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Voters in Four States Head to Polls in Primary Elections; Longtime Epstein Assistant Testifies, Denies Knowing of His Crimes; Storms Bring Tornadoes, Hail, Flooding to Central U.S.; Humanoid Robot Kicks Child During Performance in China; NASA Announces Crew for Artemis III. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 09, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: -- know information, but it ends up getting in the way of things being able to be done effectively. We've had sources who said that, you know, every little decision they were making for their boss, they were calculating, could this somehow be misconstrued? Could the secretary see this and read into it somehow, and could it ultimately get their boss fired or moved out of the position? So, it is something that is weighing really heavily on a lot of people's minds within the Pentagon.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": And what is the Pentagon saying about this?

BRITZKY: Yeah, so the Pentagon has largely said that this is primarily due to, you know, they want the right people around. They want to make sure that the right people are aligned with the president, with the secretary.

The Spokesperson, Sean Parnell, said that the anonymous sources who spoke with us are outsiders with a clear political agenda, but said that steps were taken to align military leadership with the president and the secretary and the administration's priorities. So certainly something that they do not see as a problem, of removing people that they think are standing in the way of what Secretary Hegseth wants to accomplish. Obviously, these individuals and many of their subordinates have a different view of things.

KEILAR: Yeah, they do. Haley, great reporting and thanks for bringing it onto the program. Appreciate it.

Coming up, some voters in four states heading to the polls for primary elections, including a crucial Senate race in Maine. We have the latest there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:35:22]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Right now, voters in four states are heading to the polls in some critical primary elections. And in Maine, all eyes are on the race for U.S. Senate, where Graham Platner appears to be the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination, despite a candidacy mired in controversies.

A key test for Platner will be how many Democratic voters end up backing Governor Janet Mills as a protest vote, even though she suspended her campaign several weeks ago.

KEILAR: And in South Carolina, we're watching a hotly contested Republican primary for governor where President Trump's influence could be a key factor once again. He's endorsed Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette over a host of rivals, including State Attorney General, Alan Wilson, U.S. House members Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman, and businessman Rom Reddy. Quite a slate of folks there.

We have CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent, Jeff Zeleny covering it all. All right, Jeff, what are Democrats who are hoping to take control of Congress in general, certainly the House, really hoping for the Senate, watching for in Maine today?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Maine is at the center of every Democratic wish to try and win control of the Senate in November. It's still an uphill battle, there's no doubt, but without Maine, it's difficult to figure out the math around it because Democrats need to pick up four seats. And Susan Collins, as we all know from covering her for such a long time, A, she's hard to beat as we've seen in recent elections over the years, but B, she's the only Republican Senator in a blue state, a state that Kamala Harris won in 2024.

So they thought that Susan Collins would be the easiest seat to pick up. Well, that is not becoming the case. But what we're watching for tonight is Graham Platner. How are Democrats going to turn out in support of him? Janet Mills, the governor who was recruited into the race by Chuck Schumer, had to suspend her campaign for a lack of money and excitement. She's still on the ballot.

So I can't think of another primary where we're going to be focused on likely the second-place finisher, and how many votes did she get? Effectively, a hundred (ph) people aren't voting for Graham Platner. But look, the bottom line is now this race is becoming a referendum on Graham Platner, and Democrats were hoping it would be a referendum on Susan Collins and her vote.

So I was talking to one Democratic strategist this morning who was deeply involved in this race. He said, look, this is not the end of it tonight because the Maine Democratic Convention can still nominate someone else should another shoe drop and Platner decide to get out of the race.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. He is staying in and fighting, and a lot of Mainers are interested in voting for him because they are interested in winning back control of the Senate for Democrats. So it's one of those interesting primaries, to say the least.

SANCHEZ: What about the Republican primary for governor in South Carolina and Trump's endorsement? How much is it going to weigh in there?

ZELENY: Look, I mean, this is one more example of a test of President Trump's endorsement. He's had a pretty good record this primary season, obviously defeating some people. But this race has so many interesting nuances in it.

Nancy Mace, of course, the longtime Republican member of Congress in the Charleston area, she was trying for that endorsement. She also backed the release of the Epstein files like Thomas Massie in Kentucky, and she did not win that endorsement. We will see what happens in this race this evening.

It's almost certainly to go to a runoff because the winner would have to get over 50 percent, and that's pretty unlikely in a five-way field there. But the South Carolina governor's race certainly will be interesting in terms of the winner of that race. But it's still a red state.

But, again, all the marbles tonight, basically, if you're watching all these midterm elections, are in Maine.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for that reporting.

Still to come, she helped manage every aspect of Jeffrey Epstein's life. What his longtime assistant is now revealing to lawmakers behind closed doors. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:43:46]

KEILAR: Today, the House Oversight Committee is deposing the staffer whom Jeffrey Epstein considered essential, his longtime Executive Assistant, Lesley Groff. Sources familiar with Groff's testimony tell CNN that she denied knowing of Epstein's wrongdoing and she painted him as a master manipulator. The sources said Groff said she believed the massage appointments that she was arranging for him with young women and girls were with massage therapists.

And she revealed that both Epstein and his accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell, told Groff she should not associate with their friends and colleagues. The Epstein files released by the Justice Department detail how Groff helped manage every aspect of Epstein's life. In one memo that mentions Groff a victim tells investigators she felt it was "pretty obvious," Lesley knew what was going on.

We're joined now by Attorney Jennifer Freeman, who represents multiple Jeffrey Epstein accusers. Jennifer, thank you so much for being with us. And I just wonder, overall, do you find Lesley Groff to be credible based on what you're hearing come out of this interview?

JENNIFER FREEMAN, ATTORNEY FOR EPSTEIN ACCUSERS: Frankly, no, I do not. It's -- she's been mentioned, what, over 160,000 times in the files. She worked for him for almost 20 years.

[13:45:00] And she booked hundreds of massages. I didn't hear anything about booking hundreds of massage therapists. And she also booked travel for air travel, commercial air travel for survivors. Now, in order to book commercial air -- to get an airplane flight you have to know someone's date of birth, so she must have known the dates of birth of underage girls. It doesn't make sense to me.

KEILAR: She told the committee that she denies wrongdoing -- knowing of wrongdoing. Notably, she worked for Epstein for more than a decade after he agreed to that and pled guilty to charges in that very controversial agreement that he made in Florida, which included charges related to having sexual relations with minors which required him to register as a sex offender.

So I mean, with that in mind, if you felt that she was being fully honest and disclosing everything that she could to the committee, what do you think she could reveal?

FREEMAN: I think she could have revealed that she knew that she was booking commercial travel for underage girls. In order to book a flight, you have to know someone's date of birth. She could reveal that or at least she could be asked about that. That's an important fact. I just don't see how she could -- this is another example of willful blindness. I've seen it over and over.

How many witnesses so far have said I was there but I didn't know, I saw things but I didn't see anything that was meaningful. How can we do this see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil? For how long is this going to hold up?

KEILAR: She does paint a picture in previous interviews with law enforcement of a, even though you know she's his assistant, you know one example that stood out to me was if she were to book movie tickets for Epstein, it was made clear to her by Maxwell she was not even to ask him if he had enjoyed the movie the next day.

Right, just this picture painted of some kind of power differential that she was booking all of these things but she wasn't necessarily plugged in with them on all of the details and having what she described as normal conversations with them on the regular.

Does that change anything, especially in this world where Epstein was actually using some victims to, and she denies being -- you know she denies being a victim in that way, but this is a place where he would create a situation where he sort of made some victims do his "dirty work" if you will.

FREEMAN: Look, she can say that and it's certainly possible there are some extenuating factors. He was supposedly a master manipulator for sure. He was someone that people somehow listened to all the time. He put them in situations that frightened them. He had a reign of terror.

So certainly, she must have been frightened but she worked for him for almost 20 years and how can you not see when you see?

KEILAR: When these lawmakers are talking to someone like Lesley Groff who worked for decades almost for Jeffrey Epstein and there is this question of how didn't you know something when you obviously knew so many details, the ins and outs of everything, talking to the chefs, talking to the pilots, talking to the women and the girls, right? How should these lawmakers be approaching this to actually get to the bottom of things?

FREEMAN: I think you have to ask questions with detailed facts like did you book flights for underage girls? Did you get their dates of birth? How many of those flights did you book? Where are the flight logs? What did you do exactly? You have to get into the details, the nitty-gritty. The devil is often in the details.

KEILAR: This clouding between victim and accomplice, right? Last week, the Oversight Committee interviewed Sarah Kellen, another longtime Epstein assistant. She alleged that Frederic Fekkai, French celebrity hairstylist and Philip Levine, the former mayor of Miami Beach, sexually assaulted her in separate incidents and she also alleged that Patrick Demarchelier, a French fashion photographer, exposed himself to her. That was according to a transcript.

Kellen told lawmakers Levine abused her in 2002, 2003 in Saint-Tropez. She testified that Fekkai introduced her to Epstein and we need to note here that a media representative for Fekkai says he never took advantage of Sarah Kellen, did not introduce her to Epstein. A spokesperson for Levine said nearly a quarter century ago, our client had a brief intimate encounter with another consenting adult. Any allegations suggesting otherwise is not true.

We've attempted to reach out to representatives of Demarchelier, who died in 2022. Comer, who is the Oversight Chair and Republican lawmakers, are calling on the Justice Department to investigate these allegations against Levine and Fekkai, who are still alive here. Do you expect that to happen under this Justice Department with Todd Blanche as the Acting Attorney General?

[13:50:00]

FREEMAN: I remain skeptical and optimistic at the same time, so I certainly hope that they do. There are enough investigative leads, so many investigative leads at this point, that there should be an investigation, a real, true investigation, which hasn't been done.

KEILAR: So far, Blanche has indicated that he's not opening up another can of worms. What would you say to him to tell him that he should?

FREEMAN: Look at the investigative leads over and over and over. Look at the details in the files. Look at these examples that you just gave. There are leads to follow up. And if you don't find anything, then you've done your job. But to ignore them is not doing your job.

KEILAR: And why is that in the compelling public interest, as you see it, for the justice for these women? And also, so many people are watching this. They want to see what is going to come of this. What's in the compelling public interest here? FREEMAN: Since 1996, Maria Farmer reported Epstein and Maxwell about their crimes against children. Reported to the FBI. Reported these crimes. Reported these people. There should have been action taken at that time by the government. For the government to do nothing for 30 years and then claim it is done without any investigation makes no sense. This is what accountability looks like. Do your investigation.

KEILAR: Jennifer Freeman, thank you so much for being with us. Really appreciate it.

And coming up, meet the astronauts. NASA just revealing the crew for its next big moon mission, what the mission will include and when it can launch, ahead.

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[13:56:29]

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. More than 36,000 homes and businesses are without power in Kansas after severe storms with hurricane-force winds at the state overnight. That storm threat will persist over the next few days with tornadoes and hail possible across the Plains states. Forecasters are also watching for flooding in the Northern Plains and the Mid-South region.

Meantime in China, a humanoid robot goes rogue, kicking this kid during a martial arts demonstration at a local park. State-linked media outlets report the child was not hurt. The park, though, has suspended future performances.

Also, the U.S. Coast Guard's search for a missing Michigan woman in the Bahamas has ended with no answers about her disappearance. Lynette Hooker vanished in April, you might recall, after her husband said that she fell overboard during rough waters. Investigators began searching again after saying they found inconsistencies between where her husband told them to look and what his location data actually showed.

Officials haven't said if they found anything new, but they did take the couple's dinghy into custody, examining what's being described as newly identified areas of interest. We should note Lynette Hooker's husband denies any wrongdoing in her disappearance.

So NASA is still riding high from its spectacular Artemis II mission, which sent astronauts around the moon and captured some amazing photos of the lunar surface. But it's time to buckle up and get ready for Artemis III. This morning, NASA revealed the four-man crew that will take the next step in its quest to land on the moon again.

Three astronauts and one Italian, representing the European Space Agency, have been chosen for the two-week mission, which NASA is hoping to launch by late next year. Unlike Artemis II, they will not go to the moon, but rather to lower-Earth orbit where they will test some docking procedures between the Orion spacecraft and lunar landers that are being built for Artemis IV.

CNN Aviation Correspondent, Pete Muntean is here with more on the mission. Pete, what can you tell us?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is a very anticipated announcement with a lot of speculation online. Would Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Jeremy Hansen, or Christina Koch be asked to fly again? NASA had to whittle this down from 36 astronauts in total in the Artemis astronaut corps down to only four. And among the first here, this will be the first time a first-time astronaut will be on an Artemis mission.

Former test engineer and Coast Guard Reserve Commander, Andre Douglas will make his first trip to space on Artemis III. Douglas was selected as an astronaut in 2021 and has been heavily involved in lunar exploration and planning for human landing system development. The other big first here, Italy's Luca Parmitano, one of Europe's most experienced astronauts, will be the first European on a moon mission. He will serve as the mission's pilot. Former ISS Commander, flown in space twice, conducted multiple spacewalks during his career.

The second mission specialist is Army helicopter pilot and physician, Frank Rubio. He also holds the U.S. record for the longest single spaceflight. Rubio spent 371 days aboard the International Space Station after an unexpected extension of his mission in 2022 and 2023. And finally, Artemis III will be commanded by veteran Astronaut, Randy Bresnik. The former Marine Corps Colonel and test pilot has flown in space twice, commanded the International Space Station, logged more than 7,000 flight hours.

I want you to listen now to what he said about why this mission, even though it is in Earth orbit, remains critical.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY BRESNIK, ARTEMIS III COMMANDER: We are certainly humbled as a crew to be -- able to be your crew that executes this Artemis III mission in space, being that unifying link --