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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump To Give Primetime Address On Elections After Years Of False Claims; Catastrophic Flooding Hits South-Central Texas; Canadian Wildfire Smoke Affecting Air Quality In The U.S.; Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Explodes In Dozens Of States Across U.S.; Families Of Alleged Victims From October Boat Strike Sue U.S. Gov't; Trump To Focus On 2020 Elections Claims In Prime-Time Speech; Official: Man Got Into Unauthorized Area Near "Today" Studio, Lunged At Co-Host Craig Melvin And Called Him A Racial Slur. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 16, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:00:23]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right, thanks to my panel. Really appreciate y'all being here. Thanks to you at home for watching as well. Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead. Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. We're going to tomorrow in The Arena.

HUNT: Have a great show.

TAPPER: The White House says the president's speech tonight on the 2020 election will shock people. Why is he planning on telling the truth? The Lead starts right now.

A report that the president has yet to declassify. That will be part of the speech. That new tidbit from the White House about Trump's really big address tonight. But he hasn't told the truth about the 2020 election in six years. So will it be littered with lies and regurgitate false claims about his definitive 2020 loss, as has been his MO. I'm going to talk to Senator Jon Ossoff, who believes he's MAGA's number one target about what he's bracing to hear tonight.

Plus, a major security breach earlier at 30 Rock ended NBC's Today Show. New details about a man who slipped past guards and hurled the N word at Today Show host Craig Melvin.

And breaking news, many Epstein survivors finally got to meet with acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, but only after a key Republican senator threatened to withhold his vote to confirm Blanche if that meeting didn't happen. So what will Blanche tell the survivors? Well, at least one of them is going to be here on The Lead right after the meeting.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to begin with our Politics Lead because in just a few hours, President Donald Trump is expected to use his primetime address to possibly tell even more lies about the 2020 election, weaving even more unhinged conspiracy theories into the bloodstream of this nation, an election that he lost to Joe Biden fair and square.

Today, in her very first White House press briefing back from maternity leave, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said this about the president's speech tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I've seen a lot of reporting and frankly misreporting about what the president will say. I think the American people will be relieved to hear what they are hearing from the president of the United States and his commitment to transparency and the focus on the integrity of our elections tonight. It will shock you if you have an honest eye listening to the president tonight. And everything he is saying will be backed by facts and by evidence that will be provided this evening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Yes, facts and evidence. The president's coin of the realm. According to people familiar with the speech, President Trump plans to claim there is new information on foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections. The White House is also weighing whether to release documents related to China and its role in interfering in elections.

Here's the thing. China's meddling in U.S. elections is not really new. Biden Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in 2024 that the U.S. had seen evidence of Chinese attempts to, quote, influence and arguably interfere with upcoming elections. When it comes to the 2020 election, a 2021 U.S. intelligence community reports that China did not interfere. Russia did. However, the report saying an influence campaign denigrated Joe Biden and supported Trump. That was in 2020.

We don't know exactly what else Trump might say tonight. Details are being kept under wraps by advisers who have intensely debated what should be included. But Trump is expected to discuss purported vulnerabilities in election infrastructure, including voting machines. Recall that back in January, the FBI seized some election infrastructure from Georgia's Fulton county elections office in Atlanta because Trump has been obsessed with Georgia ever since he lost the state 2020 and then asked officials there to magically find the 11,780 votes he needed to win.

So both of Georgia's Democratic senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are on high alert amid unconfirmed rumors that the president will declare their elections illegitimate.

So we're going to wait to see how this all could play out in tonight's speech. Today, CNN's Kaitlin Collins asked the White House press secretary why no one has been charged if there's evidence of election fraud or interference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) LEAVITT: He hasn't declassified the documents yet, and you will see what he says tonight and then we'll move forward appropriately from there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: There is one thing that we know definitively, and that is President Trump has been lying about the 2020 election since before they were held. In the summer of 2020, he started lying about them. And Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia joins me now. Senator, you said this week that if the president calls you and your colleague, Senator Raphael Warnock illegitimate, he's calling Georgia's voters illegitimate.

Do you know if he plans to talk about you and Warnock?

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): I don't know. But if there's one person who committed election fraud in Georgia it's Donald Trump.

[17:05:03]

When he dialed up our state's senior most election official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and tried to bully him in a recorded phone call to, quote, find the exact number of votes Donald Trump needed to win in a state that he had lost. I expect tonight's speech to be equal parts pathetic and dangerous.

I think we will hear from the world's most famous sore loser, a primetime presidential sour grapes address, reheating debunked conspiracy theories about an election in which he was soundly defeated. And I think he'll also potentially selectively declassify information or cherry pick various pieces of evidence to lay the groundwork for whatever kind of meddling he wants to attempt this year or to try to discredit the results when he's dealt a resounding defeat in the midterm elections.

TAPPER: Even if Trump doesn't come out and say that your election and Raphael Warnock's election were not legitimate, Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming said this earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In your mind, are senators Ossoff and Warnock duly chosen and sworn?

SEN. CYNTHIA LUMMIS (R-WY): I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, this is how these election lines work, right? I mean, this -- I'm not saying that that's the second coming of Daniel Webster, but at the same time, like there's a senator or U.S. senator, elected U.S. senator speculating that maybe you and Senator Warnock are not legit.

OSSOFF: Courage is in rare supply in the elected GOP these days. It is worth noting that the two most highly regarded Republican elected officials in Georgia are Governor Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, precisely because they had sufficient integrity to refuse to help President Trump steal the 2020 election.

Here's the bottom line. What is this doing in Georgia, the heart and home of the civil rights movement? It is galvanizing determination to vote like we have never voted before. And my campaign is going to have to mount the most effective and vigorous defense of voting rights in Georgia history. And I would invite folks across the country to join our effort, which will include this defense of voting rights, and chip in to help our campaign at electjon.com.

TAPPER: So -- and that's J-O-N.

OSSOFF: It is electjon.com.

TAPPER: I just need to remind people if you're going to do that, like they might misspell it unless you have -- unless you also bought J-O- H-N.

OSSOFF: We did.

TAPPER: Speaking of. Oh, did you? Smart. Speaking of your election, you're running for reelection. Your opponent is Republican Congressman Mike Collins. And there's new reporting about him from CNN's K File reporting highlighting Collins close ties with yet another far-right figure. His son-in-law, David Alan Scheer II. Scheer is a white nationalist. He's a social media influencer. He shares antisemitic material, Nazi imagery and more.

Here he is last year invoking the Jewish Bolsheviks conspiracy theory which is a narrative, an antisemitic narrative embraced by Nazi Germany that blamed Jews for the atrocities committed by the Soviet Union. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They don't tell us the history about Germany before World War II. All we're told is Germany bad, Hitler evil. Don't ask questions. Holocaust, Holocaust. Here's 50 movies every year about the Holocaust and why it's so bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Scheer featured in family photos on Collins campaign materials appears to have helped produce promotional work for Collins trucking company. Scheer's registered to vote in a property owned by Congressman Collins near the Congressman's home. She did not respond to requests for commentary. We asked the spokesman for Collins for comment. They said, quote, Congressman Collins lifelong support for Israel is unquestionable and backed by his consistent record in Congress of standing up for Israel and her people.

Senator Collins office wouldn't actually address any of the antisemitic garbage from his son-in-law. They just talked about support for some other country. What's your -- what's your thought on this?

OSSOFF: That's not surprising because just recently Collins' office, his congressional office was briefing prominent white supremacists like Nick Fuentes on Collins office efforts on behalf of a prominent Holocaust denier. This is a pattern for Mike Collins who is a known bigot and antisemite. And there's a very good reason that Georgia Governor Brian Kemp worked so hard to try to deny Mike Collins the Republican nomination in this Senate race.

Here's the bottom line. Here's what Mike Collins needs to answer on the record today. And every national political reporter in the country should be asking his campaign these questions. Has Mike Collins either personally or through his business or through his office or through his campaign, paid this neo Nazi? And is this neo Nazi still based on Mike Collins property?

TAPPER: You're talking about his son-in-law.

OSSOFF: Indeed.

TAPPER: Why do you think the there are so, I mean, there's so much antisemitism right now and it's on the left and it's on the right. Why do you think so many people turn a blind eye to it?

[17:10:02]

OSSOFF: Look, this will be a test for Republicans on Capitol Hill. Do Senate Republicans stand behind a Republican Senate candidate in Georgia whose office was working on behalf of a Holocaust denier and briefing notorious white supremacists on its efforts? Do Senate Republicans stand behind their nominee in Georgia who refuses to answer these questions about whether he's been funding a neo Nazi who's been disseminating neo Nazi propaganda from his property? These are questions that congressional Republicans need to answer right now.

TAPPER: I want to ask you about Trump's pick for Director of National Intelligence, Jay Clayton, who told you in his confirmation hearing that he only learned from you that the former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard was present at that January raid of the Atlanta Fulton County, Georgia election offices.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chair or vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, asked Clayton about that, too. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): And I trust you. I know you. But it's strange credibility to think that you were not aware of Director Gabbard's intervention in a domestic election activities in Fulton county, and that was subject of a great deal of consternation and review.

JAY CLAYTON, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE NOMINEE: 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) TAPPER: How do you think Clayton would conduct himself as Director of National Intelligence if he were to be confirmed?

OSSOFF: Mr. Clayton had a disastrous hearing yesterday. He was obviously evasive. He was stonewalling. His testimony lacked credibility. And this is a position of immense public trust and responsibility for America's national security. And he demonstrated clearly in yesterday's hearing that he lacks the integrity and the independence to be confirmed of his role.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia, thanks so much.

OSSOFF: Thank you.

TAPPER: Much more about the president's speech and why even his previews have Republicans worried. But first, breaking news in Texas. Dramatic new video of the catastrophic flooding there after about a year's worth of rain fell in just the last three days. One person is dead. CNN teams are in areas high hardest hit covering it all. We're going to go live to Texas. Next.

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[17:16:18]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our National Lead now. Relentless flooding in Texas has now turned deadly. Governor Greg Abbott says at least one person died overnight as powerful flash flood waters sweep through parts of the Hill Country in Central Texas. At one point today, the Guadalupe River rose about 25 feet in about an hour.

The flooding is prompting evacuations and widespread power outages as emergency crews race to reach those in danger. CNN's Ed Lavandera is in Kerr County, Texas. Ed, what is the situation on the ground at this hour?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was another long night as the fear of flooding has just kind of mesmerized this town once again. More than a year since the deadly flooding that happened here in this exact same spot just over a year ago. This is the Guadalupe River. Back up this way, Camp Mystic, where all of those young girls lost their lives last year.

All of the flood waters continuing to rage down the river this morning. This is actually one of the better scenes we have seen throughout the day. All of this area, the water reached up. If you just follow the slope of the hill up here, close to that home, you might see there through the trees. So since that happened around 5:00 in the morning, we were told here by residents, Jake, who say that in this particular area, we're in the town of Ingram, Texas. And all of this rose quickly within half an hour. We talked to one residential who was here and described what it was like here overnight.

TAPPER: Ed, after last year's floods in the region claimed more than 130 lives, what changes were made to improve preparedness? And do officials believe that these new measures are working? LAVANDERA: Well, you know, there was a lot of talk about siren system and then -- but -- and that sort of thing. And that appears to have worked. We've seen from various areas around this region where those sirens were definitely going off. But the -- several people that we have talked to really described just an awareness, just a very sensitive awareness to all of this.

Again, these flood waters striking once again in the middle of the night. They were told that the alarms and the flood warnings were going off on their phones for hours and everything leading up to this. So, a lot of this also plays into the fact that people were very sensitive to what happened here last year, very aware of it and knew to take it very seriously.

So this time around, so far, reports of only one person died, nearly 140 last year. So that was -- that was much better news this time around. But we should also point out they're not out of all of this yet -- just yet, Jake. There is still rain falling to the west of where we are hearing reports of continued flooding north toward Fredericksburg, where we are, and then also south of where we are in Uvalde. So, clearly another difficult few hours still ahead for this region as they continue to battle back these floodwaters.

TAPPER: All right, Ed, stay safe. Thanks so much. There's more extreme weather in our National Lead. Massive plumes of Canadian wildfire smoke have engulfed large swaths of the United States, affecting more than 100 million people. Major cities in the Midwest and northeastern United States already are under air quality alerts, with more cities along the east coast under watches.

Poor air quality is expected to plague these regions through at least Friday as more smoke pours across the border.

Coming up next in our health lead, the Cyclospora outbreak is getting worse. That's the one, of course, that is causing bouts of explosive diarrhea. What's happening on the state level to track the source? That's ahead.

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[17:24:10]

TAPPER: In our Health Lead today, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, confirmed that some 7,000 cases of people are sick from that parasite outbreak across 34 states, with many more cases suspected. Health officials scrambling at this hour to identify the source. Lettuce and salad greens are among the leading suspects. The White House says it's working with state and federal agencies to trace the outbreak and urge Americans to take extra precautions with fresh produce.

Joining us now is Virginia's health commissioner, Dr. Cameron Webb. Dr. Webb, your state, your commonwealth rather of Virginia has been hit by this outbreak. What are you advising people right now and what foods do you think they should avoid? DR. CAMERON WEBB, VIRGINIA STATE HEALTH COMMISSIONER: Yes, well, the

first thing is that there's not currently evidence that Virginia is experiencing an outbreak. But we do have cases of Cyclospora here, of course, in Virginia, right now, as of our most recent update, about 37 cases.

[17:25:05]

And every year we have cases of cyclospora. So we're working closely with providers working closely across the Commonwealth to track those. Some of ours are from international travel, but we're tracking those, trying to understand the source and continuing to work with federal partners. But as of right now, we don't have evidence that we're experiencing an outbreak of cyclospora.

TAPPER: If someone develops symptoms, what should they do and when is it serious enough that they should seek medical care?

WEBB: Yes, you know, when you think about the symptoms and folks described explosive diarrhea, that can be pretty significant, particularly for folks who are immunocompromised, that can be really significant. People can get dehydrated pretty quickly. So the reality is, if you're having prolonged symptoms of severe diarrhea, I think it's a good time to check in with a healthcare provider. There are treatments available. Of course, we use a medication, we commonly use Bactrim, and that tends to help with the symptoms relatively quickly.

But these symptoms can persist for weeks and even up to a month. So if you're experiencing these symptoms for an ongoing period of time, definitely seek care as soon as possible.

TAPPER: Can you give me a better definition of ongoing period of time or prolonged? Do you mean like longer than six hours, longer than a day? What would be the signal that you should go to a doctor?

WEBB: Yes, I think that for everybody it's a little bit different. But remember, the risk of dehydration is significant when you have high volume of watery diarrhea. So I think for folks, if you're starting to feel some additional symptoms, the lightheadedness, the dizziness, they could signal that you're becoming significantly dehydrated. Certainly seek care.

If you're continuing to have this diarrhea for a period of days, up to weeks, that's when you should seek care, in part so that you can get tested. This has been a reportable disease for years now, so it's something that it's important for clinicians to test for if they have somebody coming in with these symptoms. And it's important for people to seek care just so we can get that diagnosis. It helps us in the broader context to understand what's happening across the nation. If people are seeking care, are getting tested for cyclospora and we get a better understanding of what's happening.

TAPPER: The White House says it's working with local and state officials to find the source. Do you think that response is happening quickly enough? WEBB: I think that response is happening in real time. And so, you know, certainly there's an experience in the Midwest that's a little different than what we have going on here in Virginia. But what we're doing regularly with our providers is we're making sure that we're sharing that information, we're connecting with federal partners. So we have been in good contact with them.

I think everybody's a little frustrated because we're continuing to hear that there are so many cases across the country and folks would love a quick answer. But with the nature of this particular disease, sometimes it's hard to get a quick answer. So I think all of our epidemiologists, our teams all across the country are working hard, working long to try to understand what are some of the common causes.

And just because right here in Virginia we don't have evidence that we're experiencing an outbreak, it doesn't mean that we're not working overtime along with our federal partners to understand what's happening.

[17:28:05]

TAPPER: All right, Dr. Cameron Webb, thanks so much. Appreciate your time and your expertise. President Trump's campaign is targeting suspected drug boats in the Caribbean. We're going to take a closer look at these strikes and who they've killed. They're going to take a closer look at a lawsuit that the Trump administration is facing because of these strikes. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our World Lead, our new series, it's called "Dead in the Water." We're tracking the Trump administration campaign of strikes on boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. We're looking at exactly whom the strikes have killed and whether these strikes are even legal. The Trump administration has bragged about killing more than 200 so-called narco terrorists, but the Trump administration has failed to ever produce any evidence that these people were drug traffickers.

Today's story involves two men, Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, believed to have been victims of the October 14th strike on a boat carrying six people traveling from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago. Now the families of the Trinidadian men are currently suing the Trump administration for wrongful death and for extrajudicial killing.

And joining us now is Jeffrey Stein, a staff attorney with the ACLU's National Security Project. The ACLU was one of the parties that brought this case. Jeff, thanks for joining us. So Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, they were both fathers from Trinidad. They even worked on the same farm, according to the complaint. Why were they on that boat on October 14th?

JEFFREY STEIN, STAFF ATTORNEY, ACLU NATIONAL SECURITY PROJECT: Well, first, thanks so much for having me, Jake, and for shining a light on this really important story. So Chad and Rishi were coming home from working in Venezuela. You know, like many folks from the small fishing community, Las Cuevas in Trinidad and Tobago, where they came from, they often went back and forth between Venezuela and Trinidad for fishing work and for farm work, and that's exactly what they were doing in the weeks before our government murdered them. They had been working, as you said, on a farm in Venezuela, and they were heading home on a boat to see their families when the military killed them.

TAPPER: Just before the boat strike, CNN reported on the Trump Justice Department's classified legal opinion that the Trump administration, it essentially justifies an open-ended war against this secret list of cartels. How has the ACLU been attempting to learn about this list or dismantle this justification?

[17:35:00]

STEIN: Right, so we have a separate lawsuit in the Southern District of New York under the Freedom of Information Act that seeks the immediate disclosure of that secret Office of Legal Counsel memorandum that the Trump administration claims sets out a legal justification for the strikes, but the Trump administration won't show that legal justification to the American people. We think that the Freedom of Information Act makes very clear that in a democratic society like ours, there can't be secret law governing, you know, an unprecedented military campaign like the one the Trump administration is waging in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean right now.

TAPPER: So I'm hearing in my mind the skepticism of some of our viewers right now who are thinking to themselves, no doubt, look, everybody who's been killed by these strikes, I'm sure their family members are claiming that they're completely innocent and are just innocent farmers or fishermen. What would your response to be to those people?

STEIN: Well, a few responses. First, the Trump administration, as you said in the introduction, has provided absolutely no evidence that any of the 221 people who have been killed in these strikes were trafficking drugs or engaged in any illegal behavior. Just the mere fact that someone is suspected of engaging in criminal conduct does not give our military license to summarily execute them.

Drug trafficking is a federal crime. Someone can be arrested or prosecuted for that crime in a court of law subject to constitutional constraints like due process of law, but they can't be summarily executed like the Trump administration is claiming it has the authority to do right now. And I guess I would also add, you know, I think it's important to emphasize that beyond the, you know, rank illegality and immorality of this boat strikes campaign, it's also just a complete and utter policy failure, you know, even on its own terms.

The military commander who is overseeing the boat strikes campaign, General Francis Donovan, himself admitted to Congress recently that this boat strikes campaign is not an effective counter-narcotics strategy, and that's been borne out in recent reporting in outlets like "The Atlantic," which have shown that the boat strikes campaign has done absolutely nothing to impact the price or availability of drugs like fentanyl or cocaine in American cities. So this boat strikes campaign, it's illegal, it's immoral, and it's doing absolutely nothing to keep drugs out of American communities.

TAPPER: The complaint details Chad Joseph's final few weeks before his death. He was trying to get back to Trinidad to see his wife and kids. He regularly called them, "One conversation remains a particularly vivid and haunting memory for his wife, a call on September 2nd or shortly thereafter, when media reports first appeared online about the U.S. military blowing up a boat that had left Venezuela with 11 people aboard. Mr. Joseph called his wife and Ms. Burnley to assure them that he was not aboard that vessel and that he would be returning to Trinidad as soon as he could find his ride."

It does sound like he knew and the family knew that this crossing was getting rickier by the day. That doesn't justify anything, but it sounds like the word has gotten out that it's risky to be on a boat.

STEIN: I think that's a sad truth, but both Chad and Rishi wanted to come home to see their loved ones. I think that we can all relate to that. You know, Rishi wanted to come home to help care for his elderly mother who had fallen ill. Chad wanted to come home to see his wife and three young children. I think it's just absolutely devastating that our government has murdered these two men in cold blood.

And, you know, I think it's really hard to, you know, put into words the toll that this has taken on both of their families. I'll never forget a conversation that I had with Lenore, Chad's mother, where she conveyed what a joyful and kind person Chad was. He was the kind of person who was always there for his family and for his friends.

You know, since we filed the lawsuit, Chad's family has continued to send us photos and videos of Chad cooking with his family, dancing with them, going to the beach with them, doing the sorts of things that we all do with our loved ones. You know, our lawsuit won't be able to even come close to repair -- repairing the damage that our government has done to these two families. But we honestly hope that it can bring some measure of redress and accountability for these, you know, truly heinous killings.

[17:40:10]

TAPPER: Jeff Stein, thank you so much. We should note the White House has not responded to our request for comment about this story.

Coming up, what has Republicans so nervous about President Trump's speech tonight. Plus his vice president, J.D. Vance, and some of his more interesting moments on a popular podcast. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, we're just a few hours away from President Trump's rare primetime address. It's clear there is a lot to update Americans on. The war in Iran is continuing unabated. The rising cost of everyday goods, including gas floods, endangering thousands of people in Texas. Controversial immigration measures where people keep getting killed, unarmed people keep getting killed. But President Trump doesn't want to talk about that.

[17:45:16]

He wants to talk about something else tonight in his characterization, free and fair elections. Sources tell CNN the President is going to unveil what he claims is new information on foreign efforts to influence U.S. elections. He's also expected to talk about alleged vulnerabilities and voting machines push lawmakers to pass a SAVE America Act.

And of course, he's expected to relitigate the 2020 election, the race that he lost, but continues to claim he won. It's an election he's never told the truth about in six years. My panel joins me now. Robert Bluey, let me ask you, is this what republicans want the President to be talking about?

ROBERT BLUEY, PRESIDENT & EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE DAILY SIGNAL: Some Republicans certainly do. This is an issue that continues to motivate conservatives. I run a conservative news website. I can tell you, Jake, that this is an issue that people are still concerned about, particularly those in the Senate who are pushing the SAVE America Act probably are thrilled that the president is shining the spotlight on it.

At the same time, if you look at poll after poll, they are concerned about the cost of living in this country, affordability, the rising price of gasoline. I think that those are the bread and butter issues that a lot of Republicans who were up for reelection this year are concerned about.

TAPPER: Karen Finney is a prime time address from the White House. It's not a rally.

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Really?

TAPPER: So, well, I just mean like --

FINNEY: I'm being facetious.

TAPPER: Yes, yes. But I -- in terms of how he speaks, if you -- if it's a rally, you know, he's going to go off prompter.

FINNEY: Yes.

TAPPER: He's going to tell his stories. What does he call it when he does the weave? Yes. And so it's called, he calls it the weave.

FINNEY: OK.

TAPPER: But this will be prime time address, Oval office panel, I mean, teleprompter. Do you think he's going to stick to script?

FINNEY: I don't think it really matters. I think it's really clear what this is about because it follows a pattern that we've seen over and over again where this is part of escalating and creating the precursor to whatever federal power or authority he's going to try to claim to try to interfere himself with the 2026 election. And I think we should be very clear about what we're going to hear tonight. What this is really about is not about election integrity. It is not about, you know, some crazy harebrained scheme of some country that maybe did something that I don't think we can prove happened. I mean, he supposedly has proof, I doubt it, because we know this has been litigated over and over and investigated over and over and over again. So I think going into it, we should be clear. This is about disinformation.

This is about undermining people's confidence in the 2026 midterm elections. And specifically sounds like he's going to attack Georgia, which, you know, again, Republicans ran that state. What do we know? He said, find me 11,000 more votes. He's going to press for the SAVE Act. What do we know? He said when they reintroduced the SAVE Act, he said, if we pass the SAVE Act, Republicans will be in power for 50 years.

TAPPER: Yes.

FINNEY: That's what this is about.

TAPPER: So let's turn to another member of the administration making public remarks. Vice President Vance on Joe Rogan's podcast yesterday. He was asked about the Biden administration. He made a remark that I still don't understand. Maybe you guys can help me understand it. Let's roll tape.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The way that he ate ice cream, I mean, it's like, you know, we could bring some of the stuff up, but it's like they would get him eating ice cream in the most ridiculous, suggestive way imaginable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So I have to be honest, I've seen images and video of President Biden eating ice cream. I've never thought it was suggestive. I've never and I don't really, is he suggesting that when he saw President Biden eating ice cream, he thought there was something sexual about it?

BLUEY: Perhaps. I mean, I when I saw those pictures of Joe Biden, I didn't necessarily think they were the most flattering images that you'd want --

TAPPER: No. Sure.

BLUEY: -- the President of the United States is doing.

TAPPER: Ridiculous. I'm not taking the word ridiculous.

BLUEY: Yes.

TAPPER: I'm taking issue with the -- I'm not taking issue with it. I'm very curious about some -- anybody thinking that this was suggestive. It doesn't sound like you have an answer for that. BLUEY: I -- that's not what I saw when I saw those images. I saw a President and maybe an administration that was disconnected from some of the concerns that the American people had when it came to the economy and some of the things that may be top of mind and a president who was going on eating an ice cream cone.

TAPPER: Well, that would be a more normal response. Do you have any help for me, Karen, on the suggestive business?

FINNEY: I just don't. Why? Why even go there again? Again, why not talk about, I don't know, cost of groceries or other things that actually matter instead of or the debate about ice cream.

TAPPER: Or things Robert could talk about, you can talk about --

FINNEY: -- when they eat ice cream.

TAPPER: -- no tax on tips or the tax cuts or things that you want people to. I don't know. Anyway, the Vice President also said this about the controversy at when they had that fighting event at the UFC event at the White House. And that guy said something really gross about Michelle Obama, the former first lady. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VANCE: All of my comms people, the thing they were most worried about was they're going to ask you about Michelle Obama being called a man. What are you going to say about it? And I was like, what an amped up fighter told a joke after a fight, said something after a fight. And that's actually national news. I'm still surprised. I've been in politics now for three, four years. I'm still shocked the shit that people get really fired up about.

[17:50:20]

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: Well, I kind of understand it because it's at the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINNEY: Yes.

TAPPER: Yes. I mean, Senator Rogan from Texas hit the nail on the head. Nobody cares that it was like what happens at a UFC fight. It was a UFC fight at the White House.

FINNEY: It was a comment -- it was a racist, bigoted comment about a former first lady at the White House from a -- on the same grounds of a President who has posted racist, bigoted images of the former first lady.

TAPPER: This seems like a lost opportunity because we know J.D. Vance, Vice President Vance is, and I'm not disputing he should be. He gets offended when people go after his family. He gets offended when people go after Melania Trump or Usha Vance, of course. Nothing wrong with that. It seems like just a wasted opportunity, a lost opportunity. BLUEY: Yes. I mean, on the one hand, credit to Vance for doing a three-hour interview with Joe Rogan. I think that President Trump saw in the 2024 election that was a way to break through and reach a new audience.

TAPPER: Absolutely.

BLUEY: But at the same time --

TAPPER: And Kamala Harris should have done it, a hundred percent.

BLUEY: Right. At the same time, there were some moments in that interview probably I would have given a different answer if I was advising him from a comms perspective. You know, I don't know ultimately how much this will factor into his long-term trajectory of running for president. I think he's going to stick with this strategy of having combative interviews, probably with people like you, Jake --

TAPPER: Yes.

BLUEY: -- and others on other networks because he thinks that that is a winning approach.

TAPPER: Interviews are good. I have no issue with that.

FINNEY: No. I was going to say, but if that was him trying to be humorous or that did not work and he needs to keep working at it, maybe he should give you a call because that didn't fly.

TAPPER: Well, I think I thought Joe Rogan is right. It was because it was at the White House.

FINNEY: Yes.

TAPPER: Anyway, thanks to both of you.

This just in, next week CNN is going to host a main Democratic Senate debate. I don't know if you have been following, but they lost a candidate last week. I'm going to moderate that alongside CNN's Dana Bash and Michael Shepard from the Bangor Daily News. That's coming up next Thursday, July 23rd. One week from today we're going to have it at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Watch it live here on CNN or CNN.com or streaming on the CNN app.

Coming up next on The Lead, that security breach involving NBC's "Today Show," how a man managed to get near Studio 1A and confront and attack "Today's" show host Craig Melvin, who thankfully is OK.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:56:42]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, a whole lot of questions after a major security breach at the "Today Show" this morning. NBC says a person got into an unauthorized entrance area outside a studio and approached co-host Craig Melvin. That person's now in custody. A law enforcement official tells CNN the man got close enough to lunge at Melvin and call him a racial slur.

That official says that the man initially asked staffers for Al Roker. Let's bring in CNN senior correspondent Josh Campbell, a former FBI supervisory agent. And Josh, an NBC employee told CNN they need to swipe their work badge multiple times to get into 30 Rockefeller Plaza. So this person making it so deep inside the building, it's rather surprising.

JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And that's why we expect there will be a serious after-action review here, as there is in any type of situation where you have a potential serious breach. Of course, the big question that we see here is, is this someone who was able to probe security and then find some type of route into the building that maybe wasn't as secure as it should have been? Or is this a case where there may have just been, you know, complacency on the part of the security force that is there?

And by the way, that's not to cast aspersions on the security team at NBC News. In fact, you go back and look just two years ago during the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump, the U.S. Secret Service, the most highly trained protective force in the world itself, was faulted for complacency. And that can happen when, you know, you go so long at events and, you know, just doing your day-to-day job and nothing is happening, that sometimes people get lax.

And so all that is certainly something that they will be looking into here. Of course, one of the big questions people have is, well, what if this person would have had some type of weapon on them, if they actually had some type of intent to cause physical harm? Well, a lot of those details we're still waiting to hear. But I don't have to tell you, Jake, and our viewers can hopefully appreciate, we live in an era where it's not just politicians that are facing threats, people that are in the media.

Anyone who is in a high-profile position is certainly facing some of the wrath that we've seen in this toxic climate. It could have been what we're seeing here. We're obviously waiting to see more about this subject.

TAPPER: What are investigators looking at right now in terms of the suspect?

CAMPBELL: Well, they haven't identified him, but we expect they're looking back at his past. Right now, he's facing burglary charges and other potential charges. Of course, investigators will want to determine, is this something that he had planned? Were there other threats that may have been made against the team there at "NBC News"? There appears to be a very serious racist component to this.

We know that the person, according to a law enforcement source, had hurled a racial slur at Craig Melvin during the incident. And sources said he was there actually looking initially for Al Roker, two black men that work there. So that's something that investigators will certainly try to look at. Was this some type of potential hate crime that was in the works? A lot of people, whether they're emotionally disturbed or whether they, you know, are motivated for other reasons, will telegraph what they're about to do. All that would be part of this investigation, but obviously very serious.

We're thankful that Craig Melvin is OK. He posted a short time ago on social media thanking people for this outpouring of support. Jake, he says he'll be back on the job tomorrow.

TAPPER: All right, Josh Campbell, thanks so much.

CAMPBELL: Of course.

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, new details coming in about President Trump's primetime plans addressing the nation on elections. After six straight years of lying about elections, what the White house revealed to CNN's Kaitlan Collins about the speech.

[17:59:57]

Plus, we're hoping to hear from an Epstein survivor just minutes after her meeting at the Justice Department with Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. A meeting that only happened because a key Republican senator threatened to withhold --