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The Lead with Jake Tapper

House Oversight Releases Transcript of Closed-Door Interview of Former Attorney General Pam Bondi; House Passes Resolution to Limit Trump's War Powers; Alabama Family Searches for Son Missing on Family Trip in Japan. Video Shows Extensive Damage To Newest U.S. Aircraft Carrier. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 04, 2026 - 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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JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the lead on Jake Tapper.

This hour, we are now learning exactly what former Attorney General Pam Bondi told lawmakers behind closed doors about the Epstein investigation. Bondi seems to be seeking to distance herself from how the files were released, saying it was her number two, the current acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, who was responsible for the process and the mishandling of it.

We're digging into what else Bondi said and the impact this could have on Blanche's confirmation process to become the full-time attorney general.

Plus, the frantic search underway tonight for an American college student who went missing on a family trip to Japan. Family members say 20-year-old Weston Higginbotham got into an argument with his mother over her excessive use of A.I. and told his family he needed some space. That was six days ago. He has not been seen since. CNN's team is on the ground where locals are joining police in searching for this young man.

And new video obtained exclusively by CNN shows the damage on the USS Gerald Ford after a fire broke out while the ship took part in the war against Iran. The video is raising some serious questions about whether the U.S. Navy was fully transparent about what exactly unfolded on board.

Well, tonight, the political fallout over the Epstein files continues and is now tied directly to the man President Trump has picked to lead the Justice Department full time. According to a newly released transcript with the House Oversight Committee, former Attorney General Pam Bondi said this about Todd Blanche, who was her former deputy who's now been tapped to replace her, quote, he was in charge of the process and the entire release of the Epstein files, unquote. Bondi also deferred questions about whether the FBI had turned over all relevant Epstein documents to FBI Director Kash Patel. CNN's Kaitlan Collins is here with me in studio. Kaitlan, Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters today before this transcript was released if he was asked whether or not Blanche would have a tough time being confirmed, and he said, hard to say, which is not what somebody says usually about a president's nominees.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I do say, I mean, Todd Blanche got confirmed by the Senate before to become the deputy attorney general, so it's not clear that there would be someone who voted yes for him for that and would vote no on this. Maybe since obviously all of this has happened since then, the Epstein files investigation potentially given how much of a story it has become.

I will say that reading the transcript of Pam Bondi's interview with the House Oversight Committee, I certainly can see how Democrats are saying she's throwing Todd Blanche under the bus. She's saying that this was all him and his doing. It's also true. I mean, this was something that Todd Blanche's office was handling as the deputy attorney general.

I was told this months ago by someone who was describing to me what was happening with the investigation when it was really at the pinnacle of its blowback, that it was Blanche's office and his team that was handling the bulk of the work when it came to the Epstein investigation, and that Pam Bondi largely was dealing with more of the top line issues and was not involved in the day-to-day on the redactions and complying with that law that was passed because of Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna.

And so I think reading that it is true. What stood out to me, though, was that Pam Bondi said she did not know about Ghislaine Maxwell's prison transfer until she read about it in public reports, and said that she was uninvolved in that, which is pretty remarkable given how high-profile of a transfer it was. It was done by the Bureau of Prisons, which obviously is under the purview of the attorney general. And it came, of course, just a few days after Todd Blanche had conducted that interview with Ghislaine Maxwell.

TAPPER: Yes, from a serious security prison to a minimum security prison.

Todd Blanche has also been a lightning rod in the Senate over this weaponization fund, almost $1.8 billion, that could go theoretically to January 6th protesters who beat up cops and pleaded guilty. Today, Republicans rejected multiple efforts to kill the fund, though.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, I was talking to Manu about this last night and he was saying basically it came down to how the rule keeper in the Senate ruled on this. Did it need 60 votes or was it going to be able to pass with a simple majority? Because had it been able to pass with a simple majority, it would probably be part of this bill right now that they're going to be voting on. But because it needed that 60 vote threshold, it needed way more Republicans than were willing to cross the aisle and vote for this, a lot of them who are facing tough reelections this year. But with Todd Blanche himself, when he does, you know, eventually have to face his questions in terms of becoming the attorney general now that the president says he's going to nominate him, obviously, this has been something where he has been out front defending the bill. He was on Capitol Hill right after -- or the fund -- right after they announced it. He was defending it, saying it was similar to other provisions that other presidents had done, even though the comparison was pretty off, and also just basically arguing that it was worth moving forward with.

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And then, of course, this week when he came out and said they're not moving forward with the fund, which is not what the president said yesterday when we were asking him about this in the Oval Office, their answers did not match up. He just instead deferred to the attorneys, which seem to be creating some space for the president and the distancing from shelving this fund that his supporters very much want to see go into effect.

TAPPER: I never thought that it was shelved. I mean, it seemed pretty clear. If Todd Blanche's answer is, we are not moving forward, in Washington, D.C., you learn to -- as you know, you learn to hear, oh, we are not moving forward, doesn't mean we are never going to move forward. It just means at this exact moment we're not moving forward.

COLLINS: And that was the point we were making to the president yesterday when he was deferring to attorneys and to the courts that have gotten involved here is this idea, and that's why Republican senators are clearly -- they don't think that language has gone far enough, because they're introducing amendments or they're being asked to vote for them because Democrats are introducing them saying to officially bar the president from using this money to going to any of these people.

And, obviously, I mean, it's been a huge point of blowback in the White House that I do not think was expected when they first introduced this bill as part of this settlement with the president and his IRS lawsuit. I don't think they thought they were going to get this much blowback from Republicans.

But as they are on the verge of passing this immigration bill, and, yes, so far, they have not been able to get any of those provisions passed that bar this funding from happening, the fact that they are just now able to vote on this speaks to just what a huge blowup this has been inside the Republican Party. They were supposed to vote on this weeks ago and now they're just now getting around to the immigration funding because this has been a huge fight between Republicans.

TAPPER: All right, Kaitlan, so great to have you in studio. Thanks for being here.

And, of course, don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guests tonight include Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN. Let's turn now to our World Lead, because President Trump said today that he would be open to meeting with Iran's new supreme leader if it could help secure a deal to end the war. But Washington and Tehran have issued contradictory messages about the status of any negotiation.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran, the capital of Iran. And we should note CNN operates in Iran, as do any other reporters who are in Iran, only with the permission of the government. But CNN also maintains full editorial control of its reports. And here is Fred's report.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're at an event here in Tehran to mark the death of the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini. And as you can see, a lot of people have turned out here to pay their respects.

Now, in this year, as Iran is in this conflict with the United States, of course, this event also has a special meaning for the people who have come here. There's a lot of people that we are seeing who are waving red flags that say revenge on them, because, of course, there are still a lot of people here who want revenge for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and that's also something that was voiced here by the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't trust America, never, ever.

SEYYED AHMAD KHOMEINI, KHOMEINI'S GREAT GRANDSON: There is no reason for the Islamic Republic of Iran to grant concessions.

We have no reason to back down from our position. We were not defeated in war, nor have we been defeated in diplomacy. We demonstrated that we are capable of resisting and that we are highly resilient.

PLEITGEN: At the same time, of course, the context that all of this happens in is extremely important. There are talks that are going on between the U.S. and Iran, where both sides say they are trying to get to a memorandum of understanding that would then pave the way for broader peace talks to try and end the war between Iran and the United States for good.

Also, though, of course, the security situation, especially in the Persian Gulf, remains extremely volatile, with the U.S. hitting some targets on some Persian Gulf islands. The Iranians, for their part, saying that they were hitting targets affiliated with the United States in places like Kuwait and in places like Bahrain as well.

So, the security situation, very volatile, the ceasefire, very fragile, at the same time, both sides say that they are trying to find a way out of the impasse.

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PLEITGEN: And, you know, Jake, I was at another event here in Tehran later tonight, an evening event, where we also spoke to a lot of people, and many of them, quite frankly, also saying that they are quite skeptical as to whether or not this whole process that has been going on for so many weeks already is in the end going to lead to a success, to an agreement between the United States and Iran.

Nevertheless, one thing that we have been hearing from Iranian officials is that they do believe that in the end, as far as this waiting game is concerned, they are in a very strong position with that chokehold that they have on the Strait of Hormuz, also with the pressure that they're able to put especially on this whole region with the missiles and drones that they have, despite the fact that there is no doubt that certainly the economic troubles that Iran faces right now are pretty severe. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Fred Pleitgen live in Tehran where it's almost 1:40 in the -- or 1:30 in the morning, thank you so much.

[18:10:03]

I appreciate it. Stay safe.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois who's on the Senate Armed Services Committee and is an Iraq War veteran.

Senator, you've been a leading voice in the Senate trying to end the war in Iran. Yesterday, four Republicans in the House voted with Democrats to -- for that war resolution, which would either require President Trump to end the war or seek Congressional approval.

Now, Trump called the vote meaningless, and he wrote on social media, quote, who would do such an unpatriotic thing? They know where the negotiations stand. The Democrats, I think he said Dumocrats, are fueled by Trump Derangement Syndrome. They would rather have our country fail than give me another of many victories. The four Republicans, that's a whole other story. They're grandstanders. They should be ashamed of themselves, unquote.

This does come as Iran's foreign minister says, quote, no tangible progress has been made in the negotiations. What's your reaction?

SEN. TAMMY DUCKWORTH (D-IL): Well, my reaction is I'm doing the most patriotic thing I can do right now, which is carry out my duties under the Constitution of the United States. And, frankly, the president of the United States is supposed to come consult with Congress. Only Congress has the ability to declare war, and, frankly, he's made America less safe than ever before. Americans are suffering. We have dead service members, and we've lost, you know, literally billions of dollars in resources upwards of $39 billion he spent in the first 14 weeks of this war.

And what have we got? Nothing better than where we had before. The Straits of Hormuz is now mined. It was open before. Gas prices are going through the roof. And our service members are in harm's way when they should be protecting America. And, in fact, you know, they're out there carrying Trump's war of choice. So, the person that's unpatriotic at this point is Donald Trump. TAPPER: Take a listen to your colleague, Democratic Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, explaining why he is going to vote against the War Powers Act when it comes before the Senate. This is what he said last night.

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SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): My vote, no, is not a pro-war vote, you know, but it's absolutely a pro no nuclear Iran. And now here we are, and now I think the decision is produce the nuclear dust or this is going to continue, and then we're going to hold them accountable.

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TAPPER: What's your reaction to Senator Fetterman?

DUCKWORTH: Well, the problem is he's not -- President Trump's war on Iran has not stopped their march towards nuclear weapons, right? Remember that President Trump declared that we had supreme victory, that we destroyed Iran's nuclear program when he struck them months ago, and yet now he's claiming that they have access to the uranium and all of those stockpiles.

Frankly, what we have done is given Iran an access to a source of revenue teaching them that they can turn the Strait of Hormuz into a toll road and charge ships a million dollars a ship and that they can control the global economy.

We're nowhere near anywhere better off now than we were before Trump launched his war. We have a worse ayatollah than was in Iran. We have higher gas prices. The Strait of Hormuz is now mined. They have a new source of revenue where they can actually charge ships to transition, and now they understand on a very granular level how important their control of the Strait of Hormuz is. In fact, Donald Trump has made things worse for Americans, and actually for the world.

I just came from the Shangri-La Security Dialogues, and every single one of the people I talked to there in bilateral discussions is, what is happening? You've made situations, America, Trump has made the situation worse on a global scale.

TAPPER: Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, thank you so much for your time, and as always, thank you for your service.

Tonight, we are learning what former Attorney General Pam Bondi told Congress behind closed doors about the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files. A lawmaker who was in the room for that interview joins us live next.

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TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, new details on the Justice Department's handling of the Epstein files release, as the House Oversight Committee today just released a transcript from their interview with former Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Joining us now to discuss, Democratic Congressman James Walkinshaw of Virginia, who was on the House Oversight Committee and was in the room during Pam Bondi's closed-door meeting with the committee.

Congressman, after that meeting, you read this exchange from the proceeding, quote, what is your understanding of the extent to which President Trump was aware of Jeffrey Epstein or Ghislaine Maxwell's crimes prior to the crimes becoming public? And Pam Bondi replied, quote, I'm not certain of the extent of his knowledge. And afterwards, Bondi posted, quote, misrepresentation by Walkinshaw. What is your response now that the transcript is public?

REP. JAMES WALKINSHAW (D-VA): You know, all I did after the interview was quote verbatim what she said, and as the transcript shows, it wasn't a misrepresentation. It was a verbatim quote. It was shocking to me. Honestly, it was the only thing that shocked me in the interview was to hear her respond that way. I expected her to say that, absolutely, under no circumstances could Donald Trump have known about Epstein's crimes. I know the kind of man Donald Trump is. If he knew, he would've done something. She had the opportunity to do that. She didn't do that. That's very interesting.

TAPPER: I know Democrats want to subpoena the acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, not to mention FBI Director Kash Patel, to discuss this all. Are any Republicans on the Oversight Committee interested in speaking with Blanche or Patel?

WALKINSHAW: Not yet. I hope that they will come along. And, you know, had they participated in the interview with Pam Bondi, they would've heard her say time after time after time after time that Todd Blanche would know the answer to that question because he was responsible for those details. Now that they have the opportunity to read the transcript, I hope they'll see that and join us in calling for Todd Blanche and Kash Patel to come in and answer some of the questions that Pam Bondi said they are best equipped to answer.

TAPPER: So, the chairman of your committee, Republican James Comer, is urging the Justice Department to investigate two men with ties to Epstein after testimony from a former assistant to Epstein implicated these individuals.

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They deny the allegations. Do you think the Justice Department might take those requests seriously given the fact that they're coming from Comer?

WALKINSHAW: Look, to-date, both Pam Bondi and now Todd Blanche have refused to even entertain reopening any investigations related to Epstein. I hope they'll reconsider that. I agree with Chairman Comer on that point, but there's a lot more that needs to be done.

I questioned Pam Bondi about why she or Todd Blanche never directed the FBI to interview people very close to Epstein. They never interviewed Epstein's accountant. They never interviewed Epstein's lawyer. They never interviewed Les Wexner, the financier of the sex trafficking. That's kind of outrageous from my perspective. So, if they're going to reopen it, they need to do some of those interviews of folks who are close to Epstein, might have more information for us.

TAPPER: You've had the opportunity to review the Epstein files at the Justice Department. Have you taken advantage of that?

WALKINSHAW: Yes, I've been there several times, spent hours there. Obviously, there are 3 million files there, hundreds of thousands of redactions. So, you know, I've seen some of the needles in the haystack, but not all of the needles in the haystack.

TAPPER: But have you seen enough? Because obviously these files include FBI interviews with, you know, a lot of these survivors in which they actually name names and say, so and so did this, so and so raped me, so and so knew about that. I mean, is there enough to justify investigations into many, many more alleged perpetrators?

WALKINSHAW: There is enough information in the files, including some that are redacted, information from our investigation, including what you just referred to, the new allegations that have come to light as a result of our investigation, that I believe that it should be reopened. And I don't know if there are many, many, many, but certainly many interviews, in my view, the FBI should conduct related to this.

TAPPER: Congressman James Walkinshaw, Democrat of Virginia, thank you, sir. I appreciate it.

WALKINSHAW: Thank you.

TAPPER: New details of the urgent search underway for an American college student who went missing in Japan. CNN on the ground as the frantic search is now in its sixth day. That's next.

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TAPPER: In our World Lead, the search continues for an Auburn University student missing in Japan. According to his family, 20-year- old Weston Higginbotham stepped away during their family vacation on Friday to explore Kyoto alone and never returned.

CNN's Hanako Montgomery is in Kyoto, Japan. And what is the latest on this frantic search?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm just outside the station where Weston Higginbotham was last found on May 29th. This is Yamashina Station in Kyoto Prefecture. And I want to show you something that's been happening for the past couple hours or so. There's this Japanese woman here, an ordinary citizen, who's been handing out missing persons flyers to people who are walking by the station.

Now, this woman has no relation to the Higginbothams whatsoever. She's an ordinary citizen, but she felt so compelled to help the family in some way, shape or form. Her and her friend, they've been handing out these flyers, translating them in several languages and, again, trying to give them to as many people as possible, trying to spread the word to as many people as possible.

And, of course, as mothers themselves, they feel very, very compassionate, and they feel very horribly for the parents of the Higginbothams.

Now, we spoke to the parents just moments ago, earlier on Thursday, and, of course, naturally, they were extremely distressed about the situation. This is what Nancy, Weston's mother, told us earlier today.

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NANCY HIGGINBOTHAM, MOTHER OF MISSING AUBURN STUDENT: Every single second, you think about your kid, and then you have the flashbacks of when he was two, when I was breastfeeding him, the birthday parties we've thrown for him.

I want that back. I need him back because a family of three is not the Higginbothams. We're a family of four.

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MONTGOMERY: And she mentioned being a family of four.

And the reason why they're actually in Japan is because they're celebrating Weston's younger brother's high school graduation. And Nancy told me that, you know, she's trying to stay strong for her younger son, who's only 18 years old, but, naturally, as a human, she's having a really, really hard time, and sometimes just isn't able to keep that strong face.

Now, the police have told us that they've deployed dozens of officers and dogs to the surrounding forest in this area in Kyoto, and that's because Weston is an avid hiker. He's an environmentalist. And according to the mother, they had a small spat just hours before Weston disappeared. And when he has small spats with his family, he likes to take a beat. He likes to go into nature and calm down.

So, the police are hoping to find Weston in these woods. But there was a typhoon that hit Kyoto and other parts of Japan for the past couple of days or so, which have hampered efforts somewhat. But, again, that search is continuing, and the Higginbothams have told us that they're not leaving Japan until they've found their son.

TAPPER: All right. Hanako Montgomery in Kyoto, Japan, for us, thank you so much.

Up next, something we don't see enough these days, and that's bipartisanship. Two mayors, one Republican, one Democrat, how they're working together to find solutions for challenges impacting cities across the country.

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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, what is a city to do about homelessness and crime, or about using drones for emergency response or city operations, and what about the changing nature of entertainment in cities? These are just a few of the topics up for discussion at the 94th annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors, which is underway right now in Long Beach, California.

We are joined right now by the president and the vice president of the Mayor's Conference, Oklahoma City Republican Mayor David Holt and San Diego Democratic Mayor Todd Gloria.

There are multiple sessions on dealing with crime and homelessness, gentlemen, which affect every city, as I don't need to tell you, with reverberations lasting for years. Are you hearing anything new, anything innovation -- any new innovative ways to address these problems at all? Mayor Holt, you first.

MAYOR DAVID HOLT (D-OKLAHOMA CITY, OK): Well, certainly. I mean, there are always new wrinkles on these vexing challenges. I would say in the area of crime, I think we've seen crime dramatically decline in most large American cities in recent years, largely because we've learned from each other's best practices and really focused on intervention and prevention.

I mean, law enforcement presence is critical, but so too is getting ahead of some of the things that contribute to crime months and years in advance. And then on homelessness, I think, obviously, we're in California. We recognize a lot of different things are being tried here. Probably Mayor Gloria can speak to it with even more expertise.

But there's no question, we always learn from each other, and that's what we try to do at these meetings.

[18:35:02]

They're amazing opportunities for the sharing of best practices among mayors, regardless of our political affiliations.

TAPPER: And on the matter of crime, Mayor Gloria, you just dealt with that horrific deadly attack on the Islamic center in San Diego. The mother of one of the now deceased suspects warned police a couple of hours before the attack that her son and a companion had taken some of the family's guns, and she was afraid about what they were going to do. Are there any lessons that could be learned from this?

MAYOR TODD GLORIA (D-SAN DIEGO, CA): Well, sadly, being an American mayor means that all of us have dealt with this in some form or fashion. And I think what I know from my predecessors who've experienced what my city went through just two weeks ago is that there's always lessons learned.

In this particular case, you know, that incident played out over about two hours, where the initial call from the mother and then the second call definitely helped us to connect the dots. We were able to respond and be on scene within four minutes. But, obviously, that's not enough, and there were still lives lost.

I think the most immediate learning lesson from that experience is the importance of ongoing communication and relationships with folks like the mosque there in San Diego. But it's also the need to be able to invest in prevention. And I think one of the things, Jake, that's a newer topic at mayors meetings is really this crisis around mental health in our country that is certainly driving our homelessness crisis but is also resulting in tragedies like the one that happened in my city.

We as mayors often don't work directly on mental health issues. It's often an issue for the state and county governments. But we certainly are held accountable, and that's why convenings like this one help us to learn how we can better address these kinds of challenges.

TAPPER: There's a session tomorrow on using drones for emergencies or for city services. Another session is about using A.I. to improve city services. Are the cities of the future here right now? Mayor Holt, let me start with you.

HOLT: Well, sure. I mean, there's always something new, and we like to think of ourselves as being innovative and on the cutting edge of technology. So, certainly, you know, we just heard today from Waymo, who, of course, does, you know, taxi cabs without drivers, right? And, of course, drones and A.I. are all great examples of that.

I guess when I hear you say city of the future, I always think, well, I mean, there'll always be something beyond this, you know? We will never reach the end of history. So, I think that, absolutely, cities are, you know, at the cutting edge of a lot of different concepts and technologies, and we don't want to be bureaucratic and let history get in the way.

I mean, we try to be, I think, pretty innovative. My city has a chief innovation officer. A lot of cities have that, and I would certainly recommend that at every level of government. And those kinds of positions and offices look at things just like what you talked about, and it's also why we come to meetings like this, so we can be on that cutting edge.

TAPPER: Mayor Gloria, both of you have Major League sports teams in your city that taxpayers footed at least part of the bill for the arenas. Is it worth it?

GLORIA: Well, if you're referring to Petco Park in my city, yes, it absolutely is. What you see on the screen there, for all your viewers, is a taxpayer-owned asset of the people of San Diego. And in partnership with the Padres, we have been named the best ballpark in America by USA Today for many years in a row. And that has allowed us to see full stands for weekday games in San Diego.

And, Jake, I'm telling you, folks come downtown and they see the housing that we're building, they're seeing the investments that we're making. I actually worked in that neighborhood as a social worker before the Petco Park was built. I can tell you it looked nothing like that. And so this cooperative agreement has not just the investment around the stadium, but it's all of the housing, the hotels, the jobs that are built around it.

You know, not every deal in this space is a good one but I think Petco Park is a positive deal, and it's one that we should continue to work to innovate on, particularly in an urban redevelopment situation where we have to build more housing that people can afford.

TAPPER: Mayor David Holt, Mayor Todd Gloria, thanks for your time.

Tonight, The New York Times is reporting new allegations against Maine Senate Candidate Graham Platner, a Democrat, from a handful of women who previously dated him. Those accusations and how the campaign is responding, next.

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TAPPER: We have breaking news in our Politics Lead, new allegations against Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner, this time from a handful of women who previously dated him. The New York Times interviewed six of these women, three of whom described their relationships with Platner as volatile and toxic.

The Times adds that these women accuse Platner of heavy drinking and infidelity, demeaning behavior toward women, and in one account, physical intimidation.

In a statement to CNN, Platner says, quote, throughout this campaign, I've been open about what was a very dark period of my life, where I struggled with undiagnosed PTSD, too often self-medicated with alcohol, and was a far from perfect boyfriend. I take responsibility for all of that and wish I had been better. Any characterization beyond that is false, and I believe politically motivated. I'm not proud of who I was then, but I am proud of the work I've done since and the movement we are building in Maine, unquote.

The panel joins me now. And, Robert Bluey, we should note that Lyndsey Fifield, who is one of the three named, for want of a better word, accusers of Graham Platner, and, in fact, suggests that he, in addition to being emotionally abusive, was sometimes physically tough. I don't want to -- what used you -- word to, but grabs her by the shoulders, leaves marks, et cetera. You know her. You've worked with her. She is a Republican activist. Do you find her to be a credible person?

ROBERT BLUEY, PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE EDITOR, THE DAILY SIGNAL: I do. I think it took a tremendous amount of courage for Lyndsey to come forward and tell this story, along with the other women who are now speaking out. I was Lyndsey's boss for many years at The Heritage Foundation prior to my role at The Daily Signal today.

And Lyndsey and I think many of the other women, are doing something that they feel is important now, Jake, because, frankly, the voters of Maine need to make a decision. And that decision is going to have big implications about whether Graham Platner is going to move forward, and I think these past allegations need to be thoroughly vetted. [18:45:02]

TAPPER: Yeah, and just to note, Tuesday is the Democratic primary in Maine, and the former governor, I'm sorry, current governor, former candidate, Janet Mills, is still on the ballot.

So, Mo, in terms of Lyndsey Fifield, she denies any political motivation. She says she would be doing this even if he were a Republican as opposed to Democrat. "The Times" says she dated him from about 2013 to 2015. "The Times" writes, quote, "Mr. Platner could be rough with her, Ms. Fifield said, particularly when they were drinking, leaving her shaken and sometimes afraid."

She was quick to note that he never hit me, he never punched me, but during one argument, she recalled he twisted her arm behind her back, shoved her into a bedroom and held the door closed from the other side so she couldn't get out, telling her to remain there until she was calm.

Mr. Platner strongly disputes any claims of physical intimidation or altercations, his campaign said.

Do you think this is going to have any impact?

MO ELLEITHEE, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I don't know. I mean, if the past decade has taught us anything, you don't know what voters are willing to forgive and not forgive in politics anymore. I think as a former campaign strategist, the drip, drip, drip is exhausting and it can really hurt a campaign, which is why I think some of the senators he met with this week in Washington asked him, is there anything else coming out?

TAPPER: Before this came out.

ELLEITHEE: Before this came out.

TAPPER: He's also denied to like Manu Raju and plenty of other reporters that that was it, that there was nothing else coming out and more came out.

ELLEITHEE: Right. Look, I am -- the story talked to a lot of women, many said good things about him, some said bad things about him. I don't deny any woman's lived experience.

TAPPER: Yeah.

ELLEITHEE: You know, if this is their experience, we should take that seriously.

I also am sympathetic to someone who has dealt with mental health issues and has been working through it. This is the argument now, this is the decision main voters are going to have to make. Do they trust that we're however dark that period may have been in his life, that he has turned a corner and he can be an effective advocate for them? We'll know next week. TAPPER: So Lyndsey Fifield also spoke with the Times about Platner's

now covered up tattoo of the skull and crossbones from the SS. It's called a Totenkopf.

And Platner has said recently that he didn't know what it was until recently. He thought it was just a skull and crossbones. He got well in the service.

But Lindsey Fifield says -- well, let me just read "The Times". "Mr. Platner's insistence that he did not know this tattoo was a Nazi symbol until it became a campaign issue last fall was simply not true," Ms. Fifield said. After all, she said, he had taught her the word for it years earlier, referring to it as 'my Totenkopf'."

His campaign strongly denied that he knew what the tattoo stood for.

So this goes to not just who he was back in his 20s or 30s, but whether or not he's being honest with voters today.

BLUEY: No, it certainly does. And in the wake of the recent allegations that have come out around sexting with women even after he was married, I don't necessarily know how he recovers politically from this. Yet poll after poll shows that he's consistently led.

Now, we should point out that six years ago, Sarah Gideon was also leading Susan Collins consistently in all the polls leading up to Election Day.

So I think it's going to be interesting to see how Susan Collins decides to play this and whether she ignores it or whether or not this becomes an issue that she starts to emphasize in the closing days here. Obviously, she would go up against a weakened individual in Platner should he emerge victorious in Tuesday's primary.

TAPPER: And, Mo, right now, Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat of Pennsylvania, is urging voters, Democrats in Maine to support Janet Mills, the current governor who was running in the primary.

And then because of the meteoric rise of Platner, who to give him his due clearly has caught on with a lot of voters and is charismatic and can command a room and is, you know, fiery -- fiery progressive. And Mills was not able to raise money. So she put her campaign on hold.

But she's been reminding people recently, hey, I'm still on the ballot. And Fetterman saying, Democrats in Maine, you should vote for Janet Mills.

What do you think?

ELLEITHEE: We'll find out on Tuesday what they're going to do.

TAPPER: But what do you -- what would you --

ELLEITHEE: If I were -- if I were a Maine voter --

TAPPER: I ask you if you were a Maine Democrat. ELLEITHEE: If I were a Maine voter, I would probably vote for Janet Mills. But I'm not the target audience, right? I'm a -- I'm a D.C. establishment Democrat. And that's part of the challenge for people like Janet Mills.

TAPPER: Platner's running against you.

ELLEITHEE: Platner's running against me.

TAPPER: Right.

ELLEITHEE: He's running against the establishment Democrats as much as he's running against Donald Trump. And that's got some appeal. And it explains why, you know, to your point that this is all very recent. You know, the -- that some of these issues. Same can be said about Ken Paxton in Texas.

And yet voters in Maine vote -- Democratic voters in Maine, Republican voters in Texas seem to be willing to forgive or at the very least overlook these flawed candidates because they are so fed up with the establishment.

[18:50:05]

They're so hungry for someone who they think is going to fight for them that they're willing to overlook these issues.

BLUEY: Look at Los Angeles as well. I mean, Spencer Pratt, wasn't it just last week we were talking about some past comments that he made and would that have an impact necessarily on what Los Angeles voters decided to do? And I think that they were enough voters in Los Angeles appear to be frustrated with the establishment politician, Karen Bass, that they were willing to give a reality TV star an opportunity to maybe make the runoff.

TAPPER: Are you surprised at Platner's staying power? I mean, I think it's fair to say and you could say this about Donald Trump and his many controversies too that in a different era with a different candidate, just the Totenkopf would have ended his campaign.

ELLEITHEE: Yeah. I'm not surprised by anything after the last decade. I mean, that's the honest truth is that people right now, as I said, are willing to forgive or overlook a lot because they're that angry. And if you can channel that anger, then you got a shot.

TAPPER: Interesting. Thanks to both of you. Really appreciate it.

Coming up next, exclusive video showing the damage on board the United States largest and newest Navy aircraft carrier after a fire broke out while the ship was deployed.

Stick with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:55:18] TAPPER: In our national lead, take a look at this new video exclusively obtained by CNN. It says just how badly a fire in March damaged America's largest and newest Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. The fire, which broke out on the carrier's main laundry area was so destructive, a sailor tells CNN, that he thought that they were going to lose the ship.

But as CNN's Brian Todd reports for us now, that is not how officials described the damage at the time. A warning for our viewers, some of the images are kind of gross.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New video exclusively obtained by CNN shows the extensive damage to a section on board America's newest and most expensive aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. Bunk beds charred, wires hanging from the ceiling, twisted metal and piles of ashes.

This is what was left behind after a fire tore through the ship's laundry area in March during its mission fighting the Iran war.

HUNTER STIRES, FORMER MARITIME STRATEGIST TO SECRETARY OF THE NAVY: Fire and flooding are the two greatest dangers aboard any ship.

TODD (voice-over): This damage was more severe than what the Navy initially suggested at the time when it said the fire had been, quote, "contained" and that two sailors received non-life-threatening injuries.

One sailor on board the ship who helped put the fire out told CNN, quote, "I seriously thought we were going to lose the ship." Their mindset while battling the blaze, quote, "It's either fight or die."

That sailor and a senior U.S. official familiar with the incident tell CNN the Ford's fire suppression system failed to activate, leaving the sailors scrambling.

STIRES: If you have a failure of the fire suppression system, that is going to make putting the fire out, it's going to make it harder. And ultimately, that brings it back to ultimately it's about the people. It is about our sailors. It is about their preparation.

TODD (voice-over): It took the Ford's crew about 30 hours to put out the fire and roughly 600 sailors lost their bunks because of it.

Asked about the extent of the blaze and about the fire control system's failure to function, a Navy spokesperson told CNN the investigation of the fire is ongoing.

We spoke to the chief of naval operations about it when the Ford returned to port in May.

ADM. DARYL CAUDLE, CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS: Big fires are always a challenge. And this was significant, laundry and dryer-based fire. The crew handled that so well. And they fought it brilliantly and courageously and basically was back in the fight within a matter of days.

TODD (voice-over): The fire wasn't the only problem on board the $13 billion carrier. The ship's toilets were repeatedly clogged, the sailor told CNN.

Other video obtained by CNN shows human waste filled to the brim of toilet after toilet. The sailor said, quote, "If you were in the forward section of the ship, you'd have to walk all the way to the aft section just to find a toilet that worked."

CAUDLE: The sanitation systems on board any ship, submarine, destroyer, cruiser, carrier, all have challenges. It's not whether or not if that happens, it's when it does, how do we attack it, fix it, get it back online. And the team on Ford, you know, is very good at that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TODD: Now another huge hurdle for the Ford's crew, the sheer length of this deployment, 11 months at sea, the longest deployment of any U.S. carrier group since the Vietnam War. Admiral Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations, told us he does not want this to be a precedent. He says these deployments are supposed to last about seven months, tops.

Jake, this deployment was extended two different times. These families just had a really tough slog.

TAPPER: Tough stuff.

All right. Brian Todd, thanks so much.

And our pop culture lead, Craig Ferguson is out with a yet another episode of "AMERICAN ON PURPOSE" this week on CNN. He's exploring American capitalism by attempting to launch his very own unique business idea.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: In this episode on capitalism, you also, I'm like, I have to build up the fortitude to say Haggis tacos.

CRAIG FERGUSON, CNN HOST, "CRAIG FERGUSON: AMERICAN ON PURPOSE": Oh no, you're wrong about that. If you're going to be -- if you're going to be dismissive of Haggis tacos, you're wrong.

TAPPER: I'm not dismissing it. I'm just -- I'm -- I'm sturdying myself to think about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FERGUSON: Haggis tacos. You want a Haggis taco? These are great.

Brian, you are our first customer.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, wow. FERGUSON: Good, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good.

FERGUSON: You thought it was a joke. It's not a joke, is it Brian?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not a joke.

FERGUSON: It's not a joke. It's a $5 piece of luxury in your mouth.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haggis tacos.

FERGUSON: Haggis tacos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FERGUSON: You're taking a meat product, the heart, liver and lungs of a sheep, cooked in a sheep stomach lining with spices and --

TAPPER: You're selling it now. This is -- this is the pitch.

FERGUSON: Hold on. I'm not finished.

But then we take that and we get Marcus Samuelsson, who is like a, you know, proper chef.

TAPPER: Yeah.

FERGUSON: And we put it good. And he's very, I mean, cause he's Swedish and Ethiopian. He's used to kind of putting things together that wouldn't necessarily think would work. And Haggis tacos actually are delicious.

I think they are going to be a thing after this show.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Latest episode of the CNN original series, "Craig Ferguson: American on purpose" premieres Saturday at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and the next day on the CNN app.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.