The Lead with Jake Tapper Aired June 19, 2024 - 17:00 ET THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:00:12] JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: …Tapper. This hour there are new signs of hope in the fight against Alzheimer's, which affects nearly 7 million Americans. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to break it all down for us. Plus, I'm going to be joined by two parents on a mission to bring their son home. Hersh Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped by Hamas at the Nova music festival October 7. And now his mom and dad are back in Washington in studio with a message for the world. Leading this hour, so many Americans are wondering just how safe air travel is as we keep hearing of flight controls getting jammed as pilots try to land or an entire piece of a plane blowing out mid- flight. Today we're hearing from a Boeing whistleblower, a former senior manager at the company who said on CNN that the manufacturing at Boeing is rushed and employees are under pressure to get planes in the air. Whistleblower Ed Pierson also slammed Boeing leadership calling the CEO, David Calhoun, greedy and evasive. Pierson is so concerned he won't even fly on Boeing Max planes anymore. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ED PIERSON, BOEING WHISTLEBLOWER: I did board a plane and I actually had to get off the plane when I found out it was a Max. And that's a terrible thing to have to say to somebody that worked for Boeing. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Calhoun was supposed to address some of those concerns and his company's overall safety record in a hearing on Capitol Hill yesterday. Instead, Calhoun faced intense questioning after saying he was proud of Boeing safety culture. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): For the American people, they're in danger for your workers. They're in peril for your whistleblowers. They literally fear for their lives, but you're getting compensated like never before. Don't you think maybe your priorities are misplaced here? I mean, don't you think maybe it's time to get back to focusing on making quality planes and paying your workers well, and taking care of the little guys who got you to where you are? That's not a rhetorical question. DAVID CALHOUN, CEO BOEING: Senator, I don't recognize any of the Boeing you described. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: That was Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who joins me now. Senator, did you get any satisfying answers from Boeing yesterday? HAWLEY: No, not at all, Jake. It was a whole bunch of why he's not responsible. You had Calhoun sitting there, he's making $33 million dollars a year. That is a 45 percent increase over last year. And it was all about how he wasn't responsible. Oh, he's doing everything he can, oh, he'll do better, his planes are literally falling out of the sky in pieces. He's paying his workers in many cases next to nothing, they haven't had a wage increase in 16 years, and yet he has no answers and wants to shift the blame is totally unacceptable. TAPPER: So, Calhoun insisted that the company is committed to safety. He said he listens to employees. What's your response to that? HAWLEY: Well, he said that he hasn't even sat down with the whistleblowers, Jake. I mean, how about that? We've had numerous whistleblowers come to the Senate. They've testified under oath that they had been raising safety and quality concerns for years. These are engineers now. They testify that they'd been reassigned. They'd been ignored. They'd been threatened and sometimes bullied physically. And this guy admits under oath yesterday, the CEO, he hasn't even met with them. I mean, come on, this is a farce and he knows that he's just there to collect a paycheck. TAPPER: So in yesterday's testimony on the subject of that paycheck, you got him to acknowledge his $32.8 million salary. Now, as a conservative, I don't expect you would support legislation that would specifically impact how much a CEO makes. But what do you think is the role of the government when it comes to how much a CEO made? How much its employees make, deprived any sort of raise in several years, as you noted, like, what is the role of government in that? HAWLEY: Well, let me give you one example, Senator Elizabeth Warren and I often offered a bill -- authored a bill together on executive clawbacks for companies who take these big loans from banks and then fail and make off with the profits. And what we said to that bill is listen, you come in and you take government handouts, you take bank bailouts, and then your bank goes under, you ought to give back all of your executive compensation from the last five years. I think we need to send a message to corporate America, that it's not right, that guys like Calhoun are making 33 million when the 32,000 machinists, Jake, who worked for him in the Pacific Northwest, haven't gotten a significant pay raise in 16 years. TAPPER: You know, it's interesting, because there's this next generation of Republican leaders like you and Senator Vance from Ohio and Senator Rubio from Florida, who sound different when you talk about CEOs than maybe your dad's or granddad's Republican Party. Is that a fair observation? HAWLEY: Well, I hope so. I mean, I hope that's right. I mean, I think this is something that frankly, both parties have gotten wrong in the last 30, 40 years. And what I mean by that is, we've watched jobs go overseas, we've watched blue collar workers lose their jobs, lose their pay, lose the ability to support a family. [17:05:06] Jake, we can't have an economy where, yes, you got a guy who can make $33 million a year who's not even an engineer. Calhoun's not even an engineer, while the folks who actually are supporting this company, on their backs are making next to nothing. I mean, that's just not right. And you cannot build and sustain a great nation on that kind of an economy. We need to put working people first. TAPPER: Given the complexities of the industry and the landscape of production globally, what realistically can the U.S. Senate do to make it so Boeing and other plane manufacturers are not only reliable, but transparent? HAWLEY: Well, I tell you, one thing that I've talked about with Calhoun, with the CEO, is this, Boeing used to, Jake, manufacture almost all of their planes themselves in house. Now, they have over 600 separate suppliers, probably hundreds of more subcontractors worldwide, including many, many in China. I think that we've got to make clear to these guys, you need to bring that production back home. If that means tariffs on the parts that are made overseas, we should do that. If that means that we have tax incentives to make sure they actually make things in this country and pay their workers well, we should do that. But I think the message to corporate America needs to be this era of offshoring and outsourcing, look where it leads, it ends with planes falling out of the sky, that's where it ends. It ends with workers in this country, not able to make ends meet. We've got to change all of the above. TAPPER: So one whistleblower spoke to the -- who spoke to the committee alleges that Boeing has been using subpar parts and actually lied to the FAA about it. Do you expect that person to testify publicly at some point? When might we expect that? What might we hear? HAWLEY: I hope so, Jake, I hope soon. And listen, if that, in fact, if that testimony comes to be it will be of a piece with testimony -- public testimony we've already heard from engineers who say that the 787, the 777, and other Boeing components are not necessarily safe. Listen, we had a top quality engineer testify to us in April that he'd be very reluctant to get on a Boeing airplane right now, because so many corners have been cut. And here's the thing. The deal with a guy like Calhoun, the CEO, is this, he's getting paid to do exactly what he is doing, which is to cut corners, to squeeze profits everywhere he can to get his margins. And if that means that the planes are unsafe, hey, at least he's getting paid, right? That's what needs to change at Boeing. They don't have a culture problem with their employees. They've got a culture problem in the C suite. And that's what needs to happen -- that needs to change. TAPPER: Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, thanks for your time today. HAWLEY: Thank you. TAPPER: And we should note that The Lead reached out to Boeing for comment after its CEO testified. The company responded saying it did not have anything else to add. We're going to have a major update to a lead exclusive that's just in. The Biden administration is bringing back a program for Goldstar families that was shut down nine years ago, a program restored because of a segment that aired right here on this show. A couple of weeks ago, on the 88th anniversary of D-Day, we told you the story of Rondy Elliott, a Goldstar daughter. Her father, Corporal Frank Elliott, was killed during the Normandy invasion. Now for decades, Rondy and other Goldstar families were able to call on the American battlefield Monuments Commission or ABMC to place flowers. Flowers, the families paid for themselves on the graves of their loved ones in the cemeteries overseas such as in Normandy. It meant so much to them. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RONDY ELLIOTT, GOLD STAR DAUGHTER: This is my father's grave in Normandy, with flowers. People walk into the cemetery, they see these flowers and they know that there's somebody at home that still cares about that soldier. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Now nine years ago, presumably for cost cutting reasons, the ABMC shutdown that program. Retired Marine Corps General John Kelly, a Goldstar dad himself, first told us about this program being shut down. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GEN. JOHN KELLY, U.S. MARINE CORPS. (RET.): I think, you know, it's minimal cost to the government, minimal work for the government, I suppose it was some administrative costs and battle monuments, but I can't imagine very much. And even if it was a lot, I mean, they did give their lives for the country, but it just doesn't seem to me that that's much work. And even if it was a lot of work, I mean, just consider the sacrifice. That was a lot of work too. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: Today, because of our report a couple of weeks ago we can now report that this flower program for Gold Star families is going to be reestablished at the ABMC. A White House official tells CNN quote, "The White House saw Jake Tapper's reporting on Gold Star families fighting to restore the program honoring their fallen loved ones. Because of how deep and personal this is to the President, the White House acted quickly with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients directing the team to get the program running," unquote. The White House is working with the ABMC to get the flower program back online as quickly as possible. The White House cautions that it will take some time to do so but they do expect it to be up and running sometime next year. [17:10:12] A new report claims the top Democrats are growing increasingly worried about President Biden's reelection strategy. The journalist behind that story is here live next. Plus, the parents of a hostage who is a dual American-Israeli citizen, these parents are back in D.C. joining The Lead here in studio with their message to the public 257 days after their son was kidnapped. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: Quote, "This is scary." That's how one Democratic strategist close to the Biden campaign is describing the President's current platform which rests on playing up voters' concerns about January 6 and political violence and democracy. And according to Axios reporter Alex Thompson's new reporting, some influential top Democrats warned that this is a losing strategy. [17:15:08] I want to bring in two correspondents who cover national politics, including Alex Thompson of Axios, as well as CNN's Eva McKend. So, explain this. I mean, you know, as they say, the calls coming from inside the House? ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS: Yes. TAPPER: The -- who in Biden world is driving the strategy and who's dissenting? THOMPSON: So the main people that are driving this strategy are the President himself. You've seen whenever he gives democracy speeches he has a little extra oomph, a little extra perkiness that he really sort of sees himself as this bulwark for democracy. But the other main person in this is Mike Donilon, who has been with him since 1981. They basically have, you know, this mind meld and Mike Donilon has argued that basically, January 6, is equivalent to what 9/11 was during the 2004 election, which he also worked on. And he basically feels that the dominant met images in people's minds when they go to vote in November is going to be January 6. But increasingly, especially as the Biden campaign has been spending a ton of money has been ranking up their staff, and the poll numbers have gone nowhere, there's increasing skepticism that this is the strategy that will work and including among Biden people themselves. But there's sort of a culture within the Biden world that's very insular that makes some people scared to bring it up because they're scared of being labeled as being disloyal or not on the team. TAPPER: And Eva, as Biden and Trump are drawing more attention, Robert Kennedy, Jr. is of course trying to get ballot access in more states. Tell us more about that. EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: So he's on the ballot in seven states. He submitted signatures for 23 in total, and they'll still have to work their way through the process. The most consequential state where he's on the ballot of the seventh is Michigan. It is a swing state. He got on the ballot there through a relatively easy process through a minor party called the natural law party. And that is also helpful, because even though he's an independent candidate, that party since they've run candidates in the past, you know, they can advise him in certain ways about how to -- basically how to engage in this process as a minor party candidate. In 2020, President Biden won that state by just about 150,000 votes. In 2016, Hillary Clinton lost it by 10,000 votes. I was in Detroit over the weekend at the, you know, hyper MAGA Turning Point Action convention. But what surprised me, you know, these were by and large Trump supporters was that some of them in Detroit -- from Detroit, Detroit suburbs, they voted for Trump in 2016, and 2020 but previously, some of these auto workers previously voted for Democrats. TAPPER: Yes. MCKEND: Like used to vote for President Obama. TAPPER: Yes. MCKEND: And so that tells me that Democrats have a branding issue in certain parts of Michigan. And Kennedy is really taking advantage of that. You know, he no long -- he distanced himself from the Democratic Party, he tacks to the right on a number of policy issues, and he could still appeal to some of these disaffected voters. TAPPER: Yes. And that's a must win state for Joe Biden. And if he loses Michigan, it's hard to imagine that he's becomes president. MCKEND: It's incredibly consequential. And they recognize that and that's why they are doing outreach there as well, specifically to black voters in the state. THOMPSON: Yes, they call it the blue wall for a reason, right? TAPPER: Yes. Alex, you also spoke to Democratic strategists regarding Biden's preparations for next week, a week from tomorrow. Tell us about that. THOMPSON: It's the highest stakes cram session, probably since he was in college. I mean, this is -- you know, he's been incredibly busy on the campaign trail, doing fundraisers, he went to Europe twice, going back and forth. And essentially, what you're going to see is that he is going to be down for most of this next week. And he is going to be preparing and trying to -- you know, it's sort of an old rule that incumbent presidents do terrible on their first debate when they get back. You remember Barack Obama in 2012, Ronald Reagan in 1984. And basically he's going to try to not fall for the same tricks because they know the stakes. If he has a terrible debate, and not only is going to be more murmurs about, well, can he do it, is this the guy? But then you can see the polls go even further in the wrong direction form. TAPPER: All right, Eva McKend, Alex Thompson, thanks to both you. Appreciate it. Quote, "Unproductive and completely untrue." The back and forth between the Biden White House and one of America's closest allies. That's next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) [17:23:52] TAPPER: Back with our world lead now. Face to face confrontations between top U.S. diplomats and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he accused the U.S. of purposely withholding weapons from Israel. Sources tell CNN that at least two different American diplomats have told Netanyahu that his comments were, quote, "unproductive" and, quote, "completely untrue." Though the U.S. restriction on 2000 pound bombs will stay in place, bombs which the United Nations Human Rights Office warned in a new 16 page report today may have violated international law after Israel use them in attacks targeting refugee camps and schools in Gaza in the early months of the war, pursuing terrorists with Hamas of course. Joining us now an expert in urban warfare retired Major John Spencer. Major, you say Israel is upholding the laws of war given the constraints of urban warfare and the fact that Hamas embeds within civilian populations. CNN reporting shows that these 2000 pound bombs are four times heavier than the largest bombs the U.S. dropped on ISIS in Mosul during the war against ISIS. Given that, do you understand the Biden administration's concerns to continue providing specifically the 2000 pound bombs? JOHN SPENCER, CHAIR OF URBAN WARFARE STUDIES, MODERN WAR INSTITUTE: I understand that that reporting is not factual and it has led to some type of vilification of a very commonly used tool like the 2000 pound bomb that we did use in Mosul. And when use 10s of 1000s in Iraq to include in the invasion that I took part in, we dropped over 5000, four on one building where we thought Saddam might be staying, and he wasn't, an urban areas. [17:25:22] I understand the human rights activist campaign against a 2000 pound bomb, and how they want no bombs used in any urban areas, even the reporting that they'd used them in refugee camps, I mean, on military targets in tunnels, which happened to be under schools, refugee camps and other places. Because what most people don't report on 2000 pound bomb is that one of the reasons you need a bigger bomb is to penetrate the ground to an enemy who is in bunkers and tunnels, which is very well known where Hamas has protected itself underneath its civilians. TAPPER: You're returning to the region soon. Tell us what you plan -- what you're planning to do in terms of the research. SPENCER: Yes, so I've been twice since the war began to include in Khan Yunis and tunnels and in Gaza, which, you know, to me get you the sense of why you need such large ammunition. I'm returning to continue to conduct research on urban warfare. I mean, the war against Hamas in Gaza is the biggest urban centric war since World War II, since Stalingrad, and many other battles. So I'll be on the ground, again, looking at how the IDF have actually implemented more things and more tactics to protect civilians, despite the international condemnation that is not backed up by actual people on the ground conducting research. TAPPER: A Hamas representative in London did an interview with the Lebanese newspaper recently. He said if Hamas could go back in time, they would still carry out the October 7 attack on Israel, in which 1200 individuals were killed more than 200 kidnapped. They said the Hamas representative said it would be justified. How close, in your view, Israel to dismantling Hamas' capabilities to be able to carry out another October 7 like attack? SPENCER: Very close, and actually very close despite, you know, threats, you know, war is, politics. Your greatest strength is your allies, but despite real threats from the United States and others, to not go into places like Southern Gaza, where they're finding hundreds of tunnel shafts and tunnels and rockets. But they have cleared of the major military capabilities of Hamas to do another October 7 attacks. Many areas, but they're -- if they leave, you know, 10 percent to 20 percent of that, it would just be rebuilt. So I think they're very close, actually. TAPPER: The Iran backed militant group in Lebanon Hezbollah, which the U.S. labels terrorist group, published a nine minute drone video showing Israeli military and civilian locations in northern Israel. This comes as Israel says it is, quote, "Approved and validated operational plans for potential military offensive in Lebanon in response to all the missiles that Hezbollah has been firing." What do you make of this very tense moment? How close is all out war on a second front about to happen? SPENCER: Man, I think the tension is very high. And while we say that nobody wants another front, most people don't recognize that there has been another front since October 8, 1000s of Hezbollah rockets landing on Northern Israel and setting Northern Israel on fire. And like you said that video released today where they're threatening to bomb Haifa, a city of over 280,000 civilians, it isn't like Israel hasn't tried everything to include announcing, which is really a standard military practice to have war plans, that these plans are finished ready for approval. You would think that Hezbollah would stop attacking Israel any moment now. But every day for eight months, they haven't. And last week, there are hundreds of projectiles, rockets, drones, mortars, artillery, launched at Northern Israel where 80,000 civilians and every time I go there in the hotels that I go to in central Israel, because they're homeless. TAPPER: Retired Major John Spencer, thanks so much as always for your expertise. And as those battles raged between Israel and Hamas,…