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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump DOJ Releases Trove Of Epstein Files; Newly Released Epstein Docs Include Unseen Photos Of Bill Clinton; Rep. Mike Lawler, (R-NY), Is Interviewed About Release of Epstein Files, Stefanik Bows Out Of N.Y. Gov. Race, Won't Seek House Re-Election; NBA Coach Steve Kerr Calls For Gun Control After Brown Shooting; Kennedy Center Gets New Signage Bearing Trump's Name. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 19, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So ultimately, it's going to have to come down to political pressure and political will from Congress.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Political -- it's -- it has been a remarkable thing to see, actually, this -- the way that Republicans in this particular case have actually exerted political will over the wishes and will of the president of the United States to get us this far. But I think it's good you underscored that delay. Elie Honig, thank you.

Thanks very much to my panel as well. Really appreciate it. Thanks to you all at home for watching. Very grateful to have you. Don't go anywhere.

There's much more breaking news. "The Lead with Jake Tapper" starts right now.

[17:00:35]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with breaking news in our law and justice lead because just moments ago the U.S. Justice Department released at least some of the many files it has on dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Our CNN teams are going through the release documents right now. We will bring you updates as we get them.

This is a day that so many survivors and members of the American public have waited on for years, for decades. Tonight at midnight was the deadline for the Justice Department to release these files. But this morning it became clear that there might be at least one problem. Here is Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche this morning saying that all of the files are not going to be released today.

(BEGIN VTIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: I expect that we're going to release more documents over the next couple of weeks. So today several hundred thousand, and then over the next couple weeks, I expect several hundred thousand more. There's a lot of eyes looking at these. And we want to make sure that when we do produce the materials we're producing that we're protecting every single victim.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: OK. Let's check in with the actual law that has required this release of the documents. It's called the Epstein Files Transparency Act. It passed 30 days ago with the support of every member of Congress except for one, Republican Congressman Clay Higgins. The law requires of the justice department and FBI, quote, "Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this act, the attorney general shall, subject to subsection B, make publicly available in a searchable and downloadable format, all unclassified records, documents, communications, and investigative materials," unquote.

That pertain to Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and other people or entities named in connection to them and the sex trafficking ring that they are alleged to have run. Now, you will notice in that law, it didn't say today was the deadline to release some of the records. It said all of the records and it said with a searchable form. And if you go onto the website right now and just even put the word Epstein in to search the Epstein documents, that doesn't come up because it's not searchable yet.

Let's discuss this all with CNN's Evan Perez and MJ Lee.

MJ, what are we learning about the content of the files that have been released so far?

MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, you know, we knew that today was going to be a really big document coming from the DOJ, but even having known that, you know, when you take even a few minutes to go through these documents, it really is a pretty sickening experience. You know, so much context is missing. So we're going to be really responsible in the coming minutes and hours to report on all of this responsibly. But in general, we are seeing lots of photographs and lots and lots of documents that are clearly related to the various investigations that have taken place over the years about Jeffrey Epstein and the many allegations against him.

Just, Jake, the sheer volume of materials and the pages and pages of information that is redacted, again, just gives you such a reminder of how many people had accused him of abuse and how many people around him may have been aware of what he was up to. I just want to zero in on this idea of just the sheer volume of redactions that we are seeing. I was saying the last hour, you know, you might click on a certain PDF file and you're scrolling for pages and pages, just seeing black boxes, whether it's because they're written aspects that are being blacked out or photographs that are being blacked out. And among the things as an important reminder that could be redacted are identifying information about victims and also anything related to child abuse.

Again, I want to be clear, not all redactions are necessarily going to fall under those two categories, but it is an important reminder as we're seeing some of these photos, you know, women that are clearly not dressed, you know, sex toys of various kinds, information that victims and accusers were given -- were giving to investigators over the years of the huge breadth of what we are talking about here.

[17:04:58]

And, Jake, I will say just one thing that is really striking to me as I'm going through and looking through some of these documents and photographs is in my conversations with some of these survivors, of course they're looking for transparency, they want justice. They've been waiting for this moment for so long. But keep in mind, for some of these survivors, they are going to be pouring through these documents, looking for information about their own stories and their own cases. Some of them have memory lapses that is not uncommon when you've gone through trauma. Not to mention, for some of them, the abuse took place many, many years ago.

And I've been told, you know, sometimes we're just looking for information that might be validating for us and that might sort of give us the confidence to say this thing that I remember from so many years ago, I was right and I was telling the truth.

TAPPER: Yes, very emotional stuff.

Evan, what's the holdup on the Justice Department not releasing all the files today? Not doing it in a searchable format. And, you know, if the three of us were told by law that we had to do something and we didn't do it, I don't think we'd be as nonchalant about it as Deputy Attorney General Blanche was. Is the Justice Department going to face any consequences for not abiding by the law, not fully meeting the deadline?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That I think will be left to the Republicans in the House as to whether or not there is any consequence to this, Jake. But you know what the attorney -- the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, does here, he notified Congress today as part of this release, basically telling them what they were providing and what they were not providing. First of all, he takes credit saying that this administration has been more transparent than any other in history, and also pointing out that previous administrations did not release this material. It's not clear that really they could have, because some of this stuff was under investigation and would have been a part of ongoing cases. So really, this administration is the first that had this opportunity.

But one of the things that I think is important to look at with regard to what the deputy attorney general is saying is what they're describing as the things that are not being released. And I think it's very important for us to discuss some of those. We'll talk a little bit about -- he talks about the 200 Justice Department lawyers who went through all of this, and here's what he says is being withheld. Anything that is -- that contains personally identifiable information of the victims depicted or sexual -- child sex abuse materials, anything that would jeopardize an ongoing investigation. And then he goes through a number of privileges that will require them to withhold documents which they say the law does not require them to do.

He says, for instance, there's deliberative process privilege, work product privilege, as well as attorney client privilege. He also says anything that's national security information or foreign relations, diplomatic relations, that is also being withheld.

The reason why I'm going through this, Jake, is because of this, we know that there's a lot of documents that I think we would love to see, including, for instance, a 2007 where a prosecutor in the Southern District of Florida prepared a 60 count indictment --

TAPPER: Yes.

PEREZ: -- of Jeffrey Epstein. And it appears that that would fall under the deliberative product exception here that they're using to withhold. For instance, we know the FBI prepared interviews or wrote down interviews and produced reports on interviews with victims. A lot of that appears to being withheld or at least blacked out because of these privileges. And so that is one of the things that I think we're going to see going forward --

TAPPER: Yes.

PEREZ: -- is the question of why can't we see that? Why is that being accepted? Because this law is pretty clear that they -- that Congress meant for the public to see as much of this as possible.

TAPPER: Talk about blacking out. I don't know if I can get a close up of my phone. This is -- this is -- this one of the documents --

PEREZ: Yes.

TAPPER: -- that the Justice Department released. It's 100 pages.

PEREZ: Right. And --

TAPPER: This is what it looks like. I don't know if you can see, it's all black.

PEREZ: Yes.

TAPPER: It's just 100 pages of redaction. That's the transparency we're getting here.

PEREZ: Right. And I'll point to -- there's a tranche of documents that is labeled Grand Jury New York and it is completely black. And so again, we know that the courts have now made it possible for the Justice Department to release some of these documents. We understand obviously that there needs to be protection of these victims. For instance, you can see in a lot of the photographs, there's a trove of photographs with very famous people, some very important people that were associating with Epstein.

[17:10:00]

We see the faces of some of the young women, perhaps girls, we don't know, those faces are blacked out. So clearly they've taken very good care to protect those people. The question is, what is behind those blacked out pages? And is it something that DOJ is being over cautious about to protect what, I don't know or is this something that Congress has to maybe go back in and tell them that they need to release? TAPPER: All right. Evan Perez and MJ Lee, thanks to both of you.

Let's talk about this now with Julie K. Brown. Her reporting for the Miami Herald helped shine a light on the depth of the criminal enterprise of Jeffrey Epstein in terms of sex trafficking crimes. She's also the author of a great book on the subject, "Perversion of Justice, The Jeffrey Epstein Story." I read it this year. Highly recommended.

Julie, the Justice Department says it will only be releasing several hundred thousand documents today. Not all of the documents as mandated by law. It's only a fraction of all the files on Epstein. And as I'm sure you've seen, there's quite a bit of redacting, a lot of heavy black pen. What's been your -- what's your reaction to the -- what we've seen so far?

JULIE K. BROWN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE MIAMI HERALD: Well, my reaction is this isn't going to sow any confidence in the Trump administration or the Justice Department. I think the American public there, you know, polls have shown that they believe that there is a huge cover up with this case. And I think when they see these kinds of large piles of pages that are completely blacked out and only adds to their distrust of this, you know, administration and the way that it's handling it.

TAPPER: Based on what we know so far and what Deputy Attorney General Blanche has said about what's not being released, do you have any confidence that the Justice Department will ultimately release everything it's supposed to release and only redact that which by law they're only -- they're supposed to redact and nothing more?

BROWN: No, I don't have a lot of confidence. Look, they haven't even explained to us why they moved Ghislaine Maxwell to this prison in Texas. So I doubt that they're going to give us a whole lot of new information with these files given what we've seen so far. I mean, it is possible that they'll make a mistake. I think that that's where the only way that we might get some information is that they might accidentally not redact something that will give us clues that we hadn't had before about why this case, you know, why the Justice Department never prosecuted him to the extent of the law that they should.

TAPPER: For the most part, the photos that were released today have been presented without context. How difficult do you think it's going to be to accurately understand what's going on for what we do see in the photos that haven't been completely blacked out?

BROWN: I think it's a -- it's really a dangerous thing to throw these photos all out there. It's really inviting people to, you know, have these people -- you know, it's like this guilt by association thing that's going on.

Look, there were a lot of people that hung around Epstein. We do not know whether all of them knew what he was doing. Many of them did know, however. But the photos themselves, I don't think in this case tell a story because they are out of context in many instances. TAPPER: Julie, stand by. I want to bring MJ Lee back.

MJ, you're getting new details about some of the photos in these documents. Tell us more.

LEE: Yes, and this is just the beginning of our team starting to go through the massive trove of documents and photos. But one thing that we have already noticed, some never before seen photos of former President Bill Clinton are in these files. Let me just walk you through a couple of them. First, here is a shirtless Bill Clinton in a Jacuzzi. The other person in that photo is blacked out.

We don't know that person's identity. There is another photo of Bill Clinton swimming in a pool with Ghislaine Maxwell. This seems to be sort of the zoomed out image of the first photo. The other woman, again, that person's face is redacted. And then here we have a photo of Bill Clinton appearing to hold a drink.

I think that's covered up by the Chiron right now with of course, Jeffrey Epstein in the background standing there next to him. Again, Jake, we do not know when these photos were taken. We have reached out to a representative for the former president for comment on these new images. And we also just want to be very clear that the former president has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing that is related to Jeffrey Epstein. And in the past, his spokesperson has repeatedly said that Bill Clinton cut ties with Epstein before his arrest on federal charges in 2019.

[17:15:06]

Now, I just want to give you a sense of, as we are going through these files, you know, these are the kinds of discoveries that we might be making in the coming hours. We are, of course, going to be interested in anything that is new, anything that might be revelatory about high profile names, big people in public life. Again, though, it is incredibly challenging to try to report on some of these images and documents because there is so much context that is missing. But again, here we have what appear to be never before seen photos of Jeffrey Epstein in both Jeff -- of Bill Clinton, excuse me, in Jeffrey Epstein's presence, and Ghislaine Maxwell's presence. Again, we don't know the context around these photos when they were even taken.

TAPPER: All right, MJ, thanks so much. Please flag us down when you have more. Let's bring back Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald.

Julie, what's your take on these Clinton photos that have been released?

BROWN: Like, I -- it's just hard to know. We don't know when they were taken or where they were taken under what circumstances. But of course, the more that we see photos of him, the more questions with Epstein and in Epstein's houses or, you know, we don't know where they are. And I think it just raises more questions about how close he was with Epstein and the fact that, you know, at some point he had to have known what Epstein's, you know, crimes were. I mean, he had been accused for a long time and it was known he was accused of molesting underage girls.

So I think that, you know, these raise more questions that I think he probably will be asked about these photos.

TAPPER: Julie K. Brown, thank you so much.

We're going to sneak in a quick break. We'll be right back with more on this developing story. The Epstein files have been released. What's in them? What can we learn?

Stay tuned.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:03]

TAPPER: In our law and justice lead, the White House is touting its transparency after a massive Epstein document drop as required by law. With a noticeable trove of images of former Democratic President Bill Clinton accompanying convicted sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell shirtless in a hot tub next to a person whose face is redacted, swimming next to Maxwell, standing by Epstein holding a drink. We should note we don't know when these pictures were taken. It is possible they were taken before Maxwell or Epstein were ever charged with anything. We should note also that Clinton has never been accused by law enforcement of any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

Let's bring in CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig.

Elie, as a former federal prosecutor, I have to ask the Justice Department is not today abiding by the law that passed 30 days. They haven't produced everything, and this database is not searchable. Are there any repercussions if the Justice Department violates the law?

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Jake, ordinarily it would be unthinkable for the Justice Department to be presented with a law duly passed by the House, passed by the Senate, signed by the president, and then to come back with a response of, well, we tried. Here's some of it. We'll get to it when we get to it. Is there any repercussions? It's really hard to say.

I mean, you could see a lawsuit. We've heard some Democratic members of Congress in the last couple hours say they're considering that. That'll take time. DOJ has also said they'll complete this disclosure by the New Year. So within the next couple weeks, we'll see if they make good on that, but really ultimately has to come from Congress.

This is the kind of thing that needs to be resolved with political pressure, political consequence. But really, it is just unthinkable and disturbing that DOJ would just sort of casually brush off a law.

TAPPER: And we should note the law also requires the names of the victims or survivors to be redacted. And nobody is suggesting anything other than that should be adhered to. The names of the victims and the survivors should be redacted. But that said, they're not following the law that the president signed. As a prosecutor -- HONIG: Yes.

TAPPER: -- I don't know what you're seeing in these documents that are being released, the ones that haven't been just completely blacked out, so you can't even tell what kind of document it is. What are you seeing in here? Is it documents that you thought you'd see, what you expected to see?

HONIG: So, really important point here, Jake. Some of what I'm seeing is what you would expect to see in a prosecutor's file. I've seen financial records, I've seen flight records. I've seen a bunch of photographs, I've seen some witness summaries. However, this is a really important point, Evan Perez just said that DOJ is taking the position that they do not have to disclose documents that are protected by something called the deliberative process privilege.

Now, what that means is, ordinarily, prosecutors, DOJ would never turn over our internal memos. So, for example, a memo I might have written saying, I think we should charge this case. I do not think we should charge this case. I think we should do this plea deal or not do this plea deal. And so, Evan saying, DOJ's position is we don't have to turn those over.

That is contrary to this Epstein files law. Let me read you something that's in the law. Section 7 says that DOJ must produce, I'm going to read directly, internal DOJ communications, including e-mails, memos, meeting notes concerning decisions to charge, not charge, investigate or decline to investigate Epstein or his associates. That's the exact language of this law that is required to be turned over. And really, Jake, as you know, and Julie Brown, who you just had on, knows, that's really one of the biggest questions here.

Why on earth did prosecutors make that decision back in 2007 to give Epstein such a softball deal? And so if DOJ's position is we don't have to turn that stuff over, those internal deliberative documents, they're wrong and they're going against what this law calls for.

TAPPER: Elie Honig, stay with me.

Joining us now, New York Republican Congressman Mike Lawler.

Congressman Lawler, your initial thoughts on the trove of documents and photos that have been released?

REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): I'm sorry, say that again, Jake.

TAPPER: What's your initial response to what's been released so far in these Epstein files?

[17:25:04]

LAWLER: Well, I haven't had a chance to review it other than the report I saw just a little bit before coming on that you covered. But I'm not surprised. There's going to be obviously photos released, there's going to be financial records, flights, you know, manifest release. So we're going to obviously dig into the details here. As I've said from the very beginning, anyone who was involved in the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein in furtherance of the sexual exploitation or abuse of minors and women should be prosecuted.

And if -- and if there is evidence that comes out through this release of anyone, whether they be in government or entertainment or, you know, the financial world, they should be prosecuted.

TAPPER: So --

LAWLER: And you know, we will see what obviously, you know, this search of -- searchable database with hundreds of thousands of documents and, you know, and obviously more to come.

TAPPER: So the House 30 days ago or more than 30 days ago, passed this bill requiring all of these files to be released with the survivors and victims' names redacted. But the impetus was on the Justice Department to explain why they redacted anything other than that. And yet the deputy attorney general today said they're not going to release all the documents today. It appears it's just going to be a fraction. The law also said that the database had to be searchable.

And the database, at least last time I checked, it was not searchable. Does it bother you that the Justice Department is not abiding by the law that President Trump signed 30 days ago?

LAWLER: Look, I think they obviously should comply fully with the law. I think given the volume of documents, you know, I assume they have a lot of people working on redacting, where appropriate within the law and going through each of these documents to make sure that they are released appropriately. I would venture once the grand jury transcripts were court ordered released and they have to go through that that added significant volume here in terms of having to go through the documents.

So look, I think they need to obviously comply expeditiously and I do believe that's their intent. And you know, obviously ideally it would have been done in full today, but given the volume, I'm not sure how realistic that really was within 30 days of the law being signed.

TAPPER: Your fellow New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik just announced that not only is she bowing out of the race for governor of New York, which you were going to do as well at one point, she's not even going to run for reelection in the House. Now that there is an opening, are you going to throw your hat back into the ring and run for governor?

LAWLER: Well, first let me say Elise Stefanik has been a tremendous congresswoman. She certainly would have made a great governor. And you know, as a colleague, as a friend, I understand her decision. These are not easy decisions to make, especially with a young family. I have two young daughters and that factored into, you know, my considerations earlier this year.

Obviously, I'm just seeing the news like everybody else within the last hour. So I'm going to take a little bit of time before I comment further as to what I may or may not do. But look, I think the focus, of course, for us in New York has to be on defeating Kathy Hochul. She's the single worst governor in the country and has been an abject disaster on the issues that matter to New Yorkers, from affordability to public safety, housing, energy, health care, et cetera. So we'll see what comes of this.

But before I kind of wrap my head around it, I'm going to take a little bit of time.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Mike Lawler, thank you. Merry Christmas to you. We've had you on the show a lot this year. We really appreciate your taking our questions. Thank you so much.

We hope you have a great holiday with your family. And best wishes for 2026.

LAWLER: Thank you, Jake. Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas to everyone.

[17:29:32]

TAPPER: Well, stay with the breaking news. The Justice Department released at least some of its files on dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. An attorney for some of Epstein survivors is going to join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Back with our breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead, as the Justice Department has released some of the files it has on dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, though not all of them. Let's discuss with Jennifer Freeman, an attorney and advocate for Epstein's victims. Jennifer, OK, so at least some of the many Epstein files are out right now.

And let me just reiterate, there are a lot of redactions. We all want the victims' names to be redacted. It does seem a little more than that has been redacted, though. How are you feeling? How are the Epstein survivors feeling?

JENNIFER FREEMAN, EPSTEIN VICTIMS ADVOCATE: It's so interesting, Jake, and thank you. It's good to be with you again. It's so interesting because today, I believe, is a day of triumph and tragedy for Maria Farmer and so many of the other survivors. Why is that happening? It's a triumph because the Epstein Files Act was passed, and the files have been, at least some of them have been produced, and some of the information is out.

[17:35:03]

But most importantly, what we were able to find, it's very preliminary, our review, but we were able to find, and I think we also e-mailed it to you, you may not have seen it yet, a document from the FBI in 1996. Just as we've been saying for years now, that Maria Farmer reported Epstein and Maxwell's crimes to the FBI in 1996, and had the government done their job, over a thousand victims would have been spared and 30 years of trauma avoided. So this is a -- this is a real triumph for Maria because of that, because she's finally validated, and it's really a triumph for the survivors. But it's also tragic because 30 years have passed, and there was so much that could have been done, but nothing was done. I have a -- I have a comment from Maria, if I can read it to you.

TAPPER: Yes, please.

FREEMAN: Because she just saw it on Zoom, and this is from her. This is amazing. Thank you for believing me. I feel redeemed. This is one of the best days of my life. Of course, it's mixed with the fact that I'm devastated about all the other girls like Virginia who were harmed because the FBI didn't do their job.

TAPPER: Yes.

FREEMAN: I'm crying for two reasons. I want everyone to know that I'm shedding tears of joy for myself, but also tears of sorrow for all the other victims at the FBI.

TAPPER: So just to be clear, and this, by the way, I mean, this is significant, and it reminds me, by the way, Jennifer, it reminds me. Oh, we lost Jennifer's signal, but it does remind me, I should just note, of the fact that there was a whistleblower who called the FBI in the early days of the Larry Nassar, Dr. Larry Nassar, who molested and assaulted so many gymnasts, including so many members of the Olympic, the USA Olympics gymnast team. And the FBI didn't take that seriously either. Our thanks to Jennifer Freeman. We hope we get that signal back.

Coming up next on The Lead, NBA coach Steve Kerr. He's talking about further restrictions on guns or gun control in America after yet another traumatizing week. Stay with us.

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[17:41:23]

TAPPER: And we're back with our National Lead, the suspect that officials say is responsible for the Brown University killings. And the murder of an MIT professor ended last night when that suspect was found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. So the manhunt is over, but obviously not the trauma. For some Brown University students, the trauma of surviving a mass shooting will live on, and so will the mourning for their two peers killed in Saturday's attack, as well as the eight others wounded.

Nineteen-year-old Ella Cook was killed. She was known for her bold, brave, and kind heart. She was an accomplished pianist. She volunteered at church. Then there's 18-year-old Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, known for being driven and conscientious and disciplined. He wanted to make a positive impact in the world by becoming a neurosurgeon.

And as I said, nine others were injured in the attack, eight with gunshot wounds. As of today, all six survivors still in the hospital are in stable condition. My next guest has been speaking out about the need for further restrictions on gun ownership, in his view, for years.

He's the head coach for the Golden State Warriors. Steve Kerr joins us now. Steve, thanks so much for joining us. So after the Brown shooting, you came out right before a game. You used your platform unprompted. You called for common-sense gun laws. You noted that responsible law-abiding citizens have every right to own a gun. You challenged people to think, what if something like this happened to their child or their family member, and would they be willing to stand up to their representative to ask for more?

Now, I just want to ask, technically, on this issue, not the larger issue of shootings in America, on this shooting, police said the suspect in the Brown shooting, he used a 9-millimeter firearm, a handgun. He had no criminal record. Is there a kind of gun control that you think could have prevented this shooting, or are you just talking about it in general?

STEVE KERR, HEAD COACH, GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS: I'm talking in general, Jake, because what we're trying to do is minimize the deaths and -- and minimize the violence. And we know that common-sense gun safety laws actually do that. In fact, the -- the states with the five strongest gun safety laws have a 75 percent reduction in gun death rates compared to the five with the weakest gun safety laws.

So we know a lot of common-sense regulation will reduce deaths, and that's what we're trying to do. I mean, there's -- there's going to be, you know, people who slip through the cracks. I -- I just think that the main thing is to put this out front and center and -- and understand that the vast majority of Americans agree with me, whether they're Democrats, Republicans, gun owners, non-gun owners. Most people in this country, 80 percent, according to polls, want common- sense gun safety laws. We need to talk about it.

TAPPER: Do you ever get any pushback from the NBA or from any of the advertisers or sponsors of the Golden State Warriors or the NBA for your advocacy on this issue?

KERR: No, no. The NBA has -- has always supported me on this issue. The league constantly gives players and coaches support in the social issues that we speak out on, and it's been really a wonderful thing to work in this league and receive the support that I do.

TAPPER: For those Americans who don't know, those viewers who don't know, your father was assassinated by a gunman in 1984 when he was the president of the American University in Beirut. So, unfortunately --

KERR: Yes.

TAPPER: -- you have firsthand knowledge, firsthand understanding of what it's like to lose somebody in a shooting. Everyone grieves differently, of course. What advice do you have for -- for the survivors or the families who have lost a loved one due to gun violence or those who are traumatized from -- from all the shootings, especially the -- the one most recently at Brown? [17:45:12]

KERR: Yes, well, this is the main reason for my involvement in this movement, because I -- I feel that pain firsthand, and it's not something that you ever get over. But with the support of your family and -- and friends and actually grieving and going through that process, you do heal. And that's my advice, is to -- to, you know, be together with the people you love and -- and grieve together.

But it never takes away the loss that exists. I think about my dad -- my dad every day, and he never saw me play in the NBA, never met his -- my -- my wife, you know, his grandkids. There's so much loss. And I think that's the -- the number one thing that people out there, if they're watching, need to think about, is it's the loss. It's the human loss that is happening, and we can't look the other way.

We have to -- to actually look straight at the loss that's happening and understand there's so much we can do to reduce gun deaths and gun violence in this country. I think a lot of people just throw their hands up and say there's nothing we can do. That's not true at all. There's plenty we can do.

TAPPER: Steve Kerr, thank you so much. Really appreciate your time today. I appreciate it so much.

KERR: Thanks, Jake.

TAPPER: A busy afternoon, bound to be a big night of breaking news with the Justice Department releasing some of -- some of its documents on Jeffrey Epstein. We're also just getting word that the U.S. has launched strikes in Syria in response to two American soldiers killed earlier this month. That breaking news just coming in right now. We're back in a moment. We'll be right back.

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[17:50:53]

TAPPER: Some breaking news in our World Lead. The United States military today has struck dozens of targets in Syria. Targets, they say, are tied to ISIS. Two officials say it's retaliation for that recent attack against American troops there that killed a civilian interpreter and two U.S. -- two U.S. service members from the Iowa National Guard, Sergeant Edgar Brian Torres Tovar and Sergeant William Nathaniel Howard. Now, partner nations, including Jordan, joined the U.S. in these strikes on ISIS targets today. Hundreds of American troops remain deployed in Syria as part of the United States' longstanding mission to combat ISIS.

In our Politics Lead, just one day after voting on it, and as questions of legality swirl, the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts was actually unveiled, physically unveiled. The board of trustees voted allegedly unanimously yesterday to rename the arts institution. The Congress designated a memorial to President Kennedy after his assassination. LBJ did that in 1964. My panel joins us now. So Ashley, that -- that didn't take long. I -- I have to say, like, I'm still not even sure that this is legal, because according to the statute, it's -- it doesn't say that the board of directors gets to change the name of the Kennedy Center.

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL, GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION: OK, so I think you're asking me that because I'm on the symphony board, so I've been on it for a long time and very involved in the Kennedy Center. But listen, I -- I don't know if it's legal yet, but the bottom line is -- is they did it, and so how do you undo it? And I'm assuming that if we have a new president in three years, that they'll probably undo it.

TAPPER: Yes, the -- the John -- President Kennedy's niece, Kerry Kennedy, has said that in three years and one month or whatever it is, she's going to be up there with a chisel taking down the name. Do you think this is an issue Democrats should be talking about at all, or is it just kind of a sideshow?

FAIZ SHAKIR, BERNIE SANDERS 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It's more about what does this issue represent to the American public, a sense of hubris, a sense of selfishness. If we're all raising kids in this environment, do we raise them up to say, hey, you know what, be selfish, stomp on other people so that you can promote your own name, get as much wealth as you want, who cares, it's all for yourself.

That's what you're trying to talk to the American public about, what his governing ethic of wanting to put names on his building, enrich himself, is at the expense of a lot of people who are otherwise struggling out there, and he's not thinking about.

TAPPER: So a political bombshell this afternoon, Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who, you know, earlier this year she was going to be U.N. ambassador, then President Trump withdrew her name, and she wanted to be back in leadership, and then that didn't happen, then she's going to run for governor, and now she says she's suspending her campaign for governor, and she's not going to run for re-election to the House. What's going on?

DAVIS: I don't know, and I saw this. I mean, Elise and I go back to the Bush days.

TAPPER: Yes.

DAVIS: And I don't know, but I think there's probably something there. She's too ambitious. She has a bright future. So let's see if she gets appointed to something.

TAPPER: So go ahead.

SHAKIR: We're just a few weeks away from where she was fighting with the Trump administration. And --

DAVIS: She could have won, by the way.

SHAKIR: Possibly. She doesn't seem to think that. I think she would have stayed in the race and continued on. My sense was that she saw the writing on the wall, this is not going to be a good cycle for many Republicans, and putting a lot of energy and effort into a race, these are hard. I mean, they take a lot out of people, and if you're going to go do it, you have to feel committed to a path that you could win. I don't think she saw it.

TAPPER: And President Trump didn't endorse her. There's a Nassau County executive, Brad Blakeman, I think is his name, and he's also running, and President Trump was asked about Stefanik, who, you know, she has been very loyal to President Trump, and President Trump said something like, I like Brad Blakeman and I like Elise Stefanik. He wasn't going to throw -- he wasn't, at least as of now, throwing his weight behind her.

DAVIS: But listen, she had like six months that she looked at this, so again, I think she's very calculating in a good way, in which we all need to be professionally, and let's just see what happens. But I -- I was surprised, 100 percent.

TAPPER: Yes, it's a shock. Speaking of endorsements, Erika Kirk, the widow of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, is already looking ahead to 2028. She's made her endorsement for 2028.

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ERIKA KIRK, CEO, TURNING POINT USA: We are going to get my husband's friend, J.D. Vance, elected for 48 in the most resounding way possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[17:55:07]

TAPPER: I've never really seen an endorsement for, like, within the first year of vice presidency. What do you -- what do you make of it?

SHAKIR: Well, I'm happy that. I'd like -- I'd like to run against him, quite frankly. I think he will not be very popular. Right now, I'd like to see a Democrat stand up and be a compelling candidate against him. I think if you're going to do it, you have to refuse corporate PAC money, you have to be a candidate, I think, who advocates for Medicare for All, fight for the integrity of working-class people, because that's J.D. Vance's shtick, you know, hillbilly elegy.

I think the -- there's going to be a really good case to make for a Democrat who says, I want to connect with working-class people and I have an agenda to do it. So I'm really excited that that contrast is there for us.

TAPPER: Can I just ask you, who do you see picking up the Bernie Sanders mantle? He's not running or going to run. He's made it pretty clear.

SHAKIR: Bernie Sanders picks up the Bernie Sanders mantle. Who might be people-like?

TAPPER: Yes.

SHAKIR: Obviously, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez joined him on the fight oligarchy tours, and you do have her as someone who has refused corporate PAC money, who doesn't come from wealth. I think is one of the least wealthy members of Congress, and I think you need that integrity to take on power. People who are willing to do it. There's other good progressives, Ro Khanna, there's a number of others. I want a very competitive primary, to be honest with you.

TAPPER: Yes. Do you think J.D. Vance is the one to beat? I mean, is he -- is this going to go to him, do you think? Or do you think there's going to be --

DAVIS: I think that let's go back to Ron DeSantis, let's go back to Jeb Bush like --

TAPPER: Jeb Bush?

DAVIS: Well, no, I'm just saying, if you're the front-runner at the beginning, it's like a bad.

TAPPER: Oh, I see what you're saying. I thought you were asking for him to run.

DAVIS: No, I'm just saying, do you want to really be the front- candidate three years out.

TAPPER: Do I? I mean --

DAVIS: Well, are you running for president?

TAPPER: I don't know. I mean, like, no, I'm not. But -- but the idea of not having competition is good -- is I could think of --

DAVIS: OK, but that's not true. I mean, there's three years out, there's going to be much more competition. I would not want to be the endorsed candidate three years out, is my point.

TAPPER: Well, he is now, at least when it comes to Erika -- Erika Kirk.

DAVIS: And Jeb Bush was too.

TAPPER: Not for Erica Kirk, though, but I hear -- I hear what you're saying. Thanks, everyone.

The breaking news, the Justice Department finally releasing some of the files on dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Not all, some. What CNN is uncovering as we go through what is out there, that's next.

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[17:59:52]

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, the just released documents related to the investigation of dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. They include several never before seen photos of former President Bill Clinton with Epstein, although we're not sure when the pictures were taken.