President Trump today wanting to make it very clear he wasn't even friendly with Jeffrey Epstein.

Really? The lead starts right now.

President Trump, earlier today, attempting once again to distance himself from the dead pedophile and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein,

calling Epstein a sleaze bag and more.

But what are the revelations in the 3 million pages of Epstein files that are leading him to go on the attack?

Plus, an urgent search for the mother of Akali.

Today's show anchor Savannah Guthrie. Investigators are calling

Nancy Guthrie's home crime scene. What else is leading authorities to believe this is more than

just a missing person's case? And the real reason, President Trump is closing the Kennedy Center,

I mean the Trump Kennedy Center for at least two years,

a congressional member of the Kennedy Center Board of Trustees will be here with her take.

Welcome to the lead. I'm Jake Tapper, and we're going to start in our and Justice lead, President Trump, on defense over the Epstein files released. This afternoon on Truth

Social, the president claimed he, quote, wasn't friendly with Epstein writing, quote,

additionally, unlike so many people that like to talk trash, I never went to the infested

Epstein Island, but almost all of these crooked Democrats and their donors

did, unquote. Now, President Trump's claim that he was never friendly with Jeffrey Epstein

is simply a lie. It's not a secret. They were once friends. To illustrate, there are pictures,

there is video, even a 2002 interview with New York Magazine where Trump

said, quote, I've known Jeff for 15 years, terrific guy.

He's a lot of fun to be with.

It has even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on

the younger side.

...