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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Giuffre Family Shocked By Trump Saying Epstein Stole Workers; Top Trump Officials to Travel to Gaza to Inspect Aid Delivery; Veterans Urge Congress to Speed Up Compensation for Camp Lejeune Victims. Justin Timberlake Reveals Lyme Disease Diagnosis; "The Naked Gun" Revives 30-Year-Old Series. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 31, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, demanding answers, the serious questions being posed by the parents of the late Virginia Giuffre, who was a victim of Jeffrey Epstein. What the family wants to know after President Trump claimed that Epstein stole Giuffre from him at Mar-a-Lago.

Plus desperate aid airdropped into Gaza today as two key Trump administration officials get ready to visit the Gaza Strip themselves. This hour, hear from an Israeli human rights organization that is now saying Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

Also, I'll speak with the Republican and the Democrat joining forces to help families exposed to toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.

And Lieutenant Frank Drebin is back, well, sort of. The director and co-writer of the old school hit, Naked Gun, will be here with the new police squad now on the case,

The Lead tonight, the family of one of Jeffrey Epstein's most high- profile victims, Virginia Giuffre, is seeking answers from President Trump after his comments earlier this week. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, he took people that worked for me. And I told him, don't do it anymore. And he did it. And I said, stay the hell out of here.

REPORTER: Mr. President did one of those stolen, you know, persons, that include Virginia Giuffre?

TRUMP: I don't know. I think she worked at the spa. I think so. I think that was one of the people. He stole her.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Giuffre's brothers and sisters-in-law saying in a statement, quote, it makes us ask if he was aware of Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell's criminal actions, especially given his statement two years later that his good friend, Jeffrey, quote, likes women on the younger side, no doubt about it, unquote. We and the public are asking for answers. Survivors deserve this, unquote.

CNN's Chief White House Corresponded and Anchor Kaitlan Collins is here with me now. Kaitlan, his staff hates the story and yet President Trump keeps talking about it.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: And also keeps revealing information that is keeping it very much in the news cycle and creating even more questions for the president, including what he said on Air Force One, which was the first time he had acknowledged what Virginia Giuffre had been saying for years, which is that Ghislaine Maxwell recruited her away from Mar-a-Lago, where she was working when she was just 16 years old. And the president's comments there obviously had raised a lot of questions about what he knew.

Now, the president has not been accused of any wrongdoing here, he never has in connection with Jeffrey Epstein, but it's in terms of what he knew and why Jeffrey Epstein was kicked out of Mar-a-Lago. And after he was saying that he was taking young women away from the spot, obviously, has only raised more questions about what his suspicions were. And he was asked about that again today. And this is what the president told reporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: No, I don't know really why but I said if he's taken anybody from Mar-a-Lago, he's hiring or whatever he is doing, I didn't like it. And we threw him out. We said, we don't want him, you know, at the place. This is a story that's been known for many years, as you know, but it's -- I didn't like it that he was doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And notice there, he said hiring them away from Mar-a-Lago. He had been saying that they -- he had stolen people from Mar-a-Lago before. I had heard some White House officials say that, you know, he should use different language in terms of that. It's not clear --

TAPPER: Yes, when you're talking about people who have been trafficked, you don't want to talk about them as if they're objects.

COLLINS: Right. And so the president went on to say that.

Karoline Leavitt addressed this earlier today before the president spoke. And she was saying that when the president was asked about it on Air Force One yesterday, he was not bringing up Virginia Giuffre two days ago, that instead it was posed to him by a reporter, which it was, but he initially said, I don't know, and then he confirmed that yes, she was someone who was recruited away from Mar-a-Lago. And so it's just raised even more questions about what the president knew if he was suspicious of Jeffrey Epstein's actions at the time. And also it comes as a major conversation has centered around Ghislaine Maxwell. And you saw her family, Virginia Giuffre's family speaking out today in that rare statement saying, you know, all of these things about what a monster, as they described her, and saying how cruel she was to their sister, but also saying that she should not get leniency from this president. And a White House official told CNN earlier today, right now, he's not currently considering it.

But, notably, the president has not ruled that out when he's been asked personally by reporters.

TAPPER: There's no reason to give her clemency. If the attorney general or the deputy attorney general want answers from Ghislaine Maxwell, they can convene a grand jury and force her to answer the questions.

[18:05:01]

And she pleads the Fifth, they can have the judge impose penalties on her. This clemency thing is just this bizarre thing. There's no need to do it.

COLLINS: But he hasn't ruled it out, which I just think is notable. I mean, clearly, he does not --

TAPPER: Yes, I agree.

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE) in a box there.

TAPPER: It's also notable that he said when she went to prison that he wished her well.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, and it has raised questions about what that means. And also we still have no idea what information she provided to the deputy attorney general last week. We've heard nothing from the Justice Department since then, nothing from her attorney since they left the correctional or the U.S. attorney's office that day about what exactly she disclosed and how, and if they plan to use it.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, always great to have you. And tonight, Kaitlan's going to be talking to the family of the late Virginia Giuffre, Sky and Amanda Roberts, and Danny and Lynette Wilson, on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. That's a must- watch. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN. Thanks, Kaitlan.

Let's bring in Dave Aronberg. He was the Florida state attorney for Palm Beach County from 2013 until earlier this year. Dave, the statement from the Giuffre family opens up the press president to even more questions about what he knew about Epstein's behavior when they knew each other before they had their falling out. What kind of pressure can the Giuffre family and other victims put on the administration to release more information?

DAVE ARONBERG, FORMER STATE ATTORNEY, PALM BEACH COUNTY 2013-2025: Jake, they're just keeping the story going, and so is Trump. I'm surprised that Trump is saying things like, well, I didn't like that Epstein stole away my employees, and then said, well, I don't know who they were. And then, oh yes, it could be that underage a girl, Giuffre, who worked at the spa, when it was pretty well known that a reason why Trump broke ties with Epstein was reportedly, Epstein was hitting on the underage daughter of a Mar-a-Lago member.

Now, I don't know why Trump doesn't focus on that instead talking about that he broke off with Epstein because Epstein was trying to hire away one of his employees, that just is bizarre and opens up many more questions and results in what you saw with the Giuffre's family saying, hey, what's going on here?

TAPPER: Yes.

ARONBERG: And so all this just keeps the story going and it doesn't have to keep going like this.

TAPPER: You know, Attorney General Pam Bondi well. She used to be the attorney general of Florida. Do you have a sense of how much of a priority this case likely is for her given the high level of public interest but also the precarious position this seems to put the White House in where they have this story, this drumbeat of a story that they hate, that President Trump keeps feeding?

ARONBERG: It's impossible to ignore it, Jake. This is what people are talking about. And she's been dealt a tough hand here because members of the administration were talking about the heads of the FBI, Kash Patel, Dan Bongino, were spreading these conspiracy theories. And now the bills have come due. There's an old saying by Winston Churchill that an appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile hoping it will eat him last. Well, here, the crocodile is always hungry and they're coming for the ones who made these promises, and the promises are not being kept. So, she has been put in a tough position.

And so that's why I she's trying to at least put stuff out saying, we're going to go to the grand jury, we're going to try to get that released, the grand jury transcript, but that's not going to satisfy anyone. The conspiracy theorists who have been fed all these lies over the years are not going to be satisfied until the full Epstein file is released and Bill Clinton's names at the top of it. So, I don't see this going away anytime soon.

TAPPER: You have a view, most of us do not given your experience in Palm Beach County in the legal system, do you have any understanding as to why Epstein in that 2005 to 2008 period was so coddled by prosecutors in Florida, including your predecessor, Barry Krischer, and then U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta? Like what was the reason for it? Why would they be so lenient? Why would they only indict him for one victim instead of the 34 who were available to talk?

ARONBERG: You know, I don't know the answers, Jake. I know mistakes were made. I do know that at the time this happened, which was years before I became state attorney, in fact, Barry Krischer was there three state attorneys before I got there. But at the time, the law in Florida made underage girls who took money in exchange for sex acts into prostitutes, criminals. Now, they're rightly seen as victims. The laws changed. So, they were dealing with older laws, and they were dealing apparently, according to what I heard, were reluctant witnesses to come forward and to testify.

Now, that doesn't excuse anyone. I'm not excusing anyone here, but it was at a different time. And I don't know what happened then, but clearly mistakes were made and you see people having to live with that. Alex Acosta had his career ruined.

[18:10:01]

He was the secretary of labor, and it all came crashing down because of this.

The thing that troubled me the most is this non-prosecution deal that gained immunity to unknown co-conspirators. I've never seen that happen before. That was at the federal level, not the state level. So, there are still a lot of unanswered questions and the grand jury transcripts are not going to answer them. I'm not even sure if the Epstein files, if released, will answer them.

TAPPER: Dave Aronberg, thanks so much. I appreciate your time, sir.

Coming up the head of an Israeli human rights group worries that Israel may already be a pariah nation because of the way it's conducted its war in Hamas. The group is accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, and the director of the group will join us next.

And what may have been the most severe turbulence on a U.S. commercial flight, one passenger said it felt like an earthquake. What caused all the shaking? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Our World Lead now takes us to the Middle East, where pessimism over a ceasefire between Israel Hamas is deepening. Sources tell CNN that Hamas just simply stopped even engaging in negotiations. Today, Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff met with the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Tomorrow, Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee plan to visit Gaza to, quote, inspect the current aid distribution sites, unquote.

[18:15:06]

And joining us now is Yuli Novak. She's the executive director of B'Tselem, one of the two Israeli human rights organizations that this week declared that the Israeli government and military are committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Thanks so much for joining us.

I want to get to your report in just a second, but, first, I do want to ask about these developments. The leaders of Canada, the United Kingdom, and France, all have said in the last few days that they plan to recognize a Palestinian state, though the White House here in the U.S. says Trump disagrees with that designation. But even so, a growing number of lawmakers in the U.S. Senate here in D.C. are voting to oppose the sale of bombs and firearms and munitions to Israel. Do you fear that this international shift in attitude towards Israel and Israel's actions in Gaza might lead, if it hasn't already, to Israel becoming something of a pariah nation?

YULI NOVAK, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, B'TSELEM: I think we might be there already, but what I am much more worried about than the status of Israel as a country is what Israel is really doing in reality on the ground just here on this land where we live in and the fact that Israel committing genocide. And I think regimes around the world who are committing this kind of crime are supposed and was supposed way before to be marked as an illegitimate system that work in an illegitimate way that has to be stopped.

In that sense, I'm sorry to say, I mean, Palestinians do have the right to self-determination. And it's good that countries around the world are willing to recognize it in some way. But what we are talking about that takes place right now is much more serious than that, and that is a genocide. And genocide cannot wait until September. The genocide has to stop now.

TAPPER: So, let's talk about your report, because, obviously, the war has been raging since October 2023, after Hamas attacked Israel more than 20 months. Why did your group decide to make this determination of genocide now?

NOVAK: So, we actually -- we understood it way before, but what we had to do during the months, and we worked as hard as we could to create the -- to do the groundwork, to create for us as an Israeli- based organization, as organization of Israelis and Palestinians work together, and we have dozens of Palestinians in our team that lives in the West Bank, in Gaza and also inside Israel. So, we had to do the legal and conceptual groundwork in order to come out of it.

But I'll say more than that as human right defenders wake up every morning in the last two years and even before that, asking our self how can be more -- how can we be most effective in struggling this thing that we see in front of our eyes. And this report is actually our answer to that because what we have in this report is, first of all, we analyze and show how this -- you know, what everybody sees around the world, the mass killing, the mass destruction, the mass deportation, of displacement of people, the starvation, how all of this is actually part of a coordinated action of Israel that is oriented not only to hurt -- you know, you called it a war. Israel is calling it a war against Hamas, but what we see happening in real life is actually a war against the entire population of Gaza with the clear intention to destroy this group. And that is exactly the definition of genocide.

TAPPER: You told my colleague, Christiane Amanpour, that Israel's government leaders are becoming, quote, more delusional about the war. We just heard Prime Minister Netanyahu say on Sunday that there is no starvation. Not only that it isn't a policy or, you know, that they're not trying to cause it, but just that starvation doesn't exist, which President Trump said that obviously it did exist. Are you getting any feedback from Israeli leaders about your report? NOVAK: So, no, and that's I think exactly a good or horrible example for if you want to ask yourself how a society can become a genocidal one and how a system turns into a genocidal system, this is part of it.

[18:20:10]

Because, you know, while I'm talking to you now and our reports were all over the world and footages from Gaza are all over the world, I would say that 99 percent of the Israelis haven't heard about our report. Israelis are really traumatized, I mean, from October 7th, which was a real thing and real trauma and an event with real crimes, war crimes, numerous war crimes that were committed, but also a moment that instill this existential threat feeling in Israel.

TAPPER: Yuli Novak, thank you so much. I really appreciate your time today.

NOVAK: Thank you.

TAPPER: For decades now, families one stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina have questioned if old toxic water could be why they have health problems now. It's a story we've been covering here on the lead for years. Coming up, a Republican and a Democrat joining forces to try to get answers, coming up next on The Lead.

Stick with us.

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[18:25:00]

TAPPER: We're back with the Buried Lead. That's what we call stories that we think deserve much more attention. There's a new bipartisan bill that could impact up to a million former service members and their families after being exposed to toxic drinking water at Camp Lejeune. The water at the North Carolina military base was heavily contaminated with cancer-causing industrial chemicals from 1953 all the way through 1987. This new legislation would speed up the hundreds of thousands of claims connected to the exposure.

And joining me now is Lance Corporal Jeff Rickabaugh, a retired U.S. Marine, who was stationed at Camp Lejeune for a year-and-a-half between 1986 and 1988. Thank you so much for being with us, Jeff.

Tell us what you remember about the drinking water at Camp Lejeune.

JEFF RICKABAUGH, U.S. MARINE VETERAN: It did -- it had a foul odor and it did have a foul taste. It couldn't have contributed to anything at the time and we were encouraged --- Marines, do not -- we don't speak up. We're encouraged to keep our mouth shut and keep moving on and carrying out the orders of the day. It absolutely had a foul odor and a foul taste.

TAPPER: Yes, certainly Marines are not encouraged to complain, that's for sure. You have -- RICKABAUGH: Yes, sir.

TAPPER: You have Parkinson's disease and you say there are others who were in your platoon at Camp Lejeune who also have Parkinson's. You were diagnosed in 2016. But it wasn't until recently that a V.A. doctor connected your ailment to Camp Lejeune. Is that right?

RICKABAUGH: Ironically enough, it was just the first time any doctor had asked me about it was just two days ago, whether -- you know, whether he asked me if I had a family history, and, of course, I don't. I researched my family history after the diagnosis and then he had asked me about Camp Lejeune. And I'm grateful he did.

TAPPER: Yes. And you filed a legal claim under the PACT Act, which President Biden signed into law in 2022. So, yours is one of more than 400,000 claims. What is the status of your claim?

RICKABAUGH: It's in the queue somewhere, Mr. Tapper. What we should really, you know, take a look at those numbers is to-date, although there is 400,000 claims in queue, less than 200 have had a resolution, and that bill was passed three years ago next month.

TAPPER: Wow. So, this bipartisan Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act that was just introduced, it aims to clear legal hurdles that are keeping thousands, hundreds of thousands of veterans such as yourself from being able to take your claims to court. How big of a difference might this legislation mean to you?

RICKABAUGH: To me, personally it would make a dramatic difference. Section 804 of the PACT Act, it guaranteed us nothing except for the most important thing is to be heard in court before a jury. And as soon as that act was passed, the Department of Justice immediately went to turn it apart and they swiftly removed that right from us.

TAPPER: Lance Corporal Jeff Rickabaugh, thank you so much for your time and thank you so much for your service, sir.

RICKABAUGH: I'm grateful, Mr. Tapper, and thank you so very much.

TAPPER: Joining us now, two bipartisan lawmakers who introduced this bill. It's called the Ensuring Justice for Camp Lejeune Victims Act, Democratic Congresswoman Deborah Ross and Republican Congressman Greg Murphy, both of them from the great state of North Carolina.

Congressman Murphy, you actually represent Camp Lejeune. It's in your Congressional district. How would this bill help veterans and their families?

REP. GREG MURPHY (R-NC): Well, the original bill, Jake, was what, you know, took so many years in coming and, sadly enough, our Navy was derelict really in recognizing that the problems that were going on in Camp Lejeune. This was pulled together as part of the PACT Act and says, hey, look, it is time to have your day in court. You know, as the former -- as the witness just, or witness as the person just mentioned there were problems with the Department of Justice, but this is what this correction bill is trying to get individuals really to get some adjudication to their claims so that they can get the relief that they really truly deserve.

TAPPER: And, Congresswoman Ross, as the Lance Corporal just said, of the roughly 400,000 claims that have been filed, there have been maybe only a hundred settlements or so that have been reached as of last year. What kinds of roadblocks have some of your constituents run into when trying to get the justice they deserve?

[18:30:03]

REP. DEBORAH ROSS (D-NC): Well, there really have been three roadblocks. And as a matter of fact, I had at a town hall earlier this week and a veteran who has had medical problems because of water at Camp Lejeune was at that town hall and thanked both Congressman Murphy and myself for introducing this corrections act.

So, the three things are a jury trial. We thought it was clear that you get a jury trial under the original PACT Act, but a district court judge said it was not clear. So, we are making it crystal clear.

The other thing is that under the PACT Act, only one venue, only one federal court could hear the case. And that would be in the Eastern District of North Carolina, one of the fastest growing districts in the entire country. We haven't gotten a new judge there since 1990. This would open it up to three district courts in North Carolina and three in South Carolina.

And then the third really important thing is it would prescribe what the attorney's fees are for both settlement and if you go to trial. And that would let victims, these brave service members, know what their compensation would be based on whether they want a protracted legal fight or whether they want to settle early. And it would help them make that assessment. And these attorney's fees are things that are consistent with what fair attorney's fees are around the country.

TAPPER: Congressman Murphy, do you think this bill could pass as a standalone measure?

MURPHY: Yes, I do. There's plenty of bipartisan support. You know, Deborah is on judiciary. I'm not, and I think there's been plenty of bipartisan support occurring on that committee, which is really the one of jurisdiction, and then further in the House. I think it will, and there's plenty of momentum. Senator Tillis is spearheading in it over in the Senate.

You know, one thing I think that's important is I'm a physician, I'm not an attorney like Deborah, is one thing that's brought out as general causation. If you are on the base for a certain period of time and you have a disorder, there is an association with this. It does not mean just because you were on that base and you developed Parkinson's, for example, that caused that. So, it gives a little bit of more leeway, a little bit better avenue to say, all right, you were there, this is a general causation, you should get relief. So, no, I do think -- I think there'll be a lot of momentum to have this passed.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Ross, Congressman Murphy, both of you from the great state of North Carolina, thank you both for joining me. Please stay in touch. We want to keep covering this legislation until it becomes law.

ROSS: Thank you for covering it.

TAPPER: Coming up next, that Delta flight with the terrifying cause of turbulence. Should you worry it could happen on your next flight?

And later, what some call the funniest movie of the year, it's not even out yet, it will be tomorrow, the Naked Gun, 30-year sequel. The film's director and co-writer will be here coming up on The Lead.

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[18:35:00]

TAPPER: In our National Lead, 25 people were hospitalized after a Delta flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam encountered severe turbulence just after takeoff.

Here's CNN's Pete Mutnean.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The images captured by passengers proved the force of what could have been the worst case of turbulence on a U.S. commercial flight in years. Anything not strapped down was tossed to the ceiling of the Airbus A330 about 40 minutes into the nine-hour flight from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Minneapolis tower, Delta 56, emergency aircraft.

MUNTEAN: The unplanned landing in Minneapolis was caught on video with emergency crews waiting at the gate. 25 people, nearly one in every ten on board, were taken to hospitals.

WILLIAM WEBSTER, DELTA 56 PASSENGER: I watched a wine cart just get thrown into the air.

MUNTEAN: William Webster says the bad turbulence came on quickly and only got worse.

WILLIAMS: It was very unnerving. I mean, I'm a frequent flyer, like I'm on like 80 flights a year, probably flown over a million miles in my life, never seen anything like that.

MUNTEAN: Flightradar 24 shows the flight climbed more than 1000 feet in less than 30 seconds, followed by a rapid descent, causing passengers to scream and phones to go flying. The flight was over Wyoming where the National Weather Service warned of potential thunderstorms on Wednesday.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: A SIGMET, which is an aviation weather advisory, was in effect where we believe the turbulence took place over portions of Wyoming.

MUNTEAN: It is just the latest example of passengers being rocked by turbulence in flight. Last year, a British man died after turbulence on a Singapore Airlines flight. But fatalities are rare and such incidents often leave flight attendants with broken bones. In this latest case, one passenger who suffered whiplash said the episode felt like an earthquake.

LESLIE WOODS, DELTA 56 PASSENGER: There was a little girl across the aisle from me that was just terrified and she screamed, we're going to die, we're going to die. So, I was trying to keep her calm and I really thought we were going to die. It was that scary.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MUNTEAN (on camera): The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating this. It's says turbulence is the top cause for injuries on board commercial flights. The pilot told the passengers that this episode came on without any warning. Delta says seven of its crew members were injured in this and they have since been released from the hospital. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

Coming up next, that revelation from superstar Justin Timberlake earlier today that he's battling Lyme disease. We'll take a closer look at the condition next with CNN's chief medical correspondent.

Also some breaking news for you, strong storms along the East Coast are crippling transportation in New York, water flooding public buses in Brooklyn, and falling down onto trains. At Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan, dangerous flash flooding is possible throughout the night and we will be monitoring it. We're back in a moment.

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[18:45:00]

TAPPER: In our Health Lead, you might know him as the other J.T., the prince of pop, former NSYNC superstar Justin Timberlake. Fans have been noticing that he has been seeming a little low energy during his the Forget Tomorrow World tour, which just wrapped up. Here's a sample from his show in Dublin at the end of June.

One TikTok user commented, quote, the crowd featuring Justin Timberlake. Today, J.T. addressed this issue directly posting on Instagram, quote, I've been battling some health issues and was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically, unquote.

CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here with us now. Sanjay, how common is Lyme disease? What are the symptoms and how do you treat it?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, it's not that common. About 450,000 people a year get it, so, you know, 0.1 percent of the population. Some parts of the country are more likely to get it. It's named after Lyme, Connecticut, as you know, Jake, so the northeast. [18:45:01]

It's a bacterial illness that is spread by ticks. So, if there are ticks that are carrying Lyme, that bacteria in your area, you're more likely to get it.

It's treated with antibiotics typically two to four weeks, and those are some of the symptoms there which typically show up about a month -- within a month I should say, of the tick bites.

So, fever and chills, headache, fatigue, joint aches that can be confused with arthritis and a rash, which, by the way, is often a very characteristic rash. Not everyone develops this, but there's something known as a bullseye rash. You can see it there on the screen. You see that. And that's pretty indicative that someone is dealing with Lyme disease.

I will say, Jake, most people, if diagnosed early and treated early, most people will recover again, two to four weeks of antibiotics.

But there is a, you know, not an insignificant percentage of people who have lingering symptoms post sort of Lyme treatment syndrome. And it's similar, as it's been described to me, as long COVID, so that, you know, hopefully he's not dealing with that, but it can -- it can be pretty debilitating, as you said, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Switching to that new study we were talking about earlier this week from the Alzheimer's association that shows that diet and exercise can slow cognitive decline. You field -- you fielded some viewer questions on this topic. You have some answers.

So, let's start with Allan from Ottawa, Canada. Hey, Canada.

Alan wants to know, does having type two diabetes accelerate cognitive decline if you're over the age of 70?

GUPTA: Yeah. The short answer is yes. There is a link between diabetes and cognitive decline.

You know, the general population, about, 11 percent or so of people have diabetes diagnosed. If you get over the age of 65, the number is close to 30 percent. And some people have even started referring to Alzheimer's as type three diabetes, feeling like the connection is so strong there.

Turns out when you have high blood sugar, that can be problematic for some of these neurodegenerative diseases. And also, just the insulin resistance. If insulin is not working as well, that seems to accelerate cognitive decline as well.

So best to get a hold of that not only for diabetes but for your brain as well.

TAPPER: Our next question is from Cal. Cal asks, what kind of impact can learning a new language or learning to play an instrument have on cognitive decline? GUPTA: Yeah, I love this question, and I think the key thing there is learning new things. A lot of people think of brain training in the form of crossword puzzles or number puzzles, which can be good, but crossword puzzles, typically, if you do a lot of them, make you very good at doing crossword puzzles. If you're trying to build more resilience and hopefully ward off dementia, doing new things seems to make a much bigger impact.

There was one interesting study, Jake, looking at identical twins. One played an instrument, the other did not. So genetically identical, and they found the music playing twins typically had slower onset of cognitive dementia if they had it at all, Jake.

TAPPER: And finally, Sanjay, we've actually had a lot of people ask that. They see a lot of products out there that you seem to be promoting, but they're not sure because it might be A.I.

Let's roll just a little example.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, A.I. GENERATED)

ANDERSON COOPER (A.I. GENERATED): Scientists believe they may have finally found a natural way to not only fight, but potentially reverse the devastating effects of the disease. The most surprising part, the key is in some new drug. It all comes down to a simple honey recipe and a powerful traditional Indian root developed by Dr. Sanjay Gupta himself.

GUPTA (A.I. GENERATED): I want to say -- that this is truly a landmark in modern medicine. And I am honored to be a part of it. Today, new hope is born. In fact, I'd call it a new certainty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That seems really fishy to me -- Sanjay.

GUPTA: Look, it's not me, Jake. You know, this stuff's getting pretty scary, I got to say. I mean, you and I know each other well, so you could probably tell that wasn't me and that wasn't Anderson. But a lot of people are getting duped by this. The -- that ad goes on to charge people hundreds of dollars for a product that I have nothing to do with is a total scam. And frankly, these are reprehensible people. We've asked them to stop doing this.

I would say, Jake, if you see something like this and it seems too good to be true, it's too good to be true. Trust your instincts on this. Also, you know, pay attention to these videos. If the audio or the video doesn't seem natural, we're dealing more and more with A.I., and a lot of people are duping others, you know, preying on them, frankly, Jake, and taking their money.

TAPPER: And where are the lawmakers? Where are the people that are supposed to be regulating this stuff and getting it on, like, hello? Time to do your job.

Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much. GUPTA: Right.

TAPPER: Good to see you.

Has comedy changed drastically over the last 30 years, or are some things just always funny? We're going to talk to the director and co- writer of what is bound to be a summer blockbuster. The film is "Naked Gun". The director and co-writer is Akiva Schaffer. He's going to join me next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:53:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLIE NIELSEN, ACTOR: Go ahead, threaten me like you have the American people for so long, but it's not going to work this time. You're part of a dying breed Habsburg like people who can name all 50 states. Their truth hurts, doesn't it, Habsburg? Oh, sure. Maybe not as much as jumping on a bicycle with a seat missing, but it hurts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In our pop culture lead, lieutenant Frank Drebin of police squad is back on the case. But no, it's not that one. This one is Frank Drebin Jr., though he is also a hard charging L.A. cop with police squad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIAM NEESON, ACTOR: I haven't had the heart to clean since my wife died.

PAMELA ANDERSON, ACTRESS: My condolences. How did she pass?

NEESON: Great, 50 yards. Easy arm. Like a cannon. And then she died. So we'll never know if she could have gone pro. She was the sweetest woman I've ever known.

ANDERSON: She sounds like a saint or maybe a bronco. Or a 49-er. We would have been happy with any team. Really. Anyone but the Browns.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Like father, like son. That's a clip from the brand new "Naked Gun" movie, following Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin Jr. on a mission to save the world. It hits theaters this weekend.

[18:55:00]

And the director and co-writer of the film, Akiva Schaffer, joins us now.

Akiva, the movie is hilarious. I saw it last night. It's amazing. There is a line early on in the film when Liam Neeson's character is looking at a plaque of his father, Frank Drebin Sr., and says, I want to be like you, but refreshed and original.

Do you think you achieve that with the film?

AKIVA SCHAFFER, DIRECTOR AND CO-WRITER, "THE NAKED GUN": Yeah, he says, just like you, but completely different and original. I mean, that is our thesis statement, right? And when I signed up to do the movie, I was like, that's the whole -- that's the whole challenge right there. I mean, I hope we did. You saw it.

TAPPER: I think you did. I think you did. But I'm a fan, you know, I'm a member of Quaid army, as you know.

So, you also -- you also -- you also did what they did in the original "Airplane" and the original "Police Squad" in 1982, the TV show, and then the movie in the late '80s, casting serious actors in comic roles and having them play it straight. Liam Neeson, Danny Huston, it's exactly how it was done. Now, I know, like a few years ago, they were talking about bringing back police squad, but they were going to cast a comic actor.

Was it important to you to follow in the -- in the DNA of the original?

SCHAFFER: Yeah. The original guys, Zas as they're known, the brothers Zucker and Abrahams. That's what differentiated those movies, at least in my experience, I think they might have been the first. You know, when "Airplane" came out, and people like Leslie Nielsen who are famous for being dramatic actors were in it, that's kind of what they -- that is the DNA of it. So, to me, if you put comedians in, then you're just doing a cop comedy. And putting dramatic actors is what kind of the main thing that makes a "Naked Gun"?

TAPPER: So I know you disagree with the premise that, you know, one -- you can't make good, edgy, stupid comedy today. People are too sensitive, blah blah, blah. I think your past work proves that's wrong. But there are new boundaries. There are new targets. There -- it's certainly different than it was in the '80s and '90s. "Airplane", for example, is full of a whole bunch of ethnic jokes and stuff that, you know, probably wouldn't be seemed funny, wouldn't seem funny to a lot of people today.

How do you negotiate that?

SCHAFFER: I mean, it's just taste, right? And you can -- I think you could still do everything. You just have to be willing to have to hear what people's opinions are. And I'm sure there were people offended back then. It's just that they didn't have social media to tell you right away, so you didn't have to hear it as much.

But I think you just always are in the time you live in and the comedy reflects that time. And we have some edgy stuff in here while being PG-13 and not cursing ever. Just because the original didn't curse. So --

TAPPER: Oh, is that right? There's no cursing?

SCHAFFER: I don't think -- well, because the original was in 1988 and it was doing you know, '50s TV like M Squad with Lee Marvin.

TAPPER: Right.

SCHAFFER: So to feel kind of stiff and authoritative -- you know, they're all about making fun of authority, right? All of these kind of "Naked Gun" movies. And so, I think that's why there's -- and then I didn't want to either, just because I thought it was a fun challenge. Like, see how dirty and edgy and risky we could be without -- without cursing.

TAPPER: With a romp in the snow, with the snowman. That was -- that was a very interesting little subplot.

SCHAFFER: Spoiler, Jake.

TAPPER: I didn't say anything about it. I didn't say anything more than Neeson said with Colbert, I kept it, I kept it. No spoilers.

So --

SCHAFFER: Fair enough.

TAPPER: -- I have to say, it's a great time to have a movie like this. Just a stupid, hilarious comedy in theaters.

People really need to laugh. I see this reflected in a lot of the comments that people are making about the movie, including "The New York Times" film critic. How did you know that this was going to be the right time to bring back "Naked Gun"?

SCHAFFER: I didn't. I mean, we're always just trying -- we're being mean, Andy and Jorma, who you mentioned as the lonely island and they're not involved in this one, but we just always -- our favorite stuff growing up was this kind of stuff. And I know it has gone out of fashion and there hasn't been spoof movies in a long time, but we've never stopped trying to make stuff that's surreal and really silly and stupid, as you say, in the good way.

And so maybe, maybe finally its time that well see if people show up in theaters this weekend. But maybe it's finally time that everybody else was ready for it, too.

TAPPER: Well, I think it's fantastic, and absolutely people should hit the theaters. It is just and as has been said in the reviews, there are so many jokes coming at you. If there's one that doesn't land like you don't even have time to react because there's another one coming. And that's definitely captures the spirit of the original.

"The Naked Gun" again hits theaters this weekend. It's a must see.

Akiva Schaffer, thank you so much. Later, Quaid.

SCHAFFER: Later. Righteous kill.

TAPPER: You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, and on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X @TheLeadCNN. If you ever miss an episode of the lead, you know what? You can listen

to all two hours of the show from whence you get your podcasts. All two hours just sitting right there waiting for you.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.