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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), Is Interviewed About Trump Claims A Deal With Iran Could Be Signed This Weekend, Trump Taps U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton For Top Intelligence Post; Mexico Defeats South Africa In Opening Match Of World Cup; The Election Threatening British PM Starmer's Political Future; State Dept. Signs UFC Deal Ahead Of Sunday's White House Match; WAPO: Trump Sees 22 Medical Specialists, New Bar For Presidents. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired June 11, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: -- insane, packed. Obviously, you know, Taylor Swift and Ben Stiller and Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David and Patrick Ewing and on and on and on.

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: And Jake Tapper. And Jake Tapper.

TAPPER: Me, I was there. Spike Lee. I mean, it was just incredible. I had really good seats because of a wealthy friend of mine.

And look, I'm not -- I'm -- you know, I'm a Sixers fan, but it was just so electric and obviously, you know, coming from 29 points behind and winning in the last --

HUNT: Yes, just a (inaudible).

TAPPER: -- few seconds, insane. Just an experience of a lifetime.

HUNT: This is an incredible, an incredible unto the --

TAPPER: Oh, Howie Roseman was there. I should note, Howie Roseman from the Eagles and Charles Barkley, of course. Anyway, thanks for asking, Kasie.

HUNT: Of course.

TAPPER: I could talk for three hours about it.

HUNT: I see.

TAPPER: We'll look for more tomorrow in "The Arena."

HUNT: See you soon.

[17:00:44]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: So try to keep up here. Those very hard strikes on Iran tonight are now off, canceled. Got it. The Lead starts right now. President Trump says a new deal with Iran is just days away. And yes, I know you've heard him say that before over and over and over and over, but is this time different? Did two nights of strikes and threats of even more, did that lead to something, an actual breakthrough? I'll get a top Democrats take.

Plus, a new show and tell at the White House ahead of Sunday's UFC fight, getting up close on the structure known as "The Claw," the special signing, but before Sunday's big event that brought in Secretary of State Marco Rubio. And the World Cup officially underway. From the stadium to the fan zone, we're going to take you to the action.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN BREAKING news.

TAPPER: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. The Lead tonight, President Trump making two major moves to seemingly try to dodge the political headwinds he's been facing. First, apparently calling off a potential third round of strikes in Iran in his very unpopular war. After announcing on social media, discussions and final points of a deal were approved the president gave more details this afternoon in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They've taken a pounding. They've taken a pounding like very few people could take. And they want to make the deal a lot more than I do. Most important paragraph to me, Iran will in no way, shape or form have a nuclear weapon or purchase a nuclear weapon.

It's a very strong memorandum of understanding that is a little conceptual, but it's something that's going to get done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Trump says the U.S. Naval blockade will stay in place until the deal is complete and the Strait of Hormuz will reopen then as well. Of course, it's all still in question until the ink is dry. And we have heard this promise of an imminent deal many times. A source tells CNN that the U.S. believes meetings between Iranian-Qatari officials in Tehran help resolve the last few sticking points. But the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran says that in a statement, Iranian officials have not confirmed a deal.

Now, if the U.S. and Iran can in fact come to an agreement, it just might help the president with the nearly 60 percent of Americans who disapprove of his handling of the war in Iran, per a Reuters poll this week. After his announcement, oil prices dropped and the U.S. stock market shot up as President Trump also continues to flounder in polls on economic issues. The same poll shows only 29 percent of those polled approve of his handling of the economy overall. And that drops even lower when Americans are asked specifically about his handling of their cost of living and inflation. Seventy-four percent disapprove.

Also this afternoon, President Trump seemed to back off an appointment he made by tapping Jay Clayton to be the next permanent director of national intelligence. Clayton is currently the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York and a former chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump's choice came swiftly after the House voted today to not extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act or FISA passed Friday. This is a key national security tool that authorizes U.S. intelligence agencies to conduct surveillance on foreign nationals outside the U.S. when they contact people in the U.S.

This harsh rebuke from lawmakers was in response to the president's pick for acting director of national intelligence, a guy named Bill Pulte, a staunch Trump loyalist with no background in intelligence and no background in national security, whom Trump says he still plans to install as acting Intel chief despite the pushback. Now, Jay Clayton has a national security background as U.S. attorney in the Southern District. And although he's an ardent Trump loyalist, he likely will be far more palatable on Capitol Hill, where he has already been confirmed twice before by the Senate. Let's bring in CNN's Kristen Holmes at the White House.

And Kristen, let's start with Iran. The president just answered some questions about this. What did he say on why this deal might be coming now?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Jake, he said that he thinks Iran is getting a pounding. He credited the strikes from the last couple of days, and he said that he has learned that the supreme leader has approved this deal. Now, he had spoken to a number of Gulf regions, the leaders of those nations, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That was critical. He announced that during that Oval Office meeting because we had learned from sources that Netanyahu was surprised and caught off guard by President Trump's announcement that there was this imminent deal coming down the pike.

[17:05:17]

And the one thing to keep in mind here, this memorandum of understanding, President Trump is using two words that don't really go together when he's explaining it, both conceptual and detailed. This is not a peace deal. This is the beginning of working towards a peace deal. There are still sticking points, but they believe that a lot can be set into motion once this memorandum is signed, including President Trump saying the Strait of Hormuz would open immediately, as quickly as Saturday. Now, President Trump said he thought that the signing could happen in Europe as quickly as this weekend.

He would not be attending, but Vice President J.D. Vance would be there, as well as Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, among others. The big question, of course, right now is whether or not they're actually going to cross the finish line. As you have said, President Trump has routinely for the past month and a half said that there was a deal imminent and then nothing came to fruition.

TAPPER: Kristen, just yesterday, Trump was urging lawmakers to move ahead with reauthorizing FISA in Section 72 with Bill Pulte at the helm of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. So what has changed? Is Pulte still going to be acting until Jay Clayton is confirmed assuming is he -- assuming he is. And why this sudden -- it's not an about face, really, but the sudden urge to give a nominee that the Hill -- the Hill might find more palatable.

HOLMES: Well, one of the most obvious reasons is because the House failed to pass an extension on FISA today, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, as you mentioned. But on top of that, President Trump was getting an enormous amount of pushback. Pulte and his nomination or his appointment to be acting DNI had really started to fracture inside MAGA world and inside Trump's inner circle. People were being pitted against each other and there was a lot of drama behind the scenes.

Now, Jay Clayton is still an Intelligence outsider, which is what President Trump wanted, but he comes recommended by the CIA director, John Ratcliffe, a source told me. So it is likely he will be able to get confirmed in that spot. Also, we've already heard from Democrats and Republicans who have indicated that they would be willing to entertain the idea of Jay Clayton. Obviously very different from what we saw in their reaction to Bill Pulte. Pulte is still going to take over the office on June 19, despite that pushback.

And remember, President Trump has one big job for him. He wants him to go in and essentially gut the DNI and then have somebody else take over.

TAPPER: Yes, that's the job we know of. There might be other stuff --

HOLMES: Right.

TAPPER: -- that Trump asks him to do behind the scenes. Kristen Holmes at the White House, thanks so much.

Joining us now to discuss is Democratic Congressman Adam Smith from Washington. He is the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee.

So, Congressman, President Trump says final points have been approved, but the IRGC says no such deal has been approved. What do you make of this announcement? Do you think it's actually real this time?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA), RANKING MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I don't. I don't think anything has really changed. I mean, as you pointed out, Trump has been making this promise for quite some time, sometimes claiming that it actually was done. We're still stuck in the same basic position. Trump felt that a bombing campaign could basically break the Iranian regime, that either the regime would change or, you know, I mean, the people would change or the people there would give in to his demands.

And Iran didn't. Basically, they decided all they have to do is survive and place the region at risk. And we're still kind of stuck in that place.

Now, the way out of this for Trump, logically, is to come up with one of his sort of framework agreements that doesn't actually agree to anything. But that's been on the table for several weeks now, and there's been no progress made. And to date, whenever Trump says we have a deal and Iran says we don't, Iran turns out to be right.

TAPPER: Yes. Trump says this is a very detailed memorandum of understanding that does include a provision to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapons program. Do you believe that Iran will ever agree to a final deal that ends its nuclear opportunities, which they obviously claim is just for peaceful means.

SMITH: And not in this context. What Iran has decided is by placing the Strait of Hormuz at risk and jeopardizing the entire global economy, that's their leverage point. So to get the war to stop, they simply have to agree to open that back up, and that's going to be their leverage point. It's very clear they don't think they have to do anything more than that. Now, what they're, I guess, trying to work out here is the weasel words around the nuclear program, which is, yes, we agree to talk about this in the future.

And keep in mind, to date, Iran has always said they're not going to go that final step and build the nuclear weapon. Now, they get right close to it. And I completely agree that we need a framework for stopping that, which is what President Obama provided. But you know, Iran has not said they're building a nuclear weapon yet. So they'll stick to that position and say, yes, we'll keep talking about it.

But any specific concrete deal, any deal that is even as good or much less better than what Obama had negotiated and Trump stupidly tore up, that's just not on the table right now. And Trump's trying to obfuscate in a thousand different ways so that we don't see that. But that's very clearly where we're at.

[17:10:14]

TAPPER: Let's turn to Trump announcing the nomination of Jay Clayton as his choice for director of national intelligence. I want to play some of Clayton's past comments for you to get your reaction. Here he is, here are clips of him. One, assailing the prosecutions of Trump during the Biden years. Two, backing Trump's anti weaponization fund.

And three, questioning the validity of the voting in California and the vote counting in California without any evidence. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CLAYTON, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK U.S. ATTORNEY: We have very prestigious lawyers who make lots of money and are very smart people and they stayed silent during the prosecutions of Donald Trump. If people have been pursued inappropriately, that financial cost, I'm supportive of there being relief for that financial cost. The American people are right to question it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can argue whether the law makes sense, but that doesn't sound like a fraudulent situation.

CLAYTON: No, there's a great -- there's a great phrase, opportunity for fraud. (END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So I guess my question is, even though he has national security experience as a U.S. attorney for the Southern District, how confident are you that Jay Clayton will be different from Bill Pulte in terms of his loyalty to Trump above all else?

SMITH: Not confident at all. And a couple of things there that I think going back to the origin of how Trump justifies what is really the incredible politicization of our entire U.S. government for Trump's agenda, not for Americans agenda. This idea that Trump and other people in his orbit were unfairly targeted. There was mountains of evidence against Trump and all those other people that were targeted of a whole series of different crimes.

They weren't making this up. They weren't going after someone for taking pictures of seashells on a beach. OK? This was actual evidence of what was going on with Russia, of classified documents of a thousand different things. And to punish anyone for having done their job, to investigate that is ridiculous.

And to reward the people who were committing those crimes, completely unacceptable. This is one of the origins of this myth that there was, you know, these unfair attacks on Trump. There was evidence for every single one of those crimes that was pursued. And no, I don't Trump this -- sorry, I don't trust this guy any more than anyone else because at the end of the day, it's Trump. Trump is the one that I do not trust.

And you know, he said, you know, to the point you were alluding to earlier, he said in crimes, he -- he's putting Pulte in there to dig into the election fraud in 2020. He -- I do not trust Trump with the sensitive information. He's made it very clear he is going to use it to pursue his own personal, political, vindictive agenda, not to protect the national security interests of the United States almost no matter who he puts in that job right now.

TAPPER: Democratic Congressman Adam Smith from the state of Washington, thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

And then there is the oil and gas side of this war. President Trump revealing this yesterday in the Oval Office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You know, we've been taking out millions of barrels of oil. Nobody knows it. You know who doesn't know about it? Iran until right now. We're taking out millions of barrels of oil from Venezuela and then we went to Iran and essentially we've done the same thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Despite gas prices falling for 21 straight days, oil execs are more concerned than ever right now. We'll show you why and break down what could be the next major hit at the pump for you. And the new report revealing 22 medical specialists have assessed President Trump. Why the need for so many specialists? We're going to talk to a doctor ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:17:52]

TAPPER: Our Money Lead now, gas prices have been falling for 21 straight days following their sharp rise due to Trump's war in Iran. The national average now stands at $4.13 a gallon. A month ago, it was at $4.52 a gallon. That sounds like some good news, but not so fast, because oil executives are right now sounding the alarm. They're warning that the supply is dwindling.

Let's bring in CNN's David Goldman.

Dave, what are the main reasons oil prices have been falling?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, so there's three main reasons why oil is down. If you take a look, the first thing is demand. Now, prices have risen, and that has made demand fall 6.3 million barrels a day, according to JP Morgan, across the world.

And the other thing is that we're actually getting some more supply. Remember, those are the two factors in the economy that you need to keep in balance. But here's the thing. You add those two things, the increased supply from non OPEC countries and the decrease in demand, you get to 8.7 million barrels per day. That doesn't cut it because you need 13 million barrels a day.

That is what we've lost from the Strait of Hormuz being closed. The other key factor is we had an incredible amount of oil on floating storage before the war started. It was 800 million barrels of usable oil that was on tankers before the war started. And that has been helping. But that is dwindling.

And that's one of the reasons why we're seeing such a potential problem in the oil market.

TAPPER: But the prices going down seems like a great thing.

GOLDMAN: Yes. Yes.

TAPPER: Right? So what's the problem here that oil companies are so freaking out?

GOLDMAN: This is why they're worried about it, because we're about to hit what are called operational stress levels. And if you look at some of the key parts of the U.S. market, Cushing, that's where they call it, the pipeline crossroads of the -- of America. That's in Oklahoma. We are now at 21.6 million barrels. And the operational stress level there is 20.

[17:20:03]

What's an operational stress level? You hit sludge when you get below 20 million barrels in Cushing. It's unusable oil and you don't have the pressure to push the oil through all the pipelines. Pad 2 &3, also key facilities, they got a lot more oil. But their operational stress level, they're very, very close to that.

And we are losing 7 million barrels a day from these -- 7 million barrels a week from these facilities. We're getting pretty close. The other thing, Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

TAPPER: Right.

GOLDMAN: Now, that we're pretty much guaranteed to right now we'll see next week be at the lowest level since 1983. That is when I was born. We haven't seen this in my lifetime. The stress level's a little bit lower there, but we are rapidly dwindling in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve as well.

TAPPER: All right, well, that sounds all like awful news. Dave Goldman, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

The world abuzz right now with the 2026 FIFA Games officially underway, it's Mexico taking the win against South Africa in today's opening match. We're going to take you to some of the action in Mexico City and talk about who's the favorite to win. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:25:41]

TAPPER: There's quite a bit going on in the Sports Lead right now. The NBA Finals move to Texas Saturday after last night's stunner from the Knicks staging the largest ever NBA playoff comeback against the Spurs down by 29 and they ended up winning. Tonight, another thriller with the Stanley Cup. That series between Vegas and Carolina tied at 2-2. And then right now is the World Cup, Mexico and South Africa kicking off the very first match just a few hours ago.

Let's get this perspective now in Mexico City, the scene of this opening match. CNN's Elizabeth Perez is outside the famed Azteca Stadium. Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH PEREZ, CNN REPOTER: Hola, Jake. Happy World Cup Day from Mexico City, where the biggest soccer tournament has officially started with the opening match between Mexico and South Africa, a very special game because it was a rematch of the 2010 World Cup opener in South Africa. The atmosphere inside and outside the stadium has been incredible. Shakira, Andrea Bocelli and J Balvin perform at today's opening ceremony, the first of three. The other two will be in Canada and the U.S. this Friday and the World Cup is on their way and we will be following all the action.

Back to you, Jake.

TAPPER: All right now to CNN's Valeria Leon. She's at a dedicated World Cup fan zone in Mexico City. Valeria?

VALERIA LEON, CNN REPORTER: Jake, Mexico City's iconic Zocalo has transformed in this football temple. This is the largest fan fest of the tournament, big enough for 50,000 people. Here, visitors from all over the world had brought their music, culture, traditions to celebrate this opening match with thousands of Mexicans and of course, tourists in this Mexico City.

TAPPER: All right, Elizabeth Perez and Valeria Leon, thanks to both of you.

Let's bring in Roger Bennett now. He's co-founder -- he's founder and co-host rather of the "Men in Blazers" podcast. Also the author of "We Are the World Cup: A Personal History of the World's Greatest Sporting Event."

Roger, so good to have you. Mexico just beat South Africa in this opening match. As excitement builds, so do some controversies, from visa concerns to sky high ticket prices. FIFA says critics should chill. Are you worried at all that any of these issues might risk overshadowing the tournament? Or does it all just fade away now that the games are underway?

ROGER BENNETT, CO-HOST, "MEN IN BLAZERS" PODCAST: Yes, the beginning of a World Cup is often full of darkness. In the modern period, it feels more like it should be on "The Lead" with Jake Tapper than it should be on "Fox Sports." But there is, and this is the day when the tournament, 104 games, 48 teams, three nations. The second the ball is kicked, it's almost as if the darkness falls away. A global strikes and the whole planet becomes ensconced with the action on the field.

But football is just a mirror, Jake, to the world that surrounds it. And sometimes we don't like that reflection. We don't like what we see.

TAPPER: Yes. What are you most excited about, personally to see on this opening day?

BENNETT: We are 24 hours away from the United States taking the field for the first time in SoFi playing Paraguay. In 1994 was the last time the World Cup was on this turf. It's taken a long time to grow this game. It used to be behind tractor pulling, 67th most popular sport in the world. The Economist just announced it's now the third most popular American sport.

This World Cup, whether the Americans do well or don't do well will be an enormous circus will almost complete the journey of America hating this sport to making just part of the natural American sporting culture. And that as an Englishman that loves both America and the game is a wonderful thing to witness.

TAPPER: So on the U.S. and the game against Paraguay in L.A. tomorrow night, what do you think is the biggest storyline fans should be watching for in that match and with the U.S. team?

BENNETT: The U.S. team, by virtue of hosting, has not had to play a serious game for over a year. They played a steady dice of what are called friendlies, like NFL pre-season games. So it's like trying to judge the Eagles after just a handful of games when they're kind of mucking through the starters. We do not know what weight class we're in. We don't know if we're heavyweights.

[17:30:00] That's our dream. We don't know if we're cruiserweights. We don't know for a little things, it's a big dog. And so tomorrow will be the beginning of the journey. This tournament is going to be enormous.

Americans love a circus. Americans love an excuse to daytime drink. Everyone will be watching this. But tomorrow will be the day when one American, please God, can step up, make a moment of transcendent wonder happen, deliver a million TikToks, and make American believe that one day the American men can be half as good as the American women.

TAPPER: So I remember when I was a kid in the 70s, we were told that soccer was about to be America's biggest sport, and we were all going to adopt the metric system. So neither of them happened in the 70s. Neither of them happened. But, but you have spent years telling Americans that soccer's moment was coming. Now you say "The Economist" says it's the third most popular sport in the U.S. Do you think it has arrived?

BENNETT: It's been a slow journey. (Inaudible), before it, America was like space to Captain Kirk, the final frontier for football. We joke on our show on Men in Blazers that soccer is America's sport of the future, as it has been since 1972. It's perpetually meant to be the next big thing.

But slowly, World Cup to World Cup, with the streaming television, the Internet connecting young Americans to the biggest teams in the world, American investors buying the biggest teams in the world, and the women winning World Cup after World Cup, it has become the sport of the now. There's a vast young audience who've fallen in love with this game. The audience is actually as diverse as the wonder of America itself.

So yes, this 2026 will be a celebration of football. It will take place on our turf. It will be an enormous circus. But I do think it will cap that journey that was meant to be overnight in 1994, Jake, said it's taken 30 years. We'll be all the better.

TAPPER: Well, 50 years as far as I'm concerned. But either way, congratulations to soccer. Bad news for the metric system. Roger Bennett, thank you so much. Appreciate it.

A live look now outside the Kennedy Center in D.C. Building management has one more day to comply with that court order to take Trump's name off of the Kennedy Center. We're going to keep watch there.

Plus, the special election exactly one week from today that could set the stage for a takedown of the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. We're going to introduce you to the man known as King of the North, who could be the next British prime minister.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:36:56]

TAPPER: In the World Lead, new reasons for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer to not keep calm and carry on. A key member of his cabinet, his defense secretary, just quit saying that Starmer's governing Labour Party is not properly funding British Armed Forces, and a second official under his command was right behind him. Now, Starmer himself is fighting to keep his job. And while he's not yet facing a leadership challenge inside his own party, that could change exactly one week from today. Currently, 14 candidates are running in a special election.

Some of the candidates quite wild, but one that we're closely watching is a guy named Andy Burnham. He's known as the King of the North. And if he wins next week, he will almost certainly look to take down Starmer and then try to emerge as the new Labour leader and Prime Minister. Here's more now from CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Andy Burnham, the charismatic, Manchester mayor, is on a mission to become Prime Minister, and it's starting here in a local election in Makerfield, a northern working class area.

ANDY BURNHAM, GREATER MANCHESTER MAYOR: Evening all, Friday evening in the Burnham campaign HQ at Stubshaw Cross. There they all are. Hard at work.

ROBERTSON: Burnham's folksy vibe in here is part of his political superpower, and he's going to need it. This election is widely expected to be one of the most unconventional and consequential in a generation.

This is where the story, so to speak, begins. Downing Street two years ago. Here, no drama, Starmer delivers a rollicking election victory, bringing his Labour Party to power, tossing out the Tories, who'd torn through four Prime Ministers in three years.

Expectations were Starmer would deliver stability. His massive mandate would bring change. But the economy faltered. Missteps followed. Not least, Starmer appointing Peter Mandelson, a former friend of Jeffrey Epstein, to be his ambassador to the United States.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): When details of Mandelson's relationship with Epstein leaked last year, Starmer fired him. Mandelson denied wrongdoing. It cost Starmer credibility. Calls for a leadership change grew.

CHRIS CURTIS, BRITISH PARLIAMENT: People are starting to lose faith in that kind of mainstream politics in order to fix the problems that this country faces. They're doing it because for too long that kind of politics hasn't solved those problems.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Curtis, a former pollster, and now a Labour MP once Starmer replaced, sees Makerfield as make or break for Labour. Their biggest challenge coming from the hard-right Reform Party.

CURTIS: They are leading in the opinion polls at the moment, but it's not just the fact that they could win the next general election, and the polls show us that they could. It is just how disastrous I think they would be for the country if they did.

ROBERTSON: So back to Makerfield and Burnham's path to Prime Minister. For the past 120 years, voters here have always returned Labour MPs. But this working-class community, like so many across the country, is giving up on the political parties. The relatively untested New Kids on the Block, populist right-wing reform, a surging where Starmer is stumbling.

[17:40:15]

ROBERTSON (voice-over): The race so tight, Reform leader, sometime Trump friend and Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage, is suddenly spending time in Makerfield trying to make sure his candidate, Rob Kenyon, wins.

NIGEL FARAGE, LEADER, REFORM U.K.: I'm thinking as many Reform supporters as possible will come and help him between now and June the 18th, the date of this epic battle against Andy Burnham.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): For Farage, Kenyon's victory in Makerfield would signal his and Reform's path to Downing Street isn't just a pipe dream, that U.K. politics is changed for good and a chance to realize Reform's right-wing policies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In his first act as Prime Minister, not a single unauthorized vessel crossing the English Channel.

BURNHAM: A vote for me in this by-election campaign is a vote to change Labour.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): Burnham, by contrast, would shift his party and the U.K. the other direction, to the left.

BURNHAM: We just need to take stronger action to get the affordable for people back under public control.

ROBERTSON (voice-over): At the moment, power sits with Labour. Over 400 MPs to Reform's eight. But Makerfield is set to test who has their finger on the British pulse. A bellwether for the next general election.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Makerfield, England.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: Nic, thank you so much. CNN contacted the Green Party, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats for comment. The Liberal Democrats said Labour Party infighting has undermined trust in politics and that its candidate is standing in Makerfield to show voters what a committed local champion looks like, one who isn't caught up in national leadership ambitions.

We're getting a brand new view of the claw and the set-up for Sunday's UFC match at the White House from a special partnership signed today by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to the pest control operation happening beforehand. We're going to go live to the White House for all of that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:46:36]

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: And if you've been to UFC fights, and I've been to many, and you look into the crowd, the crowd is as diverse as you can imagine. This is one of those few things we have left in our country, and I would say in the world, that brings so many people from so many different places, so many different backgrounds, and so many different points of view together, and it's something we want to share with the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Secretary of State Marco Rubio there, hailing the State Department's new partnership with the UFC. According to the State Department, the deal is aimed at sports diplomacy, expanding mixed martial arts around the world. Also today, the White House unveiled a close-up view of the UFC octagon on the South Lawn of the White House, giving reporters an inside look into the UFC's Freedom 250 match on Sunday, which also happens to be President Trump's 80th birthday, 8-0.

Let's bring in CNN's Betsy Klein at the White House. Betsy, what's the White House saying about how it plans to use this partnership with the UFC as a diplomatic tool?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE PRODUCER: Well, Jake, Secretary Rubio described the UFC as one of the last remaining things that can unify the world, and so they are going to deploy existing and former UFC athletes as what he described as cultural ambassadors. They will be sent around the world for clinics, workshops, as well as training sessions, and this is an unorthodox soft power move by this Trump administration, which we have seen steadily chip away at other tools for that, like USAID, Jake.

TAPPER: And Betsy, we can see the top of the octagon behind you. Give us a preview of what attendees can expect Sunday night.

KLEIN: Well, today we got one of the first up-close looks at this massive claw structure and that octagon that they have spent weeks building and putting into place. Now, setting aside politics, the idea have built this massive structure where there was just grass weeks ago is nothing short of remarkable. But this has been a massive production for the UFC, costing $60 million, involving about 900 specialized subcontractors with special skills and equipment, 20 to 30 trucks full every day going through security here at the White House to build this project.

We expect seven fights on the fight card on Sunday night attended by President Trump, the First Lady, other members of the Trump family, along with members of the military, who CNN has reported will be subject to specific body composition standards. Now, it is possible that this event doesn't happen, and that is because there is pending legal action. There is a case that's been filed to halt this event until it goes through some of the regulatory hoops, like an environmental assessment.

Right now, the judge says he will not be scheduling a hearing, so we could expect a ruling any moment now, Jake.

TAPPER: Betsy, what can you tell us about the overnight pest control at the Ellipse?

KLEIN: Yes, well, Jake, you know that this site is built atop a physical swamp. So according to these very detailed TikTok on these court documents provided, we've learned that from midnight to 4:00 a.m. overnight, there is going to be pest control. But that just speaks to the level of meticulous detail, including food and beverage. One porta potty for every 300 people expected.

This production company, one of the production companies, was involved with Taylor Swift's reputation tour. So this is going to be a spectacle, 125,000 guests expected, celebrating the country's 250th anniversary, ostensibly along with the president's 80th birthday, Jake.

[17:50:09]

TAPPER: All right, Betsy Klein at the White House, thank you so much.

On the subject there of the President's 80th birthday, let's turn now to our Health Lead. President Trump may have set a new record because, according to "The Washington Post," no fewer than 22 medical specialists, 22 assessed the President during his three-hour checkup at Walter Reed last month. That is the largest number of specialists ever involved in a single presidential visit for any president.

Now, the White House says that reflected the need for a complete and preventive evaluation. But the number, 22 specialists, that is raising some fresh questions from many in the medical community who already were quite skeptical of the White House's transparency or lack thereof regarding Trump's health. Here to discuss, CNN medical analyst Dr. Jonathan Reiner, Dr. Reiner, does that number, 22 specialists and one visit, tell us anything meaningful about the President's health?

DR. JONATHAN REINER, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Well, it's a very large number of docs, and I sort of was struggling to outline a potential list of consultants that you would bring in that would fill up, you know, 22 slots. The other thing to note about that is, it's obviously impossible for 22 different specialists to see the President during a three-hour visit to Walter Reed last month.

Even if you only limited these visits to, you know, 15 minutes, that would only really account for about half of them. So, many of these evaluations are not done on the day of the President's evaluation, but they're done in the days or weeks leading up to that. And in fact, in the prelude to Dr. Barbabella's note certifying the President's health after his May 29th physical, Dr. Barbabella said that that note really reflected the review of all the tests and labs that he's had in the prior year and the evaluation of 22 specialists. So, we really have no idea when the President was seen by these folks, nor do we know who he saw and for what reason. But it's a gigantic number, and it's like a lot of logistics in getting 22 different specialists from three different universities to see the President. It's a big deal. And you would only bring someone in when they have something to add. You don't need to bring in someone to look at sort of a normal year.

TAPPER: I mean, I think a lot of Americans might go their entire lives without seeing 22 specialists. The White House declined to identify which physicians assessed the President. From a medical perspective, what kinds of specialists would typically be included in this assessment, and would they be? We're showing an image right now of a big bruise on the President's hand. We are seeing these health issues.

REINER: Right. Well, typically, the President sees specialists that represent potentially important or lethal problems. So, most presidents will have an evaluation by a cardiologist. And the type of exam that they undergo, you know, depends on the physical characteristics of the President. Sometimes the President undergoes a stress test. Sometimes the President undergoes an echocardiogram.

We do know that he had an echocardiogram at some point last year. We don't know if the echocardiogram that they reported was the one that we know he had last summer. We know that he had a CT scan of the heart, which he also had in October. We don't know why it was repeated. Presidents often are seen by a dermatologist to look for signs of malignancy. But the consultants who come in are largely picked to evaluate a particular problem.

So, you would have an orthopedist see the President if he or she were complaining of discomfort in the knee. You might have a neurologist see the President if they were noting headaches or difficulty walking or some such issue. So, typically, consultants are brought in not just to screen the President, but also to assess a problem.

And there's no sense in the President's note from the President's physician of why these consultants were brought in to see him or who they were.

TAPPER: Yes, I mean, President Biden saw 20 doctors at Walter Reed during a 2024 checkup, but I'm not sure that's a precedent that this White House wants to cite. This President turns 80 on Sunday, the oldest president ever elected. We have seen videos that appear to show him nodding off during meetings or closing his eyes for an unusual amount of time. We've also seen bruising on the President's hands, swelling in his ankles. Do you have any idea what's going on? Do you have any speculation as to what might be going on here?

REINER: I'm not sure there's a unifying diagnosis for all of them. You know, the swelling, he did not have the swelling last year at his exam at this time. That developed over the summer. So, that's more of an acute process than a chronic process, although they've called that chronic venous insufficiency. The bruising on both hands often is related to a medication the President takes. We've been told by the President that he takes much more aspirin than his doctor recommends, four times as much. I don't know why he would do that, particularly if he was bruising.

[17:55:16]

And, you know, as for his daytime somnolence, his sleepiness, you know, the White House can simply state that the President is blinking. But it's obvious to anyone who watches these press events that the President falls asleep. And it's not really a mystery. He doesn't sleep at night. He's up posting on social media in the middle of the night. But the net effect is that he's sleepy during the day. And this has a real concern.

If the President is very sleepy during the day, does his staff have to curtail the length of the briefings that he has?

TAPPER: Yes.

REINER: It's not just a vanity thing. The President falls asleep. Have they had to curtail his daily CIA briefings?

TAPPER: These are questions, absolutely. Dr. Jonathan Reiner, thank you so much.

We have some breaking news. What we're learning about a high-level meeting with Epstein survivors on Capitol Hill. Plus, Epstein survivors react to this bombshell report from "The New York Times," and they revealed -- that revealed how far Trump officials went to try to contain the Epstein scandal last summer. A number of them are now saying that President Trump should not nominate Todd Blanche to be the permanent U.S. Attorney General. Stay with us.

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