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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump's Firing Of Bipartisan Election Security Officials Is Latest Move Fueling Election Interference Concerns; Man Survives After Getting Partially Sucked Out Of Plane; King Charles Meets With Harry, Meghan And Their Children; Maine Democrats Scramble For Best Candidate To Take On Sen. Collins. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired July 10, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

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[18:00:00]

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, with less than four months until the midterm elections, President Trump just fired the leaders of an agency that helps local officials to keep their elections safe. Why? Why would a president who constantly talks about wanting to secure elections do this now?

Plus, the family of Nolan Wells pleading for answers tonight after the 18-year-old died on a July 4th boat trip with friends. His parents have now commissioned an independent investigation to try to figure out what happened. Their attorney, Ben Crump, on The Lead ahead.

Also, a mid-flight nightmare, a man was partially sucked out of a Ryanair plane after the window next to him broke. Passengers sitting nearby had to hold him down to stop him from being fully yanked into the sky. We're going to have those terrifying details this hour.

And it's a royal reunion years in the making. King Charles hosting not just his son, Prince Harry, but also Meghan and their two children earlier today, the first time the ling has seen that family in four years. What we're learning about the visit ahead.

The Lead tonight from the man who brought you January 6th, a new pattern of aggressive moves, raising alarm and questions about what he's going to do this October. President Donald Trump last night fired the leadership of the Election Assistance Commission. That's the federal agency that provides funding and security guidance to election officials, and it certifies voting equipment.

It's one of the few remaining entities of its kind because the Trump administration has already gutted the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. CNN requested comment from the White House and the EAC.

Democratic Senator Mark Warner, who's the vice chairman of the Intelligence Committee, reacted in a statement to the firing, saying, quote, removing every remaining commissioner just months before the 2026 midterm elections is an extraordinary step that raises profound concerns about political interference in the institutions that support our elections, removing every remaining commissioner just months before the 2026 midterm elections. And, of course, the question, of course, raises profound concerns about what President Trump has planned.

This is just one piece of a larger puzzle in Trump's election-obsessed words and actions. First of all, you still typically can't go a week without Trump saying falsely that he won the 2020 election. He did not. Here he was just two days ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I've been right about everything, and I have been for a long time. It's how I got to be president three times. It's how I won three elections. I did very well in the second one, won it. It was a rigged election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: He did not do very well in the second one. He lost it. He did very poorly. It was not a rigged election. He continues to lie about this.

And remember how people drunk on those false election conspiracies behaved. A violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, that resulted in five people dead, one police officer who died immediately afterward, four other police officers who took their own lives after experiencing that trauma, and more than 140 law enforcement wounded or maimed.

The president was looking to have the will of the American people obstructed and subverted. He wanted to stop the counting of electors. He wanted to have fake electors make him president. It's a plot that failed, but not for lack of trying. And now here we are more than five years later, and there are questions as to what he is planning for 2026 or 2028.

The FBI last week ramped up its investigation into the 2020 election in Georgia by dedicating more personnel, an internal memo calling it a priority, according to a source, the seizure, let us not forget, of Georgia's Fulton County ballots and election materials.

Now, that was driven by a man named Kurt Olson. Kurt Olson was a presidentially appointed director of election security and integrity, integrity being a rather loose term given that Kurt Olson is a 2020 election denier, who was actually fined by a court for his 2022 lawsuit that falsely claimed Arizona voting machines were unreliable and subject to manipulation.

Now, interestingly, last month, Olson went from the White House to the Justice Department. He's a senior attorney for the Southern District of Florida.

Now, for more pieces of the puzzle, in February, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence under Tulsi Gabbard at the time said that they had obtained electronic voting machines in Puerto Rico back in 2025 to look for security vulnerabilities.

[18:05:14]

Now, Gabbard is out as spy chief, replaced by Bill Pulte, who's interim director of National Intelligence.

Pulte has no relevant experience in intelligence or national security, but lots of experience in being a Trump loyalist and in weaponizing the government. The president has said Pulte will investigate elections, and Pulte's now chosen chief of staff is a woman who worked on election-related issues for the Republican National Committee.

Then there's Trump's plan for the U.S. postmaster general to not deliver mail-in ballots in states that don't turn over their voter rolls. If courts don't ultimately kill this, it would put more voter data in the hands of Trump officials looking for supposed election fraud.

Also, in the new book, "Regime Change", by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, they write, the authors, that as tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela heated up last year, President Trump taught MAGA pundit Tucker Carlson, tried to use him as a between himself and then Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

From the book, quote, as bait, Maduro had claimed to Carlson that he could furnish proof U.S. voting machines were tampered with in 2020, a transparently calculated appeal to Trump's unfounded stolen election grievances. And he had told Carlson he wanted warmer relations with Washington, unquote.

Now, since then, of course, Maduro was captured by U.S. forces. He currently sits in a New York detention center. Given that he was already willing to make false claims about Venezuela rigging the 2020 election to ingratiate himself with Trump, what might Maduro be willing to say now to get out of jail, to avoid spending the rest of his life behind bars? What might the U.S.-backed replacement of Maduro, Delcy Rodriguez, what might she be willing to say or do?

Put all of this together, many government officials are wondering, concerned, some terrified, about what exactly President Trump and all the president's men are planning. We're talking about a man who on the first day of his second term pardoned the January 6 rioters, many of whom had committed violence, including beating up cops in Trump's name.

We're going to continue to monitor all of this, but what happened yesterday is part of it.

Let's discuss with Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman, let's go to your area of expertise as member of the House -- top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Back in 2020 and 2021, when Trump was also clearly planning to do something inappropriate with the election, the secretary of defense was Mark Esper, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was General Mark Milley. Did you have any conversations with either of them at the time, and do you think the people who now hold those positions, Pete Hegseth and General Caine, would also defend the Constitution and fair elections if it came down to it?

REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA): I had multiple conversations with both Secretary Esper and Chairman Milley. And, look, we all three shared the concern that President Trump would try to steal the election and might use the military as part of how he would do that. So, we monitored it very closely.

Now, Chairman Milley, Secretary Esper, they were dedicated to the Constitution. They were loyal to the Constitution, not to President Trump. And I think they were helpful in making sure that everybody in the Pentagon understood that that was the priority.

Now, you know, I do have some confidence in Chairman Caine. I think he's, you know, a dedicated service member who would put the Constitution first. I have no confidence in Secretary Hegseth. And what's more, President Trump, as you've just outlined, across the government, has replaced people who would be loyal to the law and the Constitution with people who are only loyal to him. So, there is a much greater risk this time that he will use the government to basically steal the midterm elections.

TAPPER: You note that you have trust in the Joint Chiefs Chairman General Caine. Pete Hegseth, Secretary Hegseth, has spent a lot of the last year-and-a-half getting rid of senior officers in our armed forces. He's gotten rid of generals, he's gotten rid of admirals, people who are highly respected, nonpartisan, and there is also a concern that he is replacing them with loyalists.

Might that potentially play a role in whatever is being planned for September or October?

SMITH: I mean, absolutely. You've seen it both at the Department of Defense and also in the Intel Community as people have been moved around, and they've been putting in loyalists. Yes, that absolutely could be an impact. And, look, the scenario you envision is they seize voting machines. They refuse to certify elections.

[18:10:00]

People show up and protest, and they use either DOD or DHS, you know, basically to, you know, block people from stopping this.

Now, I think it's really important right now that we do exactly what you're doing, which is shine a light on this. Because a stunning number of people in this country would still go, oh, come on. You know, President Trump, say, well, that doesn't happen here. And they're right. It doesn't happen here. But it does happen in the mind of Donald Trump, and he's president.

We have to not have a failure of imagination here. We have to shine a light on this, prepare the courts, and prepare the people to stand up and stop Trump from doing this. TAPPER: Last time, President Trump had a vice president, Mike Pence, who was dedicated to the Constitution to the degree that Trump supporters outside the Capitol on January 6 were literally chanting, hang Mike Pence. He did the right thing. He stood up for the rule of law and the Constitution.

Do you think Vice President Vance would do the same? And is there anyone in Trump's cabinet who you would trust to intervene if things went too far this year or in 2028?

SMITH: No, I certainly don't see Vice President Vance doing what Mike Pence did. And, no, I don't see anyone in the cabinet who I would trust to do that. Loyalty has come before the Constitution, before the country. So, it puts us in an incredibly dangerous position with a cabinet we cannot trust and a president we cannot trust. So, again, we really have to speak out about this and make sure that the courts and the people are prepared to stop them.

Look, I still think the bulk of the country, the bulk of Republicans for that matter, believe in representative democracy and believe in our Constitution. They've just deluded themselves toward, and in terms of the threat that Trump poses to all of that.

And there's a bunch of different reasons for it, and we've talked about it. Okay, so they don't like the Democrats. They don't like the left. I get that. But you should understand that even though Trump presents himself as the one standing up against those things, what he really is is an authoritarian who wants to grab as much power for himself as possible, and that places our entire country at risk.

TAPPER: Well --

SMITH: And I think we need to talk about that.

I know the pollsters say, you know, talk about housing, talk about affordability, talk about costs. That's what people care about, kitchen table issues. I think people care about democracy. I think people care about stopping a fascist takeover of our country. We have to make the case. And given the threat that you have outlined, we have to convince them to be concerned about it if they're not.

TAPPER: Well, I mean, the president and his team are welcome to come on the show at any time and explain all of these things that are happening, including the firing of the Election Commission last night. I would just note that if these elections are fixed by Democrats, they're doing a pretty shitty job because Republicans control the House and the Senate and the White House, and arguably the Supreme Court.

Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington State, thank you so much.

This next one is nothing short of incredible. A man sucked partially out of an airliner. He lived to talk about it.

Plus, a ministry leader and former Marine in Colorado has long claimed that an abusive stepfather forced him to kill a man when he was just seven years old. And that ministry leader just won the Republican nomination in the race for Colorado governor. We're going to discuss ahead.

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TAPPER: In our World Lead, this story is like something out of a Final Destination movie. Those are great, by the way. But there's actually a happy ending in this one, so not exactly like Final Destination. This man is lucky to be alive. He was pulled headfirst and sucked halfway out of an airplane after the window he was sitting next to broke. This happened today on a Ryanair flight heading from Greece to Germany.

CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean joins us now. Pete, how did this unfold?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: You know, a terrifying situation, to be sure, but not actually the first time that this has happened on a Boeing 737. In this case, a passenger sitting in the window seat was suddenly pulled partway out of the airplane when the window failed in flight, exposing him to the 400 mile per hour air rushing by outside. Thankfully, fellow passengers were able to pull him back inside.

Greek media reports the man suffered neck injuries and friction burns. And new video, also from Greek media, shows inside the passenger cabin, the window completely missing, with oxygen masks dangling overhead after the rapid decompression.

One more silver lining here, this happened while the jet was climbing through about 16,000 feet, according to flight tracking data, not at its normal cruising altitude of around 35,000 feet. That means the air was still marginally breathable. The pressure difference between inside the passenger cabin and outside of the airplane was much lower than it would have been at cruise altitude, which likely made the decompression of the passenger cabin much less violent than it could have been.

Now comes the investigation, and one of the biggest questions is why this window failed in the first place. Greek media reports say it may have been struck by debris from one of the airplane's engines, but investigators have not confirmed that yet. If engine debris was involved, investigators should be able to determine that relatively quickly by examining the damage to both the engine and the window, the forensic damage there.

They'll also scrutinize the plane's maintenance history here because there's one more detail that investigators will likely look at. The same plane returned to Thessaloniki shortly after takeoff on a flight the night before to Sarajevo, another sort of interesting piece of evidence here. Not totally clear if those things are connected, though.

TAPPER: And we don't know yet why that the -- any of this happened? MUNTEAN: Well, the interesting thing here, and investigators will really look at this, is the comparison to a Southwest flight back in 2018 where a piece of engine debris, a fan blade, broke off and caused the passenger cabin to rapid decompress. A passenger sitting in seat about 8A was pulled out of the plane. She ultimately died from her injuries.

The NTSB here in the U.S. is helping with this investigation. So, of course, that will be top of mind for them, also on a Boeing 737. So, we'll see if the inspections that were mandated essentially by the FAA after the NTSB's recommendation following that incident will come up again here.

This could be a very interesting one, a lot of echoes to that previous incident of a few years ago.

TAPPER: Yes, that's just terrifying.

All right, Pete Muntean, thanks so much.

[18:20:01]

King Charles, Queen Camilla welcoming Prince Harry, Meghan, the grandchildren in the U.K. today. Is this the start of a family truce? That's next.

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TAPPER: In our World Lead, a royal reunion. King Charles and Queen Camilla met with Prince Harry, Meghan, and their two children today. The first family meeting in four years maybe a step towards healing this rift that's lingered since Harry and Meghan step -- Harry and Meghan stepped away from royal life and relocated to the U.S. six years ago.

CNN's Anna Stewart is in London, and she has the details. Anna?

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Well, Jake, the King hasn't seen his youngest grandchildren in four years. We're told the King and Queen hosted the Sussex family at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire. There was no heads-up to the press regarding this meeting, no news cameras present, and it's unlikely we'll ever get a readout from the palace.

[18:25:01]

This was a private reunion for a family known to have deep tensions, often played out on a global stage.

The Prince and Princess of Wales and their children were absent from this meeting. The brothers remain estranged, according to British media reports.

Now, Prince Archie is seven years old, Princess Lilibet recently turned five, and this is the first time they see their grandfather since he became king. Prince Harry comes to the U.K. sporadically for events. This week he was here to mark the one-year countdown to the Paralympic-style sporting competition, the Invictus Games, as well as other charity engagements.

A major reason for Prince Harry not bringing his wife and children to the U.K. has centered around security. Since stepping back as working members of the royal family, the Sussex family no longer get a security detail paid for by the British taxpayer. Prince Harry believes the risks to their security are too high to rely on private security, and has taken the home office to court over the issue, a case he actually lost.

It's unclear what security enabled this visit. It may have been helped by the king and queen hosting them outside of London. Speculation will be rife over that, and whether the royal family rift has finally been healed. Jake?

TAPPER: Thanks, Anna. I appreciate it.

Demands for answers and accountability in Mississippi after the death -- the suspicious death of a Black teenager who went out with friends on the 4th of July and never came home. The family's attorney, Benjamin Crump, joins The Lead next.

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TAPPER: In our National Lead, grief, speculation, racial tension surrounding the mysterious death of 18-year-old Nolan Wells. Some of the last pictures of Wells show him with a group of friends on a boat heading to Horn Island off the coast of Mississippi on July 4th. All of the people on that boat except for Nolan came home that day.

In moments, I'm going to talk to the family's attorney, who says Nolan's cellphone and car keys were found with the people he went to the island with, not with him. But, first, CNN's Ryan Young has more on the unanswered questions about this young man's death.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINE WONSLEY, NOLAN WELLS' MOTHER: We just want to know what happened and why our baby didn't come home.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The family of Nolan Wells is pleading for answers tonight in a case rife with speculation, grief, and racial overtones.

WONSLEY: Nolan was, is the kindest soul. He never met a stranger. He loved everybody.

ELMORE WONSLEY, NOLAN WELLS' FATHER: Nolan is a person with a big heart.

YOUNG: Details remain elusive about how the beloved 18-year-old college football player who died during a 4th of July boat celebration on Horn Island off the coast of Mississippi. His friends returned to the dock without him, authorities said. The Jackson County Sheriff says there's an active investigation, but so far no foul play is suspected.

SHERIFF JOHN LEDBETTER, JACKSON COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI: We're still waiting on the truth to come out.

YOUNG: The sheriff has not elaborated on how Wells became separated from his friends or why he didn't have his cellphone. Wells' family's attorneys speculate that Nolan's cellphone was returned with deleted text messages, and that the teen's keys were also left behind with his friends.

C. WONSLEY: Anyone who's ever been around Nolan will tell you at social gatherings he's taking videos, he's taking pictures. That's why we feel that things may have been deleted, was because of the fact that there was nothing in either one of his accounts.

LEDBETTER: We do not have the cellphone that they speak of and we've never had the cellphone. But it is to my understanding that we requested the cellphone for an extraction.

YOUNG: Sheriff Ledbetter says one of the three friends who was on the boat with Wells was the first to report him missing around 11:00 P.M. that night. Mississippi investigators are exploring social media reports of an alleged altercation or argument that may have involved Wells, the only black man in his friends' group.

LEDBETTER: We're going to work this investigation thoroughly and professionally.

YOUNG: The Jackson County coroner told CNN there were no immediate signs of physical injury and that his body was found face down in the water close to the shoreline. The coroner has completed Wells' autopsy, but an official cause of death has yet to be determined as they are still waiting for the results of tests, including a toxicology report.

Authorities also believe strong rip currents in the area could have potentially posed a risk.

LEDBETTER: We're working towards the same goal as the family. We want a thorough investigation, and that's what we're going to continue to do until we arrive at the answers that the family deserves.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YOUNG (on camera): And, Jake, I actually talked to the sheriff earlier this week, and one of the big questions is trying to find out what this timeline actually looks like. His investigators are still working on this. Of course, there's a lot of questions whether or not they've been able to talk to these friends and do a thorough investigation.

And, of course, there's a lot of chatter about that phone. But what you do hope is some of these witnesses and people who were there on this crowded island provide either some video accounts or some pictures or something that can lead to something more solid. I would love to be able to tell you, here's the timeline of events and here's the timeline that separates the two groups, but that's not something that we can do right now because that's not information that's been released so far. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Ryan Young, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Let's talk more about this troubling case with Benjamin Crump. He's the attorney representing Nolan Wells' family. Ben, good to see you, as always.

At today's press conference, the family said that Nolan's car keys and cellphone had been found, not with Nolan, but with those who Nolan had been with on Horn Island. They ultimately got both items back, but why would those items not be with Nolan in the first place?

BENJAMIN CRUMP, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: you know, Jake Tapper, so many conflict and issues that caused the family concern. Obviously, this conflict of what he -- who he left with, the girl says he got back in the boat with the boys. The boys said no. He said that he was going to stay with the girl. And so they have a conflict. Both of them can't be telling the truth.

[18:35:01]

And if you believe him, he said he was going to stay back on the island, then why would he leave his cellphone with them?

TAPPER: Right.

CRUMP: Why would he leave his car keys with them? It just doesn't add up, especially, Jake Tapper, once you look at the video that's circulating on social media, where you hear Nolan in an argument saying, give me my freaking phone, what are you freaking doing, and it's troubling because that's very relevant when you think about the fact that he ends up dead, and they have his cellphone.

TAPPER: Yes. Where did that video come from, do you know? And can you physically see Nolan or anyone else in that video?

CRUMP: We think we've identified Nolan in the video. I know there are young people who were there who say that is Nolan arguing with the guys. And so what we're doing, and the reason we were able to get the sound, we had people take the distortion out where they could key in on what was being said.

TAPPER: And you said your office is starting to get videos and photos from Horn Island on July 4th, the day Nolan went missing. Can you tell us, give us any idea of how many images you're getting? Do any of them show Nolan with the group of friends that he had been with?

CRUMP: There's some video that -- well, there are pictures that showed him there, and there's a video. What is very interesting is when his mother got the cellphone back, she and her assistant observed that there were deleted Snapchat messages and some deleted text messages that they said just didn't make sense, because Nolan was always taking pictures and videos on Snapchat. And for there to be nothing there on Snapchat, they said, was just not what they find on his phone. And so that was troubling that people or somebody had deleted video. We don't know who.

TAPPER: Can those messages be recovered? Is there any way to do that?

CRUMP: You know, that's what we're trying to do. We have some experts trying to recover the deleted messages to help figure this out, because it's not adding up. And you think about the fact that Nolan was a college football player. He was a superb athlete in tip-top shape. He could swim. And so his family is not buying this accidental drowning that is being suggested because they're saying, hello, all those people out there and nobody saw him? Nobody tried to help him? It just doesn't add up.

TAPPER: Obviously, somebody knows what happened. So, you also said you wanted to talk with the young men who had been with Nolan. Out of all the questions that this horrible incident prompts, what would you ask them?

CRUMP: The biggest question is about the cellphone. If Nolan really told you he was going to stay on the island, which his family doesn't believe he would have done, why would I leave my cellphone with you? I mean, he's an 18-year-old kid.

And, Jake, teenagers never want to be without their cellphones.

TAPPER: Ye. I have a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, and that is the God's honest truth.

Ben Crump, thank you. Stay in touch with us about this important case.

CRUMP: Thank you, Jake.

TAPPER: Graham Platner officially makes his exit from Maine Senate race. Do Democrats running to replace him stand a chance against Republican Senator Susan Collins? Well, one of those Democrats joins me next.

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[18:40:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, if Democrats are to take back the Senate, every single battleground race this November is paramount. That is especially true of Maine, where Democrats are now jockeying to be the one to replace Graham Platner as the Democratic nominee to take on Republican Senator Susan Collins in just a few months.

Platner announced Wednesday he will suspend his campaign following an allegation of rape. He claims the allegation is false, and then today he posted on social media a letter to the secretary of state saying that his name should be removed.

Joining us now is one of the Democrats who wants to replace Platner as the nominee, Dan Kleban. He's founder of the Maine Beer Company, and he ran in the primary, lost to Platner.

Dan, you ran for Senate last year, before you dropped your bid, I should note, and backed Governor Janet Mills, which was interesting because she was behind in the polls. Why did you back her and not Graham Platner, who I believe is more in line with your progressive ideology? Am I wrong?

DAN KLEBAN (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: Just slight -- One, thank you for having me. Slight correction.

TAPPER: Okay.

KLEBAN: I dropped out in the fall right after our governor got in the race.

TAPPER: Okay. Oh, that's why you did it, okay.

KLEBAN: So -- yes. Yes. Well, I got in -- look from day one, from the moment I started discussing with my family whether or not I was going to run for Senate, the kind of -- the goal here was always to beat Susan Collins. And once it became clear to me, after Graham Platner got in the race, then I got in the race, and then the governor got in the race, I thought it was in the best interest of the party in the name of beating Susan Collins, to clear the field and let the governor and Graham Platner have it out. Obviously, we're in a different situation now.

TAPPER: But you endorsed Janet Mills. Why did you endorse her?

KLEBAN: I thought she was in the best position to beat Susan Collins. I had some serious concerns about Graham Platner's character in the moment. I believe character in politics matters. I think we've seen on the other side of the aisle.

[18:45:03]

When you give up on character, you can go down some pretty dark and dangerous roads, and I want the Democratic Party. I think we should be a party that still thinks that character matters.

TAPPER: So why do you think you're the best to take on Susan Collins?

KLEBAN: I believe I have a unique background. I am not a career politician. I've never held elective office. Instead, over the last two decades, I've worked on raising a family. I have twin 15-year- olds.

I've spent the last two decades building a small business, literally out of my garage. Me and my brother started a brewery, Maine Beer Company, with a simple motto of do what's right.

And for us, Jake, that meant from day one, we paid a living wage. We covered 100 percent of health insurance premiums. We provide for folks' retirement, and we give back to our community and the environment. And I think that -- you know, we did that because I was laid off

during the great recession. I was a victim of a rigged system. And people are rightfully pissed that the system is rigged against them. I was collateral damage.

But what I went out and did is I built something. I built a company to show that we can have an economy in Maine and in this country that not only rewards entrepreneurs and small business owners, but takes care of workers in our communities and our environment. I think we need more of that outside the box thinking in D.C.

And frankly, Susan Collins has been there for 30 years. She's gone D.C. that she is the establishment, and she stopped looking out for hard-working Mainers.

TAPPER: You've said that if elected, you would not vote for Chuck Schumer to be Senate Democratic leader. Why not, and who would you rather see as Democratic leader of the Senate?

KLEBAN: I mean, just like I think we need fresh faces in Congress, in the Senate, and in the House of Representatives, and I represent that kind of fresh face as an outsider, I think we need new leadership and so you're correct. I will not vote for Chuck Schumer as leader. I frankly, I don't know who -- who else will throw their hat in the ring, but I want whoever it is to be someone who offers fresh ideas because clearly, what Congress has been doing over the last several decades just isn't working for hard working Maine families.

TAPPER: All right, Dan Kleban, thank you so much. Appreciate your -- your time.

What's the name of your brewery?

KLEBAN: It's Maine Beer Company. If people want to learn more about the campaign, they can go to danformaine.com.

TAPPER: OK, danformaine.com and Maine Beer Company. That's the one I was interested in.

My panel joins me now. Appreciate it.

Ashley Etienne, we've heard from two Democratic hopefuls on the show. It's early yet, but the decision's going to have to be made soon. Is there one candidate that you think has a better chance to win the nomination in this convention they're having and to beat Susan Collins?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, VP HARRIS: Well, I mean, I think the key is going to be they're going to have to select a candidate who can not only raise money, who can unify the progressive movement. So pull Platner's voters to the table, but also more pulling -- I think this is what's getting lost is that person is going to have to be able to also peel off some of those independent voters.

That's been Susan Collins is sweet spot cycle after cycle. She's been able to secure those votes, and I know we've been, you know, overemphasizing progressives in this particular race, but it's going to be those independent voters.

So, whoever the candidate is, is going to have to have that level of broad appeal be able to raise money. But the other thing I would point out is this process is going to have to move quickly. Some of the lessons we learned from 2024 with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris -- you've got to move quickly and it cannot look like an inside job.

TAPPER: Yeah.

Melik, do you think that the Democrats have botched this so much that Susan Collins doesn't have to worry about this race anymore or the headwinds just so strong and she's -- she remains vulnerable.

MELIK ABDUL, GOP STRATEGIST: Well, any candidate will tell you that it's not over until it's over. I think that Susan Collins actually with him getting even with Graham Plattner getting out, Susan Collins has won I think the last election by eight points and she was already down. You never should count Susan Collins out, but I think that even though there are some concerns that she rightly should have because you don't know what's going to happen.

I think that because of the dropping out and because of what you said in 2024, we saw what happened when you're not able to get a galvanize a campaign within what, four or so months. That's something that Republicans are going to lean in on.

And Susan Collins is going to be able to talk about her record delivering on behalf of the people of Maine.

TAPPER: So, Ashley, when you look at the map of battlegrounds, so Democrats have 47 seats right now, including the two independents at caucus with the Democrats. So, Democrats have to hold every seat that they have and flip four. What are the four that you think are most likely to flip?

ETIENNE: You know, I'm putting some money on Texas is my home state. I think Talerico is an incredible candidate. I think he's got some real talent that can be exploited to win. The question is, what is he going to do with black voters? Black voters there and across the country are suffering a huge amount of disillusionment.

So, I'm watching to see --

TAPPER: Still doesn't have Jasmine Crockett in his tent, though, right? I mean --

ETIENNE: He does.

TAPPER: He needs her support.

ABDUL: He's making that clear.

ETIENNE: Yeah, he doesn't. But the key is she's already endorsed him. The second thing is she said that she's going to work on the down ballot races. So, she's right in that if you work on the down ballot races and you know you can drive turn out that can support Talarico, but he's got to do his own work to engage the black community.

I think Ohio, North Carolina, I think if you work on the down ballot races and you know you can drive turn out that can support Talarico, but he's got to do his own work to engage the black community. I think Ohio, North Carolina, I think those are really good. He lost.

But again, in each one of these states, black voters are going to make the difference. So the question comes back to whether or not these candidates have seriously engage those.

TAPPER: Only three.

ETIENNE: Okay, do I need one more?

TAPPER: You need one more. You give me North Carolina, where Roy Cooper, the governor's running, former governor, you think that Sherrod Brown in Ohio can do it against the Husted, and then you said Texas. What's the fourth?

ETIENNE: Where are we looking? Georgia? Is Georgia on the list?

ABDUL: Georgia is already in there.

TAPPER: No, but that's, yeah, that's a hold.

ETIENNE: That's a hold.

TAPPER: Yeah, what about Maine? You're not saying, you're not saying --

ETIENNE: Oh, no, I mean, Maine is --

TAPPER: There's Alaska, there's Iowa.

ETIENNE: Sorry. Iowa. Iowa, big opportunity in Iowa. I think we're going to sweep in Iowa. I mean, it really is telling in terms of how the farmers have been incredibly hit hard by the tariffs, the policies. So, I think I would add Iowa to that list.

TAPPER: Which Democratic, same question, like which seats that are held by Republicans right now are the most vulnerable. And do you think that there's some Republican pickups possible?

ABDUL: I think that the only one that we really is vulnerable at this point, I would say, Carolina. Republicans are -- even though we would love to win Georgia, Ossoff is already in that seat. Maine Republicans are doing much better there. Ohio is a bit --

ETIENNE: Carolina with the governors?

ABDUL: No, no, North Carolina.

TAPPER: He's saying North Carolina is the most vulnerable for Republicans.

ABDUL: Yes, that -- that is something that -- yeah, that that is something that seat --

ETIENNE: Brad Cooper is an exceptional -

TAPPER: Do you think Democrats are? I mean, Democrats could lose potentially Michigan. We don't know. I mean, but --

ABDUL: Yeah. And that's not something even though Republicans would like to put, you know, look for that seat, win that seat.

I think the bigger energy is going to be around a place like Texas because the latest polls show that Talarico and Paxton are actually tied, and what Paxton has to do in this race. They're going to try to run a national race against Paxton. What he has to do is talk about the things that he did as attorney general.

So, that's the billion-dollar lawsuits against Meta and Google, the things that he said --

ETIENNE: I was hearing they were going to talk about the fact he was impeached.

ABDUL: But that is what Paxton is going to have to do because you're going to talk about that. Paxton needs to talk about his record because notice they're not talking about his record because he has a record to actually stand on as attorney general, so they have to deflect and talk about the impeachments and all of those other things. What he has to do is nail down each and every time they attack him on those type of things, he has to talk about how he has delivered on behalf of Texans, and he's done that over and over.

ETIENNE: Interesting in the state of Texas is I've never seen Republicans polling so low with Texas voters. You've got a situation where the president of the United States, Republican president for the first time ever is underwater in the state of Texas. The governor is underwater.

So, Paxton is going to have a hard road to hoe in terms of convincing. You know, even his own base.

ABDUL: We're fighting for independence.

ETIENNE: But I will say this, Jake, in the green room, I've heard Republicans say Kansas could be an open -- Kansas could flip, Nebraska could flip. So, I think there's a lot of anxiety among --

TAPPER: Hope springs eternal.

ETIENNE: Yeah, I'm telling you, there's a lot of anxiety among Republicans about what's possible, especially given how bad this economy is and how it's so many people are suffering.

TAPPER: So, ministry leader and former Marine Victor Marx won the Republican primary for governor, and he's going to square off with the state attorney general, Phil Weiser. I'm switching to question four, folks, so get ready.

In May, Mark sat down for an interview that has become quite notable. Let's run that tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Do you think that you've killed people as an adult?

VICTOR MARX, COLORADO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Does it matter?

INTERVIEWER: Yeah, I'd say so.

MARX: Why?

INTERVIEWER: Killing somebody is a pretty weighty thing.

MARX: If someone's trying to kill you or you're in combat.

INTERVIEWER: It's still, it's still a weighty thing to take somebody else's life. I mean, it could be self-defense, it could be justified, but it's still a weighty thing. So I'm just asking you, how many people have you killed?

MARX: Well, if I did, I wouldn't be telling a reporter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So that's the Republican nominee for Governor. What do you think?

ETIENNE: Oh, gosh. Completely bizarre. Like, I don't understand.

TAPPER: Unusual for sure. Yeah.

ETIENNE: I don't understand what's going on with this guy. I mean, listen, you know, Republicans, Democrats have been running that, state, for over 10 years now. It's very blue. There's no possibility that this guy is going to win or is causing any problems.

But the reality is, this is a reflection of where the Republican Party is. Bizarro land.

ABDUL: Oh, we can't-- as if Platner didn't just get out of the race. No.

This guy's not going to win. That Republican hasn't won that seat in Colorado since 1998.

TAPPER: All right. Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

Yet another White House renovation. President Trump showing off some of the results. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:06]

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our national lead. Knock, knock. The White House is getting a much-needed security update, they say. A new front door. The Secret Service says the new door is not a cosmetic update, rather a necessary safeguard.

Trump posted before and after photos of the columns around the door, too, adding, quote, "People are saying that the city hasn't been or felt like this in 100 years." Those people, they're always saying things.

And our sports lead, Spain is advancing to the next round of the World Cup, clinching a spot in the semis after a late game-winning goal during today's match against Belgium. Spain's 2-1 win comes after also defeating Portugal in a nail-biter. They move on to play France now.

The other two semi-spots will be up for grabs, Manana.

Coming up Sunday on "STATE OF THE UNION", I'm going to talk to U.S. Ambassador to NATO, Matthew Whitaker, after Trump's visit to NATO, Democratic Congressman Jim Himes of Connecticut and Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts.

That's Sunday at 9:00 a.m. and noon Eastern on CNN. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, X, and on the TikTok @JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X, and Instagram at @TheLeadCNN.

If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Shabbat Shalom,

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.