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24:49And I think both parties need to get to the point where you're not isolating a group of individuals if they don't think exactly like you do. Let me ask you, the national debt just hit$40 trillion. $40 trillion. You know that this can't just be taken care of with tackling waste fraud and abuse. There are larger systemic issues here. Are you ready to take that on? Because that is obviously politically risky, but it's essential for our kids to not have to grow up in a world where, you know, 50 % of the GDP is going to, or the 50 % of our money is going off to pay interest on the debt and such? Yeah, Jake, I can tell you, my wife will tell you I'm frugal.

25:35That's one reason we were able to walk away from our TV career. You have to manage your own money well to manage the government's money. But both sides will tell you, and a lot of voters I spoke with, they are tired of the government continuing to raise the debt ceiling and keep spending. We're obviously endangering our kids' futures, and we've got to do a better job. The problem is, It's one thing to talk about. It's a lot harder thing to cut some of that spending. And I know getting to Washington, that is going to be a challenge. So many members of Congress go there and they say, we're going to cut this, and then it doesn't happen.

26:03So I think it takes a commitment from both sides. We've not seen a lot of that. But that's something, waste, fraud, and abuse, I will focus on. But I also know there's not a huge appetite for that in Washington. You have a meeting with the governor, Ron DeSantis, in just a few minutes. Who arranged the meeting, you or him? Can you give us a preview of what you want to talk about? Well, we're going to meet with a group of people. But let me say this. I know President Trump had endorsed Corey Mills. I also appreciate he said nothing at the end. And I really appreciate Governor DeSantis, who has really high numbers in Florida, came out and said, well, he didn't endorse us.

26:35He stood up as a leader and said, we need to go a different direction. We need more leaders to do that because not many leaders will do that against an incumbent. So I'm just hoping to be with the governor for a while. Obviously, continue to. We've met before. I've interviewed him before. You know, he's a key person for sure. So just connect a little bit and talk about moving forward, how we can both work together. Well, I appreciate you taking up the slack for an underrepresented group in Congress, and that's TV anchors. So thank you so much for doing that. Ryan Elijah. I'm trying to balance things out.

27:04Yeah, no, we appreciate it. We need representation is very important. Congratulations. Ryan Elijah, Republican nominee for Florida's 7th Congressional District. Let's hear now from the Democratic nominee in Florida's 7th Congressional District, Navy veteran and former NASA chief of staff, Bale Dalton. Bale, congratulations on your race. I asked your Republican opponent, Ryan Elijah, about the U.S. national debt, which just crossed the$40 trillion mark. He said it's going to endanger our kids' futures, acknowledged it's going to be a challenge to get Congress to stop spending. What's your response to the$40 trillion debt figure?

27:41Well, it absolutely is going to be tough to get Congress to stop spending. And of course, we've seen in this, Mike Johnson led Congress, that there's been no indication whatsoever that anybody will take up the mantle to actually answer to their constituents who are just struggling with bills to pay in their own houses. I mean, to have the government be incapable of planning for the future and really voicing our entire future onto a generation that doesn't even have a credit card yet. I mean, the folks that I'm talking to around the district, these young adults, there's no access to capital because inflation remains high and interest rates remain high.

28:22And that's all due to poor economic decision-making that's happened over decades and certainly been exacerbated in the last two years. So I think what people are looking for is, yeah, we'll acknowledge that it's hard. Of course, anybody can do that. It is hard. But what folks want here in Central Florida is somebody that's going to go up and try to do something about it. You know, we could talk about words all we want, but, you know, folks are looking for action. And I think to get that action together, it's going to require a coalition of people who care desperately about what the voters in their district are saying and try to get this corrected for our kids and their futures.

28:59So you just heard the congressman, I'm sorry, you just heard the candidate there say that the reason he ran against the congressman, Corey Mills, is because he thought that if Corey Mills was the nominee for the Republicans, the Democrat would win. Corey Mills is not going to be on the top of the ticket. Trump is not going to be on the ticket either. Trump did decisively win Seminole and Volusia counties in 2024. Why do you think you have the best chance to flip this central Florida congressional seat? Well, we are confident that we are going to win, Jake. We actually have data already that shows in this district folks would prefer a Democrat at this moment in time over a Republican by two points.

29:45We have data that shows by a wide margin, folks are interested in somebody that represents them to work across the aisles to lower costs. And, you know, in the last segment we heard about, you know, my opponent not wanting to define himself. Well, in the last day, he certainly has been defined. He's now been endorsed by the president as someone who will stand up for MAGA values. And we have seen those items just not work. You know, people have voted for a government that would be working more efficiently. They've been voted for an economy that would be getting better. And they were voting for our leaders to be focused on our struggles here at home.

30:25It's happening. And, you know, it's hard to say that he hasn't been defined. I mean, he he has said that our economy is in a good spot right now. That's not what I'm hearing on the doors. He has said that these tariff taxes are working. That's not what we're hearing from small business folks in central Florida. And he's supported this war in Iran that has no strategic end state, no goal and political leadership that's hanging our servicemen and women out to dry and causing a lot of fear and discontent and their family members back home wondering if they're actually being taken care of. So, you know, I think my opponent is well-defined and he's defined as the status quo and another rubber stamp.

31:07And people are just tired of that. They don't care whose name is on the rubber stamp. They want the rubber stamp gone. Bail Dalton, the Democratic nominee for the race for Florida's 7th congressional district. Thank you so much and congratulations again. And in just a few minutes, we're also going to hear from the nominees in Florida's race for governor, Republican Congressman Byron Donalds and Democratic former Congressman David Jolly. We do have some breaking news, though, involving the royal family and what could be a big move back home for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. CNN Royals correspondent Max Foster is coming up with what he is learning from the palace.

31:40That's next.

31:46Starting a business can seem like a daunting task unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business. From designing a website, to marketing, to selling, and beyond, Shopify can help with everything you need. There's a reason millions of companies like Mattel, Heinz, and Allbirds continue to trust and use them. With Shopify on your side, turn your big business idea into... Sign up for your$1 per month trial at shopify.com slash special offer. We've got some breaking news for you in our Law and Justice lead. It's day three in the trial of the man accused of orchestrating rapper Tupac Shakur's murder.

32:23that's underway right now. On the stand right now is a former FBI special agent named Wade Lee, who testified that he encountered the defendant, Dwayne Davis, in the 1990s while investigating the Grape Street Crips. That's a gang Davis later wrote about in his memoir, Compton Street Legend. That connection is key because prosecutors have built much of their case around Davis's own words. Their primary piece of evidence against Davis is his actual memoir in which he described his role in the killing of Tupac Shakur. Lee also testified about a 1998 proffer session where he asked Davis about the murder.

32:59Lee says that Davis suggested members of the Compton Police Department may have been involved and he connected them to Suge Knight, which raises the question, will Suge Knight testify? And if so, when? That's one of the two big cases we're following. The other one is the murder trial for the a Massachusetts mom accused of killing her three children in 2023. Lindsay Clancy has pleaded not guilty to the murders, claiming that she suffered from severe postpartum psychosis at the time. Today, jurors heard from the forensic psychologist who evaluated Clancy after the killings. Let's get right to CNN's Jean Casares, who's been covering this trial on CNN's All Access platform.

33:34And Jean, what new insight did the psychologist provide today? This is a big witness, Paul Zeidel. He met with her almost 60 times. It took about almost 40 hours to assess her criminal responsibility or lack thereof. He said beginning on December 2nd, she started having intrusive thoughts that her brain was damaged. She didn't want to live anymore. She never thought she could get better. And she thought these intrusive thoughts were being heard by everyone. She called the suicide hotline two times. They turned her away because she didn't have a plan. She checked herself into a mental hospital, didn't feel that was helping.

34:10So she left. And also the question was asked by the defense to this very important witness. Four days before the killing, she did a Google search on can you treat a sociopath? Is that because she's a sociopath? His answer was no, that if she is in psychosis, that that can happen. And so an answer for what the prosecution had brought out earlier in the trial. It really is just stunning how much the mental health world failed this woman. All the outreach she did in terms of suicide hotlines, places to go. Prosecutors questioned the psychologist on what he knew about Lindsay and her then husband Patrick Clancy's relationship, as well as a phone call that he facilitated for Lindsay to Patrick.

34:54Tell us about that. Patrick Clancy came up again today. This forensic psychologist actually went into her hospital room. As he says, she was locked to her bed. And it was about 11 days afterwards, so it was a ways away. but that she wanted to talk to her husband. And so he gave her his personal cell phone to call Patrick. Voicemail. She left a voicemail. She wanted to talk to him because she loved him. She wanted to tell him she loved him. He returned that call a couple days later. We don't know what he said, but we do know a little bit about the interaction of Paul Zeidel and Lindsay Clancy. Let's listen.

35:35your testimony yesterday was that she had called him to tell him that she loved him and to see where they were at right yes meaning what their relationship i made no interpretation of what that meant but in that subsequent conversation that you were a witness to where they were speaking on the phone and she told them about these voices or explained about the voices did she ask about the kids? She did not, as I recall. So she did not ask about her children. This witness also offered new insight into Clancy's life at Tewkesbury Hospital. That's the Massachusetts psychiatric facility where she's been in state custody since May 2023.

36:17What did we learn? This is interesting. So interesting. Prosecution brought it out. They had a calendar and they brought out all the pivotal dates since this happened. When Cora would turn six, her birthday, when Dawson would turn four, his birthday, the anniversary of killing her children. What were the notes from the hospital? All of the notes were the same. No behavioral issues. She was playing some cards that day. She joined the coffee club. Maybe her parents came to visit her, but no emotions at all on pivotal anniversaries, birthdays of her children. In an unusual situation that underscores just how popular this case is on social media, A TikToker who posted about this case took the stand today without the jury present.

36:58What was that about? Right, that was the voir dire. She posted a very long rant on TikTok because of the mental hospital. It is an offshoot of Harvard, by the way, that Lindsay Clancy checked herself into because in the prosecution's case, Lindsay Clancy said, you know, it's a foremost hospital, but they didn't do anything for me, and she walked out. But the experts said it was a great hospital. Well, the defense wanted to counter that because this was a former employee. They said, no, there's not good therapy sessions. The doctors don't give you one-on-one visits. But she didn't work there at the same time.

37:35She did. There were different personnel there, not the same rounds that she made. So the judge said it's just it's not as succinct that we need. We need specific in time treated Lindsay or someone that knew Lindsay to be treated. Yeah, this case is big on TikTok, and now TikTok is infiltrating the case. It's a new world. It's interesting. Gene Casares, thank you, as always. Some breaking news in our world lead. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, are planning to move back to the UK. Six years after announcing they were stepping back from royal duties and moving to North America.

38:10Let's go to CNN's royal correspondent, Max Foster, who's in London. Max, did anyone see this coming? No. Well, even the king didn't see it coming, I'm told. He was only told of the plans on Sunday, even though they met quite recently as a family a few weeks ago when Harry and Meghan were over. So my understanding is they will be moving to the UK, probably keeping their home in California. And the British newspapers have got a couple of details. The Telegraph, for example, suggesting that children have been enrolled at British schools. and they won't be staying in a royal residence. They will be a private residence of some kind.

38:57So this has clearly been in the planning and they kept it very quiet. The king's making it very clear, it's my understanding, that they will not return to their roles as working royals though, Jake. Why now? I mean, is there a reconciliation going on here that we don't know about? Do they not like being in California? It's unclear at the moment. As I understand it, she's bringing her business over here as well, the Duchess of Sussex. Harry has spoken about wanting to be in the UK more, to spend more time with his charities. So we're expecting him to make more visits. We know that he has had face-to-face meetings, obviously, with the King and the Queen.

39:38My understanding is that they haven't patched things up with Prince and Princess of Wales. But bringing the children over obviously takes it to a completely different level. It does suggest that they're moving over here properly to make it their home again. It's not clear why they want to leave California or why they want to come to the UK. Their office aren't confirming anything to me tonight officially. But they're not denying that it's happening either. All right, Max Foster in London. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Coming up, the new sexual misconduct allegations against yet another congressman.

40:14This time it's Democrat Jimmy Gomez. He denies the allegations. What are we learning? That's ahead.

40:27Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour after a consequential night of primary election results, we've got two of the big winners here on The Lead Live. The Republican and the Democrat vying to replace Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. will join us in moments. We're going to ask them about some of the biggest issues and what their race could say about how their parties might fare around the country. Plus, disturbing new allegations against Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez of California. Attorneys say that a woman has come forward to the House Ethics Committee with serious accusations, which he denies, but we're learning about the investigation into the congressman.

41:00Also, top Democrats demanding a group of ICE agents be put on leave after videos showed them surrounding a woman in her car, shouting at her with one even pulling a gun in her face. The woman admits that she was shouting insults but says she never posed a threat. So what happens now? And it is understandable that Senator Darlene Graham may not be fully up to speed after just one month in the U.S. Senate, but when pressed on foreign policy in a debate last night, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham answered, quote, national security is not my thing. Are voters willing to give her any leeway?

41:37The lead tonight, the race is on. November's matchups are set in President Trump's home turf, state of Florida, where Democratic socialists notched another big win. The state lawmaker Angie Nixon defeated former national security official and Trump impeachment witness Alex Vindman in an upset win for Democratic Senate nominee. She's going to face off against Republican Senator Ashley Moody for the seat in the fall. Several of President Trump's backed House candidates faltered at the finish line, including the scandal-ridden incumbent Congressman Corey Mills, who Trump endorsed in February, but did leave off his post-election list.

42:13Republican voters went with Trump's pick in the race to replace Governor Ron DeSantis. Congressman Byron Donald scored the GOP nomination, winning just below 50 percent of the vote in a multi-candidate race. Donald's is going to go up against former Republican congressman-turned-Trump critic David Jolly in November. He locked up the Democratic nomination last night. And David Jolly joins us now. Congressman Jolly, thanks for joining us. So as of the end of July, there are more than 1.5 million more registered Republicans in Florida than Democrats. This is the state that President Trump calls home.

42:46Realistically, what do you think your chances of winning are in November? How do you fight those numbers? Sure. If the election were tonight, we'd win the general election because voters are demanding change, Jake. Look, Okay, we're running the campaign based on an economy that works for everyone, the embrace of the private sector, but government has to fill in the gaps with housing, health care, education, and a place where everyone's rights are protected. Now, that sounds aspirational, but Jake, two years ago, we lost by about 14 points as Democrats. Since then, our congressional specials have swung by 15, 16 points.

43:18The city of Miami elected a Democratic mayor for the first time in 30 years, and it was by 19 points, not even close. Mar-a-Lago elected a Democratic state representative. We're gaining ground in the villages. So, look, not every cycle presents this opportunity, right? Some cycles are about staying the course. That was 22. 26 is about change. People are worried about their economic mobility. They've lost hope. It comes down to housing, health care, and education, the basics. We have built a campaign for 18 months, laser-focused on people's personal economy, ignoring the culture wars, ignoring the national issues, just talking about improving housing, health care, and education in the state of Florida.

43:56On a tactical level, Byron Donalds is the strongest fundraiser in the history of the state of Florida. He has$12 million in his campaign account. And the Friends of Byron Donalds PAC has raised nearly$100 million since February 2025 and spent only half of that. You have less than$5 million on hand. Are you going to be able to have the donor support to compete? We will. But more importantly, Byron's already spent$55 million. And his numbers are getting worse. more Republicans voted against him than voted for him. You see, sometimes in politics, there are candidates that the more you learn of them, the more you see them, the less you like them.

44:34Jake, he spent$55 million. He's known for one thing, being Donald Trump's endorsed candidate, and he actually couldn't get over 50 % in his own Republican Party. I hope he keeps spending, because the more he spends, the worse his numbers get. In Donald's victory speech last night, he emphasized an issue you've made central to your platform, affordability, and he talked about your record. Take a listen. An affordable Florida means a Florida that stays a place that you can actually afford to live. From your tax bill to your insurance premium to the cost of your health care. Jolly opposed cutting taxes for working families and seniors.

45:11Jolly defended a four trillion dollar tax hike that would raise taxes on every Floridian. Your response, sir. I guess Byron Donalds can read a script pretty well because I wasn't in Congress when any of that happened that he just described. Byron Donalds is Washington. He's supported by$100 million, as you mentioned, in special interest money. He's owned by the data centers, by the for-profit schools, by the insurance companies and the utilities. Your life in Florida is more expensive because Byron Donalds is fighting for data centers, for-profit schools, insurance companies and Airbnb. He's not fighting for you.

45:48Listen, I'll just be honest, Jake. Look, I've been out of politics long enough to tell the truth. I've seen a candidate like Byron a lot. He knows he should be winning, but he's not. And so he's trying a lot of different things. He wakes up every day trying a new attack on me. He attacks me on cultural issues. He calls me radical. Jake, I'm not radical. I'm not even cool. He calls me a socialist. Last night from the stage, I rejected socialism. I denounce it. I'm a capitalist. I reject the democratic socialists of America. He calls me a Trojan horse for it because he can't actually stick it on me that I would support socialism.

46:23I don't. And so, look, he's a candidate who is wobbly right now. He's known for being Donald Trump's guy. He didn't mention Donald Trump once last night. I would ask him, why did he not take time to defend the current economic conditions under this president and 30 years of Republican control in Florida? It's because he doesn't have an answer. His economic agenda is transparency. Transparency just tells us why life is expensive. I want a state catastrophic fund for homeowners insurance, cut insurance by 60 to 70 percent, a historic investment in workforce and affordable housing, scale up the direct delivery of health care in all 67 counties, and a 10-year commitment to public education, real policies that improve people's economic lives.

47:02Before you go, the U.S. national debt just hit$40 trillion, dollars, a horrific milestone that our children and their children are going to be dealing with for generations. This won't be a Florida issue, but it certainly was an issue when you were in Congress. What's your reaction? That Donald Trump contributed, I think, 25 % to our national debt over the last 250 years. 25 % has occurred under Donald Trump's reign. Republicans used to be the party of fiscal responsibility. They abandoned it. They used to be the party of less government. Now they're a party of big government conservative. They want to be in your bedroom and in your life.

47:35They used to be a party of local control. I still believe in local control, in less government, in capitalism, and in reducing spending. Smart government. Honestly, Jake, I used to be a Republican. There's a lot of reasons why I'm not today. My five, six, seven years as an independent was the most informative part of my life. I reject the left-right spectrum altogether. We have big problems that need big solutions. Right now, those solutions need to be focused on housing, health care, education, keeping government lean and efficient and held accountable, but smart, smart investments like we've made for 100 years to improve people's lives.

48:09This race is not an ideological one. Byron wants to make it that. He wants to use the labels to divide us, to scream at people every day that we shouldn't trust each other. What's emerging in this race is a new coalition in American politics where we're trusting again. We're trusting each other and we're believing in something better. Our politics are broken. We're going to fix it here in Florida. Former Congressman David Jolly, he's the Democratic nominee for Florida governor. Thank you so much. So now let's bring in Congressman Byron Donalds. He's the Republican nominee for Florida governor.

48:36Congressman, congratulations on your win last night, as I just discussed with Mr. Jolly. The national debt just hit$40 trillion. Congress has shown little appetite in addressing this issue in recent years. The country's on track to hit the debt limit Republicans raised last summer by 2027. I know this won't be an issue that you have to address as governor should you win, but you are a sitting member of Congress. Is D.C. appropriately focused on what a catastrophe this is going to be for generations to come? Jake, it's good to be with you. And I will say, no, D.C. is not. And the reason why is because you can't get any spending cuts or spending restraint out of the United States Senate.

49:14Being up on Capitol Hill for six years, by the way, Jake, I authored one of the largest cuts in federal spending to ever hit the floor of the House of Representatives. It was my bill. It cut 30 percent of federal spending year over year to help avoid what's on your screen right now. But the problem is, is that you cannot get any budgetary reforms through the U.S. Senate, because at the end of the day, it will be Republicans and President Trump having to negotiate with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. And the Democrat socialist wing of that party does not want to cut any spending. They actually want to expand it.

49:47They use these nice sounding words called investments. But the truth is, that's just more borrowing, more spending, going into parts of the economy and into our government with no accountability whatsoever. I think it's indicative to note that under President Trump and with Vice President Vance, we're actually beginning to unwind and find a lot of this waste, fraud, and abuse that everybody in Washington has known has existed. Even when my opponent was in Washington, he knew it existed, but they never found the ability to get to the root cause of it. We're starting to do that now. And so it's really upsetting to me as somebody who spent so long, so much of my career in the real world, in the finance industry to watch this 40 trillion in debt.

50:30But I will tell you, good luck getting a spending cut out of Democrats. They don't want to cut spending. They only want to expand it so they can, frankly, nationalize programs left and right. Your party controls the House, the Senate and the White House. And you're not saying there's any responsibility of the Republican Party for the for the national debt hitting 40 trillion dollars? And, Jake, I will tell you all parties are to blame for the national debt hitting$40 trillion. But if you look at how it how it takes to get policy through, Jake, you know this. We could vote spending cuts off the House floor in about a week's time when we go back.

51:05We could do it all day long. You're not going to break the cloture. You're not going to break the Senate filibuster, Jake. And you know this because the Democrat senators will not vote for spending reductions, common sense spending reductions to help stabilize the nation's debt, allow our economy to grow so we can pay this debt off over the long term. We didn't get here in one day, and we're not going to get out of it in one day. But one thing is clear, Democrats have no desire to turn off the spigot of rampant government spending. The president backed you in your primary. You told CNN's Laura Coates last night that you would welcome him on the campaign trail.

51:38Several of his endorsed candidates lost House races last night and in previous weeks. CNN heard from Republican voters at a Florida polling site who said Trump's endorsement just doesn't matter to them as much as it used to. What do you make of that? Is the president losing his grip on Republican voters? No, I don't think so at all. I think if you even look at the president's record through this entire primary contest so far, I mean, it's well into the high 90s. So I think that's the wrong way to look at it. Listen, President Trump is beloved here in the great state of Florida, quite frankly, all around the country.

52:11And so if the president made a decision to come down, of course we would campaign together. But Jake, this campaign is not about President Trump in Florida. It is about the future of our state built around common sense conservative policies. That's why Florida is the number one state in all of America. And the question for our state and for our people is, do we want to continue down the same common sense agenda? Or do we want to reverse course and start looking like Virginia and New Jersey and New York? And I will tell you, Jake, the people of Florida do not want to be like those states. There's a reason why so many new Floridians left those states.

52:44It's because they want Florida. They want the Florida dream. And my job as the Republican nominee and the state's next governor is to protect that dream for everybody. You've had a strained dynamic with the current governor, Ron DeSantis. He's criticized your role in the party. You've said he was sore that you didn't endorse his presidential run in 2024. If you're able to win his support, do you think Republican voters will buy that you two are on the same page for you to further the conservative agenda? I absolutely do. And the reason why is when Governor DeSantis was in Congress, he was a member of House Freedom Caucus.

53:17I'm currently a member of House Freedom Caucus. The governor obviously is a constitutionalist. I came up in Republican politics through the Tea Party era. And so when you look at the policies we've supported, limited government policies, pro-growth economic policies, supporting law enforcement, opposing Fauci's lockdowns, protecting the gender of our children. You can go down the list. We've been very complimentary and supportive of what Governor DeSantis has done in our state. And for voters going to the polls in about 76 days now, Jake, we want them to know that as the next governor for Florida, we are going to keep Florida as the free state of Florida.

53:56What's your response to what Congressman Jolly said there when he said that you wake up and you wonder why you're not winning. And so you try a different attack on him, a different kind of attack on him every day. Oh, man, that guy always has a script ready to pull out. Listen, Jake, we're talking to the voters. It's what we've been doing through the entire primary process, and we're going to continue to do that through the general election process. It's really about how are we going to address the issues facing the people of our state. This is why we've proposed a launch pad initiative so that juniors and seniors in high school have access to internships and apprenticeships to prepare themselves for the real world and get a high paying job without student debt to be able to walk directly into that out of high school.

54:41It's why we have to bring real reforms to our insurance regulatory system, pushing down costs 20 percent in our state while keeping the tort reform that Governor DeSantis brought in over the last couple of years, which is working in Florida. And it's also why we have to streamline permitting and processing timelines in our state, because 30 percent of the cost of a new home is government, not sheetrock, not a roof. Government costs. We have to streamline that and we can get that done in Florida while having more price transparency in health care to stabilize costs for the people of Florida. Those are the policies that I'm pursuing.

55:17David Jolly has a radical record ever since he decided to be a commentator, a paid commentator on your network and on MSNBC. No, no, he was never a paid commentator. He was very radical, not the person that was in Congress. I don't think he was ever a paid commentator on our network. He was certainly on MSNBC. Anyway, Congressman Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida governor, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you. Up next, the new allegations made against Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez and what we're learning about the House ethics investigation he's facing. Plus, a former top election official is here to weigh in on President Trump's latest claims about voter fraud.

55:50What do the numbers really say? We're going to find out.

56:00In our politics lead, Democratic Congressman Jimmy Gomez faces a major new allegation. A woman told the House Ethics Committee that Congressman Gomez sexually harassed her and sexually assaulted her. Gomez denies any illegal conduct. CNN's Allison Gordon was part of the team that broke the news that the Ethics Committee was looking into Congressman Gomez. Allison, what more can you tell us about this? Yeah, Jake, I think we should start this conversation just by reading what the attorneys for this anonymous woman said today, because it's quite forceful. So they said, We represent one of the women who was interviewed by the House Committee on Ethics about her experience of sexual harassment and assault by Representative Jimmy Gomez.

56:35Contrary to Representative Gomez's assertion in his statement, his actions were not consensual in nature with respect to our client. We fully expect that the House Committee on Ethics will come to the same conclusion in its investigation. So, Jake, this is coming off the heels of the Ethics Committee on Monday formally announcing that they were looking into Gomez. This is something that we at CNN have been reporting on since the summer when we learned from sources that the Ethics Committee was looking into the congressman following the publication by the New York Post of a story about him allegedly kissing a woman who worked for a different congressperson, something he denied.

57:08But a source told me at the time that the Ethics Committee, while they had initially reached out about that situation, they soon learned about other allegations against the congressman. What is Congressman Gomez saying? Yeah, so through her attorneys, this woman is making some really serious claims. Sexual harassment and assault are serious things, and that's very different than what Congressman Gomez has acknowledged in the past, which is that he has privately caused pain to his family and regrets this, but it was a mistake he made years ago, and that he never broke the law or the House ethics rules.

57:42He also said that any relationship he had was consensual. Now, Gomez did not reply when I reached out earlier today, given this new reporting. But on Monday, following the formal announcement from the ethics committee, he reiterated that assertion and said that any contact was consensual. So what's next with the House ethics committee and its investigation? Yes. So the ethics committee chose not to comment when I reached out to them earlier today. But Jake, you know better than anyone that there's a lot of eyeballs on the ethics committee right now. We recently had a real reckoning given the recent resignations of Congressman Eric Swalwell, Tony Gonzalez, as you discussed earlier, Representative Chuck Edwards of North Carolina.

58:21And we have active investigations right now into Corey Mills and Max Miller. So this is a time of heightened scrutiny on the Hill about alleged behavior from congressmen. And we at CNN are going to continue to cover it closely. All right, Allie Gordon, great reporting as always. Today, Virginia Democrats met with a woman who found herself in the middle of a confrontation with ICE agents after she admittedly yelled insults at them from her car. But now those Democrats are demanding answers. That's next.

58:50And our nationally today, Congressman Don Beyer and Suha Subramaniam of Virginia met with Virginia resident Carolina Molina on Capitol Hill, announcing an investigation into ICE following this viral incident that we've showed you before. Video shows an ICE agent pointing a gun at Melina during a traffic stop following an encounter where she yelled at agents conducting an enforcement action. A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson says Melina drove her car in circles around officers and attempted to weaponize her car against them. Melina denies this and spoke about how this has impacted her.

59:25I do carry a lot of anxiety. I tend to stick at home. I don't really want to be out in public because I don't know who could confront me for what happened. Joining me now to discuss Democratic Congressman Suha Subramaniam of Virginia. So, Congressman, I have a question. Other than the cell phone video that I've seen some of and our audience has seen some of, Have you seen the body cam footage that the ICE officers have or any other footage? And what you've seen, whose version of events does it support? We have asked ICE for the body cam footage. ICE has said that they have a policy of not releasing body cam footage unless it benefits or helps their case.

1:00:09So think about that. Think about the lack of transparency. That's what they said? That's what they said, yes. So we're trying to get body cam footage for this and for other incidents that have happened. There was another one right after hers where the person woke up in the hospital basically with brain damage because of his confrontation with ICE. He wasn't lucky enough to have his video dash cam out. So now we want transparency. And that's why we're launching this investigation. We want to talk to eyewitnesses. We want to talk to other sources because we know that this administration not only won't properly investigate this, but they will actively cover up for ICE.

1:00:44And that is a big problem right now. So Democratic leaders of the Judiciary Committee, the Oversight Committee and the Homeland Security Committee are also going to partner with you on this investigation. Who do you want to hear from here from as part of this investigation? What's the plan? We want to talk to Miss Molina. We want to talk to anyone else who is on the scene. We want those answers from ICE right now. Unfortunately, we cannot get Republicans to join us in this because this should be bipartisan. But instead, it's not. They're covering up with the president for ICE. And so if we do have the majority next year and we do have subpoena power, we're going to subpoena more information.

1:01:17We're going to subpoena that body cam footage as well as the actual officers themselves. But in the meantime, we are not going to wait till next year. We have to do this right now. Well, it seems to me that if Republicans think that the ICE officers didn't do anything wrong, they would have an investigation to clear their names. Exactly. Absolutely. And so why not release the footage to defend yourself? What Carolyn Molina told me was that when she started pulling out her phone and started recording what they were saying, they started changing their story about everything that was happening, almost to build a case.

1:01:46Yeah, and then they walked away. Exactly. Yeah. You're also demanding that the agents involved in the incident with Molina be removed from duty while whatever investigation is going on. But DHS said, quote, our officers are experiencing a more than 1300 percent increase in assaults against them, a 3300 percent increase in vehicular attacks and an 8000 percent increase in death threats. Questionable math aside, I mean, I don't know how reliable any of that is. What's your take on citizens confronting ICE agents peacefully? Do you worry that this risks escalation? All Caroline Molina did was criticize ICE when she was driving by them.

1:02:23and that was enough for them to pull a gun on her. And so this is way past what they promised from the beginning, which is to protect the community. What they're doing instead is they're spreading fear in the community. They're making safety worse. People don't trust them anymore. So if they want to restore that trust, release the body cam footage, work with Congress on both sides of the aisle to fix some of the trust issues people have with ICE. Turning to your committee's investigation into Jeffrey Epstein, the dead pedophile, and his network. Yesterday, the chairman of the Outsider Committee, Republican James Comer of Kentucky.

1:02:54He threatened to hold billionaire Leon Black in contempt of Congress because Black, who paid Epstein tens of millions of dollars for tax stuff, he says, refused to answer your panel's questions about possible non-disclosure agreements he signed with women tied to Epstein. Do you support Comer's move? What gives you pause about Leon Black? Leon Black is someone who showed up over and over again in the Epstein files. There's 300 mentions of saying, call Leon Black by Jeffrey Epstein. He also funneled$170 million to Epstein. He's also been described by some of the survivors as very violent towards some of the women.

1:03:31And so he was clearly involved with Jeffrey Epstein, and he is not releasing documents that we were asking for. And he's not cooperating with our investigation. He's refusing to answer certain types of questions. The reality is the Republicans made this problem because they didn't require other people who came forward to be testifying under oath. They didn't require other people who we've been interviewing to have to answer all of the questions we asked them. So that's why Leon Black doesn't think he has to cooperate with our investigation right now. But I'm glad that Chairman Comer is actually trying to hold at least Leon Black accountable.

1:04:06The only person he's held accountable is actually the Clintons, who had the least amount of involvement with Jeffrey Epstein of anyone we've talked to. So this is a good development, but I hope it's consistent across the board. All right, Democratic Congressman Suha Subramaniam of Virginia, thank you so much. President Trump heads to South Carolina on Friday to campaign with Senator Darlene Graham, who was appointed to replace her brother after he passed away. Does Darlene Graham still have Trump's full support after her multiple missteps in last night's debate?

1:04:40In our politics lead, President Trump is claiming without evidence that, quote, quote, over 24 ,000 noncitizens voted illegally in the 2020 election. The president attributes that claim to the U.S. Census Bureau. Here now is Thomas Hicks. He's a former chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and one of three officials President Trump fired from the bipartisan commission last month. Thanks for joining us, Mr. Hicks. So President Trump also posted as the Census Bureau investigation continues, that number will, quote, explode. What's your reaction to this? Well, accusations are not evidence.

1:05:12And so I am here at a national conference with hundreds of election officials who are focused in on the 26 election cycle. And they are tired of hearing about how they are allowing non-citizens to vote or those who are not eligible. They're doing their best job under tremendous circumstances of not enough pay and other accusations or other aspects. But they're doing their jobs. And this report is basically not worth the papers written on. Take a listen to what U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dillon said yesterday about sending federal election monitors to polling places for the midterms.

1:05:57We're going to do it to the tune of approximately a thousand election monitors in the in the November election. And this is just something that DOJ does. Where specifically? different about it. Well, we are still formulating our final list. Is this true that it's just normal standard operating procedure? I mean, what are you hearing from other officials at the National Conference on Election Officials? Well, basically, it is pretty normal to send election monitors out, and that's been the case since the Civil Rights Act. But it's going to make sure that it's done in a manner that's not looked in a partisan way.

1:06:33So you're not just sending those monitors to poor neighborhoods, or you're not just sending those monitors to black neighborhoods, or you're not just sending those monitors to democratic neighborhoods. So it's something that has been done, and the reports are usually written. It's something that I did once when I worked for the Office of Personal Management, where they recruited people to go out to monitor the elections. But that's what they do, monitor, but not interfere with. They gather information in case something else happens. Speaking of Harmeet Dillon, the Justice Department official recently posted this image of her and Tina Peters.

1:07:13Tina Peters, of course, is the Colorado woman convicted and sentenced for her role in a 2021 security breach in the elections office that she oversaw. What's your take on a Justice Department official appearing in a photograph with Tina Peters? Well, I can't see the photo, but... It's a pretty affectionate-looking picture. Okay, I would need to see the photo, but I would say that it's probably something that should not be done and go on with that. If someone is calling for the election not to be certified and that there are issues with it, should not be talking to folks who are in charge of dealing with the election moving forward.

1:07:57All right, Thomas Hicks, thanks so much. Thanks for talking to us today. Here now is the panel. Sure, Michael, let's turn to the midterms in this moment from last night's debate in South Carolina when Senator Darlene Graham, who was appointed to the position after her brother Lindsey Graham passed away. She was asked if she thinks Taiwan and the South China Sea, if that's a national security issue for the United States. Take a listen. I'm just going to be honest here. I'm not on national security that I'm not that informed on national security. security, so, but I do support the military. I'm not a polished politician up here.

1:08:34National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise, but I do support the military. She's a U.S. Senator, Shermichael. I mean, yeah, I mean, talk about bad prepping. She still has the same staff that her brother retained when he was still living. I mean, you don't typically see a lot of bad answers like that. And this is even more important now. You broke the news of the$40 trillion debt that the country now has. I'm assuming that the interest rates on that is now more than likely the largest item on our balance sheet, I would imagine. And so you put that into perspective with China and its aggressions in the South Chinese Sea, expanding their military, modernizing their military, China helping Iran, according to reporting helping Russia, according to reporting, the world, the global community is becoming more violent.

1:09:24And while I know there is apprehension among the American people to not spend as much money as we have in the past on foreign conflicts, those things do have a direct through line to what happens domestically within our country. And so I think it's important for lawmakers to be familiar, particularly with an issue that I would argue as someone who spent a lot of years in politics, Adrian, is a pretty simple one to answer. Yeah, this isn't like you've been doing the prep. Yeah, what I'm saying, it's not South China Sea. That's not an obscure issue. That's like if you're prepared for national security, that's like a top five issue.

1:09:57Exactly. I mean, it's pretty 101. Look, I don't think Jake personally, I don't think this is going to really affect her chances in the end of upcoming runoff that she has. But I think it could very well be an issue that Dr. Annie Andrews, who's the Democratic nominee in South Carolina, very strong candidate. Again, South Carolina is a red state. But I think this is an issue you're going to see on repeat time and time again on ads that are played in the final weeks of the campaign. Let's come back to last night's primary. Well, actually, before we do that, I want to play this image. This is election related.

1:10:29Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth went to Iowa to campaign. He was at the Iowa State Fair Monday. And he used a slur against trans people. Take a listen. We need guys like this man right here having our back in Congress as we get rid of DEI at the Defense Department. At the Department of War, we do training, not trannies. The only focus of our department, colorblind, gender neutral, merit based. That's it. We want the best. I mean, first of all, I'm still just not going to get over the fact of seeing like a current Secretary of Defense campaigning for somebody. I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before.

1:11:13Correct. I mean, to your point, Jake, it's not unusual for cabinet secretaries to campaign for candidates. But when it comes to members of the national security team, especially the Secretary of the War, Secretary of DOD, you do not typically say that it's these other people out there campaigning. First of all, we are at war. So he should be focused on that in Washington, D.C., a war that Trump started. But secondly, no, you don't see that. Look, I will also say this, Jake. First of all, Iowa is very much a state in play, both at the governor level and the senatorial level. The cycle, Obama won it in 2012.

1:11:41That's the last time a Democrat won on the presidential campaign side in a presidential campaign. But it's a very, very, very marginal state for Republicans. Democrats have very good chances there this year. I think voters are sick and tired of this rhetoric. They are tired of the tariffs and how it's impacting farmers. They're tired of prices being high. This does not work. This strategy of like, oh, let's play into the culture wars, voters are sick and tired of it, especially the independent voters will ultimately make the decision in these races in Iowa. And I just also wonder, sure, Michael, I mean, just calling transgender people trannies, like that's obviously a slur that they don't like, and people can have their opinions on sports or whatever, but like there is just something about like treating people with dignity.

1:12:24Sure, look, I'm not in disagreement with that. I've always had a pretty high bar, even with people I've disagreed with, with trying to maintain their humanity. That's just my personal moral compass. That's why we love you, Schermichael. And maybe we see the world differently. But I think at the end of the day, I think of my, one of my favorite philosophers, German philosopher Hegel, who wrote about all men yearning for respect, all men yearning for recognition, and by men in a neutral sense, men and women, of course. And so that's my approach and my advice to the secretary would be disagree is okay.

1:13:03Having expectations for how you want to lead the military, perfectly fine. I'll support you on that. But let's not lower the bar in terms of how we treat other human beings because we wouldn't want that done to anyone on our side. So back to the primaries. Last night was not great for all of Trump's picks. Three of them lost, one in the Wyoming governor's race, two house races in Florida. Voters have now rejected, Republican voters, a total of 10 Trump endorsed candidates for statewide office or Congress this primary season. Former Obama senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer says, quote, this is more evidence that Trump's grip on his base in American politics is loosening.

1:13:36Now, a Republican earlier in the show said Trump's still batting like 900 or something, like, you know, most of his, most of them are winning. But do you agree that his grip is loosening a little bit? I don't know if there's enough statistical evidence to suggest that that is true. I guess my pushback would be the climate is different. He's a president with lower approval ratings. We're in the majority right now. Typically, the party of the president lose seats going all the way back to World War II. So history just frankly isn't on the side of the president. Now, what is interesting, though, I would say is that there are less competitive congressional seats than there were back in 2018.

1:14:16Democrats had a huge blue wave. You factor all of those things in, including Trump's endorsements. Maybe he's had a few misses, but I'm not sure I would be willing to say that that amounts to anything significant. Big DSA victory last night in Florida. The Senate candidate is going to be somebody from the DSA. How worried as a, can I call you a mainstream Democrat? Sure. You can call me a normie, an establishment, What are you on, Jake? He's not a DSA-er. How worried are you about the DSA? I don't know if I would call it a takeover, but they're certainly winning a lot of races and beating a lot of establishment Democrats in primaries.

1:14:50I mean, I'm not overly worried, Jake, because first of all, I mean, I was surprised by that win last night because Venman has raised a lot of national money, had a lot of national supporters, had a lot of local support, too. So I think a lot of us were surprised by that. But to an extent, I think you're seeing this, the DSA strongholds in very specific areas, is obviously New York City, a small blue dot in Denver, you know, a few other places. Florida, again, was a little bit surprised. Abdul-Sayed might not be DSA, but he's certainly DSA adjacent. He's DSA adjacent, and she does, the woman who won Florida last night, Nixon, she does count herself as DSA, but she's also more moderate on some positions.

1:15:28On some, on some positions. Maybe not across the board. Okay. But look at the end of the day. I think that there is a yearning for, there's an anti-income environment. There's a yearning for people to come in and blow up the system because people are sick and tired of their prices being high. They're frustrated with the national status quo. I was surprised to see what happened in Florida last night, but I do not think this is happening writ large across the board to the extent that some people are saying it is. I'm just going to smile. You know what? Honestly, this is a wacky cycle, and I am excited to cover it.

1:15:59It is lots of twists and turns. Shermichael and Adrian, you're going to be with me for all of it, so I appreciate it. A striking admission from the Israeli government today after years of denials to country's military now admits that it did open fire on a car in Gaza back in 2024, killing a five-year-old girl. Why are they acknowledging this now? That's next.

1:16:25And our world lead a major development in the death of five-year-old Palestinian girl called Hainda Rajab in January 2024. The Israeli military now acknowledging that its troops fired on the car, carrying her and her family in the Gaza Strip. And the IDF says it's open to criminal investigation. This is part of the Israeli military's first comprehensive review of alleged war crimes since the war in Gaza began. The news comes as an Israeli airstrike killed at least six people in Gaza, with Israel and Hamas still far apart on a ceasefire. Joining us now to discuss is Ahmad Khawad al-Khatib. He's director of Realign for Palestine and a resident senior fellow of the Atlantic Council.

1:17:03He also has this new book out, Hamas and its 2 Million Hostages, we'll talk about in one second. But let me start with this, Ahmed. So Hamas says Israel has to withdraw its forces from Gaza as part of any ceasefire. Israel says, no, you have to demilitarize and disarm first. How does the region get past this impasse? So good to be back with you. Where we are right now is unfortunately a political agreement to disarm Hamas in Gaza. But there is a disagreement over the sequencing and over the logistics. The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Netanyahu, are insisting that Hamas fully and completely disarm before Israel commits to any level of withdrawing to either the original yellow line boundaries or to Gaza's borders with Israel.

1:17:53Hamas and the Board of Peace, on the other hand, are saying that you need to have a credible alternative police force led by the technocratic committee. The United States, led by the Trump administration, are trying to stand up this international stabilization force that's supposed to execute the disarmament of Hamas. So the logistics of this are actually at the core of the disagreement. But Hamas, in principle, is agreeing to the plan. We also have the problem right now of the Israeli military continuing to target Hamas militants in Gaza, risking the collapse of the agreement. Well, that's what I wanted to ask you.

1:18:30They continue to do that even as the Trump administration is asking them for restraint. What does that tell you? Does Netanyahu not take Trump seriously? Or is the threats from Trump and the anger expressed by Trump for Netanyahu not really that serious? Look, I'm not shedding any tears for Hamas militants being targeted. The concern here is that this may disincentivize Hamas or de-incentivize them from actually proceeding with the agreement. It may also signal that the Trump administration is losing its ability to control the facts on the ground, that it may have lost leverage over the Netanyahu government, particularly in the context of the consequential Israeli elections in October, where it's expected that the shape of the coalition that the prime minister leads is going to shift.

1:19:16He needs to signal that he's still tough on Hamas, that he's able to, up to the very last minute, push for this elusive total victory. So we'll just have to see whether or not that is within reach. So you have this new book out, Hamas and its Two Million Hostages. It weaves your story in with the history of Hamas's rise. You look at the consolidation of power in Gaza. What do people watching right now need to understand about Hamas? I think we're witnessing, I believe, the final arc in Hamas' story in Gaza. And it's been deeply disturbing that as many in the Gaza Strip are turning against Hamas, they're done with the armed resistance narrative.

1:19:56It doesn't mean that they're over their grievances with Israel, but there's an opportunity, there's a window in Gaza to promote something else, something hopeful, a different future that's about the nation-building agenda. Amidst all of that, we still have folks, unfortunately, in the pro-Palestine movement, in the academia, in journalism, in the Western world, who are promoting Hamas as a legitimate resistance organization. Two months ago, you have 44 % of American Muslims who told Pew Research that they support Hamas. And that is a problematic trend. And it is my hope through this book that, again, tells the story of a young boy growing up in Gaza that weaves in some of the contemporary history, some of the road to October 7th and exposes Hamas that this group is not to be celebrated, that being pro-Palestine is a lot more than just being anti-Israel, and that we need to separate the just and urgent Palestinian aspirations from Hamas and its nihilistic jihadism.

1:20:54Thank you so much for being here, Ahmed, Fuad, Al-Khatib. Appreciate it. We'll be right back.

1:21:07Today would have been Nolan Wells' 19th birthday. His family released a letter honoring his legacy after he was found dead following a Fourth of July trip with friends, the family writing in part, quote, As we sit here and reflect on what an amazing kiddo you grew up to be, we can't help but to feel blessed, honored, proud, but most of all thankful. Thankful we were able to experience a glimpse of God's love in human form. Although you are no longer physically here with us, we will always celebrate you and the legacy you have left for us to protect. You have taught us so much about life and how every day is a blessing and how we have to do better at just living in the moment, unquote.

1:21:48Our hearts go out to Nolan's family. May his memory be a blessing. Aaron Burnett out front starts now. Go inside the sports moments that brought us together and made history. From the underdogs to the rivalries and the miracles. It sends chills down your spine. It's what sport was all about. The new CNN original series, Decades in Sports. Now streaming on the CNN app.