The Lead with Jake Tapper

The Lead with Jake Tapper

CNN's lead DC anchor and chief Washington correspondent, Jake Tapper, hosts this two-hour long weekday afternoon program, with headlines from around the country and the world, the top stories in national and international news, politics, health, money, the environment, sports and popular culture. The Lead also concentrates on bringing stories that aren't found on front pages—buried leads—to the forefront.

Episodes

February 20, 2026 64 mins
One day after the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, police in the United Kingdom say the search of his former home will likely continue until Monday. Plus, the Supreme Court deals a major blow to Trump’s economic agenda.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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New images of former Prince Andrew appear to show him duck from cameras. The journalist who conducted the damning 2019 interview with Andrew about his alleged ties with dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein joins. Plus, more revelations in the Epstein files this time entangling two Harvard University researchers.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Les Wexner, the billionaire behind Victoria’s Secret, once named as a secondary unindicted co-conspirator in the Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking case with notes that there was limited evidence of his involvement, testified today in a congressional deposition.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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New tributes for civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson, a two time presidential candidate who paved the way for so many progressives and African Americans who came after him. Plus, DNA on a glove found two miles from the home of Nancy Guthrie does not match anyone in the FBI’s criminal database.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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More members of the royal family are wrapped up in the Epstein files. Plus, the glove that could give investigators a new break into the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie. Also, tracing the toxin that was used to kill Alexei Navalny, one of Vladimir Putin’s most vocal critics.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Independent journalist and former CNN anchor Don Lemon plead not guilty this afternoon to federal charges filed after he live streamed a demonstration inside a church in Minnesota last month. Plus, a look at Kathy Ruemmler’s resignation from Goldman Sachs amid fallout from the Justice Department’s release of millions of pages of Jeffrey Epstein documents.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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A federal judge shut down Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth amidst his attempts to retaliate against Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, one of six lawmakers who made the video reminding service members that they are not obligated to carry out illegal orders. Plus, the artificial intelligence CEO who has the world doing a double take.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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A flood of tips and even more after key photos and video show a masked individual armed outside Nancy Guthrie’s door. Today, the new note demanding bitcoin in exchange for information about who the perpetrator is.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The FBI released six still images and three videos showing a masked armed intruder outside the home of Nancy Guthrie, the mother of ‘Today’ show host Savannah Guthrie. Plus, the latest revelations from the Epstein files.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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February 9, 2026 90 mins
Today, Jeffrey Epstein’s convicted accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, who is in prison, appeared virtually before the House Oversight Committee where she pleaded the fifth and wouldn’t answer questions. Plus, the latest in the search for Nancy Guthrie.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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What many are calling a new low for Trump, and those are the Republicans, after a video post that included racist imagery of the Obamas as apes. Plus, the FBI surges teams to Arizona in the search for Nancy Guthrie.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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Law enforcement authorities reveal new details in their search of the mother of ‘Today’ show anchor Savannah Guthrie. Plus, the new jobs report in America shows layoffs way up and hirings way down.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The FBI is facing a new lawsuit from Fulton County Georgia one week after its raid, seizing boxes of ballots and other information from the 2020 election. Plus, President Trump’s new warnings to the leaders of Iran.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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What happened to the mother of ‘Today’ show anchor Savannah Guthrie? Investigators say they believe she was taken from her home against her will. Plus, facing a contempt of Congress vote, President Bill and Secretary Hilary Clinton now say they are ready to testify about their connections to dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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President Trump attempted earlier today to distance himself from the dead pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. A look at the revelations inside the Epstein files. Plus, an urgent search for the mother of Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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New Epstein files were released today which include new unverified sexual assault allegations that list President Trump and former President Bill Clinton. Plus, former CNN anchor Don Lemon appears in federal court. He is one of two journalists arrested for being at a protest that interrupted a church service in Minnesota. The charges are setting off a major First Amendment debate.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastcho...
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Hundreds of 2020 ballot boxes are seized by the FBI. But, why and why was Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, on the ground there? Plus, an attempted jail break at the New York facility holding Luigi Mangione.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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One day after calling for a little bit of a de-escalation, President Trump is now accusing the Minneapolis mayor of playing with fire, bucking calls to fire his Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and accusing a Democratic congresswoman who was attacked of staging it.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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President Trump says he is going to personally oversee an honorable investigation into the death of Alex Pretti, the VA ICU nurse shot and killed by federal agents on Saturday. Plus, Governor Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania joins to discuss how he’s preparing for possible immigration raids in his state.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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The top Border Patrol official and some of his agents are expected to leave Minneapolis as CNN learns the Trump administration is deeply frustrated with how Gregory Bovino handled the fallout after the deadly shooting of Alex Pretti.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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