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Trump Seeks Changes To Iran Deal Text; Georgia Dems Hold Joint Rally As GOP Prepares For Runoff; Countdown To California Primary Elections; One Family Secures Father's Release Before "Alligator Alcatraz" Closes; Trump Proves Grip On GOP With String Of Primary Wins; New Reports Detail Graham Platner's Extramarital Sexts; Experts: Dead Sea Is Dying, Blame Humans And Climate Change. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired May 31, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:23]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN ANCHOR: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

Negotiations between the U.S. and Iran extending into another week, as officials tell CNN President Trump sent back changes to the proposed Iran deal after meeting with advisers Friday. Now this comes despite Trump declaring a deal was imminent about a week ago. Still, one U.S. official telling CNN it's unlikely military strikes would resume, with the deal being close.

Let's bring in CNN's Julia Benbrook who is at the White House.

Julia, what more can you tell us about these proposed changes?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Officials tell our team that President Donald Trump sent back changes on this proposed deal with Iran. And as you mentioned, this comes just after he held a high level meeting in the situation room on Friday with top advisers, including Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Going into that meeting, Trump said that he was going to use it to make a final determination on a tentative agreement with Iran, but we have yet to receive an official update from him on this. Officials, though, have told our team that he is insisting on tougher language when it comes to Iran's nuclear commitments, as well as their pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. allies in the Gulf have been briefed on discussions, and one foreign official tells CNN that the changes do center around the U.S. desire for assurances on those topics.

Now, I reached out to the White House earlier today for any updates. They tell me that the president is determined to only make a deal if he believes that it is a great deal, reiterating one of his top redlines that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon. Sources familiar with the memorandum of understanding, which has been under consideration, have told us that it would likely include a 60-day timeframe to fully address some of the top issues, which include Iran's nuclear program, as well as the fate of its stockpile for highly enriched uranium. And Jessica, just looking back to last weekend when we were talking

about this, it has been a bit of whiplash because we heard Trump say that it was a largely negotiated deal. It was almost ready to go, making it sound imminent to the next day saying that he was in no rush to make an agreement. So we are still waiting on an official update from the president directly following that high level meeting on Friday.

DEAN: And Julia, a big concern right now depends on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. And that's the U.S. tapping into oil reserves at what is a record breaking pace. The latest report from the Energy Information Administration showing emergency reserves declined by a record breaking 9.1 million barrels over the last two weeks.

So what are White House officials saying when it comes to that particularly?

BENBROOK: In an interview earlier today, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett, he addressed this. He did say, though, that the federal government and private companies still have billions of barrels of oil in reserve. He was pressed on concerns, specifically some comments made by an ExxonMobil executive just a couple of days ago who said that inventories could soon reach unheard-of levels.

Hassett looked to ease those concerns, saying that he believes that there is still leeway here. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL DIRECTOR: We track inventories every day. We started out with billions, billions of barrels of private and government inventories, and we still are in the billions. And so there's plenty of runway. But also, you know, there's a lot of pressure on Iran to finally agree to the president's terms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: You hear him mention there the president's terms. We know that Trump has long said that reopening the Strait of Hormuz needs to be a part of any deal here.

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook at the White House. Thank you so much for that.

And we are joined now by CNN global affairs analyst and Iran expert Karim Sadjadpour. He's also a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Karim, thank you for being here with us. I'm curious how you read where things stand tonight with this deal and this back and forth.

KARIM SADJADPOUR, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Thank you, Jessica. President Trump is in a dilemma of his own making because what's happened over the last three months is that Iran's bargaining position has strengthened. The U.S. bargaining position is weakened, and President Trump is now in a situation in which there's really no great deals on the table. And at the same time, he cannot walk away from the table because both the Straits of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear program are critical issues to both U.S. national security and the global economy.

[19:05:08]

So I think he's in a position, the president is in a position where he has to be demanding more than he was three months ago in order to justify the enormous costs of the war. But in fact, it's Iran, which is demanding much more, given they feel that they've prevailed over the last three months.

DEAN: And to your point, Iran has been pretty clear in their negotiating strategy over the years. And that's slow play things. Wait out the other side, see if they can get more time. Play for time. Do you think -- it seems like that's what's happening here. But what do you think?

SADJADPOUR: Well, I think that's right. And it's always an advantage which authoritarian regimes have when they're fighting against democracies because Iran doesn't care about its own public opinion. This blockade, economic blockade has been very costly for the people of Iran. The country is losing around $450 million daily. It's a country which is suffering from 70 percent inflation.

But the regime continues to believe that, you know, time is on their side and they're trying to extract more and more concessions and assurances from President Trump. And, you know, obviously this is a negotiation, which both parties really view as zero sum and there's zero trust. The fact that the United States, the Trump administration attacked Iran twice while we were in the middle of negotiations, this time around, the Iranians, you know, are not giving the benefit of the doubt to anything.

DEAN: And do you think that the president and the administration understands all of that dynamic, or if -- even if they understand it that they are negotiating with that in mind, that they are being -- that they are pushing back on that at all?

SADJADPOUR: I think there's one important point, which it's not clear to me that the president understood when he launched the war. Perhaps he understands it now, and that is that you have a regime in Iran, a theocracy, whose identity is premised on hostility toward the United States and toward Israel. And it's been around since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and it's never been willing to trade its ideology for prosperity.

So when I sometimes speak to U.S. negotiators, they say, well, we can offer Iran enormous sanctions relief and offer to unfreeze their assets and make Iran a very wealthy country. And for, you know, a lot of individuals or countries that view that identify their national interests as the top priority, that would be attractive. But when you're dealing with a regime whose ideology is the top priority and that ideology is hostility towards the United States, those types of incentives are not the types of things that move Iran. So we have both a structural challenge and that both sides are

demanding more than they were three months ago. And then we have this ideological challenge in which, you know, President Trump wants a resolution. Iran is committed to its revolution.

DEAN: And in a new piece for "The Atlantic," you write a former Iranian official told you, "Tehran retains the knowledge and now has the will to build nuclear weapons in short order." How significant is this threat posed by Iran's underground missile cities, and what remains of their nuclear program?

SADJADPOUR: I think, Jessica, even if we eventually reach a nuclear deal with Iran, and that's still a big if, and it could come after many months of negotiations, I don't think anyone should rest carefully at night that the threat of a nuclear armed Iran has gone away simply because it's a regime which internally doesn't take a great geopolitical strategist to observe that the countries that gave up their nuclear option made themselves vulnerable to external intervention, whether that was Saddam Hussein's Iraq or Qadhafi's Libya.

North Korea has nuclear weapons. It's provided itself a cloak of immunity. And they do have these missile cities that are deep underground. Now, when I've spoken to senior officials in our intelligence community, they continue to believe that if Iran made a clandestine dash for nuclear weapons, we'd be able to detect it. But, you know, that's something which I don't think that even if a deal is reached, the fears of Iran's nuclear ambitions will not be allayed.

DEAN: All right. Karim Sadjadpour, thank you so much for your time. Always good to have you.

SADJADPOUR: Thank you.

[19:10:03]

DEAN: Still to come, a big day for California as voters head to the polls Tuesday in what has become the most expensive governor's race in U.S. history. And the Democratic Party facing new scandals surrounding its leading Senate candidate in Maine. How new reports alleging inappropriate texts could impact Graham Platner's race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:15:02]

DEAN: Some big battles are brewing in the battleground state of Georgia. Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate and governor are hitting the ground running, as Republicans still don't know who will be on the ballot for them in November. The GOP primary runoff elections for U.S. Senate and governor set just for two weeks now.

In the Republican governor's race, Georgia Lieutenant Governor Bert Jones, who's been endorsed by President Trump, is going head-to-head with billionaire healthcare entrepreneur Rick Jackson. And for that Senate seat, Congressman Mike Collins is in a runoff with former football coach Derek Dooley.

Now, on the Democratic side, as we mentioned, those candidates have now been set. Senator Jon Ossoff is seeking reelection. And earlier today, he hosted a rally with Democratic gubernatorial nominee, former Atlanta mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms.

CNN's Rafael Romo was there. He has more -- Rafael.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, the Ossoff campaign called the rally the first major event of his reelection campaign following the May 19th primary here in Georgia. Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff took the stage just before 5:00 p.m. to address a crowd of supporters here at the Tabernacle, a mid-sized concert hall in downtown Atlanta built as a church more than 100 years ago.

He spoke for about 40 minutes, relentlessly attacking the record of the Trump administration, especially when it comes to the war in Iran, voting rights and affordability. He also criticized President Donald Trump specifically for what he said were the more than 52 messages on social media he posted over six hours overnight, which also said included attacking the Pope and posting his own face on Mount Rushmore.

He called President Trump a, quote, "failed president" and "a national disgrace." But he played special emphasis on moves in Republican-led states to redraw electoral maps, diluting, he said, minorities' political power.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): We see the Voting Rights Act eviscerated, and then like clockwork, as if they'd been lying in wait 61 years, since the moment the ink dried from President Johnson's pen, the president's allies set out to remove black elected officials, not by defeating them at the polls, but by manipulating maps to dilute minority power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Earlier in the program, a cafeteria worker spoke about rising healthcare premiums and two young parents who highlighted the impact of inflation on their family.

Keisha Lance Bottoms also got on stage. The former Atlanta mayor won the Democratic primary earlier this month to run for Georgia governor in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), GEORGIA GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE: This White House is making lives of Georgians more stressful. They're making it difficult for families across Georgia with rising grocery prices, healthcare prices and gas costs, and Georgians certainly will not sit by as those same leaders threaten the voting rights.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROMO: On the Republican side, Congressman Mike Collins and Derek Dooley, a former head football coach at the University of Tennessee, won the right to run against each other in Georgia's runoff election on June 16th after the state's primary on May 19th. The winner will run against Ossoff in the November midterm elections.

Jessica, now back to you.

DEAN: All right. Rafael Romo in Georgia for us. Thanks so much for that.

In just two days, voters in California will decide which two candidates will advance in the race to succeed Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom there. Right now, polling shows voters are closely divided, with former HHS secretary, Democrat Xavier Becerra, Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Tom Steyer in a tight race at the top.

CNN's chief data analyst Harry Enten joins us now to run the numbers on that race -- Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. Happy Sunday to you.

Look, two days from now, California, the most populous state in the nation, goes to their polls for their primary. Of course, it's a top two primary, which all the Democrats, all the Republicans, all run in one primary. And the top two vote getters advance to the November general election. And there's been some massive movement where the Democrat, Xavier Becerra, looks like he's probably going to end up in that top two. His chances have gone through the roof.

Take a look here. Chance to be in top two in the California governor primary. Look at this. At the beginning of this month, he had a 52 percent chance. Look at this. Now an 89 percent chance of Xavier Becerra, the Democrat, advancing to the November general election. But as Becerra's chances have gone up, another Democrat's chances have gone down. And that is Tom Steyer, the billionaire.

Look at this. He had a 65 percent chance at the beginning of this month of advancing to the November general election. Now it's just a 37 percent chance. 37 percent, though, isn't nothing. In fact, it's possible that both Steyer and Becerra do, in fact, advance to November general election, and there is no Republican on the ballot. But chances are there will be. Steve Hilton, whose chances have stayed pretty gosh darn steady here, the Republican, 74 percent chance at the beginning of the month to advance to the November general election, now an 80 percent chance. So probably it is Becerra and Hilton.

There are a lot of other Democrats who are also running, and another Republican as well, but no one else has above a 5 percent chance of in fact making the November general election.

[19:20:08]

But even if Steve Hilton does in fact advance to the November general election, chances are he's not going to be the next governor of California. And you can see right here very clearly. Chance to win California's governor election, the gubernatorial election, again, Becerra's chances way up. At the beginning of the month, a 39 percent chance. Now, the clear favorite to be the next governor of California, a 68 percent chance.

Tom Steyer, though, interestingly enough, even though he's running third and the chances to in fact advance in November general election, has the second best chance to be the next governor. He's at a 23 percent chance right here. You can see it. That's down considerably from the beginning of the month, but still above Steve Hilton's chance to, in fact, be the next governor of California.

His chances pretty gosh darn stable here, 8 percent at the beginning of the month, 10 percent chance now and again no one else has above a 5 percent chance to, in fact, be the next governor of California.

Now, why? Why is Steve Hilton struggling so much in terms of the odds of being the next governor of California, even if his chances to advance, his chances to advance to the November general election are pretty gosh darn high at 80 percent chance? Well, simply put, Donald Trump is an anchor, is an anchor that is dragging Steve Hilton's chances down come the November general election.

Look at this. OK. Net approval rating in California. Look at how far underwater Donald Trump is. He is 40 points, 40 points underwater. Net approval rating is minus 40 in the Golden State. And a lot of Republicans, they like to rip on Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California. But you know what Newsom is? He actually provides a little bit of a boost, a little bit of a boost to those Democrats running statewide in California, if you believe the polling data.

Look at this. His net approval is plus eight points. He's on the positive side of the ledger in the Golden State, nearly 50 points more popular than Donald Trump is in California. So look, California, a Democratic state, likely to continue that tradition come the November general election in California. Chances are that they will be electing another Democratic governor, even if Steve Hilton probably does advance to the November general election, the Republican.

Bottom line, that is the bottom line. And my bottom line for you, Jessica Dean, is I hope you have a great rest of your Sunday.

DEAN: You too, Harry, thank you so much. Good to see you.

A father is released from Alligator Alcatraz just before that controversial immigration detention center is set to close. You'll hear his family's story. That's up next.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:04]

DEAN: In a little more than an hour, the 9:00 p.m. curfew will go into effect around that ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey, that has been at the center of clashes between protesters and law enforcement that escalated overnight. This week, lawyers for detainees claimed hundreds inside were on a hunger strike, describing food so spoiled it had worms in it. DHS denies those claims.

I did speak with former acting ICE director John Sandweg earlier this evening, and here's what he had to say about the conditions inside some of these facilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SANDWEG, FORMER ACTING DIRECTOR, IMMIGRATION AND CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Jessica, the truth is probably in the middle as it relates to Delaney Hall, but certainly I do have concerns nationwide having worked, having, you know, run served as the acting director of ICE and worked very closely with ICE for years before that at DHS, I can tell you that the tension is hard.

It can be hard to provide that adequate level of care for, you know, and the goal should be, frankly, to only use detention when absolutely necessary to protect key public safety threats off the street or to guard against flight risks. Unfortunately, this administration has chosen to do a rapid expansion of detention. And the problem is, when you go that quickly, you -- not that not that ICE cares because it doesn't care, excuse me. In my experience ICE very much cares, but it is just an incredible logistical challenge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: That curfew is set to be in place from 9:00 p.m. until 6:00 a.m., and that is going to go on until further notice.

And following a monthslong legal battle, a Florida woman is celebrating her father's release from the controversial immigration detention center known there as "Alligator Alcatraz." His release comes as that facility is expected to shut down in the coming months, and CNN's Carolina Peguero has more on this family's emotional story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARIANNE BETANCOURT, DAUGHTER OF JUSTO BETANCOURT: I can't even say that I'm happy and not cry.

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A relentless legal battle.

BETANCOURT: Papi's home, and we got him some Cafecito.

PEGUERO: And a daughter doing everything in her power to get her father released from Florida's migrant detention center, known as "Alligator Alcatraz."

BETANCOURT: I've worked so hard over the last six months for this. And everyone told me that it was impossible, to give up, that I wasn't going to get it done. And my dad is sitting right next to me. PEGUERO: Her father, a Cuban national, Justo Betancourt, is one of

thousands of migrants who have been held at what was built with much fanfare as a temporary facility.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's an amazing job. They've all done a great job. Proud of them.

PEGUERO: Under conditions Justo says are inhumane, with shared cells, with barely any space and little to no access to food and medicine.

JUSTO BETANCOURT, HELD AT ICE DETENTION CENTER (through text translation): From the moment you arrive, you're an animal that's assigned a number.

BETANCOURT: My dad's health was not the best before he went into "Alligator Alcatraz," but my dad, the condition that they released him in, I learned today that my dad had a mini stroke while he was detained.

PEGUERO: Wearing an ankle monitor, Justo still recalls being moved through several immigration centers. At one point, U.S. authorities sent him to Mexico, but officials there refused to take him due to his poor health. He was then sent back to the Florida center. Arriane recalls the day he was detained.

[19:30:08]

BETANCOURT: He showed up to his routine immigration check-in. I was sitting in the car, and we were waiting, and hours were going by, and we couldn't see him anymore. He wasn't outside, and a woman showed up, screaming that her husband had called her on his Apple Watch, and told her that they detained him and the other 15 guys that were in line with him.

PEGUERO (voice over): ICE tells CNN, Justo entered the U.S. illegally and has past criminal history for possession and selling illicit substances, though he says he served time for those charges. For now, he is back with his family.

Justo was released after his attorney filed several petitions for habeas corpus.

MIRIAM HASKELL, LAWYER, COMMUNITY JUSTICE PROJECT: We argued that the government still did not have a plan for his deportation, and the government responded to say that Mr. Betancourt would be sent to Mexico, but ignored the fact that his removal had been attempted to Mexico in the past and had been denied.

And so, that, combined with the length of his deportation, demonstrated that the government really doesn't have a plan and didn't have a plan for his deportation.

PEGUERO (voice over): And as the center is set to close, the big question is, what happens to the hundreds of detainees that activists say are still being held in the Florida center. THOMAS KENNEDY, FLORIDA IMMIGRATION COALITION: Very likely that most, if not all, are going to end up at other detention centers, unfortunately.

PEGUERO (voice over): Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office did not directly respond to the questions about the fate of the detainees after the detention camp closes, instead, referred us to comments the governor made earlier this month defending the facility.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Being able to fill that void, where at the time the federal government did not have the resources to do it, no question that saved lives, no question it has increased public safety, and no question it's the right thing to do.

PEGUERO (voice over): For now, Arianne and her dad are making up for lost time.

(JUSTO BETANCOURT, RELEASED FROM ALLIGATOR ALCATRAZ speaking in foreign language)

TRANSLATION: As your dad, the biggest thing I can tell you is that I'm proud of you. I've always been proud of you, since the day you were born.

A. BETANCOURT: I love you, Poppy.

J. BETANCOURT: I love you, too.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Caroline Peguero reporting there, thanks so much for that.

The midterms, now five months away, Democrats hoping to pull off winning back control of Congress. Can they unify behind a single message and can Republicans maybe hope to keep those chambers?

Our political panel joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:11]

DEAN: We are now just five months out from the midterm elections. In recent weeks, President Trump has proved his influence over Republican voters with a string of primary wins.

One of those, State Attorney General Ken Paxton, now Republican candidate for Senate out of Texas. He will visit Washington this week and asked what his message is -- what message his win sends to Republicans in D.C., this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think it sends a message we need to listen to Donald Trump. He is the leader of the party. I think what he is trying to accomplish, most Americans want -- certainly, Republicans want it and so whatever we need to do to get behind the President, I am for it, and I think that message has been sent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, Congress returns this week after Republicans left town divided. An immigration package Trump wanted passed by June 1st, now stalled in the Senate after anger over his $1.8 billion Anti- Weaponization Fund and his request for a $1 billion ballroom fund.

It also comes after the courts dealt the President some major losses, Friday, a judge reopening Trump's $10 billion case against the IRS, which actually led to that controversial DOJ fund and another judge ordering Trump's name be removed from The Kennedy Center in Washington.

We are joined now by CNN political commentators, Shermichael Singleton and Karen Finney.

Good to see both of you. Shermichael, of course, our Republican strategist here, Karen, a former senior adviser to the 2016 Clinton presidential campaign and DNC communications director.

Good to see both of you.

Okay, Shermichael, let's start first with you and this message from Ken Paxton, who just won that Texas primary with Trump's endorsement beating out the incumbent, John Cornyn and honestly ticking off some Senate Republicans who were not happy to see the President going against the incumbent.

How does this all play out in the next few months? Because you have to kind of think of it this way. There is no doubt that the President has real control over these primaries and the Republican base, they are clearly listening to him. I mean, look at Ken Paxton there.

But at the same time, he has got to deal with the Congress he has got for the next several months and they don't seem to be -- you know, some of these Senate Republicans, especially that he has primaried, don't seem to be quite pleased with him.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure. Look, the legislative branch, just like the judicial branch, they are both independent bodies, and so while there is this expectation and often critique from my friends on the other side that Republicans will rubber stamp everything, well, here, you're seeing in real time that judges appointed by the President during his first term and senators, many of whom he has endorsed, are saying, wait a minute, Mr. President, some of these steps are a bridge too far. You're overstepping some of your executive authority and powers, and so I think it is important to recognize that.

That said, looking specifically at Texas, it is one thing to do well in the primary. I think the focus now for Republicans is how can we make sure we have enough Independent voters turn out, as you begin to see, we are putting a lot of focus on James Talarico, many of his pronouncements, many of his cultural views, his religious views, because the expectation is when you're looking at the South, the Bible Belt, that some of the statements from Talarico will not register with some Hispanic voters, with many Black voters, where we know for a fact there is an uphill hurdle for him.

[19:40:22]

So overall, I am looking at a more expensive race for us, but one that I think will still maintain because at the end of the day, it is still Texas.

DEAN: And Karen, okay, to Shermichael's point, Republicans, it would appear, are trying to run this anti-woke, let's call it playbook, that frankly worked for them in 2024 with the president against Kamala Harris. And that, you know, that ad that people saw again and again and again about transgender rights that again, it was very effective for the President's campaign.

What do you think about this working against Talarico in Texas?

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: So there are a couple of things I think we have to point out. Number one, they tried that playbook in the Virginia governor's race, and it most certainly did not work. So, a lot of it depends on the electorate. I think some of it depends on the mood of the electorate and how people are feeling about the economy.

I think there is an opportunity that some Republicans may just not vote. They may not vote for Talarico, but they may not vote for Paxton either. And here is the thing that Talarico has done that is smart when you confront these kinds of situations in a campaign, he did several interviews this week where he took the statements head on, and he talked as a former seminarian, I am quite sure he can out, you know, talk the Bible to Ken Paxton and his point was, for example, his comments about God, that God is above human definitions and that, you know, he referenced a letter from Paul to the Galatians.

And so point being, he went back to -- he answered the question directly, which is important because too often people just try to sidestep these types of issues. He answered it. But then he also answered it and talked about his values and talked about what he believed, and particularly on this issue, the question about genders, for example.

So I think that's going to win him points with voters. That being said, I agree with something Shermichael said, he has got to put together a very diverse coalition in order to win. He probably can't win in the 2024 electorate of Texas. He has got to win in a 2026 electorate. He has got to register people and turn them out in order to do that.

DEAN: I also want to talk about another Senate race in Maine, where the Democratic -- where one of the leading Democratic candidate there, Graham Platner, challenging Republican, Susan Collins, he is looking to challenge her after the primary "The Wall Street Journal" and "The New York Times" reporting Platner sent sexually explicit messages to several women during his marriage. His wife, bringing these messages up with campaign staff shortly after it was announced he was running. I do want to read her statement to CNN: "I confided a deeply personal details about my marriage to someone I considered a friend. I am deeply hurt by her betrayal and the invasion of our privacy. Our marriage today is stronger than ever before. I know who Graham is. I know the man I married and the husband he has been to me on the best and worst days of my life that hasn't changed and it won't."

This is just the latest in a number of controversies and a number of issues that Graham Platner has had to apologize for or walk back or say isn't him anymore. It was revealed he had a tattoo resembling a Nazi symbol on his chest that has since been covered among them.

Shermichael, I want to start first with you. He has already managed to push the Current Governor, Janet Mills, who is a Democrat out of that primary. If he becomes the nominee, what is the Republican strategy?

SINGLETON: Which I suspect he will, I mean, I think it is a simple question. This guy is very controversial, and it is a question about judgment and character. Just a week ago, Jessica, our Manu Raju and "The New York Times" asked Mr. Platner directly, is there anything else that we should expect, anything else that the voters of Maine should expect? And he frankly said, no, this is it. This is all behind me. I am focused on winning. I am focused on my campaign message. I am focused on representing the Democratic voters of the state of Maine.

And here we are a week later, he lied, and so the next question becomes, what else will come out of this? Twelve ladies -- will any of those ladies decide to give interviews? I feel sorry for his wife. She did not ask for this. It is unfortunate and it is unfair to her, I will acknowledge that.

But he is running for U.S. Senate. Susan Collins is the type of Republican that Democrats say they want. She is independent minded. She doesn't always vote with the party as you all know, we've talked about this on network.

She is tried, she is true versus someone who continuously, week after week says there isn't anything else and sure enough, there is another rabbit hole we find ourselves debating about. I don't think you can trust Graham Platner, and I think most of the voters of Maine will find that out over the next couple of weeks and months.

[19:45:09]

DEAN: Karen, Democrats are going to have to defend, are going to be asked again and again, is this behavior appropriate? Does he represent the Democratic Party?

What are they going to say?

FINNEY: So I think there are two pieces. It is interesting. We were just talking about Ken Paxton, Mr. Scandal plagued himself. So if we are going to make the argument that it is about character, let's be careful, because we also have a President who has mentioned tens of thousands of times in the Epstein report. And I do worry that that may have lowered the bar across the country in how we view candidates.

I am concerned about this, and I think the Platner campaign should be concerned about this. They need to be sure that when they say there is nothing else, there really is nothing else, because it is the -- that sort of drip of information that comes out that really can kill a campaign. I don't care whether you're Republican, Democrat, Independent.

So his campaign, I would imagine, is in a posture where they are very seriously trying to go back through their own self-research to make sure that if there is anything else that they put it out on their terms and not let it sort of come out you know, some other kind of way.

One of the things that amazes me is the last thing I will say, Jessica, candidates are so stupid sometimes because there is no such thing as a secret anymore. Everything can become public, people should know this, especially in this day and age.

So when candidates think that they are going to be cute and it is not going to come out, boy, that's the dumbest thing you could do.

DEAN: Yes, it ultimately usually does.

SINGLETON: A hundred percent spot on, I have to say, Karen, spot on!

FINNEY: I mean --

DEAN: All right, we are going to leave it there.

FINNEY: There is no shortage of any record --

DEAN: Yes, Shermichael and Karen, good to see you both. I appreciate your time.

SINGLETON: Thank you, Jessica. Good to see you.

DEAN: Thanks, guys. Good to see you too.

Hurricane season kicks off tomorrow, and up next we've got new CNN reporting about the chaos inside the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

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[19:51:44 ]

DEAN: Exclusive CNN reporting tonight as The White House is in cleanup mode, working to undo what former Secretary Kristi Noem dismantled at FEMA.

Hurricane season, meantime, starts tomorrow and among the chaos, $15 billion in approved unspent money just waiting for Noem's signature. Multiple sources also say the agency is suffering from massive staffing and budget cuts. And now officials are scrambling to cut through all of that red tape.

Scientists say an ecological disaster is unfolding at the Dead Sea and CNN's Jeremy Diamond is here now to explain that.

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JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jake Benzaken is one of the only people licensed to operate a boat on the Dead Sea. And for the last 12 years, that's what he's done.

DIAMOND (on camera): So you know it well?

JAKE BENZAKEN, LICENSED TO OPERATE A BOAT ON THE DEAD SEA: Yes, I got to see all the faces.

DIAMOND (voice over): Giving him an unparalleled view of one of Earth's natural wonders, and the fast moving environmental disaster threatening its existence.

BENZAKEN: So every year we get about new 7.5 meters of new shoreline because the sea is dropping.

DIAMOND (voice over): The Dead Sea is dying. Its surface area has shrunk by about one third in the last 50 years. Its salt-encrusted shores now stand as a testament to the rapid pace of change.

BENZAKEN: This is last year, two years ago. Every step, it's a year.

DIAMOND (voice over): Each step shows how much the sea level has dropped from one year to the next, at a rate of about four feet per year, like nothing else in the world.

Dr. Yael Kiro has been studying the Dead Sea for over a decade.

DIAMOND (voice over): There's no other place on earth like the Dead Sea.

DR. YAEL KIRO, GEOCHEMIST, WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE: no, no.

DIAMOND (voice over): To understand why it is shrinking and what can be done about it.

KIRO: The main reason is because of the utilization of the water resources around the Dead Sea. This contributes around 60 percent of the drop. And then there is the Dead Sea factories, both the Jordanian and the Israelis, that pump directly the brine and evaporate it in order to extract minerals and they contribute about 40 percent for the lake level drops.

DIAMOND (voice over): Israel's Dead Sea works and Jordan's Arab Potash Company pump tens of billions of gallons of water out of the Dead Sea each year, evaporating much of that water to extract potash and magnesium, key fertilizer ingredients.

Some who want to save the Dead Sea have proposed building a pipeline and pumping water in from the Red Sea. Others advocate for replenishing the Jordan River, allowing the water to flow naturally into the Dead Sea.

But while ideas abound, government action is still missing. The impact isn't just environmental, it's also financial. This graveyard of palm trees and graffiti buildings was once a thriving beach resort. The road leading to it explains why it's been abandoned.

DIAMOND (on camera): Tourists used to take this road all the time to get to the Dead Sea, but now sinkholes like this one line its path, and the whole area has been abandoned. And the concern is that more sinkholes will continue to happen as the Dead Sea drops and tourism will be severely impacted.

[19:55:00]

DIAMOND (voice over): These sinkholes are caused by an underground layer of salt that is now dissolving.

DIAMOND (on camera): This sinkhole is a direct result of the Dead Sea water levels dropping?

KIRO: Yes, since the lake level started to drop, this salt layer, instead of being exposed to the Dead Sea brine, it is exposed to more fresh water, and then eventually you get collapse.

DIAMOND (voice over): Aboard his boat, Benzaken says he sees new evidence of the Dead Sea's man-made decay every day, the uncertainty it spells for its future and his own.

DIAMOND (on camera): What do you call all of this? I mean, what we're witnessing, the way in which it's sinking, how do you qualify all of it?

BENZAKEN: You can say an ecological disaster, you know, because it is. And it's also a demographical disaster because it is, and it's also one of the wonders of the world, because it is, you know, I qualify it as home.

DIAMOND: Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the Dead Sea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Thank you so much for joining me tonight. I am Jessica Dean. We are going to see you right back here again next weekend. Have a great night, everyone.

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