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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Passengers Being Monitored For Hantavirus In Nebraska And Georgia; Hegseth Calls For Second Investigation Into Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ); Trump Calls For Federal Gas Tax Suspension as Prices Rise Amid Iran War; Sean Duffy Defends New Reality Show Amid Rising Gas Prices; Lawsuit Field To Halt Trump's Reflecting Pool Makeover. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired May 11, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, 18 passengers from that Hantavirus-stricken cruise ship are back in the United States, and at least one has tested positive for the virus.

[18:00:07]

Another is experiencing symptoms and is being treated in a biocontainment unit. In moments, I'm going to be joined live by a doctor who's advising on the quarantine of the American passengers as health officials try to keep this outbreak contained.

Plus, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth now threatening a second investigation into Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, accusing the retired Navy captain of leaking classified information. Senator Kelly will join us live on set in moments to respond.

Also, the U.S. Supreme Court deciding tonight that women can still access an abortion pill through telehealth visits and the mail as the justices weigh permanent restrictions on the drug. Are we getting any signs as to how the court might rule? Our legal experts are here to weigh in.

And today, President Trump said he supports suspending the federal gas tax as Americans face rising gas prices because of the war in Iran. But this move would require Congress to act. So, will they, and how much money could it save you? That's ahead.

The Lead tonight, 18 passengers from that cruise ship hit with the rare but deadly Hantavirus are now back home in the United States. 15 U.S. citizens and a British national who lives in the States are at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, where one individual, who is positive but asymptomatic, is being monitored in the center's biocontainment unit.

The 15 other passengers are staying at the center's national quarantine unit and remain healthy as well. We got an inside look at one of those rooms from a passenger, a U.S. travel blogger who's been posting updates for weeks. He shares that he's being monitored, and he's tested, and he says he's okay and feeling well. Two other American passengers are now in Atlanta at Emory University Hospital. That's because one is experiencing symptoms and is inside a biocontainment unit. The other is in a couple with that person.

A Center for Disease Control and Prevention official, or CDC official, says precautions are in place to contain the virus but would not offer any certainty that it will not spread.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. BRENDAN JACKSON, ACTING DIRECTOR FOR DIVISION OF HIGH-CONSEQUENCE PATHOGENS AND PATHOLOGY, CDC: There are no guarantees in life. We're putting as many me- measures in place as possible to ensure that people are safe and healthy, and we keep the community safe and healthy as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CNN's Dianne Gallagher is in Nebraska. Dianne, what's the latest?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Jake, the 16 people who are still here in Omaha, Nebraska, 15 of them are in the national quarantine unit, which is in the building behind me in the basement area. And those areas are basically, according to medical officials here, kind of like hotel rooms, except for they have negative pressure and an elite ventilation system, along with access to an incredible medical team that has been doing assessments and monitoring of those passengers.

Now, it's important to note that nobody who is currently here in Nebraska has shown any symptoms of Hantavirus so far. However, there is one person who we have described as testing positive for hantavirus who was in that biocontainment unit.

Now, Spanish authorities told CNN that individual actually took two tests because they had been in close contact with one of the passengers who later died from Hantavirus. Now, that goes to show just sort of this lengthy incubation period of this virus. But Spanish health authorities told CNN that the first test was a weak positive, according to U.S. officials. Spanish officials thought that it was inconclusive. When that person took another test, that test came up negative. But U.S. authorities said they wanted to act with extreme caution, so they considered that a positive test. And that person traveled in a biocontainment way back to the United States. They have since been in that biocontainment unit with testing and more aggressive monitoring than the other 15 here right now.

Now, the two in Atlanta, the person who was symptomatic but had not been tested at the point they were on the plane, and their travel companion are at Emory University, what is key here is that during these assessments right now, they're going to make determinations on just how close contact they may have had with people who were symptomatic or who had tested positive, when that took place, and continue monitoring them for fevers or other type of symptoms that may occur.

This is a lengthy incubation period, up to 42 days. And so they're encouraging people to be able to stay here for that monitoring, but they are allowed to go back to their home if they have medical facilities that can assist with daily monitoring and can quarantine in an area of their own home.

TAPPER: All right. Diane Gallagher in Omaha, Nebraska, thanks so much.

Let's bring in Dr. Michelle Harkins from the University of New Mexico. She's an expert in the Hantavirus who's consulting with the team at the University of Nebraska.

[18:05:00]

Dr. Harkins, thanks for joining us.

Talk us through the process that the medical professionals in Nebraska are going through to evaluate the passengers being monitored right now.

DR. MICHELLE HARKINS, CHIEF, PULMONARY CRITICAL CARE AND SLEEP MEDICINE, UNM SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, right now they will be doing intensive histories, understanding exactly what relation each passenger had to the sick passengers. So, they will find out what activities they did on the boat. They will also be taking temperature, vitals, likely doing blood work to assess that person's risk for developing the disease and to assess their current health status.

TAPPER: How long are you recommending that the passengers stay under observation in order to keep this virus contained?

HARKINS: Well, as you know, the incubation period is a long time, and I think following what the World Health Organization has suggested right now is appropriate to do an in-depth history, a physical assessment, and to assess how each patient or each passenger might be related to one of the indexed patients.

So, it's really going to depend on case-to-case basis, and this is what the University of Nebraska is very well known for, and I think they will make the right decisions along with CDC and World Health Organization.

TAPPER: It can take weeks for symptoms to appear, as you alluded to, and there is no cure. What does treatment look like once symptoms start?

HARKINS: Well, once symptoms start, it's typically a flu-like illness, fever, chills, headache. And we suggest that if you had exposure to rodents or a passenger on this boat potentially, you would want to seek medical attention.

The treatment actually involves bringing patients to an ICU. So you want to go to a tertiary medical center that has an intensive care unit with the capability of ECMO. These patients can rapidly deteriorate and have cardiac and pulmonary failure, and sometimes, at worst case scenarios, need to be put on cardiac bypass machine. Not everyone is that ill. Some people have mild disease, though.

TAPPER: Officials are monitoring other individuals across six states right now, folks who are either passengers who'd already disembarked the cruise or had been exposed to confirmed cases on an international flight. These people so far remain asymptomatic, we're told. Do you see a risk here at all?

HARKINS: I think if they are connected with their public health department in each state, as is happening, and they take temperatures and they monitor their symptoms, I think following the public health measures will be key in containing this outbreak.

There may be other cases that pop up. We will soon be watching over the next few weeks. But, hopefully, this will be contained easily by the public health departments.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Michelle Harkins, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

Joining us now to discuss, CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, what do you make of the care plan laid out by the teams in Nebraska and also now the team monitoring the two passengers at Emory University in Atlanta?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are what these institutions were designed to do, you know? So, I mean, I've covered a lot of these stories. You remember the Ebola patients came back to the United States back to Emory, COVID patients to the Nebraska biocontainment unit. Two goals, one is they obviously want to make sure nobody else there gets sick, so that quarantine and isolation, which is really sophisticated. Negative pressure rooms, as Dianne was talking about, really good ventilation. But then, you know, you, really incredible care should these patients need it.

Typically, with this virus, it can affect the lungs, as Dr. Harkins was just talking about. It can also make you more likely to bleed, cause something known as a hemorrhagic fever, and can affect the kidneys. So, you know, that's a really high level of care.

Biggest question, I think, which both Dianne and Dr. Harkins sort of alluded to, Jake, is who are the close contacts? You know, how are you going to really count them? What constitutes a close contact? That's going to make a big difference, I think, going forward.

TAPPER: Since it can take a few weeks to exhibit symptoms of the Hantavirus, what are the advantages or disadvantages of releasing passengers who remain into asymptomatic into the public?

GUPTA: I think, you know, if you look at the data and look historically over the last few decades, people tend to transmit this virus rarely, only if they're sick. And that's a big deal, because remember with COVID, people could be spreading the virus even before they knew they had it, had no symptoms.

I think, you know, we reported on a woman back in 2018, Jake. She came back with the Andes variant, the same virus that we're talking about here. She took two commercial flights. She had 53 contacts in 6 different states. She was asymptomatic at the time and subsequently got sick and tested positive when she got home to the States. They went back and contact traced all those folks, and none of them got it.

[18:10:02] So, point being that if you're asymptomatic, it seems like it's really hard to transfer.

I think what's challenging though is, again, if you are sick, what then constitutes a close contact? Jake, we talked about this a little bit on Friday. This is the study that everyone points to. Guy walks into a birthday party in Argentina. He is a -- I don't know if we can blow that up a little bit, but basically he's sitting at a table, and he infects five people within this birthday party. He's there for 90 minutes. Four of the people are kind of close contacts. They're within a few feet of him.

One guy's sitting all the way across the room, Jake, and they only pass each other for just a moment when they're both going to the restroom, or they're -- or one's leaving the restroom, one's coming from the restroom. So, that was enough to get that guy infected.

And I think the point is that if you're sick, you can be quite contagious, and you can even spread it in a relatively short time. It doesn't necessarily take prolonged contact. If you're not sick, you're probably not going to spread this.

TAPPER: Do you agree with the health officials and experts who say that the risk to the general public remains so low for now, it's okay that these individuals who are on the cruise ship who are asymptomatic do not need to quarantine?

GUPTA: Yes I think the risk is really low. There's no question. And I think we can say that at this point, if somebody else tests positive that was not on the cruise ship as a result of the contact, the scenario that I was just describing, that would raise the level of concern.

But I think at this point, the reason people say it's low is really three different reasons, three points. One is that there's something known as a reproductive number or the R0. If you have it, how many people are you likely to spread it to? Generally speaking, in a general sort of outbreak, it's about 1.19 with this virus, small window of spread.

Again, this is the point. Even for people who were sick, it was when they had a fever and it was about a day or a day-and-a-half when they were actually infectious.

And then again, it's been a relatively stable virus. With COVID, it's, you know, mutated a lot. But with this virus over the last, you know, couple decades, it doesn't seem to have changed that much. That's a good sign as well, Jake.

TAPPER: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks so much.

As Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth threatens another legal review into his comments, Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona is here to respond next. Is he at all worried about a second potential Pentagon investigation? What does he think is behind this? Plus, Virginia Democrats now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in and let them use the state's new Congressional maps in this year's midterm elections, despite the Virginia Supreme Courts striking them down. Will the U.S. justices wade into the fight? That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says the Pentagon will open a legal review into Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona for a second time. The first time, obviously, was over Kelly's reminder in a video that U.S. service members should refuse illegal orders. Now, Hegseth is threatening an investigation over these comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): We've been briefed by the Pentagon on specific munitions. Actually, it's been pretty detailed, on Tomahawks, ATACMS, SM-3s, THAAD rounds, Patriot rounds, so those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves, and the numbers are, I think it's fair to say it's shocking the how deep we have gone into these magazines.

The munitions are depleted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Hegseth says that Senator Kelly was, quote, blabbing about a classified Pentagon briefing. Kelly today responded on X or Twitter saying, quote, we had this conversation in a public hearing a week ago. That's not classified. It's a quote from you, unquote. Here's part of the exchange that Senator Kelly posted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLY: How many years specifically is it going to take to replace these systems?

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I mean, months and years.

KELLY: What --

HEGSETH: Fast, years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: With me now, Senator Mark Kelly, retired U.S. Navy captain, former NASA astronaut. He sits on the Senate Armed Services and Senate Intelligence Committees.

Senator, what's going on here? Why is Secretary Hegseth threatening to investigate you?

KELLY: Well, I think it comes down to it, he doesn't want to be held accountable. They've expended an enormous amount of munitions. And I think the only invest -- the investigation we need, the one we need right now, is after 15,000 strikes, all we got out of this, we have 13 dead Americans, we have the Strait of Hormuz closed, gas prices in Arizona are $4.80 a gallon, seem to be heading up, and we have a secretary of defense, not only is he ill-prepared, unprepared, unqualified for this job, he doesn't want to be held accountable for the actions.

TAPPER: But do you understand, because I don't.

KELLY: Yes.

TAPPER: So, I'm sincerely asking, what is it exactly that you said that he is alleging was classified?

KELLY: Well, nothing I said was classified. We had this discussion in an open hearing. When you are going to hit 15,000 targets, you're going to use a lot of munitions. There's things coming off of airplanes, there's missiles that are being shot. You know, they're responding with ICBMs, which we have to take out with, you know, air defense systems. It's not classified. I mean, 15,000 strikes consume an enormous amount. And, by the way, he's asking for $25 to $50 billion to replenish these munitions, where he said it's going to take years.

So, again, what he's trying to avoid is accountability. This thing is not going the way they expected. They went into this without a strategic goal, without a plan, without a timeline. Now, they have no exit strategy, and they're flailing. And when somebody like me starts asking them questions, whether it's I make a point on a show like yours or in an open hearing, they don't want to give specific answers because they probably, at this point, they've realized that they've made a number of mistakes.

[18:20:10]

TAPPER: He -- in his post where he said he would open this legal review into your remarks, he addressed you as captain in quotation marks. I guess this is a reference to his effort to reduce your military rank, which would lower your pay. He has this case against you. You sued him for violating your First Amendment rights. Where does that case stand?

KELLY: Well, last week I was at the D.C. Circuit Court, which is the appellate court because they appealed. I had a preliminary injunction to stop that process. We'll see how that turns out.

Bottom line, though, on this, Jake, is this is not about me. This is about 2 million retired service members. And for anybody who listened to that hearing last week, one of the really interesting parts was at the end when Pete Hegseth's lawyer, which is a DOJ lawyer, said that if any service member like myself, who, you know, served 20 or 25 years in the military, if they want their First Amendment rights, they should give up their retirement, give up their pension, give up their healthcare, and then they would be free to speak out.

How un-American is that? I mean, people who have given the most for this country is being -- are being asked now by this administration, or told, hey, if you don't do this, if you don't shut up, you could lose your pension, you could lose your rank and retirement, and your other option is just give it all up, and then you're free to say what you want. I mean, that's not what it says in the Constitution. And there's no precedent for that in, in any military law.

TAPPER: On the Iran war, I want to play what President Trump told reporters today after calling Iran's counterproposal garbage and unacceptable. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I would say the ceasefire is on massive life support, where the doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1 percent chance of living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What's your take on the status of the war and how he's --

KELLY: Well, I think he doesn't know what to do at this point. And this is what happens when you don't listen to people around you. I think he has a lot of yes people around him, a lot of yes men. Certainly, Hegseth is one. Hegseth's also unqualified for this role as the secretary of defense, but he does have some people that could give him reasonable advice.

TAPPER: General Caine, I would think.

KELLY: Yes. And I think so, and we saw some things reported, you know, publicly. You know, they said something about the Strait of Hormuz being shut down. The president is like, well, that's not going to happen. This thing's going to be over in two or three days.

Donald Trump thinks he knows more than everybody about everything. This is a guy who said because he went to military high school, he knows more than admirals and generals. He does not. I mean, his depth of knowledge on this stuff is an inch deep.

And because of that, we've got 13 dead Americans, we've got 150 dead Iranian little kids, thousands of other innocent people. Gas prices are spiking. In my state, I have people that -- a woman who can't afford to put gas in her car to take her kid to cancer treatment because it's a 300-mile round trip. She texted me about a week-and-a- half ago about this, doesn't know what she's going to do because she can no longer afford gas.

And this president, sometimes he thinks this is a joke. A few days ago he said something about a love tap. He's going to drop some more bombs. That's how he referred to it. He's not a serious guy. And because of that, we are all less safe.

TAPPER: I know this is only one small part of it, but could you get that woman to do a GoFundMe and we could publicize it on the show and maybe help her with the kid and the cancer treatment? It's just an idea. It's just something to -- KELLY: I'll look into it.

TAPPER: -- and ask her about it.

KELLY: Yes. Okay.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona, thank you so much. Today, President Trump said he wants to suspend the federal gas tax. It would, of course, require Congress to sign off. How likely is it? How much money could he save you? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: In our Money Lead, President Trump wants to suspend the federal gas tax, quote, for a period of time, unquote, he told CBS this morning. This move could provide temporary small relief as gas prices hit $4.52 a gallon Sunday. Congress would have to approve suspending the tax, 18.4 cents a gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel. And lawmakers have rejected similar steps during previous price spikes.

Trump also rejected the idea of a bailout for U.S. airlines as they battle with rising jet fuel prices, up 84 percent from January, telling CBS, quote, the airlines are not doing badly. President Trump's comments come nine days after Spirit Airlines shut down, blaming jet fuel prices caused by the Iran war. And with Memorial Day and summer travel ahead, how are airlines coping with rising fuel costs?

Here to discuss, David Neeleman, founder and CEO of Breeze Airways, an airline that serves many smaller airports. Neeleman also founded JetBlue. David, thanks for joining us.

So, with jet fuel costs on the rise, have you had to pass those costs on to travelers?

DAVID NEELEMAN, CEO, BREEZE AIRWAYS: Hi, Jake. Thanks for having me on. Yes, of course, fuel's about 25 percent of our costs. And just to give you an idea, where fuel prices were and where they are today, it's about $10 per hour of flight. So, if we have a couple-hour flight, our costs are up about $20 for one of our guests.

[18:30:01]

And so some of that we can pass along and some of that we can't, obviously, because an empty seat is an empty seat.

So, you know, our yield management team's doing a good job. But, you know, I think the fares are still really low by comparison, you know, in times past. And because we serve so many routes that are only our -- about 85 percent of our 300-plus routes, we have no nonstop competition. So, people just enjoy going nonstop and they love going on a product like Breeze that has first class and extra leg room. And so it's -- you know, we're coping. We're doing just fine. TAPPER: Just to be clear, when you say $10 a flight, you mean $10 per passenger a flight, or $20 per passenger?

NEELEMAN: No.

TAPPER: No?

NEELEMAN: Per hour a flight, per hour a flight.

TAPPER: Per hour a flight.

NEELEMAN: Yes. So, if it's a two-hour flight -- yes. So, if it's a two-hour flight, then it's $20 each way. If it's an hour flight, it's $10, and so on.

TAPPER: Today, the CEO of Saudi Aramco, the world's largest oil exporter, said if the Strait of Hormuz isn't reopened in the next few weeks, the oil market will not be able to return to normal until 2027. Are you preparing for that possibility? And if so, how?

NEELEMAN: Absolutely. You know, we always have to. I mean, we're obviously watching every expenditure. We're doing everything we can to, you know, pass along some of that increase. But, you know, we're a really strong company with a really strong brand and, you know, like I said, we're -- our revenues are good and we're dealing with it. It's just -- it's no different than other -- it's not nearly as bad as COVID when we didn't have any business at all.

So, you know, this is one of the challenges you deal with in the airline business and it's not an easy business, but, you know, the strong do okay.

TAPPER: Spirit shut down in part because of the surge in jet fuel prices. Your airline, Breeze Airways, just marked its fifth anniversary. How are you managing those prices where Spirit could not?

NEELEMAN: Well, I think Spirit -- what Spirit did is they went to really big airplanes and they added a bunch of seats in those airplanes, which forced them into markets where they had lots of competition. And when their brand got kind of got tarnished and people would prefer to fly the big airlines introduced basic economy, which were basically the same fares, and people had a choice.

And so Spirit was struggling long before February 28th. They'd filed for bankruptcy twice and were barely hanging on when the fuel prices went up, and, you know, probably wouldn't have survived had it not -- if the war hadn't happened anyways.

Our model's different. We've -- like I mentioned before, we fly in markets that don't have nonstop competition, in places like Westchester County Airport to Vero Beach. You know, we're the only airline that flies in that.

So, we've just got a bunch of these routes where there's been a lot of migration from the northeast to the Carolinas and to Florida, and so we serve Portland, Maine to Raleigh, North Carolina and so on. There's just -- I guess we have service to 88 cities and 300 different routes, and 85 percent we don't have the competition, where Spirit had competition on 95 percent of their routes.

TAPPER: All right. David Neeleman, thank you so much, interesting stuff, I appreciate it.

The suspect accused of trying to assassinate President Trump last month appeared in court today. What we're learning tonight about his not guilty plea and his next court hearing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: Breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead, major headlines out of the U.S. Supreme Court on redistricting and on the abortion pill, Mifepristone. Just moments ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to allow Alabama to eliminate that Congressional district currently being held by a black Democrat. The move tosses out a lower court's order requiring the state to draw a Congressional map with two majority black voting districts.

Let's bring in our legal experts to discuss. So, Paula, this ruling just came down. Tell us more.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been a busy day for the Supreme Court and for us reporting on it. Here, this is one of the consequences that we're seeing after last month's blockbuster Supreme Court decision limiting the extent to which race can be used to determine voting districts.

Now, here, the state of Alabama went back to the Supreme Court and said, hey, based on that ruling, we want to go back to our 2023 map, which has only one majority black district. And here, there's no explanation, right? This isn't a major opinion where they have to opine and lay out their arguments, so there's no explanation, but they have tossed out a lower court order that blocked that map.

So, it appears that the State of Alabama, they're clearing the way for that state to use that 2023 map. There is sort of a narrow opportunity for the ACLU or the NAACP to try to challenge this and argue that even under last month's decision, this map is still okay. But it's highly unlikely they're going to be able to do that in time.

TAPPER: Tom, how consequential is this ruling? Will it have an effect on the other states that are rushing to get rid of their Democratic districts?

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Yes, I think it will have a pretty significant ruling. There definitely will be some districts outside of Louisiana that will be affected, Alabama being Exhibit A.

And, look, I don't think today's Supreme Court ruling is a huge surprise. I think from the Supreme Court's perspective, or at least from the majority's perspective, they had articulated the law when they decided that blockbuster case. They established what the law is, and Alabama has the right under that law to eliminate one of those districts. Alabama's request was simply to be allowed to make their change now rather than wait until after the election.

And, look, Alabama was ready for this day. They had already passed laws preparing for a Supreme Court ruling in that case precisely for this scenario, so that they could implement their new district map, put it in time for the elections this year.

TAPPER: So, the courts keep handing Republicans wins and Democrats losses. The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the Virginia redistricting gerrymandering attempt. And Virginia Democrats just filed an emergency appeal to overrule the Virginia Supreme Court by the U.S. Supreme Court. They're asking the U.S. Supreme Court to step in.

[18:40:01]

REID: Yes. And anyone can ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on their case. It's unclear what the Supreme Court is going to do here. It is unlikely that they're going to prevail, but this is a flurry of activity related to redistricting in Congressional districts that we are seeing before the Supreme Court as both parties really try to eke out any advantage that they can ahead of the 2026 midterms.

So, they are asking for more briefing. The Supreme Court is asking for additional information from the parties by Thursday, and then we'll see what they do. But they are not expected to hand a victory to Democrats in this request.

TAPPER: What is the argument here for the U.S. Supreme Court to, to get involved, because there needs to be a federal issue, right?

DUPREE: You got me. I don't quite know what their argument is going to be, and I don't think their petition is going to succeed. To your point, the Supreme Court hears issues of federal constitutional law, not state constitutional law. The Virginia Supreme Court's decision rested on the Virginia Constitution. That's not something that's going to interest the United States Supreme Court. I think it is exceedingly unlikely, bordering on zero, the likelihood that the United States Supreme Court takes this case.

I understand why the Democrats did it. They want to fight to the bitter end, but in terms of likelihood of success, you have to look at this through a cold-eyed reality prism, likelihood of success on this, zero.

TAPPER: Yes, although I do remember a U.S. Supreme Court overruling the Florida Supreme Court some time ago, but that's a separate issue with a separate election.

Also before the Supreme Court today, access to the abortion pill through telehealth visits in the mail will continue at least until Thursday as justices deliberate restrictions on the drug. Tell us more. REID: Yes, this is the most significant abortion-related case that has come before the Supreme Court since it overturned Roe v. Wade. It's focused on Mifepristone. That is one of two drugs prescribed in medication abortion. After the fall of Roe, many states, conservative states, closed their abortion clinics, which increased the demand for telehealth visits and obtaining this drug through the mail. This is something that has been debated since the fall of Roe.

Now, the conservative Fifth Circuit ruled a short time ago that this medication can only be obtained through in-person visits. Now, the drug manufacturers, they went to the Supreme Court saying, that is going to cause chaos for people that have appointments, telehealth appointments, to obtain this medication, and the Supreme Court paused that ruling. That's why this is still available through telehealth and through the mail. They said, we need to figure out what we're going to do here, right? We need a minute. They gave themselves until 5:00 P.M. today, and then they just gave themselves a little more time, until 5:00 P.M. on Thursday, to decide if this is something they want to really take up on the merits.

It is likely something that they're going to have to weigh in on eventually, because it's an outstanding question that they have in the wake of overturning Roe.

TAPPER: All right. Paula Reid, Tom Dupree, thanks to both of you.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is defending his latest project, a reality show filmed with his family over the last seven months. Duffy says the backlash isn't warranted because he didn't spend any taxpayer dollars. So, who paid for it? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:46:38]

TAPPER: Our politics lead now. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy defending his return to reality TV in the new series "The Great American Road Trip", which Duffy filmed over the last seven months and follows his family as they travel to iconic destinations across the country. Critics are saying that in addition to ethics questions, the project is simply out of touch.

Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat, posted, quote, "a Trump cabinet member making a documentary about himself. While regular families can't afford road trips anymore because Trump and his war put gas prices through the roof," unquote.

Here to discuss this and more, the panel.

Now, we need to remind folks, I don't know how old you are, Shermichael.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thirty-five.

TAPPER: Thirty-five. So, Sean Duffy's first claim to fame before he was secretary of transportation and before he was a congressman from Wisconsin, was he was on a little show on MTV called "The Real World". I think he was in "Real World Boston". Is that right?

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that's right.

TAPPER: Yeah. And his wife, Rachel Campos, she was on a different MTV show, I think, called "Road Rules". And then they met when there was a Real World/Road Rules challenge.

So, this is in the DNA. So just a little history lesson from Gen X to Zoomers out there. The former "Road Rules" star and secretary pushing back against his critics, calling them unpatriotic. He has written, quote, "Zero taxpayer dollars were spent on my family. Neither myself nor my family received a salary or production royalties. The series was filmed, in short, one to two-day production windows and, quote, "career ethics and budget officials at the Department of Transportation reviewed and approved both my participation in individual travel in accordance with federal rules.

Shermichael, your take?

SINGLETON: Look, I think if the economy was better, I think if gas prices weren't so high, people probably wouldn't care. I mean, if OIG said, look, ethically, this is okay. You're not getting paid for it, then I'm okay with that.

But timing is always the question politically. Right now, my party is getting beat upside the head because of cost of living, rising prices. And I think if I were at the White House, I would want every cabinet official to be focused on addressing those issues.

So, I don't have an issue with it. Broadly speaking. But the timing I just don't think helps.

TAPPER: What do you think?

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: First of all, he has eight children or something like, eight or nine, 10 something. I mean, so he's a devout Catholic. And I just was wondering, I'm just curious because I want to see what kind of vehicle they were in. Is it like a bus? I mean, I just. Just out of curiosity, the entire family.

TAPPER: Was it Aerosmith's concert bus?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah, something.

I agree with Shermichael. I think this is bad timing and a bad look. People are struggling. People can't fill up their cars. They're having to make really tough decisions.

I don't care very much about this particular issue. I think ultimately, if he wants to show America with his family as the secretary of transportation I don't think it's a huge political problem, but where it becomes a problem is what you're seeing now. Democrats pointing the finger and saying, look at all the things that have happened on your watch. Look at all the planes that have crashed. Look at gas prices that are so high. Look at our crumbling infrastructure. And you're on this sort of joyride with your family.

GOLDBERG: I just point out he has a day job, right? Like he has an important day job.

TAPPER: Yeah.

GOLDBERG: I'd also point out, look, I mean, I kind of agree with Lulu. I don't think this is the biggest deal in the world. I didn't think we needed more reality show values inserted into our politics, but apparently there was more room.

[18:50:02]

But should also just say like, if there was a Democratic secretary of transportation who signed up with the -- an anchor from MSNBC -- MS NOW and did a reality show, someone would be pointing out about how that's a weird look, too. I mean, that Rachel Campos-Duffy is a host --

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I could hear the screams from now, and I could just like --

GOLDBERG: I would think that --

SINGLETON: I would absolutely critique that, Jonah.

GOLDBERG: I think the whole thing is just tone deaf and weird. And it's one of these things like sort of like, we could put the show on right here and no one in the room said, slow your roll. This is stupid.

SINGLETON: But, Jake, if I could just add really quickly. So the president, I think, made a statement on truth social about trying to suspend taxes.

TAPPER: The gas tax, yeah.

SINGLETON: Taxes. This could be an opportunity for the secretary to speak to Republicans with the president about like, the legitimate need to do that. The president I don't think constitutionally has the authority, but --

TAPPER: Congress has to do it.

SINGLETON: We have -- we have a majority. This should be an easy thing. You provide a little reprieve for the American people heading into the summer so that they, too, can travel across the country. That's the way I would spend.

GOLDBERG: On the road, showing off the world's largest ball of twine, you know?

SINGLETON: So, I haven't seen that yet. TAPPER: So, like most of President Trump's remodel projects, a lawsuit

was filed today in federal court to stop Trump's makeover of the reflecting pool that we have here in D.C.

The legal challenge comes as David Fahrenthold for "The New York Times" notes, the project has a surging price tag. Quote, the cost of President Trump's plans to repair the reflecting pool has jumped by 88 percent to $13.1 million, government records show. The price appears to include a 20 percent profit margin for Trump's hand-picked contractor, who got the job in a no bid contract.

What do you make of that?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: I make that this is a travesty. Again, this is -- this is -- these are our monuments. These are the people's monuments. And he is doing this without any oversight. He's making decisions in ways that absolutely do not go through the proper channels. And this is just one of a series of them.

I mean, look what happened with the east wing and the ballroom. Now the price tag has ballooned to, you know, to massive amounts plus, the Republican Party is saying that they have to -- that the taxpayer has to foot the bill. At the end of the day, this is not his living room. So, what needs to happen is that at this point, we have an empty pool half painted blue, hideous. And were really very, very, very a short way away from the big celebrations in this in this city, the 250. And I think it's going to look terrible.

TAPPER: Does anybody want to defend the reflecting pool?

SINGLETON: I mean, I don't know what its going to look like. Look, to me, I think you pick your battles here. Is it really worth these guys filing a lawsuit over this, Jake? I'm not necessarily sure. Now, look, I'm not one who believes in complete executive fiat, do whatever hell you want. That's not the argument that I'm making.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: But you always make the argument that. Who is it? Such a big deal, really?

SINGLETON: But D.C. could use some beautification. I mean, the esthetics, I think, matter of the nation's capital and to improve it a little bit without all this nonsensical bureaucracy, Lulu, I don't think is a bad thing. So much bureaucracy in this town.

TAPPER: There is one other thing I want to squeeze in. Were going to show some video of President Trump today in the Oval Office, where he appears to have his eyes closed for an extended period of time. Here's a different camera angle taken from the same meeting.

Now, a "Reuters" reporter posted a picture of President Trump with his eyes closed significantly, and the White House responded, "He was blinking you absolute moron."

But I have to say, I mean, that was those were some long blinks.

SINGLETON: Yeah, they are some long blinks. I mean, look, he probably didn't want to be there. I'm not a big meetings guy. I got to be honest with you.

Seriously, I run a company and we have to do board meetings every quarter, and I try to keep those meetings as quick and brief as I possibly can.

TAPPER: You want to -- you want to?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. This is embarrassing, Shermichael.

SINGLETON: Was it important? Seriously, what was it important?

TAPPER: It was about maternity. The meeting was about maternity.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yeah. Well, I guess. Yeah. No maternity. Yeah. Mortality. Who cares? Women.

It's boring. Meetings are boring if its in front of cameras on the president of United States. Let me just take a long, extended nap.

The fact that he's doing this just shows his age. He's about to be 80. And I think it raises questions about his fitness for office.

GOLDBERG: So, look, two things. One, what if this was Biden as one of the lowest forms of punditry? But it doesn't mean it's not relevant. Lots of people made hay about Biden not being able to keep his eyes open. And two, I would just say the long blank sounds like an L.A. film noir kind of.

TAPPER: I like it. The long blink.

GOLDBERG: Going down for the long --

TAPPER: Starring Donald Trump.

Yeah?

SINGLETON: When there were moments where Republicans did jump on President Biden. And there are some of those moments. I made the same argument. Maybe the President didn't want to be there. Maybe the meeting went too darn long. And I'm going to be consistent with my framing here. The same applies to the current president.

TAPPER: Okay. I'm just chilling out here for a second.

(LAUGHTER)

GARCIA-NAVARRO: The long blank.

TAPPER: It's a long blank. I have to open my eyes to read the prompter.

Thanks, everyone for being here.

Up next, a happy ending to a story that we have long followed here on the lead. You don't want to miss it. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:59:07]

TAPPER: Our last lead start in our national lead were stunning video out of the Florida Everglades shows a wall of flames burning through thousands of acres in the area yesterday.

Today, local fire rescue officials said the Florida forest service made significant progress in containing the fire. Crews continue to monitor conditions at the scene.

And we have a positive update on a story we've long followed here on THE LEAD. Navy veteran George Fleischman has finally been moved into a Los Angeles home built for homeless veterans after spending more than three years living in a shed without running water.

We are thrilled for George. We can't wait to hear more about his new home. There is a lot of work that still needs to be done. Of course, there are around 3,000 homeless veterans in Los Angeles alone, waiting for the V.A. to build more housing, as the city has long promised, as the V.A. has long promised.

You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bluesky, and on the TikTok @JakeTapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram @TheLeadCNN.

If you ever missed an episode of THE LEAD, you can watch the show on the CNN app.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.