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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Is Interviewed About Senators Press Blanche On Epstein Files & Trump Loyalty, Graham Platner, Lyndsey Fifield; DNI Nominee Jay Clayton Refuses To Say Biden Won In 2020; Rep. James Comer (R-KY), Is Interviewed About Ex-Obama WH Attorney Says It Was A "Mistake" To Deal With Epstein; Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), Is Interviewed About Trump Weighing Options For Expanding Military Operations In Iran; Mayor Cherelle Parker (D), Is Interviewed About Slavery Exhibit Replaced Overnight At Philadelphia's President's House. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 15, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right, thanks very much to my panel. Really appreciate you all being here. Thanks to you at home for watching as well. Don't go anywhere, Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead" where he is not watching the World Cup semifinal.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: I have news -- new show today --

HUNT: I know.

TAPPER: -- Kasie. We're going to look for -- look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

HUNT: See you soon.

[17:00:33]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Tough questions and a lot of tension on Capitol Hill today. The Lead starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE (D-RI), JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Are you willing to look at whether he lied to this committee?

TODD BLANCHE, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: That's an extraordinarily obnoxious question, Senator.

JAY CLAYTON, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: It was the first time that in my recollection I've thought about it recently. Now, was I aware of it before?

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): What?

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Must see moments from two men auditioning for permanent top level roles in the Trump administration. Could enough wavering Republicans deny the nominations for the candidates for attorney general and director of National Intelligence? We're going to show you the clips and talk to lawmakers in the room. Plus, CNN exclusive, officials at the White House asked to turn over their phones. What we're learning about an intense investigation trying to track down who leaked information to reporters about the security issues on the brand new Air Force One.

And exhibit panels about George Washington's slaves swapped out from a historical site in the dark of night, replaced with a version that critics call a whitewashing. I'm going to talk to the mayor of Philadelphia who is accusing the Trump administration of trying to erase American history.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start in our Law and Justice Lead. A tense confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill for Todd Blanche, President Donald Trump's pick to be the next U.S. attorney general. This is a high stakes hearing because Blanche's confirmation is not a lock.

The sudden death of Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, means that any one Republican senator on that committee could block Blanche's nomination from moving forward to the full Senate. Democratic senators grilled Blanche today. He used to be Trump's personal lawyer and for a moment today seemed to think that was his current status. Grilled him on a number of hot topics, including whether he would run the Justice Department as independent from the influence of the White House after months of criticism that the department has been anything but independent. Blanche told the committee he has disagreed with Trump and wouldn't do anything illegal or unethical if Trump asked him to.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: That will never happen. But yes, if it were to happen, I'm not going to violate my oath to the Constitution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Blanche also faced tons of questions about the Justice Department's mishandling of its investigation into dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his trafficking network. And by the way, mishandling is not my term. Today it came from Vice President Vance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If people want to say we mishandled the Epstein release, guilty, we did mishandle, especially the communications of it.

JOE ROGAN, HOST, "THE JOE ROGAN EXPERIENCE": What do you think should have been done?

VANCE: I think that we should have just dropped everything at the very beginning. And like, obviously it takes a little time to review the stuff, to find the stuff, to redact things where you have victims and so forth, but we should have just done it as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So here's what Blanche said when pressed about mistakes the Justice Department made when releasing the Epstein files while he was deputy attorney general and designated the person in charge of it. They redacted the names of possible perpetrators and they didn't redact the names or even the naked images of Epstein's victims. Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: Any mistake that was made is not appropriate. And so, yes, I am sorry that in about 1 percent of the -- of the documents, mistakes were made. But what I will say on top of that is we put tons of resources to rectifying those mistakes immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In the coming hours, we're going to have much more on what Blanche said about Epstein. But if there is one issue that could derail Blanche's nomination, might be -- it might be this one. The fact that Blanche has been cagey on whether one controversial Trump idea is truly dead. Even though Blanche has said that the $1.776 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund that could be used to compensate Trump's allies and January 6th rioters will not move forward. Republican Senator John Cornyn of Texas told CNN he was dissatisfied today with Blanche's refusal to say that the proposal was statutorily enforceable.

Cornyn remains undecided on whether to vote to confirm Blanche. Senator Thom Tillis in North Carolina also said he wants more to codify that the nearly $1.8 billion Anti-Weaponization Fund, or slush fund, is dead. We should note that both Cornyn and Tillis are in possible YOLO status, you only live once, given their pending exits from the Senate at the end of the year.

Remember what led the Justice Department to create that fund to begin with? Trump's money won from his settlement with the IRS, in which a judge said he was on both sides of the negotiations, suing the IRS and in charge of the IRS. Today, Blanche revealed he signed off on the settlement language for the Justice Department side, which protects Trump from audits and other inquiries relating to his past taxes or evasion thereof.

[17:05:20]

A federal judge on Monday said Trump's lawsuit was an attempt to, quote, "manipulate the judicial process." And she sanctioned Trump's lawyers and hinted that Blanche may have violated attorney ethics laws while signing onto this deal that the judge believes unlawful.

Then there were some even more combative exchanges, including this one with Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITEHOUSE: Let me ask about the FBI. How long do you intend to put up with that Kash Patel character? Are you good with his airplane jaunts? Are you confident he's not drinking on the job? Are you sure none of his travel is a pretext for vacation activities like snorkeling, Olympics and visiting girlfriends?

Are you sure he knows what he's doing? Do you vouch for him? Are you willing to look at whether he lied to this committee?

BLANCHE: That's an extraordinarily obnoxious question, Senator. And I have full faith in Director Patel and the work that he's doing every day.

WHITEHOUSE: Great. You got to own that.

BLANCHE: And the --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Those allegations against Patel come from whistleblowers who spoke to the Atlantic magazine.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse joins us now.

Senator, you're clearly not in support of Todd Blanche for attorney general. What are the biggest concerns you have about Blanche after day one of this hearing?

WHITEHOUSE: Well, the record of misconduct and incompetence of the Department of Justice in this administration is truly unprecedented in the history of the Republic. You have judges of every political disposition condemning the arguments and the presentations made by this Department of Justice. You have contempt inquiries ongoing. You have the worst possible inquiry, fraud on the court. That inquiry is pending in Florida based on the collusion that the judge found around the slush fund deal.

And Blanche is in that up to his neck to the extent that the judge in that case referred her decision to state bar officials in New York, and she left open the prospect that there was a fraud on the court. Bad enough, she found bad faith and misconduct and violation of DOJ policies and violation of the duties of DOJ attorneys to zealously advocate for the United States. That is a series of bombshells in federal court unprecedented and really appalling. And he needs to answer for that. It's not just the question of the slush fund, it's the question of the legal manipulation and mischief that has been called out by a federal judge that led to the creation of the slush fund.

TAPPER: Do you believe Blanche as attorney general, would have a real intention to help Trump carry out his desires, or do you think Blanche is simply too close to the president to operate without bias?

WHITEHOUSE: Something has broken in him from his days as a regular, normal federal prosecutor. I don't know when or how it happened, but right now, his capacity to push back on bad commands, bad directives coming from the White House seems to be about zero. And he himself engages in misconduct in order to accomplish those purposes. So it's not just letting it go by, he's actually affirmatively committing wrongful acts as acting attorney general of the United States to the extent that he's now under court inquiry for fraud on the court and subject to review by the State Bar of New York.

TAPPER: The hearing is going to resume tomorrow. What are you -- what are you hearing from your Republican colleagues on the committee? Do you think any of them will actually vote to block Blanche's nomination?

WHITEHOUSE: I think, as you mentioned earlier in the program, there are some of them that are up in the air. There are also, I think, people who are watching this on the floor who are not members of the Judiciary Committee, but are Republicans who are skeptical about this. And I think every Republican senator up for reelection in November or wanting to stay in the majority in November needs to consider how much baggage Blanche is going to dump on them if they vote to confirm him. The record from his appointment as acting attorney general and deputy attorney general until now is terrible. And if that continues, there will be more scandal, more disgrace, more baggage for them to have to explain having voted for him a second time.

[17:10:00]

TAPPER: What did you make of his answer to you about Kash Patel when he called it an obnoxious question?

WHITEHOUSE: Well, he obviously didn't want to answer it. It's very Trumpy when you don't want to answer a question to push back and try to pick a fight. They love that over at the Oval Office. But the fact of the matter, as you pointed out, is that every single one of those statements that I made about Kash Patel's behavior is corroborated by public reporting. And the fact that he's OK with all of that, the crazy plane flights, the chasing the girlfriend around with the public aircraft, the guzzling beers at the Olympics, the snorkeling trips, the whole mess of Kash Patel, if he wants to own that, that's his business. Now that's two sets of baggage that he has to carry between now and November.

TAPPER: While I have you here, it was a week ago the Democratic Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner dropped out of the race after an avalanche of serious allegations, including rape and physical abuse. One of the first women who accused him of domestic violence on the record in the New York Times at the beginning of June was Lyndsey Fifield, who is a conservative. At the time you dismissed her allegations, you said she worked for right wing political operations. But then a week ago, Monday, a woman named Jenny Racicot with CNN and also with Politico accused Platner on the record, on camera of rape. And then the next day, Fifield talked about what he did to her.

As somebody who conducted the interviews, I found them both credible. Do you think you were too quick to dismiss Fifield's allegations? WHITEHOUSE: I think it's important when you're looking at allegations to -- and I've done this as a prosecutor for years to evaluate things like whether there is corroboration and with respect to the first allegation, there was none. Whether there's motive to mislead or fabricate, there was plenty. The woman was involved in basically a Koch brothers funded political operation and had been specifically involved in main political activities against Platner. So, yes, there came a point when the straw broke the camel's back. But if we look with some professional skepticism at allegations, then I think we have not done our duties.

And then when the allegations continue, there comes a point where, yes, you acknowledge that, yes, there's enough here to go forward. That's the way prosecutors think. That's the way I thought about this.

TAPPER: We don't have to go back and forth on it. But as somebody who interviewed her, she did have corroboration. She had a number of friends who she told the sad and scary stories to years and years before she had diary entries. There was a number -- there was a number of corroborating evidence.

In any case, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, thank you so much for your time today.

WHITEHOUSE: You bet.

TAPPER: As Todd Blanche took questions today, Jay Clayton was also there on Capitol Hill. He was in a different room. He was auditioning for the role of National Intelligence director. The one question repeatedly was asked and not answered over and over for him, we'll tell you about that.

Plus the brand new plans to task U.S. troops for low testosterone, Low T. Yes. We're back in a moment.

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[17:17:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who won the 2020 election?

CLAYTON: I don't -- I don't -- I'm not -- this is like -- I'm just not -- I'm here to talk about my qualifications.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So he won the election?

CLAYTON: He followed our process, had the most electoral votes, was declared the winner.

OSSOFF: You refused to answer a simple matter of fact about the 2020 election. Is that right?

CLAYTON: No, that's not right.

OSSOFF: Then answer the question. Who won the 2020 election?

CLAYTON: I have -- I have answered the question.

OSSOFF: Answer it. What is your answer?

CLAYTON: I've given you my answer.

OSSOFF: What is your answer? You refuse to answer a basic question about who won a presidential election, but you asked to lead America's intelligence community?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That's President Trump's nominee to be Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton at his confirmation hearing today, refusing to tell Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. It's not that tough to say, actually, Joe Biden won the 2020 election period, full stop. Clayton would only say Biden was certified. It's a trend we see with a bunch of nominees of the president.

CNN's Brian Todd closely followed Clayton's hearing.

Brian, what more did senators press him on?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They pressed him, Jake, on Tulsi Gabbard's visit to Georgia this past January that was just so controversial, widely reported, but in a pretty extraordinary exchange, Jay Clayton claimed a little -- to know little or nothing about that trip. Take a listen to his exchanges with Senator Jon Ossoff and Senator Mark Warner.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OSSOFF: The first time you learned that Director Gabbard was president at that raid was in my office yesterday?

CLAYTON: It was the first time that in my recollection I've thought about it recently. Now, was I aware of it before?

OSSOFF: What?

CLAYTON: You -- I mean, you brought it to my attention yesterday. I had not --

OSSOFF: OK. So you had not known till --

CLAYTON: I had -- I had not thought about it until you brought it to my attention yesterday.

OSSOFF: Your answers lack credibility.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): Even if you weren't aware in preparation for this hearing, I would have thought, hey, we got to be ready for the Gabbard questions.

CLAYTON: Yes, I -- look, I don't want to -- it just wasn't something that was on my mind before the preparation for this hearing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TODD: So a trip by his predecessor, Tulsi Gabbard, to Georgia in January that was just so controversial because it was so far out of her lane, apparently, Jake, Jay Clayton was not ready for that kind of questioning about her trip there. And again, extraordinary that four different senators asked him, did Joe Biden win the 2020 election? Never. Never did he come out and say, yes, Biden won because he knows how his prospective future boss might feel about that if he said that.

TAPPER: Brian Todd, thanks so much.

We're learning of a rather aggressive investigation into who may have leaked information to reporters about the security concerns about the brand new Air Force One. In fact, sources say some officials the White House were told to hand over their phones. The CNN exclusive is next.

[17:20:07]

And breaking news in our sports lead, cheers in Buenos Aires after the shocker from Argentina moments ago beating England advancing to the World Cup finals. The match is now set for Sunday against Spain. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: CNN exclusive in our Politics Lead now. Sources tell CNN that officials at the White House were asked to turn over their phones as part of a sprawling White House probe into a leak that has irked President Trump since last week. President Trump asked FBI Director Kash Patel and chief of staff at the White House Susie Wiles to get to the bottom of the leak that led to the New York Times story on security concerns about his Qatar gifted Air Force One jet. That probe resulted in subpoenas for four New York Times journalists. CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House.

[17:25:01]

Kevin, we're learning not everyone's willing to part (ph) with their phones. Tell us more.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, that's right. Not every official in the administration who has asked to give up their device, in fact ended up doing that. But just sort of the request that came from the administration across different agencies and departments just gives you a sense of how sprawling this leak investigation became and how quickly it sort of spiraled as the president vented his frustration at these stories that detailed some of the security deficiencies in that new Qatari donated jet.

Now, officials at agencies across the administration were asked, in fact, to come to the White House grounds to give up their phones. That did cause a degree of alarm at some of these agencies. E-mails went out at different departments telling officials that if they got a request to do that, that they should inform their own agencies attorneys immediately.

And it wasn't just asking for cell phones, investigators were also seeking information from people who had been traveling with President Trump on this visit to Turkey for the NATO Summit, or individuals who had a role in planning the trip, all looking to find out where that information had been coming home -- been coming from. And I think it just tells you how intently focused President Trump had been on this issue in the hours after returning from Turkey.

TAPPER: Kevin, what do we know about FBI Director Patel, who was summoned to the White House on Friday?

LIPTAK: Yes, and this -- he had really been kind of at the center of this leak investigation. He had actually been planning to travel to Chicago on that day, but was diverted back to the White House to kind of run point on this investigation. And he posted up in an office in the West Wing directly next to Susie Wiles, the White House Chief of staff. And both of them were personally orchestrating this investigation into the purported leakers. And I think it just shows how President Trump's frustration at this issue really kind of riled up the topmost officials in the administration to try and figure out where this information was coming from.

TAPPER: What else are we learning about this decision to return back from Turkey on the old Air Force One, which honestly was the first clue to the world that something was up?

LIPTAK: Yes, and this had always been a big question because President Trump flew on the new Air Force One all the way to Turkey. And so why he wasn't able to fly it out of Turkey was an unanswered question. And now we're learning that, in fact, the security assessment changed while he was on the ground there. And of course, this coincided with a ramp up of tensions with Iran. We also learned last week that Israel had tipped the United States off to potential new assassination threats against President Trump.

And I think you can sort of add all of that up to the fact that when the president was on the ground there that the security conditions changed. And what we're learning is that Susie Wiles in fact told the president that and informed him that he would have to fly the old plane out of the country.

TAPPER: All right, Kevin Liptak at the White House for us. Thanks so much.

In our Health Lead, the Pentagon is rolling out a new medical requirement for troops testing their testosterone levels. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Today Service members 30 years and older will be screened annually to identify low levels of the hormone with the goal of improving physical and mental readiness. Hegseth says treatment would be voluntary if it's recommended. The move is already sparking debate within -- with some medical experts who are questioning whether routine screening is actually needed for healthy young men.

[17:28:48] Behind closed doors today, a former Obama White House attorney said she regretted ever dealing with now dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. And that's not all she said. We're going to have much more about her testimony from the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. He's up next year on The Lead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, today behind closed doors on Capitol Hill. Former Obama White House attorney Kathy Ruemmler told lawmakers that she regrets interacting with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Calling it a, "mistake to deal with him." CNN's K-File reported on Ruemmler's close ties to Epstein, which included helping Epstein manage his public reputation. This is years after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.

Let's bring in the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Congressman James Comer, Republican of Kentucky. Good to see you, sir. So, in her prepared remarks, which CNN obtained. Ruemmler wrote, "if I had seen or heard any evidence suggesting that he was abusing women or girls, I would have immediately reported him to law enforcement." Do you believe her?

REP. JAMES COMER (R-KY), CHAIRMAN, OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE: Well, the problem with that, Jake, is she's the one person that we've brought in that clearly had interactions with Epstein all the way until, you know, his imprisonment the second time. She worked actively to rehabilitate Jeffrey Epstein's image. And this is a decade after he was already convicted in Palm Beach of solicitation of a minor.

So she said she didn't believe that. She said she believed him, that he didn't know the girl was a minor and all that. We ask questions that any American would ask that has any curiosity about Epstein. It was hard to believe a lot of what she said, but that's a consistent pattern with everybody we're bringing in. With the Epstein investigation, she's the 18th witness that we've interviewed and or deposed.

And, you know, whether they're male or female, they all have a hard time recalling certain things. They all say that Jeffrey Epstein was a crook and none of them had any idea. He was a pedophile or a sex offender. But the problem with Ruemmler is she had communication with him in the e-mails where she's trying to rehabilitate his image after he was convicted of being a, you know, child sex offender.

[17:35:07]

TAPPER: Did Ruemmler give you any information that might be helpful in the investigation?

COMER: A little bit. Nothing earth shattering. She was a very polished witness. I'll say she's very intelligent. She knew exactly which questions we were going to ask because she's thoroughly reviewed the e-mails and text messages that were sent back and forth over a decade with Epstein. So I'll say this. She was highly intelligent. And one thing to remember, she was deputy attorney general and on the short list to be attorney general during the Obama administration. So she's a very high ranking, powerful person.

And this is consistent with all the people that Epstein surrounded himself with. They were they were Republicans. They were Democrats. There were people at the highest levels of government, the highest levels of Wall Street firms. And it's just amazing to me that we bring these people in, Jake. And none of them had any idea Epstein was a bad person. They had no idea he was abusing girls. And they were just shocked to read it in the paper. It's just it's just hard to believe.

TAPPER: I think he meant to say she was deputy White House counsel, not deputy attorney general. But, yes, I take your point. CNN has exclusive reporting that the House Oversight Committee is discussing with Epstein survivors the possibility of the women providing affidavits about longtime Epstein associate assistant, rather, Lesley Groff. Multiple survivors told CNN that Groff lied to your committee last month. What more can you tell us about that? And how might you hold Groff accountable if she is found to have lied to Congress?

COMER: Well, we're working very closely with the Epstein survivors. We have been for many months. My staff attorneys are working with their staff attorneys. I've met personally with the survivors, as have many members of the Oversight Committee on both parties. So we're trying to provide justice for them. I think you've heard me say many times publicly the government failed the victims. And this spanned several presidential administrations.

Epstein never should have been allowed to walk the streets. And then, you know, been given that sweetheart plea deal back in 2008 in Palm Beach. So having said that, we're bringing in all these people that clearly had close ties to Epstein. And once we question them, we're giving the victims the transcripts and letting them thoroughly go over that and say, do you see anything that you think is not true?

And if they say that, then we're going back and we're doing research to see if they lied to Congress. Because if they lied to Congress, that's a felony. And that's a criminal referral to the Department of Justice. And again, that's all a part of accountability. And that's about the only way Congress can hold anyone accountable. If you lie to Congress, you've committed a felony, you've perjured yourself. So we're doing that.

And we're trying to work with the victims. And the victims are going to have to give affidavits. If they tell me something or if they tell Annie Grayer with CNN something isn't true, that's really not enough to get an indictment from the Department of Justice. We need affidavits, sworn affidavits. And we're trying to do this just like any court in America would do. And I do believe that we've built a level, I hope we've built a level of trust with these Epstein survivors.

And they see that me as chairman and this committee, we're serious about holding these people accountable. We don't care who they are, how much money they have, what political party they are. If they've abused young girls or if they knew about young girls being abused and turned a blind eye, then we want to hold them accountable. And hopefully what you broke today in CNN, hopefully that will lead to some accountability.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman James Comer of Kentucky, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Thank you, sir, appreciate it.

COMER: Thank you, Jake.

[17:38:43]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our World Lead, new U.S. strikes on Iran. Is the strategy, if you can call it that, working? I'm going to ask a combat veteran now serving as a Republican senator next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our World Lead, a new wave of U.S. strikes on Iran started a couple hours ago marking the fifth straight day of active warfare. While in the water, U.S. ships are patrolling near Iranian ports, redirecting at least two ships and disabling an empty oil tanker sailing toward Iran's oil port of Kharg Island as President Trump tries to strong arm Iran back to the negotiating table.

Joining us now Republican Senator Joni Ernst from Iowa. She's a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and served in the Army National Guard. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. Iran's foreign ministry says there are no plans to negotiate. And now CNN is learning that President Trump is actively weighing options for expanding military operations. This is the most intense, violent and sustained period of direct U.S. military conflict with Iran in decades. Do you think there's a clear way out of this? Do you think the Trump administration was fully prepared for all these contingencies?

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Well, the clear way out, Jake, would be if the Iranians actually come back to the table and they agree to negotiations. Of course, we want to make sure that they're never, ever again nuclear capable and striking their neighbors nor the United States of America. We want to make sure that their ballistic missile capability is taken off the table.

And we certainly want to make sure that they're not funding terrorist proxies around the globe anymore. So the direction is clear. Unfortunately, we're still in this position where Iran does not want to concede.

TAPPER: Yes, but they're not coming back to the negotiating table. I mean, they're refusing to. And I mean, I'm not disagreeing with President Trump's assessment of how the Iranian mullahs view the world, but they are where they are.

ERNST: Right, exactly, Jake. And I get it. And I get what the President is doing. You know, we have the various options. There's always soft power. We were trying that soft power through negotiations, through sanctions. Unfortunately, that did not work. And so here we are. We're back at kinetic action where we are bombing Iran. That was the choice that was made to exercise strength through this hard power. But again, the Iranians do have the option to come back to the table. [17:45:17]

If they do that, we will enter into another ceasefire. We'll continue negotiating. I would love to see an end to this. We want to see peace and stability in the Middle East, but we have to have willing players with the Iranians.

TAPPER: Take a listen to President Trump when asked about that U.S. strike on the school in Iran that occurred the first day of the war where more than 160 kids were killed. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you commit to releasing the findings of this investigation?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don't think anybody's going to ever be able to say what happened there because if they have -- if they don't know by now, and as of a couple of weeks ago, they didn't know. And while things like that happened in war, there are missiles flying all over the place. And I don't know how anybody could say that we shot it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, you know this, Senator, but it was a Tomahawk missile. And we're the ones that have Tomahawk missiles, not the Iranians. Intelligence agencies released preliminary findings in March internally that said the U.S. was at fault, according to our reporting. It kind of looks like the President wants to cover this up.

ERNST: Well, I don't know that he wants to cover it up. I do think this is something that the Armed Services Committee will be digging into. We have asked questions of the Pentagon when it comes to the loss of civilian life at that school. Anytime we see the loss of civilian life, it's devastating to many of us, especially those of us that are mothers and grandmothers.

I have a warrior's heart, but you know what? It's inexcusable if there was fault on the part of the United States. That's what we have to understand. And I do hope that the Pentagon will be sitting down with us in a classified setting and reviewing their findings with us. I think it's really important to have that transparency.

TAPPER: Earlier today, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified on Capitol. He said he could not meet with Epstein survivors if they have lawyers with them. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you meet with these 10 survivors, I'm asking you, on the record?

TODD BLANCHE, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: If they have lawyers, as you know, I'm prohibited from meeting directly with them. I have met with counsel for survivors, as has many people in the Department of Justice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So he won't meet with the survivors if they have lawyers. But Blanche met with Epstein associate, Ghislaine Maxwell. He went to her prison in Florida for hours over the span of two days. Senator, you've spoken bravely and candidly about being a survivor of sexual violence. What's your take about how the Trump administration has treated the survivors of Epstein's sick, pedophile sex trafficking ring?

ERNST: Yes. Absolutely. And I don't know what the prohibitions are in that certain situation. But I would say that so many of us that really do care, whether it is sexual abuse or exploitation, domestic violence, I think many of us are always, always willing to sit down and hear from those survivors.

And they are survivors. They are very brave individuals that will come forward and speak out against those that have that wealth and power and have abused that position with women that really were very, very vulnerable. So it is important. It's an absolutely disgusting situation. And again, it's one of those issues that I hope we do see greater clarity in the future. Again, because they are brave survivors.

And I know that there are many of us that are willing to hear their stories and help them along the way when it comes to recovery and making sure that they do see justice as well.

TAPPER: You gave a touching tribute to your friend, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, on the Senate floor. You noted his military service, his vision for America's role in the world. Did you two ever disagree on foreign policy? Tell us a little bit about your feelings about him.

ERNST: You know, and I hope I don't get emotional, too emotional. But I absolutely loved Lindsey Graham. And he was one of my dearest friends in the United States Senate. We spent a lot of time together, both on the Senate floor and off of the Senate floor, whether we were traveling on congressional delegations, whether we were going to dinner with our group -- our friend group of senators. There are very few things that I disagreed with Senator Lindsey Graham on.

And if we did disagree, we were happy to have those discussions. And that's what made Lindsey such an incredible character in the Senate, is that he could argue his position all day long, and then at nighttime sit down and have dinner with the folks that he was just arguing with. So he is a true American patriot. There is no one that will fill the shoes of Lindsey Graham. God made him one of a kind. He will be greatly missed.

[17:50:16]

TAPPER: Republican Senator Joni Ernst, thank you so much. And as always, thank you for your service.

ERNST: Thank you. TAPPER: An overnight swap at a historical site in Philly has the city's mayor fired up. The Trump administration replaced some exhibit panels about George Washington's slave -- slaves with a much more, shall we say, sterile story. And the mayor of the great city of Philadelphia is going to be here next on The Lead.

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TAPPER: Allegations today that the Trump administration is whitewashing American history, this tops our National Lead. Overnight, exhibits were removed from the President's house site in the great city of Philadelphia. These exhibits told the story of the nine enslaved people, the slaves who lived there during the presidency of George Washington.

[17:55:06]

They were -- these exhibits were replaced by new displays that, frankly, sanitized Washington's ownership of slaves, portraying him as a kindly owner of human beings. This is a story we covered here on The Lead back in February when we visited the site after some of the original panels were removed and then temporarily restored following a court order. But earlier this month, an appeals court cleared the way for the Trump administration to install their replacement panels featuring their version of history.

This ended a lengthy legal battle between the administration and the great city of Philadelphia. And joining me now to discuss is Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker. Mayor Parker, you released a statement calling the remaking of the exhibit shameful, but you say the fight's not over. What more can Philly do to restore this site?

MAYOR CHERELLE PARKER (D), PHILADELPHIA: Well, first, Jake, I want to affirm for the record that we as a city and I as mayor remain committed to ensuring that there is an honest and an accurate portrayal of history at the President's House. There was a broad coalition, and this is important to affirm for the record, of people who worked together to identify, create, design, fund, and implement the President's House exhibit. And so we will do everything that we possibly can to ensure that the story of those nine enslaved Africans, and I want to state their names for the record so that the world can remember who they are.

They were Moll, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Austin, Paris, Joe, Hercules, and Ona Judge. So while we have a legal battle that we are working with our legal counsel to figure out how we exhaust every legal recourse that is available to the city. But as mayor of the city, I want to be absolutely clear. You cannot erase American history. And as mayor of this city, I will make sure that those stories are told and we will also continue to fight in court.

TAPPER: Gone is a panel that had been titled The Dirty Business of Slavery. One of the replacements reads, "celebrating independence throughout the years." Another panel installed overnight says, "President Washington knew and trusted his enslaved house staff enough to buy them tickets for the circus and theater and to let them venture out into the city's markets on their own." What's your reaction to these changes?

PARKER: My reaction is, is that you cannot whitewash our history. We're just celebrating our semi-quick centennial, 250 years of democracy, born right here in our great city of Philadelphia. And I'm a firm believer that we have to tell the truth about our history, all of our history, Jake, no matter how painful it may be.

And so we just celebrated the fact that 250 years ago, imperfect humans, right? They came together to recognize this universal search for freedom and for dignity. And while at the same time, Jake, these very same leaders who came up with this grand experiment that we fight every day to make a more perfect union, they perpetuated the heinous institution of slavery. And guess what? Telling the truth doesn't, you know, take away any of our appreciation for America and our democracy.

But it's important that we tell the truth so that we will never repeat it again. And I am committed to ensuring that we do that here in Philadelphia as mayor. And you know our city well. You are one of our sons. And we are going to continue fighting. So to the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition, led by Philadelphia's own Michael Kort, RISE, and all of the architects, engineers, historians, listen, Jake, who fought and disagreed when this exhibit was being developed, but they figured out a way to get to yes.

And so now we will continue fighting in the courts. We, of course, did not agree with the court's ruling, and we will use every bit of legal recourse our council to tells us is available. But we are also working with private partners to do everything that we can to ensure that history is told. So we will keep you posted, Jake. But you know me and you know Philly, and you know we will never stop fighting.

TAPPER: Oh, I'm aware. I'm aware you won't stop. Quickly, how do you respond to the argument from the Trump administration that the exhibit focused too much on slavery as opposed to more positive things about George Washington?

[17:59:56]

PARKER: Let me say this to you. When you tell the truth about American history, and this is a shared truth that I hold self-evident, you can't erase American history. And when you tell the truth, you have to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It's the only way that we will move our great nation forward and we will make sure that we do everything in our power to ensure, and I want to repeat those names, Moll, Christopher Sheels, Richmond, Giles, Austin, Paris, Joe, Hercules, Ona Judge, because when we tell the truth, we honor their humanity. We honor their dignity. So I don't care what your race, your class, socioeconomic status, zip code, religion, sexual orientation or identity is. And this American democracy, it is a big tent. There is room for everyone. And our job, as my job as an American and my job as mayor is to make sure that we are telling the truth, especially here in our city, the birthplace of American democracy.

TAPPER: Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, thank you. Go Phillies. Go Birds.