Trump Takes First Flight on Qatari-Gifted Air Force One

25:26We appreciate it. Now to the breaking news and the national lead. A brutal heat wave intensifying across much of the central and eastern United States. More than 180 million people are under a level three or four heat risk, according to the National Weather Service. Over the next few days, temperatures could climb into the mid-90s to low 100s, with humidity pushing feels-like temperatures as high as 110 degrees. CNN's Tom Foreman is on the National Mall, where thousands are expected to gather this weekend for the 4th. Tom, this could be the hottest Independence Day the nation's capital has ever recorded.

26:02How are D.C. officials preparing? Well, with two different messages, for one thing. Local officials in particular are pointing out that this is an extreme heat warning. And they're telling people, you've got to get water. You've got to be unshaded, at least air conditioning if you can. You can't expose yourself to this very long. And they're pointing in some ways, like to the visitors here at the Great American State Fair events here, because a lot of these people are out in the sun, and it's only going to get hotter. In fact, some of the exhibits today, they've had intermittent power problems.

26:34They lost their air conditioning today so much that the workers there simply left their stations and said, fend for yourself, tourists, as best you can. Different message from the administration, though. They've been very troubled by the anemic showing of people here, not that many people. They've been troubled by the embarrassment of what's happened with the reflecting pool down the way, and they really want to have a lot more people out, especially for the 4th, but a big challenge there, too. Security is going to be at the level of an inaugural event, which means more roads closed, more blockages for pedestrians, more waits.

27:07And by the way, Jake, the fireworks are not expected to go until maybe 11 o 'clock at night. That's more time waiting in the heat. All right, Tom Foreman, come in out of the heat. Get some air conditioning. The Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, he had the power to retry former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein on a single rape charge. Why didn't he? Hear his explanation in a CNN exclusive next.

27:35I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. Nelson Dallas is a six-time U.S. memory champion who not only trained his brain to work better, but he also wrote about it for his new book called Everyday Genius. You know, the message is, is that everybody, no matter where you are in life, what you think your memory currently is capable of, we all can transform our brain. The mind and memory is just like any other skill that you can learn, and it's not a fixed thing. Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now wherever you get your podcasts. In our Law and Justice lead in a CNN-exclusive interview, the Manhattan District Attorney, Alvin Bragg, is explaining his stunning decision to let an unresolved rape charge against Harvey Weinstein, go.

28:23The 74-year-old disgraced Hollywood mogul still in prison, convicted of a sexual felony in New York and others in California. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister sat down with District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Elizabeth, what kept Bragg from putting Weinstein on trial for a fourth time? Look, Jake, so Harvey Weinstein, who you know has denied every allegation against him for years, He says that this case should have never taken place and should have never taken place in the first place. But, Jake, when I sat down with Alvin Bragg, he explained to me that it was actually because he wanted to keep the survivor in mind.

29:00I just sat down with him this morning. Take a look. So I want to start off by reading some of Jessica Mann's letter, which is emotional and heartbreaking to read. she says I could no longer endure going through this any longer in my fight to see justice it has nearly stolen a decade of my life and put me through more harm than good was the decision not to proceed with another trial because of Jessica Mann and that she did not wish to do so so first I mean the letter is like sobering and heartbreaking and it grabs you. I thought it was great to hear her in her own voice. You know so much of this process is lawyers talking, a judge talking, we hear from jurors, we hear from witnesses, and to have her unfiltered speak.

30:03So I thought that was important. Did you make that decision alongside her? Yes, yes, in consultation with her, mindful of her thoughts, some of which are articulated in the letter. When you look at the Weinstein case holistically, what do you feel about it? Do you feel that it was a positive thing? Was this a win? I think one thing I can say unequivocally is that there are no winners here. But I think there are lessons learned. I think there's accountability. I think there's support. And I think, as you mentioned earlier, one positive development is that the courage of survivors who have the power to come forward given who he was at that time.

30:59Your office recently announced that you are investigating Eric Swalwell and that came after my colleagues at CNN came out with reporting that a staffer said that he had sex with her when she was not able to consent. Any updates on that investigation? We're here to support, we're here to help, we're here to listen And so if there are any survivors with information about anyone you just mentioned or anyone, we're here for all of them. That investigation is still ongoing, though? I'm not going to comment as a particular other than to say survivors should feel free to come forward to us. And that we're here to listen and support them.

31:44Look, Jake, you heard there we were talking about some of the more high profile cases that Bragg's office has prosecuted. But Bragg reiterated repeatedly through my interview with him that this is a crisis that is happening every day to our neighbors, to people around us. And those are the cases he really wants to focus on. And, Jake, I just want to read you a few stats. The reality is 98 percent of perpetrators walk free for every 1 ,000 sexual assault. only 28 cases lead to conviction. So this is a huge widespread problem and it's something that he wants to continue to shine a light on. All right, Elizabeth Wegmeister, thanks so much for that.

32:22Coming up next, the reporter breaking the news today about a telephone call from former Vice President Kamala Harris to New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani. Did you want to talk about 2028.

33:01They don't move on, they manifest. They're not a demographic group, they're fans. Spotify Advertising, you're among fans. In our politics lead, former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris seems to be reading the progressive writing on the wall. Axios reports that she called up New York Democratic Socialist Mayor Zoram Mamdani last week and has been holding meetings with other progressives and pro-Palestinian activists, possibly in preparation for a 2028 presidential run. Our panel's here. And Alex, let's start with you on your scoop here. So you report that Harris reached out to the leader of the uncommitted movement that sprung up in opposition to Biden's support for Netanyahu and his Gaza policy.

33:47The uncommitted did not endorse Harris, possibly hurt her ability to win, Michigan and other places. Do pro-Palestine voices see her outreach as a positive sign of change. I would say the people that she has met with did feel that she actually really engaged and listened and had a number of conversations. In fact, she met with the co-leader of the Uncommoned Movement in Detroit just last week and had several conversations before that as well. Now, the broader movement, I mean, based just on the reception to this story alone, they don't feel that way because they didn't see her do any real voicing.

34:23Now, being a vice president is a difficult job when you if you disagree with the policy of the principal, you're not really allowed to articulate that. That being said, even there's not been reporting to date of her voicing significant objections internally inside the meetings. And that's what a lot of these people are pointing to. But to the broader point about how this affects the potential presidential election, you don't make these moves unless A, you believe that the left is ascendant and B, that you feel you have to protect your left flank in a potential presidential primary. and she the last six this is not a one-off the last six months she is acting like a candidate oh absolutely um sochi mom donnie was asked about his contact with harris today he kept it pretty short and sweet take a listen did she mention the presidential race in 2028 i have a lot of respect for the former vice president i don't think that that relates to our preparations for this weekend.

35:17It's amazing he gets away with that. Honestly, what the heck? Do you think Mondani wants to be associated with Harris? Progressives seem to have a solid amount of momentum without her. I mean, I think that he is, I don't think it is that. I think he's probably having its respect for a foreign vice president and their private conversation. I do think that Mondani will probably be courted by the left flank of the party. And there are many that are considering whether they're going to run for president. And a lot of the Bernie Sanders sort of type of staffers that used to work for him are eyeing different candidates right now and looking to work and to see who they all fall in line with.

35:56And I think there was a lot of talk about AOC. There's a lot of talk about Ro Khanna. I am sure he's going to be pulled in all different directions. But I think with Harris, this was actually the first sign Alex is reporting that it actually seems like she is running. I thought the book was something that, you know, she wanted to stay relevant. She wanted to be involved. 107 days. But this is the first time where I feel like this is actually her taking a step towards running. This isn't what a former vice president does. This is someone who wants to know where the energy of the party is. And I do think that with his recent policies, whether it is freezing the rent or universal childcare, affordability is the name of the game.

36:34And if she is going to run for president, she knows she's going to have to run on affordability, and she's going to want some of the input and some of the support by some of the far left. And so I do find it very interesting. This seems like a step towards running. So let's talk about the left flank here for a second, Governor, because the DSA candidates have beaten Congresswoman Diana DeGette last night in Colorado. They failed two Democratic incumbent congressmen last week in New York. They picked up a seat in Philadelphia. But that's four seats. there might be one or two others. Are we in the media making too big a deal out of the socialist left ascending?

37:14Or do you see this the same way as Republicans looked at the Tea Party? No, no, I think it's a very fair conversation. I was in Congress with Congresswoman DeGette that lost that election. And whenever you see the party moving that left, when you see socialists winning these elections, that's a big story. And so I'm amazed with this conversation, actually. And that is really helpful for the Republican side in 2028. When you look at Kamala Harris, seeing the party shifting left, and then she's got the burden of the Biden presidency, in which she in the debate could not even distinguish any views that she had different from President Biden.

37:56So she really has a lot of ground to make up. And the shift to the left, I think, plays in the hands of the Republican Party and wanting to maintain leadership in 2028. So let's talk about the birthright citizenship decision yesterday, because this is a point of contention within the conservative movement. Yesterday, Colorado Republican Lauren Boebert posted on X or Twitter, quote, the State Department should immediately cease to give out visas to pregnant applicants. Sorry, birth tourism cannot continue, unquote. This is in reference to the Supreme Court upholding that if you're born in the United States, you are automatically conferred American citizenship.

38:38Now, Sean Davis, founder of The Federalist, CEO of The Federalist, suggested as one potential remedy for this ruling, barring all female foreigners, end quote, quote, require sterilization of visitors to this country. Homeland Security Secretary Mark Wayne Mullen seemed to agree that some steps should be taken. A Fox News host suggested barring pregnant women from traveling to the U.S. Here is what Mullen had to say. Looking at the territories, whereas China especially is abusing in Guam or other places, and saying, OK, you're eight and a half months pregnant. Maybe you shouldn't get on that plane.

39:14Well, because where they go to and they show up late, it can cause a health issue for the mother. Now, it is true that women who are that pregnant, eight and a half months, airlines say you probably shouldn't travel. What do you make of this whole conversation? It's just interesting to me that the Republican Party claims that they're the party that is pro-life, but yet they're inching towards discriminating and profiling pregnant women. I would say that Border Patrol is not, what are they going to start doing? Are they going to try to start identifying women at the border and say, hey, you look pregnant.

39:49Maybe you shouldn't come over. I mean, is that where our country is going? Where now pregnant women will be the ones that are harassed because they are potentially undocumented or have legal status and are not U.S. citizens and could give birth in the United States? I mean, that is a very scary time. being pregnant being a woman is already tough as it is and then also now to be targeted by your federal government because you're pregnant that to me is not pro-life pro-family which the Republican Party says that they are now there is birth tourism is it is an actual thing where Chinese especially a lot of people who are Chinese national go to Guam to have their children but is it big enough for there to be a debate about whether or not pregnant women should be barred from entering the country first of all I understand about 20 to 26 ,000 births happen in the United States from people that come in here who are not citizens.

40:39And so it's really a small number, but it's illegal. If you have birth tourism, that's a crime. You can be prosecuted for it. We have a lot of protections already through our, not Border Patrol, but through our State Department that interviews people who are applying for a visa. There can be a lot of considerations that they could address. I think all of this is really a debate that leads to the solution of a constitutional amendment. And I think that's a much more thoughtful approach to the concern that people have that just because you're born in the United States does not mean you're automatically a citizen.

41:17Yeah. Go ahead. Well, this may be the end of the legal debate for now, but it's only part of the larger political debate. J.D. Vance was on Fox News last night, basically said we had one bad decision, but we're going to keep trying. And if you're a candidate running for president in the GOP side in 2028, you are most likely going to run on either a constitutional amendment or changing legislation to end birthright citizenship in a certain way. This is not, this issue is settled legally, but not politically. All right, fascinating stuff. Thanks one and all, appreciate it. President Trump made more than$2 billion just last year.

41:49You guys did that well, Alex? $2 billion, no? Okay. Who's calling it out? Do Republicans care about potential conflicts of interest? I'm gonna ask a Republican lawmaker next.

42:07Welcome to The Lead. I'm Dick Tapper. This hour, the midterm elections are quickly approaching, but instead of aiming their fire at each other, the two parties are embroiled in civil wars. House Speaker Mike Johnson sending Republicans home as their agenda is derailed by GOP hardliners while another Democratic socialist knocks out another longtime Democratic incumbent. What is the path forward for these parties? I'm going to ask a member of each party, each stuck in the middle of the chaos in moments. Also, nearly half of all Americans are facing heat alerts as a major heat wave settles in across the eastern United States, here in the nation's capital, where America 250 celebrations are already underway.

42:45It's set to be the hottest ever, 4th of July, ever recorded in Washington, D.C. We're going to the CNN Weather Center for an update on this dangerous forecast. Plus, speaking of America 250, we're going to go one-on-one with the CEO of Ford at their company's new exhibit celebrating American innovations. Hear what CEO Jim Farley has to say about ongoing threats from China, the growing importance of AI, and the tens of thousands of jobs that Ford is trying to fill. And we're less than two hours away from a do or die for Team USA in the World Cup. A victory means advancing to the Final 16, a loss, and the team's run is over.

43:22Fans are already packing the streets in the stands for the high-stakes game. That's ahead.

43:31Billy, tonight the intra-party upsets, threatening the future of both the Democratic and Republican coalitions in Colorado. Democratic socialists strike again with 29-year-old Milat Kiyos, defeating the progressive incumbent who's been in office since before Kiyos was born, amid a wave of left-flank wins nationwide. We will not wait to put an end to the politics of the past, to get big money out of our politics. This is about something so much bigger than this moment, than one moment. This is a movement. The socialist surge is sending shutters throughout the Democratic establishment. Party leaders now trying to confront its far-left members and their frequently controversial views.

44:19Meanwhile, a Republican rebellion stalls key bills on Capitol Hill over the lack of Senate support for President Trump's Save America Election Security Act. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent the entire House home last night early without a vote on the national defense bill. And joining me now, Republican Congressman James Comer from Kentucky. He is the chairman of the House Oversight Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. So this group of Republican hardliners yesterday voted down what was essentially a compromise from Speaker Johnson. He was trying to put the Save America Act, the president's favored election security bill, onto the defense bill, the National Defense Authorization Act.

45:02He was trying to add it as an amendment. And they voted it down, saying the strategy wasn't good enough. What do you make of what happened? Well, I've had to deal with a few of these Republicans that continue to tank the procedural votes. They joined with the Democrats to tank even the rules to begin discussion on the bill. I mean, we can't even vote on the bill, much less debate a bill. I mean, it's very frustrating to be in Congress right now. And I felt like Speaker Johnson gave them what they initially asked for, even though we've already passed the Save America Act and it's in the Senate.

45:40And according to Thune, they don't have the votes to pass it. But then those members led by my friend and colleague, Anna Polina Luna, they rejected that. So sometimes I feel like some of those Republicans don't know when to declare victory in many of the crusades that they lead. And I believe in the cause. But punishing the House for inaction in the Senate is not a good strategy for Republicans moving forward in the House of Representatives. President Trump, as is required by law, filed his financial disclosures for 2025 and revealed he had made an eye popping two point two billion dollars last year, including more than one billion dollars from crypto related ventures.

46:23Today he's showing off the new Air Force One gifted by Qatar that was retrofitted using taxpayer funds and is probably going to end up with him in Florida, perhaps at the Trump library. He's denying any conflict of interest concerns. Obviously, you investigated the Biden family over potentially improper financial activities related to ties to power, whether Biden is vice president or president. Do any of President Trump's activities concern you? Well, first of all, the difference in Trump and Biden is Trump's putting him on his disclosure form. So he's being transparent about the great amount of wealth that he's accumulated over the past 12 months, whereas the Biden family were not transparent and to this day have not admitted.

47:11What I believe you and I have talked about before, they were taking money from other countries. Now, do I like what President Trump's doing? I mean, that's, you know, obviously another discussion. But at the end of the day, what he's what he's done is he's filled out his disclosure form and I don't think he's left anything out. So he's he's in compliance with the law. I think the laws should be looked at with respect to what assets and what type of income a president and their family should be allowed to earn while the president's in office. We've never had a president that was a businessman. We've had presidents like Jimmy Carter that had a little business about the size of my small business back in Kentucky.

47:56But we've never had a mega multi-millionaire or now billionaire president. And, you know, I think that in the future we're probably going to have more business people that are elected president in both parties. So I think that there's going to be some discussion about ethics laws and things moving forward. But to answer your question, Jake, it doesn't appear to me that President Trump's done anything illegal. Well, that's not really necessarily the question, though, right? The question is whether or not he's financially benefiting from the presidency in terms of crypto, in terms of people going to Mar-a-Lago.

48:32It amounts to more than$2 billion. And then, of course, you have his kids, his sons, Eric and Don Jr., who are entering into various ventures that foreign governments that do business with their dad and need their dad are working with them on, whether it's that tungsten mine or all the crypto investments. None of this raises eyebrows for you? Well, yeah, I mean, there are a lot of things that raise eyebrows to me when it comes to ethics and financial disclosure. But again, they're disclosing that. And that's a big difference between the Trump family and the Biden family. Now, the question is, should Congress do something about this moving forward?

49:15I actually had a bill last year with Katie Porter, a Democrat from California, who unfortunately no longer is in Congress. She ran for governor of California. But we had an ethics bill that would have required more financial disclosures from the president of the United States and the president's family. But Jamie, you're asking, blocked the bill from getting out of the House Oversight Committee. And it's very unfortunate because I think that would have created more transparency. But again, it didn't make illegal what the Trump family's done. I do think, Jake, that there will be many discussions about this scenario moving forward in Congress.

49:54And I can see a scenario where the next president will have much stricter financial disclosure laws and probably rules pertaining to what is allowable with respect to foreign business transactions from not just a president but his immediate family. Let's talk about the House oversight investigation into Jeffrey Epstein that you're leading yesterday. You heard from longtime Clinton aide, Bill Clinton aide, Doug Band, who, according to Congresswoman Nancy Mace, walked back a claim that he had made in 2003 to Vanity Fair that President Clinton had visited Epstein's island. What more can you tell us about that?

50:33Yeah, we'll be releasing that transcript as soon as all the lawyers agree to it. So hopefully by Monday or Tuesday. But she's correct in what she said. We all knew going into this interview that Doug Bandit said to Vanity Fair that President Trump had visited the island. And he was President Trump's scheduler and assistant. And with President or with President Clinton, rather, he said President Clinton had been to the Epstein Island. And he was President Clinton's assistant and had gone with President Clinton on all the Epstein flights. So when we asked President Clinton in his interview, he said he had never been to the island.

51:11So this was a very important question that I knew Doug Band would be expecting. And he said that the Vanity Fair essentially misquoted him. And we asked Doug Band, well, did you try to correct it with Vanity Fair? And he said no. So that's a pretty big omission there. But that was what he stated under oath that that President Clinton did not attend or ever visit Epstein Island, even though even though Vanity Fair quoted him as saying he did. And a one of the Epstein victims also said that she saw President Clinton on the island. So that's what we got out of that transcribed interview, and that interview was like so many others that we've had where many of these men just couldn't recall.

51:57They just couldn't recall the activities or the surroundings when they spent time with Epstein. They admitted to spending a lot of time with Epstein only because there's e-mails and travel records that show they were with Epstein, but just so many of these men just can't recall the exact details of that. It's been a pretty frustrating investigation, but I do think that we're making progress. We're getting names. We're referring those names back to the Department of Justice of people that, according to the victims, were abused in Jeffrey Epstein's presence. All right, Republican Congressman Chairman James Comer, thank you so much for your time today, sir.

52:38Have a happy Fourth of July. Thank you, Jake. Appreciate it. Let's turn out of the divide in the Democratic Party. Here with me to discuss is Colorado Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper. Senator Hickenlooper, you managed to fend off a challenge in your Democratic primary yesterday from a progressive state senator, Julie Gonzalez, a former Democratic socialist who campaigned along with the controversial podcaster Hassan Piker. Why do you think you were able to hold off an opponent from the left when other incumbents this cycle have not been as lucky? Well, thanks, Jake. Let me tell you, we pushed on what pretty much everyone's pushed on, which is the corruption at the White House, the chaos that President Trump has created.

53:25We went to every corner of the state and, A, made a case, whether we're talking about the cost of living emergency, where President Trump came in and his first big, beautiful, I call it the big, bad betrayal act. But, you know, he took basically millions of people, lost their health care so that they could get a massive tax cut to billionaires and the largest corporations. And they went from that into tariffs, where for small businesses in Colorado, it meant they were paying more for all the components of what they made. And then often they were having unable to get the prices they're used to getting from foreign countries because of retaliatory tariffs.

54:04And then you get into the war and you look at the war, what that's done to I mean, look at farmers and ranchers. that diesel is a huge cost of modern farming. But then you tack on the incredible inflation on fertilizer, which is for a while there, even more than the inflation of diesel. I mean, this coming in a drought year where farmers aren't sure what the commodity prices will be because of the tariff situation, what they'll get. I mean, all this, we went from one corner to the next. And made the same points again and again and again, that was the roundtables or whatever, that we were going to fight for this.

54:40We're going to fight Trump from top to bottom. I wasn't seeing everybody else's campaign, but I know we did a full court press on this ourselves. So with respect, you didn't really answer my question. I guess maybe you did in a way. Like I'm asking how you fended off this challenge from the left in your party successfully. You won 55 to 45 and others have not been able to do so as well. Perhaps your answer is in how on message you were in your response that you just stayed on message, which was a number of progressive arguments. But but let me know your colleague, Congresswoman Diana DeGette, she lost her seat last night to a Democratic socialist.

55:18She's a progressive incumbent like you. So what's going on with that race that you were able? Is it just that her district her district is more progressive than Colorado as a whole? Yeah, she's representing the city and county of Denver mostly. And that is a very liberal, very progressive component of Colorado. I was running for the whole state. Right. And when you get out to the West Slope and the Eastern Plains, those are much more conservative areas. While I was governor there, I went to great lengths to get out there and hear the issues facing ranchers and farmers and the issues around tariffs and the issues around water.

55:56and I think that makes it easier for me to defend my turf. So the winner, Manat Kiros, she declined during her campaign to call the attack on the Boulder, Colorado march for Israeli hostages. She declined to call it an act of anti-Semitism. She has also told local news that America shares responsibility for the 9-11 terrorist attack. Now, she's not the only DSA candidate to make more controversial remarks like this. Do you have any concerns that some of these DSA candidates who have views that are more controversial like this might actually hurt your party, even while they are also bringing energy and enthusiasm?

56:40Yeah. And again, you and almost everyone I've talked to today really wants to talk about what are the differences? Are we OK with the differences? is I'll tell you what we are united about. We are united that we all have to work to make sure we win the Senate back in November. We've got to win back and we're united to win back the House. And we're united to win back and push back against the White House. And I think, you know, I don't agree with everything that Ms. Kuros is claiming and fighting for, but I believe in a big tent that if the Democratic Party is going to really represent farmers and ranchers and middle-class workers and be able to compete in states like Indiana, Kansas, and Nebraska, we've got to have a big tent.

57:26And we're not going to agree on everything. And we're going to make our arguments within our party and fight hard for what we believe. But the bottom line is we are united that we have to win back the Senate and the House. Before you go, I do want to ask you about the deadly wildfires tearing across the western U.S. right now, including in Colorado. What can you tell us about the efforts to contain the fires and about relief for those impacted. Yeah, I was, I went out there actually on Monday. It wasn't how I planned to spend the day before the election. We've got nine wildfires in Colorado. We went to the incident command center and they're doing everything they can.

58:02When you lose firefighters, we lost three firefighters over the weekend. It is, it is a loss for the, for the states and for all of us, we feel it. But for their families and for the other firefighters, it is just, I've gone through this a number of times back when I was governor. It gets worse every time. And wildfires, I mean, people are saying, oh, climate change is exaggerated. It's not real. This is going to be the hottest, the hottest July 4th in Washington, D.C., we just heard. It's also going to be probably the hottest, driest Fourth of July that we've ever seen in the West. And we're going to have to get a lot better at fighting fires and doing more with less in terms of water and some of the tools we use to fight those fires because we're not going to have enough.

58:48Colorado Democratic Senator John Hickenlooper, congratulations on your primary win and have a happy fourth. Thanks, Jake. A dangerous and record-setting heat wave is settling in, putting tens of millions of Americans at risk as we head into the long July 4th holiday weekend. We're going to get an updated forecast from the CNN Weather Center next.

59:15International lead. It is hot. It is dangerously hot. Some 150 million people across the United States are under heat warnings as a scorching heat wave expands and intensifies along the east coast of the United States. Bringing triple digit highs and little relief overnight for the July 4th holiday weekend. Allison Chinchar is tracking this heat wave in the CNN Weather Center. Allison, what can Americans expect heading into the 4th of July weekend? Yeah, roughly half of the U.S. population is going to be looking at these extreme temperatures just because of exactly where this heat dome has kind of set up.

59:49So you've got the high pressure system kind of hovering right over the Tennessee Valley. What that's essentially doing is it's trapping all of that heat down at the surface level and doing it for several days in a row. And that's what's leading to these extreme temperatures. That's why you have all of these heat alerts, in effect, stretching from Louisiana all the way up to Maine. And in some cases, these areas are under those alert for three to four days in a row. When you look at these temperatures going forward, again, Atlanta, looking in the mid to upper 90s, every single one of the next few days, Raleigh, D.C., New York, even getting some of their numbers into the triple digits.

1:00:25Keep in mind, this is the actual air temperature. Now when we take into account the humidity, getting that feels like temperature or the heat index, those numbers go even higher. Raleigh, look at this. The coolest of the heat index is 102. Washington, D.C., looking at Thursday, Friday, and Saturday right around that 110 mark for the feels like temperature. The other concern here, too, is the overnight lows. They are not getting low enough to really effectively allow the body to cool down at night before it has to rebound back again for those afternoon high temperatures. What we mean is take New York, for example, 80 is all the cooler it's going to get tomorrow morning, 83 for Friday, and then 80 yet again on Saturday morning.

1:01:06So this is a concern, not just because it feels uncomfortable, but for health safety reasons. That's why you have a lot of these areas in this purple shaded color you see here, not just for Thursday, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That's the extreme risk level that we have here. And the big concern when you get those high-risk days where you have that purple color, especially for multiple days in a row, is it increases people's risks for things like heat exhaustion and heat stroke, especially when you are in that purple color for several days in a row. So a lot of officials really kind of recommending folks just avoid the outdoors at all possible.

1:01:40If you have to be out there, wear lightweight, light-colored clothing and also stay hydrated as often as you can throughout the day. All right, Allison Chinchar, thank you so much for the update. Serious misconduct allegations are rocking a Republican primary in Arizona with fewer than three weeks until Election Day. We'll explain next.

1:02:04I've been called a racist. I've been called a misogynist. I'm going to tell you, folks, these are lies. Our politics lead, that is a former Pinal County sheriff and Trump endorsed Republican candidate for Arizona's fifth congressional seat. Mark Lamb denying reports from the Arizona Republic after the newspaper uncovered and published explicit text messages, threats and racist messages going back to 2016, allegations his Republican rival in the primary called disqualifying. And some voters in the Ruby Red District seem to agree, as CNN's Lee Waldman reports. In the desert of the East Valley, a congressional race is turning up the heat.

1:02:44They never talk about the job that I did. They only talk about personal things, personal lies and attacks. Not across party lines, but between two Republicans in a deep red congressional district. You know what would be nice? Instead of me having to answer Mark Lamb's questions, if he could answer the questions. Business owner Daniel Keenan and former Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb, who's been endorsed by President Trump and who is facing allegations of sexual impropriety and racist and discriminatory comments, according to reporting by the Arizona Republic. In one online exchange from 2016 uncovered by the Republic, Lamb made a racist joke in response to a post from a member of a border vigilante group who used the N-word.

1:03:30CNN has not independently verified many of the claims detailed by the Republic. I signed the petition to put him on the ballot for sheriff because at the time I didn't know anything about this. And he was a member of the church. And usually that means he's a good guy, right? Stephanie Wright is a longtime friend of Jillian Standard, who accuses Lamb of facilitating a sexual relationship between her then-husband and Lamb's wife. She offered to share some of the pictures, and I saw them on her phone, and it was just yuck. It was enough to solidify that this was truth that she was sharing. In 2018, Wright says she and Standard reported the behavior to leadership at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where Lamb is a member and both women are former members.

1:04:16Lamb is now running for Congress on a platform of faith, family and freedom. There's a lot of work that needs to be done and we need real patriots in Washington to do it. Lamb's campaign declined CNN's request for an interview or to respond directly to Wright's claims. but in a statement said the stories printed in the Arizona Republic are decade-old lies and slander from long-discredited individuals who've been attacking Sheriff Lamb and his family for years. Sharman Pullman agrees. It's a gut feeling, something inside of me and hearing him and hearing Keenan that I know it flies. Keenan is digging in and has spent six figures making the allegations a centerpiece of his messaging.

1:05:00Local news has reported on Mark Lamb's disqualifying behavior, sending pornographic images of himself and his wife to unwilling recipients. After coming out to see Keenan speak, Kathy Atkinson says she's grateful there's an alternative to Lamb she can vote for. It's really the allegations about his personal life that I think, you know, we're kind of on a path that this behavior is becoming more mainstream. So I'd like to speak against that. Right. A three-time Trump voter is certain. If Lamb becomes a Republican nominee, he won't have her vote. To the people who are supporting him, because he is the frontrunner in all of this, who say, look, this is 10 years ago.

1:05:44It was something happening in his private life. Why should it matter? You know, and that's a hard question to answer because I can see that. And people do change and, you know, situations change. So I think that it matters now because it shows a character pattern. It shows that he is not who he claimed to be. Lee Waldman, CNN, Gilbert, Arizona. Thanks to Lee Waldman for that report. Up next, we're going to go one-on-one with the CEO of Ford, as his company marks the 4th of July celebrations with a tribute to American innovation.

1:06:27In our Money Leads, there are so many challenges facing American automakers these days, from tariffs to high gas prices to foreign competition to AI to a labor force not matching the skills they need. Earlier today, I hopped over to Union Station here in Washington, D.C. to see an exhibit for the Ford Motor Company, one of America's most iconic companies, from the Model T, the vehicle that revolutionized transportation, to the iconic Mustang and its prominent roles in films like Bullitt. And there I spoke with the Ford CEO, Jim Farley. There's so many iconic models here. We're standing in front of a 56 Ford Thunderbird.

1:07:04It was a Model T over there. At one point, we're kind of like every person's brand, you know, with the Model T. And, you know, when cars became more than transportation with the Mustang, we were kind of the one that democratized cool for average person. And, you know, we had break out vehicles like the T-Bird and American Graffiti that, you know, a lot of us grew up being unique. I think it's our commitment to making vehicles for everyone that makes us different. Why is Ford here with this exhibit for America's 250th? Because for half the country's history, Ford's been intertwined from the$5 a day wage and the great migration from the south to the war effort and the arsenal of democracy, building the mission control for Gemini and Apollo.

1:07:54Our history as a company is so intertwined with America. And, you know, we think that the history of 250 years should highlight companies like Ford that are just as interesting part of our history. I don't think you could think of our country today without a company like Ford You know, we developed our industrial capability and are still fighting for that future with countries like China now dominating global auto. You know, if we were ever to have to go to war, companies like Ford would be what the country would rely on to make, you know, to defend ourselves. And we're a global company, so we compete everywhere.

1:08:40And we're also the most American. We produce 85 % of our vehicles in the U.S. No one's even close to that. 125 years ago when Ford started, do you think anybody back then could have imagined that racing would be what it has become? Now it's a major American and worldwide pastime. In fact, the company's starting started with a race. Our sweepstakes car, Mr. Ford had no money. He had gone bankrupt twice. He sponsored a race. To win a race, he used the winnings from the sweepstakes race to start his third car company ford motor company yeah so our company was founded on racing frankly and uh we won le mans we're the first american company to win le mans we love it because our engineers can get immediate feedback of whether their idea was really not good or really good in a racetrack just like our founding fathers had parts of them in terms of slavery and other things that were that don't didn't age well yeah uh henry ford obviously had some very troubled beliefs and everything.

1:09:42He was also a rather notorious anti-Semite. I think founders, you know, founders are founders and, you know, he is who he is. You know, history is pretty clear about all that. I would say for us in the company, we're extremely proud of the great migration, the$5 a day wage. My grandfather's an hourly worker. He was an orphan. He had nothing. His job at four got my mom to college. That's the part of Ford that's also important to understand. People wondering about your last name. You are first cousins with Chris Farley, the comedian. Yes, but I'm not funny at all. You're not funny at all? He got all the funny?

1:10:22He got the entire gene pool. Actually, I have two other cousins that are working comics, his brothers too, so kind of runs in the family, and Chris was special, let's say it that way. It was pretty obvious, at least in our family, that he had some serious physical talent. What are some of the other ways Ford technology has played a role in this country that people might not know about? When you say we built mission control for Apollo and Gemini, they're surprised. I think, you know, obviously the arsenal of democracy was a pretty huge moment for the company. During World War II? Yes, and later, you know, we made the B-24s, the original Jeep.

1:11:01We made all the bodies. You know, we produced tanks and boats and everything in World War I and World War II. We made almost 300 ,000 Jeeps in our facility where we make the F-150 today. I think Ford has always, you know, answered the call when the country needs us. What's the threat from China to a company like Ford? I've never seen anything like it. Like what are they doing? Well, they will export 10 million vehicles this year. That's more than we produce in our entire country. China will export more than South Korea and Japan combined this year. Oh, wow. We have never seen this kind of export power.

1:11:32And their factories are still, you know, a third empty. We think about the average China exported vehicle has probably$5 ,000 of government support, tax advantages, you know, free training, free land, you know, R &D credits. That's a big advantage they have. You also have been having some problems with people meeting the skills necessary for hiring. Tell us about that and what can be done about it. We have a crisis in our country that people aren't talking about it, the essential economy. People that build things, drive things. We have a huge shortage. In our industry, for example, we have 400 ,000 openings for technicians to work on cars.

1:12:14400 ,000 openings. Yes, and those jobs go, entry job 50 grand goes up to$150 ,000. And how do people get trained so that they can get one of these jobs? Because these are good jobs, right? They are six-figure jobs. Yeah, and our plumbers, electricians in our country, they don't have a succession. There's not people going into these skilled trades like there were with my grandparents and my parents. And this is what made our country great. We have a huge crisis with all this AI going on of all these skilled trades. If you really look technically at the job openings in America, there are great jobs that have huge deficits, but it requires technical training and it requires time.

1:12:55All of us, we convinced our kids they have to get a four-year education to have a valuable career. Well, that's total baloney. This is cable. You could use stronger language than that if you want. My cousin would. Okay, your cousin would. That's right. Our thanks to Ford CEO Jim Farley for that little tour. Today, President Trump showed off the new Air Force One. It's an estimated$400 million gift from Qatar. It comes just as we're learning more about just how much money. We're talking billions Trump has made since returning to the White House. That's next.

1:13:34There's never been a plane like it. Frankly, we couldn't build a plane like this because we wouldn't be willing to spend the kind of money necessary. They spent top dollars. Our politics lead, that's President Trump defending his brand new Air Force One gift before its inaugural flight today to North Dakota. It was a$400 million present from the government of Qatar that the Air Force secretary told lawmakers last month would cost less than$400 million of taxpayer money to retrofit in order to meet security standards. The plane is likely to leave the government along with President Trump and go to Florida with him when he is his terms over.

1:14:12Our panels in the studio. Thanks so much for being here, folks. So after White House Communications Director Steve Chung posted from inside the plane, California Governor Gavin Newsom responded, quote, air fraud won. But we should note it's not just Democrats criticizing the new Air Force won this$400 million gift for President Trump. You'll remember a staunch Trump supporter and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer posted this back when the gift was announced. Quote, this is really going to be such a stain on the administration. I think she was saying that more in regret than anger. Sure, Michael, do you agree?

1:14:43Is this a stain on the administration along with the$2.2 billion that President Trump made last year? You know, I had never agreed with this gift. And I remember when we first talked about it on your show several months ago. And I was appalled by the fact that we would allow the president of the United States to fly on a plane from a foreign country that I guess is quasi-friendly when they want to be, considering the history of Qatar endorsing terrorism, etc. Hamas is a whole branch there. I understand they stripped the plane and they enhanced it with security features, but I don't like this, Jake.

1:15:15I'm going to be honest, and if a Democrat were to do something like this, my side, rightfully so, would be appalled by it. I'm a bit dismayed that Boeing has taken so long to build new, modern Air Force Ones for the commander-in-chief, but to take a gift from a foreign adversary or, again, friendly quasi-state, I can't support it. I'm sorry. This is just not a good look to me. And Adrian, the$400 million pales in comparison to the$2.2 billion Trump raked in last year, according to the financial disclosure report, that by law he has to file. Democratic Congressman Jason Crowe from Colorado posted, quote, Trump made$1 billion from his crypto ventures while in office.

1:15:55Today he's taking his first flight on his illegal$400 million gift from a foreign government. This grift and corruption is staggering. Accountability is coming. I suppose that's a reference to Democrats recapturing the House this fall, and we shall see about that. Do you think that there is a choice Democrats have to make here in running on affordability or running on going after what they are describing as corruption? Well, I think they're essentially one in the same, Jake, because, yes, if you are somebody in America who is trying to figure out how to buy groceries, how to put food on the table, how to afford your medicine, how to, you know, provide for your family, And then you're looking at Donald Trump running around in this plane from a foreign country that is sometimes on our side, as Sir Michael said, sometimes not.

1:16:36And you're looking at also how much money, most importantly, Donald Trump has made while in office the second time around. And you're thinking, is he fighting for me or is he fighting to enrich himself and his family? It is a simple analysis of where things stand. And I think when you are the average voter trying to decide who to vote for in the midterms, if you are on the fence, all you have to do is look at, see who's making a lot of money. And that's Trump versus is he fighting for you and he's not. And just quickly, I'll say that's the argument that we don't want to debate going into midterms when we're running against Democrats this fall.

1:17:12I've said this for months now. The priority for the Republican Party must be affordability, cost of living and housing. Anytime we endorse or not say something about an issue that recedes our ability to stand firm on that point, you're effectively granting Democratic friends a potential victory on a silver platter. And that's something that I and I would imagine every other Republican strategist in this town would not want to do. Speaking of affordability, Vice President Vance had this message for Democrats last night on Fox. Take a listen. I would love it if Democrats were willing, you know, not that they are going to agree with Republicans, all the time.

1:17:49But if they were willing to work with us on lowering housing prices, on lowering gas prices, on actually making the lives of American citizens better, you know, we could have some real bipartisan compromise. That's not what they're talking about. He wishes that Democrats were willing to work with them on a bipartisan compromise on lowering housing prices. I mean, what do you even say to that, Jay? Does he think that the American people are not paying attention? Well, just just in case they aren't explained why that strikes you. Well, because there was a bipartisan deal that Congress struck and it went to the president's desk and he rejected it because he was mad that his, you know, voter law that's going to disenfranchise voters across the country and make it harder for people to vote if it's passed a lot than not.

1:18:30He was mad that that didn't pass. So literally, Jake, in a Congress where you very rarely see bipartisanship, Democrats and Republicans coming together, here they are coming together to solve an issue that, as sure Michael eloquently put, millions of Americans are having a difficult time trying to afford housing. trying to find housing. So I don't know if Vance misspoke. I don't know if he thought we wouldn't catch this. By the way, I was excited about this bill because I already started working on messaging points of how we could go on air and other places and start messaging to people. Affordable is on top of affordability.

1:19:03Michael, instead, he called it a big yawn. President Trump, not Eddie Vance. President Trump called it a big yawn. By the way, in case you didn't think that message on affordability was bad enough, take a listen to Republican Congressman Troy Nails from Texas telling a Midas Touch reporter yesterday when asked how he's going to convince his constituents that he's working to make life more affordable for them.

1:19:26Affordability? What are you talking about? Well, affordability is the big... I'm going to go to tomorrow. I'm going to, well, over the fourth. I'm going to get me a couple of lobster tails. I'm going to get me some nice ribeyes. You think the 60 % of Americans who are living paycheck to paycheck can afford lobster tails and ribeyes and all of that? Maybe not. Maybe the maybe the 60 % of America don't work as hard as I do. Wow. Sure, Michael. I have a feeling that I'm going to see that clip not just in Troy Nell's free election contest. Look, I got to be transparent. I know the congressman and his brother who will be running to replace him.

1:19:59The congressman is actually retiring soon. I do want to say, though, I think the vice president's instincts are correct in terms of this needs to be a priority. Now, the problem here, though, is even within our own caucus, but specifically on the House side, we can't really agree on much of anything, which is why the speaker has dismissed them, what, twice in the past month now, I believe. So let's just put Democrats aside. The onus is on the majority to lead and to govern. And right now we're not doing that great of a job of doing so. We're not delivering results for our own people, let alone the people in the middle who we will have to convince specifically in some of those challenging districts.

1:20:34And asked about affordability, Troy Nail says, affordability, what are you talking about? I'm going to get me a couple big lobster tails. I'm going to get me some nice ribeyes. Somebody said, what about the 60 % of Americans who can't afford that living paycheck to paycheck? He said, maybe 60 % of Americans don't work as hard as I do. I mean, I just, I feel like every time I go on the show, Jake, I am speechless. This is another one of those moments. I mean, look, the ads are writing themselves, right? Every day I feel like there's something Trump says, Vance says, another Republican says that we're going to see certainly in an ad coming up.

1:21:05And my final thought on this is maybe we would just send Shermichael out as a surrogate for some of our Democrats. I've always said he has my vote. Making our point. Maybe I should be the Speaker of the House. People like him, you don't have to be a member of Congress to be Speaker of the House. Thanks to both of you. I was going to say people like him don't run for office so much anymore. Anyway, we're just about an hour away from a must-win match for Team USA, the latest on tonight's World Cup stakes. That's next.

1:21:33Our last lead star in our world lead, where a top Venezuelan official says the death toll from last week's devastating earthquakes is now at least 2 ,295 souls. The government there is facing mounting criticism for its response or lack thereof to the crisis. People report having to dig survivors out of the rubble by hand because large government machinery does not have gas to operate. Also in our world lead, the U.S. Navy is searching for a missing crew member after a helicopter went down in the Arabian Sea. three other crew members were recovered and are in stable condition. Naval Central Command says there are not any indications of hostile action causing the emergency landing.

1:22:09And our sports lead, it's do or die tonight for the United States on the World Cup stage. In just an hour, the U.S. will take on Bosnia-Herzegovina in the must-win round of 32. Team USA is favored to win tonight as star player Christian Pulisic returns to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a calf injury during their opening game against Paraguay. A win would give USA its first World Cup knockout victory since 2002. If you ever miss an episode of Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Happy Fourth of July. Aaron Burnett out front starts now.

1:23:08We'll be right back. july 6th don't wait shop wayfair's 4th of july clearance now through july 6th at wayfair.com from the descendants of history makers involved in the louisiana purchase to the lewis and clark expedition discover the untold stories of american expansion in the cnn original series this land now streaming on the cnn app