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Family of Missing University Student in Japan Announces His Body Found in Kyoto; Iran Launches New Wave of Attacks against U.S. Allies Kuwait and Bahrain; President Trump Attempts to Explain Why U.S. and Iran Not Yet Reached Peace Deal; Xavier Becerra Likely to Move to Runoff Election in California Gubernatorial Race as Ballot Count Continues; Maine Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner Draws Criticism for His Past Behavior in Wake of "New York Times" Article Featuring Interviews with Ex-Girlfriend; Health and Human Services Seeking Access to American Citizens' Health Information to Search for Link between Vaccines and Autism; New York Knicks Lead San Antonio Spurs by Two Games in NBA Finals; New Report Indicates U.S. Economy Added 172,000 Jobs in May of 2026; Remote Gold Mining Town in Congo Likely Source of Ebola Outbreak. Aired 2-3p ET.
Aired June 06, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:00:33]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this breaking news. An American college student who was missing for a week in Japan has now been found dead. Where they found him and what his family is saying.
Plus, in California's heated governor's race, CNN can now project which frontrunner will advance to the November election. This, as the Justice Department sends one of its attorneys to Los Angeles to observe ballot counting in the states still undecided races.
And later, making a splash.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my gosh, that's incredible.
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WHITFIELD: Seaside diners on Hawaii's Big Island got quite a show thanks to some monstrous surf.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
And we begin this hour with breaking news. A family's desperate search in Japan for their missing son has come to a tragic end. The family of James Weston Higginbotham said in a social media post that the 20- year-old Auburn University student was found dead outside Kyoto. That's after he went missing a week ago while on a family trip. They had last seen Weston when he left to go explore alone following an argument with his mother.
CNN correspondent Isabel Rosales is joining me right now on the phone. Isabel, I mean, you have been following these developments. What more are you learning?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Ferd, it's just an awful, awful and incredibly heartbreaking end to a parent's frantic search for their missing son. Just before 11:00 a.m. eastern here, which would have been right before midnight in Japan time, Nancy Higginbotham posted this on Facebook, saying, "Our family is heartbroken to share that Weston was found deceased by a volunteer search and rescue group in a mountainous area outside of Kyoto. The grief we feel is impossible to put into words. We will always love you Weston."
Now, Weston went missing about a week and a day ago today, so this would have been May the 29th. I interviewed his parents, Nancy and Keith Higginbotham just days after that, and they told me how worried sick they were that they couldn't eat, that they couldn't sleep, that all they were focused on was getting their son back.
Now, clearly from her statement, we don't know yet the cause of death. It's possible his parents don't yet know the cause of death. But here's what we do know, a timeline of events starting with May 22nd, where the Birmingham family of four arrived in Japan. Now, Fred, this would have been a family vacation, a joyous moment to celebrate the high school graduation of Weston's younger brother. In that time, they visited a number of cities, Tokyo, Nikko, Takayama, and then they headed over to Kyoto on May 29th. They were enjoying a meal. They walked around town. Then they headed back to the hotel to rest and regroup.
Now, at some point and you mentioned this, Fred, off the top, mom and son, they were butting heads over her use of ChatGPT to help navigate Japan. Weston, she describes him as a passionate naturalist. So he's been against the use of A.I. because of the tremendous use of water and natural resources that it requires to run.
So the family agreed that they needed space. Weston decides to go and explore Kyoto on his own. The rest of the family, they would go to a temple nearby to go visit.
Now, the mom, Nancy, was telling me that the family uses this app Live 360 to track one another so they can see that he's jumped on a train. He has visited several stores. He makes a purchase, and they tell me initially they weren't worried because he's an experienced traveler. He's a solo hiker, somebody who is very independent. They text them, hey, where are you going? And shortly after those text messages, they noticed that his location was turned off.
That is when they knew that something was wrong. This was alarming and out of character. So 6:00 p.m. CCTV, they noticed that Weston leaves the Kyoto station alone, police do. The family had reported him missing the next day, May 30th, and mom begins this large social media campaign to raise awareness to look for leads. They notice again, the police, that he leads this Kyoto station alone and heads toward this heavily forested, mountainous area of Kyoto. But police were not able to confirm the CCTV camera footage until three days after he was reported missing.
[14:05:00]
So they started to search the forests, and for two more days they continue doing that, ultimately involving hundreds of police officers, canines, helicopters. But by June 5th, Fred, that official search ends. The parents, however, they went through tremendous efforts here to find their son. They announced a plan to hire their own search and rescue teams. They enlist the help of experienced hikers and volunteers. The father, Keith, even hiked eight miles into the mountain range until we get to today, where this volunteer search and rescue team finds, unfortunately, Weston's body.
So Fred, so many questions here. What happened to him? Where did he go? How did he die here? Of course, we're going to give privacy to his family and see if when they can relate those details. But right now, understandably, they are asking for privacy. But just a sad, sad end to this search for this missing Auburn University student, Fred.
WHITFIELD: Yes, very tragic. And again, we're getting a lot of that information from the family's social media post. We, of course, await to hear whether officials in that area will also share more details today. Isabel Eosales, thank you so much.
All right, we're also following the intensifying conflict in the Middle East. Overnight, a new wave of Iranian attacks aimed at key U.S. allies Kuwait and Bahrain intercepting missiles and drones as Iran's military claims it struck enemy bases in the region. These attacks coming in response to U.S. strikes on Iranian radar sites after U.S. Central Command says it needed to defend against further Iranian aggression in the Strait of Hormuz. Today, Iran is strongly condemning those strikes, calling the attacks a clear violation of the country's increasingly fragile ceasefire.
We're covering all the angles. CNN's Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. CNN's Julia Benbrook is near President Trump's New Jersey golf club, where he's spending the weekend. Oren, let's go to you first. While the U.S. and Iran trade strikes, fighting is also intensifying between Israel and Lebanon. What more can you tell us about that?
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, first on the Iran front, we have seen, frankly, a very volatile Saturday here, beginning early this morning when Iran launched for one way attack drones against what they say are U.S. Navy vessels or what they say may be U.S. Navy vessels that were operating in the region of the Gulf here. According to U.S. Central Command, those were intercepted. And in response, Cent Com carried out strikes on surveillance radar sites along the Gulf there in Iran.
Iran then launched several ballistic missiles, according to Cent Com. Six of those were intercepted. One of those didn't make it to its targets. Those ballistic missiles targeted Kuwait and Bahrain, where sirens and alerts went off. Kuwait even said they were responding to those launches. It's worth remembering that earlier this week, an Iranian attack hit Kuwait's airport, killing one and wounding at least 60 others.
So, of course, this raising alarm throughout the gulf, we saw condemnation not only from Kuwait but also from Qatar, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and others. And all of this leaves into question where the negotiations stand. Iran called the U.S. attack on their surveillance radar sites a violation of the ceasefire. Meanwhile, Pakistan has one of their ministers in Iran, in Tehran itself, meeting with the Iranians, trying to see if there is a viable negotiations path forward here. They have acted as the mediators here. President Donald Trump has said things are moving very fast, but it doesn't look like anything is moving fast, and certainly not the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran, a senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader, said negotiations are deadlocked. Iran doesn't seem like they're feeling a lot of pressure to move quickly here.
Meanwhile, you mentioned Lebanon, so let's turn to that for a second. Iran has demanded a ceasefire in Lebanon as part of a broader ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran. There is supposed to be an extension of the ceasefire, a new a new agreement, even that's a few days old on the ceasefire in Lebanon. And yet once again on the ground, we see a high level of fighting, a lot of fighting, frankly, between Israel and Hezbollah. According to Lebanon's ministry of public health, Israeli strikes killed 21 people in Lebanon on Friday. Meanwhile, an Israeli strike, according to the Lebanese army, killed a brigadier general who was in a vehicle traveling in southern Lebanon, as well as several other officers. Israel says they had tracked the vehicle and it was in an area that was under an evacuation warning, and they say the incident is under investigation, and any sort of movement like that from the Lebanese army needs to be coordinated with the Israeli military.
All of that gets at the difficulties of trying to make a ceasefire last, even, especially when Hezbollah's leader rejected the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon. And that just shows you the diplomatic difficulties that remain very much in front of the U.S., Iran, Israel, and Lebanon.
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WHITFIELD: All right, Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, thank you so much.
Let's go to Julia Benbrook now. Julia, you're traveling with the president there. An adviser to Iran's supreme leader told CNN that the U.S. would "enter into a dark corridor," I'm quoting now, "if it resumed attacks." What is President Trump saying today about the state of these peace deal negotiations?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all those things that Oren laid out, and in particular, the recent exchange of fire between the United States and Iran, lead to a lot of questions about the ceasefire and about the ongoing peace negotiations. President Donald Trump's most recent comments on this came in an interview with NBC's meet the press, where he was asked if the Iranians are so desperate to make a deal, which he has said repeatedly throughout this process, why have they not yet accepted his terms? And he essentially said that the Iranians are strong and proud. And while it might take a while, he is confident that they will eventually have to make a deal. I want to play you part of that exchange. This is with NBC's Kristen Welker.
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KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS: You have been saying for months, Mr. President, that Iran is begging to make a deal.
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: True.
WELKER: If they are so desperate to make a deal, why haven't they made a deal with you yet?
TRUMP: Because they -- it's a very hard thing for them. They've had great independence. They've dealt with very weak and ineffective leadership on behalf of the United States and other countries, frankly, that were -- that allowed them to get away with murder. And I don't -- I think they can't believe they're in the situation where they've been virtually decapitated.
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BENBROOK: And just about a week ago now, Fred, that was one of the last major developments that we saw on these negotiations, as officials told our team that Trump had sent back some changes to a proposed deal with Iran, that he was looking for tougher language on Iran's nuclear commitments, as well as its pledge to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. allies in the Gulf were briefed on those conversations, and one foreign official told us that those changes, they did center around the U.S. desire for assurances in those areas.
And when it comes to timeline, specifically here, following those first joint U.S. Israeli strikes against Iran back in February, Trump said over and over again that this conflict was going to end soon. But in this recent interview, almost three months later, approximately three months later, now, he said that he believes he is moving quickly, that these things take time, sometimes even years, to resolve.
WHITFIELD: All right, Julia, thank you so much.
All right, coming up, Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner is facing new scrutiny over his past interactions with women. What he and voters are saying about the questions surrounding him in this closely watched primary race.
Plus --
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(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: They're on fire. The New York Knicks, halfway to an NBA title, and New Yorkers are feeling it. We'll take you to the streets where fans are already dreaming pretty big.
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WHITFIELD: All right, ballots in California are still being counted in the state's closely watched governor's race. But CNN projects Democrat Xavier Becerra will advance to the November general election, although it's not clear who he will run against. The former Health and Human Services secretary thanked his supporters following the announcement of his projected win.
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XAVIER BECERRA, (D) CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We're just getting started. You stayed in the fight with me, and on election night we proved this state is worth fighting for. Now we take that fight all the way to November.
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WHITFIELD: All right, Becerra will either face off against Trump backed Republican Steve Hilton or fellow Democratic candidate Tom Steyer. L.A. County election officials are now telling CNN the Justice Department sent one of its attorneys to observe ballot processing activities in Los Angeles. President Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, the ballot counting pace from Tuesday's primary is a sign of Democratic cheating. But California has a long reputation for being slow to report election results, in part because of the large number of mail-in votes that are postmarked on Election Day but arrive five days later.
In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner remains a favorite ahead of Tuesday's primary there, despite allegations about his behavior involving past girlfriends, among other things. Platner addressed the string of controversies during a rally last night, saying his past is being weaponized against him.
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GRAHAM PLATNER, (D) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: When hurtful things I said on the internet a decade ago came out into the public, as I shared my personal journey through PTSD and darkness, of recovery and accountability and growth, Maine had my back.
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PLATNER: Now, as every single piece of that past and journey gets dug up, litigated, and weaponized, you have my back.
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(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: CNNs Danny Freeman talked to voters in Maine about the barrage of Platner scandals facing voters.
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DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rocky Waters in Maine as Democrats grapple with mounting controversy surrounding Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner.
BONNIE DEPP, MAINE DEMOCRAT: Either get it all out there or shut up. One of the two.
FREEMAN: Days before Tuesday's primary, "The New York Times" reporting new allegations of unsettling and toxic behavior by Platner with past girlfriends, and, in one case, physically threatening behavior, plus assertions Platner Knew a tattoo he got while serving in the military was a nazi symbol.
GRAHAM PLATNER, (D) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: Anything alleging that I knew what my tattoo was, these are the statements of someone who is politically motivated.
FREEMAN: For many Maine Democratic voters we spoke with, they said they're frustrated with Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who they feel could give them their best shot at defeating longtime Republican Senator Susan Collins and help pave the way for Democrats to retake control of the Senate.
Are you considering holding your breath and voting for him?
DEPP: I've got until Tuesday to decide, but I'm pretty sure I'll vote for him. I don't think a lot of this crap is anybody else's business.
FREEMAN: For some Democrats, they're willing to look past the interpersonal stories.
ZOO CAIN, MAINE DEMOCRAT: I'm not really interested in the guy's foibles. You know, I'm interested in his vision and what he has to say. And I love what he has to say. So yes, it's been definitely difficult because everybody is piling on this guy.
FREEMAN: But others did not buy Platner's tattoo explanation.
SANDRA BRADEN, MAINE DEMOCRAT: He's an intelligent man. Of course he knew about it. I don't blame him for denying it, but --
FREEMAN: But that's still not enough not to vote for him? You're still going to vote for him likely?
BRADEN: I'm going to vote for him, yes, but I don't like it. I'm not in favor of all that --
FREEMAN: Still, for some, the drip, drip, drip has left voters confused. WOODY HAYWARD, MAINE DEMOCRAT: I don't know if it's misinformation or
disinformation, right. Like, I don't know. Do any of us really know what's going to be or what kind of character he has? Don't know. Unproven, unproven. So is it the devil that we have or the devil -- the devil we know, or the devil that we don't know yet?
FREEMAN: According to a pair of recent polls conducted before the latest allegations, a head-to-head matchup between Platner and Senator Collins appears competitive, one with no clear leader and the other showing Platner with an advantage. While Platner is the clear favorite to win the Democratic nomination on Tuesday, another high-profile candidate's name is still on the ballot. Governor Janet mills suspended her campaign back in April, but a source now tells CNN she's been getting encouragement to reenter the primary. Beth Dindas, a Mills supporter from the start, thinks it's likely too late.
BETH DINDAS , MAINE DEMOCRAT: I think that ultimately, unfortunately, we're going to lose this race again, and we're going to have six more years of Susan Collins, who has let down the people of Maine time after time.
FREEMAN: Danny Freeman CNN, Portland, Maine.
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WHITFIELD: All right, still to come, privacy concerns are growing as the federal government seeks access to Americans medical records in an effort to research any links between vaccines and autism.
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WHITFIELD: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is leading an attempt by the federal government to access detailed health records of most Americans. That's according to KFF Health News. The department wants detailed medical records as it researches any possible links between vaccines and autism, something that has been studied for years with no link found by established medical researchers. Because of limited federal access to records, HHS is looking to pull the data from state systems.
With us now, Amanda Seitz. She is a health policy reporter with KFF News, and she broke this story. Great to see you, Amanda. So RFK Jr., you know, spoke about this in an interview. And what did he have to say about exactly what he wants to do with the records?
AMANDA SEITZ, HEALTH POLICY REPORTER, KFF HEALTH NEWS: Yes. Well, he really sees these medical records as key to researching autism. He thinks it's really important to have them in hand. And his agency has run into a lot of issues. They thought that they would come in and really quickly be able to pull up medical records of Americans. And when they took office, they found that that was not the case.
WHITFIELD: OK. So what whatever happened to HIPAA? Right. Or is it even legal to just pull take information, your medical information that usually is private?
SEITZ: Yes. So throughout my reporting, I actually found out that the federal government has a lot of authority here as a public health authority to sort of peek into the medical records of Americans. So there's a little bit of a gray area here in the sense that where he's seeking to get these records is from these state health information exchanges that are typically privately run. And there might be some legal gray area as to whether they can provide the records. They need to be properly notifying everyone involved, including patients. But the federal government has pretty wide authority here to do this.
WHITFIELD: So as a patient, your permission is not needed?
SEITZ: You would need to give permission. Oftentimes you're filling out forms at maybe the emergency room or at your doctor's office, and you might be inadvertently giving the sort of permission for these folks to look at your records. And you might not even realize it sometimes.
WHITFIELD: Wow. So how does HHS need to, I guess, cooperate or work with states in order to make its plan work?
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SEITZ: Sure. So these state health information exchanges are state mandated in a lot of cases, and they require hospitals and health systems to upload medical records into their system so they can easily be shared if you're in an emergency and a doctor needs to at least look at your records. And Kennedy is really seeking their cooperation to sort of turn over these medical records for his efforts to research all sorts of chronic diseases, including autism.
WHITFIELD: All right, Amanda Seitz, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
SEITZ: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, the jobs numbers, they look strong. So why are so many Americans still feeling squeezed? We'll dig into the disconnect.
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WHITFIELD: All right, the U.S. jobs market extending its rebound after adding an additional 172,000 jobs in May. Those numbers shattered expectations as economists anticipated only about 105,000 new positions. But strong gains on the jobs front could also mean higher interest rates for a longer period of time. President Trump weighing in on that prospect Friday at an agricultural roundtable in Wisconsin.
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DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: In the old days, you know, if you had good job numbers, like great job numbers like they announced today, the stock market goes up. Today, everything is crazy. The whole world is crazy. So when you have great job numbers, the stock market goes down, because they think interest rates will go up. And when interest rates go up, they stop inflation. Well, you know what else stops inflation? Growth actually stops inflation. And they ought to go back to the old system. When we have good numbers, the markets ought to go up, not go down.
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WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now to discuss is CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar. Rana, great to see you. So is the economy booming as Trump says? I mean, he says it's raining jobs.
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RANA FOROOHAR, CNN GLOBAL ECONOMIC ANALYST: Well, you know, I was interested to hear that soundbite because the president is right about one thing. It is true these days that sometimes when you have robust jobs numbers, the market does react either by going down or not by going up, not doing what you think it might do, because the truth the matter is that inflation could go up and that could mean interest rates go up. And then that makes everything more expensive for businesses.
It's a crazy cycle, and it's something that's, it's not an overnight thing. This has really been coming on in the last 40 years or so. You started to see that change really about the mid-80s, early 90s where the fortunes of countries, companies, and individuals start to diverge in this strange way. So the president does have a point.
In terms of whether the economy is booming or not, well, it's certainly more robust than many of us would have expected it to be at this stage with tariffs, with a war in Iran, with all the headwinds. But that does mean when you have a booming economy, you do get more inflation. And that's something that the Federal Reserve will be thinking about.
WHITFIELD: So looking at all these other indicators, adding 172,000 jobs in May, unemployment rate remaining steady at 4.3 percent, gas down about $0.35 over the last month to an average of $4.19 per gallon, I mean, are these indicators of perhaps better days ahead soon, even?
FOROOHAR: Possibly, possibly. I've got to say, I did not think we would be here this quickly in the summer. Now, that said, as you know, in my world, three is a trend, right? I want to see three really great jobs reports. I want to see three months where the gas price is going down. You can't just take one moment in time because there's -- I mean, he's right. The world is crazy, and there's a lot happening.
That said, if we got through the summer and you saw a slow, steady decline in gas prices and you didn't see inflation really go up too much in other areas, and jobs are good, then yes, we're in a good place. WHITFIELD: All right, but inflation and affordability, you know, are
still top worries for Americans. Wage growth is not happening, and the May consumer sentiment index dropped to an all-time low. I mean so isn't that part of the pinch?
FOROOHAR: Yes. And you're getting at something very important, which is the affordability crisis. And that has to do with the fact that prices can go up, stock prices can go up, the value of homes can go up. But if people aren't seeing higher wages, if they're not having more money in their pocketbooks, then those rising asset prices, particularly if they're not invested in the stock market, or maybe they don't own their own home, it's going to make them feel really pinched. And that's the position that many, many Americans are in.
And that gets to this fundamental Wall Street versus Main Street divide. If you're in the stock market, if you own your own home, you're probably feeling pretty OK about things. I mean, you know, if you haven't gotten a raise and your mortgage is high, maybe not. But generally, if you have assets, you're fine.
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If you don't, you are definitely feeling the pinch. I think we all feel it during the summer travel season, booking tickets, trying to pay for dinners. It's a big deal.
WHITFIELD: In some way, in many ways. All right, Rana Foroohar, great to see you. Thank you so much.
FOROOHAR: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, CNN takes you inside the epicenter of the Congo's Ebola outbreak in a remote mining town cut off from much of the world. Our crew witnesses the fear, mistrust, and heartbreaking loss fueled by this deadly crisis.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So he's saying that the reason he's frightened of this hospital is because everybody who goes in there sick, they don't leave. They come out dead.
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WHITFIELD: All right, the red hot New York Knicks heading back to the big apple after stealing another game in San Antonio.
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WHITFIELD: And the crowd goes wild. Knicks fans fired up after the one point victory over the Spurs in game two of the NBA finals last night. The Knicks now take a two-zero series lead, riding a remarkable 13 game playoff winning streak, and now just two wins away from bringing a championship back to New York. The Knicks have reignited championship dreams and electrified the city. The San Antonio spurs will have a chance to bounce back with game three on Monday.
All right, and now have a look at this video of these monster waves crashing across breakers in Hawaii.
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WHITFIELD: Somebody got a car wash there. You can see the waves drenching the pedestrians as well on the street in Kailua-Kona. CNN meteorologists say the official wave observations in the area were between four and six feet, but some of them were likely even higher.
All right, the biggest stars are on CNN, and it's part of the new season of Variety's "Actors on Actors." And you can see a new episode every day on the CNN app. CNNs Elizabeth Wagmeister got a behind the scenes preview of today's episode with actors Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, for all the fans of scandal out there, you are really in for a treat. Kerry Washington and Tony Goldwyn reunited for this episode of "Actors on Actors," and they reminisced on the show, which, if you can believe it, was over 15 years ago. Now, these two actors are also incredibly active in the political space in their own lives. So Kerry Washington had to ask Tony Goldwyn if he would ever run for office. Take a look.
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KERRY WASHINGTON, ACTOR: Do people constantly ask you to run for president in real life?
TONY GOLDWYN, ACTOR: Yes, generally on the street corners.
WASHINGTON: Yes, all the time. How do you handle that? Because I am often in --
GOLDWYN: Don't you get Olivia Pope all the time?
WASHINGTON: Yes, constantly. And that I should run for office, or Olivia Pope, you have to fix this. So what do you say to people?
GOLDWYN: I used to say that's a -- thank you so much, but that's a really bad idea.
(LAUGHTER)
WASHINGTON: I don't think you would be a terrible president, to be honest.
GOLDWYN: I probably wouldn't, but I don't know that I'd be a great president. And honestly --
WASHINGTON: I think you'd be pretty good.
GOLDWYN: Thank you.
WASHINGTON: Because you'd assemble a really wonderful cabinet and team around you as well. Really smart people.
GOLDWYN: I would bring you in.
WASHINGTON: You would not bring me in. I would not be available.
(LAUGHTER)
GOLDWYN: What cabinet position would you want?
WASHINGTON: I wouldn't. I would like cabinet position of sitting on my couch and cheering you on.
GOLDWYN: That's the only thing. It's such a hard job. I'm like, I really like, I like what I do. So --
WASHINGTON: And you do. You serve in other ways.
GOLDWYN: Well, yes, we do. We do.
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WAGMEISTER: Got to love Fitz and Olivia. Now, I also spoke with Kerry and Tony afterwards right off the set. And I asked Kerry Washington if she thinks that she will ever see a female president in her lifetime. Take a look at what she told me.
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WAGMEISTER: Are we going to see a female president in our lifetime?
KENNEDY: From your mouth to God's ears. If it's the right female president, also that matters. You know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WAGMEISTER: Now, Fred, my full off the set conversation with Kerry and tony is actually available on CNNs YouTube page. And the full episode of their full conversation is on the CNN app. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right, we'll look for it. Elizabeth Wagmeister, thank you so much. Enjoy the new season of Variety's "Actors on Actors". And you can watch a new episode drop daily on the CNN app. All right, still to come here in the next hour of the CNN Newsroom,
Pope Leo making his first trip to Spain ahead of the message that he is sharing about peace, migrants, and unity.
Plus, a miracle on the top of the world. A sherpa lost on Mount Everest crawls his way back to base camp after a week alone on the mountain.
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[14:54:32]
WHITFIELD: All right, this just in, an American doctor infected with Ebola was released from a hospital in Germany. Peter Stafford had been working as a medical missionary in the Democratic Republic of Congo when he was admitted to that hospital in serious condition. This week, CNN's Clarissa Ward traveled to the town where the outbreak is believed to have begun. Here's what she found.
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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We are heading to Mongbwalu, a remote gold mining town deep in the lush forests of Eastern Congo, and the epicenter of this Ebola crisis.
[14:55:07]
WARD: From up here, you really get a sense of the challenges in fighting this outbreak, the vastness of the terrain, and the total lack of good roads.
WARD (voice-over): The World Food Program now operates a daily helicopter to deliver supplies to the beleaguered community. On this day, they're bringing a much-needed mobile testing lab. Days without results here have cost lives.
WARD: You can see they've sent security for us. That's because yesterday villagers were throwing rocks at a convoy of aid workers.
WARD (voice-over): We drive quickly through the town. Suspicion of aid organizations runs deep here, with conspiracy theories swirling as the death toll mounts. We jump out of the car to talk to local journalist Gar Mumbesa.
WARD: So, he's saying that there's a feeling among the community as well that aid workers who are coming here are actually coming here to profit from this crisis, not to help.
WARD (voice-over): He spends his days trying to educate the community about the outbreak.
WARD: So he's saying that the reason he's frightened of this hospital is because everybody goes in there sick, they don't leave, they come out dead.
WARD (voice-over): Inside the hospital, a small team is holding the line. Logistics coordinator Naoufel Dridi is preparing to disinfect another body.
NAOUFEL DRIDI, LOGISTICS COORDINATOR, DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS (through translator): It's like you're on the front lines where the bullets are flying. But with Ebola, you can't see it. You can't see it.
WARD (voice-over): That invisible enemy is everywhere here. Workers carry the first body to the morgue, a grim procession, disinfecting the path as they go. A second follows closely behind. A woman can be heard wailing from inside. "My child, my child!" she cries. "I remember my child!"
WARD: So, he's explaining to me that the two bodies that we just saw being brought in, one of them was an 11-year-old child, and the other one was an eight-month-old baby. And you can hear -- we've been hearing the wails of the family. It's just -- it's unimaginable.
WARD (voice-over): The bodies keep coming, six in total this day, each one a family destroyed.
The Mayor of Mongbwalu is overwhelmed. His town has never seen anything like this.
WARD: Can we talk about when this all started? When did you first understand that there was something terribly wrong going on here?
SESEREKI MANDRO ISRAEL, MAYOR OF MONGBWALU, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO (through translator): The date was February 22nd when a body arrived from Bunia -- In a coffin --
WARD: The 22nd of February.
WARD (voice-over): That's more than 11 weeks before the outbreak was declared.
ISRAEL (through translator): Two or three weeks later people started to die here. The deaths in two weeks, there were 48 dead, here in Mongbwalu.
WARD (voice-over): The virus continued to spread silently, invisibly through this town and beyond. Healthcare workers are now playing catch up to contain the outbreak, and the people of Mongbwalu are still paying the price.
Clarissa Ward, CNN, Mongbwalu, Democratic Republic of Congo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.
WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
And we begin this hour with this breaking news. A family's desperate search in Japan for their missing son has come to a heartbreaking end. The family of James Weston Higginbotham said in a social media post that the 20-year-old Auburn University student was found dead outside Kyoto. That's after he went missing a week ago while on a family trip. They had last seen Weston on May 29th, when he left to go explore alone following an argument with his mother over the use of A.I. She says they reported him missing after he disabled the location --
