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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Growing Pressure On Platner To End Senate Campaign; CENTCOM: U.S. Forces Launch Series Of Strikes Against Iran; StoryCorps Connects Strangers To Preserve America's Stories; Questions About McConnell's Health Remain Three Weeks Later. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired July 07, 2026 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks very much, my panel. Really appreciate you all being here. Thanks to all of you at home for watching as well. But don't go anywhere because Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead."

Hi, Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. Scott has something on his face. I don't know.

HUNT: You know, I noticed that. I decided not to mock him for it.

TAPPER: Something of a napkin or something.

Well, look for more tomorrow on "The Arena."

HUNT: See you soon.

[17:00:35]

TAPPER: Two women accusing Graham Platner of violence are giving interviews to The Lead exclusively. The Lead starts right now.

First, Jenny Racicot. That was yesterday. Now Lyndsey Fifield. That's today in a new T.V. exclusive. Two women, two very different, although similar in other ways allegedly violent experiences with Maine's Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner.

Both coming forward to say on camera, to The Lead, that voters need to know about the true character of the man who could be headed to the U.S. Senate as Platner shows no signs of heeding the many calls from Democrats to step down and he continues to deny the allegations.

Plus, another big interview, what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told CNN's Dana Bash today about how Israel is portrayed around the world and notably here in the U.S. as well as his views on what's going on in Gaza and the West Bank. And what's up with Republican Senator Mitch McConnell? He's been in the hospital for three weeks now. We don't know much more than that. Today, a close contact is getting some answers. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. We start in our National Lead, an exclusive T.V. interview on the lead with Lyndsey Fifield, who last month accused her former intimate partner, Graham Platner, of violence against her. It's an accusation he denies. She is telling her story for the first time on camera and in detail.

And we're going to bring that to you today. But to get you up to speed, Democratic support for Graham Platner's main Senate campaign continues to fall apart as he faces a disturbing rape allegation from Jenny Racicot. It's an allegation he denies. Yesterday, Jenny Racicot told me that five years ago Platner entered her home without permission and raped her while he was heavily intoxicated. A warning, these details might be triggering for some.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNY RACICOT, PLATNER ACCUSER: He violated multiple layers of consent that night by coming into my home when I asked him not to and by advancing on me when I told him not to and furthermore, another incident that I had told him not to do. And --

TAPPER: With protection?

RACICOT: Yes, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: As we noted earlier, Platner vehemently denies this. Yesterday he said he was, quote, "taking the time to reflect on the best path forward after Jenny Racicot came forward. But he has not withdrawn from the race. And today, even Platner's longtime effusive backer, Senator Bernie Sanders, Independent of Vermont, is throwing in the towel, saying that he personally advised Platner to exit the race.

Of course, Platner was already facing a long list of other scandals. His tattoo, his Totenkopf with Nazi symbolism which he claimed he had no idea what it was. His alleged extramarital sexting, his deleted Reddit posts, slamming police and rural white people and blacks, praising Hamas, saying all sorts of disgusting things about what he would do in a latrine when he was in the Marines.

And then there was last month's New York Times report where three women who dated Platner accused him of what was described in the Times as, quote, "unsettling behavior." In at least one case, that of Lyndsey Fifield, physically abusive behavior.

But after yesterday's rape allegation, many other Democrats have decided to rescind their support for him. Congressman Ro Khanna, who campaigned with Platner even after the New York Times report, Arizona Senator Ruben Gallego, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, also progressive Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

Then there's the main Democratic Party, the Democratic National Committee, Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, who runs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Schumer and Gillibrand vowing to not spend money trying to beat Republican incumbent Senator Susan Collins unless Graham Platner withdraws.

A person close to the Platner campaign today tells CNN, quote, "I think he knows it's over, but he thinks I built this thing and wants to use the movement he created, using the movement to have a say in who replaces him."

My conversation with Jenny Racicot yesterday was in depth. I do want to bring you some moments from the interview that we have not yet been released. Jenny, of course, claims that Platner raped her in November or December 2021. He was intoxicated even blackout drunk. He said to her the next morning, she says, that he did not remember what had happened.

[17:05:16]

She said what happened was not OK. He did not ask her what it was. He just left. Again, Platner denies this happened.

When I asked Jenny Racicot how she would have felt if Platner had at some point apologized, she said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If he had the next morning asked you what he did, if he had taken ownership and apologized for what he did, would that have changed anything?

RACICOT: I've thought about that. Maybe. I can't speak to something that, you know, isn't factual, but one of the reasons that I am here and doing this is because he -- I got to learn more about him. You know, everything has been dug up about his old comments. I only knew him in that time frame, and I didn't know him through his military experience and through his old days of posting on Reddit. And I just -- I didn't know that person.

I only knew him in the context of who he was in my life. And so when I got a clearer picture of old comments that he had made, you know, dismissing, you know, claims of sexual assault.

TAPPER: Let me -- let me read -- let me read it to you, because I thought about that. So this is more than a decade ago. He posted a comment on Reddit about a video promoting underwear designed to prevent rape. And he wrote, quote, "Rape is a real thing. If you're so worried about it to buy Kevlar underwear, you'd think you might not get blacked out, fucked up around people you aren't comfortable with."

RACICOT: Right.

TAPPER: What did you think when you saw that?

RACICOT: I thought, here's a man who was drunk and who, by dictionary definition, raped me, and he's blaming drunk women. So I just felt like that was a very odd take to have on that. And I also feel like with all of the comments that he made about women, sexual assault, rape, even, you know, the comments that he had made, that was in the New York Times article about, you know, threatening people with rape, like, why does this person have this issue, like, scattered throughout their life, throughout their commentary, like it's on their mind. Why do they have such a strong opinion about women coming forward with allegations? Like, I just feel like this isn't the first time.

Like, I live my life, and I don't have really strong opinions on these topics because they've never been relevant to my life. And I -- it just made me wonder why he feels so strongly about all of these things. The answer to your question is maybe it would have made a difference if he had taken accountability like he's claiming that he's doing, you know, in life in general right now is -- and that a lot of his supporters are praising him for is his level of accountability that I don't see.

And so it might have made a difference, but at the end of the day, what happened that night still happened. And nothing is going to make that OK. And no amount of acknowledgment or apology or anything like that takes it away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Graham Platner as a candidate has essentially been asking voters to trust him. He has acknowledged that he wasn't, quote, "a great boyfriend at times, but that he is reformed." So I asked Jenny about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you think your experience with Graham Platner says about Graham Platner?

RACICOT: I think it says that I truly don't know if he is aware of the destruction that he has caused in other people's lives. You know, he can sit there and call himself a bad boyfriend or, you know, admit to, you know, not being the best person and, you know, saying stupid things online and doing dumb, dumb guy things. Like, I think those are all pretty, not candy coated versions of it, but like, he's not -- he's not giving a full picture of his past experiences. He's very much just like, hey, I wasn't great, but now I am and now you should trust me. And being a woman in his life, it's different.

[17:10:00]

Once you see -- I think that knowing somebody on an intimate level is probably the best anybody knows anybody. You know, you can be neighbors with him. You can -- you know, I've seen a lot of people comments online, I know his mom, I'm voting for him. Like, you don't really know him. And I think close intimate relationships are where you get to know people the best.

And I struggled with that because like, I am just a girl he casually dated for a couple years. Like, what do I have to say about this whole process? What do I -- you know, why should I get involved? But I think the women in his life can paint a clearer picture of who he is than anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: That was Jenny Racicot from yesterday's interview. Later in the show, we're going to bring you a brand new interview with Lyndsey Fifield who also has her story about Graham Platner. Until then, though, if you or anyone you know has experienced sexual assault, a reminder that you're not alone. There is free confidential support available to you 24/7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 800-656-4673, 1-800-656-4673. Or you can go online to rainn.org. That's RAINN with two N's, R-A-I-N-N dot org.

Coming up next in the show, I'm going to speak with Cheyenne Hunt. She's a Democratic social media influencer and lawyer who helped surface so many of the allegations against Eric Swalwell, the former congressman, and against Graham Platner. She is helping women as they come forward with their stories and with their claims. We're going to talk to her about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:31]

TAPPER: We're back with more in our National Lead, Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner facing growing calls by his fellow Democrats to drop out of the main Senate race. This after yesterday's disturbing allegation from Jenny Racicot, who told me in an interview exclusive on T.V. that Graham Platner entered her home without permission at the end of 2021 and raped her while he was heavily intoxicated. It's an allegation that Platner denies.

Let's discuss this all with Cheyenne Hunt. She's a Democratic social media influencer and an attorney who has helped surface allegations of sexual assault against lawmakers and candidates, including former Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell.

Thanks so much for being here, Cheyenne. I appreciate it. So Jenny Racicot, when I sat down with her yesterday, she said that she described the full details of the incident to the New York Times, but she did it off the record for their June story. She didn't want her name associated with the alleged assault, with the alleged rape. She didn't want that out there publicly.

She's a very private person. She did change her mind, she said, for a number of reasons, including that she felt empowered and supported after she reached out to you and your group. Here's a little walk -- here's a little bit of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RACICOT: It did ultimately lead me to getting the help in this process that I needed through meeting Cheyenne, through her organization. They've been incredible -- I wouldn't be here, actually, if it wasn't for their help and their support.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: That must be very heartening to hear. The Platner campaign is depicting you as some sort of outside nefarious political force. What is it exactly that you do for these women?

CHEYENNE HUNT, FOUNDER, RECKONING ACTION: Reckoning Action was founded to combat misogyny in American public life in all of its forms, including holding predators in power accountable. And so we work with survivors to tell their stories and give them the resources that they need to do that in the 21st century. So that includes pro bono legal support, emotional support, therapy, working with them to make sure that they're telling their story on their terms and connecting them to empathetic journalists who are interested in telling the story the right way. That's why we bring so many to here at CNN. And I think that that's really where we started with Jenny.

She reached out to us looking for support after feeling not so stellar after the New York Times piece came out. And initially she wasn't ready to tell more of that story. And we absolutely respected that. We connected her with resources, and eventually she felt empowered and like she wanted to get the truth out there.

TAPPER: The New York Times last month reported on not only Jenny, but Lyndsey Fifield. She happens to be a conservative, we should note, and she accused Platner of physically grabbing her, pulling her arm behind her back, locking her in a room, et cetera. A lot of supporters of Platner, a lot of Democrats dismissed her claims as politically motivated. I don't know that I agree with that after sitting down with her. I didn't at the time either.

You did not. You called on Platner to drop out after she came forward. I just spoke with Lyndsey this afternoon in an interview that we're going to bring our viewers in a little bit, and I want to share a little bit about what she said about connecting with you. Take a -- take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNDSEY FIFIELD, PLATNER ACCUSER: After getting connected to them, have felt for the first time just so supported and understood and now just feeling like I have this community of other women and just understanding that what happened to me, even just putting language to it that I had never -- that I had never put before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you think when you hear that? I mean, you're a Democrat. Jenny is a Democrat. Lyndsey is a -- is a conservative. She doesn't call herself a Republican.

She calls herself a conservative. But there's a real sisterhood here, a real support network.

HUNT: Misogyny exists across politics, across partisan lines, across industries. It affects all of us. And so we're not going to turn away a survivor that has a story to tell for any political reason. It's been an honor to work with both of these incredibly brave women and be trusted with their stories. And we do bring in resources and talk to them about, as Lyndsey was just saying, the language of intimate partner violence and interrelationship violence. Because oftentimes, as Jenny said in her interview, she was confused after the assault happened to her. She didn't know what to make of it. She was in a consensual relationship with this person for many years until he raped her. And many women can relate to that feeling of what just happened to me. And that felt wrong.

[17:20:00]

And I don't know how to articulate it. And so we're doing this not only to hold men in power accountable, but to give women across the country language to put to what happens to millions of us every year and to say enough is enough.

TAPPER: I have -- I have a two part question for you here. One, what did you think about the Democrats who just didn't care about Lyndsey Fifield's story, you know, who are now calling for Platner to drop out now that Jenny has come forward, who is a Democrat, who is a progressive and is alleging rape on the record. And also, do you think the Graham Platner story would be a bigger story if Graham Platner were a Republican running for Senate?

HUNT: I think we all have some soul searching to do after this one. I pulled my endorsement very publicly of Platner after the New York Times story came out because as an attorney, I read those allegations. I read what was described. Some folks said it didn't cross the line. For me, that is domestic violence in all 50 states.

That is felony level false imprisonment. That is violence against women, period. We're not qualifying it based on political party. It doesn't matter. And that's disqualifying to hold public office.

And I think that we see folks do this all across the political spectrum. People in our party may feel as though we are the advocates for women and so we don't have to look quite as strongly at our candidates and vet them in this way. And I think it's become clear that we do. And rabid misogyny has to be a deal breaker.

Graham Platner's behavior up until these allegations with Jenny came forward was disqualifying, period. Those rape comments on social media, that should have been the ball game for him. Not to mention the Nazi tattoo. But there was a walking red flag. This guy was a walking red flag and we should have done better.

And I think that realistically, if this was a Republican, the conversation would be different in the media. I think that's true. But I also think I am proud of my party today to say that the vast majority of folks have called on him to step down. Pretty much every major party leader is pushing for him to step down. The fact that he is still in this race is an insane act of hubris on his part.

TAPPER: Cheyenne Hunt, thank you so much. Always good to have you.

Coming up, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to critics who say his actions are making Jews around the world less safe. What he told CNN's Dana Bash ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:26:22]

TAPPER: In our World Lead, President Trump lavishly praised Turkey after arriving in the country today for a NATO summit. Trump said he would decide soon whether to reward Turkish president Ergowan (ph) -- Erdogan for being, quote, "loyal" to the United States by selling Turkey U.S. made F-35 fighter jets, despite a congressional ban on that sale. CNN's Dana Bash sat down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier today and asked him about Trump's warmth towards the Turkish leader.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's a regime that's infected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which hates the United States. He harbors Hamas, the Hamas terrorists. He supports them. He finances them. He's thrown his opponents in jail, all of them. He throws more journalists in jail than anyone can understand.

So he's not exactly a model ally of the United States.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: So he is considering giving the country these planes, F-35s.

NETANYAHU: Well, as I said, it would destroy the power balance in the Middle East. Because Turkey, I think, has aggressive aspirations. I mean, they openly say that they want to restore the Ottoman Empire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Dana Bash is here with us in studio. And Dana, despite that, Netanyahu also seemed to downplay other areas of disagreement he has with President Trump.

BASH: Right. He -- I asked him about Iran, about the ceasefire in Gaza, about the West Bank, a whole other -- whole slew of areas where he is really getting pressure from President Trump. But Jake, the fact that he wanted to go public with his concerns about the president saying very openly this morning that he is considering giving these F- 35s to Turkey says a lot about the fact that their private conversations didn't get him anywhere.

TAPPER: Yes. And Dana, you also pressed Netanyahu about slipping support for Israel politically in the United States.

BASH: Yes, I mean, this is a huge issue. We cover it really on a daily basis with regard to how the Democratic Party is changing and also the Republican Party. But in these contests that we've seen how the candidate that has been the most vocally anti-Israel in some of the really important primaries have -- has won. I asked about that and the repercussions for Jews in America and whether it's relating to Israel. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NETANYAHU: I really don't know.

BASH: So some American Jews in Congress who support Israel and support what you just said say that a lot of the actions by you and your government are making Jews in the United States unsafe. Congresswoman Haley Stevens, she's running for Senate in Michigan, said "Benjamin Netanyahu has made us less safe. He has, frankly, put Jews in an uncomfortable position across the country." Have you?

NETANYAHU: Well, it's made -- it's made her uncomfortable because she can't stand up for the truth. She's trying to probably excuse anti- Semitism. You know, I --

BASH: She's not. She's -- I mean, I just want to explain. She's somebody who supports Israel. She supports funding Israel, which is diminishing big time among Democrats and even some Republicans in the United States Congress.

NETANYAHU: Well, let me tell you, we track support and I'm obviously concerned when people raise that. And I've looked at the gala polls, OK, and they're very interested and other polls, and you see the decline in support for Israel. OK.

[17:30:00]

And it's years before, several years before the Gaza war took place, OK? And you ask, why did that happen? Well, the one correlation you see, which is almost a perfect correlation, is the penetration of TikTok and other social media in the United States. And as the penetration increases, the support for Israel decreases.

BASH: Mr. Prime Minister, I think all things can be true. All things can be true. What you're saying about bots and about the Internet, no question. But are you saying that Israel and you personally bear no responsibility? Let's just talk about Gaza for one minute. Currently, Hamas is continuing to refuse to disarm. The IDF is also carrying out nearly daily airstrikes in Gaza. You've taken over more territory there.

And the Palestinian people are continuing to suffer, still displaced, dealing with intense heat, limited care, limited resources. Will you do more to help those suffering in Gaza? And will you concede that the images that people are seeing on their phones as part of social media is very much contributing to the turnaround and the diminishment of support of your state of Israel and of you?

NETANYAHU: Yes, look, I think that the -- what you're raising is how do you fight a war in the digital age when, you know, when you have terrorists that embed themselves in civilian populations, in schools and civilian neighborhoods, in apartment blocks, in mosques and so on? How do you fight them? They send rockets to indiscriminately kill our people and they hide behind that. They're targeting our civilians while hiding behind their own civilians. So what are you going to do?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: Jake, he says that he still thinks that a ceasefire ultimately can work in Gaza. But it all comes back to the same question, disarming Hamas, getting other Arab countries in particular involved and getting a promise that Israel won't be attacked on a regular basis if, in fact, the IDF fully pulls out.

But on the question of the rise of anti-Semitism here and the collapse of support for Israel, not just among Democrats and Republicans, but even some American Jews, he says that he sees it, he reads the polls, but it seems like it might be hard for him to really understand and digest just how bad it is getting.

TAPPER: And how much of a role he is playing in that collapse. Dana Bash, thank you so much.

Breaking news in our World Lead, U.S. Central Command just announced it's conducting, "powerful strikes against Iran" just as NATO leaders are gathering for a summit in Turkey. CNN's Kristen Holmes is there. And Kristen, this doesn't sound like any ceasefire I've ever heard of.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: No, it certainly doesn't. And just a reminder, earlier in the evening, we reported that the administration had reimposed sanctions as a form of financial retaliation against Iran because of these strikes on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz that happened yesterday. It seemed at that point that that was the only kind of retaliation that they were going to do until just about 15 minutes ago when CENTCOM announced that they were launching these strikes in Iran as another form of retaliation for striking those vessels.

Here's what they posted on X. They said, U.S. Central Command forces have begun launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway. The U.S. strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's demonstrated aggression was unwarranted, dangerous, and a clear violation of the ceasefire.

Now, I do want to get to the NATO of it all in one second, but just a quick reminder that part of the deal in the memorandum of understanding for the ceasefire, the 60-day negotiating period, was that in exchange for the lifting of the sanctions as well as the removal of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran would help the safe passage for these commercial vessels. This is the second time we've seen Iran break this.

Now, I do want to just quickly note, we are now here where the president of the United States is launching these on a country that borders with Iran. It seems like somewhat of a risky move to launch these attacks while President Trump is in the region. But one thing to point out is something he said earlier when he was talking about the president of Turkey, his close friend, he called him. He said that he could have joined Iran because they are allies and that he could have fought against the United States, but he didn't.

So there is a bit there of protection that he feels from the president of Turkey and the relationship that they have. And also, it might even be some sort of power flex that he is in this region and launching these strikes in Iran, which is just so close by.

[17:35:01]

TAPPER: All right, Kristen Holmes, traveling with President Trump in Ankara, Turkey. Thank you so much. We're going to continue to follow that story.

Also, ahead a new effort to tell your story as America marks 250 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: In our National Lead, as the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday, StoryCorps is making sure that the voices of everyday Americans are remembered.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TILLMAN: The first Juneteenth, Horace said what we needed a donkey in the parade.

MAKEDA: Leading the parade, right?

TILLMAN: Yes.

TOM COPELAND: It's pretty clear to me that without you and Kip being there working on that house that day, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: If you don't know what StoryCorps is, you should Google it. The non-profit preserves the stories and the memories and the experiences that define humanity and define the United States, connecting people through shared humanity, one story at a time. Now StoryCorps' latest project, "Connect 250," is bringing strangers together for 40-minute conversations. And joining us now is the founder of StoryCorps, Dave Isay. Dave, tell me about Connect 250.

[17:40:19]

DAVE ISAY, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, STORYCORPS: Sure. We have built a platform that opened actually today where you can come and connect with a stranger, have a 40-minute conversation, as you said, it's kind of a -- it's a protected video platform. At the end of the conversation, you hit stop, and it goes to the Library of Congress, so your great, great, great grandkids can get to know you through your story. It's kind of a hey, America, meet America effort to create a time capsule of who we are at the 350th -- 250th.

TAPPER: And people should download the StoryCorps app also. I found that personally very useful in my life. For a lot of people, talking with a complete stranger might be nerve-wracking to talk about their lives. Is there a prompt? Is there guidance to help get the conversation going? ISAY: Absolutely. There are -- the first thing that happens is you write a little bio, and you read the bio of your partner to them, and they read your bio back to you. And then there are a series of StoryCorps questions. It's incredibly easy to do. And, you know, as you know, talking to a stranger or getting to have a meaningful conversation with someone can be one of the most, you know, rewarding, important conversations you have all year. So people come in scared, and they leave as friends.

TAPPER: That's what journalists do every day.

ISAY: That's what it's all about.

TAPPER: Yes. You hope that this lasts until America 350.

ISAY: Yes.

TAPPER: I hope there is an America 350.

ISAY: Yes.

TAPPER: Based on the interviews that will be in the Library of Congress, what do you hope people will think of us at 250 on America's 350th birthday?

ISAY: Well, I think they'll get a much truer sense of who we are than you might from looking at social media. You know, this effort is really something that is built to last, as you said, until the 350th. And I think they'll find out that we are, you know, we have facilitators who travel the country recording those standard StoryCorps stories that you were talking about.

And to a person, you know, if you ask them what they've learned, they serve a year or two of duty bearing witness to these interviews, and all of them say that people are basically good. And I think at the 350th, you'll find out that Americans are basically good. We all care about the same things. We're decent people. We love our families. And a lot of, again, a lot of the noise that you hear is just noise. It's not real. And that was partly why we wanted to do this project.

TAPPER: Well, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful idea. I can't wait to hear it. Dave Isay, thank you so much. And thanks for what you do because you know I love StoryCorps.

ISAY: I know. Appreciate that.

TAPPER: Coming up next, what's really going on with Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky? The 84-year-old has been in the hospital for three weeks now. What a close contact says he learned today about the senator's condition.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:47:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Republicans are expressing concern about the health of Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, former Senate Majority Leader of Kentucky. He's now been hospitalized for more than three weeks. It's still not even clear why he was admitted to the hospital. Earlier today, CNN's Scott Jennings, who used to work for McConnell, posted on social media, "He's still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 20 minutes about Iran, Ukraine, the unfolding situation in Maine."

That after an independent journalist posted EMS audio of first responders called to the address of McConnell's home for a, "unconscious person" on the same day that the senator was hospitalized. McConnell's office is not offering many details. They referred CNN to this July 2nd statement, saying McConnell, "continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters."

Let's jump right in with the panel. So two top Senate Republicans, Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso, both tell CNN that they have recently spoken with McConnell. Other Republicans say they're still in the dark. Utah Senator Mike Lee posted today, "Many of us aren't speaking about Mitch McConnell's condition because we know nothing about his condition." You would think maybe more transparency would be in order in this post-Biden era, but I guess not.

MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WH DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: Yes, I mean, we all lived through this in 24 in the years leading up. I just think that the rumors of yesterday of him being brain dead and all the gossip going around on social media about that wouldn't have happened if there would just be more transparent and honest. He's 80-something years old. He's going to have health problems. He had a heart attack. Anybody can have a heart attack. Just be honest and transparent about it. I don't understand what they're hiding because not being transparent makes it seem like they're hiding.

TAPPER: Charles Booker, the Democrat who's running to succeed, McConnell, posted this statement last week, "When we don't know if our senator is alert, conscious, or capable of serving, that's not a partisan question. It's a Kentucky one." He goes on to say, "Kentuckians of every stripe deserve a clear and honest answer about their senator's condition." Jesse, he has a point.

JESSE ARM, VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE: That's not a partisan question. It's a Kentucky one. Sounds a little bit like an AI-generated construction to me. But he does have a point. I mean, look, Mitch McConnell is a lion of the United States Senate. He has a legacy that will go down in history and a lot of great accomplishments that he can hang his hat on.

But the question to raise here is entirely legitimate of whether he should continue to be in office. Republicans, we know, have made this critique about figures like Joe Biden, Dianne Feinstein. There have been a lot of elected officials over the years who probably should have stepped aside earlier, were way past their expiration date. And it's fair to say that, yes, we don't want to live in a gerontocracy. Mitch McConnell maybe shouldn't have put Kentucky voters in this situation. TAPPER: Do you think the lack of transparency is giving the crazy rumors, such as that he's brain-dead, you know, when you have Jennings and Thune and Barrasso saying they just spoke with him, he's obviously not brain-dead. But like is he -- I'm not saying that insane people aren't responsible for their own insanity, but, I mean, politically insane people, but is it giving oxygen to that?

[17:50:07]

ARM: Well, as a conservative and someone who spent a lot of time talking to Republicans, I can assure you that there would be insane conspiracy theories pretty much no matter what happened over in our neck of the woods politically. But, yes, I think that is fair to say.

HAYS: I also think, though, these types of instances are leading towards this anti-incumbency that both Republicans and Democrats are seeing through the primaries right now.

TAPPER: Yes.

HAYS: And so I just think that this all leads to that. And people are tired of it and want just a different generation.

TAPPER: And we also have -- this also comes on the heels of New Jersey Republican Congressman Tom Kean Jr., who's, we should say, only 58. He disappeared from Congress for four months without notice until he came forward and revealed he had been treated for depression. Then there's Florida Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. She missed a full month of votes after keeping her constituents in the dark about apparently an eye surgery she was having. How much do you think, and this is to both of you, you first, Meghan. How much do you think public officials owe details about their bodies, the details about their health?

HAYS: If you're going to be absent from votes and you are not voting representing your constituents, you owe people an honest answer of what's happening. All that Tom Kean had to say was, I'm going -- I have a mental health issue, and I'm going to seek help and treatment for that. You would have gotten so much more respect for everyone.

Everyone understands that and really can appreciate that. You have eye surgery. You have to have surgery if you break a bone. If you are having a child, you're out. So I don't understand what people are hiding because the lack of transparency. People just think you're hiding. People don't trust people in Washington, and this is a reason why.

TAPPER: Yes, this isn't 1850, where you can disappear for six months and nobody knows because the pony hasn't come to town yet.

ARM: Yes. I just don't even understand it, to be totally honest with you. My favorite Democratic senator, John Fetterman, has dealt with some serious issues with his own mental health and physical health since elevating to this new status in American public life. And look, a lot of Democrats hate him. A lot of Republicans kind of like him. But I don't think that this is like his cardinal sin. The Democrats don't like him because of that factor, right? So in an era where we're living in so much transparency that's expected of our public officials, right? They're Instagram video messaging themselves all day long and posting live stories. Why can't they just be a little bit clearer about what's going on with them, where they are, if they're going to miss votes, why is that?

TAPPER: Yes. President Trump is in Turkey today. He's been taking credit for Toyota moving some of its production from Mexico to Texas. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It came over the wires that Toyota is moving out of Mexico into the United States and building one of the biggest truck and car plants ever built. That's amazing. That's what tariffs do, properly used.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: So a statement from Toyota notes that the $3.6 billion expansion will, "create 2,000 new high-quality jobs." The statement from Toyota does not mention tariffs. Do you think Trump's right to take credit here?

ARM: I think Trump's right to take credit here because of the Tax and Jobs Act from his first term and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act from his second term. This is legislation that has driven economic investment in the United States. It has created a business climate with respect to taxes and spending and all kinds of economic dynamics that have made the American nation a more attractive place to do business. So that's where I think President Trump should take credit on this front.

TAPPER: Meghan, you agree?

HAYS: I mean, I think that that's the President's job, right, is to take credit for these announcements. Unclear if it's actually creating these number of jobs and what the motivation here is, but I'm not sure that our good friends in Michigan, that's a purple state, is going to be super happy about a foreign automaker making more autos in Texas.

TAPPER: Walmart announced it's lowering prices on summer items such as beef and soda, other items. Trump also taking credit for the rollbacks of those prices, posting, "at my administration's request to celebrate our great country's 250th birthday, Walmart will in particular be dropping the price for a pound of ground beef by almost 15 percent, among many other products. This is a huge deal for the many millions of Americans who smartly shop at Walmart, which is a truly patriotic company who loves the USA." It's not the first time Trump has tied Walmart's discounts to his administration. Meghan?

HAYS: I mean, again, who knows if they did this because of Trump. I would highly doubt that they did. I think they see that there's an economic benefit. When you get people in the store, they buy more goods. But good on Walmart for dropping prices. The American people are suffering, and they need some relief here, and this is giving them relief on summer goods.

ARM: I agree. I think the economists would call the technical term for this jawboning. But regardless, look, Trump deserves some amount of credit here because I think this is a reflection of the fact that industry likes his new pick for the Fed chair, right? Kevin Warsh, this is at some level an indication. And even Jerome Powell, who Trump's not a particularly big fan of. That recession never came.

Inflation went down. We appear to have weathered this storm a little bit. Costs are now coming down for the American people, and that is a reflection of the fact that Donald Trump has made a sober choice for who's going to come in and lead the Fed next.

TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

[17:55:00]

Breaking news tonight, the U.S. is launching what it calls powerful new strikes against Iran. And two women now accusing Graham Platner of violence, and they're giving new exclusive T.V. interviews to The Lead. A second woman coming forward today to detail her claims. They're also live in Maine as the Democratic Senate nominee faces growing pressure from fellow Democrats to end his campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Breaking news in our World Lead, right now Iranians in port cities are hearing explosions according to state media as the United States conducts what our government is calling powerful strikes in response to Iranian strikes on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz during what has been called a ceasefire, except the fire hasn't ceased. The United States also reimposing oil sanctions today.

[17:59:55]

CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Turkey's capital where President Trump is attending a meeting of NATO allies. CNN White House reporter Adam Cancryn is here with me in studio. And Kristen this is a huge test for the alleged ceasefire.