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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Elon Musk Torches Trump's Bill As "Disgusting Abomination"; Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) Is Interviewed About Elon Musk, Trump's Bill, Medicaid, New Orleans Inmates; Trump's Bill Adds Work Requirements To Medicaid; Police Search Home Where Escapee May Have Made Video; Interview With Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR); Ex-Hotel Security Guard: Combs Paid $100K For Assault Video; Study: Fluoride Bans May Increase Children's Cavities By Millions. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: Yes, I mean, it's, as you point out with that hurricane in North Carolina, the stakes are incredibly high here. And of course, this is why, you know, the joke is it's a little bit difficult.

Guys, thank you so much for being here. Thanks to all of you at home for joining us as well. Don't go anywhere. "The Lead" with Jake Tapper starts right now.

[17:00:38]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The world's richest man says he just can't stand it anymore. The Lead starts right now.

Elon Musk blasting President Trump's big, beautiful bill as a, quote, "disgusting abomination." The White House is responding and the president himself is singling out a different Republican, a senator who's bucking his giant legislation. And that anti-Semitic terrorist attack emboldened the suspect's family was taken into custody by immigration officials.

The questions for the wife and five children as authorities investigate how much planning went into Sunday's terrorist attack. Plus, one of the New Orleans inmates on the run is recording a video pleading his case, begging Trump and Lil Wayne and Meek Mill for help.

Did the video put authorities back on his trail?

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper live from Los Angeles. And our politics lead today, President Trump is working behind the scenes to carry his big, beautiful bill across the Senate finish line as some members of his own party are standing in the way. The two key sticking points appear to be one, the bill's subtractions from Medicaid, and two, the bill's additions to the deficit.

Trump began the week by holding a meeting with Majority Leader Senator John Thune and lobbying other Republican holdouts. And in one case, when a senator didn't budge, that's Rand Paul of Kentucky, the president called him out on Truth Social writing this morning, quote, "Rand votes no on everything, but never has any practical or constructive ideas. His ideas are actually crazy losers. The people of Kentucky can't stand him. This is a big growth bill."

Senator Rand Paul responded by saying, hey, that's not the way I would try to win somebody over.

Remember, Trump cannot afford to lose more than three Republican Senate votes on this bill. But there's another majorly influential conservative figure today who is completely torching Trump's legislation. None other than former first buddy Elon Musk. Watch how White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted when a reporter read Musk's X or Twitter post in real time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How mad do you think President Trump is going to be when he finds out that Elon Musk said, I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore. This massive, outrageous, pork filled congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination. Shame on those who voted for it. You know you did wrong. You know it.

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, the President already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill. It doesn't change the President's opinion. This is one big beautiful bill and he's sticking to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's go to CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill.

Manu, you're getting reaction from the House speaker on the Elon Musk remarks.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, firing back at Elon Musk. In fact, Mike Johnson told me that he had spoken length with Musk yesterday. He said that Johnson said he talks about the virtues of this bill and he said he seems somewhat surprised and a little frustrated at Musk's criticism and even raised the specter of Elon Musk being concerned about this bill because it would eliminate electric vehicle tax incentives for people to purchase electric vehicles. Of course, Elon Musk owns Tesla. And I asked the speaker if he is accusing him of posing this bill because of his own business interests.

And he said that he has simply let other people make that determination. But he made very clear, Jake, that he was not happy with Musk's criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Elon is missing it, OK? And it's not personal. I know that the EV mandate, very important to him that is going away because the government should not be subsidizing these things. But for him to come out and pan the whole bill is to me just very disappointing, very surprising in light of the conversation I had with him yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: But the deficit concerns that Elon Musk raised in those post shake is something that is actually being echoed by a number of Republican senators. They are worried about the projections from the Congressional Budget Office that the House passed bill could raise the deficits over the next several years by roughly $4 trillion. Up to $4 trillion.

And that is something that some senators that I caught up with made clear that they want to change and try to reverse in the Senate plan as they try to develop the Senate GOP proposal. One of those Senators who had raised concerns about the deficit is Senator Rick Scott and he told me that he spoke with Trump about his concerns just the other day.

[17:05:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Any easier concerns?

SEN. RICK SCOTT (R-FL): Well, you know, we talked about, I want to help him get a bill done. We've got to have some fiscal sanity here. We're running two trillion dollar deficits.

RAJU: What did he say in response to your concern?

SCOTT: Easy. I mean, this is not the first time I talk to him about it.

RAJU: The deficit in the House bill, according to CBO, would raise it by a few trillion dollars. Is that concern you?

SCOTT: It's hugely concerning to me. And if you look at the House bill, just to simplify it a little bit, we're going to spend in the next 10 years about $20 trillion more than the revenue we bring in. Most of us wouldn't do that in our businesses, in our homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: But the argument from Mike Johnson, the Senate majority there, John Thune, is that they say that the changes in the tax policy in this massive bill would spur economic growth and bring in more revenue to the government. But a lot of those deficit hawks in the Senate and GOP have raising concerns just about that the lack of revenue coming in could lead to just a raise that $36 trillion national debt even further.

So that the question, Jake, is how will John Thune, Donald Trump get Republicans on board because they want this on Trump's desk by July 4th? And John Thune can only afford to lose three Republican senators to get this bill across the finish line. But you have to ease those concerns here over the next several days and weeks to get it over the finish line, Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Manu Raju on Capitol Hill, thanks so much.

Let's check in at the White House with CNN's Kristen Holmes.

And Kristen, as Manu noted, Trump can only afford to lose the votes of three Republican senators before the bill would be tanked. What is the White House saying about senators who could be standing in the way?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. Well, just moments ago, I ran into the director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russell Vought, who has been critical in this bill, who essentially was very gracious when it came to these lawmakers, particularly if you think about the fact that Donald Trump was posting that Rand Paul's ideas were losers vote was much more, as I said, gracious. He said that they were listening to the lawmakers. The Trump administration was set to meet with these lawmakers to hear them out this weekend. He said that they were open or at least willing to listen to ideas on more cuts.

Now, of course, one of the things we have reported is behind closed doors, Donald Trump has told people he believes there are going to be changes to the bills, that he has hard lines that he won't cross over. But he does understand that there's going to have to be some shifts in the Senate. Now, earlier today, press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked by Kaitlan Collins about these same lawmaker holdouts, and she was a little bit more direct. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR & CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Republicans like Ron Johnson and Rand Paul disagree. They are saying that it will add to the deficit. That is their concern. Is the White House's position that those two Republican senators are, quotem "blatantly wrong?"

LEAVITT: It is. Those senators, it's not news that they disagree with this president on policy and the president has vocally called them out for it and for they're not having their facts together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, of course, the one thing to remember there again is that Donald Trump has said behind closed doors, as has his team acknowledged that there's going to be some changes in the Senate, that he wants to hold the line on some things. But they do understand this has to go through the process. Of course, Donald Trump himself is not going to say that publicly. He has continued to attack these various lawmakers. But all of this really has a wrench thrown in it with this really scathing tweet from Elon Musk, which we're waiting to see if and when the president responds to.

TAPPER: All right, Kristen Holmes at the White House, thanks so much.

Let's break down exactly how Trump's bill would impact Medicaid, which nearly 80 million Americans rely upon. Many Republicans believe that the Obamacare Medicaid expansion over the past decade gave coverage to some low income people who they think could potentially and should potentially get jobs. So the bill would mandate that many Medicaid expansion enrollees ages

19 to 64 do the following if they want to continue coverage. They need to work or volunteer or go to school or participate in a job training program at least 80 hours a month. These regulations would not apply to parents, to pregnant women, to medically frail individuals and to those with substance abuse disorders, among others.

Here now to discuss Republican Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana. It's a state where about 1.6 million people or a third of the population are on Medicaid.

Senator, good to have you with us. Thanks so much. Elon Musk today called this bill a disgusting abomination. What's your response?

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I wish Mr. Musk would stop sugar-coating it and just say what he thinks. Look, I have great respect for Elon. I think he's a smart guy. He's entitled his opinion. This is America.

He -- Elon's frustrated. He thinks we've become debt slaves. He thinks Congress needs to relearn the magical healing power of no. I agree with his point of view. I'm just not ready to throw the towel in on this bill because I don't know what the bill is.

It's going to change a lot, Jake. It's going to change a great deal.

TAPPER: Yes.

KENNEDY: I'm for -- I'm for more spending reductions, but I want to -- I vote for more spending up until the point that -- well until we run out of votes is what I'm trying to say.

[17:10:11]

TAPPER: So a study from the Urban Institute, which is a think tank, says that Trump's bill, this legislation, the big beautiful bill, could kick 116,000 -- anywhere from 116,000 to 132,000 Louisiana adults off of Medicaid. The Times Picayune in New Orleans reports, quote, "For people who work in Louisiana's hospitality or tourism industry, the work requirement in this bill could hit especially hard in busy seasons around Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, servers or musicians might easily top 80 hours.

Come late summer, their income can flatline," unquote. Not to mention, of course, the way that hurricanes can cause unemployment dips in your part of the country. What do you say to the hardworking people in Louisiana who are worried about lapses in their medical benefits if they fall on hard times and how this bill might affect them?

KENNEDY: Well, I tell them first you have to read the bill. There are exceptions in the bill. But number two, to me, the appropriate question is not who should be on it. The question is who is receiving Medicaid right now but shouldn't be receiving Medicaid? If you are -- if you -- if you're an illegal immigrant, for example, I don't believe you should be eligible to get Medicaid.

If you are -- if you make more money than the cap, the limit on Medicaid, therefore you're lying to the government. I don't think it's -- you're taking anyone's benefits to throw them off. I mean, they're breaking the law. If you are able bodied, if you're under a certain age, let's say 65, you don't have minor children at home, I'm not talking about a mother with a sick child in her arms, and you're receiving Medicaid, I don't think it's unreasonable to say you ought to work 20 hours a week or go to school or go to college, go to community college or go back to high school.

TAPPER: Yes.

KENNEDY: You know -- look, if you really need Medicaid, I want you to get it. But there are people on Medicaid who could work, but they choose not to work. And sometimes the best way to get back on your feet is to get up off your ass.

TAPPER: Medicaid recipient -- undocumented immigrants are not supposed to get Medicaid. I understand that they're having --

KENNEDY: But they do. But they do.

TAPPER: Yes.

KENNEDY: All you got to do is step a toe in California and you'll get everything.

TAPPER: Right. I just want to make sure it's clear that legally they're not eligible. Some people who already work or qualify for an exemption are still worried that they might lose their benefits due to getting stuck in red tape. CNN spoke to one Medicaid recipient in North Carolina who works and relies on Medicaid to get treated for a degenerative disc disease. And she told us, quote, "I feel it will be so easy to lose your coverage if you do the reporting the wrong way and you can't fix it," unquote.

How does the Republican Party plan to make sure that everyone who does qualify for an exemption, everyone who is legally eligible for Medicaid, is able to maintain coverage without any lapses?

KENNEDY: Well, the states have to implement the new law properly. We have Medicaid changes all the time that come through CMS, and we have pretty well developed Medicaid agencies in every single state. The states love the Medicaid money. And so that part, you know, a paperback or a paperwork flaw, that sort of thing. I think those are excuses, not reasons.

I just don't anticipate that being a big problem. We already administer a very complicated Medicaid program.

TAPPER: Tens of millions of Medicaid recipients are children or the disabled. You just said that the best way to get back on your feet is to get off your ass. And you were talking about people who are under 65 and can work and don't. There are 80 million Americans on Medicaid. How many of them do you think fit the description of people who just need to get off their ass?

KENNEDY: I don't know. And that's part of the frustration. We know that there are tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, but if you look at the reports, they're all over the map.

And I'm glad you added that caveat about what I said. Look, if you can't work or you're disabled and you're really sick or you're a poor mom with a couple of kids, you're entitled to Medicaid and I want you to get it. But if you're -- it's immoral in my opinion if you're healthy, if you don't have minor kids and you're not elderly, it's immoral in my opinion, for you to choose government dependency when you can work. I just think those who work should work. Now, not everybody agrees with me, but that's what I believe.

[17:15:01]

TAPPER: I want to turn quickly to another story out of your state. Those 10 inmates who escaped from New Orleans jail on May 16th. Two of them are still on the run. One of them, his name is Derrick Groves, convicted murderer. What's being done to ensure that they're caught and that a major prison failure like this doesn't happen again in Louisiana?

KENNEDY: Well, I think everybody in law enforcement is looking for the two that haven't been caught. In terms of how to fix it, the Orleans Parish jail is under the jurisdiction of Orleans Parish, the city council, the mayor and a local sheriff. And they have done, in my judgment, an abysmal job. It's just it's not a well-run institution. They don't want to ask for help.

They resent it when the state comes in and says, look, can we help so you don't have so many escapees and so much of abuse on the people who are already in prison? And they resent when the state -- and for that matter the federal government comes in and tries to help. Except when the federal government is trying to throw gobs of money at them.

I don't know how you change people's hearts or feelings until Orleans Parish admits that it has a problem. They're going to continue to have this problem if they refuse help.

TAPPER: Republican Senator John Kennedy of the state of Louisiana, thanks so much. Appreciate it, sir.

KENNEDY: I'm enjoying your book.

TAPPER: Thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

Is there any room for negotiation before this mega bill is final? I'm going to ask a Senate Democrat who's going to join me ahead. Plus, in the wake of anti-Semitic terrorist attacks in Boulder, Colorado and Washington, D.C., a brand new message from the Department of homeland security about U.S. threats. And later in the program, how Ukraine is pulling off what is now a series of surprise attacks on Russia. The latest, blowing up a Russian bridge.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:21:07] TAPPER: In our national lead, federal immigration officials have gone to Colorado Springs and detained the wife and children of Mohammed Sabri Suleiman, the Egyptian national who's been charged with 16 counts of attempted murder in Sunday's anti-Semitic terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado. Police say that Suleiman, who is in this country illegally, used Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower to burn people who are taking part in a peaceful march in support of the hostages held by the terrorist group Hamas. CNN's Whitney Wild is in Boulder.

And authorities say the Suleiman's in the country illegally, having overstayed his visa and work permit. Whitney, what do we know about his family?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: There's very little detail at this point, Jake, but what we know is again what you had said, that ICE has taken them into custody. They are being processed at an ICE facility in Florence, Colorado. Here's more from Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: Now, Mohammed's despicable actions will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But we're also investigating to what extent his family knew about this horrific attack, if they had any knowledge of it or if they provided support court to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: There are many more questions to answer, Jake, about what their immigration status is. We hope to learn more about that in coming days. Jake.

TAPPER: What's the latest on the suspect when he see in court next?

WILD: Well, he's in state court on Thursday. Our expectation is that he's going to make an appearance in his federal court case on Friday, Jake. But you know, of course there are jurisdictional, you know, not just jurisdictional challenges, but jurisdictional things that they have to work through. But again, our expectation is that he will be in state court Thursday on that list of 42 charges and then in federal court, at least by Friday on that federal charge of a hate crime, Jake.

TAPPER: And what do we know about the 12 people injured in the attack? How are they doing, how's -- how are their conditions?

WILD: The Boulder Police Department is not releasing much detail about their conditions due to privacy. But what they do say is that at this point they are expected to survive, that all 12 of those victims are expected to survive. And we're getting more information on their ages. We now know that the range of ages of the victims, Jake, is between 25 and 88 years old. Jake.

TAPPER: All right, Whitney Wild in Boulder, Colorado, thank you so much.

CNN obtained a Monday bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security in which analysts say they, quote, "remain concerned that successful homeland attacks," unquote, as well as messaging from foreign terrorist groups related to the Israel-Hamas conflict, quote, "will continue to inspire violent extremists in the United States." This Boulder attack is only the latest in a growing list of anti- Semitic attacks.

The Anti-Defamation League Center on extremism lists 16 terrorist plots or attacks targeting Jews or Zionists or Jewish institutions in the United States since the beginning of this decade. Nine of those 16 incidents happened within just the past 12 months. And as CNN's Danny Freeman reports for us now from coast to coast, people in the American Jewish community are afraid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We've heard it in Colorado.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How could you not be scared? How could you not have fear?

FREEMAN (voice-over): We've heard it in Florida.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Definitely thinking again about our security, about our safety.

FREEMAN (voice-over): We've heard it in Washington, D.C.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sad, I'm terrified, I'm angry.

FREEMAN (voice-over): And we've heard it in Georgia.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This reinforces, unfortunately, the concern and anxiety that the Jewish community has.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Jewish Americans across the country feeling sad, on edge and fearful after yet another horrific anti-Semitic attack. Jewish marchers set on fire after Jewish embassy workers gunned down after a Jewish governor had his home firebombed.

FREEMAN: How are you feeling today?

[17:25:00]

RABBI GERI NEWBURGE, MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE, MAIN LINE REFORM TEMPLE: Pretty demoralized and heartbroken.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Geri Newburge is the senior rabbi at Mainline Reform temple outside of Philadelphia. She says the stress is taking a toll on her congregation.

NEWBURGE: It is exhausting, you know, spiritually, emotionally, and even physically we -- many congregations and Jewish communities have had to really rethink their security.

FREEMAN (voice-over): For this Pennsylvania rabbi, the memory is fresh of Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue attack in 2018 in which 11 Jewish worshipers were killed. But since Hamas' brutal attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, she feels anti-Semitism has increased dramatically, fueled by protests against Israel's resulting war in Gaza.

NEWBURGE: It doesn't feel like such a stretch to me at this point that the rhetoric would move from, you know, posters or chance to doing something violent.

FREEMAN: You feel like this was almost inevitable.

NEWBURGE: I can't say that I'm surprised.

FREEMAN (voice-over): The Anti-Defamation League has been sounding the alarm for years. According to a 2025 ADL report on the seven countries with the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel, anti-Semitism has been on the rise. Reported anti-Semitic incidents increasing drastically in particular in the United States and spiking after October 7th. The ADL noting it's not just the big moments many have heard of, but smaller alarming instances and close calls, like a Jewish man shot walking to his synagogue in Chicago in October or the arrest of a man attempting to enter the U.S. and allegedly planning a mass shooting against a Jewish target in New York in support of ISIS in September.

In the shadow of his synagogue's outdoor Holocaust memorial, Philadelphia Rabbi Shawn Zevit emphasized the need to check in on Jewish loved ones.

RABBI SHAWN ZEVIT, MISHKAN SHALOM SYNAGOGUE: Just the message of I'm thinking about you.

FREEMAN (voice-over): And Rabbi Zevit said anti-Semitism, like other forms of hate, must be called out, even when it may seem minor.

ZEVIT: Let's look at the daily or the small interactions and not just show up when it's a big ticket item and something awful happens and then we're all together and then we disappear and let stuff fester. Staying welcoming and connected, but also saying, OK, wait a minute, this is not acceptable.

FREEMAN (voice-over): Saying anti-Semitism is not acceptable today to prevent any more attacks tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN (on camera): Now, Jake, of course, as with any group and as you know, Jewish Americans, they're very diverse. They have a lot of opinions when it comes to Israel, politics and Gaza. But everyone I spoke with for this piece said, regardless of those varied opinions, seeing or reading about other Jewish people attacked or in this most recent case, set fire to, it's still visceral and it still hurts. Jake. TAPPER: All right, CNN's Danny Freeman in Philadelphia, thank you so much.

For weeks now, Democrats have been trying to call out Republicans for their proposed cuts to Medicaid in the so called big beautiful bill. But is there an opportunity for any bipartisan negotiations when the bill is in the Senate? A Senate Democrat joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:32:30]

TAPPER: Back to our Politics Lead. Senate Republicans butting heads over the President's big beautiful bill. Majority leader John Thune can only afford to lose three Senate Republicans if he wants to pass this giant piece of legislation. So might that tight margin give Democrats some room to flex a little muscle? Let's ask Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon who joins us now.

Senator, with some of your Republican colleagues disagreeing over main parts of the bill, is there an opportunity for Democrats to work with Republicans, work in some of your own priorities? For example, a few weeks ago, I don't know what happened to it, but a few weeks ago, President Trump was openly talking about how possibly this bill could raise taxes on the wealthy. And is that -- is there an opportunity there for Democrats?

SEN. JEFF MERKLEY (D-OR): Well, there might be. I mean, in its basic structure right now, this big beautiful bill is a big beautiful betrayal of ordinary Americans. It wipes out health care for millions. It takes away food, supplemental food means children go hungry by the millions, in order to fund tax breaks for billionaires.

The President says, you know what? We're not going to damage the programs for ordinary families. In fact, we're going to help families thrive. And we're certainly not going to give away the entire treasury to the richest Americans. Then we have a foundation for -- for talking, because the Democrats have said, listen, we have a better plan. The Republican plan is families lose and billionaires win, and our plan is families thrive and billionaires pay their fair share.

TAPPER: Well, but are you talking to any Republicans who might share some of your concerns? Susan Collins of Maine, Josh Hawley of Missouri has expressed concerns about the Medicaid cuts.

MERKLEY: Well, we are absolutely talking with our Republican colleagues, because we want to really have them understand the damage this bill is going to do as written, and we're encouraging them to oppose it. The only way that this bill gets radically restructured is if four Republicans, because this is a reconciliation, this special fast track that only requires a simple majority.

It's all -- the only way we get that restructuring is for four Republican senators to say, hell no, we're not going to both damage families, help billionaires, and run up a massive debt, which currently the bill does all three of these. TAPPER: Trump's big beautiful bill as it stands now is projected by the Congressional Budget Office to add nearly $3.8 billion to the deficit over 10 years. How do Democrats preserve Medicaid and SNAP benefits without adding to the deficit in a way that you might be able to get Republicans on board with?

[17:35:01]

MERKLEY: Well, the vast amount of that additional year-by-year deficit is coming from the tax breaks for the very richest Americans. The bottom 20 percent get about the equivalent of $90 a year. The top 10 percent get the equivalent of about $90,000 per year. So 1,000 times more help for those at the top than those families who are struggling.

TAPPER: But you would acknowledge that Democrats have generally, historically, not seemed to care much about deficit spending, right?

MERKLEY: Well, actually, it's very interesting, Jake, because Republicans campaign on financial responsibility, but it's been Republicans who have been striking down the key three pillars of financial responsibility. First of all, back in 1996, they struck down, the reconciliation could only be used for deficit reduction.

And now they're striking down the second pillar, which is that it can increase deficits, or it's not allowed to increase deficits, over 10 years. And they're striking down the third pillar, which is that we're going to use honest numbers with the American public. We created the Congressional Budget Office to have that honest conversation with ourselves and with the American public.

And now the Republicans are saying, we're just going to create a fictitious, invented set of numbers to disguise the amount of deficit and debt this bill is going to create.

TAPPER: Let me change gears for a sec, because you've been sounding the alarm when it comes to concerns about the Trump administration's dealings around crypto, which is a topic we've covered a great deal on this show. You introduced a bill, the End Crypto Corruption Act. What would that do, and what's the status of the bill?

MERKLEY: It says that all electeds, federal electeds, House and Senate members, certainly the President, the Vice President, senior executives in the executive branch, cannot benefit from selling or trading in -- in crypto. And there's two main forms of -- of really what is policy up for sale right now. One is the President saying, I'm going -- I'll give you an e-mail with a picture of a coin if you give me your money.

And that's the sell of a memecoin, which is kind of like a digital baseball card. And then the second is this other form of crypto that's used in international transactions. And you have a company, MGX, associated with the United Arab Emirates government. The head of the -- the head of the company is actually the national security advisor for the Emirates, saying, hey, we will buy $2 billion of -- of Trump's other digital coin. And what does Trump get to do? He gets to invest that money and keep all the proceeds from that investment, or his family company does. This is American government up for sale. UAE said, we're going to do this, but you know what we want -- we want A.I. chips. And you know what the President gave them? He gave them plans to support a big A.I. center in Bahrain.

TAPPER: Do you have any Republicans on board with your bill?

MERKLEY: You know, I think we will see some Republican votes in favor if we can get it up for a vote, if we can get an amendment up for a vote. I mean, currently, we expect to be coming back to a bill that's supposed to regulate the cryptocurrency world. That's the right time to have this debate over crypto corruption. So I certainly hope Republicans will help us vote on that bill because any senator can object, so we need their agreement.

And we should be voting on it. We absolutely shouldn't let this opportunity pass to end this sort of U.S. government being up for sale. This is something that we expect to happen in very tiny countries with dictators, not the United States of America, where the President is openly selling access and an influence.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley from Oregon, thanks so much for joining us today. We appreciate it.

MERKLEY: Thank you Jake.

[17:38:46]

TAPPER: Today in the Sean "Diddy" Combs sex trafficking trial, prosecutors revealed how hard the music mogul tried, tried to keep that disturbing hotel beating video that CNN broke the news of from ever seeing the light of day. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, today the jury in the Sean "Diddy" Combs federal racketeering and sex trafficking trial heard from the former chief financial officer for Combs' record label. The jury also heard from Eddy Garcia, former hotel security officer, who detailed the extraordinary efforts by Combs to keep that surveillance tape showing him physically assaulting his former girlfriend Cassie Ventura in 2016 out of public view. We should note Combs has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The video, of course, was first reported by CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister who was watched and tested on the inside court today. And Elizabeth, the first witness today, was that former security officer at the Intercontinental Hotel who testified under an immunity order after invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not self-incriminate. So what did he have to say?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, as you said, Jake, we really learned a great deal of new information just about the extraordinary lengths that Combs allegedly went to, to bury this video. Eddy Garcia, that security worker, he said that right after this happened that he received numerous repeated phone calls to the security desk at the hotel from Combs' personal assistant, Kristina Khorram. She even showed up at the hotel and Eddy Garcia testified that he repeatedly said, no, I will not give you the video. That is when his personal cell phone rang one night at home.

He never gave over his personal cell phone, so he was a little freaked out when he got that call. And it was Kristina Khorram, who's Combs' assistant, and Sean Combs on the phone. Sean Combs called him, Eddy, my angel, and said that he's a good guy and he can help him.

Well, long story short, Jake, Sean Combs eventually gives him an address. Eddy Garcia shows up. He gives him an NDA, which, by the way, was on company letterhead, Combs Enterprises. That NDA said, if there's a breach of contract, you owe the company $1 million. Eddy Garcia signed the NDA. Sean Combs himself, not an associate, himself, hands over a brown paper bag full of $100,000 and then escorts him out.

[17:45:15]

And by the way, Eddy Garcia told the jury during his testimony that this seemed like something that Combs had done before. He had a money machine to count the cash, and he said he seemed very comfortable with that.

TAPPER: Your reporting actually uncovered the hotel surveillance tape. You did that. What was your reaction to hearing about the lengths that Combs took to bury this video?

WAGMEISTER: Look, so in Cassie Ventura's civil lawsuit back in November of 2023, she's the first one who alleged that Combs paid $50,000 to get this video away. Then in the government's indictment, Jake, they are the ones who first had that $100,000 figure.

And remember, Sean Combs denied Cassie Ventura's allegations in her civil suit, and he also pled not guilty to the government's indictment. So now here we are, seemingly with proof or at least strong testimony, which by the way, Combs' attorneys today did not deny. They did not object to it. They barely did anything on cross- examination. So it's just interesting to see how things have played out. Denial, denial, denial.

And then here we are in this moment. So it's quite stunning. And my other reaction, Jake, final point, is how brazenly Sean Combs acted. Remember, this is a globally renowned celebrity, and he himself is calling an employee and handing over cash.

TAPPER: All right, Elizabeth Wagmeister in New York, New York. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. So far, two states have removed fluoride in their public drinking water, but that could bring a flood of problems. We're paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta about this next.

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[17:51:16] TAPPER: In our Health Lead, we are paging Dr. Sanjay Gupta about a disconnect we're seeing when it comes to public health policy and your teeth. Recently, the states of Utah and Florida passed laws banning, banning local governments from adding fluoride to public drinking water. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has long advocated to stop fluoridation. He claims it's linked to health issues.

A brand-new study, however, indicates that removing fluoride from drinking water could significantly increase cavities in the teeth of children and increase health care costs by billions of dollars. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is here. Sanjay, how exactly does fluoride protect your teeth and what are the concerns about it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes. So, you know, with regard to how it protects your teeth, it's interesting. You eat sugar. You have these microorganisms in your -- in your mouth. They consume that sugar, and it turns into an acid, and that acid essentially demineralizes and sort of wears away at your teeth. What fluoride does, Jake, it basically remineralizes it.

That's what -- that's what fluoride does. That's why it's been, you know, part of dental care for 80 years now. The concern is, and -- and I'll tell you the concern, but preface by saying the dose makes the poison. That's one of the things we always say in medicine. The dose of something, if you have a high enough dose of anything, it could potentially be problematic.

We know that fluoride in too high doses can cause something known as skeletal fluorosis, which is sort of a -- making the bones kind of brittle in your -- in your skeleton. Also dental fluorosis, if you've ever seen somebody who has sort of these white marks on their teeth, that's probably dental fluorosis. And then the last one, Jake, neurotoxicity is the one that's gotten a lot of attention lately.

There were these studies all done outside the United States that showed in high doses, again, the dose makes the poison, in high doses, fluoride could be associated with the lowering of IQ later on in life. One of the studies that's often cited was a study of pregnant women who were exposed to high fluoride while they were pregnant and their children born years later had an association with lower IQ.

Now in the United States, just to give you some context, Jake, the -- the acceptable limits of fluoride in the water are about half of the level of what the concerning level might be. So far below what concerning levels might be that we do see around the world.

TAPPER: What are the risks of removing fluoride from tap water?

GUPTA: Yes, so, you know, you have to look at modeling studies to sort of say, hey, look, what will happen over the next few years if you take fluoride out of water? And you can also look at some international data. But when you put it all together in the United States, over the next five years, they say it could lead to about 25 million more cavities, primarily among children. After 10 years, 54 million more cavities.

And cavities in this case was defined as something that needs a filling. Admittedly, again, these studies are hard to do. And Jake, it is worth pointing out that there are countries around the world that have eliminated fluoride from their drinking water.

GUPTA: Iceland, for example, they don't have fluoride in their drinking water. They have kids actually do two fluoride rinses a month instead. In England, they don't fluoridate their water. They fortify their milk with fluoride instead. So there's these different fluoridation schemes around the world. Calgary and Canada, they removed fluoride, I think it was back in 2011.

But then they saw this -- this concern that we're just talking about, more cavities, and they added it back in. So this is not a new discussion. It's been discussed in many countries around the world and, you know, had mixed results.

TAPPER: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. And if you have questions for Sanjay about fluoride, scan the QR code on your screen right now that we're showing. Scan that QR code so you can submit your question. Sanjay will be back tomorrow to answer some of your queries.

[17:55:06]

We have some incredible video today showing Ukraine blowing up a Russian bridge, Ukraine's second surprise attack on Russia this week. How they pulled this one off. Is Ukraine on a roll? We'll get some insight next.

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TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, what led to the deadly shooting that killed actor, Jonathan Joss, perhaps best known for his roles in the T.V. shows "King of the Hill" and "Parks and Recreation"? Police are calling it a neighborhood dispute, but the actor's husband says this murder was a hate crime. What he says led to shots fired, ahead.

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Plus, a home raided where authorities believe an escaped inmate recorded a video pleading his case after 18 days on the run and on the lam.