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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Rep. Max Miller (R-OH) Speaks To CNN Amid Abuse Allegations; Tonight, Major Primary Elections Held Across Five States; Blanche's Mishandling Of Epstein Files Looms Over Senate Vote; Tonight: Major Primary Elections Held Across Five States. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired August 04, 2026 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
Breaking tonight, our exclusive interview with Republican Congressman Max Miller, who is facing increasing pressure to resign, to drop out of his bid for re-election amid allegations that he abused his ex-wife and possibly his two-year-old daughter.
Emily Moreno, who is the daughter of Senator Moreno, she accused Miller of multiple instances of domestic abuse, including an incident in which she said he held a gun to her. Miller vehemently denies all of the accusations. He says they're fabricated. He's vowing to stay in the race. He also says he's going to cooperate with a House ethics investigation, which it was announced earlier today.
Here is part of our extensive conversation with the congressman from just a few minutes ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. MAX MILLER (R-OH): These matters have already been looked into. Ms. Moreno has already gone to the police. The police are not investigating it. Ask yourself, why aren't they investigating these things? You see yourself, I am not getting any special treatment.
I have never done these things. These things have already been investigated. I have no police reports looked into me, and we actually have evidence unlike the other side. And so, you know, it's an honor for me to have a platform like this to continue to fight and to continue to show the American people that I've already been looked into.
TAPPER: Right.
MILLER: I'm happy to be looked into again.
TAPPER: There are now three women, three women, who have accused you of violent behavior. Politico published a report in 2021 that says when you were in high school, you, quote, pushed a girl out of the dorm of his room and she fell down some stairs after he became enraged when she resisted his attempts to touch her, according to three people who were there and many more who heard about the incident in the aftermath.
Now, you deny that, but the woman in question told Mother Jones reporter Abby Vesoulis just days ago that it happened and was, quote, one of the more traumatic nights of her life. Now, that's --
MILLER: Well, I would love --
TAPPER: Now, hold on --
MILLER: -- that individual to go on the record because that, Jake, I was --
TAPPER: Hold on because I'm not done with the list of women that have accused you of violence. Then there's former White House press secretary --
MILLER: I was 13 years old.
TAPPER: Okay, you were young.
MILLER: Then there's former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham, who was your ex-girlfriend. She accused you of being abusive and having a violent streak. She wrote in her book, quote, I could do nothing right by him. I would wake up every morning shaking with anxiety about his mood that day. I had seen his temper before and it had scared me, unquote. She has recently filed a temporary restraining order against you and a defamation case. And now there are these claims from your ex-wife, Emily Moreno.
And I guess the question is, are all three of these women who don't know each other, are all three of them lying?
MILLER: Yes, it's very easy, and I can tell you why. Every single time -- and people have asked me, you know, what are you going to do? Are you going to drop out of this race? Are you going to resign? You know, are you going to get out before the deadline? And my answer to you, Jake, is no, and I can tell you why.
In 2016, when President Donald J. Trump faced the most extreme allegations in the world that hit him day after day after day, and people in the media, very much like yourself and others, said that he would have no shot at winning, that he should not be the president of the United States. But guess what? He stayed in and he was resilient.
And what the American people can see is that they can see that somebody is fighting who is resilient, and that is a quality that the American people cherish. And so for no second am I going to sit here and continue to be debased by false and baseless allegations and be pushed out of a seat I have worked so hard to represent and done a terrific job for our community.
You know, my record in Congress on the Ways and Means and House Foreign Affairs and bringing back money for our district and standing up for the Ukrainian people, and also voting to protect Obamacare during this entire time, this is why no one's attacking me on my policy, Jake, because they can't.
I've been a good legislator. All they're trying to do is create rumor mills without evidence. It's all hearsay.
TAPPER: Do you --
MILLER: All hearsay.
TAPPER: Do you realize what -- it's not hearsay if it is first-hand testimony from women, and I just named three people that are providing first-hand testimony. That's not hearsay.
MILLER: If I really did those things, why wouldn't I be in prison? It's because it's an extreme fabrication of the truth. And, look, at the end of the day, I'm going to continue to push. I am going to win this race, and my daughter will see that her father is going to be back in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, sources say that Emily's father, Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno, wanted to speak out against Miller months ago, but his daughter asked him not to, not wanting her young child to someday read about her grandfather attacking her dad when she grows up. But after Congressman Miller posted a lengthy social media video on Sunday, a live stream, Senator Moreno finally spoke to reporters about the situation today.
[18:05:05]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. BERNIE MORENO (R-OH): I hope that you guys understand, and maybe I hope you never have to understand, what my daughter's been through, what my daughter's going through, what my wife is going through, my two other -- my two boys and my other daughter are going through.
This is truly the seventh level of hell. My daughter lives in constant fear of this man. Not like something that's existential, but deeply in her heart she fears what this guy is capable of. You can't fathom what that makes me feel like when the dad's number one job is to protect your kids.
And to have this whole thing out in the public like this is not what I wanted to do. It's not what my daughter wanted to do.
Do you have any idea that what it's like to go through physical abuse, and then mental abuse, and then to relive it over and over and over again? That's what my daughter has tried to avoid. She hasn't made a single solitary public statement. Max feels like he needs to go on a publicity tour, which I just don't understand.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TAPPER: Here to discuss, CNN's David Chalian and Manu Raju, and at the White House, Kristen Holmes. David, what did you make of Congressman Miller's comments tonight?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Well, obviously total defiance when it comes to the question about whether or not he's going to find an exit ramp out of this reelection race, but also perplexing to me just as a strategy. I mean, he spent part of the interview with you urging his accusers to be investigated, that people should go after the accusers.
This was not somebody that seemed at all living in the reality. I understand he's denying the allegations, but it just seemed like an odd strategy to me of him coming on to do what? To what accomplishment here, other than to show total defiance as it comes to his re-election effort, which, by the way, there are a lot of Republicans, Donald Trump among them, who are concerned about what it means for this seat if he does stay in the race.
TAPPER: And, Manu, the House Ethics Committee now investigating him. He says he's going to cooperate. What are you hearing from Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill? Congressman Miller seemed to suggest that nobody was telling him, none of his colleagues, including the speaker, were telling him that he should think about dropping out.
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, one thing that he's lucky about is that the House is not in session right now, because the speaker would be facing a relentless amount of questions about Max Miller.
TAPPER: He didn't see the tape.
RAJU: Oh, right. What he probably will say is that there's an ethics investigation ongoing. Let's see how the ethics investigation plays out. He's said that before in other situations. The speaker is having a press conference tomorrow in Arizona. We'll see if he's addressed that question there.
But I've asked a lot of Republican senators about this. Some of them have called on him to resign. Others have stopped short, including the Senate Majority Leader John Thune. I asked him about whether he agrees with Bernie Moreno on this question. He said that it's a family matter, it's sad, it's very disturbing, but he would not go nearly as far as that.
And then John Husted, he is a Republican up for re-election in Ohio, facing a difficult race. He wouldn't -- he ignored reporters' questions all day long about this, Jake.
TAPPER: Yes.
RAJU: And when he was on Newsmax earlier today, he did not go as far as his senior senator, Bernie Moreno, in calling for him to resign.
So, you're seeing how Republicans are dealing with this in different ways. But the Ethics Committee thing is something to watch, because that could drag on past the election.
TAPPER: Likely. RAJU: Very likely past the election. So, Mike Johnson could say, All right, there's this ethics probe, and stop short of calling him to resign.
TAPPER: And, Kristen, sources say that Trump's allies are pushing President Trump to call on Congressman Miller to drop out. Congressman Miller told us a little bit of their conversation from yesterday morning, saying that the president said something along the lines of, Maxie, this is going to be tough. It's interesting that he calls him Maxie. What do we know about Trump's thinking right now?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Trump has been convinced by the people around him that Max Miller is going to lose that race. That's why he picked up the phone and called Miller.
Now, depending on who you talk to who was briefed on this call, that's how far you get on how much he was pushing Max Miller.
Now, it doesn't seem as though he full-on said at any point that you should drop out of this race, but sources said that he made it clear to Miller on the phone that he believed he was going to lose, and that's certainly what he's saying behind closed doors. He's telling his allies that he doesn't think Miller is going to pull this out, that he doesn't think he's going to keep the seat, that he thinks it could cost Republicans the seat in Ohio.
And I do want to be very clear, he is looking at that polling data. You hear Max Miller talking about how Trump defied the odds in 2016. Well, what these allies are showing Trump is actual, real data that they are getting from polling in Ohio that shows that Miller is dropping in the polls, and that they could very much lose that seat.
[18:10:01]
Now, he hasn't wanted to get publicly involved, President Trump, because he does have a relationship with Miller. Instead, he's just said in front of the cameras that these two families should it out privately. That's what they should do. But we do know that he got on the phone and that's about as far as Republicans can go, sending in Donald Trump to call and say, I don't think you're going to win. It doesn't seem now that there's any chance Miller is going to drop out.
TAPPER: So, it's interesting because we have seen people in recent months say they're not going to drop out and they did. There was Congressman Eric Swalwell, most notably Congressman Tony Gonzales in Texas, that's a Democrat and Republican. But there are others that have --
CHALIAN: Graham Platner in Maine.
TAPPER: Graham Platner in Maine. And there are others who have done the Trump route of, no, I'm staying, Cory Mills out of Florida, Edwards out of North Carolina, Miller. Is that what you anticipate is going to happen? CHALIAN: I mean, I think that is one playbook to pursue, and Miller clearly seems to be indicating he wants to pursue it. Today was one deadline, if he had gotten out it would've triggered a special election. But there is a, another process here.
TAPPER: He's not getting out?
CHALIAN: But he clearly doesn't want to avail himself of that in any way.
I do want to say, this was a district that Donald Trump won by 11 points, Jake. It is Republican turf. You mentioned Husted though.
Right now in Ohio, look at what's happening at the top of the ticket. The governor's race and the Senate race is extraordinarily competitive. The reason Kristen is -- her sources are seeing poll numbers like this is because in all of Ohio, which Donald Trump won by like 11 points, kind of like in this district, it's an extraordinarily competitive cycle right now because of the overall political environment and Donald Trump's poor standing.
That complicates things for Miller in this district, who, by the way, last time around only won with 51 percent of the vote.
TAPPER: And we should note Manu that the people at the top of the ticket this year in Ohio the Republicans, are not Donald Trump whose supporters come out in droves in a place like Ohio and vote red, red, red, right?
You have Vivek Ramaswamy running for governor against the health official for Ohio, former health official, Amy Acton, tight race. You have former Senator Sherrod Brown who, you know, defied odds time and time again as a very progressive Democrat winning in Ohio, though that didn't work out for him last time, against John Husted who was appointed to the job, so people don't necessarily know him. That's not helpful for a guy like Max Miller.
RAJU: Yes. And the House majority could run through some of these key districts in Ohio, like Marcy Kaptur, for instance. She's a Democrat running for re-election, trying to hang on to her seat. But the environment, the top of the ticket will impact the bottom of the ticket. And to David's point, Max Miller had 51 percent of the vote. That's what he won by.
Now, he won by a comfortable margin in 2024. But it was because there were two candidates he was running against, a Democrat and the independent, who was Dennis Kucinich at the time, and they split the opposition vote. So, you can just imagine, Donald Trump now at the top of the ticket, facing one Democrat, this terrible political environment, and all this money being poured into Ohio because the Senate could flip over Sherrod Brown versus John Husted. All of a sudden, those down-ticket Republicans, things are getting a lot harder, which is why there's so much concern about Max Miller at this moment.
TAPPER: And what's the margin that Republicans have? Two votes? Three votes, right, in the House?
RAJU: In the House, yes. It's 220 to 215, if everybody is there.
TAPPER: Right. So, if everybody's there, they can only afford to lose two Republicans on any one vote.
And, Kristen, there are more than three House Republicans right now who are facing serious allegations of inappropriate behavior. Besides Miller, you have Edwards in North Carolina. The Ethics Committee just -- is recommending a censure of him for alleged sexual harassment and such. And then you have Cory Mills. We've done stories about him, and on all the wild charges and testimonies against him. I got to believe that that's one of the things that Trump thinks about when he decides whether or not to call Miller to drop out of the race to publicly enforce that, is that if he does that, what about Cory Mills? What about Edwards?
HOLMES: I do think he also has a different kind of relationship with Max Miller. I mean, he endorsed him early. He was an aide in his White House. He dated Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham at the time. They were spotted everywhere with President Trump. They traveled with him regularly. He has -- I'm fairly certain Max Miller and his wife, Emily Merino, when they were married, got married at a Trump property, they have a very deep relationship now.
And so I do think that is slightly different here as well. He's still going to have pushback from people who are close to Miller, who are still in Trump's orbit, encouraging him not to get involved publicly.
But, again, what speaks to Donald Trump is poll numbers. And that is what got him on the phone. It's not as though it was just the accusations. It's the fact that this is a seat that should've been easily won, as you noted, by a Republican, and instead now it looks as though he's dropping in the polls, and they want him out of the race for that reason.
TAPPER: All right. Kristen Holmes, David Chalian, Manu Raju, thanks so much.
Much more of our breaking news coverage ahead, our interview with Republican Congressman Max Miller, will President Trump ultimately join the calls for Miller to drop his re-election bid just to save that seat for Republicans?
[18:15:08]
Plus, it's also election night in America. Polls close in just a few hours in a handful of crucial primaries. We're keeping a really close eye on what's going on in Michigan, and we're live on the campaign trail right after this.
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TAPPER: Back in our politics lead, it is election night in America. We got the CNN election jam going here for you. Five states holding several major primaries, setting up critical races that will help determine the balance of power in Congress. In just one hour, polls are first going to close in the Commonwealth of Virginia, followed by Missouri at 8:00 Eastern Time. Most polls in Michigan and Kansas also close at that time, with the last polls in those states closing an hour later at 9:00 Eastern. The last polls close at 11:00 Eastern. That's in Washington.
But right now-- Washington State, I should be clear. Right now, most eyes are on the battleground state of Michigan, where the future of the Democratic Party, that battle is taking center stage, progressive former public health official Dr. Abdul El-Sayed versus the more moderate candidate, Congresswoman Haley Stevens.
[18:20:06]
CNN's Jeff Zeleny is at a polling location in Detroit. Jeff, what are you seeing?
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, throughout the day voters here have been casting ballots on a variety of measures, as you can see from the signs here at this polling place.
But as we've been talking to voters all day long, it's clear that Senate primary race is really exposing the deep divisions inside the Democratic Party. Abdul El-Sayed, no doubt about it, has progressive energy behind him, but Haley Stevens also has some of that establishment support behind her. African American voters are her key to winning here. There's no doubt about that. Young voters are Abdul El-Sayed's key to victory as well.
But as we talked to voters throughout the day, they were giving their indications of who they were voting for, and more importantly, why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think electability is huge, and Democrats have fallen on the wrong side of electability. I think Dr. El-Sayed has made a great point that if Michigan has voted for Donald Trump several times, clearly, they want something different. They want change. He is a type of change.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like Haley Stevens, like she's a female. I like the work that she done. The other gentleman might have gotten my vote, but when he did uncommitted, that's a deterrence because that helps the Republican Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, there's no question that this primary will determine the direction of the Democratic Party, the establishment versus progressive fight that we have seen throughout the day. But, Jake, we also spent some time in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Western Michigan, earlier today, a different electorate there as well.
So, this is the first statewide test of this fight between progressives and the establishment, but it's also turning on Michigan issues. But overall, after spending a few days here talking to so many voters, Jake, there is a deep, urgent call for change, and even among Democrats here. So, the status quo, which Congresswoman Haley Stevens is because she's in the House, many voters are clearly looking for something and someone new. Jake?
TAPPER: Jeff Zeleny, J.Z., in Detroit. Thank you, sir.
Joining us now, Democratic Congresswoman Hillary Scholten of Michigan, who has endorsed Congresswoman Haley Stevens in the Michigan Senate race. So, Congresswoman, take a listen to what Congresswoman Stevens said earlier today about her opponent, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. HALEY STEVENS (D-MI): Should he get the nomination, whatever -- you know, I'm a sitting Democratic congresswoman, you know, until January 2nd of next year. You know, whatever he wants me to do, should he get the nomination. But I'm also going to be working with everyone who has voted in the Democratic primary and everyone who's going to go to the polls in November.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Dr. El-Sayed said over the weekend that he too would support Stevens if she gets the nomination. But you seemed to suggest last time we spoke that you're going to be reluctant to back El-Sayed if he wins.
REP. HILLARY SCHOLTEN (D-MI): Well, Jake, let's be clear first, you know, the polls are still open here. We've got, you know, less than two hours, but folks are just getting off of work, and they're going to the polls now.
So, this race is anything but from over. You know, we clearly see, you know, Mr. El-Sayed leading in the polls right now, but I can tell you, there was a lot of energy out for Haley Stevens as well. We heard from a voter earlier who felt that, you know, Abdul's participation in the uncommitted movement, which handed Michigan to Donald Trump, has actually led to worse healthcare outcomes, higher prices for individuals, and this sort of all-or-nothing politics really matters to a lot of people.
And, you know, I think it's really important to remember, you know, this race is anything from over. And, you know, we'll see what happens later tonight.
TAPPER: You are a stronger arguer against El-Sayed than Haley Stevens has been, in my view. You have been more forceful. You're not doing so right now, and I understand why, but like I, I don't hear her making that point as aggressively as you have about the uncommitted movement. Do you think she's pulled her punches for some reason?
SCHOLTEN: You know, I've seen that. I have seen her -- I've seen and heard her say that many times on the campaign trail.
TAPPER: Okay. SCHOLTEN: And, you know, I have -- there were ads running constantly, you know, with featuring Governor Gretchen Whitmer after her endorsement talking about his participation in the uncommitted movement.
And I think this is a really important point. You know, healthcare is one of the number one issues right now. You know, it's a big talking point for Abdul. You know, he relies on his medical degree and, you know, his past work as an epidemiologist, talks about Medicare for all, which sounds enticing when people are struggling, right? Here's this option.
Haley Stevens also supports universal healthcare, right, with a public option. But the difference is Haley Stevens has worked towards it. She has the results. She's got the receipts. You know, Abdul participated in a movement that ultimately ushered in a Republican trifecta and Trump, who oversaw one big, beautiful bill and, you know, millions of Americans are going to lose their healthcare as a result, and will be paying more for their health insurance now that the Affordable Care Act subsidies have gone away.
[18:25:15]
And, you know, let me be clear. I'm just simply not willing to, you know, start writing the obituary on these campaigns just yet.
TAPPER: Yes, no, I get it.
SCHOLTEN: But, you know, if we come to the other side of this, you know, votes have to be earned. Endorsements have to be earned. And I have some serious concerns which I stand by, you know? And whoever emerges from this primary is going to have to answer for those concerns. And those are numerous. And, you know, in fact, Abdul's doubling down on some of the concerns that I've raised in the closing days of this primary.
TAPPER: There have been a lot of people in the Jewish community who have criticized Dr. El-Sayed for campaigning with Hasan Piker, for constantly talking about AIPAC, and I just want to get your sense of something. Because during a recent round table on anti-Semitism, your fellow Democrat, the attorney general of Michigan, Dana Nessel, who's Jewish and progressive, she said she's going to skip the Michigan Democratic Party's nominating convention. She said, quote, I don't feel safe going. I feel like my presence isn't going to be welcome. I don't want to get chased around. I don't want to get harassed. I don't want to get yelled and screamed at. I don't want to get booed off the stage irrespective of what I'm saying. And I believe that if I go, this is what will happen because it's been happening to me.
And Lon Johnson, the former chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, has also raised concerns about some alarming behavior against Jews in the state that seems to be tolerated by the Michigan Democratic Party. What's your reaction?
SCHOLTEN: Yes. I see those concerns, I share those concerns. We've seen it break out on college campuses across Michigan, and that's why I have also raised a lot of concerns about the fact that, you know, Abdul has brought in Hasan Piker to these college campuses, a place that has already been rife with this conflict where, you know, we have heard, you know, Jewish students, but not just Jewish students, other students feel unsafe because of this really violent rhetoric.
And here you have, you know, a candidate for one of the highest offices in the United States of America, bringing in this very controversial individual to campaign for him. Not only did he bring him in earlier in the campaign, Jake, he brought him in as his closer here in Michigan.
You think about this, right? Elections are about choices. What is the message that you want to send to your voters, right? And Abdul El- Sayed chose to bring in Hasan Piker, not a Michigander, an outside podcast influencer who once said America deserved September 11. Just last week, he added a framed picture of the September 12 New York Times front page with the World Trade Towers burning in the background to show off on his Twitch stream.
TAPPER: Yes.
SCHOLTEN: This is who Abdul El-Sayed chose to bring in for his close, right? Those aren't my words. That was his choice. That's the message that he was choosing to send to voters.
Haley Stevens spent yesterday with me at a round table in Muskegon Heights with some incredible entrepreneurs, black women-owned small businesses, listening to them and learning how she could hit the ground running and serve them better.
TAPPER: I guess we'll see.
SCHOLTEN: Closed out the night with two Michigan public servants, Debbie Stabenow and me, talking about the ways that we're going to serve Michigan.
TAPPER: And we'll see which one of those visions Democratic voters in Michigan go for.
Congresswoman Hillary Scholten of Michigan, thanks so much.
Todd Blanche is now one step closer to being confirmed as U.S. attorney general. Can President Trump's former personal lawyer clear this final hurdle? That's next.
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[18:30:00]
TAPPER: And our Politics Lead, survivors of dead pedophile Jeffrey Epstein and his twisted network of abusers are grappling with today's news that Todd Blanche is now one step closer to becoming attorney general after his nomination was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and is advancing to a full Senate vote.
While he was deputy attorney general, Blanche completely oversaw the rollout of the Epstein files that exposed victims' information and photos while redacting information on potentially not so innocent people in Epstein's circle. It was a rollout that even Vice President Vance has acknowledged was mishandled.
Let's discuss all of this with Epstein survivor Dani Bensky, who testified during Blanche's confirmation hearing, urging senators to consider what she and other Epstein survivors went through.
So, Dani, first of all, as always, this is probably a lot and like you're here to talk about the worst experience of your life to get people to care, and too many of them don't. How are you?
DANI BENSKY, EPSTEIN SURVIVOR: I mean, what a disheartening day, right? It was just like it's hard to not feel like the wind was knocked out of democracy in a big way, right? Like we're watching somebody who -- like Todd Blanche has never -- he doesn't -- he's not doing his job. His job is to find investigative leads and pursue them. He's not doing his job. He's broken the law. He's exposed survivors --
TAPPER: Broken the law by not honoring the --
BENSKY: The EFTA.
TAPPER: The Epstein survivors law.
BENSKY: Yes, the Epstein Files Transparency Act, right? So, that -- I mean, right now, he was arguing with us when we were in that meeting over if the number was 6 million documents or 3 million documents. We know that there's a lot still out there. Recently, there was a report that came out about these training videos that the FBI was using, and we can't find those anywhere. We see proffer agreements being talked about within the files, but then you can't find the proffer agreement, Maria Farmer's 1996 report, like the list goes on and on.
And so even in our meeting, you know, when we were talking about -- he said when the 6 million files come out, and he's like, nope, 3 million.
[18:35:07]
And we're like, okay, we're not even going to go there because that's a waste of our time to talk about, so let's redirect.
TAPPER: Did he display any sympathy or humanity? I mean, this is a guy who has a daughter.
BENSKY: Yes.
TAPPER: I mean, I get that he's a political operative and an apparatchik in his way. But like was there any like, hey, I'm really sorry what you went through?
BENSKY: There wasn't really an I'm sorry moment. It was more of, you know, this is your space to air your grievances, but then would spin everything. And so it was very -- that's why it's gaslighting palooza. It was very much like tell me how you're feeling, and then spin it, oh, I never said that. That wasn't the wording that I used. So, it just did not go well.
TAPPER: So, Cheyenne Hunt, who is a lawyer and an activist on behalf of women who have been sexually abused or raped, and she's been on the show several times, so I'll just mention her because people know her, she posted a video of an interaction in the Capitol between you and Senator Thom Tillis, who was one of the two Republican holdouts.
BENSKY: Yes. His issue was the anti-weaponization fund. He's gotten reassurances on that. Here's a little bit of the video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): What I'm hoping to do is I want to meet not with the attorneys, but with the survivors and have a discussion about next steps. Because the only thing I didn't hear in there, I want to see specific action items, and some of that could even have to do with the investigation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. So, that's why we have this --
TILLIS: My office is right around the corner.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay.
TILLIS: If you go right in this first door here. I got to rush. I'm trying to meet Senator Grassley. He's on the floor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay.
TILLIS: But I want to have that meeting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We would love that.
TILLIS: But I don't want suits in the room. I want victims and me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we just want to talk to you. That would be totally fine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So, she posted that Wednesday. Is that when the interview was, Wednesday? So, this not interview. That's when it was --
BENSKY: That's when that was.
TAPPER: So, six days ago. If I know you, Dani, you went right to his office as soon as he said that.
BENSKY: Yes.
TAPPER: And what -- did you ever get to meet with him?
BESNKY: Well, ten of us went, you know, the full survivor sister crew. You know, we went and we were waiting for him. And they said that we could potentially meet with him on Wednesday, and then we waited for 45 minutes, and his schedule shifted. We couldn't meet with him. We then sent -- I sent three follow-up emails. World Without Exploitation, who we work with very, very closely, also sent emails. And we did not get the meeting, and I think it was so incredibly shameful that he cast his vote today without meeting us.
TAPPER: So, there are -- Donald Trump cannot afford to lose more than -- he can't afford to lose two Republican votes, I think, like because the Senate's in the balance, and Mitch McConnell's not there.
BENSKY: Right.
TAPPER: So, Susan Collins has said she's a no.
BENSKY: Yes.
TAPPER: We don't know the positions of Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.
BENSKY: Yes.
TAPPER: I was just told that Utah senator, John Curtis, has told Politico that he's going to vote yes.
BENSKY: Oh, interesting. Okay.
TAPPER: Yes, sorry to break that news to you.
BENSKY: Yes, because I think Sullivan and Curtis were both people that we were looking at speaking with this week. And I hope that we can set up a meeting still, because I do think they need to hear all the information.
TAPPER: Murkowski is somebody who has talked in the past about how she was a survivor of rape.
BENSKY: Yes.
TAPPER: And she she's going to meet with you? You've talked with her?
BENSKY: Her office has been incredible. So, I actually popped in today to see one of her staffers. And I know she'll be meeting with a couple of survivors tomorrow.
And so we just -- we want to make sure that we're really meeting with her and not her staffers, right? We want to make sure that we're getting that face time in and talking about the investigative leads, the redactions and how poor, and, you know, just the real issues at hand.
Because right now it feels like all we're talking about is the slush fund, which, of course, like money is important, but isn't victim's rights important too? Like I feel like this is -- you know, Todd Blanche is a career prosecutor. He says that he's tough on crime, and yet we don't -- like we're not getting any justice for victims in this country. So, I think the two should be hand in hand, at the least.
TAPPER: Dani Bensky, thank you so much. BENSKY: Thank you so much.
TAPPER: Come back any time.
BENSKY: Thank you, Jake.
TAPPER: It's been nearly 100 years since Kansas elected a Democrat to the Senate, but one man thinks he can possibly change that. He's going to join us to explain why, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, it is election night in America. Voters in five states are casting ballots in primaries that will shape the fight for control of the House and the Senate.
In Kansas, where polls will close in just a little over an hour, 11 Democrats are competing to take on the Republican incumbent senator, Roger Marshall. Among those 11 is Adam Hamilton. He's the pastor of the nation's largest United Methodist church and the field's top fundraiser.
And Pastor Adam Hamilton joins us now. Thank you so much for joining us, sir. So, recent polls show you leading this primary, but Kansas has not elected a Democratic U.S. senator since 1932. Why do you think you're the Democratic Party's best chance to flip this seat?
ADAM HAMILTON (D), KANSAS SENATE CANDIDATE: Well, thank you for asking. First of all, I have name recognition across the state, and so there's a lot of people who know me. People know that I care. I've been a pastor for 38 years. I care about people. I listen to people, which is something our current sitting senator does not do. And we solve problems. Our congregation has been engaged in solving problems in Kansas City related to poverty, children in poverty, making sure that people had access to food, caring for vulnerable people, and folks know that. You know, we actually get things done. And our current senator is getting things done, just the wrong things. He's doing things that are harming people in Kansas, and they're fed up.
TAPPER: The rise of progressive and Democratic socialist candidates has exposed divisions within your party, the Democratic Party. You have pitched yourself as a bridge-builder. How would you help unify the party, and what do you make of all these very progressive, very left-wing DSA candidates with the momentum in the Democratic Party right now?
HAMILTON: Yes. I don't know that's a momentum across the country. I really am not focused on those DSA candidates.
[18:45:01]
I'm focused on Kansas and what Kansans need and who we are in Kansas. We're the heart of heart of America. We are in the Heartland. And we're -- we're centrist people. We're people who are both
Republicans and Democrats. We want somebody who's going to bring us together.
And that's what I can do. It's what I've done at the church. I serve 24,000 members, 35 percent of Republicans, 35 percent of Democrats, 30 percent are independents.
And right now in our country, we need bridge builders. We need people who are going to bring us together.
I'd say this, Jake. I was in Holton, Kansas, and I had a guy come up to me and he said, you know what? I'm a single-issue voter. And I was wondering what a single issue was going to be. I was expecting, you know, I mean, I had some ideas.
And he said, here's my single issue and I'm not going to vote, vote for anybody who doesn't believe that we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves. That's what I'm looking for in a candidate.
And I heard that again and again from people across Kansas. They're frustrated with Washington. They're also tired of people who are dividing them, and they want people who can bring us together to solve really big problems. And it's going to take Republicans and Democrats working together to solve those really big problems.
TAPPER: Democrats and Democratic leaning voters say that the party your party needs major changes, if not complete reform.
What do you think Democrats are getting wrong on a national level that you could help fix as a senator
HAMILTON: Well, I'll tell you again, I'm focused on Kansas, not on national Democrats. And what I can say is that we've got to. So, Congress has to speak up to executive power.
Right now, we've got people who are cowardly lions in the senate who are not speaking up for their people in their own home states. We got to solve the issues. So right now in Kansas, since January 2025, more than 30,000 people have come off of health care. They don't have health care anymore.
Since January 2025, 10,000 kids not receiving SNAP benefits anymore. These are kids going to bed hungry. That shouldn't happen in America. That is just not who we are.
And I think we have to focus on the needs of the people in our own states. We need to care about them, listen carefully to them, and look to see, you know, how -- how are we making sure that government is not harming people in our states, but instead doing what government is meant to do? And that is ensuring that we are helping people to prosper and thrive.
And so I think to the degree that Democrats nationally are focused on the people in their own state and asking, how can we do what government supposed to do to work for the people, then I think the Democratic Party is going to be okay.
TAPPER: Pastor Adam Hamilton, thank you so much. Good luck.
HAMILTON: Thank you so much. Have a good night.
TAPPER: Coming up next, our panel reacts to our interview with Republican Congressman Max Miller amid growing pressure for him to drop his reelection bid.
Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:51:12]
TAPPER: We're back with the politics lead in our panel. More reaction to THE LEAD exclusive. We talked earlier with Republican Congressman Max Miller strongly pushing back on allegations that he physically abused his ex-wife and his young daughter and his ex-girlfriend and a girl in high school.
Karen, your reaction to the interview and what it might mean for his reelection?
KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it was intense. I got to say that, Jake, and I thought you did an excellent -- I'm sure this is going to only be bad for you for me to say, I think you did a good job holding his feet to the fire. Sorry.
TAPPER: Please don't say that.
FINNEY: Sorry. It was terrible. You let him off the hook.
But, you know, here's the second piece that that just followed a conversation you just had with one of the Epstein survivors --
TAPPER: Yeah.
FINNEY: -- is really powerful. And the fact that we're having these conversations and, look, the Republican Party is going to have to decide, are you going to tolerate that in your party? Clearly, this is someone who needs to go and fight these battles. That may not mean he's -- this is the right time for him to also try to be a member of Congress, because he keeps saying he's innocent.
Well, then go deal with that. Instead of trying to have it both ways. I found it very, very disturbing.
TAPPER: He said in our interview. And also, according to him, he said to President Trump, hey, man, I remember in 2016 all these allegations about you, but you stayed in fight and you became the president.
And I think there are a lot of Republicans who see that as the new, not just Republicans, a lot of politicians who see that as the new template. MELIK ABDUL, GOP STRATEGIST: That dog ain't go hunt because he's not
Trump. People try to, you know, say, well, Trump did this. No, we've seen over and over again that this whole idea of a Trump 2.0 or even Trump one and a half simply doesn't exist.
The interview -- yeah, I agree with you on the interview, but this guy, I mean, you heard from a Republican senator, you're hearing from not just his ex-wife. Apparently, there are other people who have been involved.
And the thing that Trump did here, and I think people need to realize this, Trump didn't call for him to get out, much like he didn't call for Pastor Mark Robinson out of North Carolina. He didn't call for him to get out. He tried to push him out. Mark Robinson then withdrew from the race.
I think the assumption was, is that because Trump is so influential, he's been able to turn elections that the phone call enough would have been enough for this guy to say, okay, well, I'm out of here. It didn't work.
FINNEY: But there's a hypocrisy to say that if you can look at what we're talking about with Max Miller and say, that's wrong, how can Republicans then defend voting in support of Todd Blanche, who is essentially protecting pedophiles who are in the Epstein files?
ABDUL: Well, I think that the Todd Blanche thing is a little different. And even my case with the Epstein, I think that these victims or survivors or alleged victim needs to be heard. But I'm at the point now that we've heard so much about the Epstein files that we need to just release more information. I'm now at the point --
FINNEY: He said he won't it.
ABDUL: But I'm now at the point that the victims themselves need to release who the names of the people.
They know who they --
(CROSSTALK)
TAPPER: They're afraid.
ABDUL: I'm -- I understand them being afraid. But the fact that this is now captured the nation. And we're still talking about this, about what the Department of Justice needs to release, the victims themselves know the names. And they said even on that, when they were on the steps of the House, that they had the names that they were going to read them from the floor.
At this point, the victims, if they feel as if DOJ or members on the Hill are not cooperating with them, they need to release --
TAPPER: Well, you know what needs to happen then? Here's my Solomonic compromise. Okay? They should meet with Congressman Thomas Massie and Thomas Massie should read everything on the floor of the House where you are protected to do.
He suggested he might --
ABDUL: He and MTG.
TAPPER: He suggested -- he -- I think he did a few. He did a few, but he didn't like I -- this is -- this is my proposal. All the victims should talk to Thomas Massie. Thomas Massie should read all the names when he will not be sued. He cannot be sued for what he says on the floor.
[18:55:00]
So, I feel like I've solved the problem.
FINNEY: Okay. All right.
TAPPER: So, the midterms are approaching big election night in Michigan. What are you looking for? And then what are you looking for?
ABDUL: In Michigan, whether or not the Democratic socialists actually wins.
FINNEY: He's not a Democratic socialist.
TAPPER: Well, he's DSA adjacent.
ABDUL: He's DSA.
FINNEY: He said, "I'm a capitalist".
TAPPER: Yes. Correct.
ABDUL: The DSA --
TAPPER: Dr. Abdul El-Sayed is who you're referring to. You're looking to see if there are two house guys who are house candidates who are DSA.
FINNEY: Okay. But --
TAPPER: Anyway, go ahead.
ABDUL: Whether or not he wins. But I'm also looking next door. I think it's in Missouri, what happens in the governor's race there? Because it seems as if that may be a race that may be tilting now.
FINNEY: To Wisconsin.
ABDUL: With Wisconsin, I'm sorry. Wisconsin, that race is actually going to be -- they're saying that it may switch now to a Republican from the Democratic.
TAPPER: I think the outgoing Democratic Governor Evers, has said that if the woman who's in the lead right now in Wisconsin wins, that the Republican has a better chance. FINNEY: I have heard that. Look, for -- Michigan. I think the most
important thing is to pay attention to what voters are telling us, and actually came earlier today in a clip from one of our correspondents who's there, and a woman said, I want the Democrats to fight for the things they say they're for the way I see Republicans fighting for Trump.
And so, I think that tells you a lot about what is really going on on the ground. That is, who do they trust to fight for them? Haley Stevens has done a great job being on the ground, fighting hard, not ceding the ground, but so has Abdul. So we'll see.
TAPPER: Well, El-Sayed is -- I think it's impossible to conclude that that anyone other than El-Sayed is the change candidate in that race, right?
He's the insurgent candidate. He's the change candidate. And I think he has made -- we'll see what happens. But I think he has made that case very well.
FINNEY: And he's a fresh face. And look, he also -- he has a number of accomplishments from his time at the health department, like dropping medical debt for 300,000 Michiganders.
TAPPER: Thanks to both of you. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Our national lead. a photo capturing the moment authorities arrested the man they say set one of the three wildfires in Washington state near Spokane. The man was in court today formally charged with first degree arson. Since Saturday, the fires have scorched more than 10,000 acres and destroyed upwards of 700 homes. Court records show the same man arrested on arson charges served time in prison for the 2010 killing of his father, shot during an argument over washing dishes.
You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bluesky and on TikTok @jaketapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLeadCNN.
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"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.
