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Federal Aviation Administration Officials Investigating Near Collision Between Southwest Airlines Plane And Fighter Jet In Southern California; President Trump Announces U.S. Backing Away From Ceasefire Negotiations Between Israel And Hamas; Protestors Demonstrate Against President Trump In Scotland; President Trump Confronts Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell About Federal Reserve Building Renovation Cost Overruns; ICE Raids In California Affecting Agricultural Businesses; Congressmembers Continue To Face Questions From Constituents Regarding Epstein Files; CNN Correspondent Learns To Pilot Goodyear Blimp. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired July 26, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: The WWE, honoring him with a video, highlighting his most memorable moments in the ring and a special 10 bell salute.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BELL RINGING)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: No official details have been released regarding funeral arrangements. Hulk Hogan was 71 years old.

Top of the hour here in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Erica Hill in today for Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for joining us this hour.

We do begin this hour with yet another close call in America's skies. FAA officials are investigating a near collision between a Southwest Airlines plane and a fighter jet in southern California on Friday. Now, according to a flight tracking site, the 737 was just six minutes into it's flight from Burbank on it's way to Las Vegas when it dove to avoid a privately owned fighter jet crossing it's path to southwest. Two southwest flight attendants are being treated for their injuries. None of the passengers were hurt.

This certainly, though, raises a number of questions. CNN's safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector David Soucie is with me now. You know, we've heard the accounts from passengers in there. The fact that this -- the way, the maneuver that the pilot had to make, how quickly the flight dropped. I mean, what are your initial questions when you see how this played out?

DAVID SOUCIE, AUTHOR, "MALAYSIA AIRLINES FLIGHT 370": Well, the first thing I want to point out is that the TCAS-B system that's there, the collision avoidance system, worked. That's what's primary. However, that system is the last-ditch effort. That's the last thing that's there to protect the passengers. So it got through a lot of other safety issues before it got there. So that's one of the things that I would look at right away, is did they have everything they needed beforehand.

HILL: In terms of having everything you need beforehand, how does it happen that a, first of all, I have separate questions that we'll get to about how it's a privately owned fighter jet, but that's coming up later in the segment. How do you get to the point where this private plane gets in the way of a 737? Is this an air traffic control issue?

SOUCIE: Absolutely it is. The fact that this is a busy corridor. This is a major corridor. And high speed transportation goes through there all the time. The fact that this jet which is a 1960s hawker jet, ex- military. It's really a contract jet at this point. And how that got into that airspace and why it was flying in that airspace, there's a lot of questions need to be answered about why that happened in the first place. and that would have prevented it if had we had more strict regulations and protocols with the FAA in that area.

HILL: So in terms of the strict regulations and protocols in that area, are you talking about the area of private planes or just the area, sort of geographic area?

SOUCIE: Well, I'm mostly talking about the corridors, the takeoff and landing corridors. It could be Burbank. It could be any other high speed airport where they're taking off with commercial airplanes. That has to be much more strictly controlled.

HILL: And when we talk about a privately owned fighter jet, as you noted, this is a jet from the 60s. But still, the fact that maybe this is my own naivete. I didn't know that one could buy a fighter jet.

SOUCIE: Yes, it's actually been around for quite some time, and they're experimental aircraft typically. But if they're under contract with the government, sometimes they use them just for testing radar. For example, they'll contract out someone to fly the flight paths and make sure that the radar is operating properly. And I used to do certifications on these jets. They get modified sometimes. Other times they're just put back to restoration condition. So they're perfectly safe to fly. They have certifications. They're ready to fly.

But the fact is the TCAS that's in there, we were fortunate that it had it because it's not required of these other jets. They can fly privately without having collision avoidance systems. So that's where we really got lucky on this one that it actually had that so that the airplane knew that it was coming at it.

SOUCIE: Yes, certainly the fact that it is essentially optional.

There has been -- I mean, I fly a lot. I was on a plane yesterday. It is something how, there's always a question, right, when one of these incidents happens, are things changing in the air? Are we somehow less safe? Is it that we know more about these incidents than we did perhaps in years past? For people who see this, though, there is an increased anxiety now around flying, based on what we've seen over the last number of months. I'm thinking, of course, of that tragic plane crash in Washington, D.C., in just January. Is there reason for increased concern, do you think, around passengers? Are we less safe in this moment?

SOUCIE: Well, I'll tell you my biggest concern. I don't feel like we're less safe at this moment. However, my big concern is that we've continually increased the traffic. There is more and more and more going on in the airspace above us.

[14:05:00]

I think the FAA has to take charge. They are the ultimate control over this airspace. They can stop flights from happening. They can restrict airspace with high traffic areas. They're not doing that. They really need to step forward with more strict protocols. The buck stops with them, and that's where it has to happen. And yes, it does need to happen before we get more and more of these incidents.

But as far as, are we safe? Yes, we're safe. These are indicators that we look at in the FAA to say, where do we need to improve? Where do we need to get better? And these do happen, and they deserve this extra attention that we're putting on them because we need to put pressure on Congress and on the FAA to take action about this overcrowding of the airspace.

HILL: David Soucie, always good to have your insight and your expertise. Thank you.

SOUCIE: Thank you.

HILL: One of our other top stories on this Saturday, a Hamas official now saying the militant group was surprised by the decision of the United States to walk away from ceasefire talks this week. The U.S. blaming Hamas for that breakdown in negotiations. President Trump also weighing in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: It was too bad. Hamas, Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it's very, very bad. And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Those comments from Mr. Trump coming Friday morning, just before he departed for Scotland. That is where he is spending now five days, and, of course, where the U.K.'s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ready to go ahead with plans to airdrop aid into Gaza as the humanitarian crisis continues to worsen in the enclave.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Jerusalem. So in terms of where things stand with these talks, the U.S. pulling it's negotiators back, is there a sense that this is a negotiation tactic, or could this signal a wider rift?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's not clear at the moment, and it perhaps might take another couple of days before we can really see if this is a pause, put on meaningful negotiations. Although the mediators, the Qataris, the Egyptians say that they're still having meetings, that they are having discussions. But it's really a very big question mark. President Trump's comments and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff's comments both seem to be taken by Hamas as a complete misrepresentation and a mischaracterization of where the negotiations had got to. Hamas has said, look, we've had positive responses from the mediators. This doesn't really reflect the current situation.

But the sense here in Israel is that this was potentially a negotiating ploy, or that's the way it's being used by the Israeli government, particularly what Steve Witkoff had had to say and his comments on X, that, in fact, Hamas was showing no real interest in wanting a ceasefire. The sense here was that this was a technique being used by the Israeli government, by the U.S. government, to put pressure on Hamas to come up with a more realistic position.

It's very clear that Hamas is frustrated by this, because they've gone public as well with their latest sort of offering to the negotiators, showing flexibility, they say, on the buffer zones, which are a sticking point around Gaza, flexibility, they say, on the numbers of prisoners and hostages to be exchanged. Again, that was perceived as a sticking point.

So if early next week, we begin to see that the conversation, the narrative is that there is some sense that talks are continuing, that will show that it's not over. And maybe the Israeli government is going to get what it wants and it's going to score a point against Hamas, because that's what Hamas thinks. They think that Prime Minister Netanyahu actually wants to show that he can be tough on Hamas, get them to step back a bit. That'll do him well on his domestic agenda.

The other concern, of course, is that this is potentially creating rifts within Hamas. And if that happens, then it makes it harder to get any kind of deal.

HILL: It does. And there is also -- we cannot ignore the growing humanitarian crisis, the aid issue in terms of getting aid into Gaza. What we have heard from both the Trump administration and also from the Israeli government, is that part of the issue, the way they -- the reason they felt that they had to redo, if you will, the way aid is being allowed into the enclave and distributed is because they had issues with that aid, saying that Hamas was taking the aid. There were findings from USAID this week that showed there was no evidence of widespread looting of aid by Hamas. The Israeli military is now disputing that report. How is this landing in Israel, those findings? And what more do we know about the potential to allow more aid in?

ROBERTSON: It's a narrative of both the Israeli government and the Trump administration that Hamas is the one that's been looting extensively from the convoys. Now, this investigation was around 156 different incidents that have been logged of fraud or misuse of aid that that the United States was providing.

[14:10:08]

It's rather than the broader spectrum. But what the United States was providing. And in these 156 different incidents registered between October 2023, when the big Hamas began and the war in Gaza began, until May this year, they found that there were -- as you say, that there was no widespread evidence of Hamas doing this looting or being behind these inconsistencies.

So it does really rather question President Trump's position and the decision to begin with a completely alternate aid distribution system with this Gaza humanitarian foundation, which is being heavily criticized. They push back and say the criticism is unfair, that they're being successful, that they've delivered over 91 million meals to Gaza in the past two months. However, Gazan officials point to the fact that more than 1,000 civilians have been killed since their system began in May as they tried to get humanitarian aid.

HILL: Nic, I appreciate it, as always. Thank you.

Let's continue our conversation now with CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. So, Kim, always good to talk to you. So in terms of this USAID report, the pushback that we're hearing from both the Trump administration, from Israel, that report, though, the fact that it said it found no widespread evidence of looting of aid by Hamas, that is directly impacting this narrative. Do you anticipate this will make a difference, though, when it comes to aid getting into Gaza?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, that USAID report has to have been known inside the Trump administration. The information was known. And yet they have continued to press that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is the main and only way that aid should get in there. So you have this vast U.N. aid system that works by, with, and through local Palestinian governing organizations, but also families, et cetera, throughout the strip.

Instead, you've got the U.S. still backing this narrow delivery system that is also militarized. So it draws hungry people to a few locations. And we've seen the reports of 700 or more people killed trying to access aid, while the international community is warning we're on the brink of starvation there. From the White House's point of view, though, they don't seem to understand or be pushing any different resolution to that.

HILL: Right. There was also reporting at CNN this week that there is not a specific point person, if you will, within the White House, to deal with aid getting into Gaza, which raises questions, too, about just how much of a focus it is for the administration. That is also coming into play. You have the U.K.'s prime minister saying his country is now planning to participate in these airdrops of aid getting into Gaza. There are concerns, though, about those airdrops of aid potentially doing more harm than good.

DOZIER: Yes, when the Biden administration early on in this conflict tried to do airdrops, some of them landed in the wrong place, some of them injured people. And again, that's not exactly a controlled way to make sure that aid gets to the right people, especially -- you know, it means the strongest survive. Those who can get to the front of the line can get enough to survive on. But we're seeing what's happening to mothers and children, et cetera.

Probably the most disturbing thing in the past few days has been Donald Trump's comments on Friday before leaving for Scotland, when he was asked about this Palestinian crisis, this starvation that's imminent for much of the 2 million population there. And instead, he talked about defeating Hamas and saying, well, just got to stand back, essentially, and let Israel do what it has to do to defeat Hamas. That doesn't get aid to people. And also, any insurgency I've ever covered anywhere, military people will tell you the same thing, the more civilians you kill, the more insurgents/terrorists you create down the line. So this is not solving the situation.

HILL: It's such a great point, and you're so experienced, not just in your career as a journalist in terms of what you've covered, but you are so well sourced as well. When we talk about things from a security perspective here and looking at the narrative that is out there, there are increasing calls -- and we should note they have been there for months, but there are increasing calls, certainly in the last week or two from aid organizations. You have Doctors Without Borders talking about their own doctors. We're hearing about doctors who are eating every other day, who are fainting, journalists who can't walk, who are being pulled out of the enclave, and more and more groups and governments standing up and saying, this is not OK. Is there a sense that that is getting through?

[14:15:07]

DOZIER: Not at this point, but I think you're seeing a gathering storm diplomatically in Europe. Europe does have a lot of economic power when it comes to Israel. It is it's -- it does something like 30 percent of the trade with Israel. It's a larger trading partner than the U.S. And Israel also exports a lot of its vegetables, flowers, and a lot of its high-tech stuff not to the U.S., but to Europe. That's the market they want.

So European leaders are increasingly talking about using that leverage because the White House doesn't seem to care about the starvation issue, at least from their perspective. And European officials are increasingly talking to each other, saying, OK, we've got to do something before this becomes a Sudan style crisis where we lose a large part of the population there.

HILL: Kim Dozier, always good to talk to you. Thank you.

DOZIER: Thanks.

HILL: Still ahead here, President Trump playing golf at Turnberry as protesters in Scotland slam his visit and criticize their own leaders for cozying up to the American president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:59]

HILL: President Trump is in Scotland for a five-day visit. It puts a little bit of physical space, at least, between him and the growing Epstein fallout in the nation's capital. The president golfing today at his property in Turnberry, Scotland, one of two golf courses the president owns and plans to play during his visit. Trump also plans to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the head of the European Union Commission for Trade and Tariffs talks.

The trip to Scotland, though, is not without controversy. The president has already been met with some large protests and more are planned for his visit. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Scotland for us. Not unheard of, of course, for an American president or any world leader, frankly, to be met with some protests. But walk us through not only what he's seen and heard there, but also what is on deck for him over the next few days, Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, certainly President Trump has grown very accustomed to protests. This time, of course, they are very far away from him. He is spending the bulk of his time on his properties. Three nights at the Trump Turnberry resort on the western coast of Scotland, and then one night. And he's also opening a new golf course on the northern coast of Scotland, which is the ancestral homeland of his mother. That is what really brings the connection to Scotland that Donald Trump has talked so often about. He talks about Scotland in a very fond way, but it is less clear if residents of Scotland feel as fondly toward him. There were many supporters who turned out last evening near Glasgow to watch Air Force One arrive, always quite a sight and spectacle. But there were also many protesters who turned out to protest his mere presence here and his policies as well.

We talked to Fiona McPherson to give her view about President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FIONA MCPHERSON, ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTOR: I think we're probably going to have to play nice, but I don't want us to. But, you know, America was our ally for so long. We relied on America so much. Now it's an embarrassment. I don't know, it's very, very tricky. I think politically, yes, we've got to play nice. But on the other hand, if we condone his behavior, what message are we sending out to the world?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: And you may have seen the Boston Red Sox hat on Fiona. She's actually a dual citizen of the United States and Scotland and follows U.S. politics very closely, she said.

But as for the rest of the agenda, the president is largely doing this working vacation, playing some golf, even in the windy and often, or somewhat rainy Scotland as it is at the moment. But he's also holding trade talks, scheduled to do so with the head of the E.U. on Sunday, as well as the British prime minister on Monday. He'll return to Washington on Tuesday evening after doing a ribbon cutting dedication ceremony at a golf course named after his mother. Erica? HILL: Jeff, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

Well, here stateside, ICE raids are really shaking California's farm belt at the worst possible time. This is peak harvest season. The fear, though, is growing among both undocumented workers and those who are authorized to work as they face tough choices, with farmers caught in the middle.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:35]

HILL: As President Trump pressures Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, CNN has learned Powell has told multiple associates and allies there is no chance he will resign before his term expires next year. The long simmering clash between the pair was on full display earlier this week when the president got a look at the renovations being made at the central bank's headquarters in Washington, D.C. Here's CNN's Brian Todd with the details.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Trump ratcheting up his pressure campaign against the Federal Reserve and its chairman, Jerome Powell.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: So the $2.7 is now $3.1.

JEROME POWELL, CHAIR, FEDERAL RESERVE: I'm not aware of that.

TRUMP: Yes. It just came out.

POWELL: I haven't heard that from anybody at the Fed.

TODD: On Thursday, he toured the Fed's headquarters undergoing a major renovation, and got into a dispute with Powell in front of the cameras about the overall cost of the project.

POWELL: You just added in a third building is what that is. That's a third building.

TRUMP: Yes, but it's a building that's being built.

POWELL: No. It was built five years ago.

TODD: The active construction site sits just a few blocks away from the White House. But the politically independent body is rarely visited by presidents.

TRUMP: Do you expect any more additional cost overruns?

POWELL: Don't expect them. We're ready for them.

TODD: The costly project has been on Trump's mind for weeks.

TRUMP: This guy is building this building that's severely overrun. And what does he need a building for?

I didn't see him as a guy that needed a palace to live in.

I mean, it's possible there's fraud involved.

TODD: The nearly 100-year-old building is in need of safety updates to the antiquated electrical grid, plumbing, HVAC, and fire detection systems.

[14:30:07]

TRUMP: This is a very expensive job, I don't know. It got out of control. And that happens. That happens. It's a shame.

TODD: The project cost has shot up from $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion, which the Fed claims is due in part to asbestos remediation, security enhancements like blast resistant windows, and inflation. Workers seen adding steel framing and reinforcing the walls, temporarily clad in plywood, to protect the building's historic integrity, another added cost. Staff telling the press that building a brand new building would have been much cheaper.

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: The Fed has had big mission creep. And that's where a lot of the spending is going. That's where why they're building these new, or refurbishing these buildings. And I think they got to stay in their lane.

TODD: That's Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, seen as a possible replacement for Jerome Powell.

Critics point to claims that the renovation would include expenditures for lavish items like rooftop gardens, water features, and VIP elevators.

POWELL: Some of those are just flatly misleading. The idea of elevators, you know, it's the same elevator. It's been there since the building was built. So that's a that's a mischaracterization. And some of those are no longer in the plans.

TODD: And planned rooftop seating for staff removed. Instead, the focus on a green roof with grassy plants to help reduce cooling costs and water runoff. Federal Reserve watchers say Trump's focus on the building is only a sideshow.

DAVID WESSEL, SENIOR ECONOMIC FELLOW, THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: The president has been told, by his lawyers and by the Supreme court that he can't fire the Fed chair unless he has, quote, cause. And it looks like he demanded of his staff, I need a cause. And they've come up with a mismanagement of the building as an excuse.

TRUMP: I'd love him to lower interest rates, but other than that, what can I tell you?

TODD: Analysts also saying it's Powell's unwillingness to lower interest rates that has really drawn the president's ire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What would you do with a project manager who would be overbudget?

TRUMP: Generally speaking, what would I do? I'd fire him.

TODD: But the president, after a tour of the building, said he did not want to fire Jerome Powell over the cost overruns of the project. Despite his defense of this renovation, Powell says he has asked the Fed's inspector general to conduct an additional review of the project.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HILL: Well, meantime, the fallout over the Epstein case is now escalating. Lawmakers feeling the pressure from their constituents at local town hall meetings. They are, of course, now home for their summer recess. A closer look is ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:37:10]

HILL: As ICE continues its immigration raids at worksites and public places across the country, California's farm belt, which is currently in its peak harvest season, is really feeling the pressure, despite earlier promises that farm workers would not be targeted. The reality for many today is a choice. Do they go to work to do their job and risk arrest, or do they stay home and then perhaps risk not being able to pay their bills?

CNN's Julia Vargas Jones recently visited a farm in California where you spoke with the farm owners, also, the workers. How are they feeling in this moment?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there is a generalized atmosphere of fear, honestly, Erica, that is not just from the farm workers, the owners as well. They're saying, look, without these people to work the fields, we can't feed the rest of the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JONES: On their hands and knees for hours at a time, these California farm workers brave the elements daily to put food on America's tables.

Now many are forced to choose between going to work and risk arrest or stay home and lose their livelihood.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame on you. Shame on you.

JONES: The Ventura County fields were among the many locations targeted by immigration agents in early June raids that rattled California. And in July a farm worker died after falling off a roof during another ICE raid in Camarillo.

The chilling effects of those raids are hitting hard a state that is the top producer of agricultural products in the country. California's agriculture is a $60 billion industry. More than one

third of all vegetables in two thirds of fruits and nuts in the United States are grown right here.

Thirty-four-year-old Marisol says she came to the U.S. from the Mexican state of Guerrero 12 years ago looking to make an honest living in a safe place.

You've been paying your taxes this whole time?

MARISOL, UNDOCUMENTED FARMWORKER: Si.

JONES: And now grappling with the fear of being deported, each day she goes to work. "Many of us are scared to go do our jobs," she says, but then we have to pay our rent and bills, and we have no option but to go to work and pray nothing happens to us. But we are scared."

She and her husband are both farmworkers. Her main concern if they were arrested by ICE, she says, is their four-year-old daughter. "I don't have anyone that could take my daughter," she says, "except for her daycare teacher."

Even those in less precarious situations are afraid here.

You have authorization to work in this country.

"Yes, I am scared," Patricia says. She's heard of American citizens and legal temporary workers getting detained by ICE agents. She says "They just come and sometimes even hit you before asking if you have authorization to work or not."

[14:40:01]

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not respond to CNN's request for comment.

For growers like Guillermo Jimenez, who depend on this workforce daily, it's more than a nuisance, especially in summer when produce is ready to pick.

"We are also fearful," he says, "because we've sowed the seeds. But we can't harvest without people."

Would you be able to find American hands to work here?

GUILLERMO JIMENEZ, FARMER: No.

JONES: The day after the Camarillo raids, 14 workers didn't show. It takes 18 people to harvest one field. Jimenez says if that pattern continues, he will have to scale down.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

JONES (on camera): And, Erica, there is a chain reaction that happens there. There's a whole parallel economy that depends on the income that those farm workers then spend, vendors, restaurants, shops that are now not getting that money. And the economy, they are just suffering.

HILL: Julia, when it comes to the farmers who are employing a number of these workers, do they know whether the workforce is undocumented?

JONES: Well, they do and they don't. What they say is, look, we don't have the ability to check everybody's documents. People show up with a driver's license, with a Social Security number here, and we just believe them. Now, of course, they have a sense that most of these folks are undocumented, Erica, but they are also just trying to get their harvest done.

HILL: Julia Vargas Jones, appreciate it. Good to see you. Thanks.

Still ahead here, CNN's Pete Muntean taking us for a little ride in the Goodyear blimp. And get this, our favorite pilot here at CNN even gets a chance to fly it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nervous?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:00]

HILL: The political storm surrounding the Epstein case continues to grow on Capitol Hill, and it's also pretty active back at home for lawmakers where they're hearing about it from voters. In fact, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who have been turning up the pressure on the administration to release documents related to the late convicted sex offender are really starting to hear from their constituents.

You may recall, of course, this week a House Oversight committee voted -- subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for files related to Epstein. CNN's Julia Benbrook joins me now. So, Julia, the House speaker, had tried to, I guess, sort of quell this a bit by sending lawmakers home early. That is certainly not stopping the conversation, nor is it stopping the questions from constituents.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. These lawmakers are now back in their districts, and they are fielding questions directly from their constituents, the people who have a say in whether they're reelected or not.

And this topic is still coming up. When the Department of Justice and the FBI released a memo a couple of weeks ago now announcing that they had not found a so-called client list incriminating associates of Jeffrey Epstein, it inflamed a yearslong conversation about this probe and led to more questions. That memo came just months after Attorney General Pam Bondi had hyped up some soon to be released documents, saying that she had the so-called client list sitting on her desk, suggesting that. And she later clarified, though, that she was speaking about other documents.

So these questions surrounding the investigation continue, despite calls from Trump himself to get his supporters to focus on other topics that he thinks are more important right now. It's important to note that some of the loudest calls for more information, for more transparency, are coming directly from the president's own MAGA base.

But as we said earlier, these lawmakers are back. They're getting questions. During a virtual town hall, GOP Congressman Mike Kennedy of Utah, who is a practicing physician. And that will be important when you hear here in a minute what he had to say. But he was asked about the Epstein investigation, and he compared it to a wound that, if not treated properly, could get worse. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE KENNEDY, (R-UT): I am a big fan of full transparency, and of course, health care and how it's delivered is a big way of thinking about things. If you've got a festering boil, infected wound with pus underneath there, you can continue to just let it fester, and potentially that's going to grow inward and create infection in your bloodstream and cause the whole body to be sick. Well, it's another way. And I've done this many times over the course of my doctor career, is I just had to put a, put a needle or a knife in it and cut it open and let it drain. And in the case of this Epstein stuff, absolutely. Let it out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And as you mentioned, Erica, we have seen some movement on Capitol Hill when it comes to these calls for more information. A House Oversight subcommittee voted to subpoena the Department of Justice for more documents related to Epstein. And it's very important to point out there, that was a bipartisan vote.

HILL: Julie, appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, at the time of his death in 2019, Jeffrey Epstein owned a collection of mansions across the world, two private islands. He was worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Exactly how the disgraced financier managed to become so wealthy, though, is central to the ongoing scandal.

[14:50:04]

And now both Democratic and Republican lawmakers want answers. Here's CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): When convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was found dead behind bars, he owned two Caribbean Islands, homes around the world in Manhattan, New Mexico, Palm Beach, Paris. And according to "Forbes," his estate was valued at $578 million, making Epstein clearly a wealthy man. Not so clear to some who have watched the case closely how he got it all. JULIE K. BROWN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, "THE MIAMI HERALD": I think that's the smoking gun here. Epstein's finances and where he -- how he made his money, who he got money from.

FOREMAN (voice over): Born in middle class Brooklyn, Epstein was a bright student who dropped out of college and into high finance, where he courted billionaire clients, including the man behind Victoria's Secret and The Limited. Les Wexner kickstarted Epstein's professional success. And when Epstein's private crimes came out, he expressed outrage.

LES WEXNER, AMERICAN BUSINESSMAN AND FORMER CEO OF VICTORIA'S SECRET: Being taken advantage of by someone who was so sick, so cunning, so depraved. It's something that I'm embarrassed that I was even close to.

FOREMAN (voice over): But Epstein made many rich and powerful contacts before his sexual predations were publicly known, including now President Donald Trump, who in 2002, before his friendship with Epstein fell apart, reportedly over a real estate deal, told "New York" Magazine "I've known Jeff for 15 years, terrific guy."

Aside from Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein's longtime girlfriend, none of his highly placed former pals have been charged with any crimes related to him.

FOREMAN (on camera): No law enforcement authorities have ever accused Trump of any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and the President bristles at the whole idea that the Epstein case still has secrets to reveal.

TRUMP: It's all been a big hoax that's perpetrated by the Democrats, and some stupid Republicans and foolish Republicans fall into the net.

FOREMAN: Still, some find Epstein's fortune inexplicably large, too big in their assessment to have been made by legitimate hustle, and they openly wonder, with no proof, at least not yet, if maybe some of Epstein's contacts were somehow involved in his crimes and paying to keep it quiet.

REP. PETE SESSIONS (R-TX): We need to know, were they paying Jeffrey Epstein money to do these? Who gave him the loans to buy the islands? What was he paid? Where did that money come from?

FOREMAN (voice over): Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: Just ahead, as the Epstein fallout continues and consumes the headlines, two women who took on powerful men, and in many ways won, argue this moment is a sign of progress in the Me Too movement itself. Julie Roginsky and Gretchen Carlson are my guests next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:45] HILL: More than 10,000 planes and half-a-million people are flocking to Wisconsin this weekend for one of the world's biggest air shows. CNN aviation correspondent and pilot Pete Muntean scored rare access to one of the world's most iconic aircraft, the Goodyear blimp.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. How's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good. And you?

MUNTEAN: Good.

I'm about to do something pretty cool and very rare. I think I'm one of the only reporters to ever take a flying lesson in the Goodyear blimp.

ADAM BASARAN, GOODYEAR AIRSHIP PILOT: Are you nervous?

MUNTEAN: A little bit, yes. This is totally different than what I'm used to. So don't judge me too hard.

I'm at the world's biggest airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. There are 10,000 planes here, three quarters of a million people, the busiest swath of airspace in the world right now. You can see down there, that's the north 40. That's where I'm camping with my plane. And maybe the biggest and most unique flying machine here is the blimp.

BASARAN: All right. So when you're ready, I'm going to give you the controls.

MUNTEAN: OK. I'm ready.

BASARAN: The other control.

MUNTEAN: I'm going all over the place. Yes. This is a hoot. It feels like I'm driving a bus. You put in the controls. And then you kind of wait and wait and wait.

(LAUGHTER)

MUNTEAN: And then it does something. And then it does a lot.

This is the hundredth anniversary of the Goodyear blimp, which is maybe the most successful aerial advertising campaign of all time.

BASARAN: Would you like to see some of the maneuvers the ship can do?

MUNTEAN: Heck yes.

BASARAN: So you can make the blimp wave, and just rock back and forth like a boat, right?

MUNTEAN: So I just did an air show maneuver in the blimp.

BASARAN: You did, yep. MUNTEAN: Cool.

BASARAN: Lower the nose down close to 30 degrees of pitch.

MUNTEAN: OK I feel like I'm looking straight down.

BASARAN: But you're going up. Right.

You want to try a 360 degree spin?

MUNTEAN: Sure. Yes. OK. Yes.

BASARAN: So you're just going to go all the way left.

MUNTEAN: Yep.

BASARAN: There you go. And then if you get a sink, you're adding some --

MUNTEAN: More power.

It's kind of like turning an elephant around. I mean, for such a huge thing, it's pretty maneuverable.

BASARAN: It is.

MUNTEAN: I took it For granted. It looks like the blimp is so graceful and I'm bumbling through the air, but it's really, it's quite the flier.