USAID facilitated the testing. So, what exactly the State Department is objecting to here is not really clear. In any case, the State Department generally denies that these severe cuts in USAID funding has had any impact. An official saying that what USAID did is now handled by the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy, which is, quote, more aligned and effective, unquote.

We will reiterate that there are many in the public health community, including former USAID officials, who point to the more than 140 dead bodies thought to be linked to the outbreak and disagree with that assessment.

Joining us now is former CDC infectious disease expert, Dr. Fiona Havers. She's contributed to multiple public health emergency responses, including a 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

Dr. Havers, how worried are you that Ebola cases could start popping up in other regions outside this one, in other countries outside the continent of Africa?

DR. FIONA HAVERS, FORMER CDC INFECTIOUS DISEASE EXPERT: Well, this is a very large outbreak, and detection of the outbreak was delayed, so getting this Ebola outbreak under control is going to be very difficult. I do think that it is very likely that we will see further spread in other regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighboring countries. So, I think it is very concerning.

TAPPER: Right now, there are no permanent directors of the CDC or the FDA.

[18:10:03]

The U.S. is not part of the World Health Organization under Trump. USAID has been dismantled. Now, the CDC says the U.S. is at low risk with this current Ebola outbreak. But given that it is a rare strain with no vaccine, no specific treatment, detection was delayed for various reasons, are you worried at all? Do you have confidence that the U.S. can handle potential cases here?

HAVERS: I do think that the U.S. -- the public in the U.S. in general is at low risk. I don't think we're going to have a large scale Ebola outbreak in the United States. And if there are some imported cases, I do think we have the resources to handle that.

However, I do think that the gutting of public health funding, the dismissal of senior leadership at CDC, and thousands of other employees at CDC, as well as the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and withdrawal from the World Health Organization, including funding from the World Health Organization, is going to make it much harder to control this outbreak in East Africa, and that will be -- this will be a concern, you know, a public health concern for that will be ongoing for many months as a result.

TAPPER: You helped create a guide for safe burial practices when it comes -- when it came to Ebola deaths in Liberia. Most burial practices in the DRC include touching the body. Given how severe this strain is, are funerals still safe in the Congo?

HAVERS: Yes. When I was in Liberia, I was the CDC lead for safe and dignified burials, which, yes, is funeral practices can be -- funerals can be a center outbreak points where the disease is spread. Infectious bodies are -- bodies of people who have died from Ebola are very infectious, and funeral practices can be -- can further spread the disease.

This is one -- actually one of the parts where the dismantling of the U.S. -- of USAID is going to hurt our response, our Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of Congo. USAID-funded organizations would be the ones that would have like clinics and workers on the ground that, you know, were doing other aid or development activities, but then could pivot and support large scale responses, doing things like providing the logistics for getting personal protective equipment to healthcare workers, but also training and getting personal protective equipment and ambulances and other things to burial teams that would be trained to how to safely bury people who have died.

And all of these things are huge logistical challenges and are very important to controlling an outbreak of this size.

TAPPER: So, you agree with the basic premise of the former USAID official that we spoke with who worked in Congo, that the absence of USAID meant that this detection came later than it should have been and would have been had USAID still been there?

HAVERS: Absolutely. But I also think that the ongoing response and the ability to respond to the outbreak is greatly hampered. The U.S. provided the majority of development aids to DRCA in the past, and that w- involves employing, like thousands of community healthcare workers, at local clinics and others. Those are the people that you would employ to pivot to be, for example, contact tracers in villages. That infrastructure was completely destroyed by the dismantling of USAID.

And in my work with CDC, we work very closely with USAID partners and organizations that were funded by USAID in West Africa to control that large outbreak that started in 2014. I am very concerned that this is the first time that the U.S. public is really going to realize the costs of just completely gutting USAID as well as public health funding and CDC in the United States.

TAPPER: Dr. Fiona Havers, thank you so much, and thank you for what you do.

Is President Trump's White House ballroom in any sort of jeopardy? Republicans say funding for it might be in danger after a key Senate ruling. So, where does the project go from here?

Plus, CNN speaks with the outspoken and long-estranged daughter of the late Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, as the U.S. ramps up its pressure campaign against the island and announces the indictment of her uncle, Raul Castro.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, new signs on Capitol Hill today that funding for President Trump's ballroom could be in some danger. That money is part of the $1 billion the White House requested in security funding.

CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill. Manu, what are you hearing from Republicans about this?

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said that this bill, this proposal to provide that money for the White House ballroom has a vote problem and a problem with the Senate parliamentarian, and that is serious, meaning that it's very -- it's in serious jeopardy of getting this proposal through because in order to get this passed along strict party lines and roll this into a larger package of immigration enforcement money, they need to ensure that it complies with the strict budget rules in the Senate, and the Senate parliamentarian says it does not do that.

And there are several Republicans who say that they will not vote for this package if it is included in there. And in the 53-47 Senate, a handful of Republicans, more than three, could be enough to derail it. But some Republicans, like the Senate Budget Committee chairman, Lindsey Graham, told me today that he's still trying to push to get this added to the bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Do you -- I mean, do you think that Republicans want to vote in for this ballroom money?

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Well, I think what Republicans want is to secure the president and future presidents as well as this president, and I think we need some security upgrades at the White House.

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): There's no architectural plans. There is no environmentals. There's no engineering. There's no sense of -- when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly a billion?

In my mind, that is -- it could cost a lot less. It could cost a lot more. I just don't get it.

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): Half the country's living paycheck-to- paycheck. We shouldn't be talking about ballrooms.

REP. KEVIN KILEY (I-CA): No, of course it doesn't belong in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: So, those last two members of the House are indicating, both Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a swing district in Pennsylvania, and Kevin Kiley, who's now an independent, who represents a district in California, both of them indicating they could vote against this plan if it comes to the House. So, even, Jake, if this does come to the Senate with this plan in there, it could get stripped out of this bill.

If it somehow survives the -- all this pushback within the Senate and comes over to the House, then the speaker has his own problems trying to get it through the House because just a handful of Republicans could be enough to derail this bill. And hearing from those two members suggests that this plan to provide this money is in serious danger.

TAPPER: Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

There's growing backlash tonight against Israel's far right national security minister and anti-Arab zealot after he posted a video of himself mocking pro-Palestinian activists from a flotilla who were under arrest. We're going to show you what happened, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, Israel's far right national security minister is facing international and internal backlash tonight after posting a video on social media showing himself taunting pro- Palestinian activists who are under arrest. They'd been detained by Israel as they tried to sail to Gaza. Itamar Ben-Gvir, an anti-Arab bigot, can be seen holding the Israeli flag, calling the activists terror supporters and more.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond's in Israel for us tonight. Jeremy, walk us through how this unfolded.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, the latest video posted by Israel's far right national security minister is earning him condemnation here in Israel and sparking multiple diplomatic incidents around the world. The video features him and hundreds of detained foreign activists who were taking part in the latest Gaza-bound flotilla, an effort to break Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip. In the 38-second video, you can see Itamar Ben-Gvir walking around and taunting hundreds of these foreign activists who were detained by Israel and are set to soon be deported.

The activists are bound. Many of them are prostrate on the ground, their heads on the floor. One woman can be heard shouting, free Palestine, at one point before she's forced to the ground by an Israeli security officer. The national security minister responds by saying, good job. You can also hear him in the video saying, welcome to Israel. We are the landlords.

But Ben-Gvir is being slammed by a slew of top Israeli officials, including the Israeli prime minister, who said that while Israel has, quote, every right to prevent these flotillas from reaching Gaza, he said, quote, the way that Minister Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists is not in line with Israel's values and norms. He said that he has instructed that the activists be deported as soon as possible.

We've also heard from other Israeli ministers, including the foreign minister, Gideon Sa'ar, and then Mike Huckabee, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, touting many of these criticisms by Israeli officials, calling Ben-Gvir's actions, quote, despicable, saying that Ben-Gvir had, quote, betrayed the dignity of his nation.

We are also hearing fierce condemnation from a slew of European countries, including Italy, France, Spain, all of which summoned their -- the Israeli ambassadors to their respective countries, many of them calling Ben-Gvir's actions unacceptable, and also raising serious concerns about the fact that Israel detained these some 430 foreign activists in international waters raising questions about the fact that may be a violation of international law.

But it's also important to note that this video is really just scratching the surface. Ben-Gvir has spent the last two years boasting about worsening conditions in Israeli prisons, and, of course, we've brought accounts of the treatment of some of those prisoners to your show, Jake, like the journalist, Ali Samoudi, who lost about half his body weight in an Israeli prison. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, our thanks to Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv for that report.

Today, the Trump administration announced charges against former Cuban President Raul Castro. Coming up next, I'm going to get a reaction from a congresswoman who is the daughter of a Cuban refugee, and who says she hopes today's news will lead to regime change in Cuba.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, the Justice Department unveiled criminal charges earlier today against former Cuban President Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro. The charges stem from his alleged role in ordering the 1996 shoot-down of two civilian aircraft belonging to the Cuban American group Brothers to the Rescue. Brothers to the Rescue was founded in 1991 as an anti-Castro organization headed by Cuban exiles. They flew humanitarian missions over the Florida Straits, searching for rafters, dropping aid packages for them, and coordinating with the U.S. Coast Guard to rescue them.

Four people, including three Americans, were killed in that shoot- down. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the charges against the 94-year-old brother of Fidel Castro this afternoon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is a show indictment. This is an indictment because we expect that there was a warrant issued for his arrest. So, we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way and go to prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Cuba's president blasted the indictment, posting on X, in part, quote, the purported accusation against Army General Raul Castro Ruz, just announced by the U.S. government, merely exposes the arrogance and frustration that the representatives of the empire feel because of the Cuban revolution's unwavering steadfastness and the unity and moral strength of its leadership, unquote.

CNN's Isabel Rosales spoke earlier with one of the former pilots from Brothers to the Rescue, who personally knew two of the four men who were killed that day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How would you like for them to be remembered?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I'd like to -- they were humanitarians. They had big hearts, and they helped out. Sorry. Like ourselves and everybody in there, we all helped out, and we did a lot of things, a lot of good things. And that's how, you know, I remember them. So -- but it's hard.

ROSALES: Yes, it's a lot of emotions for you today. It's been 30 years in the making, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ROSALES: What does it mean to have Raul Castro, that name, at the top of this indictment?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He deserves it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: My next guest is one of the lawmakers at the forefront calling for this indictment, Republican Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis of New York, whose mother fled Cuba in 1959 as Fidel Castro came to power.

[18:35:00]

Thank you so much for joining us, Congresswoman.

I mentioned that he's 94 years old, Raul Castro. He might be the oldest person ever indicted by the federal government, we think. This still, of course, is important for you and your colleagues to do. Explain why and what comes next.

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Look, he's, he should've been indicted 30 years ago. Unfortunately, we had administrations willing to turn a blind eye to the atrocities, to the murder of American citizens. The Trump administration is not willing to turn a blind eye. They are taking him to account, and they are going to deliver justice, I truly believe, for these families.

And I think that this is the first step in real regime change. I mean, we know in 2021, the people of Cuba rose up, and to great detriment to themselves. Remember, they don't have freedom of the press. They don't have freedom of speech. They get jailed, they get beaten. They've been even murdered by this regime over the last decades.

And this is an opportunity for Cuban Americans to finally see some justice. It's not just been 30 years. Obviously, that atrocity happened 30 years ago, but they've been waiting for 67 years to see this Castro regime held accountable and to see it be eliminated. And, hopefully, we will see them leave this island. Just let the people be. They have starved them, they have oppressed them, they have beaten them, they have tortured them, they have jailed them and murdered them. And I'll tell you, no government has the right to do that.

These Cuban people have lived in poverty and misery with little access to food, to medicine, to basic necessities we hold so dearly here in the United States of America. And it's shameful, actually, that some of my colleagues want to act like this is because of America. It's not because of America's embargo. It's because the communist regime, they stole people's businesses, their property, their livelihoods. They've broke up families like mine, who were forced to split, stole my grandfather's gas stations, stole many small businesses and homes from people, and they've lived as kings all these decades while the people have lived in misery, impoverished.

TAPPER: Yes. Let me ask you, so the Maduro raid took place after an indictment against Maduro. Would you support a similar action in Cuba, a U.S. military raid to seize Raul Castro to bring him to the U.S. for trial?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, if it's a limited raid that was executed flawlessly, by the way, in Venezuela, I think that could potentially be a step. I would support that. But I would say that I think that they should just turn themselves over. They should leave the island, quite frankly, if they were to flee.

I think at the end of the day, what real justice is not just seeing this 94-year-old man going to jail for a couple of years. Real justice is seeing the regime ending, being brought to its knees, being eliminated from the islands, and then actual democracy, being able to have free and fair elections, political parties be able to organize.

And, remember, this is about the Cuban people. We want them to be free. I certainly have family there that continues to suffer to this day. But this is also about America's national security. We know, right, that they have allowed terrorists to operate, that they have allowed our adversaries to operate. I believe there's spy facilities, Russia, Iran, North Korea, communist China, 90 miles from our shores, they are a real problem in the Western hemisphere.

And as we see country after country changing from socialist to now more center right in South and Central America, this is a real key to the -- this is a real key to -- for freedom-loving Americans to see prosperity in our region. It's about time we're paying attention to our own backyard.

TAPPER: Secretary Rubio, who has a similar lineage as you in terms of your mother, released a message today directed specifically towards Cuban residents, by way of explanation, he refers to GAESA. That's an acronym for the military-run conglomerate that controls much of Cuba's economy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, for those who don't speak Spanish, what he said is, Trump is offering a new relationship between the U.S. and Cuba, but it must be directly with you, not the GAESA. We're ready to open a new chapter in the relationship between our people and our countries, and currently the only thing standing in the way of a better future are those who control your country.

Even if Cubans, and I agree with your assessment of the poor Cuban people who have been oppressed for decades now, even if they want to align with the Trump administration, what is the administration expecting them to do?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, look, first of all, in, in another part in that speech, Marco Rubio pointed that $18 billion have basically been held by the communist regime while all their people are suffering with nothing.

[18:40:03]

I think there's so much opportunity here between the United States and Cuba. First of all, it would right away become another main tourist attraction, being that it's 90 miles, beautiful island from our shores. But we will -- they need everything. They're going to need everything. You'll see American businesses going in there to help establish, whether it's infrastructure, transportation, healthcare facilities. You'll see definitely a lot of investment. People have been waiting to do that type of investment in business in Cuba, and bring some capitalism truly to the island.

I think also people are going to want to see their homes. They're going to want to see what was stolen from them returned. So, hopefully, that could be part of this conversation. But, really, I think it's about having the support for the Cuban people as they try to establish free and fair elections. That means they're going to have to be able to have freedom of the press, see actual media being established there so they can learn what's going on. Right now, it's only what the regime tells them. They hardly have any internet or access to anything, unless it's state-owned media that's telling them the reporting, which we know is obviously full of propaganda.

So, we want them to have freedom of speech, being able to go to the streets and protest and have their voices heard, freedom of assembly, freedom of press and then, of course, free and fair elections, which means that they'd be able to establish political parties and to exercise their political will.

So, I think all of that, the United States can be very helpful in, and we should be helpful in, because this would be a real key to national security in the Western Hemisphere.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, Republican of New York, thank you so much.

One member of the Castro family who has not fallen in line is the daughter of Fidel Castro. In fact, she's been estranged for decades.

CNN's Carolina Peguero traveled to her home in Miami.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Inside a modest Miami home, far from Havana and far from power.

This is your home sweet home?

ALINA FERNANDEZ, FIDEL CASTRO'S DAUGHTER: Yes, this is my humble abode.

PEGUERO: Alina Fernandez, daughter of Cuba's Fidel Castro, is opening a deeply personal window into a complicated legacy.

So, this is your mother?

FERNANDEZ: This is my mother. I think she passed speaking about him.

PEGUERO: And who's him?

FERNANDEZ: About Fidel Castro. I think she lasted in love for as long as she lived, which for me is very difficult to understand.

PEGUERO: But as the coffee cools, stories about family memories slowly shift to politics and an uncertain future for Cuba as relations with the U.S. reach a near breaking point, with renewed pressure from President Donald Trump and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel warning of a bloodbath should the U.S. attempt to attack the island.

Do you see an invasion of the U.S. in Cuba territory?

FERNANDEZ: I think that at this point it depends on the Cubans, which is very worrisome.

PEGUERO: And why does that worry you? What do you feel will be --

FERNANDEZ: Who can desire or want an invasion for this country, as easy as it is to say it sitting here.

PEGUERO: She says decades of sanctions and confrontation have hardened Cuba's leadership, creating a government she believes has learned to survive under pressure and respond when challenged.

FERNANDEZ: This is not the first time they are told that an invasion is coming immediately. We've been under invasion for the last 67 years, or the threat of an invasion. I'm sure they are prepared.

I will remind everybody that the capacity for reaction of the Cuban regime shouldn't be undermined and underestimated. That can make the difference between a bloodbath and something else.

PEGUERO: Alina believes Cuba will not cave to U.S. pressure, yet she is short of saying an invasion is the only way to free the island from the revolution her father once led.

FERNANDEZ: I feel like every other Cuban these times. Hopeful, frustrated, sad, hopeful again. Hope prevails.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PEGUERO (on camera): And, Jake, I just spoke to Alina moments ago to get her reaction on her uncle, Raul Castro's indictment today, and she says like many Cubans here, she is celebrating, but now waiting on the next steps of the U.S. government. Jake?

TAPPER: Carolina Peguero, thank you so much. I appreciate it, reporting there live from Miami.

President Trump exacted his revenge once again last night, and today he's signaling who might be his next target. Our panel weighs in.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:48:18]

TAPPER: In our politics lead now that the president has dispatched some of his perceived Republican foes, added a Massie shaped pelt to his wall, he's now taking aim at Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.

Here's Trump taking a question from the congressman's fiancee, Jacqui Heinrich, who's a -- Heinrich, who's a Fox correspondent. This was this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When her husband votes against me all the time, I don't know what's with him. You better ask him what's with him?

Her husband -- she's married to a certain congressman. He votes. He likes voting against Trump. You know what happens with that? Doesn't work out well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I'll tell you what's up with him. He represents a district that Kamala Harris won.

Let's discuss this and more with the panel.

Rob, here is how Congressman Fitzpatrick from suburban Philly responded just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): I've been primaried five times from the right.

REPORTER: But if he pours millions of dollars into someone's --

FITZPATRICK: Listen, anybody can do what they want. You know, it's not going to change how I conduct myself. You know, I believe in -- I believe in the institution. I believe in democracy. I believe in giving people a voice and, you know, that's the way I've always felt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, we had James Blair from the White House here earlier. He basically was saying, look, the president really isn't targeting him. He wasn't going after him. The way he went after Massie. He just said that he doesn't vote my way. It's not really an attack.

What do you think?

ROBERT BLUEY, PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE DAILY SIGNAL: Well, I think the president needs to strike the right balance here. Obviously, he's frustrated by some of Congressman Fitzpatrick's votes. Fitzpatrick himself, as you indicated, is one of, I think, three Republicans who won in districts carried by Kamala Harris.

[18:50:00]

But at the same time, the margin is so narrow in the U.S. House that the president is going to need the congressman's vote on some key pieces of legislation before the end of the year, particularly if they're serious about getting another reconciliation package through the House.

TAPPER: Yeah. CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Let me assure you, and I don't

need to tell you this, the Philly suburbs are not rural Kentucky. I spent a lot of time and money in this district trying to beat this guy and this guy relates a lot with working class, blue collar folks who live in those suburbs. We threw everything and he still won.

So when he's in Congress, he likes to play both sides a little bit because its good politics for him in this Philly suburbs district.

TAPPER: Yeah. Republican Congressman Mike Collins and Derek Dooley are now advancing in the Georgia Republican Senate runoff. The winner will face Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff.

Senator Ossoff shared this reaction from his communications director, quote, "Trump puppets Collins and Dooley have made themselves terminally inseparable from this toxic president. Now, the failed congressman who was only a congressman because his daddy was a congressman, and the failed coach who was only a coach because his daddy was a coach, limp into a month-long race to the bottom that will surely leave both broke and unelectable."

What do you -- that doesn't sound like, you know, people talk about Ossoff maybe running for president in 2028. That doesn't really sound like a 2028 contender, though.

ROCHA: It sounds like he's trying to raise some money and take some advantage online because that's where all the moneys been given. He's one of the top fundraisers just off a small dollar donations, one in every four donations online for Democrats has went to Ossoff, and he can sit back for 30 days while these guys fight each other and fight it out.

For the long term, he needs to figure out how to persuade voters around rural Atlanta and then turn out Black voters in Atlanta if he wants to win.

TAPPER: Well, what do you make of him like -- calling them Trump puppets?

BLUEY: Yeah, it seemed a little immature. Jon Ossoff has been able to create this perception that he's some kind of a moderate. In reality, I looked up his score on the heritage action scorecard, this term in congress, it's zero. His lifetime is 4 percent. Bernie Sanders has a 12 percent lifetime score on the Heritage Action scorecard, Jake.

So, he is somebody who votes with the far left of his party. And I think that that is the winning formula for both of these Republicans is not necessarily to do battle with themselves and damage themselves, as we're seeing in Texas, right, Chuck? But actually, actually target Ossoff.

(CROSSTALK)

ROCHA: -- but anyway.

TAPPER: One of the going on right now with both parties is members of congress who are basically awol. And there's a congresswoman, Frederica Wilson. She's a Democrat from Florida. Congressman Tom Kean, Jr., a Republican from New Jersey, they're both seeking reelection. Both have been missing from Congress, they say, because of medical reasons.

Speaker Johnson was asked about Congressman Kaine today, who has not voted since March 5th.

Here's what the speaker had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I talked to Tom. It's been a few weeks ago now on the phone and he sounded good and optimistic. And were expecting him back here soon. He's had a medical issue and he's going to be fully transparent and disclose all that. I mean, that's what he told me.

But I don't even know the details. And I res -- you know, I have to respect that. It's a member's personal privacy on whatever matters they're dealing with. But we expect to have him back soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, he's missed more than 80 House roll call votes. And certainly, people have medical issues. But don't his constituents deserve an explanation?

BLUEY: Absolutely. I mean, I'm a huge advocate of transparency. I'm also a big supporter of term limits. And I think that right now, maybe U.S. Congress, both on the Republican and Democrat side, could benefit from having a debate about that. Again, it's been years since we've had a conversation.

It seems -- I know Rahm Emanuel has thrown out this idea of an age limit. I think of 75 for members of Congress, just because of some of the ongoing health issues that have popped up on both sides.

ROCHA: There are certain things that should be nonpartisan. Folks should be able to get to work. They work for us. They also should not be able to trade stocks if they want to have term limits. Let's have this conversation. When you run for Congress, you open yourself up to work for the American people. And if you don't come to work, they should know.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Liberal icon, gay rights trailblazer, Wall Street reformer. Up next, we're going to remember the life and career of former Congressman Barney frank, who left an indelible mark on those who knew him through his quick wit and passionate voice. We spoke with him just a few weeks ago.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [18:58:10]

TAPPER: Some sad news in our politics lead. Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank has died at the age of 86. He was an outspoken, progressive stalwart, known for his sharp tongue and sarcastic wit during his more than three decades in Congress. Frank was also a trailblazer for gay rights, becoming the first member of congress to publicly come out as gay openly in 1987.

It was just a few days ago that I interviewed Barney Frank from hospice care, in what would be one of his final interviews.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: A couple more questions for you, sir. They're more philosophical in nature.

FORMER REP. BARNEY FRANK (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Yeah, I'm better than I sound.

TAPPER: Okay. What do you --

FRANK: I'm better than I look.

TAPPER: You look great.

What do you want people to remember about Congressman Barney Frank?

FRANK: Oh, that I was smart enough and learned enough about the reaction not to answer that question.

TAPPER: On behalf of myself, who's enjoyed covering you for decades and admired your passion and your -- and your brain and your quick wit that I'll miss you.

FRANK: Thank you.

TAPPER: But beyond that, what do you want young people watching to know?

FRANK: Well, okay, that's a good question. And I'm going to do it specifically with gay rights. There's a lot of angst among other gay and lesbian people. Oh, we're going to lose our rights. They're going to take things away. And my answer is no. In fact, the history of gay rights shows the positive capacity of our system. So, I want younger people, all people, to understand that a political majority can get things done more than people think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Barney Frank was 86 years old. May his memory be a blessing.

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bluesky and on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.