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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Soon, Trump Stumps for GOP Candidate in Touch North Carolina Senate Race; Russians Charged in Murder-for-Hire Plot in U.S.; Ed Sheeran Backlash, Macklemore Dropped, Openers Quit Tour. Conservatives Sound The Alarm On Growing Antisemitism In GOP; New Book Recounts Repression Of American Cartoonists. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired September 16, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, President Trump is on his way to a campaign rally tonight on the heels of some bad economic news. Today, the Fed ignored President Trump's demands and actually raised interest rates for the first time in three years, calls causing the Dow's worst day in nearly a month. How will President Trump try to sell this to voters in the crucial battleground state he's in right now?
Plus, a stunning indictment out of New York alleging a group of Russian intelligence officers tried to recruit people inside the United States to carry out murders, assassinations on behalf of the Kremlin. Those suspects still at large tonight. We're going to break down the charges ahead.
Also, mounting pressure on singing -- singer Ed Sheeran after he kicked one performer off his tour and all the other opening acts quit in solidarity. Will Sheeran be able to take the stage on Saturday night, and did he do the right thing initially? The free speech debate about what Macklemore said and the repercussions, that's coming up.
And Democratic Senate Nominee Abdul El-Sayed fires back at Vice President J.D. Vance after Vance told Republicans to use El-Sayed as something of a boogeyman on the campaign trail. Hear what else El- Sayed told CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill this afternoon.
The Lead tonight, President Trump on the campaign trail. There you see his attorney general, Todd Blanche, which is a rather untraditional thing for an attorney general to be doing, speaking at a political rally just weeks before a midterm election, but I digress. Trump heading into the headwinds, stage in North Carolina you're looking at right now. Trump is set to speak there in the next hour.
This is one of the key Senate races that could tip the balance of power in the Senate. It is an open seat, and a recent Elon University poll shows former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper with an 11 percentage point lead over former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley.
With just 48 days until polls close, new nationwide polls show Trump's party needs help across the board and fast. One national poll shows voters prefer a generic Democratic candidate over a generic Republican in their district by a 13-point margin, a different poll by nine points.
Republicans trying to solve the problem by throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at it. Two PACs affiliated with Trump's political operation have now spent $138 million on campaign ads to support candidates in tight races, including more than 8 million on the North Carolina races alone.
CNN's Betsy Klein is in Gastonia, North Carolina. That's just outside Charlotte, North Carolina. Betsy, what are you hearing about Trump's messaging tonight? What's he going to say?
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Jake, President Trump is here making his way to battleground North Carolina, and as you laid out, that polling shows Roy Cooper in a position of strength against the Republican, Michael Whatley, handpicked by Trump. But strategists and observers on both sides of the aisle do expect this race to tighten in the coming days as that GOP spending ramps up.
And Whatley is making the calculation, one of the rare battleground Senate candidates, to hold President Trump and his policies very close. And President Trump is going to help motivate and turn out his base here. That is going to be important for Republicans. But I talked to one Republican strategist who made the point that 40 percent of North Carolina voters are unaffiliated. So, he has to make the case, Whatley has to make the case, that he can help provide some economic relief with a very sharp economic message.
But that is not the thrust of the discussion tonight. President Trump is expected to focus on crime. You can see the signage behind me. It says, Making America Safe Again. The president, according to a White House official, going to talk about restoring law and order and decreasing violent crime.
And crime has been a very big message for Whatley, specifically attacking Roy Cooper as governor on a court-ordered settlement that he ordered to help reduce the prison population during the COVID pandemic. Cooper, of course, has defended that move, but he's also really made a strong affordability pitch.
We also heard from Whatley a few moments ago, trying to cast him as woke and radical. We'll have to see if that lands with Cooper, who has won statewide four times. Jake?
TAPPER: All right, Betsy Klein, thank you so much. I appreciate it. And if you're wondering about the glare on the glass, there's obviously bulletproof plexiglass there making the images of in this case, Attorney General Todd Blanche, a little hard to see.
Joining us now here in studio, CNN's Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, talk to us about the White House strategy here. Trump's chief of staff, Susie Wiles, talked about putting Trump on the campaign trail as part of the midterm strategy. Trump has been telling voters to pretend he's on the ballot. Pretend he's on the ballot. I mean, he has like a 38 percent approval rating.
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Republicans who don't have a great approval rating either right now might say, actually, please don't pretend he's on the ballot, and don't pretend he's here at all.
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It's going to be an interesting next few weeks. I was just talking to White House officials today about what this level of travel is going to look like, and they are really going to ramp it up. That's what they're projecting right now and previewing.
And we've seen before where the president has done that. I mean, I remember being out there with him during the 2018 midterms, and the president was making two stops a night for rallies in some states where he felt like he could help those candidates.
And we saw -- I was talking to Bill Stepien, who ran his political operation the last time he was in office, about this then. The numbers were much better on the economy, on the president's approval, on Republicans' approval, and still they lost a lot of seats that midterm. It's just the way the political headwinds were going.
And so the question really is how it's going to work for them this time, given the Iran war, given inflation, given interest rates --
TAPPER: Tariffs. Don't forget tariffs.
COLLINS: -- given all of these headwinds, tariffs, that are going against them, you know, the price of ground beef, for example.
And so I think that they do realize this is an uphill battle, but they still want to have the president out there fighting it. Some Republicans may not want him in their district helping him, though.
TAPPER: Yes. This is not the kind of economy Republicans want to be running on. The average gallon of gas is $4.37 today, according to AAA. The Fed just today announced they were hiking interest rates. Trump is going to talk about crime tonight, we're told. Does the White House have a realistic view of everything?
COLLINS: I have a feeling he's going to be talking about the interest rates as well.
TAPPER: I'm sure.
COLLINS: He had actually had not posted on Truth Social all day long, which for those of us who monitor this at the White House, was pretty remarkable.
TAPPER: I thought they stole his phone.
COLLINS: Until -- sure, or he was a little bit busy. Shortly before he left the White House, he weighed in on this.
What stood out to me, though, is we didn't -- obviously, it's no surprise he responded to Kevin Warsh hiking interest rates. What's notable is he does not mention Kevin Warsh's name in that post. And obviously before, you know, Jay Powell wouldn't even touch the interest rates, and the president was assailing him at every opportunity he had and trying to get him under investigation for the renovations to the Fed's headquarters.
He doesn't mention Kevin Warsh's name. He also doesn't mention, though, Jake, his own policies here, including the trade war, including what's going on with the Iran war and how that's affecting what is happening at the Federal Reserve today.
And so the president a few weeks ago had threatened to cut off all trade if interest rates were not lowered. He didn't go that far in his post today. He just said, if we cut off all trade, we'd get a trillion and a half dollars back in the United States. Obviously, that's not likely to happen. But it does give you some insight into where his mind is, even with his own handpicked guy running the Federal Reserve.
TAPPER: We know that Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who's an adviser on the Middle East, unofficial at least, met with Hakeem Jeffries the Democratic House leader who might be the next speaker of the House. Is the White House preparing at all for Democrats to take over the House and maybe even the Senate?
COLLINS: Yes.
TAPPER: Because this -- to be polite about it, this has been a pretty deferential Republican-led Congress. They have not objected to quite a few things that normally one would think they would. Are they preparing for a Democratic House?
COLLINS: Yes, they are.
TAPPER: How?
COLLINS: I mean, they've been through this rodeo before. There are a lot of new White House staffers, but a lot of them served for the president in his first term, and they are bracing for what that Congressional oversight is going to look like.
I have a hunch based on, you know, my reporting that they're going to treat it differently than they did when Democrats took control in the first term, should they take it this time. And we don't know. We'll find out in November.
But the White House is preparing like they are. They're changing the White House Counsel's office, the staffing. White House officials themselves are getting attorneys, or they have attorneys that they know, and they're thinking of it in that regard because they know what it's like to be on the other side of this, many of them, and they're preparing for that to potentially happen yet again. And the president has been telling people should Democrats win, he believes that he will be impeached. TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. And of, course, don't miss Kaitlan on her fantastic show. It's called The Source with Kaitlan Collins. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.
Coming up next, the new details revealed in the shocking indictment out of New York alleging Russian agents tried to recruit people inside the U.S. to carry out assassinations.
Plus, a health update from White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, who announced she had early stage breast cancer in March of this year. Her latest news from her health team ahead.
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TAPPER: In our World Lead, a chilling alleged assassination plot right here in the Washington, D.C., area. The Department of Justice has charged five people that DOJ says were part of a Russian intelligence network accused of targeting Russian dissidents.
Prosecutors say one dissident in the D.C. area was surveilled as part of a plot to kill him, with a $40,000 payday offered for the assassination.
Joining us now, CNN's Kara Scannell. Kara, what do we know about that plot?
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So Jake, this plot was underway as recently as last month, according to the criminal indictment filed against these five officials working with Russian intelligence, including three high-ranking officers.
And as alleged in the indictment, the men were looking to recruit someone. They were in talks with a U.S. resident, a man from Venezuela, in the U.S. about surveilling this prominent Russian dissident, as he's described in the indictment. And according to the allegations, the Russians were specifically asking him to identify the home, they gave him the location, telling him how to shoot the video, that it needed to be at least 30 seconds long, how to make sure the house was prominent in it to conduct surveillance, and then saying they wanted him to make this dissident disappear, meaning murder him, and were offering $40,000.
Now, this person did not take them up on the offer, but the Russians allegedly were continuing and trying to see if he knew of anyone else who would be willing to take the job, because they said they had some Mexicans who would be willing to do it, but they couldn't get here for quite some time.
But this is just one aspect of the case that the authorities unsealed yesterday in which they said that these Russians not only were involved in these conspiracies to commit murder for hire, but also involved in conspiracies to finance terrorism. They say that they were working with people overseas on identifying targets in NATO member areas or places that they believed were pro-Ukraine or were actually out there openly pro-Ukraine, and trying to identify targets and then financing travel for there to be explosions and attacks on military installations.
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And authorities say that they were involved in these activities in 2024 in Prague and in Lithuania.
Now, all five of these individuals, though, do remain at large, so they're not in U.S. custody. But it's certainly a case that the authorities wanted to bring some attention to. Jake?
TAPPER: Yes. I could think of at least two Putin foes who died in Washington, D.C., under suspicious circumstances in the last decade. Are investigators concerned that there might be other operatives or potential targets out there?
SCANNELL: You know, Jake, in this indictment, they specifically went through a number of these people that have been targeted by Russians through either Novichok poisoning in the U.K. There were some pretty infamous episodes there. Also, people who mysteriously fall out of balconies. So, this is something that the prosecutors actually highlighted in their indictment and are tying to Russian intelligence. So, it's something that they want to put on the public stage that they are aware of this, they are investigating this, and they will bring cases when they can. Jake?
TAPPER: All right. Kara Scannell, thanks so much.
A debate over free speech after a singer was kicked off of Ed Sheeran's tour. We've got both sides debating this issue next.
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TAPPER: In our Pop Culture Lead, Ed Sheeran is supposed to take the stage in Philadelphia this Saturday. The big question tonight: will the show go on? Because as of today, every other act, every act scheduled to perform with him, has now dropped out. It's all in solidarity, these artists say, with the rapper, Macklemore, who was removed from the tour this week after this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACKLEMORE, SINGER: I wanted to stand up here on stages in stadiums across America and say two words that are very near and dear to my heart, free Palestine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Robert Kraft was the first to bar Macklemore from performing at the Gillette Stadium. Kraft said the decision was not due to the rapper's comments about saying, free Palestine, but mainly because of his long-running history of criticizing Israel, even seemingly opposing its existence, and also putting up videos during his concerts that offend some people in attendance.
Then there's this from 2014, Macklemore dressed up in what looks like a hideous, offensive Jewish caricature outfit, black wig, beard, fake hook nose. He denied that that's what the costume was, but, I mean, come on.
In recent years, he's released multiple songs that condemn Israel's military action in Gaza. Earlier this year, he was dropped from a music festival in Vegas.
Now, Kraft describes the artist's past behavior and comments as, quote, offensive and hurtful to the Jewish community, unquote. Other stadium leaders followed suit. Let's talk about this.
Seth Mandel is the senior editor of Commentary Magazine, and Greg Lukianoff is the CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.
So, Seth, I want you to listen to what Macklemore said the night following the clip that we ran a second ago.
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MACKLEMORE: To all of my Jewish brothers and sisters, criticism of Israel, criticism of apartheid, being against genocide, in no way is a criticism of you.
My message is for peace, love for all human beings to be treated with dignity, respect, and equality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Seth, what's your response to this?
SETH MANDEL, SENIOR EDITOR, COMMENTARY: Well, if he says so, you know, I believe him. No, I think this is what the artist Pink, who is Jewish, was talking about when she responded by saying Macklemore made a choice to make his show about a certain topic and went full force in that topic, and then tried to tell the Jewish community, this is not about you, or this is how you should feel. And Pink's response was, you don't really get to tell us that. You don't get to dictate that.
What I wish is that Macklemore would listen instead of speaking when he's told that something hurt people in the audience. It would be nice to have a conversation, which I think Robert Kraft also offered him about it, but he's not really listening. He just continues talking.
So, that's my response to the idea that he can then just say, no offense.
TAPPER: Greg, is there a free speech issue here? Macklemore says this and then Robert Kraft says, you can't perform at my venue, although Kraft says it's not just because of that event. It's a number of things, including the caricature costume from before.
GREG LUKIANOFF, PRESIDENT AND CEO, FIRE: Yes. I'd say there's three different free speech angles, and I'm going to distinguish this from the First Amendment. The First Amendment is our law in the United States that protects freedom of speech. And when it comes to the First Amendment is on Kraft's side, that he can decide not to have someone at his venue if he wants to.
But I also care about a culture of freedom of speech, and it's important to remember that the Hollywood blacklist was overwhelmingly enforced by private companies. So, we shouldn't really celebrate when an artist gets barred from a concert because of his political opinion.
But the final point's the most important one. I am very pro-Jewish. I care deeply about the anti-Israel sentiment that started on campus and has just kind of spread outwards. But every time someone gets in trouble for saying something that's critical of Israel, it makes the matters worse. This is like the Streisand effect, if you guys know what that is, on steroids.
TAPPER: Sheeran argues that it's the promoters and venues who made the decision, not him.
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He added he does have views on the conflict, but he chooses not to share them. He's getting attacked, Seth, by the pro-Palestinian crowd for not standing up. What's your take on the Sheeran role of all this?
MANDEL: I think, well, first of all, I just want to say I don't think that I celebrated anybody getting kicked off the tour. You know, I hope that wasn't the tone of my post on it.
But I will say that that, you know, in terms of what's happening to Ed Sheeran, I think people are being unfair to him, too. I think that he was put by Macklemore in a really difficult situation. First of all, Macklemore's the opener, right? So, he -- the thing that set people off the most was the fact, at least Jewish fans and Israeli fans, of which, of course, in MetLife Stadium there are going to be many, especially over two nights, were the scenes from the Gaza war interspersed with videos and scenes to make Israeli soldiers look, you know, monstrous and dangerous and all that stuff.
And I think that that puts Sheeran in a very difficult position, because Ed Sheeran always says that he likes to be apolitical, at least in his shows and his tours and his music. And so he's put in a situation where he either has to intervene on what Macklemore believes is a free speech issue, or he has to go against Robert Kraft, who believes that he's got a free speech issue, which is that he should not be compelled to host and produce this artistic expression that offends him so much.
And so Ed Sheeran is just kind of caught in the middle, pulled both ways. I think the people, although I'm no fan of -- certainly no fan of Macklemore, and I think Bob Kraft has a very strong free speech argument here, probably the strongest, I would say that I kind of feel bad for Ed Sheeran because I don't know what exactly he's supposed to do that will satisfy everybody. TAPPER: Greg, how do artists who want to exercise their right to free speech and talk about issues they care a great deal about do it in a way where they don't risk losing their platform, or is that the deal? If you take a position, you pay the price?
LUKIANOFF: That's the deal, but it didn't used to -- I'm very glad that I grew up in the '80s and '90s, because we went through a period where it wasn't against the law to say someone couldn't play this concert because we didn't like some obnoxious, and a lot of them, and sometimes genuinely horrible things, you know, like a '80s performer might have said. Instead we said, listen, I don't like this guy. I wouldn't buy a ticket to him. You're entitled to if you want to. None of my business. And I do think that that's oftentimes a healthier response, to say like, listen, if you don't like the show, don't go to it.
TAPPER: Yes. All right, Greg Lukianoff and Seth Mandel, thanks to both of you. I really appreciate it. And this just in, Macklemore says he will donate $1 million to organizations serving Palestinians in Gaza, and he's now challenged Robert Kraft to match his gift, and Kraft released a statement that Ed Sheeran has asked him to commit $2 million to match to help end the humanitarian crisis.
Ed now plans to reach out to other venue owners, and our plan is to continue to work together to build bridges, Kraft says.
President Trump just spoke when he landed in North Carolina. Let's take a listen.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Lowest interest rate anywhere in the world because we're the best credit.
No, they're raising the rates to -- they're raising the rates to make Trump do as bad as they can possibly do. The problem they have is that we have the greatest economy in history. We have over $21 trillion being invested in this country, which is five times more than we've ever had before. So, they're raising that only for political reasons, and that's a raise against Trump.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Well, hopefully, we're toward the end of the war. They want to make a deal, and we'll see how that works out. They're very much wanting to make -- Iran is very much wanting to make a deal. We'll see how that works out.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Yes. We deal directly.
REPORTER: Mr. President, how does cutting trade deals reduce the deficit in the United States?
TRUMP: We lose deficits. For instance, if we lose $50 billion a year with a country, and we say, we're not going to trade with you anymore, we don't lose $50 billion a year. It's very simple, right? REPORTER: Mr. President, (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: No, I think it's laughable. Look, the whole thing with Canada, Canada's been a terrible trade partner and, no, I don't see that. And if they do that, if I think it's at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe on many things. So, if they do that, if Europe does that with a bad intention -- if it's a good intention, that's fine.
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If it's a bad intention, we'll put very heavy tariffs on Europe.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Which is a possibility.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: Well, it's a very easy question to answer, because it's a mess. It's lost -- the Kennedy Center for many years has lost tens of millions of dollars, even hundreds of millions of dollars. It's a loser financially, and many of the places like that, you know, like Carnegie Hall and the various places throughout the country, they lose a lot of money.
For me to go and fix it, I'm the one capable of fixing it, and then have to subsidize it for years to come because you will lose with the Kennedy Center, they were losing hundreds of millions of dollars, and sometimes hundreds of millions -- this is before I got involved.
So, for the Trump administration, for me, to get involved and to take that on long-term and to carry it or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition. Because, frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close, it'll end up being ripped down. It's in very bad shape, very dangerous shape. You see steel falling down. You see plaster falling off ceilings. You see a lot of dangers. It's been very badly maintained for 25 years.
REPORTER: (INAUDIBLE).
TRUMP: I'd like to be able to save it, but it's going to take a lot of subsidy into the future. And for us as an administration to want to do that, I think the Trump administration should be recognized.
REPORTER: Mr. President, what do you think of --
TAPPER: All right, President Trump speaking ahead of his rally in the crucial battleground of North Carolina, a crucial state in the fight for control of the U.S. Senate.
And speaking of the U.S. Senate, in his pep talk to Republicans on Tuesday, Vice President J.D. Vance told Republican members running against Democrats who are, quote, not that crazy, unquote, to just start instead talking about Abdul El-Sayed instead. Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democratic Senate nominee, has become a real target of the Trump administration as they try to deflect voters' attention away from the current issues plaguing the GOP, like the economy and the Iran war.
CNN's Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill, and Manu, you spoke with Abdul El- Sayed about this today. What did he have to say?
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, he's essentially saying, bring it on. He's willing to have that debate with the Republican Party if they want to try to tie him and his very progressive politics to the more moderate members who are running all across the map. He calls that a distraction, in his words. He says that, in fact, that their focus should be on affordability and on the issues of gas prices and the like.
And I also asked him about the concern about a lot of Democrats have that he may be too progressive in a purple state like Michigan, and whether he should shift to the middle ahead of a critical general election that could determine the next majority United States Senate. He pushed back on that suggestion saying that, at the end of the day, it's -- affordability matters and voters don't really care if you're left or if you're right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: They'll talk about anything not to have to talk about gas or groceries or whether or not you can see a doctor or the ability to send your kid to a good, dignified school.
So, yes, if the whole Republican caucus meeting is not about what we can do to actually make lives better, but instead what we should talk about so that we can change the subject from what lives are because of their policies, fine, talk about me. But you know what I'm going to be talking about? Gas, groceries, how hard it is to see a doctor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And I asked him if he needed to disavow his association with that very controversial left-wing streamer, Hasan Piker. He would not go that far. He said people don't care, in his view, about what the actual Hasan Piker has said, even though he did campaign with Piker during the primary campaign. He said he would not campaign with him during the general election, but that his campaign did announce today, Jake, that he will be campaigning next week with Kamala Harris.
And he also told us that he's in talks of having Barack Obama on the campaign trail as he was up here in Washington trying to make amends and trying to meet a lot of Democratic senators, including Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, whose super PAC he essentially needs to put in a lot more money, his team is suggesting, in order for them to compete with the enormous amount of Republican resources and money that is being spent across the airwaves in Michigan.
TAPPER: And, Manu, House Speaker Mike Johnson shocked a lot of people when he sent members home from Washington, D.C., today earlier than expected. They now have a seven-week recess. Obviously, a lot of them are going to spend it campaigning. Why? Is this simply to stave off the impeachment vote against Secretary Hegseth?
RAJU: Well, a big reason why is they are concerned about losing the House, Jake. They want to get back to their districts as soon as possible. They were supposed to be in session all month, all September. Last, a couple weeks ago, they gave up back the last two weeks of September, saying they would only be here until this Thursday.
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Now, they're headed out of town tonight.
And there are some controversial votes that are coming, an impeachment vote that Thomas Massie of Kentucky is pushing, forcing the Democrats and Republicans on the record on that issue. That would've happened tomorrow. That's not going to happen anymore.
And also Massie has a separate effort. He and Ro Khanna, the Democrat from California, are trying to force a vote, circumvent the Republican leadership to put a bill on the floor to essentially empower individuals and empower states' attorney generals to try to go after the Justice Department if it is not releasing the Epstein files. And that, of course, has the opposition from a lot of Republicans, including the Republican leadership.
And Massie spoke about that issue just moments after the speaker made clear the House would not be in past tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Clearly the two weeks he sliced off already here in September he canceled those a week or two ago. That was clearly due to the Epstein files. And he said, and I believe with all conviction of his heart, he said, when I predicted that w- he would call off more of Congress to avoid the Epstein issue, he said, we're going to be here every day on the calendar. We are going to work every one of those days. And then 48 hours later, he canceled those two days.
That must have been a staggering defeat for him to get that phone call from somebody above his pay grade and tell him, do not let Massie and Khanna get to 218 before the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Now, the speaker has rejected Massie's suggestion that they're trying to avoid these very difficult votes. But what is very clear is that there are just so many Republicans who are nervous about losing their majority, so narrow, their majority, these races, and a number of -- couple of dozen toss-up districts in particular are very close.
They're getting hammered back home on the Iran war, on tariffs, and on cause, and many of them think it'd be much more, it'd be beneficial to be back home in their districts rather than here and having to cast controversial votes, Jake. And the speaker, of course, listening to his vulnerable members, which is why the House is headed home early tonight.
TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.
And some good news in our Health Lead, Susie Wiles, President Trump's chief of staff and the first-ever woman chief of staff at the White House, announced today that she is officially cancer-free. Earlier this year, Wiles revealed that she'd been diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer and would undergo treatment while still working at the White House.
In a post on X earlier today, Wiles wrote, quote, thank you to my family, friends, doctors, and everyone who prayed for me, checked in, and supported me along the way. A special thank you to President Trump for his unwavering support. She says she is cancer-free. We all send our best wishes to Susie Wiles and her family.
A growing number of conservatives calling out the rise of anti- Semitism in their own party. How they're trying to confront the problem, next.
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[18:40:00]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, since the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, political figures espousing hatred of entire groups of people have been little more than a fringe element in our system, with the exception of gays, lesbians, and the transgender community.
But in recent years, that has changed with anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry increasingly considered mainstream within some elements. And on the Republican side, many prominent conservatives are now sounding the alarm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): I have seen more anti-Semitism in the last 18 months on the right than at any point in my lifetime, and it is growing, and it is gaining real purchase, especially with young people.
TAPPER (voice over): Texas Senator Ted Cruz sounding the alarm earlier this year about the rise of extremist voices in the Republican Party, a disturbing trend playing out for several years, and exacerbated since President Trump returned to office.
In Georgia, Congressman Mike Collins' campaign for U.S. Senate has repeatedly drawn scrutiny over associations with white nationalism and anti-Semitism. Former Collins staffer, 24-year-old Preston Parra, posted this image of a swastika, as well as a picture showing him wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe. The Washington Post reported Parra told the paper the content was satirical, and that he considers himself a provocateur.
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Collins said Parra's views, quote, are absolutely abhorrent, and they don't represent my values or the values of our country.
This is not the first controversy involving the congressman or someone close to him. In addition to Collins' own Twitter comments that some interpreted it as racist and anti-Semitic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: America is inherently a white, Christian, European creation.
TAPPER: A CNN KFile investigation found that Collins' son-in-law, David Allen Shear II, has repeatedly promoted white nationalist ideology, Nazi imagery, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't believe in an alliance between Christians and Jews.
TAPPER: In a video posted to his YouTube page, Shear invoked the, quote, Jewish Bolsheviks conspiracy theory, a bizarre anti-Semitic narrative embraced by Nazi Germany that portrayed communism as a Jewish plot, blaming Jews collectively for atrocities committed by the Soviet Union.
In response to CNN's questions earlier this summer about his son-in- law's social media posts, a spokesperson for Collins said, quote, his lifelong support for Israel is unquestionable and backed by his consistent record in Congress of standing up for Israel and her people.
As for the congressman's own comments on Twitter, his office denies that they were bigoted. In July, Congressman Collins replaced his chief of staff, Kip Talley, after it was revealed Talley participated in a group chat with notorious anti-Semites and white supremacists Nick Fuentes and Richard Spencer.
More recently in Ohio, Republican Senator John Husted's campaign parted ways with its political director, 25-year-old Stephen Woytek, after The Washington Post found Woytek once used a photo of Nazi SS soldiers as his Facebook profile picture, and he promoted songs celebrating Rhodesia, the former white minority-ruled African state that's been romanticized by white supremacists.
[18:45:03]
In a statement to The Post, Woytek said he rejects anti-Semitic and racist ideology, saying that his interest was purely historical.
Senator Husted's campaign said the post showed, quote, "a complete lack of judgment" and that the senator made an "immediate decision to part ways" with Woytek after learning of them.
But unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. They're part of a pattern or trend taking place within the GOP for several years.
In 2025, leaked messages from a Young Republican Group chat revealed participants using racist, antisemitic and sexist language, including praise for Hitler and jokes about gas chambers. Some of those involved held political or government jobs. After the controversy erupted, Vice President J.D. Vance defended those involved.
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The reality is that kids do stupid things, especially young boys. They tell edgy, offensive jokes like that's what kids do.
TAPPER (voice-over): The kids, described by the 41-year-old vice president that took part in the offensive chat, ranged in age from 18 to 40. These are just some examples in a long line of episodes that suggest the Republican Party has a real problem on its hands, with bigotry and antisemitism within its midst.
But there are at least some signs that many conservatives are taking this problem seriously. This week, after the Texas Republican railroad commissioner nominee posted a racist tweet, Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn posted in response on X, quote, "This is how great political parties self-destruct. Sad."
Previously, New York members of Congress, Mike Lawler and Elise Stefanik, both Republicans, both publicly denounced the sentiments from the Young Republican Group chat and demanded immediate resignations from those involved in leadership. And in a post earlier today on his Substack, conservative talk show host Erick Erickson lamented the growing extremism, writing, quote, "a group of white guys have subtly inserted themselves into conservative institutions and church organizations. They all embrace racial grievances. To varying degrees, they embrace white nationalism, antisemitism, and even Nazi sympathies."
But Republican leaders such as President Trump, Vice President Vance and House Speaker Mike Johnson have so far declined to seriously publicly confront the bigotry metastasizing within the Republican Party's ranks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Tucker Carlson in that group there.
Let's get back down to that race in Texas. And we're joined now by the Democrat in the race, Jon Rosenthal. We should reach out. We reached out. We should note we reached out to Republican Bo French, who we mentioned in the piece. We have not heard back.
Mr. Rosenthal, I want to put up Bo French's social media posts from the past weekend shows a group of University of Texas students who appear to be of South Asian descent, we think, celebrating during UT's come from behind win against Ohio State.
Bo French wrote, quote, "I heard UT graduation this year looked like this." He went on to write, "The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined," unquote.
This is not the first time he has said something bigoted. But what was your reaction when you saw that? JON ROSENTHAL (D), TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE: Well, so
first, thanks for having me on the show today. My reaction was the same as a lot of other folks. I'm a proud graduate of the University of Texas, and the only color that matters in that stand to us is burnt orange. So, in a moment when the University of Texas Longhorns have just had a historic win coming from behind in the fourth quarter to beat the number one team in the nation, Ohio State Buckeyes at this football game, and all of us are rejoicing across political spectrums and boundaries, and this guy looks at that, and all he can think of is his hate towards a section of students because of the color of their skin. Truly shameful.
TAPPER: There were a lot of Republicans, Texas Republicans voicing opposition to this. Karl Rove says that he's going to vote for you. For the first time, I think it's ever he's ever going to vote for a Democrat.
I want to play for you what French -- Bo French told conservative radio host Mark Davis on Monday after his racist post created a furor.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
BO FRENCH (R), TEXAS RAILROAD COMMISSIONER CANDIDATE: I don't have anything against the people specifically in that picture. The bigger conversation is, are we going to have policies that prioritize Americans? And the exceptionalism that I believe Americans have? Or are we going to have policies that prioritize foreigners?
And I think most people in the America first movement think we ought to be prioritizing Americans.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
TAPPER: So I know what I think about that. But what's your reaction?
ROSENTHAL: So I'm oilfield trash. I'm an oil field engineer. I swear a lot. And y'all are trying to get me to swear on national television.
TAPPER: You're allowed to, it's cable, you know.
ROSENTHAL: I call B.S.
TAPPER: Yeah.
ROSENTHAL: I call B.S.
So, the University of Texas, by rule 90 percent of the students admitted are Texas residents. And we take the top 5 percent of the high school graduates from public schools in our state.
So those are all citizens. They're all residents.
[18:50:00]
They're Americans. They are the future of our country. No matter what color their skin is. There's great diversity at the University of Texas. And as a graduate, I say it's the greatest university in the state of Texas.
TAPPER: Yeah. I mean, some local press has tracked down some of those students and they're American, they're American, as you and I.
ROSENTHAL: Exactly.
TAPPER: One question about your political contest. You and Bo French are running for the Texas railroad commission, which, unlike its name, implies it actually oversees the Texas oil and natural gas industry. Bo French is promising to cut regulations. What will you do if you're elected?
ROSENTHAL: So first, across the political spectrum, I don't think people believe we are over regulated when it comes to oil and gas in Texas. I actually believe we should enforce the regulations we have.
But let's not forget, Republicans have been in charge and had the reins of power in this state for 30 years. So whatever regulations we do have were enacted by Republicans. I happen to think most of them are sensible.
And so if you want someone who's got 25 years of experience in oil and gas, I did everything from upstream to downstream. I literally worked on drilling rigs and production platforms, I got -- I have worn out plenty of steel toed boots. Let's just say that.
So, if you want someone who actually knows how to tackle and solve real world problems, I'm the guy. My opponent has no real world experience in this. I don't know what he's thinking.
TAPPER: Jon Rosenthal, thank you so much. And again, Bo French has been invited to this program.
A new graphic novel brilliantly illustrates American democracy in crisis. But no, it's not about today. It's a disturbing and fascinating part of American history that you might not know. That's next
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:55:51]
TAPPER: War, anarchists, jingoism, a government suppressing the free press, I'm not talking about the present day. In a brand-new graphic novel, famed cartoonist Derf Backderf tells a largely forgotten but incredibly important part of American history, with stunning parallels to so much of what's been happening in America in the last few years.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER (voice-over): Derf Backderf is an award-winning cartoonist and political satirist whose beautifully drawn, deeply researched stories bring forgotten chapters of American history to life.
I sat down with him to talk about his latest graphic novel, a story he says he's wanted to tell since college. DERF BACKDERF, AUTHOR, "THE DISSIDENTS": "The Dissidents" is about --
is a suspenseful spy thriller starring cartoonist, but set in 1917 during the great war, and it was a period of time when the First Amendment was put on ice by Woodrow Wilson, who was a thin-skinned autocrat, merely criticizing the president or the government could get you a 15-year prison sentence.
These cartoonists were working at this magazine called "The Masses", which was also closed by the government. These cartoons, political cartoons so terrified the U.S. government that these cartoonists were harassed, hunted, spied upon, and finally put on trial for conspiracy and sedition and faced 15-year prison sentences. So, this is their story.
TAPPER: I had no idea this happened. And I'm a amateur cartoonist, and I like -- I'm a scholar of cartoonists. I've been a fan of yours for decades. And like, I had no idea they were locking up cartoonists.
BACKDERF: It's -- it's a bit of lost comics history, a bit of lost American history. We don't really talk about this era a lot, but it was so catastrophic in so many ways.
TAPPER (voice-over): Backderf includes in his book the original cartoons that got these artists in trouble, images considered at the time so threatening that the Wilson administration went after the people who drew them. And while the story takes place more than a century ago, the themes are quite relevant.
TAPPER: There are so many things in this book that are resonant with what's going on today. First of all, anti-immigrant sentiment, except in this case, it's not Latinos or Haitians or Venezuelans. It's Germans.
BACKDERF: Right. My grandmother's family were German immigrants during World War One. And so, I heard these stories for years from my aunts and uncles and my grandmother about the kind of prejudice they faced on a daily basis, suspicion being followed, being threatened, that kind of stuff.
TAPPER (voice-over): The other thing that's quite resonant is a powerful leader using faux patriotism and jingoism to suppress speech he does not like. That's something that we've seen a lot of in the last few decades.
BACKDERF: Yes, except Wilson was -- was successful at it. I mean, he put most of these publications out of business and sent thousands and thousands of people into prison for sedition, under something called the Sedition Act, which basically meant whatever the government said it did. So --
TAPPER: And it was just like, if you opposed entering World War One.
BACKDERF: Yes.
TAPPER: That's it.
BACKDERF: Or said, God, the draft isn't a good idea. Boom. You were indicted. The cartoonists of the masses refused to play ball.
And so, it's really a story of artistic courage in the face of authoritarianism, which is very appealing.
TAPPER (voice-over): And yet the First Amendment still endures. The good guys ultimately won, or the First Amendment ultimately prevailed.
BACKDERF: The cartoonists won in the sense that they stayed out of jail. Well, mostly, but they did pay a really hard price because most of them were blacklisted and never really recovered.
TAPPER: And what do we owe them?
BACKDERF: A lot. I mean, they held the line and no one else was. And I think even though people have forgotten them, you can draw a straight line from the cartoonists of the masses to, you know, the great underground comics of the 60s to the indie comics of the '90s, to what people are doing today and graphic novels. I mean, it's a straight line.
TAPPER (voice-over): More than a century after the cartoonists of the masses were targeted for their political speech, Backderf says their story offers a warning and a reminder of the role artists and journalists can play when that speech is under threat.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: "The Dissidents" is out this week. If you like American history or you appreciate thoughtful political cartoons as I do, you'll enjoy it. Check it out.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.
