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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Senate Grills Hegseth And Caine As U.S. Ramps Up Attacks On Iran; Nearly 400 Non-Citizens Voted In New Jersey Elections; Trump: I Had A Very Good Conversation With The New Prime Minister; GOP Reps. Andy Biggs, David Schweikert Face Off In Governor's Race; Searchers Find Wreckage Of Pan Am Crash Off Puerto Rico. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired July 21, 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 HOST: The Lead tonight, moments ago, a fiery hearing wrapping up where both Republicans and Democrats had some tough questions for Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General John Razin Caine and the secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth. You just heard Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan calling Hegseth a failure. Hegseth said that the senator had Trump Derangement Syndrome.
Caine and Hegseth appeared in front of the Appropriations Committee there requesting $87 billion additional dollars, $67 billion of that is for the Department of Defense and the ongoing Iran war. Hegseth also revealed that the American taxpayer has already spent nearly $38 billion on the war so far, which Trump continues to call a conflict.
Earlier today, Trump also reiterated his plans to destroy Iran's Pickaxe Mountain. That's an underground facility south of Tehran, and where Israeli intelligence, we're told, believes Iran has moved part of its nuclear stockpile.
Take a listen to Louisiana Republican Senator John Kennedy earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): Now, what happens if we come home and end the blockade to the world?
GEN. DAN CAINE, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: Sir, Iran has the potential to continue to be a threat.
KENNEDY: We need some hard answers and some straight talk. What will happen, Pete?
PETE HEGSETH; DEFENSE SECRETARY: Senator, I would agree with the chairman, but the likely outcome is they would try to impose their will on the waterways.
KENNEDY: We need straight answers. We need straight answers. Do we have the ability to destroy whatever is underneath Pickaxe Mountain?
HEGSETH: A lot of -- Senator, a lot of our capabilities are classified, but if anybody in the world can reach anything on this -- on God's green Earth, it's the United States military, the most powerful military in the world. It's all about options and trade-offs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: New York Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, when it was her turn at the mic, pressed Secretary Hegseth on his request for tens of billions of dollars to fund the ongoing war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND (D-NY): You are asking for unlimited money for bombs when people can't feed their families, and I don't know how this administration intends to defend those decisions to the American people.
HEGSETH: Not unlimited bombs, Senator. I'm asking for the right bombs at the right time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[18:00:00]
TAPPER: The hearing started with General Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recognizing the U.S. service members killed in recent days. Secretary Hegseth did not mention the dead in his opening comments.
Today, the Pentagon released the identity of the soldier killed during the disposal of an Iranian drone in Iraq. He was 30-year-old Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton. He died on Sunday.
This afternoon, President Trump seemed to be downplaying the casualties to a degree, posting a list of recent American wars ending with, quote, Venezuela war, one day, zero dead. Iran military conflict, 14 months, 18 dead.
Joining us now, Republican Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska. Thank you so much.
Are you concerned about -- we all want an Iran that has no nuclear weapons. Are you concerned about the duration of this war? Are you concerned at all about the cost of this war?
REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): Well, Iran and the U.S. have had guns pointed at each other for the better part of 50 years. Obviously, the nuclear threat is something we take very seriously. We have. What have we tried in the past? Well, we gave them money before under President Obama. We sent U.N. inspectors in before that, and they stonewalled them. They wake up every day, they shout, death to America. You know, October 7th happens in Israel. The region is unstable. Iran is funding the Houthis, the Hezbollah, Hamas.
And the United States has to play the cards we're dealt. President Trump goes in there. He acts decisively. He's decapitated their military for the most part.
TAPPER: So, why are we still there? FLOOD: Because they're not all gone. I said for the most part.
TAPPER: But also, aren't we there because they haven't opened the Strait of Hormuz, which was open before we began this military conflict?
FLOOD: Largely, and we're dealing with martyrs. We're dealing with a regime that has killed 50,000 of their own people. Like no one should be surprised we're at odds with this regime. They want to end our society here in the United States as we know it. President Trump's acting decisively. And what we saw on display today at Capitol here, well, I just left to come here, we see Congress doing what Congress does, a vigorous debate about the issues.
But none of this hides the fact that right now our troops are getting shot at, and Democrats aren't budging on the money. So, we're talking about using reconciliation while all Republicans are united to do that. That's the bigger story from what I take out of here today.
TAPPER: There's a lot that Speaker Mike Johnson needs to push through this week in the House of Representatives, as I'm sure I don't need to tell you. There's a stopgap funding bill, the annual defense bill that we're talking about. Not all Republicans are on board right now. What does the speaker need to do to get them to yes?
FLOOD: Well, we had Russ Vought come in today and talk to us about Reconciliation 3.0, why we're doing it, how we're doing it, what the mechanics are of it. And I've watched throughout the day, I think there's a lot more members that have come on board with that effort. So, are we there totally with all of our numbers yet? We'll find out here soon.
The C.R., continuing resolution, is just basically saying, listen, we aren't going to shut this government down before an election. We aren't going to play those games. We don't want it. It's not in our interest. It's not in America's interest. It's not in the people that run our government's interest, the services that you receive. And then the NDAA, one of the last bastions of bipartisanship where we see Democrats and Republicans come together for our military.
So, yes, this is a very big week. If we leave with those three things done, it will be a very productive week.
TAPPER: What do you make of President Trump's post on social media comparing the number of U.S. military personnel deaths in the Iran war compared to others? You see Afghanistan War, 20 years, 2,000 dead. Iraq War, nine years, 4,600 dead. Vietnam War, 19 years, five months, 58,220 dead. Korean War, three years, one month, 36,574 dead. Venezuela -- and then the ones that are that he was in charge. Venezuelan War, one day, zero dead. Iran military conflict, four months, 18 dead.
I don't think the Venezuela incursion was a war per se, as though it was a very successful military operation, but there are people who see that and say, yes, I mean, this isn't Vietnam, this isn't Afghanistan, but that risks belittling the service members who have died. FLOOD: I was at Dover Air Force Base this spring when seven of those caskets came down off the plane and were put into a van, and I watched the entire time across from me. And there was a, I don't know, nine- year-old girl -- who buried her head in her father's arms because one of those caskets had her mom.
And so I know the president knows that because he was standing right in front of me, and Melania Trump was right next to me. And I know that they felt it because I felt it because Democratic members of Congress felt it, Republicans felt it. So I -- having been to Dover, I don't know about that tweet but I know that the president felt it because I was there that day. I was there that day when he and the vice president and members of both parties did our best.
And you know what?
[18:05:00]
I left there as a congressman. I went back to Nebraska. That dad and his daughter went back to their home -- without their mom for 80 years from now. So, yes, it is a big deal. Everybody is a big deal.
TAPPER: It's absolutely a big deal. Thank you so much for being here.
FLOOD: Yes.
TAPPER: I really appreciate it.
Joining us now to discuss, General Joseph Votel, he's the former CENTCOM commander. General, thank you so much for joining us. I want to play another exchange from the hearing and get your thoughts on it. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN HOEVEN (R-ND): Are Russia and China helping Iran? And if so, how?
HEGSETH: Well, Senator, as the chairman alluded to, there's definitely adversary alignment attempts to do so. And there are many ways that we deter that, some of which are -- and the depth and extent of it ought to remain classified, and it should. But there are ways in which both of those countries are limiting at different levels enabling some of the things Iran is doing, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Does that surprise you at all? And what do you think China is doing to enable Iran?
GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL (RET.), FORMER CENTCOM COMMANDER: Well, thanks, Jake. It's great to be with you again. No, I'm not surprised by this. I mean, I think we should expect that these two principal competitors to us, Russia and China, are going to take advantage of the situation, and for their own purposes try to cast this in the best light or make things as difficult as they can. Russia certainly has a relationship with Iran linked to their operations in the Ukraine. And I think that China is primarily motivated by their economic objectives, and they see that the challenge that this war has presented not just us, but, you know, a variety of the globe here. And they are going to make things as difficult as they can for us, of trying to extricate ourselves from this or accomplish our objectives.
TAPPER: Israel believes that Iran moved advanced centrifuges -- and part of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to Pickaxe Mountain after the 12-day war last June. President Trump said this today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: That's where the action is. And we'll be hitting that area very -- probably pretty soon. And there's not a thing they can do about it. You know, normally, I wouldn't say that. If I thought they could do something about it, I would never say that. But we'll be hitting that area pretty soon and very heavily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Trump insisted that the U.S. had obliterated Fordow last summer and with it Iran's nuclear stockpile. We know Pickaxe is a facility deep underground, and it's in Central Iran, so a ground invasion would be quite difficult. What do you think is the military's, the U.S. military's best chance to destroy that, that site, Pickaxe?
VOTEL: Well, yes, thanks. Well, you know, the certainly the way that we went after Fordow with our massive ordinance penetrators, that's a capability that was developed specifically for this threat. Of course, we used a lot of those last summer. I don't know exactly what the inventory might be, but we've got to be judicious with the employment of those weapons.
So, I would imagine with this reporting, we're going to want to confirm everything that we can before we take action. But, certainly, we have to be concerned about Iran and their commitment to a nuclear weapons program and the time that they had after the strikes last summer to reposition resources and try to reconstitute portions of their program.
TAPPER: Last night, the Pentagon spokesperson acknowledged, after lots of media reports and questions, that nearly 100 service members have been injured just since July 7th. There are dozens of unrecorded injuries in the military database. It's called the Defense Casualty Analysis System. I know you knew that. That's for our viewers. Some are questioning why it seems the Pentagon is slow-rolling this reporting, slow-rolling acknowledging the WIA, those who are wounded in action. What do you think? Do you find it odd at all?
VOTEL: Well, again, I think it's important for the American public to appreciate the cost that is being paid in these conflicts that we're involved with. And the system that you just identified is one that has been designed for that. It should be updated when the numbers change, and it should be publicly available so American citizens do that.
I can't begin to explain why the Pentagon would be doing what they're doing. I mean, certainly, there probably are some concerns here about trying to prevent Iran from understanding the damage that they may be inflicting on our servicemen and women or on our facilities. That may be a reason for it, but in my view, I think transparency here is really critical for the American people to appreciate what's at stake here with this conflict that we're involved in.
[18:10:01]
TAPPER: Former CENTCOM Commander, General Joseph Votel, always good to have you, sir. Thank you so much, and as always, thank you so much for your service to this country.
VOTEL: Thank you. Thank you, Jake.
TAPPER: Joining us now, a Democrat from New Hampshire, Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander. She's on the House Armed Services Committee.
Congresswoman, what did you make of Hegseth calling Democrats cowards in that fiery exchange at the end of the hearing when he was pressed on what the exact plan is for the Iran war?
REP. MAGGIE GOODLANDER (D-NH): Jake, once again today, we saw in such crystal clear terms why Pete Hegseth has absolutely no business serving as secretary of defense. He lacks the judgment, he lacks the experience, and he clearly lacks the temperament to be holding one of the most important positions of public trust in the world.
Today's hearing was another really disheartening and disturbing performance by Pete Hegseth, and proves the point that he has no business serving in that job.
TAPPER: Hegseth repeatedly said that the money that they're requesting, this $87 billion, is about cleaning up the Biden administration's mess and equipping U.S. troops with the best possible technologies. You know a little bit about the Biden administration. What's your response?
GOODLANDER: My response is this. Look, the president made a choice on February 28th to launch a war in Iran. He did this just a matter of hours after coming here to the United States Congress and delivering the longest State of the Union in American history, where he did not make the case for war in Iran to the American people, and he did not make the case for war in Iran to the Congress.
We are living with the consequences of this war of choice every day. And what we heard again today from the secretary of defense was a shifting set of objectives and rationales without any clear strategy moving forward. It's just plainly unacceptable.
And they've come to ask for the biggest defense budget in American history, but cannot explain how this money is going to be put to use for the American people at a moment when we are facing a profound affordability crisis, and hardworking Americans are feeling the pain as a direct result of this war at the gas pump, at the pharmacy, at the grocery store. This is not what anyone signed up for.
TAPPER: Today, House Speaker Mike Johnson said he does not think Congress needs to vote to authorize the Iran War, also known as the AUMF, the Authorization for Use of Military Force. Johnson went on to say this. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Iran has now fired on all of its neighbors, and they're turning everybody in the world into an enemy. And I think this is an important moment of history for, for all of the world community to decide how they want to handle this. It shouldn't just be America's obligation. My view is that everybody needs to play a role.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: What's your thought?
GOODLANDER: My reaction to this is the president has been waging a war of choice unilaterally without Congressional authorization, a war that has cost us the lives of American patriots. We've seen 17 service members die in this war, hundreds wounded, the least transparent Pentagon in American history. We're still trying to get the full picture, Jake.
But the fact is that there are very good reasons that the Constitution gives Congress these war powers. If the president wants to continue this conflict, he's got to make the case to Congress. He should get our authorization and do this on the up and up.
TAPPER: Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander, a Democrat from the great state of New Hampshire, thank you so much. Good to see you.
GOODLANDER: Thank you, Jake.
TAPPER: We heard a Democrat call the Secretary of Defense Hegseth a failure. Hegseth called on Democrats to show courage. Much more reaction of the explosive hearing we just witnessed.
Also, the stunning admission today from the State of New Jersey, how in the world did more than 6,000 non-U.S. citizens end up on the state's voter rolls? How on the earth did nearly 400 of them vote in elections? How the governor, a Democrat, is explaining this major error. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:15:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. GARY PETERS (D-MI): You, sir, are the failure, not the men and women who are on that frontline, not the men and women who hold up their honor with distinction. But if there's a lack of a winning strategy, they're in harm's way, their leaders have failed them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Our Politics Lead, that is Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan slamming the Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, today at a Senate hearing.
Let's jump right in with our panel. Mike, let's start with your reaction to that exchange. I'm sure you saw the whole thing earlier.
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, I did. I saw quite a bit of the exchange earlier, and it started out very calm, and then it got out of control very, very fast.
And, you know, part of the problem is that on this political theater, I think the -- or the Trump administration officials are a little bit more eager to jump into the fray with elected officials, and I think that took some of these -- especially in Trump 2.0. And I think that took some of these elected officials by surprise at the beginning, but now that we're into July, they're all, in second year, they're all getting warm and fuzzy about it, and they're fighting right back.
So, part of this, I would love to see some more questions being asked than the accusations being thrown back and forth, but, you know, they -- this political theater is what we have in Washington in lieu of legislating at the moment.
TAPPER: And, Xochitl, Hegseth mentioned the, quote, political cowardice of Democrats who won't fund the troops, unquote. That was his response to some of the harsh statements coming his way. What'd you think of that?
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, I think that it's important to note that the Trump administration is putting troops in harm's way. There are almost about 20 people who have died because of this war. One of -- I mean, a lot of it was political theater, but I do think that they're asking some tough questions about when this war is going to end, and Hegseth could not deliver an answer.
And I think this has been the biggest question, is how many lives are we going to -- are going to be at stake?
[18:20:04]
How many more lives do we have to sacrifice for Donald Trump's war? And Republicans and the administration and Hegseth all made it seem at the very beginning that this was only a short-term thing.
TAPPER: They said four to six weeks.
HINOJOSA: Four to six weeks. And now we are almost in August, and at this point, it looks like nothing's going to end. We're only seeing escalation. We might be in a situation that the current president of the United States can't clean this up, and we will likely need to have the next president who cleans this up.
And so this is, I think, terrifying for everyone, and those members of Congress did have a right, and they should be questioning Hegseth about funding because if they don't have a timeline on when it's going to end, why should they be funding the Pentagon?
DUBKE: Yes, they absolutely should be asking that. I thought the more interesting questions were asked by the Republicans today because their manner of asking the questions has changed. Mike Rounds, I thought, was trying to be very deferential but was really getting to the bottom of this. You're coming to us for this funding. Are you telling me this will be enough? And General Caine couldn't.
And I think that's -- you know, questions like that are where you get the truth and get some information out of this. I also thought Senator Kennedy in his --
TAPPER: Some tough questions from the Republican from Louisiana.
DUBKE: Some tough questions from the Republicans.
TAPPER: Yes.
DUBKE: And that's new. So, we are seeing some of this. But when you start with Senator Peters, you know, I think the American people turn off sometimes when they see this yelling back and forth. We get more, you know -- what's the old saying? You get more with honey than --
TAPPER: Honey than with vinegar.
DUBKE: -- than with vinegar.
TAPPER: But just because -- I know you watched it and I'm sure our viewers did too, but just to remind people, what had happened was Senator Peters had started out praising the troops, and then attacking the leaders of the Pentagon and saying that the war or the strategy so far was a failure. And Hegseth then accused him of saying that the service members, the brave service members, were failures. And Peter said, no, I'm saying you're a failure. And that's how it all went on.
Well, I'm just -- I'm not defending but there was --
DUBKE: Everyone's ready for this fight, it seems.
TAPPER: Yes. No, I don't disagree. Do you think that Hegseth and Caine made the case in any way for the $87 billion of additional funding that was needed? I thought there was one point that Hegseth made it actually a pretty good point, which was there were talks of whether or not our troops have the protection that they need in Jordan, in Kuwait, in other places, and there's been reporting suggesting that one of the reasons there have been casualties is because there has been inadequate defenses. And Hegseth pivoted and said, that's why we need this funding. I thought it was a pretty good argument.
HINOJOSA: I mean, I think that is fair. I think that part of the argument for the funding also needs to be, and this is our plan on how to get out of it. And I think that is what this testimony lacked. And so I think that without a full plan, and I think it was very clear during this hearing, is that there is no plan. And without a plan, it is very hard on Congress to approve funding moving forward and to support the Pentagon on this, and they want to support our troops, but they also want a plan to end this. And I think that's where this administration lacks.
TAPPER: Stick around. We're not -- we're going to keep having more panel.
We do have some breaking news from New Jersey today. The Democratic governor there, Mikie Sherrill, announcing that more than 6,000 non- U.S. citizens registered to vote in the Garden State, and 400 of them or so actually cast ballots in elections. How and why are we only hearing about this now if this error happened some time ago? We're going to get some answers next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:25:00]
TAPPER: To New Jersey now in the politics lead and a major voter registration error. The governor, Democrat Mikie Sherrill, announcing more than 6,000 non-U.S. citizens were mistakenly added to the New Jersey state voter rolls, and nearly 400 of them cast ballots in recent elections.
Joining us now, CNN's Gabe Cohen. And, Gabe, you're just leaving the state election officials conference. Walk us through what happened in New Jersey.
GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, and Jake, what we saw today was Governor Sherrill really acknowledging that this was a huge screw- up in her state. She says that this was caused by a software glitch dating back to 2023 having to do with the automatic voter registration system at New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission.
That is where these 6,600 or so non-citizens, they were applying for driver's licenses, for I.D.s, and they checked a box essentially acknowledging that they are non-citizens and should not be allowed to vote, and still the system automatically registered them to vote. And then after that, just shy of 400 of those people went on to vote in subsequent elections.
We don't know who they voted for. We don't know exactly which elections. But Governor Sherrill was extremely critical of her predecessor, Phil Murphy, another Democrat, and his administration for not catching this earlier. She was critical of the Motor Vehicle Commission. She said they've cut ties with the software company whose software caused this issue.
So, a lot of unanswered questions here. I will say, Jake, the governor stressed that at this point, there is no evidence that those 400 or so people who voted actually swayed an election one way or the other. For some context, Kamala Harris in 2024 won New Jersey by about 250,000 votes. About 4 million people voted. So, what we'd be talking about here, even if all 400 of those people voted in the 2024 presidential election, it would only be about a 0.01 percent of the vote in the state.
But still, this is one of, if not the largest cases of non-citizen voting that we have seen in recent years as the president and Trump allies have been talking about this issue so much. And I just spoke to a Homeland Security official in the past hour or so who said they are going to be looking at these cases, and they said, all options are on the table when it comes to prosecution and potential deportation of these people, these 400 people who voted.
[18:30:12]
All right, Gabe Cohen, thank you so much for that update. I appreciate it.
There's a new prime minister in Great Britain. He's also already trying to forge a relationship with President Trump. Will the good vibrations last? We're going to talk to the British ambassador to the United States right here in studio next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our National Lead, a CNN exclusive. We're going to investigate what exactly was going on behind the scenes in those days between the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti six months ago. It's a special investigation called 18 Days in Minnesota, where we look at the chaos and the lies, the tension between the Justice Department and the prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota. Here's a little preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: I'm here standing on Nicollet Avenue in downtown Minneapolis. I'm at the site of the Alex Pretti shooting, which was six months ago this Friday.
[18:35:03]
We are doing an investigative look this week at the 18 days between the killing of Renee Good on January 7th and the killing of Alex Pretti on January 24th. You might remember in the days immediately after Renee Good was shot and killed by an ICE agent, a number of prosecutors in the U.S. attorney's office resigned out of protest for what the Trump Justice Department was telling them to do.
We spoke with one of those prosecutors exclusively, a man named Tom Calhoun Lopez.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It had become a toxic environment, and it had become a lawless environment. And from that lawlessness came chaos, and from that chaos came the deaths of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and other people being injured.
TAPPER: In our special, which posts and airs on Wednesday, we get into all the details about what the Trump administration was telling the U.S. attorney's office to do, all of the conflict intentions between those providing law enforcement here on the ground in Minnesota and those in Washington, DC. It's called 18 Days in Minnesota. Check it out.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: You can see our special report tomorrow right here on The Lead, beginning at 5:00 Eastern Time, Wednesday.
In our World Lead, day two on the job for Great Britain's new prime minister, Andy Burnham. And as the British public watch to see how their new leader, their seventh in just ten years, by the way, will rule the U.K., President Trump's already weighing in.
On Truth Social, Trump wrote in part, the prime minister has got a big job ahead of him, but he will be able to do it, and, of course, the USA will be there to help. President Trump added that he had a very good conversation with Prime Minister Burnham, and that he would be meeting him in the not too distant future.
Joining us now is the British ambassador to the United States, Christian Turner. Do I congratulate you for such a thing when you have a new prime minister? Does that --
CHRISTIAN TURNER, BRITISH AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: I'm a civil servant. I'm not a political appointment. So, I, as a career diplomat, serve whomever is there. So, I'll take the congratulations. It's always exciting in our politics, but I think good times ahead to serve for the U.K.-U.S relationship.
TAPPER: So, how do you see it playing out the relationship between Trump and Burnham?
TURNER: Well, first of all, that we got that call so early on, I mean, the prime minister had barely been in Downing Street an hour when he spoke to the president, the first world leader he spoke to. I think that's a very clear sign of the importance that both sides attach to this relationship.
They're both politicians who are all about reaching the people direct, slightly rejecting some of the usual political conventions. Burnham famously sometimes wears a T-shirt under his suit. He's good on social media, has been very accessible to the people of Manchester, where he's served as mayor.
So, personable guy, I think has fought a long and clear political strategy to get to this point, which, by the way, he did unopposed.
TAPPER: Yes.
TURNER: In a parliamentary system, remember, we vote for the party, not for the leader. That's quite a thing he's pulled off. So, I think they'll get along just fine, actually.
TAPPER: So, the president praised Burnham over the weekend. He posted in part, quote, the people of Aberdeen in Scotland are dancing in the streets because the new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has stated that he will be opening up all the way the invaluable North Sea oil. Is that true? TURNER: Well, I can't get ahead of the policy decisions the incoming cabinet, they've only been in place about 24 hours might decide. But I think Burnham's team have indicated pragmatism on this important question of affordable energy and North Sea oil. And Burnham more broadly, it's interesting, he is all about economic growth, about supporting people in regions of the U.K. who've been left behind perhaps by metropolitan elites regenerating, reindustrializing British jobs for British people.
Now, clearly, he's a politician of the left, not of the right, like the president, but that core mantra of supporting those kind of people in those communities, of rebuilding, of sovereign strength, I think that's a narrative people in this town will recognize and be able to identify with.
TAPPER: When the new prime minister entered 10 Downing on Monday, he made few detailed policy statements. He did offer plenty of clues about how he planned to govern. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We will change politics to make it more collaborative, more about problem-solving than point scoring, and we will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land so that they can do more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I mean, it's lovely remarks. It kind of -- I've heard it before from other prime ministers. It is kind of wacky how you've had seven leaders in ten years, if you'll permit me the phrase, the term, wacky.
TURNER: I'll permit you that, Jake.
TAPPER: It's a little -- it's a lot.
TURNER: Yes. I mean --
TAPPER: How do we make sure, or how do you make sure, because I don't care, that he doesn't end up in the next revolving door of prime ministers?
TURNER: Well, he needs to be well-advised by the team around him, by, I hope, professionals like, like myself and my fantastic team here in the embassy.
I think in all of our politics, you're seeing people asking for that connection, saying they want politics to work better for them. They're not seeing their lives improve, those pocket book issues.
[18:40:02]
So, I think that is in part what Burnham is responding to. That economic focus I'm describing, I think, is a key part of what he's about. Let me give you one example. On defense, he signaled strong support for our increased defense spend. That plays to the current conflict in Iran, of course, ongoing. And he backed Starmer in announcing a rise in our defense spend to about $393 billion over four years just a couple of weeks back. So I think that's the kind of thing people will look to him to do.
The change of prime minister on a regular basis, to answer your question directly, that's really about our parliamentary system. It's much easier for us to remove a sitting prime minister if the party decides that's what they want, rather than in the U.S. where you've got that four-year cycle. So, it's baked into our system. Hasn't happened a lot in modern British politics, but it is kind of how we roll.
TAPPER: It is how you've been rolling a lot in the last decade. But we appreciate it. Ambassador Christian Turner, thanks so much.
TURNER: Thank you. Good to be with you.
TAPPER: Speaking of elections, this is an election day in America. There's that election jam. I don't even have to ask for it. Sweet. We're going to be standing by for results in where? Arizona. They're having primaries there.
The MAGA candidate looking to do what so many before him have not been able to do, plus the Democrats to watch, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:10]
TAPPER: Cue the election music because it's primary day in where? Arizona. Polls close at seven in Arizona. That's 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Republicans are hoping to unseat Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs.
President Trump won the state in 2024. Candidates today include Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, who's backed by Trump and Turning Point USA. Also running, Republican Congressman David Schweikert.
CNN's Steve Contorno is live at the election center in Maricopa County.
Steve, Congressman Biggs, he's running a different campaign than Kari Lake did, the last Republican nominee for governor. They're both election liars, and still he's running differently. Tell us more.
STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Kari Lake, Jake, four years ago really followed Donald Trump's lead in attacking the legacy of the state's longtime Republican senator, the late John McCain. In fact, at one rally she even said that McCain Republicans could, quote, "get the hell out".
Well, that's not the approach that Biggs has taken. He is someone who is talking about the positive experiences he had working with John McCain in Congress as he tries to change recent fortune for these MAGA Trump-endorsed Republicans who have narrowly lost a series of statewide elections here. Now, his primary opponents say, don't believe it. Biggs is not electable in a general election, just as Kari Lake wasn't in 2022 and wasn't again when she ran for Senate in 2024.
And we have already seen the Democratic candidate for governor, or the Democratic governor, Katie Hobbs, already attacking Biggs very much like she did Lake and going after his legacy and also talking about the role he played in the 2020 election saying quote, "If Andy Biggs becomes governor, Arizona will be the first swing state with an election denier in charge, and the time to stop that is not 2028. It is right now."
Now, I did talk to Biggs on Friday, and he said he does not think this election will be about 2020 and saying, I'm looking forward -- Jake.
TAPPER: Steve Contorno in Phoenix, thanks so much.
Let's jump in with the panel.
Xochitl, I'm looking forward, is what people who lied about the 2020 election say, when all of a sudden that position might hurt them.
XOCHITL HINOJOSA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, absolutely. I think that it is -- people don't really -- now that they're running and looking back at their comments and they know that something like the 2020 election is going to hurt them moving forward is not great. I think this will be interesting.
I think, you know, whether or not Donald Trump and NAGA play a big role in this primary, Democrats are poised to keep this seat. I think at the end of the day, Democrats are going to hold on to Arizona that they have previously. And I'm not sure Republicans are going to win here.
TAPPER: What do you think?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: So I'm sorry, let me get this straight. We're attacking this gentleman because he said nice things about John McCain? Because that's what I heard in that report. I mean -
TAPPER: No, no, but, of course --
DUBKE: I know a lot of Democrats --
TAPPER: That's smart -- that's smart of him.
DUBKE: -- who were pro-life who are now pro-choice. Should we hold them accountable for their change of positions? I mean, this is American politics. This -0- I'm not certain I see what the problem here is, or what the story is.
TAPPER: You're talking about the flip-flop on McCain?
DUBKE: Well, not the flip-flop on abortion, the flip-flop on McCain. I'm talking about Hobbs attacking somebody, in this case, Biggs, for talking about issues other than the 2020 election?
TAPPER: Oh, right, right, I see what you're saying.
HINOJOSA: Yeah, I mean, yeah, because I mean, they're trying to get away from, you know, from previous past positions. That's all that Hobbs is pointing out.
DUBKE: I mean -- and I saw in the picture that they had of Hobbs, she was at a Clinton initiative backdrop with her. I mean, is she now pushing herself away from Clinton? This is ridiculous.
TAPPER: I want to ask you about another Arizona primary, because the 5th Congressional District Republican Daniel Keenan is facing Trump- endorsed former sheriff Mark Lamb, who faces allegations of sexual misconduct, which includes sending sexually explicit images to women other than his wife, and more. Lamb denies the wrongdoing.
Here is part of Keenan, the Republicans, closing message about Mr. Lamb.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL KEENAN (R), ARIZONA CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: And if our nominee comes into the general election with significant baggage similar to Graham Platner, we risk turning what should be a Republican hold into a competitive race. I'd rather nominate someone with strong, conservative Republican values with no baggage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Graham Platner was accused of rape. Nobody's accusing Sheriff Lamb of that, but there is a baggage question.
DUBKE: He was accused of a lot of things before he was accused of rape at that point.
TAPPER: It starts with the Nazi tattoo.
DUBKE: It starts with the Nazi --
TAPPER: But let's move on. Let's move on to Arizona.
DUBKE: I wasn't even going to bring that up, but thank you for ---
TAPPER: Well, that's how it started. Anyway, keep going.
DUBKE: No, I look, I look at this, and to that clip, as Republicans with Graham Platner, they were trying to keep everything very quiet because they knew this stuff was coming out, and then "The New York Times" came to the defense of the Democratic Party.
[18:50:09]
I know you're going to love this part by exposing the rape charges against Graham Platner. That's the kind -- that's the -- that's a lot.
TAPPER: "The Times" didn't do the rape charges. It was us. It was CNN and "Politico". They did a story about allegations.
DUBKE: They did a story that led to the other --
TAPPER: That's fair.
DUBKE: OK. I'm jumping ahead of myself.
TAPPER: Well, I didn't travel to Bangor for nothing.
But Mikie Sherrill, the governor of New Jersey, made this announcement today, a surprising announcement, nearly 400 non-citizens voted in New Jersey elections as a result of what she calls a serious software error. Governor Sherrill posted this quote, quote, "As the Trump administration tries to weaponize elections for political gain, I am ensuring we protect our election she goes on to say the difference is simple when we find a problem. We don't hide it, deny it, or invent conspiracies. We investigate it. We fix it and we tell the public."
I have to say though for Democrats -- I'm not saying that the SAVE America -- the SAVE Act is going to pass yeah but this is not good for Democrats argument that there's no such thing as undocumented immigrants voting
HINOJOSA: This is not good for our country generally I would say.
TAPPER: Even better.
HINOJOSA: And it is not -- it is -- this is a terrible problem to have. I think she handled it correctly. This happened before her time.
She took -- she was made aware of it just recently. She took action and that is what is supposed to happen. I think that there are, and that just shows leadership and generally.
I mean, I think that whenever you're looking at the contrast of Donald Trump and raising conspiracy theories and complaining about everything versus what Governor Sherrill just did, which was take decisive action, remove these people, they're in the process of removing these people, and then also pointing out that this didn't actually --
TAPPER: This happened during her Democratic predecessors, Phil Murphy.
HINOJOSA: Democratic predecessor Phil Murphy.
I would say none of it is great, but also it is a lesson to governors right now and to states that you need to get your act together and your house in order for every election and that means that in this in this instance states need to run their own elections and it shouldn't be the --
DUBKE: How long did she know about this and why did she wait today what --
HINOJOSA: Found out Thursday.
TAPPER: Found out Thursday? DUBKE: Why did she wait till today after a federal judge ruled against the RNC on the exact same issue?
HINOJOSA: Found out just a few days ago she did not know. I don't know if other people in the state knew but she didn't know.
DUBKE: I do think a timing question is appropriate --
HINOJOSA: And she was able to take decisive of action in less than one week.
TAPPER: You can't answer it, neither of you can answer it. If you're in the country illegally and you get a letter saying that you can vote and you know you're not supposed to, not only you're not supposed to vote, you're not supposed to be there, why do you vote?
DUBKE: How do you get registered for a party? Because some of them --
TAPPER: I mean, but I just like wonder like -- that's some stupid business.
Anyway, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.
Coming up, the truly incredible discovery from the Discovery Channel, a deep sea vision and an underwater drone helped find the wreckage of the Pan Am passenger plane that was lost 74 years ago when I was just a child.
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[18:52:16]
TAPPER: And our national lead after 74 years, 74 years, the wreckage of a tragic airliner crash has been found off the coast of Puerto Rico.
CNN's Tom Foreman has more now on this amazing discovery.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the search team, the discovery of the lost Pan Am plane is a sensation. After 74 years in the sand and salt water, many thought this Douglas DC-4 would never be seen again. But there it is, ghostly images of the aluminum body, the wings, even the logo, found after years of tireless work by the Air Sea Heritage Foundation, the Discovery Channel, and Deep Sea Vision, which brought a highly advanced underwater drone.
JOSH GATES, HOST, "EXPEDITION UNKNOWN": And that sonar vehicle, which is autonomous, went down to almost 2,000 feet below the surface, and when we first saw the sonar image, and saw the outline of that plane, it just took our breath away.
ANNOUNCER: Fly first class or tourists on Pan Am's radar-equipped Super 7 Clippers. FOREMAN (voice-over): In the decade after World War II, as civilian air traffic boomed, Pan Am was a global leader. The Clipper Endeavor promised a then-quick eight-hour trip from Puerto Rico to New York City on Good Friday, 1952.
But shortly after takeoff, two of Endeavour's four engines failed, along with efforts to turn back. The old accident report says all aboard survived the violent, watery impact, but passengers were not told where life jackets were located or instructed in their use prior to ditching. Confusion over life rafts and escape exits followed as the plane sank in 3 minutes. 17 people survived amid pitching seas and swirling sharks. 52 did not.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Welcome aboard.
FOREMAN (voice-over): But the flight arguably has saved many, many lives since because it directly led to the creation of regulations requiring passenger safety briefings before every takeoff.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Locate the exit nearest to you,
FOREMAN (voice-over): A legacy for the living from dozens who were lost for so long and whose resting place now has been found.
GATES: This flight and this tragic accident really changed aviation, fundamentally changed it forever. And we're all safer because of this accident. And so I think we owe them a real debt of remembrance.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Discovery and CNN are owned by the same company. They'll have a special on this later this year, and there are two survivors still around Jake. One person over 100, and the other who was just a baby when the plane went down.
TAPPER: Holy smokes.
FOREMAN: Unbelievable.
TAPPER: Wow.
Our thanks to Tom Foreman for that report, and you can follow me on Facebook, on Instagram, on Threads, on Bluesky, on X, on the TikTok. It's all under @JakeTapper.
You can follow the show on X and Instagram at @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Go ahead and download it.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts in five seconds.
