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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Admin to Pitch Policy Wins to Voters Ahead of Midterms; Hegseth Gives Anthropic Friday Deadline to Drop A.I. Guardrails; Former ICE Trainer Says, ICE is Teaching Cadets to Violate Constitution. Embattled GOP Rep. Gonzales: "I'm Not Going To Resign"; Trump: Omar & Tlaib Should Be Sent "Back From Where They Came". Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 25, 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, the midterm campaign season is kicking up a notch. After previewing his election messaging last night, President Trump has now taken his show on the road.

[18:00:04]

He's heading to Texas, while the vice president heads to a different battleground state. How can they convince voters that the economy is strong when so many are still struggling with high costs?

Plus, a controversial ally of RFK Jr. testifying on Capitol Hill as she vies to become the United States top doctor. Senators of both parties, however, had some tough questions for Dr. Casey Means about vaccines, abortion medication, pesticides, and on her personal use of psychedelic mushrooms. Is her nomination in jeopardy?

And renewed pressure on FBI Director Kash Patel today after video surfaced showing him chugging beer in the men's hockey locker room at the Olympics, and now a Republican senator is going after Kash Patel. Is the president listening? Does he care?

Our Lead tonight, President Trump taking his State of the Union message out for a spin, his goal, to convince voters ahead of the midterm elections that his policies are working. The White House says Trump is going to visit Corpus Christi, Texas, on Friday to deliver a speech focused on the economy and energy. His visit comes just a few days before the Texas primaries on March 3rd.

Meanwhile, Vice President J.D. Vance is going to be visiting a machining facility in Plover, Wisconsin, tomorrow. Now, Plover is part of Portage County, and that's an area that Trump lost to former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election by about 516 votes.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is at the White House. Kaitlan, what is the message the Trump administration is going to take on the road?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, a lot of what you heard last night, Jake, from the president where he came out and claimed this U.S. economic turnaround, talking about what they've done so far in a little over a year now that he's been in office.

And so you'll see a message like that not just repeated by the president and the vice president when they're on the road in Wisconsin and Texas respectively this week, but also from cabinet secretaries and other top surrogates for this administration who are going to be out on the road over the next several months.

Because one thing that was clear last night, as you listened to the president's message, which was heavy on the economy and a focus there on domestic issues, as, of course, in between those moments that he had with Democrats, and at the end some brief touches on foreign policy, was that the numbers are sinking in when it comes to how voters and how the American people are viewing the president's handling of the economy.

And while the president has several numbers that he points to, Jake, about inflation and job growth, to say that that shows things are moving in the wrong -- in the right direction, the American people aren't feeling that. And you can see that echoed in consumer confidence and the numbers that we are seeing there. And so making that argument to the Americans that the economy is better than they think it is, is going to be what they're trying to sell to voters ahead of the midterm elections.

And these stakes are obviously incredibly high here for the White House ahead of the midterms because you saw the president going back and forth with Democrats there last night, including Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. What the White House is really worried about is Democratic takeover in the House, and then there are going to be subpoenas and hearings and investigations that are going to change the way life functions here at the White House. It would ultimately reshape the presidency. It's something they've been through before in President Trump's first term.

And so that is what they were trying to avoid and that is why they were going to see them out of the road, Jake trying to sell this message, trying to tell the American voters that things are better and that things will get better. The question is whether or not the American people are going to buy it.

TAPPER: Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Thanks so much and don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guest tonight include Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of the great state of Oklahoma. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Let's bring in Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Senator, thanks so much for joining us. So, a new poll out from Marquette University in your home state shows that the most important issue among registered voters in Wisconsin is inflation and the cost of living, that's 34 percent, the second most important being health insurance at 14 percent. When asked if there has been a change in grocery prices in the last six months, 43 percent of Republicans say prices have gone up, 76 percent of independents.

So, Vice President J.D. Vance's visiting Wisconsin tomorrow. What policy details are you looking for the vice president to discuss when it comes to lowering costs?

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): Well, I think the three most significant things this administration have done to and successfully lower the inflation rate. Let's be honest. First of all, they focused on energy prices. People don't necessarily understand that, but -- and then the cost of energy impacts almost the price of every good. You have to transport things. You know, when you manufacture things, there's energy that gets is part of the input there.

So, again, the focus on bringing energy prices down, and, again, I was pretty astounded. We haven't seen the prices below $2 a gallon in Wisconsin, but other places around the country. But we've certainly seen gasoline prices down. Again, that impacts the price of every good.

The deregulatory efforts, that also is anti-inflationary. That allows businesses to concentrate on producing good products at the best possible price.

[18:05:02]

And then, of course, the tax cuts. I texted one gentleman that works hard, he drives Uber, drives his truck in Wisconsin, just completed his taxes. Last year, he paid over $1,500 in taxes, had to pay in. This year, he is getting a $440 rebate. I'm hearing from a lot of Republican colleagues the same type of experience.

So, they haven't realized those lower taxes yet. No tax on tips, no tax on overtime, no tax, you know, on seniors in terms of, you know, their higher standard deduction, that type of thing. So, again, I think those things combined will kick in and people start noticing it more than they have to date.

TAPPER: So, you're not looking for new policies?

JOHNSON: Oh, and keep going as we are. Obviously, we need to continue to focus on, from my standpoint, bringing down the cost of government. I think President Trump is trying to restrain it. The employment increases have been in the private sector, not in government. We've actually reduced the government workforce, which I think is a good thing. That reduced the cost of government as well. So, you know, if you want to really focus on something that is dear to my heart, is let's return to a reasonable pre-pandemic level of spending, much easier said than done.

TAPPER: Earlier today, President Trump attacked Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan for heckling him during last night's State of the Union address. Part of his Truth Social post reads, quote, they had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, lunatics, mentally deranged and sick, who frankly looked like they should be institutionalized. We should send them back where they came as fast as possible, unquote.

Rashida Tlaib is an American citizen born in this country, and, of course, Ilhan Omar was a refugee and is an American citizen as well. Obviously, a lot of people have issues with anyone heckling, any president, but don't you think this goes a little far, I mean, definitionally telling people of color they should go back where they came from when they're American citizens. Doesn't that strike you as a bit racist?

JOHNSON: Well, being in the chamber it was rude to hear people disrupting the president. I think what really amazed me is when the president asked Democrats just to reaffirm a basic principle that the American government's primary duty, first duty ought to be to protect American citizens, not illegal immigrants, illegal aliens, I was shocked that the vast majority, if not all Democrats just sat on their hands, like a bunch of sourpuss, quite honestly. You know, that is a basic principle that every elected official ought to embrace and Democrats refused to do it. So, that was pretty shocking.

Plus, it was pretty shocking that when you're trying to celebrate the fact that a young girl who was grievously injured by an 18-wheeler driven by an illegal immigrant was healing, was recovering, was in the gallery, they wouldn't stand for that. They wouldn't stand as we were expressing sympathy and support for the mother of the Ukrainian young woman who was brutally murdered on a train by an illegal immigrant.

So, again, I thought it was a pretty stark difference. You had to be in the chamber to really experience that. I don't think television really did to justice in terms of just, you know, what, sourpuss as Democrats were at the State of the Union last night.

TAPPER: I don't think that the woman killed in North Carolina was killed by an immigrant. It's a horrible story, but I don't think that's an example of the illegal immigration criminal issue.

JOHNSON: Well, you know, Jake there, there are so many others, Laken Riley, Rachel Morin, so many, many, many others that were, that the news media never focused on, they just focus on the two martyrs that were encouraged to put themselves into harm's way knowing that they were probably going to get hurt. They got hurt. Now, they're exploiting those martyrs. So, the news media covers those. They don't cover all the victims of illegal immigrants.

TAPPER: Well, we certainly have covered Laken Riley and others. I mean, I don't think that either Renee Good or Alex Pretti thought that they were taking their -- you know, risking their lives when they were doing what they were doing.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, we always thank you for your time, sir.

JOHNSON: Have a good evening.

TAPPER: A $200 million fight is playing out at the Pentagon, as Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth puts pressure on an A.I. company to lift the serious safety restrictions that they have on their product. Those details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:10:00] TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you on our World Lead today. Cuban forces today shot and killed four people in a Florida-registered speedboat that entered Cuban waters just off the island's coast. Six other people aboard the vessel were injured. Cuba says their forces were shot at by someone from the boat after border guard troops approached the vessel to identify it after it entered Cuba's territorial waters. Cuban officials say that border guards then returned fire after the commander of the Cuban boat was injured by the gunfire.

The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, who is in the Caribbean today, just commented on the incident moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: But we're going to find out exactly what happened here and then we'll respond accordingly.

I suffice it to say it is highly unusual to see shootouts in open sea like that. It's not a something that happens every day. It's something frankly that hasn't happened with Cuba in a very long time. And -- but we're going to find out. We're not going to base our conclusions on what they've told us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: As of right now, the nationalities of those who are aboard the Florida registered speedboat are not known.

Also in our World Lead, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is giving the A.I. company, Anthropic, a Friday deadline to peel back safeguards on its A.I. model, which is called Claude, or risk losing its $200 million Pentagon contract.

[18:15:00]

But the company, CNN reports, has concerns over lifting two specific restrictions, quote, according to one source familiar, Anthropic believes A.I. is not reliable enough to operate weapons, and there are no laws or regulations yet that cover how A.I. could be used in mass surveillance, unquote.

Let's bring on Leon Panetta, former defense secretary and CIA director under President Obama. So, Secretary Panetta, today, philanthropic is also loosening its own safety framework, although a source says it's unrelated to this demand from Secretary Hegseth. Hegseth reportedly is prepared to invoke the Defense Production Act and label Anthropic as supply chain risk if the company does not comply and loosen restrictions when it comes to A.I. operating weapons and A.I. conducting or aiding with mass surveillance. What's your take on this?

LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, I recommend that the secretary be careful about using those kinds of guns to go after an A.I. company that's trying to provide something that could be useful, frankly, in terms of the Pentagon. Anthropic A.I. has a pretty good and they've done some good things. They do have restrictions against mass domestic surveillance, using A.I. for that purpose, and also for using them for autonomous weapons. I'm not sure what the secretary is trying to get them to do but he's pushing them for more flexibility, but then he's put a gun to their head and said that he would tell -- he would put out that there is supply risk -- supply chain risk, which would be very hard hit. And also he would push the Defense Production Act to force him to do what's right.

I frankly think that's a little heavy handed. He ought to be trying to work with a company that's trying to help our national security.

TAPPER: Secretary of State Rubio just responded, as you heard, to reports that Cuban forces shot four people dead in a Florida- registered speedboat that reportedly entered Cuban waters. Rubio said he was not going to speculate at this time, but he was also certainly not going to take the Cuban government's word for it. What's your reaction?

PANETTA: Well, I think the secretary's right in a sense that we've got to fully investigate what took place here. There's a lot of reports about what happened here that people on the boat shot first and then the Cubans responded. We just don't know. I think it needs to be fully investigated and get all the facts before deciding whether or not it demands some kind of response.

TAPPER: Let's turn to Iran. The president spoke vaguely about his plans for Iran during last night's State of the Union address. He said he wants to pursue diplomacy, but he needs more explicit assurances that Iran is not developing a nuclear weapon, even though just yesterday the Iranian foreign minister posted on X, quote, Iran will under no circumstances ever develop a nuclear weapon, unquote.

Do you take the Iranians at their word? How are you interpreting what President Trump said in his speech yesterday?

PANETTA: Well, look, I think without question the regime in Iran is a source of great instability in that region and they certainly should not have a nuclear weapon. But having said that, I think it's really important for the United States to have a clear strategy here in dealing with Iran and. And right now, I'm not sure what that strategy is.

The president's talked about their nuclear enrichment capabilities, also talked about their missiles. He's also talked about other issues related to the protesters. I'm just not quite sure what is the focus and what is the strategy. Because if we engage in a military attack, it could very well backlash against the protesters that are there and it could very well backlash against the United States, not to mention the fact that a response from the Iranians could cost lives.

TAPPER: Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, thanks so much, sir. I always appreciate it.

My next guest is a former ICE lawyer turned whistleblower, who says new recruits to the agency are not getting proper training before they are sent out onto American streets. He breaks down what he saw behind the scenes in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, a former ICE attorney is today sounding the alarm on new ICE training practices, or the lack thereof. Ryan Schwanke was responsible for training new ICE recruits. He warned Monday that the agency's training program is deficient, defective, and broken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RYAN SCHWANKE, ICE WHISTLEBLOWER: ICE is teaching cadets to violate the Constitution.

On my first day, I received secretive orders to teach new cadets to violate the Constitution.

That should scare everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Schwanke says that this is an attempt to quickly scale up the number of ICE agents carrying out President Trump's mass deportation agenda. His warning comes at a time of intense scrutiny of deportation officers using excessive force when making arrests or attacking bystanders who are legally recording their conduct.

And joining us now is the ICE whistleblower, Ryan Schwanke, and his attorney, David Kligerman. So, Ryan, thanks so much for being here.

You've said that ICE made the training meeting program shorter from like 6 months to 42 days.

[18:25:01]

Is it something like that?

SCHWANKE: Thank you for having me here. So, they train -- they reduced the training from 72 days of training to 42 days of training.

TAPPER: Okay.

SCHWANKE: So, they cut 30 days of training out of the program.

TAPPER: And you say that they removed essential parts of the training. What parts?

SCHWANKE: So, they cut classes on use of force. They cut classes on the Constitution, on explaining to officers what their duties are to the public in the form of their constitutional obligations. They cut out classes on firearms. And I think on top of the classes they cut out, what's also important to mention is they took out the functional testing where we would actually see if cadets were able to apply what lessons were left in the field in a way where we could measure their performance, and if they weren't able to perform, able to do something about it where we could bring them back, make them retake the materials, or even fail them out of the academy. We effectively took all of that out of the program.

TAPPER: So, when you say ICE is teaching cadets to violate the Constitution specifically, what do you mean? How are they being taught to violate the Constitution?

SCHWANKE: So, when I started at the academy, I was shown a memo that instructs ICE officers to enter into people's homes without a judicial warrant. It was presented to me and I was instructed that I had to teach it. And it was implied to me through my supervisor who showed me the memo that if I didn't go forward with teaching it, I could lose my job. I could lose my position at the academy.

And what that memo -- sorry. What that memo says is essentially that an ICE officer, unlike an officer conducting an arrest on a criminal case or any standard administrative proceedings, can go to someone's house. And based off the fact that they know that this person is administrative proceedings or maybe has an order removal, can go into that person's home and use force to remove them from the house.

And that's something that has never been allowed under American constitutional law. Not all the way back to our founding have we ever allowed someone to do this, to just essentially write themselves a permission slip to go into someone's home.

TAPPER: Polls indicate that so many Americans revolted (ph) when they saw the images from Minneapolis, even before the shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. There was that woman dragged from her car. She said she had disabilities and on and on. Can you draw a direct line from what you are talking about to what Americans are seeing on the streets that so many find un-American?

SCHWANKE: Yes, I can, but I think the line that needs to be drawn here is not to say that the Alex Pretti shooting or the Renee Goode shooting are the results of what the academy's doing. What's happening at the academy should terrify everyone because the officers involved in those events were trained before the academy reduced its standards. Those officers had the full training that they're not giving anymore.

So, what my big concern is, and what I think everyone should be concerned about is that the new officers who are graduating will be less likely to behave correctly, less likely to know how to apply force, less likely to know the Constitution than the officers you've seen in these videos.

TAPPER: Yes.

SCHWANKE: These videos are existing experienced officers. It's the new officers who are coming out who are adrift and cut and cut off from that history, that vital training that we're supposed to give them who are now going out into the field unprepared and unready to do the tasks they're being assigned. TAPPER: So, David, the Department of Homeland Security denied this, denied that they're cutting corners, saying that new officers do get trained on firearms, they do get trained on use of force policies, they do get trained on how to safely arrest people. What's your reaction?

DAVID KLIGERMAN, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING ICE WHISTLEBLOWER: Their statement, the response is full of lies. You know, unfortunately, for example, they mentioned that the training is 56 days. And we did the math. Ryan and I have done the math. We've looked at it. That's simply not true. And the department has said in Pretti's -- excuse me, in Director Lyon's testimony before Congress said it was 42 days in documents that were revealed to Congress. It says 42 days. In January, the department said, 42 days.

So, things keep shifting and moving. And the reality is you can see in the documents that have been disclosed to Congress in Ryan's testimony that they've cut significant areas of not just training but competencies.

So, there're two aspects to it. The course load and the courses have been slashed in some of these fundamental areas, including use of force, constitutional arrest, et cetera. And the way that they're tested in these courses has been slashed. So, it used to be practicums. It used to be that you'd have to prove before an instructor who could pass you or fail you, you could do these things in lawfully arrest or detain. Now, they have to watch. There's no ability to hold cadets back who failed these courses.

SCHWANKE: That's right.

TAPPER: David Kligerman and Ryan Schwanke, thank you so much for being here.

SCHWANKE: Thank you.

TAPPER: I really appreciate it.

She was an early supporter of the MAHA, movement that's Make America Healthy Again. Now, Dr. Casey Means is up for confirmation to become the nation's top doctor, the surgeon general. But she faced some tough questions from both Republicans and Democrats today. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: In our Health Lead, President Trump's surgeon general nominee, Dr. Casey Means, on Capitol Hill today facing questions about vaccines and birth control and her qualifications. During her confirmation hearings, Means, who has previously raised concerns about childhood vaccines, repeatedly said she was supportive of vaccinations. However, she declined to rule out vaccines as a contributor to autism despite decades of evidence debunking the claim.

If confirmed, Dr. Means would carry the informal title of the nation's doctor, but would be considered somewhat unconventional. She does not hold an active medical license, she has not completed her medical residency and she has been a very vocal critic of the current medical establishment.

Joining us now to discuss is former CDC Chief Medical Officer Dr. Debra Houry, who resigned last August and protest against Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s policies. Dr. Houry, in the past, Means has expressed skepticism regarding the safety and necessity of some vaccines and birth control, previously saying birth control has horrifying health risks for women. Today, she said she supports vaccinations, that birth control pills should be accessible to all women.

[18:35:01]

What were your takeaways from this hearing?

DR. DEBRA HOURY, FORMER CDC CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER: You know, I left very concerned about her as the nominee and the potential surgeon general. She seems to use the data and science for where she wants to use it and not look at it broadly. Her concerns about birth control aren't warranted when you actually look at the likelihood of a woman dying in pregnancy. That's higher than any complications from birth control. And so if she's going to say things like that, she needs to give Americans all the data.

And I felt she really hedged on vaccines. You know, she said that it should be between an individual and their doctor, but as America's doctor, she needs to be prepared to give recommendations to the public. That's what public health is.

TAPPER: Senator Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, asked her if she believes that the flu vaccine prevents serious diseases, hospitalizations, deaths in children. Here's part of her answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Do you believe that there's no evidence that there's -- the flu vaccine has efficacy in reducing serious injury or hospitalization?

DR. CASEY MEANS, SURGEON GENERAL NOMINEE: I --

KAINE: This is an easy one, Doctor. This is an easy one.

MEANS: I support the CDC's guidance on the flu vaccine and I will always be working with the CDC ACIP and the agency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If confirmed, do you expect her to actually work with the CDC and to actually provide evidence-based information to the public?

HOURY: Well, I would hope as surgeon general that she would work with the CDC. I think my concern is what she would say and if she would develop her own guidance, you know? And for her to have that long of a pause and being able to answer about the flu vaccine when we know that 60 children have died from flu this year and almost all were under or unvaccinated, that's something a surgeon general nominee should be forceful about and really talk about the life-saving vaccines that are out there.

I'd actually be curious to know if she is a mom, because you should be able to personalize this as America's doctor if her child has been vaccinated against many of these vaccine preventable diseases.

TAPPER: Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine pressed Means on her past use of the hallucinogen psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms. Means said she had been grieving her mother's death and looking for healing when she took it. She said as surgeon general, she would not advise Americans to take it, but she also said, quote, I do believe that Americans are ready to hear about spirituality when it pertains to medicine. What are your thoughts on that?

HOURY: So, I think spirituality, you know, can be an important part of health and healing. We know that it can really protect against things like suicide. But I also think you need to ensure that you're following evidence-based recommendations and science when it comes to medicine and someone that hasn't been actively seeing patients and didn't complete a residency training, I have concerns about her views on clinical medicine and what is medicine.

TAPPER: The Trump administration has already made changes to the childhood vaccine schedule. Today, Means refused to say if she would advise parents to vaccinate their kids against measles despite the fact that South Carolina is currently experiencing the largest measles outbreak in the U.S. in more than 30 years.

If she is confirmed, what are your biggest fears about how this will impact the public health system as a whole?

HOURY: Yes. So, I'm very concerned that, you know, she has no public health experience, no response experience should these measles outbreaks continue to happen, and we need a surgeon general that will go to communities and talk about how to prevent measles, what to do in those cases. What happens when there's that next trained derailment of a toxic spill? What will she do? How will she oversee the commission core when she doesn't have an active license? These are things that I think we should be worried about for the health in our communities.

TAPPER: Dr. Debra Houry, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

New Republican criticism of FBI Director Kash Patel today raising questions about whether Patel's job could be in jeopardy. Are panel is going to weigh in?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Republican Congressman Tony Gonzales refusing to quit despite new allegations of an affair with the staffer lodged against him, the staffer later died by suicide. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TONY GONZALES (D-TX): I'm not going to resign. I work every day for the people of Texas.

MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Did you carry --

GONZALES: And there will be an opportunity for all the details and facts to come out. What you've seen is not all the facts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Some House Republicans are calling Gonzales to end his reelection bid, even resigned from Congress. GOP Congressman Troy Nehls said out loud what everyone else won't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TROY NEHLS (R-TX): He's got a problem here. Don't get me wrong. The optics are horrible. But I would in no way ever resign right now.

If he does that, then you got to give the gamble to Hakeem Jeffries, and I'm sure the Democrats would love that. I would love that, but, no, I wouldn't do that for any reason.

RAJU: But aren't some things bigger than politics?

NEHLS: Well, heck, no. No.

RAJU: No?

NEHLS: Not up here. Not the way what we do in the House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Nothing like a firm moral stand.

My panel joins me now. Doug, what do you make of that?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: That's about as true a comment as you can make about life in Washington, D.C., right now and life within the Republican Conference. I'd add one other thing to that. If we go back and we look at the George Santos situation, yes, he was that one important vote, one more that they needed. Also, every day, every week that he stayed in office, he was getting paid. If he'll resign, that payment goes away immediately.

So, whatever -- regardless of whatever happens in the primary, if Gonzales doesn't resign, I hope he does, he continues to get paid through January 3rd of next year. That's not insignificant for his calculus.

TAPPER: I don't know that it's true, by the way. There's, what, the two-vote majority. So, if you took one of those votes away. They still have a one vote majority, right? And they're -- I mean, the reason Republicans say that is because Congressman Tom Massie has been undependable, although I don't think he'd ever vote for Hakeem Jeffries, and another Republican is ill. But still --

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The craziest thing about this is not just the horrificness of the story, but folks are voting in this Congressional seat right now.

[18:45:02]

TAPPER: Yes.

ROCHA: They're early voting in San Antonio. I have a long history in this district. It runs from San Antonio all the way to El Paso. It's the longest congressional district in the country and it's about 60 percent Latino.

In the last redistricting, they made it a little more Republican by taking in some of the suburbs of San Antonio. But he could get beaten in his own primary right now because they're voting right now.

TAPPER: Something very interesting and rare happened. FBI Director Kash Patel, he's been facing criticism this week after a video showed him partying with the U.S. Olympic hockey team after their gold medal win. I mean, he's the FBI director. He's not the cheerleader in chief.

Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana was asked about the optics of this all today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Given the fact that Congress polls right up there in the minds of the American people with hemorrhoids, perceptions are important. Ms. Rice and the director this week seem to be in a competitive match to shoot their own toes off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you hear from Republicans behind the scenes? Are people upset at Kash Patel's display?

DOUG HEYE, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: A little bit, but not as much as you might otherwise expect. One this is so baked in in the Trump administration, they're not backing down. So they're not -- they're not pushing on this.

TAPPER: No scalps, he said, reportedly.

HEYE: No and -- no. And if we go back to the first Trump administration, here's the difference former HHS Secretary Tom Price was caught up in some private travel, and he had to resign essentially because of it. This seems much more egregious. And the push just is not there.

TAPPER: What do you think?

ROCHA: Let me say that I love the hockey game. I love everything that went on with the hockey game. If you want Chuck Rocha, blood, skates, everything about hockey, I love it. But you know, on Saturday morning, I was busy. It's a busy time for me and I didn't get to see all of it that I want to because I'm busy working.

The American people are the same as Chuck Rocha. They have a job even though they love the hockey team and they love their country. But when they see Kash Patel, he's got time to be in Italy and be at the hockey game. We wish we could be. But they are so like it seems like the FBI has been busy raiding the homes of "Washington Post" reporters or raiding this persons home or whatever.

It's like shouldn't he be doing that job? Sure, we'd love to be there, but it seems like that should be his job.

TAPPER: I want to turn to the State of the Union in this moment from last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That is why I'm also asking you to end deadly sanctuary cities that protect the criminals and enact serious penalties for public officials --

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): You have killed Americans! You have killed Americans!

TRUMP: -- who blocked the removal of criminal aliens, in many cases, drug lords, murderers all over our country. They're blocking the removal of these people out of our country. And you should be ashamed of yourself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Minnesota and Michigan, respectively. What do you think of that behavior from these members of your own party?

ROCHA: Look, I don't think that it affects much. I don't think folks are watching the state of the union saying oh, yeah, they should be hollering or not hollering, all based off if you're a team red or you're team blue.

There is no -- there's no doubt that there's no love lost between President Trump and those two Congress people. And I think we see it play out every day in the press. But I don't think regular people really care about those two people hating each other.

TAPPER: And, Doug, President Trump now escalating that. He posted on Truth Social today that those two, quote, "screamed uncontrollably" and, quote, "had the bulging, bloodshot eyes of crazy people, lunatics, mentally deranged and sick who frankly look like they should be institutionalized." He said also that they should go back where they came from, even though I should point out, Congresswoman Tlaib is from the United States even if she has Palestinian heritage. Congresswoman Omar in a U.S. -- is a U.S. citizen who was a refugee. Definitionally telling people of color to go back where they came

from, when they came from here or they're U.S. citizens, is, I think, racist. What do you think?

HEYE: Yes, and look, this is part and parcel with what he -- what he's done consistently. It shouldn't be a surprise that he said this. Just as shocking as the Obama images were. This is a guy who just a few weeks earlier, we thought he learned his lesson with the Rob Reiner tweet.

So, this will happen again.

TAPPER: Why did you think he learned his lesson?

HEYE: I know -- we thought, well, this is it. If somebody who you knew was murdered by their children, clearly, that's the line. There is no line.

TAPPER: Yeah, yeah. I mean --

ROCHA: No, and what you're seeing now is that we keep talking about it. And me and Doug talk about the primaries coming up. And we both agree that in a midterm it's about who's motivating who to actually go vote. Are you really mad enough to actually show up and stand in line and vote?

There's about 35 percent of the electorate who don't show up in an off year. And we're seeing in the Texas results now, lots of folks showing up. And I give the Republicans some credit. Their turnout is higher than it's been. It's just the Democrats is even more higher because I think they're tired of seeing this.

TAPPER: Well, let me ask you also, just a general question. Are we ever coming back from this? I mean, is American politics ever returning to the place where a Democrat and a Republican, Tip O'Neill and Ronald Reagan, can go out and have a beer together after disagreeing all day? Or are we now just yelling at each other?

HEYE: That still happens.

TAPPER: Yeah.

HEYE: There are there are still so many Supreme Court cases that are ruled 9-0 or 8-1. So many bipartisan bills.

[18:50:01]

But what gets -- what gets rewarded in our political and media world is exactly what we saw. There's a reason that Lauren Boebert and MTG did the same thing to Joe Biden, Joe Wilson to Obama. This is the reward system that we have.

TAPPER: Just for the record, we -- we regularly book the bipartisan teams of members of Congress. They come here, senators, House members, and we love it. And we hope that they come back more -- more of that. Please? Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Up next, the new book that celebrates the 250th anniversary of the United States by looking at the untold stories of our founding mothers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our politics lead, we, the women celebrating the United States 250th birthday with a look at the women who have played key roles in shaping these United States. It's a new book profiling many of their stories by CBS News senior correspondent Norah O'Donnell.

[18:55:00]

As I bring her in some history for our viewers, full disclosure, Norah and I both started at "Roll Call" in the 1990s, and we both reported simultaneously from the Obama White House for rival networks. Norah has not changed at all. I have a lot, as you can see.

NORAH O'DONNELL, SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, CBS NEWS: Those are some great pictures. Wow.

TAPPER: How on earth do you look the exact same and I -- well, anyway, not quite 250 years, but it's been a while.

Norah's book is entitled "We the Women: The Hidden Heroes who Shaped America".

Norah, congratulations on your brand new book. You describe it as a fresh look at American history through the eyes of women who are so often forgotten. Forgotten in the retelling other than Betsy Ross.

Tell us what you learned while researching and writing the book.

O'DONNELL: Well, you know, I started off writing this book to celebrate America's 250th birthday this year, right? And to share the stories of women, because I think the stories we tell shape our culture and we know that from the national women's history museum, that 15 percent of what were taught in school focuses on the achievements of women. So, I wanted to go back and focus on some of these hidden heroes in American history.

And I must say, personally, I'm a bit embarrassed about how little I knew about the great women throughout history, through the Revolutionary Period, great patriots who were founding mothers up until the most recent history. And the truth is, is that women have been the great architects of society, as Harriet Beecher Stowe told us and through every way whether as intellectuals, doctors scientists, builders, inventors great abolitionists, great suffragists, all of that women have been trying to get America to live up to the very ideals that were laid out in the Declaration of Independence.

TAPPER: On the subject of suffragists, as you know my beloved daughter, Alice Paul is named after one of them you devote several chapters to the women who fought for the right to vote which they finally got nationwide in 1920. But again, a fight still overlooked in history textbooks. Why?

O'DONNELL: I don't know, Jake, I really don't, because you know, it first started in 1848 with Seneca Falls and the Declaration of Sentiments. I mean, how brilliant these women decided over a small table to have this women's convention. They took the Declaration of Independence and essentially cribbed some of the words to make the declaration of sentiments, to say, all men and women are created equal.

But then it would take another 70 years until the 19th Amendment was passed in 1920 which was the largest enfranchisement of voters in American history. You mentioned Alice Paul, one suffragist who was jailed and beaten and force fed in order to get women the right to vote. There were many other women like that, too and I do think it's important to remember just how hard women fought for the right to vote, how women fought for civil rights throughout American history, how women fought to make sure indigenous and Native American peoples also were included in the equality and rights that are outlined in the Declaration of Independence.

And it's -- I think it's just an important story to remind her, because to remember, because once you look back through history, you never forget to vote again because you realize how many people fought really hard to get that right.

TAPPER: And you write about your grandmother, who sounds amazing and resilient and a role model. In 1930, she crossed the Atlantic alone from Belfast with 20 bucks in her purse and an eighth grade education. When you look at her and then at your accomplishments or that of your sister, who's an impressive surgeon at a top hospital, that's an important theme in the book, too.

O'DONNELL: I am a granddaughter of an immigrant my grandmother was a Catholic in Belfast, Northern Ireland controlled by Protestants, the oldest of girl of nine kids. As you pointed out, I never made it past eighth grade because she had to work to support her family. And then I can only imagine just how brave and courageous she was getting on a boat all by herself to come to America and worked essentially as an orderly in a hospital.

And I think I wish she were alive today, because I think she would be very proud of how far women have come. Her namesake as you mentioned, my sister is now a chief surgeon. You know, the majority of women now in medical school are women as are the majority of graduates from law school as well. And so, women have crashed through the educational glass ceiling.

But I think jake, as you know, women still don't have political power, financial power, business power in the numbers that they should, and I hope that that soon changes. I mean, I talk about Belva Lockwood in the book, the first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, also the first woman to run for president who was actually on the ticket in 1884 and 1888, and yet still we've not had a woman as president.

So, hopefully, in our daughters' lifetime and in our lifetimes, that will be a thing of the past, that they'll be many female presidents ahead of us.

TAPPER: Well, Norah, you have my vote. And "We the Women" is the book. And it's an amazing, amazing book, especially to read this year in our 250th year.

Congratulations so much and I'll see you soon.

O'DONNELL: Thank you so much, Jake.

TAPPER: You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X and on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app.

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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now. I'll see you tomorrow.