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The Lead with Jake Tapper
CNN Obtains Private DNC Autopsy of 2024 Election Loss; Aimee Bock Sentenced to Nearly 42 Years in Prison in Minnesota Fraud Case; Republicans Revolt Over Trump's $1.8 Billion Anti-Weaponized Fund. CNN Obtains Private DNC "Autopsy" Of 2024 Election Loss; Oversight Committee Questions Longtime Epstein Assistant. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired May 21, 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, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime assistant testified on Capitol Hill today as part of Congress' investigation into the dead pedophile and his sex trafficking network. Sarah Kellen was once labeled a potential Epstein co-conspirator. She said today that she was actually one of his victims. We're going to go live to Capitol Hill for more details of her closed-door interview.
Plus, it's the report that the Democratic National Committee fought for you to not see. CNN has obtained the party's autopsy of its 2024 presidential election loss, and it paints a pretty dismal picture for Democrats.
[18:00:03]
We're going to dig through the key findings with a top official from the Harris campaign.
And a veteran struggling with homelessness surrendered his dog to a local fire department, begging for the fire department to adopt his beloved pet so the veteran could get the help he needs. Now, Jake the Dog, is settling in at the firehouse and finding a new audience on social media. We're going to talk to Jake and his new family ahead to share their story of tough choices, second chances, and a community looking out for each other.
The Lead tonight, the race to find a winning message ahead of November's midterm elections, President Trump focusing on his vengeance campaign as Republicans try to keep control over Congress, meanwhile, Democrats trying to plot their path forward while dealing with a severe reckoning of their own making. CNN has now obtained the party's autopsy of its 2024 presidential election loss. Yes, this is the same report that the Democratic National Committee did not want to release. The DNC chair claims it's because the report wasn't close to being ready for public consumption and had errors and not enough sourcing.
That all seems to be true, but it also reveals never before reported details over all the huge missteps that continue to hang over the Democratic Party. Some Senate Democrats expressing their disdain over the DNC's 2024 postmortem to CNN's Manu Raju.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BRIAN SCHATZ (D-HI): It's not exactly explosive. I think the explosive part was the implication that they were hiding something. It's not an amazing report. It doesn't give me many insights into the path forward.
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I don't really care. I mean, I'm not sure those are the right people to diagnose what went wrong with the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: CNN Senior Reporter Isaac Dovere broke the story and got his hand on the autopsy, and did his own autopsy of the autopsy.
Isaac, break it down. What are your main takeaways? What are their main takeaways, I should say?
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, look, Jake, I think very importantly here, the DNC's plan was not to release even what it has been released today. They released it because I went to them with reporting that I had about what the contents of this autopsy were, and many of the problems that had happened in the construction of it.
And you can see that even in the text that is being shown on screen right now, there are red lines at the top of each page there. That's what you'll see on our website if you look at it. That is part of how the DNC's lawyers are disavowing this document in what they are releasing. So, that's number one.
Now, as you say, though, there are a lot of things in there that get into some of the details of what went wrong for the party. One of them just to, to read through it for you, the Harris campaign appears to have relied on Trump being unacceptable rather than building an affirmative case for Harris. Another one, Harris lagged in rural areas nationally, which proved to be insurmountable in swing states. Harris wrote off rural America, assuming urban and suburban margins would compensate. And then another, at times, it seems Democrats are trying to win arguments while Republicans are focused on winning elections. Democrats operate in an ecosystem defined by reason even in cycles when the electorate is defined by rage.
So, look, that's all in there, but that is done, is one man's opinion, basically. There was a part-time friend of the DNC chair, Ken Martin, who was tapped by Martin to do this report, even though Martin had said it was a priority, and there were a lot of problems along the way. And the reporting that I have up on our site is about how many issues there were with the people who were interviewed, a lot of people who weren't interviewed, like almost all the senior leadership of the Biden and Harris campaigns. Even the former DNC chair, Jaime Harrison, who you can see in the video up there on the side, was only interviewed when he reached out asking to be interviewed, and many other things there. There was a lot of people who thought that this would cover at least some of what happened with how the issue of Gaza and the politics there affected voters. There was not even outreach to the leaders of the uncommitted movement. protest movement, the pro-Palestinian movement, or groups like Democratic Majority for Israel.
There's a very incomplete report here, and also speaks to a lot of people that I spoke, that I have talked to for this reporting and since it published this morning, about how Ken Martin has managed this whole thing and what it says about the leadership that he would have to have going into the midterms in the fall, and then the presidential primary process, and the 2028 election.
TAPPER: And correct me if I'm wrong, Isaac, but it doesn't even go into any of the issues having to do with why Joe Biden had to drop out.
DOVERE: Not that, not the process of Kamala Harris becoming the nominee without any kind of official nominating process. There is a lot that's left out here. Now, part of that is because the intention was to get into a systematic review of what had happened for the Democrats, and that was not so attached to the specifics of the, what happened in the 2024 election. For example, like, as you know well, it is unlikely that there is going to be another situation soon where an 82-year-old incumbent is running for re-election and has to drop out in the middle of the race.
[18:05:04]
So, spending a lot of time on that was maybe not ever going to be a real interest for the autopsy, but getting into these deeper details was, and even so, it became a real train wreck over the course of the year with the people who were supposed to be doing it, and with Ken Martin, as he really just let it go by and missed deadline after deadline, was promising people would come, and then got to the end of the year when it was supposed to come out, he finally said, I'm going to release it, and then abruptly said, no, I'm not going to release it.
And he said he wasn't releasing it then because they're they had already learned the lessons and they didn't want to look backwards anymore. Now he says they didn't release it because he can't stand by and verify what was said.
He had a statement to me now for the reporting this morning. When I received the report late last year, it wasn't ready for primetime, not even close. And because no source material was provided, it would've meant starting over. I could not in good faith put the DNC stamp of approval on the report that was produced.
But he also added to me, by not putting the report out, I ended up creating an even bigger distraction. For that, I sincerely apologize.
Again, Jake, that is not what he was saying in December when he announced that he would not put the report out.
TAPPER: Yes. Isaac Dovere, great reporting. Thanks so much.
Let's talk now to former Kamala Harris for President Deputy Campaign Manager Rob Flaherty. Rob, so you had insight into the autopsy before everyone else. You've also written your own assessment of what went wrong. Now, that you've read the DNC autopsy, do you think it accurately explains why the Democrats lost?
ROB FLAHERTY, FORMER DEPUTY CAMPAIGN MANAGER, BIDEN 2024 CAMPAIGN: Well, you know, it was interesting, Jake. Thanks for having me on. I thought that the, some of the things that were in there were takes that I agree with, things that, you know, I shared in my assessment with him, the other things that I didn't share that I agreed with as well. But like Isaac just said, you know, it reads as one man's opinion and not really a full conversation with, you know, the numbers of folks who are working on the campaign and on the, you know, independent expenditure side who might have had different takes. And that to me felt like the missed opportunity.
TAPPER: So, just to be frank here I can't understand writing an autopsy like this without talking about the Biden age issues and Biden having to drop out of the race after the debate, his decision to run again to begin with, Kamala Harris taking over without some sort of nominating process, and perhaps the biggest issue that might have cost her Michigan, Israel and Gaza. Why would that be left out, any of that?
FLAHERTY: Yes, Jake. You know, I don't know. I do think both of those were factors. You know, I said in my piece that, you know, I love President Biden, he's a good man, and also that you know, his decision to run I think put us in a hole that was hard for anyone from the administration to dig out of.
And then, you know, obviously on, maybe it didn't show up in the numbers, but sort of in just talking to people it's pretty clear that, you know, the issues around Gaza did cause, you know, some enthusiasm to dissipate for Democrats. So, I think those are both critical issues that, you know, warrant discussion. And people might have different opinions about their impacts but, you know, that should be heard out.
TAPPER: So, Senator Brian Schatz, a Democrat of Hawaii, he told CNN's Manu Raju that one of the things that he had a real issue with the autopsy is that there's no path forward. It didn't suggest a path forward. And, you know, he sits on the Senate Democratic Caucus' leadership team. So, let me just ask you, because we have you here, what lessons are there for Democrats going forward, what needs to change?
FLAHERTY: Yes. I think there's a lot of different lessons, and these are just, again, one man's opinion. But, you know, from my lens, I think, first of all, people are feeling real economic pain right now. We were on the wrong side of that in the last election. Now, Donald Trump is. He's hitting the prices go higher button every day. I think that's a real opportunity for people to speak to voters who feel disaffected from the status quo and feel like the system isn't working for them. You know, there's the -- and then there's these sort of big questions about why are you in the race in the first place? It's often a question that we overlook. People vote for people, not for parties now. And having that answer I think is really important.
And then there's tactical discussions about where Democrats and how Democrats spend their time, how they reach people. I mean, this is one thing that I thought the report that the DNC put out was right about, was the disproportionate amount of money that is spent on traditional television, very important, thrilled to be here. But, you know, the different ways that people get their information now and needing to adapt to that.
So, I think there's a number of things that can be learned and that discussion should happen out loud.
TAPPER: Democrats do have a chance to take back control of Congress this November, especially the House, but as you know, that takes money, and the DNC is currently in debt, and the RNC is flush with cash. Do you have confidence in DNC Chair Ken Martin to lead the party?
FLAHERTY: Well, you know, I will say this. I am nervous about it. I will say that, you know, the Democratic National Committee is an incredibly important institution to me. I used to work there. I think it is important both for how you win a midterm, but also for how it sets up a presidential campaign in 2028.
I think one of the real problems with, you know, this process has been that it does hurt people's trust.
[18:10:05]
You know, when you're trying to set up a presidential campaign and go into a general election, the DNC is critically important for, you know, making sure the campaign has the resources when they get there, the primary is well-structured. That's hard to do when you have 17,000 people running for president.
And so, you know, I do think it raises questions about, you know, what is happening with leadership over there. This is leadership failing the great staff at the DNC.
TAPPER: So, should Ken Martin step down?
FLAHERTY: I think that it is hard to see Ken Martin staying in this job. And I feel bad. He seems like a great guy and he's connected to a lot of great state party folks and has come up through the right side of this. But like this is pretty clearly one guy's mistake on a big thing. And what the -- you know, the autopsy is really just a small corner of what the role of the DNC is.
And I think you have to think about the big picture of how you set up a primary and how you set it up for success. Putting this aside, if you can't raise the money to do, that does raise real concerns beyond, you know, Democrats' ability to win a midterm in November. TAPPER: Rob Flaherty, thank you so much. Good to have you on.
Breaking news just in to our sports lead. Legendary NASCAR driver Kyle Busch has died at the age of 41. His family just posted this morning that Busch had been hospitalized with a severe illness. We're going to gather more information. We're going to bring you updates as we learn them.
Plus, federal charges were filed today against 15 people accused of stealing more than $90 million in taxpayer money. The cases include allegations of defrauding Medicare and programs that help childcare centers. The administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Mehmet Oz, was at today's news conference announcing the charges, and he'll join us live ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
TAPPER: Just in, some sad news in our Sports Lead. NASCAR champion Kyle Busch has died. In a statement just moments ago, NASCAR said, quote, we are saddened and heartbroken to share the news of the passing of Kyle Busch, a two-time cup champion and one of our sport's greatest and fiercest drivers. He was 41 years old. We extend our deepest condolences to the Busch family, Richard Childress Racing, and the entire motorsports community, unquote.
His family said in a statement earlier today that he had been hospitalized with a severe illness and would not be able to compete this weekend.
Let's bring in CNN's Coy Wire. Coy, what are we learning about all this? It's so sad.
COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, it's all so sudden and unfathomably sad. Kyle Busch wasn't just one of the greatest drivers NASCAR ever saw, he was one of the fiercest competitors motorsports has ever produced. He made Sundays emotional. If he was in the race, you were going to feel something.
And, statistically, he's on NASCAR's Mount Rushmore. Emotionally, he was a lightning rod for an entire generation of fans. He didn't just win races, he overwhelmed them. He was a two-time NASCAR Cup Series champ, widely regarded as the winningest overall driver in NASCAR National Series history, nicknamed Rowdy, that was a reflection of both his aggressive style and this larger than life persona.
What made Kyle unique was his versatility. His trucks, Xfinity, Cup, if it had four wheels and a steering wheel, he believed he could beat anybody racing. He carried this old school racer sort of energy into the modern era, racing constantly, racing anywhere and anyone. And in that NASCAR statement, they said in part that, throughout a career that spanned more than two decades, Kyle set records in National Series wins, won championships at NASCAR's highest level, and fostered the next generation of drivers as an owner in the Truck Series. His sharp wit and competitive spirit sparked a deep emotional connection with race fans of every age, creating the proud and loyal Rowdy Nation.
Jake, the thing about Kyle Busch, even his critics respected his talent. Deep down, everybody in the garage knew they were watching one of the all-time greats.
TAPPER: Yes. Coy Wire, thank you so much. May his memory be a blessing.
This morning, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee said today's interview would be the toughest one yet in the group's -- in the committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. So, what did the committee learn from Epstein's longtime assistant, Sarah Kellen? That story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:20:00]
TAPPER: In our National Lead, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 30,000 veterans experience homelessness on any given night. And with no support, many of these veterans are forced to make difficult choices just to survive. Just one recent example in Fort Worth, Texas, a veteran named Tom surrendered his companion, his dog, Jake, to a local fire department, begging the fire department to take care of his best friend.
And what started as a short-term necessity has turned into a permanent bond among Jake and the members of his new family, and a new hope for Tom in his search for stability.
Joining me now are the members of the Fort Worth Fire Department and Jake the Dog. Thank you so much for joining me, gentlemen.
Captain Bryant, let me start with you. Can you walk me through the day that you all first found Jake?
CAPT. JASON BRYANT, FORT WORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT: Sure. So, on the morning of the 16th right before shift change, we usually shift change between 7:00 and 8:00. And a few of us get up pretty early and have coffee and just talk about the shift before. And Asa here on my right, he -- where he sleeps he came out and thought he heard a dog whining.
So, a few of us went out to see what was going on and found Jake here chained to the flagpole out by our front entrance. And there was a water bottle, like a sports water bottle, that had a three-page letter rolled up inside of it, and it was just Tom explaining his situation and that he couldn't better his life while he had Jake because he had nobody that could keep Jake.
So, that's kind of -- that's how we came about finding Jake. And I guess later that day, I had my wife have a coworker post on Facebook that we were just trying to find him a home. That's how -- that was the original plan.
TAPPER: Well, it looks like he found a home.
BRYANT: Yes. I mean, this says all you need to know about Jake. He's actually snoring, so it might be kind of loud there.
TAPPER: Yes, I got a dog like that, too.
BRYANT: I think he's exhausted.
TAPPER: And you've all been in contact with Tom since he surrendered. Lieutenant Ludwig, how's Tom doing?
LT. GREG LUDWIG, FORTH WORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, we haven't been in contact with him actually, but we understand that he's getting the help that he needs through some local organizations. And then our HOPE outreach program here in the city of Fort Worth has also been in contact with him. And that's pretty much all that I know.
TAPPER: Chase Pennington, what made you all decide to keep Jake, at least for now?
[18:25:00]
CHASE PENNINGTON, ENGINEER, FORT WORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, I think you know, he definitely adds a calming kind of aspect to the station. And, you know, we just kind of enjoyed his demeanor. He fit in pretty quickly, and we all love dogs here. So, it just kind of fell together the right way, I guess, you could say.
TAPPER: Asa Keith, do you think there will be a time where Tom and Jake can reunite if Tom's situation improves?
ASA KEITH, FIREFIGHTER, FORT WORTH FIRE DEPARTMENT: I don't know. He might. We don't know. We're going to take it one day at a time and enjoy Jake while he's here. And if he does go back to Tom, then hopefully he can take care of him too.
TAPPER: Lieutenant Ludwig, how important do you think it is for communities to take an active role in helping those in need, such as homeless veterans? It's such a remarkable thing that you're doing to help him out and to help Jake out.
LUDWIG: Oh, yes, it's -- I mean, it's absolutely important. We see it every day. Our fire station is in the hospital district, and we make calls on the homeless people quite a bit. And I think it was a good, probably really hard choice for Tom to make, but in the end I think that he made the right choice and it's going to work out for him. So --
TAPPER: Captain Bryant, what do you want people to take away from this story?
BRYANT: I just -- I think it's important for people to help out. We, like Lieutenant Ludwig said, we have a pretty big homeless problem around the nation, but all we can focus on is here in Fort Worth. But I think if you see somebody in need, just reach out to them. You never know that you can change somebody's life like Tom's has been changed. And, quite frankly, all of us here at the station, our lives have changed because of Jake. TAPPER: It's so remarkable what you're doing for Tom, not to mention, of course, what you do every day as firefighters and the example you're setting. Thank you so much for telling us your story today. We really appreciate it.
LUDWIG: Thank you.
BRYANT: Thank you.
KEITH: Thank you.
TAPPER: A growing number of Republicans are pushing back against President Trump's plans for a nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, Republican of Pennsylvania, is here in moments to explain how he plans to fight to try to stop this fund from existing.
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[18:30:00]
TAPPER: In our National Lead today, a Minnesota judge sentenced Aimee Bock, that's the leader of a Minnesota nonprofit who has been convicted of a whopping $250 million COVID-19 related fraud. She was sentenced to nearly 42 years in prison today.
At the same time, Trump administration officials announced sweeping charges against 15 other people accused of defrauding social service programs in the same state of Minnesota.
Here now is Dr. Mehmet Oz. He's the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Thanks for joining us, Dr. Oz.
So, today's cases involve the theft of more than $90 million in taxpayer money. Here's the assistant attorney general at today's press conference.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN MCDONALD, ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL, NATIONAL FRAUD ENFORCEMENT DIVISION: The common theme throughout these cases is fraudsters exploiting vulnerable programs and vulnerable people to enrich themselves, no matter the consequences to the programs or to the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: And our viewers can see that you were right next to him during that press conference. What are some of the programs that were being exploited?
DR. MEHMET OZ, ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS OF MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: Let me point out that Colin McDonald did a beautiful job choreographing this all-of-government approach. It's reflective of what the vice president's anti-fraud task force seeks to do. These indictments and arrests were made in record time in part because everyone was working together, which is I think what the American people would like to see if we've decided something is wrong. So, what is wrong?
You had a beautiful story on just before me about Tom, a vet who had to give his dog up because he's homeless. There's a program available to help people who are homeless. It's called Housing Stabilization. When done correctly, it saves people who have substance use disorders and a slew of other problems that just need a place to stay.
There's a guy named Mohammed Omar who we went after. He was so desperate to escape, he jumped out of this -- the fourth floor building that he lives in, a plush, beautiful neighborhood, by the way. He hobbled away, and subsequently, FBI was able to arrest him. I went to see the site. It's shocking he would try this. But this man brazenly took $3.5 million out of one of these housing stabilization programs.
When we were first notified by Minnesota almost a year ago that they had a problem, it was manageable, they were going to take care of it, it was this program. They eventually shuttered it. They shut that program down after it run up more than $100 million of expenses in that year, last year. And people like Tom, the vet you had, that you had his dog, Jake, on the show, you know, there's just no way you can help these people without these programs.
So, when fraudsters take this money in a way that can no longer be managed, they end up destroying the programs they're stealing from. We had today the largest autism bust ever. A mother and her adult daughter took $40 million out of autism. The autism program in Minnesota was supposed to be a few million dollars. It's $400 million. You know, they're going off now, they got arrested, but there's many others like that we have to get ahead of.
And to do it the right way, we're going to have to take bold action like today to send a very clear message. If you're a fraudster, and I'm speaking to you if you're thinking about getting into this business or you're already in it, do not walk away from us. Run, because we're going to come after you.
TAPPER: So, how do we as a society make sure that there isn't this kind of fraud, and that when there is -- that the cases are prosecuted, while also not holding accountable or punishing, rather, the people who need these funds? Do you know what I mean? Like this fund you just talked about was shuttered for people who need it because of all the fraud. It's so important though that the people that are held responsible are not the people who need the programs, right?
OZ: Jake, I took this job. The president offered to me because he knows I love Medicaid.
[18:35:00]
It is the ultimate payer of last resort. It helps people who have nothing else that can help them. Medicare takes care of our senior citizens in an elegant, beautiful way. It's the crown jewel of our system. We can save these programs. There's about $100 billion of money stolen from them, a lot of this by foreign governments potentially, definitely foreign, you know, international crime syndicates.
So, we can get our arms around this. We took our eye off the ball. COVID convinced a lot of people they could defraud the federal government, especially in healthcare, which is probably 50 percent of the fraud, and get away with it. If we send a clear message we're not tolerating it anymore, they go away. Look what happened to hospice care in California. And you know, this is a program where one-third of all of the hospice in the country is in L.A., one-third.
So, we have already gone after 850 of these hospices, stopped paying them. Some have come back, a few, to say we were wrong. The vast majority just ran away. So, we can win this battle, but we got to do it together.
TAPPER: Yes.
OZ: Part of the reason I came to Minnesota is to send a message to the people here, we care about you, we'll do this together, but it has to be done together in unison.
TAPPER: So, you noted at today's press conference the $350 million in Medicaid funds for Minnesota. It's on hold right now. Now, the state has agreed to Medicaid corrective action plan. What else does the state of Minnesota need to do to unfreeze this money who, you know, so many people desperately need it?
OZ: So, just to be clear for everybody who might be worried about the folks in Minnesota, we know that there's a $3 billion rainy day fund, so they have money to manage the system. The purpose of deferring the money is not the corrective action plan. We actually audited, looked at the books of the last two quarters and found that there are too many discrepancies.
Jake, I mean, we have programs that all of a sudden jumped up two-fold in cost, unexplained expenses, people we don't know who they were providing services. So, we asked the state to validate this.
My job as the person assigned by the president to watch over the money in Medicare and Medicaid is to make sure that I'm doing just that, making sure people give me the receipts, I'll pay them the bills as appropriate, as we always have done. So, we're not taking the money away from Minnesota, we're deferring its payment. They're hopefully going to get back to us within the next month or two.
But there's another example, just to show you that we're trying our hardest. We asked the state of Minnesota, in fact, we asked every state, to revalidate their providers. That means that we want you to go look at all these people who are doing services, that are putting people potentially at risk, like that mother-daughter duo who defrauded all these, you know, poor folks who had autism in their family and couldn't keep up because they weren't being helped, you know, go after them, tell me if they're legit or not. They haven't been able to do that. In fact, only about 40 percent of people are, you know, completely seem reasonable. Majority of the people we're concerned about. And if they don't get those numbers fixed by next week and can't validate these providers, there's a lot of folks who are not going to be allowed to take care of people.
The good news is, our biggest allies are the folks who are doing it right. They are the people who are doing hospice right, home healthcare right, who are doing all the things that we need for autism in this country. Those people come to us actually frustrated, angry that we're allowing, tolerating fraudsters who not only hurt people they care about but are stealing their business inappropriately.
TAPPER: All right. Dr. Mehmet Oz, thank you so much. I appreciate your time today.
OZ: God bless.
TAPPER: Also in the Politics Lead, Speaker Mike Johnson's meeting with President Trump was scrapped today after the U.S. Senate left town without acting on Trump's immigration package. This is amid Republican fury over the nearly $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund that Trump set up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): These people don't deserve restitution. Many of them deserve to be in prison.
I mean, this is just stupid on stilts.
SEN. SUSAN COLLINS (R-ME): I do not support the weaponization fund, as it has been described.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: One Republican Congressman says he wants to kill this fund all together. Republican Congressman from Pennsylvania Brian Fitzpatrick joins me now. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.
What have you learned about the source of the fund and the fund in the last 24 hours, and if there is a way to stop it?
REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): Yes, Jake. No response from the administration, so we're moving forward. Myself and Tom Suozzi, the co-chair -- my co-chair of the Problem Solvers, introduced legislation today. We are operating under the presumption that the genesis of this funding came from last year's DOJ appropriations bill. So, we took that title. We issued a very, very brief piece of legislation that says that that money cannot be used in any way, shape, or form for this fund that was created on May 18th that nobody knows anything about, nobody ever authorized. So, we're going to -- we have a multi- pronged approach here that we're going to use to make sure that these taxpayer dollars are not wasted in this matter.
TAPPER: The deputy attorney general, Todd Blanche, testified that anyone can apply, and the money would be given out confidentially. There would be a five-person board that would decide who gets the money. I mean, obviously, there are a lot of Senate Republicans, in addition to you, who have concerns, not only about the existence of this program, but about the lack of guardrails on the program.
[18:40:07]
FITZPATRICK: Yes.
TAPPER: The question I have is, are there other House Republicans who share your concerns?
FITZPATRICK: Yes. We'll find out, Jake. You know, we introduced the bill. You know, a lot of people privately are telling me on the floor, great idea, we're with you. Well, let's see if they put pen to paper, right? It's very easy to say something. It's another thing to put your name on the line, which we have done, and we will continue to do. So, we're going to keep recruiting them but I'm very confident, Jake, that we're going to kill this.
TAPPER: If the Justice Department or Congress does manage to put limits on who can apply rather than eliminate the program all together, for example, saying you can't -- you're not eligible if you were convicted of beating up a cop, as one example, would you still be in favor of the existence of some sort of pot of money for -- taxpayer money for anti-weaponization payouts?
FITZPATRICK: No, I would not. The normal course -- the way you go about things around here, Jake, according to the Constitution and according to our Article 1 authority, if you have a proposal, you submit it in writing, it gets marked up in committee, it gets put on the floor, it's open to amendments, and you have an up or down vote where every single member of the House who represents 750,000 people gets to reflect the will of their constituents back home. None of that has happened, none of that. So, I'm not in favor of anything that they're proceeding on this front.
TAPPER: The president's immigration enforcement package is now stalled. The Senate has just disbanded for the time being as lawmakers try to deal with the ramifications of this fund. Do you think that political pressure like that will work and President Trump will ultimately say, this is not worth everything I'm putting Congress through? And also I would think this is not what House Republicans want to be defending as they go back home for the summer just a few more months before the midterms.
FITZPATRICK: Well, Jake, here's the thing. You know, the way this was supposed to go was we were supposed to bring the DHS funding bill that had already passed the House, with bipartisan support, by the way, before the tragedies in Minneapolis. Tom Suozzi and I introduced a number of reforms including removal of masks, requiring warrants, so on and so forth, the entire laundry list of reforms. But I always believe in funding the government.
What I do not support is one single dime of taxpayer money going to a ballroom or a dime of taxpayer money going to this so-called anti- weaponization fund. That was never part of the agreement, and it's also not what my constituents want. And I would submit to you that I can't imagine the majority of constituents in anyone's district, all 435, that any of them support this.
So, we are not just fighting back in word. We introduced legislation today, and I am on a mission to make sure that we do not waste taxpayer money in this regard.
TAPPER: All right. I guess we'll see how many of your fellow House Republicans join you.
Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, thank you, sir, always good to have you on.
FITZPATRICK: Thanks, Jake. I appreciate it.
TAPPER: President Trump today was asked if he's worried about being impeached if Republicans lose control of Congress in November's midterms. Hear his answer when our political panel joins us, next.
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[18:47:00]
TAPPER: More now in our politics lead, how Democrats lost the White House after facing intense pressure. Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin finally released the -- released the party's autopsy report on the 2024 election loss. The diagnosis, a 192-page unfinished report obtained by CNN before Martin was forced to release it, it reveals the Democrats failed to reach rural America, lacked negative power, firepower, didn't focus enough on Trump's liabilities, including his felony convictions, and on and on.
Let's discuss with the panel.
Thanks so much for being here, folks.
So along with those missteps, the report cast the Biden administration as having spent four years basically neglecting their vice president. Quote, "At the moment of the candidates, which the polling team discovered, there was no self research on the vice president to guide the development of the research instruments ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, the White House had asked the DNC how to poll -- to poll how First Lady Biden, Jill Biden, Dr. Biden to you, could help her husband politically, but it did no research on their own vice president.
Your reaction, then you, S.E.
JOHN AVLON, FORMER CHIEF SPEECHWRITER FOR MAYOR GIULIANI: I mean, look, this is a chaotic, messy, unfinished autopsy.
TAPPER: Oh, it's -- it's awful.
AVLON: It's awful and good for CNN for getting the scoop on it. But that is one of the revelations that's just this sort of glaring malpractice that led to the disaster of the fall. Why you would not do more to build up your vice president. And, you know, they spent a lot of time talking about ticket splitters.
You know, what Josh Stein did right in North Carolina, there's some nuggets in there the Democratic Party can learn from -- focusing on affordability, not identity politics. But this is a mess of an unfinished document.
TAPPER: What do you think, S.E.?
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think in 2016, Donald Trump so scrambled the Democratic Party's brain that it got paralyzed for 10 years. It stopped doing basic things like pulling their own candidates and preparing and looking, you know, under the hood.
I don't know why there wasn't a 2016 autopsy. We did one in 2012. I worked on it. It was granular. I mean, I was charged with coming up with new ideas to reach millennials, minorities, women and LGBTQ.
And I had to go through like tax code. What in the tax code can we look at that would appeal to young entrepreneurs?
For example, it was real. This is a mess. The rollout was a mess. It seems like a huge dereliction of duty for Ken Martin overseeing all of this and then rolling it out. But there's some -- some glaring misses here, too.
They mention Joe Biden's age not once, not at all. Not in the entire document being a problem. They kind of gloss over the fact that they looked at voters in the face and told them -- to their faces, the economy is great. What are you talking about?
Crime is down. You're safe in your cities. Relax, please. And the migrant crisis. What crisis? Talking over voters.
They make a mention of, sort of like finding a way to reconnect with American voters that they used to have.
[18:50:01]
But they don't acknowledge the things that we could all see with our own eyes. So I'm not sure what the utility of this is, other than Ken Martin being able to say, well, I did release it finally.
AVLON: He did it under duress.
CUPP: Yes, he did.
AVLON: If he didn't, if he thought it was --
TAPPER: Because Isaac got it.
AVLON: Exactly right.
TAPPER: Yeah.
AVLON: And if they -- if he got it and he said, this is incomplete, well then finish it.
CUPP: Right.
AVLON: Do the work. So this is a -- this is a desire to avoid the difficult conversation the Democrats need to have.
TAPPER: Speaking of difficult conversations, the autopsy doesn't mention Israel or Gaza.
AVLON: Yeah. Well, one of many, many omissions.
TAPPER: I mean, that was kind of --
AVLON: Pretty significant.
TAPPER: That was a very difficult thing for any -- for Biden and then for Harris to negotiate. And she couldn't.
AVLON: Absolutely. And look, I mean, this -- there's -- there are numbers in here that aren't verified. The whole thing is an embarrassment. But Democrats need to deal with the fact that their party's approval rating is lower than Donald Trump's at a time when he's cratering with the vast majority of the American people and independents. And so you need to do this work.
TAPPER: Yeah.
AVLON: So putting this sort of, you know, half baked autopsy out there that it only just compounds the chaos that clearly exists underneath the DNC.
TAPPER: S.E., you brought up President Biden's age, and I know my progressive friends love it when I bring up this topic. But I have to say, like, just as a fact, having nothing to do with the media, okay, having nothing to do with Republicans, even Joe Biden's performance at the debate was so bad that Democrats forced him out of the race. That is what happened.
Democratic officials forced him out of the race.
CUPP: Correct?
TAPPER: How could that not be in this autopsy?
CUPP: I don't -- I don't know. It's insane.
The whole point of it is so you can go to voters and elected Democrats and arm them with some tools and say, here's what we learned. Here's the mistakes we will not make again. And here's our promise to you.
And by the way, what an opportunity to say. And here's our agenda, not just you got to you got to vote against Donald Trump, but here's what we want you to vote for.
TAPPER: I still don't hear them saying that, do you?
CUPP: Well --
TAPPER: About the midterms?
CUPP: No, they're not. They have not figured out their agenda yet. And it has to be -- it can't just be affordability. Of course, that's everyone's agenda. That should be everyone's.
AVLON: Except Donald Trump's. But yes.
CUPP: Well, no, but it is -- it is. I mean.
TAPPER: But at least Trump did the -- did the TrumpRx this week. No, he did TrumpRx.
AVLON: Do something which is something.
Look, the danger for Democrats is that theyre going to see the pendulum swing is heading towards the midterms. Theyre going to use Trump's unpopularity and incompetence as an excuse to declare victory --
TAPPER: And high gas prices.
AVLON: -- and ignore the -- ignore the very real brand damage they need to fix to win back the middle, to win back the middle class, to win back rural voters, and to be relevant in red states, to build the big tent again. That work needs to be done. This autopsy doesn't deal with it, but it needs to be done.
CUPP: And it's basic psychology. We're all married here. When we fight with our spouse, and our spouse says to us, 'I'm sorry you feel that way". The spouse is sleeping on the couch. Okay?
Because you have to acknowledge what you did. Here's what I did wrong. Here's how I hurt you.
And the Democratic Party let Democratic voters down in 2024, where we are today.
TAPPER: Democrat voters. Voters like you. Yeah. Swing voters.
CUPP: Me, I gave -- I gave Democrats my vote. And with, you know, some explicit promises that were made and not kept, by the way. So we're owed this.
TAPPER: Will you guys come down to D.C. more so I can have you on --
AVLON: Anytime.
CUPP: Yeah.
TAPPER: You're so good.
John and S.E., thanks so much. Appreciate it.
The longtime assistant of dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein told Congress today she's no coconspirator in his crimes. She says she, too, is a victim. What else we learned about her closed door testimony? That's next.
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[18:57:37]
TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, the House Oversight Committee questioned a longtime assistant of dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer predicted today's closed door interview of Sarah Kellen would be the toughest yet interview of former Epstein associates.
In 2007, federal prosecutors labeled Kellen a potential coconspirator. She told the committee that in reality, she's an Epstein survivor.
CNN's Annie Grayer is on Capitol Hill.
Annie, what else did Kellen have to say?
ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Jake, this was a big interview for the committee. In fact, the Republican chairman, James Comer, said it was the most substantial interview his committee has conducted to date. And that is because Sarah Kellen gave the committee new names of alleged abusers to look into.
Take a listen to how the chairman told us about that earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY): She gave us three names of people that were involved in abuse. These were new names for us. As far as the men that were -- that were abusers, alleged abusers, then you know, we'll -- the whole world will see that and we'll be able to move forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRAYER: Now, beyond detailing her own abuse, Kellen was also asked for her thoughts about Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's coconspirator, and Kellen reportedly said that she did not want Maxwell to be moved into a lower security prison, did not believe that Maxwell deserved a presidential pardon.
And this -- and she gave lawmakers a lot of new leads to look at before their next big interview, Jake, which is going to happen next week with former Attorney General Pam Bondi. So, a lot of new leads to pursue out of this very big interview today.
TAPPER: How quickly might we get to see a transcript or video of Kellen's testimony?
GRAYER: Well, Comer said he's trying to do that as quickly as possible because he did not reveal the names specifically today. And just to note, Jake, this is not -- we're not going to see a video here. We're only going to see a transcript because Comer said that since Kellen appeared voluntarily, he did not make her have to appear under videotape. It's a concession he's been making to some of this investigation. And that is why well only see a transcript and hopefully going to be out soon.
TAPPER: All right. Annie Grayer on Capitol Hill for us -- thanks so much. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X and Bluesky, as well as the 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.
Our good friend Erin Burnett and her amazing show, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT", that starts right now. Thanks a lot. We'll see you tomorrow.
