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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Urges Pulte To Fire Intelligence Community Employees; House Republicans Defy Trump On Ukraine And Iran War Powers; Senior Military Adviser To Iran To Supreme Leader Speaks To CNN; U.S. Economy Adds Stronger-Than-Expected 172k Jobs In May; NASA Moves ISS Astronauts To Spacecraft Over Troubling Leak; Sherpa Guide Missing For A Week On Mt. Everest Found Alive. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 05, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

[17:00:00]

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: 4:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. I'd be honored to have you join us. Don't forget, you can also dream The Arena Live. You can catch up whenever you want in the CNN app. You just scan the QR code below. You can also catch up by listening to The Arena's podcast. You can follow us on X and Instagram at The Arena CNN. But of course, don't go anywhere because Jake Tapper is standing by for The Lead. And of course, we'll also be hosting State of the Union this Sunday. Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. Can I also watch The Arena Saturday on the CNN app?

HUNT: Yes, I think.

TAPPER: Using the QR code.

HUNT: I'm not sure. I'll have to check with the tech team. You might need to get another tattoo.

TAPPER: Well, I mean, I'm just saying. Thanks, Kasie.

HUNT: Thank you.

TAPPER: We'll look for more next week in The Arena.

HUNT: See you soon.

TAPPER: President Trump's unqualified incoming acting intelligence chief will soon start firing intelligence officials. The Lead starts right now.

A shakeup coming to some of the nation's biggest spy agencies. And the man doing the firing with the scythe will be Bill Pulte, the controversial Trump loyalist that the president wants to be acting director of National Intelligence despite having no intel or national security experience. I'm going to talk to the reporter who got Trump on the record about this.

Plus, CNN inside Iran going one on one with a top military advisor to the supreme leader. He calls negotiations with the U.S. deadlocked. He makes a specific demand and he threatens more U.S. losses if that demand is not met.

And danger at the International Space Station, the close call that could have forced astronauts to evacuate the orbiting space lab.

Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We're going to start with breaking news in the Politics Lead. President Trump is in rural Wisconsin right now. Chippewa Falls, about 95 miles east of Minneapolis. He's there for a roundtable on agriculture and farming.

Before he left D.C., he revealed the dirty work he wants to be conducted done by Bill Pulte. Pulte, of course, the man with no intelligence, no national security experience, whom the president tapped this week to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence. It's a role that was created after the 9/11 attacks. And the DNI now oversees the country 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the NSA, the FBI.

In an interview today, the president told the Wall Street Journal that the office of DNI is, quote, unnecessary and or too big. When asked if Pulte should fire people, Trump said he wants Pulte to start the process. Frankly, it might be good for him to shake it up before people come, Trump said, because if he, Pulte, reduced the size in conjunction with me and in conjunction with possibly the person coming in, he can do a lot of the hard work and we wouldn't have to saddle somebody that goes in, unquote.

In just a few minutes, I'm going to talk to the Wall Street Journal reporter who interviewed the president today and broke that story. The criticism has been nonstop, frankly, since Trump named Pulte to the acting DNI role Tuesday. First, there's Pulte lack of any qualifications for the job. His background's in housing. His family name is behind the Pulte Homes construction company.

Trump currently has him as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Pulte is also a fierce Trump loyalist who repeatedly used his position to target perceived Trump opponents by looking at their private mortgage information, helping to build legal cases of various worth against Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and New York Attorney General Letitia James and former Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, California Senator Adam Schiff and former Congressman Eric Swalwell.

Powell was targeted by Trump and Pulte for a different thing for cost of renovations at the Fed's headquarters in DC. Members of Trump's own party have openly questioned Pulte's qualifications.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): I see no, no evidence of any qualifications for that job.

SEN. TODD YOUNG (R-IN): And I'm waiting on the administration to explain to us credentials. SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): I think he's the worst form of sycophant and

advisor to the president. That is going to hurt the president's legacy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Let's go live to Wisconsin, where we find CNN's chief national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, traveling with President Trump. And Jeff, we heard a lot from the president about this on Air Force One. What did he have to say?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: We did, Jake. I mean, President Trump coming here to Wisconsin is one of the biggest congressional battlegrounds there is. But still dogged by that controversy in Washington, he did not acknowledge, at least explicitly, that there is Republican criticism of Bill Pulte. But he did say that he plans to interview five people for the position.

And he said that these five people would have deep backgrounds in national security. He said they would be known very well. But he also said, until then, Bill Pulte will be handling national security, the Office of National Intelligence. And Jake, that is the point there.

[17:05:00]

We know that President Trump actually does not think much of this office. Of course, as you said, it was created in the wake of the September 11 attack. So we do not know the five individuals he says he's interviewing, but again, not acknowledging the Republican criticism.

Now he just has taken the stage behind me just a few moments ago at what is billed as a agriculture roundtable. He is stung by the criticism of, from farmers, the high price of gas, of, of fertilizer. So far, he's been talking about the stock market. He's been talking about giving a defense for the Iran war. But he has not yet mentioned this latest criticism at the Bill Pulte level.

But, Jake, there is no doubt the president is a bit delayed here. He's been doing an interview, we're told, with NBC News on Meet the Press. He came out and delivered some familiar criticism of the press. We will see what else he says during this. He does not seem to be in a very good mood. But at this point, we should point out so much criticism is coming from Republicans about the qualifications of Bill Pulte.

TAPPER: All right, Jeff Zeleny, traveling with the president in Wisconsin, thanks so much. Let's bring in Brian Schwartz. He's the White House economic policy reporter at the Wall Street Journal. He interviewed President Trump this morning. Brian, thanks so much for being here.

So the headline from your reporting, Trump wants Bill Pulte to begin firing people within the U.S. intelligence community. Do we know how many people he's thinking? BRIAN SCHWARTZ, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC POLICY REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Well, thanks for having me, Jake. No, we don't know exactly how many, but it was pretty clear to me when I spoke to the president, president this morning of really how far he wants Mr. Pulte to go and in terms of really kind of putting a hatchet to that office, that agency.

And to be clear, you know, if you're a president and you want someone to come in and make such drastic cuts, Bill Pulte really might be your guy. I'll tell you why. At the Federal Housing Agency, he's been doing similar things. This is the type of person, if you're the -- if you're President Trump, who really just doesn't really care about formalities and has moved in to the Federal Housing Agency and has made cuts, like over 100 people have been taken out over there. I never forget even talking about Fannie Mae. And you know, how the ethics division at Fannie Mae has been gutted and not necessarily made by Pulte, but again by the Trump administration while he's been chairman of the board of Fannie Mae.

TAPPER: Yes. But he does have a background in housing.

SCHWARTZ: Yes.

TAPPER: He has no background in intelligence or national security.

SCHWARTZ: That's right.

TAPPER: After your interview, President Trump took a question about Pulte on Air Force One on his way to Wisconsin. Take a -- take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He's done a very good job in that. He'll do a good job. He's watching for, you know, during this time period.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you want to cut the number of people working there?

TRUMP: I wouldn't mind. I've heard that's way too high for way too long. Yes, I wouldn't mind. If he cut, I wouldn't mind that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So for those listening to the show who couldn't understand that President Trump saying it's been way too high, cutting them. He wants him to cut the number of people there. If he cut it, I wouldn't mind. So it does seem like this is -- this is the main thing, or at least one of the main things he wants Pulte to do as acting DNI.

SCHWARTZ: That's right. One of the two things. We spoke them out. The other piece, of course, Jake, is him hoping, and I think it would be nudging Bill Pulte to declassify a whole host of classified records, things around that he talked about with me around the 2020 presidential election, and a whole host of other subjects. So these are, I think, the two buckets that Pulte is going to be involved with on this acting level.

Again, he could be at that job at the acting level for up to 210 days. And that is, you know, moving to try to fire people at the -- as a -- as the acting Director of National Intelligence. And, of course, then moving to possibly declassify a whole host of records that Tulsi Gabbard did not end up doing while she had the same role.

TAPPER: Yes. Gabbard's resignation takes effect at the end of the month. She's leaving because her husband is suffering from cancer. Gabbard did turn heads in January when she showed up at the raid in Fulton County, Georgia, to see ballots from the 2020 election.

SCHWARTZ: Right.

TAPPER: We know that trying to prove the lie that Biden didn't win in 2020 has been a top priority for the president. Gabbard also sees voting machines from Puerto Rico. I want you to take a listen to what Democratic Senator Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said to me yesterday when we were talking about Pulte. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What theoretically could somebody like Pulte, who is willing to weaponize government in the way you describe when it comes to mortgages, he do theoretically with surveillance information or the nation's most closely guarded secrets.

SEN. MARK WARNER (D) VICE CHAIRMAN, INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, he could come up with a fake piece of intelligence as a justification to interfere with the elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Not such a crazy suspicion.

SCHWARTZ: Well, look, I don't know if he's going to go that far, but it's very clear to me that he is going to be focused on this path of loyalty, ultimate loyalty to the president, who of course very much values that. And I think that puts him in a very unique position as an acting, as an acting member of this administration for that particular role. Because no matter what Congress, Republicans on the Hill may say, as you talked about earlier in this segment, there's only so much oversight. They're going to be able to have overhead.

He's not going for some sort of confirmation battle.

TAPPER: Right, because he's only acting.

SCHWARTZ: Correct.

[17:10:00]

So he -- he's really going to have a pretty wide lane to do much of what the president wants him to do, possibly things that maybe Tulsi Gabbard didn't get to do, which she had the same job and she went through the confirmation process herself.

So that is going to be really fascinating to see the fact that with the Hill, what are they going to be able to do? And I think Pulte and the president know that.

TAPPER: Well, Warner is threatening the Democrats will stage a mutiny over authorizing a key part of the FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. We'll see if he actually goes through with it. Pulte obviously has really made a name for himself with Trump by using his perch at the Federal Housing Administration to go and get the mortgages of Trump foes and suggest that they are breaking the law with their mortgages. Is there any suspicion that he will weaponize intelligence the same way?

SCHWARTZ: I'm not sure about that. But I mean, when I spoke to the president, he was talking about he, you know, the people he believed, generally speaking, that aren't really shouldn't be within that office, that he will soon run Bill Paul to that intelligence office. And, you know, the key is, is he brought up these people from past administrations that are still there, these holdovers, right. People from the Biden years and the Obama years that the president believes are still under that purview.

And these are the types of people that the president believes should no longer be there.

TAPPER: He name names?

SCHWARTZ: He blames about the Biden administration peoples and the peoples he worked in the Obama administration who he believes are holdovers from their states in this intelligence community that Pulte will be -- will be overseeing. And he's talking about them not being the people who should be there.

TAPPER: But is there any, I mean, did he allege any wrongdoing by any of them?

SCHWARTZ: No, he did not. But he didn't name any, put any wrongdoing. But he just reiterated to me over and over again without going much further. But this is important, that he believes those folks should not be there anymore.

TAPPER: Just because they work for Biden or Obama.

SCHWARTZ: It seems that way that it was tied back to those political allegiances to past presidents who are apparently still there.

TAPPER: All right, Brian Schwartz of the Wall Street Journal, thanks so much. Appreciate it. A Republican lawmaker is going to join me next with more reaction on the president's plan to have Pulte fire a whole bunch of people inside the intelligence community.

Plus, breaking news in the Money Lead just hours after a positive jobs report the NASDAQ and S and P suffered their worst losses in months. What's going on? We're going to get some insight from someone closely watching. Democrat in battle. Democratic candidate for Senate, Graham Platner,

just minutes away from a major rally as multiple scandals rock his campaign. Can he save it? We're going to go live to Maine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:16:36]

TAPPER: Back with our Politics Lead and the president's plan to execute mass firings within the intelligence community. According to the Wall Street Journal, President Trump instructed incoming Acting Director of National Intelligence Bill Pulte, who has no intelligence background at all, to begin the process of firing employees in the intelligence community, saying that the office of DNI was unnecessary and too big. That office oversees 18 intelligence agencies, including the CIA, the FBI and the NSA.

And joining me to discuss is Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He serves on the House Intelligence Committee.

Congressman, what's your reaction to this reporting from the Wall Street Journal about Bill Pulte and what might the consequences be if members of the intelligence community are pushed out by him?

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): Thanks for having me, Jake. First we're hearing about it is this media report. Obviously, as the acting DNI director, he will need to come before our committee. This is certainly going to be the subject matter of questioning by myself as well as I'm sure several others. So we'll get to the bottom of it.

TAPPER: As you know, he has no national security experience, no intelligence experience. His big -- biggest achievement for Donald Trump has been a housing -- as housing director where he has used his position to get the mortgages of Trump foes and accuse Trump foes like Senator Adam Schiff, for example, of various malfeasance. He's regarded, I think even prides himself as a Trump attack dog. Is this the right position for him? And do you believe national security might be in jeopardy at all?

FITZPATRICK: Well, that's where our oversight is going to come in. You know, the guy's got no national security experience. I've been in the national security realm, the intelligence community, Jake, for 15 years as an FBI agent and then my time here in Congress as part of the Intelligence Committee. I've had zero interaction with them.

And I'll let my colleagues on the committee speak for themselves, but I've had zero interaction with them. And that's a concern. You know, this is an important role. The DNI has oversight over all 18 agencies in the intelligence community, including the directors of the FBI, the CIA, NSA, all the components. You clearly need national security experience to oversee that community. And he -- he does not have any.

TAPPER: You defied your party leadership and President Trump yesterday by voting for an $8 billion Ukraine aid and Russia sanctions package. You're one of only 18 House Republicans who did so. You're also one of only four Republicans who broke with the President on Iran by supporting a War Powers resolution which would require him to seek congressional authorization or end the war.

In response to that vote, the war powers vote, President Trump called you and the other Republican members who supported it grandstanders and said, you should be ashamed of yourselves. What's your response?

FITZPATRICK: Just following the logic. There's a statute on the books. It's the War Powers Act of 1973. It basically states two things. Number one, it's got a 48-hour notification requirement and then it's got a 60-day advice and consent of Congress requirement. We're beyond the 60 days. So once we hit that 60-day mark, the law says that you need to come to Congress. And we have two options. We either follow the law or we change the law.

[17:20:00]

It's not an option to violate the law. So as soon as that 60-day period hit, I'm going to follow the law. It's that simple.

TAPPER: In a public letter today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for a direct meeting with Putin to end the war. Here's Putin's response to Zelenskyy's letter. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I don't see any reason for a meeting. The Ukrainian side's only objective is to halt the advance of our armed forces. That's it. We need agreements not for six months, not for three months, but for a long historical perspective. Let the specialists work and develop some solutions. After that we can meet, be present at the signing of some documents or even sign something. But first we need to find a solution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your response to that?

FITZPATRICK: He's an evil dictator who needs to be defeated, needs to be removed from office. He's a terrorist on the global stage. It was an unprovoked attack on a freedom loving democracy in Ukraine. I used to live there, Jake. My last international assignment as an FBI agent was in Kyiv. I became very, very close with the people there. The people, particularly the younger generation, desperately want closer ties to the West. They want to be part of the EU, they want to be part of NATO. And they've earned that right and they deserve it.

And you cannot equivocate between Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is a modern day Churchill, and Vladimir Putin, who is an evil dictator of the worst degree. We have to stand on the side of freedom and democracy. Yesterday was a huge win for the people of Ukraine. It was a huge win for freedom and democracy across the globe. And I'm really, really proud that we were able to get that discharge petition across the floor.

TAPPER: You've criticized Trump's 1.776 billion so called anti- weaponization fund. Yesterday the U.S. Senate passed an immigration enforcement package without taking the fund out, even though Democrats attempted to do so. This is after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that the administration had no current plans or is not planning to establish the fund, which was essentially contradicted by President Trump.

What's your reaction to the Senate leaving this fund in existence? And what's your take on Blanche? Do you believe him or do you think he's playing word games?

FITZPATRICK: Well, I mean, I'm glad that he voluntarily pulled it back, but that's not enough, Jake. There's a gaping hole in the law. It's a 1956 law. The Federal Judgment Fund Act that has been watered down throughout the 60s and thereafter that give an insane amount of discretion to the Attorney General to settle cases in an appropriation that is pre wired by Congress.

It's funded in advance without any oversight and any review. And that's what allowed or afforded this opportunity for abuse. And this was a gross abuse of discretion to advance this fund. So, myself and Tom Suozzi, as you know, advance are advancing a bill and we are going to force it to the floor to make sure that we statutorily kill that fund. That is the goal and we will accomplish that.

TAPPER: Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, thank you so much sir. Appreciate it. Have a good weekend.

FITZPATRICK: You bet. Thanks.

TAPPER: We're going to go live to Iran next where CNN's Fred Pleitgen is. He spoke one on one with a top military advisor to the Supreme Leader who called negotiations with the U.S. currently deadlocked and threatened to widen the scope of the war. Hear that exchange, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:27:57]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, the $24 billion demand one top Iranian official says is essential to Securing a peace deal with the United States. In an exclusive interview, CNN's Fred Pleitgen just spoke with Mohsen Rezaei, the senior military adviser to Iran's supreme leader, about the state of negotiations with the US.

We should note CNN only operates in Iran with the permission of the government, as with all media in Iran. But CNN maintains full editorial control of what we report to you. Fred Pleitgen joins us now from Tehran. And Fred, what did Rezaei tell you about Iran's conditions for a peace deal?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly seemed as though, Jake, those 24 billion in frozen Iranian assets that the Iranians say they want unfrozen in order to make an agreement with the United States. That was really key or one of the key demands that they had. One of the things that Mohsen Rezaei, he said to me, he said, look, this is our as in Iran's money. This is not the United States money.

And so therefore he says that he believed that this was an important, what he called trust building measure by the United States towards Iran that would help both sides take that next step to try and move into broader negotiations for a wider peace deal. He also said that Iran would maintain certain control of the Strait of Hormuz, that these are Iranian territorial waters and Omani territorial waters.

However, he also said the Iranians are not looking to take tolls for ship passing those waters, but did say that there would be what he called an administrative fee and possibly an environmental fee as well.

Now, Mohsen Rezaei also shot down the notion of a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran's Supreme Leader. Here's what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: How is the supreme leader doing? Is he fully in control of everything? And President Trump said that he would be honored to meet the supreme leader.

GEN. MOHSEN REZAEI, SENIOR MILITARY ADVISER TO IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER (through translator): This will not happen. Right now we are in the first stage of negotiations and Mr. Trump has brought the negotiations to a standstill. This will not happen.

[17:30:03]

PLEITGEN: Are the negotiations right now blocked, or do you think that a memorandum of understanding can be reached quickly?

REZAEL (through translator): In my opinion, the negotiations are at a deadlock, and Trump must break this deadlock.

PLEITGEN: So the frozen assets are the big problem right now?

REZAEL (through translator): This is a sign of trust building. If Trump takes the negotiations seriously, $24 billion is not much to America. If he wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this $24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump. This is a test that America must pass, and the path will be opened. This is our own money, not America's money.

PLEITGEN: Wouldn't a war be catastrophic for Iran as well, though, if it was a big bombing campaign?

REZAEL (through translator): If the war continues, and the naval blockade is not lifted, we will drag the war to the Indian Ocean, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, and we will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far. America will definitely suffer much more losses. America's losses will be very heavy.

PLEITGEN: Final question, what's your message to Donald Trump? REZAEL (through translator): Mr. Trump must make decisions independently of Israel. He must give what is the rights of the Iranian people and stop the blockade, release our frozen assets. And this can be a new horizon for the future of Iran and America. Therefore, Trump must put aside his personal interests and think about the interests of the American people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: And Jake, Rezael also telling me, he believe that for the United States, as he put it, negotiations would be the better option, saying that a return to violence certainly would be a lot more costly for the United States. At the same time, also saying the Iranians, as he put it, are not looking for hostile relations with the other countries here in the Gulf region. Of course, we had had those drone strikes on some facilities here in the Gulf region.

The Iranians say they want to mend their ties with other Gulf neighbors. But at the same time, warning that a return to violence with the U.S. would be very bad news for this entire region. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Fred Pleitgen in Tehran, where it's a little bit after 1:00 a.m. Thank you so much.

Closing bell last hour, and major losses on Wall Street, including the worst drop for the NASDAQ in more than a year. What this could mean for your money and a turbulent U.S. economy. We're getting some insights next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:37:04]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our Money Lead, losses across the board today on Wall street, the NASDAQ fell 4 percent its worst day since April of last year. The S&P 500 in the Dow also lost ground. The drop follows a blockbuster new jobs report out today, showing the U.S. economy adding 172,000 jobs in May, way more than had been expected. Also, the unemployment rate held steady at 4.3 percent.

Here's National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett taking a victory lap earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: This is a job market that's hitting on all cylinders.

Right now Wall Street just doesn't understand that the Trump economy is really creating an economic golden age.

This is a kind of story that suggests that the Fed shouldn't hike rates. It shouldn't at all. And it'll have room as it watches the numbers to cut rates.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: For reaction, let's turn to our friend Professor Justin Wolfers, who is a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Thanks so much for joining us. So I want to start with your top-line reaction to this jobs report, which you posted this morning as, "wowee," meaning sincerely. Yes, explain.

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Yes. First of all, I just love the fact I got Jake Tapper on national television saying wowee. But it wasn't me. Look, this is very good news and we should celebrate good news and lean into good news. I noticed you began the segment with happy Kevin Hassett. And I was madly writing stuff down because I thought, if we had good news, maybe he would manage two truths in a row. But I counted one truth and two lies.

So we reversed the old game, which is two truths and a lie. These two lies and a truth. But Kevin's truth is real, which is things are looking a little better than we thought.

TAPPER: So you heard Hassett say that there is room for the Fed to cut interest rates. President Trump's made no secret he would like to see a rate cut. And now he has a brand new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh. But the market is, I guess, pricing in the rate hike, which is a big reason, I'm told, why stocks fell today. Do you think it's likely that there will be a rate hike?

WOLFERS: It's very unlikely there'll be a rate cut. So when I said happy Kevin gave us two lies and a truth, one of the lies was that it was a good time to cut interest rates. Funny thing is, Kevin Hassett, a year ago, was asked whether it would ever make sense to cut rates when inflation was running at 4 percent, which it effectively is right now. And even Kevin Hassett of a year ago said that would be utterly absurd. So he's just out there smiling and spouting a line that has no economic logic that I'm sure that not even he believes, but he's out there just saying it anyway.

The reality is rate cuts are off the table. They went off the table when we went into Iran. And now that the economy is actually looking like it survived that shock, all right, we might even see rate hikes to get rid of that inflation that it caused.

TAPPER: Let's talk about Iran. Let's specifically talk about the higher gas prices Americans are facing right now as a result of the war in Iran. Here's how Hassett addressed that this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:40:11]

HASSETT: t's our view that it's a temporary phenomenon that is a result of the President taking strong action to make sure that these lunatics in Iran don't have a nuclear weapon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: We've been hearing this argument now for months from the administration and from Republicans who support the President that, yes, this is the gas prices are high, but this is the price of making sure that these lunatics don't have a nuclear weapon. But we're also hearing that America's surplus or America's stockpile, I should say, of emergency oil is shrinking. And that also whenever the Strait of Hormuz is opened, and who knows when that will be, it's going to take a long time for the world economy to readjust. Are these higher prices we see at the pump, are they a temporary phenomenon, as Hassett said?

WOLFERS: Let me sound like Bill Clinton and say it depends what temporary is. So if you pan back and you're willing to be really patient and then, yes, they're temporary. But if you mean the word temporary the way Americans mean the word temporary, absolutely not. And it's a lie. Let me zero in on this. It's actually time for someone to take some responsibility.

At the beginning of this, we were told this was a four to five week war. We're entering month four. That means these guys didn't just get their forecast wrong. They're wrong by 3 or 400 percent. This is a catastrophic forecasting error. At the moment, it's whittling their thumbs. Maybe eventually they'll get around to doing something about that.

But we're now counting the duration of the war and therefore the duration for which the Strait of Hormuz is closed and therefore the period in which global oil markets are utterly upset. It's now being measured in months, not the weeks that we were promised.

TAPPER: Justin Wolfers, thank you so much. Appreciate you being here.

Coming up next, an incredible survival story. A guide, a Sherpa on Mount Everest missing for days. His family even started to plan his funeral. But see the images of his incredible rescue and return.

And the alarming moments today in space that had astronauts sheltering on board the International Space Station.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:46:26]

TAPPER: In our Out of this World Lead, alarming moments on the International Space Station today as NASA astronauts were told to prepare to evacuate because of an air leak. The five crew members had to seek shelter inside their spacecraft after Russian cosmonauts discovered the issues during an inspection. Let's bring in retired NASA astronaut Mike Massimino, who's flown in two shuttle missions.

Mike, problematic leaks, I gather, are nothing new on the International Space Station. They were first identified in 2019. How does this happen? How tough is it to fix?

MIKE MASSIMINO, ENGINEERING PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Well, Jake, as you said, they've been going on for quite a while. It's been mainly on the Russian segment where they've had these issues. I think the problem is that it's been hard for them to fix it. It's been a slow leak. They know where it is, but they haven't been able to repair it. These things happen in space. It's not something that's great, but they've been able to control it.

The problem today was they saw an increase in the leak, which was a bit alarming, but then they were able to actually fix it. It looked like they had two leaks. They were able to fix one and were left with the old one that they had had. So these things aren't necessarily easy to fix. You can't always fix them. You can, though, what they do is they can try to isolate it and shut off that section of the space station.

And just in case, they were being very cautious. They had the U.S. crew shelter in place inside of the SpaceX Dragon in case they had to come home. But that was really more of a precaution than a need, it appeared.

TAPPER: How common is it for astronauts to have to seek shelter in their spacecraft? And what does that exactly mean?

MASSIMINO: Yes, Jake, it happens maybe once or twice a year. It's not typically for the leak. It's also if you're going to have what we call a conjunction, like you might be encountering a micrometeorite. You're not able to avoid it to do a maneuver to avoid it. And you're just kind of crossing your fingers. You won't hit it. And they won't hit you. So just in case you put the crew in their vehicle so they can come home. So shelter in place means get on your spacesuits, get inside of the spacecraft that's going to take you home eventually.

In this case, it'll be a few months from now when they're in the normal timeline for them to come home. But get inside of that spaceship and be ready to undock and come home just in case it's a catastrophic hit. So that's the more likely scenario when we have to shelter in place is the potential of hitting a micrometeorite.

TAPPER: Yes. And tell us what it, in detail, what it would mean to have to evacuate the International Space Station.

MASSIMINO: Yes, it wouldn't be great. There's usually two ways to do it. One is kind of like an orderly evacuation where you're going to shut down your systems and save everything and make sure everything's in good condition where you have some time. And the other one would be an immediate abort. That would be you just kind of there trying to get out of there to save your lives. So that would be a more immediate departure from the space station.

But even when they do the shelter in place, it's not a run for your life kind of thing. It's usually let's secure the area. Let's close the hatches that we can. And let's get inside just in case. So it's typically an orderly thing. It's not like an emergency fire drill. It could be that. But that's unusual because usually the leak, you see it coming and you can try to protect against it. And if it's going to be a micrometeorite impact, again, that's something that can be predicted if that's going to happen. So usually not a super emergency run for it. It's usually more of an orderly shutdown. Get in your suits and get inside and get ready to come home.

TAPPER: Retired astronaut Mike Massimino, thanks so much. Appreciate it, sir. In our World Lead, what's being called a miracle on Mount Everest this week after a Sherpa who'd been missing for six days without food, without bottled oxygen was rescued. A cleaning crew spotted the 52- year-old man as he was crawling through ice, exhausted, frostbitten. He was airlifted to a hospital. CNN's Derek Van Dam has more now on this amazing story.

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[17:50:10]

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Missing for almost a week on Mount Everest, Nepali climbing guide Hillary Dawa Sherpa beat the odds, surviving six days without food or bottled oxygen on a mountain known not only for its brutal conditions, but the number of lives it's claimed.

But Hillary Dawa miraculously isn't one of them. Frostbitten and exhausted, he was found alive by a cleaning crew on Thursday. Crawling near the Khumbu Icefall just above Everest Base Camp. He was airlifted to a Kathmandu hospital where he is stable and recovering. His family, thinking he was dead, had already begun funeral rites for him.

MENDO LHAMU SHERPA, HILLARY DAWA SHERPA'S DAUGHTER (through translator): At first, when we received the information, we weren't sure if it was him or not. Later, they sent the photos, and it was confirmed that it was indeed him. And we felt happy.

VAN DAM (voice-over): Hillary Dawa's group was one of the last to descend the mountain, just as climbing season came to a close. Other climbers say they last saw him on May 29th, just above Camp 3, located at around 23,000 feet, an area near the infamous death zone, where oxygen levels are so low, it's difficult to sustain human life for any extended period. Search helicopters were deployed this week, but couldn't locate the missing Sherpa. His family says they should have begun searching when he was first reported missing.

KARMA GELJE, HILLARY DAWA SHERPA'S NEPHEW (through translator): If he had been a foreign climber, the rescue would definitely have been organized much faster and prompt.

VAN DAM (voice-over): The family has filed a complaint with Nepal's Department of Tourism in a police case against Hillary Dawa's employer, the Himalayan Traverse Company, which has so far not commented. Not much is known about how he survived for so long, alone on Everest's notoriously inhospitable slopes. That survival story for now is between him and the mountain.

CNN meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.

A live look at the White House. You can see the top of the so called claw there set up behind the White House there for the big UFC fight coming up. Coming up next, here from the longtime Trump ally, organize -- ally organizing this event and the fan base that had been in the President's corner.

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[17:56:48]

TAPPER: In our Sports Lead, a live look at the White House, where the UFC is taking over the South Lawn one week from Sunday. It's also Flag Day and President Trump's 80th birthday. CNN's Sara Sidner sat down with the UFC president and longtime Trump ally, Dana White, to learn more about the upcoming fight and how he feels UFC fans influenced Trump's 2024 victory.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA WHITE, UFC PRESIDENT AND CEO: I've been dragged into this whole manosphere thing, and toxic masculinity, and you name it. It's all been thrown my way. I'm in the fight business.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: You mentioned the manosphere, so now I'm going there. Yes, yes. You brought it up.

WHITE: I walked into this one.

SIDNER: You walked right into it. For those who may not be familiar, sort of a conglomerate of different dudes that are online that a lot of people saw. Joe Rogan, for example, who I know you know well, saw as, you know, promoting Donald Trump and helped him win the presidency. Is that how you saw it? Did you introduce him to sort of this manosphere, sort of to go on podcasts as opposed to, you know, doing your typical interviews?

WHITE: Yes. Well, I felt like that if the President stayed on "Fox," he wasn't going to win. And, you know, every other network out there was saying horrible things about him. So what I do know is he can sit on a three-hour podcast and be relatable to a lot of people.

JOE ROGAN, PODCASTER: We're rolling. Good to see you, sir. Here we go.

SIDNER (voice-over): The podcast Dana White pointed Donald Trump toward? The Joe Rogan Experience. It reaches an estimated 14 million subscribers per episode. Rogan was a UFC commentator first and still is. And so it's no surprise his audience overlaps with UFC fans, mostly young men who turned out in large numbers for President Trump in 2024.

SIDNER: Do you think it's good for business or bad for business that that relationship exists and that people see it as a Trump sport, a MAGA sport, as opposed to just a sport?

WHITE: I don't know. And I don't know if that's how people really see it. I think that that people on the far left are going to see it that way. And there's probably no changing their mind about that. This sport is for everybody.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: Now, Jake, if you are wondering who is paying for this, as many taxpayers may be wondering, Dana White says he is. The UFC is paying for it. How much might all of this cost where they have literally torn up the South Lawn, which, by the way, they say they are going to put back the way it was. Well, the cost is somewhere around, he says, 60 million bucks. Jake?

TAPPER: All right, Sara, thanks so much. We'll look for your reporting this weekend on The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper. That's Sunday night at 8:00 Eastern here on CNN and then the next day on the CNN App.

Welcome to The lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is about to take the stage in Maine for a campaign rally as he remains defiant despite yet another scandal. Will Democrats continue to stand behind him when they cast their votes on Tuesday? Or might they vote for a candidate who suspended her campaign but remains on the ballot?

[18:00:03]

Plus, the Justice Department now sending a prosecutor to watch over vote counting in California after President Trump baselessly claimed there was fraud.