Return to Transcripts main page

The Lead with Jake Tapper

Trump Angry Over Leaked Munitions Reports; Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Update; New Concerns About Food-Borne Illnesses. Schumer On Michigan Results: "The Issue Is Not Me" It's "Winning"; FAA Orders Inspection Of Hundreds Of Boeing 737 Max Jets. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired August 06, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:00:00]

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

This hour, President Trump is reportedly fuming after details about the U.S. military's dwindling munitions stockpile became public. Sources say the president thinks it makes him look weak as he tries to strong-arm Iran into a deal. But is he more upset about the stockpile and how it could affect the war and the troops, or that you and I know about it?

Plus, the office of Senator Mitch McConnell announcing this afternoon that the 84-year-old has been discharged from a rehab center weeks after a fall. He still has not been seen in public or released a video with him explaining what happened. Why not?

Also, federal officials now adding six more states to the cyclosporiasis outbreak tied to lettuce, just as Chipotle warns it could be affected by a salmonella outbreak. What you need to know to keep yourself and your family safe from these food-borne illnesses.

And the FAA now ordering the inspection of hundreds of passenger jets, worried there could be cracks in the bodies of the planes. But officials are still letting those planes fly while the inspections are ongoing. So, how big of a risk could this really be?

The Lead tonight, the five-month war with Iran is draining the U.S. military stockpile of THAAD and Patriot missiles, and this is increasingly pissing off President Trump. But his ire seems not directed at Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth or the dwindling stockpile of missiles itself. Sources tell CNN that Trump's been well aware of any potential problems regarding supplies of these missiles for months.

These sources say that Trump is angry about the news media coverage of it all. Senior U.S. officials tell CNN that at last week's cabinet meeting at Camp David, the president complained about the news media coverage on the issue because in his view, it makes the United States look weak. But a short time ago in the Oval Office, President Trump seemed to admit the reports were at least somewhat accurate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We have certain types of munitions that are very powerful that we have unlimited, virtual unlimited supply. We have others where it's a little bit tighter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Just there in his comments, the president is not denying the lower supplies of THAAD missiles and Patriot interceptors, choosing to focus more broadly on munitions, a word that covers everything from bullets to bombs to missiles.

Now, according to sources, since the start of the war with Iran, the U.S. military has burned through nearly 80 percent of its THAAD missile inventory, and about half of its inventory of Patriot interceptors. These weapons are essential not only to the U.S., but to Gulf allies who rely on the U.S. air defense system to intercept incoming Iranian missiles and drones.

Let's bring in an Iraq War veteran, turned-Republican congressman, Tom Barrett of Michigan. Congressman, thanks for joining us as always.

Just to note, you've actually voted three times for the president to need to either end the war in Iran or come to Congress for full authorization. What is your reaction to the news that the Pentagon is running low on THAAD and Patriot missiles? You certainly know how important they are.

REP. TOM BARRETT (R-MI): Sure, they are absolutely important. And I think we're seeing an evolution on the battlefield where cheaper and cheaper drone technology is really presenting threats that weren't present, you know, even a decade or even five years ago. We've seen that in the war between Russia and Ukraine, how they're utilizing drone technology more and more and more. And we now have very relatively cheap drones that are complicating very expensive missile systems that are used to intercept these types of lower technology, you know, attack mechanisms.

What we have to do is get better at developing technology that will counteract drone attacks. And, you know, there are some emerging things that are out there doing that, but we have to really ramp up our development of that type of capability to intercept lower cost, you know, attacks that could be coming from foreign adversaries or, you know, God forbid, a homegrown threat or something like that on the homeland.

TAPPER: Erick Erickson, the conservative commentator, was on the show earlier this week and he said that the United -- and, you know, he's an Iran hawk and a big supporter of President Trump, but he said that this -- we are -- the United States is worse off now than we were on February 27th before the war began. He was talking strategically mainly.

But when you look also at the depletion of the THAAD missiles and the Patriot interceptors, it's also not hard to come to the conclusion that the United States is in a more vulnerable position today than we were before this war.

BARRETT: You know, I don't think that America's in a vulnerable position. I think that we have a robust capability to defend ourselves against foreign threats or any other threat that we may encounter, but certainly there's not an endless depth of resources available.

[18:05:08]

I think, though, what we have to look at is how are we going to acknowledge and really protect against emerging threats and be nimble to be able to protect against threats that aren't present today that are going to be used, you know, in the very near future. You're going to have drones that have A.I. capability attached to them. You're going to have systems that have upgraded technology added to dumb bombs, for example.

And that's something that we're developing in the United States too where we can take an unsophisticated bomb and really add sophisticated steering and technology to that. I know that work is underway and ongoing as well. But we have to be ready to attack any threat that we face, whether that's coming from Iran or whether it's coming from another foreign adversary or, you know, as we tragically learned on 9/11, something that could arise on the homeland as well.

TAPPER: Yesterday on Fox, the vice president, J.D. Vance, said this about negotiations with Iran. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: It's going to be messy, and it's going to take some time to get there. Where we will ultimately land, as you see, oil, I think, was at $79 today, those oil prices are going to come down and stay down. Iran will never have a nuclear weapon, and the United States will be in a stronger position.

But we're kind of in the middle of the game, and I think people are trying to prejudge exactly how this is going to go. I can tell you with confidence it's going to go in a place that is good for the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you think?

BARRETT: Well, you know, I think the president and J.D. Vance, vice president, are certainly trying to do everything they can to protect American interests in this and that's what they should be doing, right? They should be promoting and pushing as hard as they can for America's interest for a resolution in this.

My position is that any use of force authorization, as you pointed out when introducing me, has to have the authority from Congress to proceed, and I think that's an important protection. I think when we're talking about, you know, the constitutional separation of powers between the executive and legislative branch, only Congress is able to declare war, and we have to respect that.

When we're sending men and women into combat, we should have the highest level of constitutional scrutiny that we apply to that. That's been my consistent position. It's borne out of my life experience in the Army for 22 years that I spent during the 20-year long war on terror, the time that I spent in the Middle East and other places in the world. That's a protection that I continue to hold and continue to vote in consideration of that because I think it's so important.

TAPPER: Republican Congressman Tom Barrett of Michigan, thank you for joining us, and thank you as always for your service.

BARRETT: Thank you for having me on.

TAPPER: I want to bring in another Iraq War veteran, former Under Secretary of the Army during President Obama's administration, Patrick Murphy. He's also a former Democratic Congressman from the great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Do I call you under secretary? Do I call you congressman? What do you want me to --

FMR. REP. PATRICK MURPHY (D-PA): You can call me Patrick. The toughest job I ever had though was being a security guard at the Philadelphia Eagles 700 level. That was good training for my time in Baghdad, Iraq, with the 82nd Airborne Division, Jake.

TAPPER: Yes, as long as you didn't end up in the vet prison, I think you're okay.

So, let me let me ask in the Veterans Stadium so people understand what I'm saying. Nearly 80 percent of THAAD missiles are depleted along with about half of the Patriot interceptors. How big a deal is that, do you think?

MURPHY: It's a big deal, Jake. I mean, whether I was a soldier as a captain in Iraq or whether I was in the Pentagon as the acting secretary of the Army under President Obama, you know, we have a saying in the Pentagon, amateurs talk strategy, experts talk logistics. There is no doubt that these defensive weapons, the THAAD missiles and the Patriot missiles, are definitely decimated and puts us very vulnerable if we ever have to go toe-to-toe with China or North Korea.

TAPPER: In his social media post where the president claimed that the U.S. has massive amounts of munitions, President Trump said, quote, large amounts are being manufactured and shipped to the U.S. as needed. Defense companies are building the largest number of plants and factories in our country's history, unquote.

First of all, munitions is a word that I know you know means anything from bullets to bombs to missiles. Second of all, that doesn't sound like an immediate solution. How much do you think this impacts America's ability to fight any potential threat in the near future?

MURPHY: There's no doubt that we have to really reenergize the DIB, the Defense Industrial Base. But, Jake, CSIS, very well-respected bipartisan think tank, or a, frankly, nonpartisan think tank, says it's going to take three years to get where we were pre-Iran war with THAAD and Patriot missiles.

Each of these THAAD missiles, they cost about $12 to $15 million apiece. They're made in Troy and Huntsville, Alabama, and Los Angeles, California. But the reality of it is that we can't make them fast enough, and we are now depleted. So, again, it's putting us in a vulnerable spot, and not just us, meaning our troops, because again, we remember we have about 50,000 troops in that region.

[18:10:05]

It was the largest buildup since when I was in the Iraq War in the beginning. So, you know, when you see that, and you also look at our allies, like UAE, which buys these THAAD and Patriot missiles, we're all hurting to defend our troops and our families.

TAPPER: There was a report, I think, in The Washington Post, and I believe the White House denied it, but it said that when Trump, President Trump pressed Secretary Hegseth on this issue, Hegseth blamed the deputy secretary of defense. I don't know if you saw that story, but what would be your reaction to that?

MURPHY: Listen you know, as the great President Truman said, you know, the buck stops here. And we need leadership, we need accountability, and we need to make sure we're doing everything possible to defend our troops. If we send our sons and daughters to the Middle East, we got to make sure that we're protecting them by all means necessary.

The Navy ships, which have missiles, you know, are a little bit too far, because you got to remember, these THAAD and Patriot missiles, the THAAD missiles specifically, they have about a 90 to 127-mile range, right? So, you need them -- they're usually truck-mounted and we need them to protect our troops that are prepositioned in places like Kuwait, Qatar, et cetera. So, that's where these attacks -- you know, these counterattacks from Iran have gone to date, but we got to make sure we're doing all we can.

And, you know, I know they're scrambling now, you know, obviously, to really reenergize the DIB, the Defense Industrial Base. They're asking Congress the NDAA, they're asking for basically, you know, another -- I think I have it written down here -- another $95 billion in the NDAA. They're asking in a supplemental another $21 billion, you know, for these defensive missiles. But, you know, we're really in a bad spot right now strategically, Jake. There's no doubt about it.

TAPPER: Former Under Secretary of the U.S. Army Patrick Murphy, thank you for your time, sir. And as always, thank you for your service.

Tonight, the Justice Department confirms it has received a criminal referral for Dr. Anthony Fauci after a Republican-led committee voted to hold him in contempt of Congress today, and then bypassed the normal process of having the whole Senate vote on it. We're going to explain why next. Plus, Chipotle pulls jalapenos from restaurants across multiple states as health officials investigate a potential link to a salmonella outbreak. And this comes as new states are added to the cyclosporiasis outbreak. What you need to know, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Republicans on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee today voted to hold Dr. Anthony Fauci in contempt of Congress because he pleaded the Fifth more than 100 times in last Wednesday's hearing on the COVID response. That referral is supposedly already being delivered to the Department of Justice t- today, despite the fact that there was not a full Senate vote on the matter, as is precedent.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, says that Fauci's preemptive pardon from former President Joe Biden means that it was not okay for Fauci to plead the Fifth during his hearing last week. That is a matter that is quite disputed.

Joining us now, Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland. During the pandemic, we should note, Senator Alsobrooks was serving as Prince George's County executive in Maryland and hosted public health briefings with Dr. Fauci.

So, Senator, let's get your response to the committee, at least for now, bypassing a full Senate vote and referring to the Justice Department these contempt of Congress charges against Dr. Fauci.

SEN. ANGELA ALSOBROOKS (D-MD): Well, you know what I think is it's very clear that the Republicans are mastering the Jedi mind trick. The fact that they brought out of retirement 84, 85-year-old Dr. Fauci to try to accuse him of something instead of focusing on RFK Jr., the person who is presently causing harm to Americans, where we see cyclospora.

People are asking why they're in the emergency rooms, measles at the highest rates that we've seen in 35 years, the fact that we have canceled important research, and instead of focusing on what is causing harm right this second what is making Americans sicker and, by the way, poorer, they decide instead to do the Jedi mind trick and to focus on Dr. Fauci.

So, these people are so unserious. This clown show today was disgraceful. And I think Americans are going to be able to see through it. We're approaching midterms, and they hope that Americans focus on this mess rather than what they see with their own eyes and what they're experiencing in their households.

TAPPER: Former President Biden did give Dr. Fauci a preemptive pardon. Do you think that Dr. Fauci, because of that preemptive pardon, should have answered questions before Congress?

ALSOBROOKS: No, I think Dr. Fauci did the right thing. He understood that there was there a hope that they would entrap him in a lie of some sort. And again, remember that the focus of this shouldn't be Dr. Fauci. The, the focus ought to be on RFK Jr., the person they empowered to harm Americans who is full of conspiracy theories, who has, again, overseen the highest rate of measles in 35 years, cyclospora because they have released and reduced the monitoring systems that allow us to find food-borne illnesses.

We are now literally sicker because of this administration. And because they know that Americans understand this as midterm elections approach, they decided to dig out Dr. Fauci and maybe accuse him of something from six years ago. This is ridiculous, and Americans know it.

TAPPER: So, looking back on the COVID response, and without singling out Dr. Fauci, because President Trump was actually in charge of the country at that time, and then President Biden, what do you think could or should have been done differently?

Obviously, the leaders, Trump, Fauci, Biden, everybody was responding in real time, and the information was evolving.

[18:20:05]

But what do you think if we'd known then what we know now could and should have been done differently?

ALSOBROOKS: Well, you know what? I was serving, as you mentioned, as county executive during COVID-19 and I can tell you that I worked with Dr. Fauci and worked with so many others, and everyone did the best they could with a pandemic that none of us had ever seen in our lifetime.

And so I think that the intelligent thing to do, if we really wanted to study this issue, which, by the way, this administration has dismantled every opportunity we've had to study and to follow science and research, they don't believe in it.

But if there is an interest in going back and looking at what we could have done better, I think that the intelligent thing to do would be able to keep all these systems in place, but they have dismantled them so much so again that they are causing a resurgence of hepatitis, measles. We had the worst flu season that we have seen. We are canceling cancer research, canceling Alzheimer's research.

And so this is -- these are people, by the way, who could care less about understanding what's sickening us. Instead, they're interested in lining the pockets of their friends, making sure that the billionaires get richer and we are suffering under RFK Jr. That's what the focus ought to be right now, not Dr. Fauci, who I worked with and who I believe did a tremendous job under circumstances we had not seen in over a century.

TAPPER: Democratic Senator Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland, thank you so much.

ALSOBROOKS: Thank you. TAPPER: They risked their lives to help U.S. troops and service members overseas, and now a new report accuses the Trump administration of falling down on its promises, despite having nearly five years to follow through. Those details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

TAPPER: Turning to our World Lead and a story we've been covering now since the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, nearly five years after the August 2021 withdrawal, thousands of Afghan allies who helped our service members in country remain stranded under Taliban rule. The Trump administration's suspension of refugee and relocation programs has stalled processing for those vetted Afghan allies and their families.

A new report from Afghan Evac, an advocacy group for those allies, lays out where the relocation effort stands, and what it will take to bring those Afghans to safety.

Joining us now is the president and founder of Afghan Evac, Shawn VanDiver. Shawn, what's the big headline from your report?

SHAWN VANDIVER, PRESIDENT AND BOARD CHAIRMAN, AFGHAN EVAC: Well, thanks so much for having me on today, Jake. The big headline is that we do this program well when we decide to do it well, and it got turned off in January of 2025 after the busiest year ever. 60,000 people were able to come here through the SIV program, refugee program, and broader enduring welcome program, and then it all got shut down, not for any particular reason other than the lack of political will.

And we can turn it back on, and we need to, otherwise we're going to face grave danger whenever we send American service members downrange to ask for help again.

TAPPER: When you say turned off, you mean none of our Afghan allies that risked their lives in Afghanistan serving alongside our service members, none of them were admitted during the Trump administration's first year of the second administration?

VANDIVER: Jake, so they admitted several during the first year, and then January 1st, 2026, they shut it all down. There's been zero Afghan SIV principal applicants admitted in 2026.

TAPPER: Of course, it's not just Afghans stranded in Afghanistan. Others remain stranded in Afghanistan. Others remain at this camp in Doha after being taken there by the State Department as part of the resettlement process. Many of them were scared when the bombs started flying during the Iran war. And now the State Department, we're told, plans to close that camp next month, and has considered sending the evacuees to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. What's the latest on that?

VANDIVER: Sure. Well, thank you for asking about that. To frame this up, there were about 3,500 Afghans at that camp on January 1st, 2025. A lot of the consular folks, the SIVs and others were able to get out. Now, there are 1,039 Afghans stranded there. Most of them, over three- quarters of them are women and children. And they're all in the refugee pipeline.

150 of the people that are stuck at that camp are family members of active duty U.S. military. The State Department is running a prison camp for allies, and it doesn't have to be that way. The Trump administration decided that they didn't want to act on these folks, and they decided they were going to shut the camp down, but never came up with a plan on what to do about it.

So, right now, the camp is slated to close September 30th, 2026. I don't think that that's going to happen. I think that Qatar has been very gracious with these folks, and I imagine that there will be an extension. But as of right now, it's slated to close on September 30th.

And they're not communicating anything to these folks, which means they're terrified. They're stuck in this limbo. There are missiles exploding overhead, and the State Department wanted to send them to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That only got disrupted because Afghan Evac and others raised the alarm, and journalists carried the story, and the world had a great outcry, and then there was an Ebola crisis. So, that plan is dead, but they keep trying to come up with worse, or with even plans as bad as that one.

TAPPER: The Afghan Temporary Protected Status Act was introduced in the Senate today.

[18:30:00]

It's not a pathway to citizenship, but it would protect Afghans already in the United States, keeping them from being deported. Do you think that that actually has a chance?

VANDIVER: Jake, I got to tell you, I think it does have a chance because it's been introduced in the House by Representatives Crow, Bacon, Licardo, and Salazar, and now today, Senators Coons, Murkowski, Cassidy, and Klobuchar introduced the Senate version. It's bipartisan, it's popular. And I got to tell you, there's a real opportunity to get this thing done. The American public supports it. We know that.

And your viewers can go to afghanevac.org/tps. Organizations can endorse it and individuals can write their members of Congress to let them know how important this is to them. And we hope everybody will do that, and go to afghanevac.org/donate to support us so we can keep doing this work.

TAPPER: Shawn VanDiver, thanks so much. Good to see you.

Continuing in our World Lead, massive piles of rotting trash are choking the streets of Havana, Cuba. Fuel shortages triggered by the U.S. energy blockade have brought garbage trucks in Cuba to a standstill.

CNN's Juan Carlos Lopez is in Havana. Juan, how are residents dealing with this garbage crisis?

JUAN CARLOS LOPEZ, CNN EN ESPANOL ANCHOR: This is a regular street scene in the Miramar neighborhood in Havana. Beach is right over there, at least the ocean. But now I'm going to show you what it's really like, and this is one of the consequences of the lack of fuel.

This city of about 2 million people has to deal with this. Since there's not enough fuel to go around, trash accumulates on many corners. It's not only the historic old Havana, it's neighborhoods like this one, and we've seen the trucks picking up the trash. We've seen the workers at night and at day trying to clean this up, but there's just so much that you'll find this anywhere you go in Havana.

This is one of the consequences of the lack of fuel. This is what the residents of the city have to put up with in the middle of this crisis. It's not only the rolling blackouts, which bring a lack of water, but then also the smell and the sight of trash on many of the corners of the city.

TAPPER: All right. Juan Carlos Lopez in Cuba, thanks so much.

This afternoon we got an update on the health of Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, nearly two months after he was hospitalized. Those details, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

TAPPER: In our Health Lead this afternoon, Senator Mitch McConnell's office announced that he has been discharged from the rehab center where he had been recovering after falling. McConnell's team says he will continue his recovery from home.

The 84-year-old was admitted to the hospital in June, but his office did not explain the cause at the time. He has not been seen in public since. He has not issued any video statements or audio statements, and he's not running for re-election.

Also in our Health Lead, officials are expanding their warning about the cyclospora outbreak linked to lettuce served at some restaurants, including Taco Bell, and sold in some grocery stores. Six more states have now been added to the outbreak list, Arkansas, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and North Carolina. Meanwhile, separate salmonella outbreaks tied to eggs, jalapenos, and chicken have sickened hundreds nationwide.

Joining me now is KFF Health News Editor at Large for Public Health Dr. Celine Gounder. Dr. Gounder, thanks for joining us.

So, the number of cyclospora cases continues to grow, and more states have been added to the outbreak. What does that tell us?

DR. CELINE GOUNDER, EDITOR-AT-LARGE FOR PUBLIC HEALTH, KFF HEALTH NEWS: Well, so food safety experts are pointing to something bigger than just the cyclospora outbreak or just the salmonella outbreak. There's a larger interagency system called FoodNet, which is a network that actively searches for these infections, number of different food- borne infections.

Until July of last year, it was tracking eight. That was now cut to two, salmonella and E. coli. Cyclospora was among those that was cut. And that was really important because it provided us a baseline against which to measure cases to know if there was an impending spike. And the reason for that cut was cited as being not enough funding at the CDC.

In addition the FDA has a new rule that would require companies that handle foods like lettuce, which is tied to the current cyclospora outbreak require them to keep detailed tracking records so that investigators can trace contamination back to the source within 24 hours rather than weeks.

And that rule was supposed to take effect this past January, but then March of last year, the FDA said it was pushing back the deadline by two and a half years to 2028. And right around that time, you have Taylor Farms' parent company donating a million dollars to a super PAC that supports President Trump.

Now, we don't know if that's correlation or causation, if that caused that delay, but then thereafter, Congress also reinforced that delay in a spending bill. So, these are measures, whether it's funding cuts or regulatory delays, that have made us less safe in the interim.

TAPPER: So, you're saying that at least one of the contributing factors for the spread of the salmonella and cyclospora is the fact that there have been Trump administration funding decisions at CDC and a Trump administration implementation decision at the FDA, and that has hurt the ability of medical professionals to keep track and get a hold of these outbreaks.

GOUNDER: That's right. And the CDC funding about two-thirds, three- quarters of that goes down to the states, and that funds the local epidemiologists who investigate all of these different infections, whether it's cyclospora or salmonella.

[18:40:01]

And because CDC funding was cut, the funding that trickled down to states was also cut. And so they have fewer people available to do the contact tracing, to do the public outreach, to offer the testing.

TAPPER: On the matter of Chipotle, they've removed jalapenos from some restaurants while they investigate this possible salmonella link. That's a pretty bold thing to do for Chipotle to just to remove jalapenos. What does that kind of precautionary move tell you?

GOUNDER: Well, salmonella is a much more dangerous infection than cyclospora. Cyclospora causes watery diarrhea, we've heard explosive. It can be very unpleasant, but it's rare for that to cause death. Salmonella on the other hand can be deadly. It can spread into the bloodstream, into joints, into prosthetics in the body. And sometimes it can cause kidney failure. And so we are very much more worried when we see salmonella, and so it makes sense that they're going to be very aggressive here.

TAPPER: Why are we seeing so many food-borne illness outbreaks this summer? Is there any sort of common thread connecting them?

GOUNDER: Well, there are a few things. One, we have a global food supply, increasingly global, which means that it's not just what's happening in the United States that affects us but also what's happening overseas. That includes worker occupational health conditions. So, do they have access to sanitary bathrooms and places to wash their hands and the like? In addition, we have those funding cuts.

And then you have the processing of foods. When you process food, it could even just be chopping up salad to put it in a bag. Each point in processing represents an opportunity to introduce pathogens and contaminate the food.

TAPPER: Dr. Celine Gounder, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.

GOUNDER: My pleasure.

TAPPER: Progressive Democrats torched Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on the campaign trail. So, what do those divisions mean for the Democratic Party's hope of taking back the Senate in November? Hear what Chuck Schumer has to say about it all, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:46:07]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: If you're Chuck Schumer, I am dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: If you are Chuck Schumer, I am dangerous.

In our politics lead, that's Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, who is now Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee, railing against his party's Senate leader on the campaign trail back in June.

But Chuck Schumer is not giving up on keeping Michigan's Senate seat blue. Despite the narrow defeat of his preferred candidate, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, Schumer told "Punchbowl News" he is willing to look past his disagreements with the new nominee and, quote, "do what it takes to win". Perhaps unsurprisingly, because he will not become the Democrat -- the Senate -- the Senate leader, majority leader if he does not have a majority.

Let's bring in the panel.

So, Ashley, Schumer took fire from El-Sayed as well as from Maine Senate nominee Troy Jackson. Both want to oust him from leadership. But Schumer tells "Punchbowl", quote, "The issue is not me. The issue is doing what working families want and showing clear distinction between the parties and showing the road to victory. And as leader of my caucus, I think we have shown that path to victory. And that is why so many people now are saying we have a damn good chance to take back the Senate."

Do you think if Democrats take back the senate that Chuck Schumer will be the Democratic leader, the majority leader?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER PELOSI ADVISER: I'm not sure. I mean, I think there is an argument to be made to keep him. And then there is obviously an argument to be made to get rid of him. But, you know, I used to run communications for Speaker Pelosi, and she would often tell candidates, say, whatever you got to say about me on the trail, just make sure you win.

So, I do agree with Schumer, like some of this stuff does not matter. At the end of the day, what matters is that you win.

But here is the thing: the DSA and candidates like El-Sayed are -- represent an existential threat to the Democratic establishment. You know, the Republicans have gone through three iterations in the last 20 years, from the Tea Party to the Freedom Caucus to now MAGA. Democrats have not -- we have not gone through any transformation since dating back to Bill Clinton.

You have got 34 percent of Democrats now that are identifying themselves with the socialist movement. And then CNN recently put out a poll that showed that the large majority of Democrats want radical change within the party.

So, there is a lot staring this party within its face. It needs to acknowledge those things, acknowledge the situation it's in, and really confront it and do some transformation and reimagining of the party itself.

TAPPER: Jesse, Chuck Schumer might be on board with Abdul El-Sayed. But John Fetterman, Pennsylvania's Democratic senator, who is increasingly kind of on an island, he had said this about Abdul El- Sayed.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): In a very arrogant campaign. And now today, he just discovered that less than a majority of your states only Democrats did not even want you and vote for you. You came in around 48 percent. So, you know, you have a real situation as Democrats. Now that puts that seat in play.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: I know you are a critic of El-Sayed. I mean, does Fetterman have a point? JESSE ARM, VICE PRESIDENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS, MANHATTAN INSTITUTE:

Well, I do not think Fetterman is on an island at all. Fetterman is with about 50 percent of Michigan Democratic primary voters. This was a razor thin margin.

TAPPER: Yeah, I did not mean -- I did not mean he was on an island was on that issue --

ARM: He's with a lot of Democrats and he is with a lot of Republicans and a lot of independents on the core question of the fact that Abdul El-Sayed is unfit for the United States senate, and I respectfully disagree with Ashley on the notion that the Democratic Party has not changed at all since the era of Bill Clinton. I do not think in the Bill Clinton Democratic Party, we would have had a presidential candidate like we had just a couple of years ago saying that, you know, we should have government provided sex changes in prison for illegal immigrants who are already there.

I think the big thing about Abdul El-Sayed and really about Chuck Schumer is that Donald Trump has a nickname for Chuck Schumer. Okay? He frequently refers to him as a Palestinian.

That is a -- that is a problematic nickname because Chuck Schumer is Jewish, not Palestinian. It is also a problematic nickname because Chuck Schumer does not really behave like a Palestinian. When Chuck Schumer loses a political battle, badly loses a war, he goes right there to the people who defeated him, apologizes, bends the knee and says, you're the boss now. I yield to you.

[18:50:10]

Clearly, Abdul El-Sayed is not going to return the favor for Chuck Schumer. He is out there saying he wants Chris Van Hollen, who is the leftmost Democrat in the United States Senate. I say Democrat because Bernie Sanders is an independent.

TAPPER: Independent, right.

ARM: And clearly, I do not think Abdul El-Sayed is going to help Chuck Schumer with much of anything. So, I do not know why Chuck Schumer is helping Abdul El-Sayed.

TAPPER: Do you think Abdul El-Sayed, Dr. El-Sayed, needs to motivate more Democrats to register? Like I guess the path is, does he try to win over the independents? Does he obviously he is going to try to win over the Democrats, but does he try to win over independents in the middle, the ones that helped Slotkin beat Mike Rogers, or does he stay with his current campaign style and you know, what he is doing and just try to expand the number of people that vote.

ETIENNE: No, I think he is definitely got to expand his appeal. But we have got to look at the reality of what is happening on the ground now. The conditions are right for Democrats winning that seat.

Fifty-seven percent of folks --

TAPPER: That see, the Michigan.

ETIENNE: That particular seat, 57 percent of Michigan voters -- oh, Trump is at disapproval, 57 percent within the state. His policies have hurt that state overwhelmingly more than any other state in terms of, you know, the tariff policies did not materialize, a manufacturing boom. It's increased prices. You have got the Iran war that's now got gas prices across the state of Michigan upwards of $4. So that's one factor.

But the second factor that I think it needs to be considered is that you have got where Democrats have the advantage is on the ground. Game polls do not vote. Money does not vote. The ground game actually does.

You got Gretchen Whitmer, who has a complete machine. She's made inroads in these Republican counties and won a lot of Republican counties.

TAPPER: She endorsed Stevens.

ETIENNE: Absolutely. But you are going to have a coordinated campaign now. All these Democrats are going to come on board to try to win the seat. We do not want to lose this seat.

Then you've got Benson, who's running for governor. She has won twice statewide. You compare that to Republicans. You got James and Rogers, who both lost a total of three times statewide. They can't win statewide, especially not in these particular conditions.

So, what I think will happen is you will have Gretchen Benson and others will have a coordinated campaign, and they will probably bring El-Sayed along.

TAPPER: Do you -- I mean, this is shaping up to be something of which is not unusual, a wave election for the party out of power. I mean, we don't know, but it looks that way from August.

Are you worried at all about the impact that that will have? Mike Rogers was not able to beat Elissa Slotkin with Trump on the top of the ticket. And now --

ETIENNE: An incredible good condition.

TAPPER: In good conditions with Trump winning Michigan. Now, Slotkin is a moderate Democrat and El-Sayed is a progressive. He is not DSA, but he is DSA adjacent, let's say, Democrat.

Are you -- I mean, are you worried about that?

ARM: Absolutely. It is challenging conditions. Any Republican who is over, by the way, I was out there saying that it does not make sense for Republicans to be cheering on Abdul El-Sayed in Michigan, because some consultants model in Washington, D.C. tells them Abdul is going to perform two points better. If you are someone who is opposed to, you know, Islamist, sympathetic, communist adjacent politics, you should be opposed to Abdul El-Sayed winning a nomination or winning the seat in November. Republicans are going to be out there and they better fight hard,

because this is going to be a tough election.

Abdul El-Sayed is a crafty politician. He is a clever politician. He will do things to pivot to the center. He will not moderate on economics. He won't moderate on foreign policy.

ETIENNE: Yes, he has.

ARM: What he will do is, you know, he is a devout Muslim. He certainly -- who does not drink alcohol. He certainly has culturally conservative bona fides on issues like pot, porn, gambling. I would not be surprised to see him come and moderate on some of those things.

What does Mike Rogers going to do to separate himself from Donald Trump's GOP? He has got to do something. He can't assume it's nothing. Do the Susan Collins playbook.

He is a moderate. He was out there in "The Washington Post" on January 5th, 2021, writing about how much he hates election denialism. We're going to have to do some of that if we want to win that seat.

TAPPER: All right, to be continued. This is going to be -- we'll have you back, because this is going to be a race to watch and it is going to be, I would not bet money on either candidate right now.

Thanks to both of you.

Coming up next, why the FAA says hundreds of passenger planes need to be inspected, among fears that undetected damage could reduce the aircraft's structural integrity.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:58:34]

TAPPER: In our national lead, the FAA has ordered inspections of hundreds of Boeing 737 Max jets after finding cracks on some planes.

CNN's Pete Muntean has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Jake, just last week, the FAA proposed inspections of seat assemblies on hundreds of Boeing 737 Maxes, fearing that entire rows could come loose in an emergency. Now the agency is ordering inspections starting next month on a different part after it received reports of cracks in the fuselage or body of these planes.

The FAA says that 471 Boeing 737 Max 8s and Max 9s may have cracked structural reinforcement near the forward service door that is on the right side of the airplane, near the forward galley that is used by the flight attendants. The good news is that this does not require any sort of grounding of

these planes, and that is key. During the peak of summer travel season, and especially since these planes have become the backbone of airline fleets.

Boeing says in this case, it has already notified airlines on its own.

The FAA also says that Boeing is addressing the issue on new planes before they leave the factory. The agency cracked down on Boeing after investigators said a quality control failure led to the omission of key bolts on one 737 Max before it left the factory, leading to that dramatic door plug blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January 2024.

By the way, this is not the first time the company has had to deal with structural cracking on 737s. In 2019, Boeing 737 next gen models, that's the 737 700, 800 and 900 were ordered to be inspected after some planes were found to have cracks in a structural component connecting the plane's fuselage to the wings -- Jake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER: All right. Pete Muntean, thank you so much.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts now.