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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Massive Security Presence As Trump Heads To NBA Finals; Ring Founder Responds To New Lawsuit; Epstein Assistant Set To Testify Tomorrow; Trump Makes Baseless Claims That California Elections Are "Rigged"; 7.8 Magnitude Quake Kills Dozens In The Philippines. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired June 08, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Phil Mattingly. Jake Tapper is on assignment.

This hour, President Trump is getting ready to head to New York City for game three of the NBA Finals, where there is a very visible enhanced security presence outside of Madison Square Garden.

[18:00:02]

We're going inside the world's most famous arena in just moments.

Plus, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime personal assistant, Lesley Groff, is set to testify on Capitol Hill tomorrow as part of the House Oversight Committee's investigation into the dead pedophile. A member of that committee will join me live ahead to share what she's hoping to learn from this closed-door interview.

Also, the founder and chief inventor of Ring doorbells is here as the company faces a lawsuit alleging its products are violating privacy laws by keeping and storing data for everyone who walks by. What is his response to the allegations, and how is the company looking to keep using A.I in the future?

The Lead tonight, New York's Garden party. President Trump attending tonight's NBA Finals game, that's game three between the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs, 2-0 Knicks, for those who are keeping track. And the security, it's tight. Anti-scale fences, heavy police presence, watch parties outside Madison Square Garden canceled.

Officials telling fans with tickets to show up at least two hours before tip-off. Those still thinking about getting in, resale tickets for a single seat are ranging from about $4,000 to $52,000. But for most Knicks fans, the cost is worth it. After all, it's the first time the NBA Finals are back at the Garden since 1999. And the Knicks, who, as I noted, are up two games, well, they haven't won a championship since 1973.

We start off with our resident New Yorker, Shimon Prokupecz, who made it through security and is inside MSG courtside. Shimon, let's start with the security precautions up to this point. What have you seen?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, it was pretty hectic even for us to get inside. But fans right now are lining up outside waiting to get inside. About 30 minutes from now, at 6:30, the doors will open and fans will start streaming in here. And as you said, fans have been told to get here, start getting here around now to try and help alleviate some of the lines. But there were massive lines even for the media, even for the employees who work here to get inside.

But I think it's all well worth it given the history here, given how long it has been since there's been a finals game here in New York City. You can certainly expect this crowd to just explode the minute they can get inside here and start watching their Knicks. Tip-off is going to be I'm sure, a very intense moment, a very loud moment.

We're getting a look, Phil, here at some of the gifts, I guess, that fans are going to be getting when they walk in here. This will be at their seats. There's also stuff that they could wear on their wrists, and then there are these towels that I'm sure many of the fans will be waving here very proudly.

But it's going to be a packed house, a very exciting time here. And I just can't believe that I'm here. So, I'm very excited about all this. I'm sure a lot of the fans will be very excited.

But like you said, one of the things that fans are having to deal with right now is those security lines. But most of the people I spoke to today said, look, it is what it is. We just can't wait to get inside. We know it's going to be like. And the other thing is many of the fans can't even be outside Madison Square Garden. If you don't have a ticket, you can't get anywhere near Madison Square Garden, so that's certainly going to affect some of the celebration we will see here later tonight.

MATTINGLY: I mean, Shimon, I also want to know why you're there and how you get that assignment, and I'm very jealous. But I will say, unlike our colleagues who tried to ambush you in an interview being non-Knicks fans earlier last week, cough, cough, Boris Sanchez, Brianna Keilar, I will not do that. I support you, Shimon, and I want you to have an amazing time tonight.

PROKUPECZ: Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Shimon Prokupecz --

PROKUPECZ: That's very nice. Yes, I'm very lucky and thank you. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Shimon Prokupecz live at MSG with clearly the best assignment CNN has doled out this year so far.

I now want to turn over to CNN's Julia Benbrook. She's in New Jersey, also a great assignment, where the president is before he heads off to New York. Julia, why is it a big deal for the president to attend tonight's game?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this will be the first time that a sitting president has attended an NBA Finals game. President Donald Trump, he's been here in New Jersey for the weekend. He will soon travel to a place he knows very well, New York City, to watch the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs face off in game three.

Now, he announced that he was going to be attending. When speaking with reporters, he said that the Knicks owner, James Dolan, had invited him, and that he planned to go.

That, of course, led to a lot of enhanced security. You see that anti- scale fencing around Madison Square Garden. There's vehicle barriers, a lot of other protections in place. As you all mentioned, people are expected to get there early hours early to this game. And then perhaps the most impactful is that those watch parties that take place around the arena, those have been canceled or moved, really having a big impact because with ticket prices so high, that's often the most accessible way for fans to really be close to the game.

So, his decision to attend, it's been met with mixed reactions and some sharp criticism from those on the other side of the aisle. Another native New Yorker, Hakeem Jeffries, the top Democrat in the House, he did one of his press conferences in his Knicks hat, and he had some strong words for the president attending. He essentially said that he was injecting himself into this game. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Does this guy even know the difference between Karl Rove and Karl-Anthony Towns? I don't think so.

He always has to bring the MAGA circus into town.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Now Trump has attended more sporting events than any other president. That includes game five of the 2019 World Series, the Daytona 500. He was the first sitting president to attend the Super Bowl when he went to New Orleans. He's been to the U.S. Open Men's Final and the Ryder Cup. And then coming up in Washington, D.C., he is planning to host the UFC fight night there on the White House grounds. That's a part of the 250th anniversary celebrations. It also happens to be Trump's 80th birthday.

MATTINGLY: Just by pure happenstance. Guy likes sports.

Julia Benbrook, appreciate your time, great reporting as always, my friend. Thanks so much.

Well, you cannot talk about the Knicks without mentioning one of the most diehard fans out there, filmmaker and actor Spike Lee. CNN's Omar Jimenez got to speak with Spike Lee ahead of tonight's big game at The Garden, as Lee calls it. Omar, who also apparently is getting great assignments, like Shimon Prokupecz.

How does Spike Lee feel about Trump being there?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Look, he felt a lot of things. And before I go to that interview we were talking a lot about it, what it looked like outside. You can hear the siren behind me. But these are the fans all lining up, waiting to get into Madison Square Garden. You can see on the left side, that is exactly where they are standing as well.

And then if you come on over to the other direction, you see the barricades, what they're standing outside of, and folks on the rooftop or the second level of that rooftop bar as well. So, fans going through a lot of things, trying to adjust to the novelty of President Trump being at this game. Here's how Spike Lee felt about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Game three, President Trump will be there. Some people are upset, some people are a fan of it. I just wonder, you are the Knicks fan ambassador, I think, is fair to say.

SPIKE LEE, FILMMAKER: I can't speak for all disciples But I just find it strange That this had to happen now. You got to get there two hours early. I mean, it's just like it's taking the focus off we haven't won since 1973. It should be about the game tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: And, obviously, all of these adjustments are for the president coming here. Phil?

MATTINGLY: Omar I have to ask, because I was watching The Last Dance over the weekend for the 800th time, and saw Spike Lee with his famous faceoff with Scottie Pippen, sit your down. He's been there forever. He was just 16 years old when the Knicks last won it all. Why is he so convinced this is their year?

JIMENEZ: You know, I asked him why this finals run felt so different from the last finals runs in the '90s, which, by the way, he was there for that too, on top of when he was first at the game in 1970 as a 13- year-old to see that Knicks championship. I just want you to hear a little bit of what we talked about in terms of basketball.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEE: I gave him one signed by me, and I gave another for him to sign. It came back two months later, but it was signed. And that's -- I've only wore it once. That's a special one.

MATTINGLY: That's a special one.

LEE: But I'm wearing it tonight, game three, and game four, then I'm going to frame it.

JIMENEZ: Okay. So, tonight is the night that the Pope Leo signed jersey's coming out for the first time?

LEE: Second.

JIMENEZ: Second time. Was the first time earlier in the playoffs against the Hawks? I was at that game and I saw you in your Pope Leo jersey, and I was like, I haven't seen that before.

LEE: Signed by the Pope.

[18:10:00]

JIMENEZ: Wow.

LEE: The Knicks are the one team here in this city, like everybody, orange and blue skies. And --

JIMENEZ: It unites the city, that team.

LEE: I mean, it is amazing, it's a love fest here. Everybody's wearing a Knick T-shirt, a hat. You might be somewhere -- you know, I'm walking, you know, down the block and, you know, you see somebody, you don't stop, but you going to give a fist on the go. I'm like, the look. You don't know -- we're not going to have no conversations, brother. We're going to like -- it is a connection.

JIMENEZ: They know.

LEE: There is connection.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

LEE: And it's a beautiful thing.

JIMENEZ: What would a championship mean to you personally?

LEE: Yes, I can't even describe that, you know? I've been thinking about this. Am I going to cry? Probably tears of joy, but I don't -- all I can say is I'm going to be bugging out. I'm going to be bugging.

53 years since New York Knicks have won an NBA championship. How long? Too long. How long? Too long.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: I think there's going to be a lot of Knicks fans who, one, feel the same way, but also will be bugging out right there with him.

I should mention, though, look, I know Knicks fans are excited, but it is a 2-0 lead. Teams have come back from this before in the NBA playoffs, and so there's a lot on the line for this game. President here or not, there's a lot of basketball to be played by the Knicks, and these fans here, at least on the Knicks side, hoping to see their team get a little closer to that pinnacle.

MATTINGLY: It's such a good point, and it's no surprise, as you're a college basketball star who, by the way, if you go on his TikTok, he can still dunk. He puts it up there like, oh, it's like it's hard for me to dunk now, and I'm looking at that like, I could never dunk. I hate Omar a lot.

Omar Jimenez, my good friend, doing amazing work outside Madison Square Garden, as always, thanks so much. JIMENEZ: Oh, good to see you, man.

MATTINGLY: Well, President Trump once again pushing unfounded claims of voter fraud in California, but is that a winning message as his party tries to hold on to power in the midterms? I'll ask a Republican lawmaker about his party's priorities next.

Plus, Texas Democrat James Talarico picking up a surprising endorsement from someone who used to work closely with his opponent. How much will that matter to voters? Our panel weighs in ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's more evidence than ever presented --

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS HOST: Let's talk about --

TRUMP: Your elections in this country -- we're like a third world country. Your elections are crooked, and you're crooked and Meet the Press is crooked, and so is ABC and CBS and CNN.

WELKER: But Mr. President --

TRUMP: You're a one-sided, crooked network. So, let's call it quits, because I've had enough. Thank you, darling. Have a good time.

WELKER: Mr. President, let's please -- I traveled all the way to Wisconsin --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: In the Politics Lead, President Trump walked off an interview with NBC's Kristen Welker taped on Friday in Wisconsin for Meet the Press. The conversation becoming heated over the future of his proposed anti-weaponization fund, and when he was pressed over claims of election fraud in 2020 and right now in California.

I want to bring in Republican Congressman Mike Flood from Nebraska. Congressman, I really appreciate your time.

The issue of election fraud, I think one of the questions that I've had is why it's still such a hot topic for the president, particularly when you look at polling showing 81 percent of Americans didn't believe there was solid evidence of voter fraud in the most recent election in 2024, which he won. Do you or leaders in general have any reason to believe that something has changed between now and -- or between then and now?

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): Well, first of all, let me just state this. Like, I've never objected to the election results. I knew that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and Donald Trump clearly won the 2024 election. But a lot of Republicans have real concerns. Cities like Detroit, Chicago, even in California, it's absurd to us that they're still counting votes. How can a state like Texas deliver results the night of the election, where California, it goes on for weeks?

And now we see in the L.A. Times and The Wall Street Journal that we've got people registering their pets to vote, and are facing criminal charges. Like it just doesn't look right, people have concerns. We want election integrity. It's a central tenet of the Republican platform. And I can tell you when people trust their elections, they trust their government, and it's important to inspire that trust.

MATTINGLY: Do you not feel like that some of the mistrust, if not a lot of it, comes from the idea of, that doesn't look like -- it doesn't feel right, but we can't provide evidence as to why it's not right? And when you do provide evidence, there are prosecutions. Like that seems to be a pretty big part of why there's distrust in elections right now, is people saying that that looks bad, but not being able to prove it's bad. And California's probably a pretty great example of that.

FLOOD: Well, I mean, when you can register your pet to vote, that breaks the trust. We just had the Republican RNC co-chair at the Nebraska State Republican Convention on Saturday. They talked about what they did in 2024, literally sent hundreds of volunteer lawyers to polling places around certain states, like Michigan, where they noted some irregularities and were running to the courts to try and get them fixed on Election Day.

Listen, whether Democrats like it or not, there are enough people in this country that have serious concerns just about making sure that our elections are fair. That's why I support voter I.D. It's not too much to show your I.D. at the polls. We now have that in Nebraska. I'm confident that Nebraska elections are totally on the up and up, but there are some states we do worry about.

MATTINGLY: Again I think the question is, one, having Republican lawyers at polling places, both sides do that at, in just about every election. I think there's certainly more of an effort from the Republican side. And when you find irregularities, you bring them to judges, and you're able to get actions taken.

My question is, where is there evidence of like significant fraud that has changed the outcomes of elections up to this point?

FLOOD: Well, like I said, I'm not an election denier from 2020.

[18:20:02]

I never have been. I've always said that Joe Biden was the president. But if we're so -- if Democrats are so certain that our system is right, then let's pass the SAVE Act, let's ensure that it's right. Let's require an I.D., let's put -- if it were up to me, we'd put an end to a lot of this mail-in voting. I think that's dangerous. I think it's dangerous to allow people to do that. You should have to show up to the polls, unless you get an absentee ballot for a valid reason, but like say you're in the military serving overseas.

That's what absentee ballots were used for when you and I grew up. Now, we've got elections where the date passes, and it could be a month before we find out who actually won the election. That, I think, breeds questions about whether the election has integrity or not. And what's going on in California, like the speaker said today, it just looks fishy.

MATTINGLY: You've been outspoken about the president's proposed anti- weaponization fund, that anyone convicted of attacking a police officer on January 6th should not receive money if the fund does come back into existence. The president was asked about that possibility. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I wouldn't be inclined to say so, but I have to see it. I can tell you this, 97 percent of those people, you look at them, the FBI or whoever it was, because you had a lot of crooked cops, you had dirty cops.

WELKER: But 172 people did plead guilty to assaulting police officers.

TRUMP: You know why they pled guilty?

WELKER: Should they be exempt --

TRUMP: Because they told them they were going to jail for 15 years if they didn't.

WELKER: Should they --

TRUMP: They pled guilty because they were frightened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: What do you make of that answer?

FLOOD: Well, obviously I'm on the record being very clear that if you assault a police officer, there should -- you are not a victim. You should not -- you're not entitled to any money.

But let's talk about the reason the fund was proposed in the first place. Under the last administration, we had pro-life Americans who were being targeted by the DOJ. We had people that were going to school board meetings advocating for their children's future that were targeted by the DOJ. We had Turning Point USA clubs that were being targeted. That's the lawfare that the president's talking about. And it was real, and it was a problem, and it was an election issue in 2024.

And so I think we have to look at why the fund was proposed. Ultimately, the courts have put a hold on that, and the White House has said they're going to abide by that. So, this was a two-week ago issue. We're looking forward today. We've got a big week. We've got to extend FISA so that we have our Section 702 surveillance program, and we have to fund ICE and CBP through Reconciliation 2.0. That's what we should be talking about right now as Americans.

MATTINGLY: Yes. You are right, it is a huge week on Capitol Hill, and a lot of work for House Republicans and Senate Republicans to try and thread the needle on some very complex issues, which I know we would want to talk to you about as the week continues to progress.

Republican Congressman Mike Flood from Nebraska, I always appreciate your time, sir, big week ahead. Thanks so much for joining us.

FLOOD: Thank you very much for having me.

MATTINGLY: Well, the founder of Ring doorbells joins me live in studio next. Hear how they're using artificial intelligence and his response to privacy concerns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

MATTINGLY: Now to our series A.I., Friend or Foe, one Virginia man may argue it's foe. A new lawsuit against Amazon accuses the company's Ring doorbell cameras of collecting and storing facial recognition data without consent. The plaintiff, Charles Sigwalt, is suing over Ring's optional Familiar Faces feature, which uses artificial intelligence to identify and remember people seen on doorbell cameras, notifying users when the camera spots a familiar face.

Joining us to discuss is the founder and chief inventor of Ring, Jamie Siminoff. He's also the author of the book "Ding Dong: How Ring Went from Shark Tank Reject to Everyone's Front Door".

We just had a lengthy discussion about the origin story of Ring with the team here on set. But I want to start with the lawsuit because it says in part, the plaintiff and class members had their privacy rights violated when they, along with millions of other Americans, passed by a Ring security camera and unknowingly had their facial recognition information collected. Are people who are simply passing by being added to a database that stores their information?

JAMIE SIMINOFF, FOUNDER AND CHIEF INVENTOR, RING: I mean, they're not. I can't comment on the lawsuit directly, but we don't believe that it has merit. We comply with all the privacy laws where they exist with what we're doing, and Familiar Faces is one of those products that, I mean, there's facial recognition out there.

I open my phone -- right before I came out here, I opened my phone with my face. It is out there. People find it to give them efficiency in what they're doing, and especially with Ring alerts, you can get less alerts now. So, when my son comes home, I see, you know, Oliver's in the driveway, and so I can get more information from it quicker. It's certainly a customer first feature, and we're really proud of it.

MATTINGLY: So, just to walk through the feature itself put the lawsuit aside because I understand if you can't talk about it. How does the system determine which faces to retain and which belong to someone who's just walking by? SIMINOFF: Yes. So, you determine it. It just -- it basically tells you, like, you know, do you want to name this person? You have up to 50 names you can put in. If you don't name them, it just throws out that information after 30 days. So, it's really like it's a totally privacy first thing. It's meant for familiar faces, meant for like your family members and people that are coming in and out so you know where they are. You can set your alerts and have less alerts bothering you or set them, you know, like my son, I want to get more alerts. I want to see when he's actually there.

MATTINGLY: And the data itself, where is that stored?

SIMINOFF: It's stored in the cloud.

MATTINGLY: What is your access or the company's access or third-party access to that data?

SIMINOFF: I mean, it's secure to each individual. We call our customers neighbors. It's secure to our neighbors, just like all of your video is. You know, it's in your control.

MATTINGLY: Stepping back a little bit just in terms of how A.I. has changed or your ability to use A.I. or utilize A.I. has changed kind of Ring and what it brings to the table, how are you thinking through that?

[18:30:00]

What has it given you that maybe you didn't think was even possible when you started this?

SIMINOFF: I think that's exactly right. It's given us stuff that I dreamed about. My dream was to make neighborhoods safer. Like that's been our mission. And I think we got to the max of that, and then A.I. came, and we can do so much more.

I mean, A.I. really does allow every single family to basically have a security guard on their home that knows them, that can understand what they're doing, that can be customized to who they are. And so I do believe with A.I. we're going to get much farther in helping people to secure their home, be more aware of what's happening around their home and just live like sort of live in a better way.

So, I am really excited what we're able to do with A.I., but also doing that while keeping them private, keeping their privacy, keeping their data secure.

MATTINGLY: What is the level of difficulty in terms of maintaining that balance, or do you have concerns that Amazon could be using the data for something -- like how are you thinking through this?

SIMINOFF: Certainly not. You know, you just architect it. We architect from a privacy first perspective. So, you know, your -- each home, each resident, each customer keeps their data to themselves. They get to use it how they want. And then we've built things that when something happens in a neighborhood, like if a dog is missing, you get to choose, do you want to enter into this and help find a dog? Do you want to help with a fire? Do you want to help with like something's happening?

And so I do think we can have both. We can live in like two worlds at the same time where you can have your privacy, you can have your security of your data. If you want to keep that, you don't have to worry about it, but then when something happens in your neighborhood, you can join with your neighbors and help them, which is, by the way, that's how neighborhoods have been for hundreds of years. When something happens, people come together.

MATTINGLY: You are an innovator. You are an inventor. You are somebody who's constantly kind of thinking of the next thing or thinking through the next iteration of what Ring could possibly do. Have there been times where you've gone kind of to a point where you think maybe we got to reel that one back a little bit from a privacy perspective or privacy concern perspective?

SIMINOFF: I mean, certainly we always listen to scrutiny. I think, you know, whenever you're doing this kind of stuff we're doing, we should listen to people that are out there. We should take the scrutiny from that, and we should adjust if we have to.

And so I think we're always -- but we're very, very cautious. We're always privacy first in what we do. I believe that when people when we've had stuff where people have talked about it, it's usually just a misunderstanding of how something works. And when we're able to explain it, like the dog search party where, yes, you don't have to -- if you don't do anything, you're anonymous, you're private, but if you want to say, yes, I want to contact my neighbor, I think that dog is theirs, then you can enter into that neighborhood and start to make it better. So, it gives you that choice.

MATTINGLY: Just real quick because we're out of time. Can you kind of calculate what A.I. will do for you guys going forward? Like how fast is this changing how you guys are doing your business?

SIMINOFF: I mean, it's definitely changing the speed of how we're doing business. It's changing the speed of what we, the features we're able to put out, and it's changing, I believe, the impact of what Ring can have for each of our customers that are utilizing it. And we're hoping to just keep going on that mission of making neighborhoods safer.

MATTINGLY: Jamie Siminoff, we will continue to have a debate about how the Shark Tank guys did not say yes the original time, but it's a great origin story. That is definitely the case. I really appreciate you coming in.

SIMINOFF: Hey, thanks for having me.

MATTINGLY: Well, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime executive assistant set to testify behind closed doors on Capitol Hill tomorrow. What are the biggest missing pieces in the investigation that she can help answer? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

MATTINGLY: In our Law and Justice Lead, the House Oversight Committee is set to hear tomorrow from Lesley Groff, Jeffrey Epstein's longtime executive assistant. The interview follows the release of the transcript of the closed-door interview with former Epstein aide Sarah Kellen, which included allegations involving several prominent men in Epstein's inner circle, as well as broader claims about Epstein's operation. And just last week, lawmakers also released the transcript of former Attorney General Pam Bondi's closed-door interview as they continue examining how key Epstein-related materials were handled and disclosed.

Joining us now is Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari of Arizona. She's a member of the Oversight panel. Congresswoman, really appreciate your time.

Just to start with Lesley Groff, one of Jeffrey Epstein's closest longtime aides, managed many aspects of his daily operations. What are you expecting to learn from her testimony tomorrow?

REP. YASSAMIN ANSARI (D-AZ): Thank you so much for having me. Lesley managed every aspect of Jeffrey Epstein's life for about 18 years. She, you know, was really at the forefront of scheduling all of his appointments. This is somebody who was mentioned in the Epstein files that have been released so far, more than pretty much anybody else. And she was actually the one setting up appointments with all of these girls to provide massages to Jeffrey Epstein.

I think this is the first time she's ever speaking to a Congressional committee like this. She will be in a transcribed interview. I want to know everything that she has to share. We know that, unfortunately, up until this point, other than Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, nobody has been investigated or prosecuted, who is -- you know, other people who've enacted crimes, perpetrated crimes, or enabled the crimes.

And so I really hope that she comes forward with as much information as possible. She has long stated that she was unaware of the abuse that took place. I'll be honest with you, I'm extremely skeptical of that. It's very hard to believe that somebody who was so intimately involved in his life for 18 years had no knowledge, especially when she was setting up the appointments with the girls.

Nevertheless, this is her opportunity to be forthcoming, to be honest, and to help us get closer to real justice for the over 1,000 victims who we know existed.

MATTINGLY: You know, given her role and kind of how you lay things out, do you see her testimony as a potential turning point in terms of the ability to understand the full scope of the operation? And if immunity could lead to more details from witnesses, like Sarah Kellen or Groff, is that an option that you or the committee might be in favor of at some point? ANSARI: I think the most important thing is for her to be honest and forthcoming. We have seen a number of these interviews where I don't believe that the witnesses have been credible or that they've been honest. We've interviewed other people who were very close in Jeffrey Epstein's orbit, like Darren Indyke, Richard Kahn, Les Wexner, all of these men dismissed themselves of all accountability and pretended to have zero knowledge of any wrongdoing whatsoever.

[18:40:15]

What Sarah Kellen brought forward is that she was a victim herself, and she talked about the abuse that she endured as somebody who, you know, was also named as a co-conspirator in the 2008 sweetheart plea deal. Lesley Groff also was named in that.

I think anything that we can do to make sure that she is honest is important. At the end of the day with or without her knowledge, she did enable these horrific and heinous crimes, and I think that at the bare minimum, she needs to be showing remorse and accountability and I hope to see that from her tomorrow.

MATTINGLY: Congresswoman, there's a new Reuters investigation found that some Epstein survivors whose identities were exposed through government document releases have faced harassment, threats, doxxing. Should Congress pursue new safeguards or legislation to ensure survivors are protected here?

ANSARI: There were protections and safeguards in the legislation that was passed. The Epstein Files Transparency Act made very clear that nothing about victims or personally identifiable information should be released. I want to point you to the Department of Justice under the Trump administration that is at fault here. Pam Bondi's interview last week made very clear during the dozens of times that she blamed Todd Blanche and said that he is the one who managed the release of the files.

I am disgusted by the way that Todd Blanche handled this. Because of the botched release of these files, to your point, dozens of victims have now had their personal information released. They're facing doxxing. They're facing threats. They've had their lives turned upside down. To me, it is hard to believe that this was not on purpose.

We know the Trump administration has never wanted these files released. They've rejected transparency and obstructed justice at every point. I think Todd Blanche, not only should he not be confirmed as the attorney general, he needs to come before the Oversight Committee and testify under oath, and he needs to be investigated for his role in this botched release and the ongoing White House cover-up. It's devastating what's happened to these women.

MATTINGLY: Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari, thanks so much for your time. I appreciate it.

Well, dramatic video shows the moments schoolchildren ran for safety in the Philippines today as an earthquake sent structures crumbling and triggered tsunami warnings. An update on the recovery efforts ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:46:28]

MATTINGLY: In our politics lead today, President Trump suggested without evidence that the only way a Republican could lose the L.A. mayor's race is by fraud, posting, quote, "Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the LA runoffs after the big lead he had. Third World Nation rigged elections, exclamation point. Now they'll be working on great guy Steve Hilton won't have results for possibly two weeks, according to officials."

That comes as the former reality TV star Spencer Pratt fell into third place behind incumbent Democrat Karen Bass and City Councilwoman Nithya Rahman.

Let's jump into this with the panel.

Scott Jennings, Spencer Pratt casting -- also casting some doubt on the voting total, suggesting that without evidence, the fraudulent votes from homeless people might be the reason for his shift. In a third place, posting, quote, "A net swing of more than 43,000 votes since Tuesday, 43,000, huh? Where have I seen that number before? Probably nothing."

The post linking to an article from Homeless Services website, which claims that on any given night, over 43,000 people experience homelessness in LA.

He later posted that, like, hey, give it time. This is going to take some time to play out. I don't really know what to do with that part, the fraud part?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I don't know if there was any fraud. I do know this. I think most reasonable people would say taking weeks and weeks and weeks to count the votes of an election. It hurts confidence in the process. I mean, it just does. That's number one.

Number two, whether or not it's legal or not, and I guess it is in California, this ballot harvesting business and the way it goes on out there, I mean, it would make third world country dictators blush.

And so, look, I'm guessing whatever they did was likely within the confines of the law. That doesn't make the laws good. And it doesn't make it right that it takes, in this one specific place in America, weeks upon weeks upon weeks to count the ballots. And it hurts confidence in the system.

ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Okay. It shouldn't take this long to count ballots.

JENNINGS: Agreed.

ALLISON: But it often does. And so let's fix the issue, but let's not castigate an unrealistic problem.

We don't actually know what is going to happen, right? There might be more ballots and Hilton might pull out. I mean, Nithya has pulled ahead and looks like she's the projected winner. But I think this is kind of going to what Spencer Pratt does and is what Donald Trump does.

And I don't think this is the last that we've seen of Spencer Pratt. I'm sure -- he's run as a Democrat and I'm sure he will jump on the Republican bandwagon and cause election fraud. What does more harm than anything with instilling doubt in the system is when you have our leaders undermining the election and saying our democracy is not stable and loyal and saying the election is rigged, that causes more harm than it actually taking longer to count the ballots.

And so we should just be really careful. Spencer, you lost. Trump, you lost in 2020. Just accept it. Don't be a sore loser. Biden, Kamala won, Hillary lost, like people can accept things, but when we always got to call something rigged because it doesn't go our way. It's not fair.

JENNINGS: I never really had any expectation that Pratt was going to win. I mean, he got a lot of online buzz, but look, he's like a Republican running in Los Angeles. I mean, this was this was never --

ALLISON: Like a fraud.

JENNINGS: And so, you know, I think he ran interesting campaign. Some of the ads were really amazing, but the guy's running in a jurisdiction that's not built for him, although I got to say the issues he raised, real issues.

I mean, the city did burn. They cannot rebuild the houses. He was affected in that. I thought he ran a salient campaign and the other two people would be disastrous, but that's what the people of L.A. wanted.

ALLISON: But I also think it is disrespectful for him to sign this fraud they're saying or riggedness to homeless people as well.

[18:50:01]

Homeless people are allowed to vote in this country, whether or not they have a house or not.

So I think that, oh, just 43,000 ballots were found and all just 43,000. It's also just a diminishing of people who might have found themselves on hard time and part of what he did in his campaign.

MATTINGLY: I mean, I'm going to give Scott credit here. The ability to identify that there's a lot of Democrats in L.A. --

JENNINGS: You know --

MATTINGLY: -- which is like, that's why it's not rigged. It's not third world. It's not any of those. You're right. JENNINGS: A lot of people say I'm the best in the business and being able to pick out these subtleties in the election.

(LAUGHTER)

ALLISON: A lot of people. I would say that's a rigged. That polling is rigged.

MATTINGLY: I want to turn to Texas because there's obviously a high- profile Senate race, which is going to give us a lot of content over, I think, over the course of the next couple of months.

Today, Texas Democrat James Talarico picked up an endorsement from a prominent attorney who represented Republican candidate Ken Paxton during the state attorney general's 2023 impeachment trial and his securities fraud cases. He explained why he's breaking with Paxton on his podcast. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN COGDELL, ATTORNEY: I've defended Ken Paxton for years. I think Ken has lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas. And unlike Ken, I believe to my core, James, that you believe in unity over division and that you know how to assemble not only Democrats, but independents and Republicans. And we need that right now. We need it more than in my lifetime, and I'm old as dirt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Scott, my big question is, Republicans need to coalesce down in Texas. And there's a lot of people who like John Cornyn who really don't personally like Paxton who are going to have to make the decision of, okay, we just don't want Talarico. Is this a leading indicator of a split that may be more problematic than we thought?

JENNINGS: I don't know. I was talking to some people in Texas about it. I don't know this attorney. They say he's a lifelong Democrat. They hired him to defend Paxton because he's apparently a good attorney, but he is effectively a lifelong Democrat.

Some of the plugged in Texas insiders are saying if you're really plugged into Texas law and politics, this is not really that big of a deal, but obviously, something that you would weaponize for narrative purposes if you were the Talarico campaign, but I get the feeling it's being overblown But that's what the people in Texas think.

ALLISON: Yeah, I think that this race will play out with turnout, turnout, turnout for Talarico and depressed turnout from Republicans because they just don't like Paxton. I still think this is a very hard race to win. I actually don't really think endorsements do that much for candidates. Even President Trump's endorsement, I don't think it was that much.

I think this will be who runs the better campaign, and are the wins right this time to make Texas turn blue? It will be hard, but not impossible. MATTINGLY: I heard Texas blue a lot, cycle after cycle after cycle.

ALLISON: Different backdrop this time.

MATTINGLY: Absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

ALLISON: That's why I'm not going to add like the stars aligned.

JENNINGS: Democrats send all their limited resources to Texas.

ALLISON: No, they won't. But let's have the Republicans --

MATTINGLY: But you guys already dropped like what, 100? Yeah, that's the other thing.

JENNINGS: We got money. They got a problem.

MATTINGLY: Okay, so one last one before I let you guys go.

President Biden's former chief of staff, Ron Klain, weighing in on his pick, top pick for 2028. "Politico" reports, Klain has, quote, "been using his personal time to advise Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, as he prepares for his possible 2028 presidential bid. Three people familiar told Playbook."

Klain declined to comment, but Ro Khanna showed up at South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn's fish fry last month. He also has been making the case for Graham Platner in Maine, despite the recent controversies and Platner's alleged past treatment of women. Khanna was also a key player in helping get the Epstein files released.

Ashley, what does that tell you about where -- I don't know if Ron Klain is endorsing Ro Khanna. Advising is, I think, a different thing than endorsing, but the claims talking to Khanna about '28.

ALLISON: I mean, I haven't talked to Ron Klain since the transition of 2020, but I will say I wouldn't be surprised if he was advising a couple of people. He's a trusted person in the Democratic Party. What I would tell my advice is less run playing and more to people who are we're going to run for in 2028 talk to multiple sources.

This is a new electorate. This is not 2020. This is not 2024. We have a different backdrop. Get as much advice as possible so that you can run the best race possible to improve the lives of Americans.

JENNINGS: I mean, he's a smart guy, smart operative. He's seen a lot. I agree with Ashley. I think '28 is going to be a different kind of a year.

But if I were advising Ro Khanna, I'd say, what happened to you? You used to be a reasonable person. Now you've kind of gotten strange with Platner and Epstein and all this. But I guess that's what it takes to run in '28. MATTINGLY: You know, I was going to say to end this, like, yeah, amongst the people you should call would be Ashley and Scott. Don't call Scott. That's not good in place.

JENNINGS: Did you not hear my analysis of the L.A. electorate?

MATTINGLY: That's true. Your ability --

JENNINGS: I'm currently giving it away from --

MATTINGLY: John King-esque, the way you broke down the electorate without even having a map.

[18:55:02]

I am a huge fan of you both. Thank you for doing this. I appreciate it.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: Our last lead start in our world lead. A deadly magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck southern Philippines around seven this morning local time. Footage seen here from the island shows multiple buildings collapsing from the shock. "The Associated Press"| reports at least 35 people were killed and over 200 others were injured. As many as 138 aftershocks occurred after the initial earthquake, according to the Philippines' seismology agency.

And a new study finds egg allergies fall more than 17 percent in children. Experts credit this to a drastic change in guidance to introduce potentially allergenic foods to babies by the time they turn six months old. This new study parallels recent research examining how the same shift in peanut allergy guidance has led to a reduction of the prevalence of peanut allergy among children.

Well, if you ever miss an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.