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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Democratic Socialist Nixon Wins Surprise Upset in Florida Senate Primary; Attorneys Say, Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA) Accuser Told House Ethics Committee He Sexually Assaulted Her; Trump Revives Unproven 2020 Non-Citizen Voting Claims. Democratic Socialist Wins Race In Florida Senate Primary; Israel Acknowledges Strike In Syria Condemned By U.S. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 19, 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 after a consequential night of primary election results, we've got two of the big winners here on The Lead live, the Republican and the Democrat vying to replace Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will join us in moments. We're going to ask them about some of the biggest issues and what their race could say about how their parties might fare around the country.

Plus, disturbing new allegations against Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez of California. Attorneys say that a woman has come forward to the House Ethics Committee with serious accusations, which he denies.

[18:00:00]

What we're learning about the investigation into the Congressman.

Also, top Democrats demanding a group of ICE agents be put on leave after a video showed them surrounding a woman in her car, shouting at her, with one even pulling a gun in her face. The woman admits that she was shouting insults, but says she never posed a threat. So, what happens now?

And it is understandable that Senator Darline Graham may not be fully up to speed after just one month in the U.S. Senate. But when pressed on foreign policy in a debate last night, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham answered, quote, national security is not my thing. Are voters willing to give her any leeway?

The Lead tonight, the race is on. November's matchups are set in President Trump's home turf, state of Florida, where Democratic socialists notched another big win. The state lawmaker, Angie Nixon, defeated former national security official and Trump impeachment witness Alex Vindman in an upset win for Democratic Senate nominee. She's going to face off against Republican Senator Ashley Moody for the seat in the fall.

Several of President Trump's backed House candidates faltered at the finish line, including the scandal-ridden incumbent Congressman Cory Mills, who Trump endorsed in February, but did leave off his post- election list. Republican voters went with Trump's pick in the race to replace Governor Ron DeSantis. Congressman Byron Donalds scored the GOP nomination, winning just below 50 percent of the vote in a multi- candidate race. Donalds is going to go up against former Republican Congressman turned Trump critic David Jolly in November. He locked up the Democratic nomination last night.

And David Jolly joins us now. Congressman Jolly, thanks for joining us.

So, as of the end of July, there are more than 1.5 million more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats. This is the state that President Trump calls home. Realistically, what do you think your chances of winning are in November? How do you fight those numbers?

DAVID JOLLY (D), FLORIDA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Sure. If the election were tonight, we'd win the general election because voters are demanding change, Jake. Look, we're running the campaign based on an economy that works for everyone, the embrace of the private sector, but government has to fill in the gaps with housing, healthcare, education, and a place where everyone's rights are protected.

Now, that sounds aspirational, but, Jake, two years ago, we lost by about 14 points as Democrats. Since then, our Congressional specials have swung by 15, 16 points. The city of Miami elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in 30 years, and it was by 19 points, not even close. Mar-a-Lago elected a Democratic state representative. We're gaining ground in the villages.

So, look, not every cycle presents this opportunity, right? Some cycles are about staying the course. That was '22. '26 is about change. People are worried about their economic mobility. They've lost hope. It comes down to housing, healthcare, and education, the basics. We have built a campaign for 18 months laser-focused on people's personal economy, ignoring the culture wars, ignoring the national issues, just talking about improving housing, healthcare, and education in the state of Florida.

TAPPER: On a tactical level, Byron Donalds is the strongest fundraiser in the history of the state of Florida. He has $12 million in his campaign account, and the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC has raised nearly $100 million since February 2025 and spent only half of that. You have less than $5 million on hand. Are you going to be able to have the donor support to compete?

JOLLY: We will. But more importantly, Byron's already spent $55 million and his numbers are getting worse. More Republicans voted against him than voted for him. You see, sometimes in politics there are candidates that the more you learn of them, the more you see them, the less you like them. Jake, he spent $55 million. He's known for one thing, being Donald Trump's endorsed candidate, and he actually couldn't get over 50 percent in his own Republican Party. I hope he keeps spending, because the more he spends, the worse his numbers get.

TAPPER: In Donalds' victory speech last night, he emphasized an issue you've made central to your platform, affordability, and he talked about your record. Take a listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BYRON DONALDS (R-FL): An affordable Florida means a Florida that stays a place that you can actually afford to live, from your tax bill to your insurance premium, to the cost of your healthcare.

Jolly opposed cutting taxes for working families and seniors. Jolly defended a $4 trillion tax hike that would raise taxes on every Floridian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Your response, sir.

JOLLY: I guess Byron Donalds can read a script pretty well, because I wasn't in Congress when any of that happened that he just described. Byron Donalds is Washington. He's supported by $100 million, as you mentioned, in special interest money. He's owned by the data centers, by the for-profit schools, by the insurance companies and the utilities. Your life in Florida is more expensive because Byron Donalds is fighting for data centers, for-profit schools, insurance companies, and Airbnb. He's not fighting for you.

Listen, I'll just be honest, Jake. Look, I've been out of politics long enough to tell the truth. I've seen a candidate like Byron a lot. He knows he should be winning, but he's not, and so he's trying a lot of different things.

[18:05:02]

He wakes up every day trying a new attack on me. He attacks me on cultural issues. He calls me radical. Jake, I'm not radical. I'm not even cool. He calls me a socialist. Last night, from the stage, I rejected socialism. I denounce it. I'm a capitalist. I reject the Democratic Socialist of America. He calls me a Trojan horse for it because he can't actually stick it on me that that I would support socialism. I don't.

And so, look, he's a candidate who is wobbly right now. He's known for being Donald Trump's guy. He didn't mention Donald Trump once last night. I would ask him, why did he not take time to defend the current economic conditions under this president and 30 years of Republican control in Florida? It's because he doesn't have an answer.

His economic agenda is transparency. Transparency just tells us why life is expensive. I want a state catastrophic fund for homeowners insurance, cut insurance by 60 to 70 percent, a historic investment in workforce and affordable housing, scale up the direct delivery of healthcare in all 67 counties, and a ten-year commitment to public education, real policies that improve people's economic lives.

TAPPER: Before you go, the U.S. national debt just hit $40 trillion, a horrific milestone that our children and their children are going to be dealing with for generations. This won't be a Florida issue, but it certainly was an issue when you were in Congress. What's your reaction? JOLLY: That Donald Trump contributed, I think, 25 percent to our national debt over the last 250 years. 25 percent has occurred under Donald Trump's reign. Republicans used to be the party of fiscal responsibility. They abandoned it. They used to be the party of less government. Now, they're a party of big government conservative. They want to be in your bedroom and in your life. They used to be a party of local control. I still believe in local control and less government and capitalism and in reducing spending, smart government.

Honestly, Jake, I used to be a Republican. There's a lot of reasons why I'm not today. My five, six, seven years as an independent was the most informative part of my campaign, or my life. I reject the left- right spectrum altogether. We have big problems that need big solutions. Right now, those solutions need to be focused on housing, healthcare, education, keeping government lean and efficient and held accountable, but smart, smart investments like we've made for 100 years to improve people's lives.

This race is not an ideological one. Byron wants to make it that. He wants to use the labels to divide us, to scream at people every day that we shouldn't trust each other. What's emerging in this race is a new coalition in American politics where we're trusting again. We're trusting each other, and we're believing in something better. Our politics are broken. We're going to fix it here in Florida.

TAPPER: Former Congressman David Jolly, he's the Democratic nominee for Florida governor, thank you so much.

So, now, let's bring in Congressman Byron Donalds. He's the Republican nominee for Florida governor. Congressman, congratulations on your win last night.

As I just discussed with Mr. Jolly, the national debt just hit $40 trillion. Congress has shown little appetite in addressing this issue in recent years. The country's on track to hit the debt limit Republicans raised last summer by 2027. I know this won't be an issue that you have to address as governor should you win, but you are a sitting member of Congress. Is D.C. appropriately focused on what a catastrophe this is going to be for generations to come?

DONALDS: Jake, it's good to be with you. And I will say no, D.C. is not, and the reason why is because you can't get any spending cuts or spending restraint out of the United States Senate. Being up on Capitol Hill for six years, by the way, Jake, I authored one of the largest cuts in federal spending to ever hit the floor of the House of Representatives. It was my bill. It cut 30 percent of federal spending year-over-year to help avoid what's on your screen right now.

But the problem is that you cannot get any budgetary reforms through the U.S. Senate, because at the end of the day, it will be Republicans and President Trump having to negotiate with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and the Democrat Socialist wing of that party does not want to cut any spending. They actually want to expand it. They use these nice sounding words called investments, but the truth is, that's just more borrowing, more spending, going into parts of the economy and into our government with no accountability whatsoever. I think it's indicative to note that under President Trump and with Vice President Vance, we're actually beginning to unwind and find a lot of this waste, fraud, and abuse that everybody in Washington has known has existed. Even when my opponent was in Washington, he knew it existed, but they never found the ability to get to the root cause of it. We're starting to do that now.

And so it's really upsetting to me as somebody who spent so long, so much of my career in the real world, in the finance industry, to watch this $40 trillion of debt. But I will tell you, good luck getting a spending cut out of Democrats. They don't want to cut spending. They only want to expand it, so they can frankly nationalize programs left and right.

TAPPER: Your party controls the House, the Senate, and the White House, and you're not saying there's any responsibility of the Republican Party for the national debt hitting $40 trillion?

DONALDS: Jake, I will tell you, all parties are to blame for the national debt hitting $40 trillion, but if you look at how it takes to get policy through, Jake, you know this, we could vote spending cuts off the House floor in about a week's time when we go back.

[18:10:07]

We could do it all day long. You're not going to break the cloture. You're not going to break the Senate filibuster, Jake, and you know this, because the Democrat senators will not vote for spending reductions, common sense spending reductions, to help stabilize the nation's debt, allow our economy to grow so we can pay this debt off over the long term.

We didn't get here in one day, and we're not going to get out of it in one day, but one thing is clear, Democrats have no desire to turn off the spigot of rampant government spending.

TAPPER: The president, back to you in your primary, you told CNN's Laura Coates last night that you would welcome him on the campaign trail. Several of his endorsed candidates lost House races last night and in previous weeks. CNN heard from Republican voters at a Florida polling site who said Trump's endorsement just doesn't matter to them as much as it used to. What do you make of that? Is the president losing his grip on Republican voters?

DONALDS: No, I don't think so at all. I think if you even look at the president's record through this entire primary contest so far, I mean, it's well into the high 90s. So, I think that's the wrong way to look at it. Listen, President Trump is beloved in here in the great state of Florida, quite frankly all around the country. And so if the president made a decision to come down, of course, we would campaign together.

But, Jake, this campaign is not about President Trump and Florida. It is about the future of our state built around common sense conservative policies. That's why Florida is the number one state in all of America, and the question for our state and for our people is, do we want to continue down the same common sense agenda, or do we want to reverse course and start looking like Virginia and New Jersey and New York?

And I will tell you, Jake, the people of Florida do not want to be like those states. There's a reason why so many new Floridians left those states, is because they want Florida, they want the Florida dream, and my job as the Republican nominee and the state's next governor is to protect that dream for everybody.

TAPPER: You've had a strained dynamic with the current governor, Ron DeSantis. He's criticized your role in the party. You've said he was sore that you didn't endorse his presidential run in 2024. If you're able to win his support, do you think Republican voters will buy that you two are on the same page for you to further the conservative agenda?

DONALDS: I absolutely do. And the reason why is when Governor DeSantis was in Congress, he was a member of House Freedom Caucus. I'm currently a member of House Freedom Caucus. The governor obviously is a constitutionalist. I came up in Republican politics through the Tea Party area -- era.

And so when you look at the policies we've supported, limited government policies, pro-growth economic policies, supporting law enforcement, opposing Fauci's lockdowns, protecting the gender of our children. You can go down the list. We've been very complimentary and supportive of what Governor DeSantis has done in our state.

And for voters going to the polls in about 76 days now, Jake, we want them to know that as the next governor for Florida, we are going to keep Florida as the free state of Florida.

TAPPER: What's your response to what Congressman Jolly said there when he said that you wake up and you wonder why you're not winning, and so you try a different attack on him, a different kind of attack on him every day?

DONALDS: Oh, man, that guy always has a script ready to pull out. Listen, Jake, we're talking to the voters. It's what we've been doing through the entire primary process, and we're going to continue to do that through the general election process. It's really about how are we going to address the issues facing the people of our state.

This is why we've proposed the Launchpad Initiative, so that juniors and seniors in high school have access to internships and apprenticeships to prepare themselves for the real world and get a high-paying job without student debt, to be able to walk directly into that out of high school. It's why we have to bring real reforms to our insurance regulatory system, pushing down costs 20 percent in our state while keeping the tort reform that Governor DeSantis brought in over the last couple of years, which is working in Florida.

And it's also why we have to streamline permitting and processing timelines in our state, because 30 percent of the cost of a new home is government. Not sheet rock, not a roof. Government costs. We have to streamline that, and we can get that done in Florida while having more price transparency in healthcare to stabilize costs for the people of Florida.

Those are the policies that I'm pursuing. David Jolly has a radical record ever since he decided to be a commentator, a paid commentator on your network and on MSNBC.

TAPPER: No, he was never paid --

DONALDS: And so he's very radical, not the person that was in Congress.

TAPPER: I don't think he was ever a paid commentator on our network. He was certainly on MSNBC.

Anyway, Congressman Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida governor, thanks so much for joining us.

DONALDS: Thank you.

TAPPER: Up next, the new allegations made against Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez, and what we're learning about the House Ethics investigation he's facing.

Plus, a former top election official is here to weigh in on President Trump's latest claims about voter fraud. What do the numbers really say? We're going to find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez faces a major new allegation. A woman told the House Ethics Committee that Congressman Gomez sexually harassed her and sexually assaulted her. Gomez denies any illegal conduct.

CNN's Allison Gordon was part of the team that broke the news that the Ethics Committee was looking into Congressman Gomez. Allison, what more can you tell us about this?

ALLISON GORDON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. I think we should start this conversation just by reading what the attorneys for this anonymous woman said today because it's quite forceful. So, they said, we represent one of the women who was interviewed by the House Committee on Ethics about her experience of sexual harassment and assault by Representative Jimmy Gomez.

Contrary to Representative Gomez's assertion in his statement, his actions were not consensual in nature with respect to our client. We fully expect that the House Committee on Ethics will come to the same conclusion in its investigation.

So, Jake, this is coming off the heels of the Ethics Committee on Monday formally announcing that they were looking into Gomez. This is something that we at CNN have been reporting on since the summer when we learned from sources that the Ethics Committee was looking into the congressman following the publication by the New York Post of a story about him allegedly kissing a woman who worked for a different Congressperson, something he denied.

But a source told me at the time that the Ethics Committee, while they had initially reached out about that situation, they soon learned about other allegations against the Congressman.

[18:20:07]

TAPPER: What is Congressman Gomez saying?

GORDON: Yes. So, through her attorneys, this woman is making some really serious claims. Sexual harassment and -- sexual harassment, excuse me, and assault are serious things, and that's very different than what Congressman Gomez has acknowledged in the past, which is that he has privately caused pain to his family and regrets this, but it was some -- a mistake he made years ago and that he never broke the law or the House Ethics rules. He also said that any relationship he had was consensual.

Now, Gomez did not reply when I reached out earlier today given this new reporting, but on Monday, following the formal announcement from the Ethics Committee, he reiterated that assertion and said that any contact was consensual.

TAPPER: So, what's next with the House Ethics Committee and its investigation?

GORDON: Yes. So, the Ethics Committee chose not to comment when I reached out to them earlier today. But, Jake, you know better than anyone that there's a lot of eyeballs on the Ethics Committee right now. We recently had a real reckoning given the recent resignations of Congressman Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzales, as you discussed earlier, Representative Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, and we have active investigations right now into Cory Mills and Max Miller.

So, this is a time of heightened scrutiny on the Hill about alleged behavior from congressmen, and we at CNN are going to continue to cover it closely.

TAPPER: All right, Alli Gordon, great reporting as always.

Today, Virginia Democrats met with a woman who found herself in the middle of a confrontation with ICE agents after she admittedly yelled insults at them from her car, but now those Democrats are demanding answers. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: In our National Lead today, Congressman Don Beyer and Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia met with Virginia resident Carolina Molina on Capitol Hill announcing an investigation into ICE following this viral incident that we've showed you before. Video shows an ICE agent pointing a gun at Molina during a traffic stop following an encounter where she yelled at agents conducting an enforcement action. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson says Molina drove her car in circles around officers and attempted to weaponize her car against them. Molina denies this and spoke about how this has impacted her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do carry a lot of anxiety. I tend to stick at home. I don't really want to be out in public because I don't know who could confront me for what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Joining me now to discuss, Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia.

So, Congressman, I have a question. Other than the cellphone video that I've seen some of, and our audience has seen some of, have you seen the, the body cam footage that the ICE officers have, or any other footage? And what you've seen, whose version of events does it support?

REP. SUHAS SUBRAMANYAM (D-VA): We have asked ICE for the body cam footage. ICE has said that they have a policy of not releasing body cam footage unless it benefits or helps their case. So, think about that. Think about the lack of transparency.

TAPPER: That's what they said?

SUBRAMANYAM: That's what they said, yes. So, we're trying to get body cam footage for this and for other incidents that have happened. There was another one right after hers where the person woke up in the hospital basically with brain damage because of his confrontation with ICE. He wasn't lucky enough to have his video dashcam out.

So, now, we want transparency, and that's why we're launching this investigation. We want to, you know, talk to eyewitnesses. We want to talk to other sources because we know that this administration not only won't properly investigate this but they will actively cover up for ICE, and that is a big problem right now.

TAPPER: So, Democratic leaders of the Judiciary Committee, the Oversight Committee, and the Homeland Security Committee are also going to partner with you on this investigation. Who do you want to hear from as part of this investigation? What's the plan?

SUBRAMANYAM: We want to talk to Ms. Molina. We want to talk to anyone else who was on the scene. We want those answers from ICE. Right now, unfortunately, we cannot get Republicans to join us in this because this should be bipartisan, but instead it's not. They're covering up with the president for ICE.

And so if we do have the majority next year, and we do have subpoena power, we're going to subpoena more information. We're going to subpoena that body cam footage, as well as the actual officers themselves. But in the meantime, we are not going to wait until next year. We have to do this right now.

TAPPER: Well, it seems to me that if Republicans think that the ICE officers didn't do anything wrong, they would have an investigation to clear their names.

SUBRAMANYAM: Exactly, absolutely. And so why not release the footage to defend yourself? What Carolina Molina told me was that when she started pulling out her phone and started recording what they were saying, they started changing their story about everything that was happening, almost to build a case against her.

TAPPER: Yes, and then they walked away.

SUBRAMANYAM: Exactly.

TAPPER: Yes. You're also demanding that the agents involved in the incident with Molina be removed from duty while whatever investigation is going on. But DHS said, quote, our officers are experiencing a more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, a 3,300 percent increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000 percent increase in death threats. Questionable math aside, I mean, I don't know how reliable any of that is, what's your take on citizens confronting ICE agents peacefully? Do you worry that this risks escalation?

SUBRAMANYAM: All Carol Molina did was criticize ICE when she was driving by them, and that was enough for them to pull a gun on her. And so this is way past what they promised from the beginning, which is to protect the community. What they're doing instead is they're spreading fear in the community. They're making safety worse. People don't trust them anymore. So, if they want to restore that trust, release the body cam footage, work with Congress on both sides of the aisle to fix some of the trust issues people have with ICE.

TAPPER: Turning to your committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the dead pedophile, and his network. Yesterday, the chairman of the Oversight Committee, Republican James Comer of Kentucky, he threatened to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress because Black, who paid Epstein tens of millions of dollars for tax stuff, he says, refused to answer your panel's questions about possible non-disclosure agreements he signed with women tied to Epstein.

[18:30:04]

Do you support Comer's move? What gives you pause about Leon Black?

SUBRAMANYAM: Leon Black is someone who showed up over and over again in the Epstein files. There's 300 mentions of saying, Call Leon Black, by Jeffrey Epstein. He also funneled $170 million to Epstein. He's also been described by some of the survivors as very violent towards some of the women. And so he was clearly involved with Jeffrey Epstein, and he is not releasing documents that we are asking for, and he's not cooperating with our investigation. He's refusing to answer certain types of questions.

The reality is the Republicans made this problem because they didn't require other people who came forward to be testifying under oath. They didn't require other people who we've been interviewing to have to answer all of the questions we asked them. So, that's why Leon Black doesn't think he has to cooperate with our investigation right now.

But I'm glad that Chairman Comer is actually trying to hold at least Leon Black accountable. The only person he's held accountable is actually the Clintons, who had the least amount of involvement with Jeffrey Epstein of anyone we've talked to. So, this is a good development, but I hope it's consistent across the board.

TAPPER: All right. Democratic Congressman Suhas Subramanyam of Virginia, thank you so much.

President Trump heads to South Carolina on Friday to campaign with Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to replace her brother after he passed away. Does Darline Graham still have Trump's full support after her multiple missteps in last night's debate?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, President Trump is claiming without evidence that, quote, over 24,000 non-citizens voted illegally in the 2020 election. President attributes that claim to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Here now is Thomas Hicks. He's a former chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and one of three officials President Trump fired from the bipartisan commission last month. Thanks for joining us, Mr. Hicks.

So, President Trump also posted as the Census Bureau investigation continues, that number will, quote, explode. What's your reaction to this?

THOMAS HICKS, FORMER CHAIRMAN, ELECTION ASSISTANCE COMMISSION: Well, accusations are not evidence. And so I am here at a national conference with hundreds of election officials who are focused in on the '26 election cycle, and they are tired of hearing about how they're allowing non-citizens to vote or those who are not eligible.

They're doing their best job under tremendous circumstances of not enough pay and other accusations or other aspects. But they're doing their jobs, and this report is basically not worth the paper it's written on.

TAPPER: Take a listen to what U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon said yesterday about sending federal election monitors to polling places for the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARMEET DHILLON, ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: And we're going to do it to the tune of approximately 1,000 election monitors in the, in the November election, and this is just something that DOJ does, nothing different about it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where specifically?

DHILLON: Well, we are still formulating our final list.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Is this true that it's just normal standard operating procedure? I mean, what are you hearing from other officials at the National Conference on Election Officials?

HICKS: Well, basically, it is pretty normal to send election monitors out, and that's been the case since the Civil Rights Act. But we want to make sure that it's done in a manner that's not looked in a partisan way, so that you're not just sending those monitors to poor neighborhoods, or you're not just sending those monitors to black neighborhoods, or you're not just sending those monitors to Democratic neighborhoods.

So, it's something that should -- that has been done, and the reports are usually written. It's something that I did once when I worked for the Office of Personnel Management where they recruited people to go out to monitor the elections. But that's what they do, monitor, but not interfere with. They gather information in case something else happens.

TAPPER: Speaking of Harmeet Dhillon, the Justice Department official recently posted this image of her and Tina Peters. Tina Peters, of course, is the Colorado woman convicted and sentenced for her role in a 2021 security breach in the elections office that she oversaw. What's your take on a Justice Department official appearing in a photograph with Tina Peters?

HICKS: Well, I can't see the photo, but --

TAPPER: It's a pretty affectionate looking picture.

HICKS: Okay. I would be -- I would need to see the photo, but I would say that it's probably something that should not be done and go on with that. If someone is calling for the election not to be certified and that there are issues with it should not be talking to folks who are in charge of dealing with the election moving forward.

TAPPER: All right. Thomas Hicks, thanks so much. Thanks for talking to us today.

Here now is the panel. Shermichael, let's turn to the midterms and this moment from last night's debate in South Carolina when Senator Darline Graham, who was appointed to the position after her brother, Lindsey Graham, passed away. She was asked if she thinks Taiwan and the South China Sea, if that's a national security issue for the United States. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. DARLINE GRAHAM (R-SC): I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security that -- I'm not that informed on national security. So -- but I do support the military.

I'm not a polished politician up here. I'm -- national security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: She's a U.S. senator, Shermichael. I mean --

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes. I mean, talk about bad prepping. She still has the same staff that her brother retained when he was still living. I mean, you don't typically see a lot of bad answers like that. And this is even more important now. You broke the news of the $40 trillion debt that the country now has. I'm assuming that the interest rates on that is now more than likely the largest item on our balance sheet, I would imagine.

And so you put that into perspective with China and its aggressions in the South China Sea, expanding their military, modernizing their military China helping Iran, according to reporting, helping Russia, according to reporting.

[18:40:01]

The world, the global community is becoming more violent. And while I know there is apprehension among the American people to not spend as much money as we have in the past on foreign conflicts, those things do have a direct through line to what happens domestically within our country.

And so I think it's important for lawmakers to be familiar, particularly with an issue that I would argue, as someone who spent a lot of years in politics, Adrienne, is a pretty simple one to answer.

TAPPER: Yes, this isn't like --

ADRIENNE ELROD, FORMER SENIOR SPOKESWOMAN, HARRIS-WALZ CAMPAIGN: Shermichael should have been doing the prep.

TAPPER: Yes. What I was saying, it's not --

SINGLETON: Thank you, Adrienne.

TAPPER: South China Sea, that's not an obscure issue. That's like -- if you're prepared for national security, that's like a top five issue.

ELROD: Exactly. I mean, it's pretty 101. Look, I don't think, Jake -- personally, I don't think this is going to really affect her chances in the upcoming runoff that she has, but I think it could very well be an issue that Dr. Annie Andrews, who's the Democratic nominee in South Carolina, very strong candidate.

Again, South Carolina's a red state, but I think this is an issue you're going to see on repeat time and time again on ad- ads that are played in the final weeks of the campaign. TAPPER: Let's come back to last night's primary. Well, actually, before we do that, I want to play this image. This is election related. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went to Iowa to campaign. He was at the Iowa State Fair Monday and he used a slur against trans people. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We need guys like this man right here having our back in Congress as we get rid of DEI at the Defense Department.

At the Department of War, we do training, not trannies. The only focus of our department, colorblind, gender neutral, merit-based. That's it. We want the best.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I mean, first of all I'm still just not going to get over the fact of seeing like a current secretary of defense campaigning for somebody. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before.

ELROD: Correct. I mean, to your point, Jake, it's not unusual for cabinet secretaries to campaign for candidates. But when it comes to members of the national security team, especially the secretary of the war, secretary of DOD, you do not typically see those people out there campaigning.

First of all, we are at war, so he should be focused on that in Washington, D.C., a war that Trump started. But, secondly, no, you don't see that.

Look, I will also say this, Jake. First of all, Iowa is very much a state in play, both at the governor level and the senatorial level this cycle. Obama won it in 2012. That's the last time a Democrat won on a presidential campaign side in a presidential campaign. But it's a very marginal state for Republicans. Democrats have very good chances there this year.

I think voters are sick and tired of this rhetoric. They are tired of the tariffs and how it's impacting farmers. They're tired of prices being high. This does not work, this strategy of like, oh, let's play into the culture wars. Voters are sick and tired of it, especially the independent voters will ultimately make the decision in these races in Iowa.

TAPPER: And I just also wonder, Shermichael, I mean, just calling transgender people trannies, like that's obviously a slur that they don't like, and people can have their opinions on sports or whatever, but like there is just something about like treating people with dignity in this.

SINGLETON: Sure. Look, I'm not in disagreement with that. I've always had a pretty high bar, even with people I've disagreed with, with trying to maintain their humanity. That's just my personal moral compass. TAPPER: That's why we love you, Shermichael.

SINGLETON: We may disagree and maybe we see the world differently. But I think at the end of the day, I think of my -- one of my favorite philosophers, a German philosopher, Hegel, who wrote about all men yearning for respect, all men yearning for recognition, and by men, in a neutral sense, men and women, of course. And so that's my approach.

And my advice to the secretary would be disagree is okay, having expectations for how you want to lead the military, perfectly fine. I'll support you on that. But let's not lower the bar in terms of how we treat other human beings, because we wouldn't want that done to anyone on our side.

TAPPER: So, back to the primaries. Last night was not great for all of Trump's picks. Three of them lost, one in the Wyoming governor's race, two House races in Florida. Voters have now rejected, Republican voters, a total of ten Trump-endorsed candidates for statewide office or Congress this primary season. Former Obama senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer says, quote, this is more evidence that Trump's grip on his base in American politics is loosening.

Now, a Republican earlier in the show said Trump's still, you know, batting like 900 or something. Like, you know, most of his --

SINGLETON: Yes, most of them.

TAPPER: Most of them are winning. But do you agree that his grip is loosening a little bit?

SINGLETON: I don't know if there's enough statistical evidence would suggest that that is true. I guess my pushback would be the climate is different. He's a president with lower approval ratings. We're in the majority right now. Typically, the party of the president lose seats, going all the way back to World War II. So, history just frankly isn't on the side of the president.

Now, what is interesting though, I would say, is that there are less competitive Congressional seats than there were back in 2018.

TAPPER: Yes.

SINGLETON: Democrats had a huge blue wave.

ELROD: Because of the redistricting that already started.

SINGLETON: And so you factor all of those things, including Trump's endorsements, maybe he's had a few misses, but I'm not sure I would be willing to say that that amounts to anything significant.

TAPPER: Big DSA victory last night in Florida. The Senate candidate is going to be somebody from the DSA. How worried as a -- can I call you a mainstream Democrat? Is that --

ADRIENNE ELROD, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Sure. You can call me a normie, an establishment, whatever you want, Jake. Not a DSAer. TAPPER: How worried -- how worried are you about the DSA? I don't

know if I would call it a takeover, but they're certainly winning a lot of races and beating a lot of establishment Democrats in primaries.

ELROD: I mean, I'm not overly worried, Jake, because first of all, I mean, I was surprised by that win last night because Vindman has been raised a lot of national money, had a lot of national supporters, had a lot of local support, too. So, I think a lot of us were surprised by that. But to an extent, I think you're seeing this, the DSA strongholds in very specific areas, obviously, New York city, a small blue dot in Denver, you know, a few other places. Florida again, was a little.

TAPPER: Abdul El-Sayed might not be DSA, but he's certainly DSA adjacent.

ELROD: He's DSA adjacent. And she -- and she does, the woman who won last night --

TAPPER: Nixon.

ELROD: -- Nixon, she does count herself as DSA, but she's also more moderate on some positions. And on some -- on some positions, maybe not across the board.

TAPPER: Okay. But look, at the end of the day, I think that there is a yearning for, for, for, um, for there's an anti-incumbent environment, there's a yearning for people to come in and blow up the system because people are sick and tired of their prices being high. They're frustrated with the national status quo. I was surprised to see what happened in Florida last night, but I do not think this is happening writ large across the board to the extent that some people are saying.

SINGLETON: I'm just going to smile.

TAPPER: You know what? Honestly, this is a -- this is a wacky cycle and I am excited to cover it. It is -- it is lots of -- a lot of twists and turns.

Shermichael and Adriene, you're going to be with me for, for all of it. So, I appreciate it.

A striking admission from the Israeli government today, after years of denials, the country's military now admits that it did open fire on a car in Gaza back in 2024, killing a five-year-old girl. Why are they acknowledging this now?

That's next.

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[18:50:43]

TAPPER: In our world lead, a major development in the death of five- year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab in January 2024. The Israeli military now acknowledging that its troops fired on the car carrying her and her family in the Gaza strip. And the IDF says it's open to criminal investigation. This is part of the Israeli military's first comprehensive review of alleged war crimes since the war in Gaza began. The news comes as an Israeli airstrike killed at least six people in Gaza, with Israel and Hamas still far apart on a ceasefire.

Joining us now to discuss is Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. He's director of Realign for Palestine and a resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council. He also has this new book out, "Hamas And Its Two Million Hostages". We'll talk about in one second.

But let me start with this, Ahmed. So, Hamas says Israel has to withdraw its forces from Gaza as part of any ceasefire. Israel says, no, you have to demilitarize and disarm first. How does the region get past this impasse?

AHMED FOUAD ALKHATIB, DIRECTOR, REALIGN FOR PALESTINE: So, good to be back with you. Where we are right now is unfortunately, a political agreement to disarm Hamas in Gaza. But there's an agreement, a disagreement over the sequencing and over the logistics. The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, are insisting that Hamas fully and completely disarm before Israel commits to any level of withdrawing to either the original yellow line boundaries or to Gaza's borders with Israel.

Hamas and the Board of Peace, on the other hand, are saying that you need to have a credible alternative police force led by the technocratic committee. The United States, led by the Trump administration, are trying to stand up this international stabilization force that's supposed to execute the disarmament of Hamas.

So, the logistics of this are actually at the core of the disagreement. But Hamas, in principle, is agreeing to the plan. We also have the problem right now of the Israeli military continuing to target --

TAPPER: Yeah.

ALKHATIB: -- Hamas targets -- Hamas militants in Gaza, risking the collapse of the agreement.

TAPPER: Well, that's what I wanted to ask you. They continue to do that even as the Trump administration is asking them for restraint. What does that tell you? Does Netanyahu not take Trump seriously, or is the threats from Trump and the anger expressed by Trump for Netanyahu not really that serious?

ALKHATIB: Look, I'm not shedding any tears for Hamas militants being targeted. The concern here is that this may disincentivize Hamas or disincentivize them from actually proceeding with the agreement. It may also signal that the Trump administration is losing its ability to control the facts on the ground, to -- that it may have lost leverage over the Netanyahu government, particularly in the context of the consequential Israeli elections in October, where it's expected that the shape of the coalition that the prime minister leads is going to shift, he needs to signal that he's still tough on Hamas, that he's able to the very last minute push for this elusive total victory. So, we'll just have to see whether or not that is within reach.

TAPPER: So, you have this new book out, "Hamas and Its Two Million Hostages". It weaves your story in with the history of Hamas's rise. You look at the consolidation of power in Gaza.

What do people watching right now need to understand about Hamas?

ALKHATIB: I think we're witnessing, I believe, that the final arc in Hamas's story in Gaza, and it's been deeply disturbing that as many in the Gaza strip are turning against Hamas, they're done with the armed resistance narrative. Doesn't mean that they're over their grievances with Israel. But there's an opportunity. There's a window in Gaza to promote something else, something hopeful, a different future. That's about the nation building agenda.

Amidst all of that, we still have folks, unfortunately, in the pro- Palestine movement, in the academia, in journalism, in the Western world, who are promoting Hamas as a legitimate resistance organization. Two months ago, you have 44 percent of American Muslims who told Pew Research that they support Hamas, and that is a problematic trend, and it is my hope through this book that again, tells the story of a young boy growing up in Gaza that weaves in some of the contemporary history, some of the road to October 7th and exposes Hamas that this group is not to be celebrated, being pro- Palestine is a lot more than just being anti-Israel.

[18:55:04]

And that we need to separate the just and urgent Palestinian aspirations from Hamas and its nihilistic jihadism.

TAPPER: Thank you so much for being here, Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib. Appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

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TAPPER: Today would have been Nolan Wells' 19th birthday. His family released a letter honoring his legacy after he was found dead following a Fourth of July trip with friends. The family, writing in part, quote, "As we sit here and reflect on what an amazing kiddo you grew up to be, we can't help but to feel blessed, honored, proud. But most of all, thankful. Thankful we were able to experience a glimpse of God's love in human form. Although you are no longer physically here with us, we will always celebrate you and the legacy you have left for us to protect. You have taught us so much about life and how every day is a blessing, and how we have to do better at just living in the moment," unquote.

Our hearts go out to Nolan's family. May his memory be a blessing.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.