Woman Who Dated Graham Platner Says He Raped Her in 2021

27:38ceasefire. Now, I do want to get to the NATO of it all in one second, but just a quick reminder that part of the deal in the memorandum of understanding for the ceasefire, the 60-day negotiating period, was that in exchange for the lifting of the sanctions as well as the removal of the blockade in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran would help the safe passage for these commercial vessels. This is the second time we've seen Iran break this. Now, I do want to just quickly note, we are now here where the President of the United States is launching these on a country that borders with Iran. It seems like somewhat of a risky move to launch these attacks while President Trump is in the region.

28:14But one thing to point out is something he said earlier when he was talking about the president of Turkey, his close friend, he called him. He said that he could have joined Iran because they are allies and he could have fought against the United States, but he didn't. So there is a bit there of protection that he feels from the president of Turkey and the relationship that they have. And also, it might even be some sort of power flex that he is in this region and launching these strikes in Iran, which is just so close by. All right, Kristen Holmes, traveling with President Trump in Ankara, Turkey.

28:48Thank you so much. We're going to continue to follow that story. Also ahead, a new effort to tell your story as America marks 250 years.

28:59The grill is shot. The chairs are held together by optimism. And what happened to the rug? Sounds like your outdoor setup is not ready for patio season. Fix it all with Wayfair. Shop Wayfair for grills, rugs, furniture, and more. With 20 million five-star reviews, room of choice delivery, and experts set up on qualifying orders, it's never been easier to do more for less. Get 10 % off your first eligible purchase. Hurry to Wayfair.com or download the app now. You ever have somebody offer to come home with you from the hardware store? I am giving away a room makeover. Where's the catch? Three days to complete this renovation.

29:41You have no say in the design and we start today. Oh, wow. You're not just gonna steal everything. Surprise! Ready to get your house passed? For real? A little dated. It's time to turn this over to us. You guys gotta get out of here. Gotta get out of here. Crashers, all new Monday at 1030 on HGTV. In our national lead as the United States of America celebrates its 250th birthday, StoryCorps is making sure that the voices of everyday Americans are remembered. The first Juneteenth, of course, we needed a donkey at the parade. leading the parade, right? Yeah. It's pretty clear to me that without you and Kit being there working on that house that day, I wouldn't be sitting here right now.

30:30If you don't know what StoryCorps is, you should Google it. The nonprofit preserves the stories and the memories and the experiences that define humanity and define the United States, connecting people through shared humanity, one story at a time. Now StoryCorps' latest project, Connect 250, is bringing strangers together for 40-minute conversations. And joining us now is the founder of StoryCorps, Dave Isay. Dave, tell me about Connect 250. Sure. We have built a platform that opened actually today where you can come and connect with a stranger, have a 40-minute conversation, as you said. It's a protected video platform.

31:12At the end of the conversation, you hit stop, and it goes to the Library of Congress. so your great, great, great grandkids could get to know you through your story. It's kind of a Hey America, Meet America effort to create a time capsule of who we are at the 350th, 250th. And people should download the StoryCorps app also. I found that personally very useful in my life. For a lot of people, talking with a complete stranger might be nerve-wracking to talk about their lives. Is there a prompt? Is there guidance to help get the conversation going? Absolutely. The first thing that happens is you write a little bio and you read the bio of your partner to them and they read your bio back to you.

31:53And then there are a series of story core questions. It's incredibly easy to do. And, you know, as you know, talking to a stranger, getting to have a meaningful conversation with someone can be one of the most, you know, rewarding, important conversations you have all year. So people come in scared and they leave as friends. That's what journalists do every day. That's what it's all about. Yeah. Yeah. You hope that this lasts until America 350. Yeah. I hope there is an America 350. Yeah. Based on the interviews that will be in the Library of Congress. What do you hope people will think of us at 250 on America's 350th birthday?

32:27Well, I think they'll get a much truer sense of who we are than you might from looking at social media. You know, this effort is really something that is built to last, as you said, until the 350th. And I think they'll find out that we are, you know, we have facilitators who travel the country recording those standard story course stories that you were talking about. And to a person, you know, if you ask them what they've learned, they serve a year or two of duty bearing witness to these interviews. And all of them say that people are basically good. And I think at the 350th, you'll find out that Americans are basically good.

32:59We all care about the same things. We're decent people. We love our families. And a lot of, again, a lot of the noise that you hear is just noise. It's not real. And that was partly why we wanted to do this project. Well, it's beautiful. It's a beautiful idea. I can't wait to hear it. Dave, I say thank you so much. And thanks for what you do, because you know I love StoryCorps. I know. Appreciate that. Coming up next, what's really going on with Republican Senator Mitch Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the 84-year-old, has been in the hospital for three weeks now. What a close contact, says he learned today about the senator's condition.

33:37Aaron, our politics lead Republicans are expressing concern about the health of Republican Senator Mitch McConnell, former Senate Majority Leader of Kentucky. He's now been hospitalized for more than three weeks. It's still not even clear why he was admitted to the hospital. Earlier today, CNN's Scott Jennings, who used to work for McConnell, posted on social media, quote, he's still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 20 minutes about Iran, Ukraine, the unfolding situation in Maine, unquote. That after an independent journalist posted EMS audio of first responders called to the address of McConnell's home for a, quote, unconscious person on the same day that the senator was hospitalized.

34:14McConnell's office is not offering many details. They referred CNN to this July 2nd statement, saying McConnell, quote, continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters. Let's jump right in with the panel. So two top Senate Republicans, Majority Leader John Thune and Majority Whip John Barrasso, both tell CNN that they have recently spoken with McConnell. Other Republicans say they're still in the dark. Utah Senator Mike Lee posted today, quote, many of us aren't speaking about Mitch McConnell's condition because we know nothing about his condition, unquote.

34:48You would think maybe more transparency would be in order in this post-Biden era, but I guess not. Yeah, I mean, we all lived through this in 24 and the years leading up. I just think that the rumors of yesterday of him being brain dead and all the gossip going around on social media about that wouldn't have happened if there would just be more transparent and honest. He's 80-something years old. He's going to have health problems. He had a heart attack. Anybody can have a heart attack. Just be honest and transparent about it. I don't understand what they're hiding because not being transparent makes it seem like they're hiding.

35:19Charles Booker, the Democrat who's running to succeed McConnell, posted this statement last week, when we don't know if our senator is alert, conscious, or capable of serving, that's not a partisan question. It's a Kentucky one. He goes on to say, Kentuckians of every stripe deserve a clear and honest answer about their senator's condition. Jesse, he has a point. That's not a partisan question. It's a Kentucky one. Sounds a little bit like an AI-generated construction to me. But he does have a point. I mean, look, Mitch McConnell is a lion of the United States Senate. He has a legacy that will go down in history and a lot of great accomplishments that he can hang his hat on.

35:55But the question to raise here is entirely legitimate of whether he should continue to be in office. Republicans we know have made this critique about figures like Joe Biden, Dianne Feinstein. There have been a lot of elected officials over the years who probably should have stepped aside earlier. We're way past their expiration date. And it's fair to say that, yeah, we don't want to live in a gerontocracy. Mitch McConnell maybe shouldn't have put Kentucky voters in this situation. Do you think the lack of transparency is giving the crazy rumors such as that he's brain dead? You know, when you have Jennings and Thune and Barrasso saying they just spoke with him, he's obviously not brain dead.

36:35But like, I'm not saying that insane people aren't responsible for their own insanity, but I mean, politically insane people. But like, is it giving oxygen to that? Well, as a conservative and someone who spends a lot of time talking to Republicans, I can assure you that there would be insane conspiracy theories pretty much no matter what happened over in our neck of the woods politically. But yes, I think that is fair to say. I also think, though, these types of instances are leading towards this anti-incumbency that both Republicans and Democrats are seeing through the primaries right now. And so I just think that this all leads to that and people are tired of it and want just a different generation.

37:09And we also have, this also comes on the heels of New Jersey Republican Congressman Tom Kane Jr., who's, we should say, only 58. He disappeared from Congress for four months without notice until he came forward and revealed he had been treated for depression. Then there's Florida Democratic Congresswoman Frederica Wilson. She missed a full month of votes after keeping her constituents in the dark about apparently an eye surgery she was having. How much do you think, and this is to both of you, you first, Megan, how much do you think public officials owe details about their bodies, details about their health?

37:44If you're going to be absent from votes and you are not voting representing your constituents, you owe people an honest answer of what's happening. All that Tom Keene had to say was, I'm going, I have a mental health issue and I'm going to seek help and treatment for that. You would have gotten so much more respect for everyone. Everyone understands that and really can appreciate that. You have eye surgery. You have to have surgery if you break a bone. If you are having a child, you're out. So I don't understand what people are hiding because the lack of transparency, people just think you're hiding.

38:11People don't trust people in Washington, and this is a reason why. Yeah, this isn't 1850 where you can disappear for six months and nobody knows because the pony hasn't come to town yet. Yeah, I just don't even understand it, to be totally honest with you. My favorite Democratic senator, John Fetterman, has dealt with some serious issues with his own mental health and physical health. since elevating to this new status in American public life. And look, a lot of Democrats hate him. A lot of Republicans kind of like him. But I don't think that this is like his cardinal sin. The Democrats don't like him because of that factor, right?

38:48So in an era where we're living in so much transparency that's expected of our public officials, right? Their Instagram video messaging themselves all day long and posting live stories. Why can't they just be a little bit clearer about what's going on with them, where they are, if they're going to miss votes. Why is that? Yeah. President Trump is in Turkey today. He's been taking credit for Toyota moving some of its production from Mexico to Texas. Take a listen. It came over the wires that Toyota is moving out of Mexico into the United States and building one of the biggest truck and car plants ever built.

39:25It's amazing. That's what tariffs do, properly used. So a statement from Toyota notes that the$3.6 billion expansion will, quote, create 2 ,000 new high-quality jobs. The statement from Toyota does not mention tariffs. Do you think Trump's right to take credit here? I think Trump's right to take credit here because of the Tax and Jobs Act from his first term and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act from his second term. This is legislation that has driven economic investment in the United States. It has created a business climate with respect to taxes and spending and all kinds of economic dynamics that have made the American nation a more attractive place to do business.

40:01So that's where I think President Trump should take credit on this front. Megan, you agree? I mean, I think that that's the president's job, right, is to take credit for these announcements. Unclear if it's actually creating these number of jobs and what the motivation here is. But I'm not sure that our good friends in Michigan that's a purple state is going to be super happy about a foreign automaker making more autos in Texas. Walmart announced its lowering prices on summer items such as beef and soda, other items. Trump also taking credit for the rollbacks of those prices, quote, unquote. At my administration's request to celebrate our great country's 250th birthday, Walmart will in particular be dropping the price for a pound of ground beef by almost 15 percent, among many other products.

40:39This is a huge deal for the many millions of Americans who smartly shop at Walmart, which is a truly patriotic company who loves the USA, unquote. It's not the first time Trump has tied Walmart's discounts to his administration. Megan? I mean, again, who knows if they did this because of Trump? I would highly doubt that they did. I think they see that there's an economic benefit. When you get people in the store, they buy more goods. But good on Walmart for dropping prices. The American people are suffering and they need some relief here. And this is giving them relief on summer goods. I agree.

41:05I think the economists would call the technical term for this jawboning. But regardless, look, Trump deserves some amount of credit here because I think this is a reflection of the fact that industry likes his new pick for the Fed chair, right? Kevin Warsh. This is at some level an indication, and even Jerome Powell, who Trump's not a particularly big fan of. That recession never came. Inflation went down. We appear to have weathered this storm a little bit. Costs are now coming down for the American people. And that is a reflection of the fact that Donald Trump has made a sober choice for who's going to come in and lead the Fed next.

41:37Thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Breaking news tonight. The U.S. is launching what it calls powerful news strikes against Iran. And two women now accusing Graham Plattner of violence, and they're giving new exclusive TV interviews to the lead. A second woman coming forward today to detail her claims. We're also live in Maine as the Democratic Senate nominee faces growing pressure from fellow Democrats to end his campaign.

42:10Breaking news in our world lead right now. Iranians in port cities are hearing explosions, according to state media, as the United States conducts what our government is calling powerful strikes in response to Iranian strikes on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz during what has been called a ceasefire, except the fire hasn't ceased. The United States also reimposing oil sanctions today. CNN's Kristen Holmes is in Turkey's capital, where President Trump is attending a meeting of NATO allies. CNN White House reporter Adam Kankren is here with me in studio. And Kristen, this is a huge test for the alleged ceasefire.

42:45Yeah, it is. And probably the biggest test we've seen yet. And it seems as though the United States is all in on this response. First, I'm going to start with that CENTCOM post on X. They said, as you noted, powerful strikes against Iran to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial ships crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway. Now, our Zach Cohen is reporting that he spoke to a U.S. official who said that these attacks are not proportional, that these are meant as punishment. That's why you're seeing kind of a double whammy here. First, you saw the financial, the reimposement of those sanctions.

43:23Now you're seeing the military. And that same source told Zach that this was likely to go on for quite a bit. This is now another time that Iran has violated the ceasefire. part of the Memorandum of Understanding, said that President Trump would remove the blockade, they would remove the sanctions if Iran helped the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Now we have seen once again Iran attacking these commercial vessels, and now the U.S. is escalating its response. And Adam, the sanctions have been reimposed. What does that mean for the economy here at home? Yeah, well, at least in the immediate term here, it means more uncertainty when it comes to energy prices.

44:06So we've already seen as a result of these economic sanctions being now reimposed, the global oil prices markets going up once again. And the real risk here, again, is how Iranians respond, whether they end up closing the Strait or Hormuz again, which, as you know, over the last few months really, really pushed the price of oil and the price of gas, the pump, up. So the concern here is that the ceasefire that we've had these last few weeks is maybe not as solid as people hoped it would, that it's fragile, it could be broken, it could be broken for good. That's the real concern here, that we end up in this standoff when it comes to the shipment of oil through that strait.

44:46Okay. And, Kristen, tomorrow's a packed day for President Trump and NATO. How do you think NATO allies are going to receive this? They haven't been all that friendly when it comes to Trump's war in Iran, even though many of them, you know, hate the Iranian regime. Probably not well, particularly given the fact that they're also all here in Turkey while he's launching this attack, which we'll obviously be asking about this, but unclear if he told any of these NATO leaders that he would be launching this retaliation attack while they're in a country that is bordering Iran at a time in which they're meant to be meeting, in part about what to do about the Strait of Hormuz and how to move forward from the war in Iran.

45:27One of the things President Trump has been livid at his NATO allies about is the fact that they didn't get involved in the war in Iran. The fact that when he says that the United States needed help, they were not there. Now, of course, European allies have pushed back on that, saying they were given no notice about the war in Iran, no input, and some of them saying it would have been illegal for them to intervene at that point. But President Trump does not care. I mean, right now, the entire 77 years of this alliance is hanging in the balance based on what happens tomorrow. And I cannot imagine that this makes anything more smooth, smooth sailing for those European leaders or really for the United States going into these meetings as he is now launching prolonged attacks on Iran.

46:12And Adam, what does success at the NATO meeting look like to President Trump? Well, I'm sure if you asked him, it would be everybody getting behind him and saying, hey, now we're with you on Iran. He's obviously not going to get that. I think for him, success is really getting out of there without having started any more kind of fights with European leaders. With getting European leaders coming to him and saying, you know, you were the only one who could get us to commit more to defense. You know, we're stronger because you're here. A lot of this is going to be flattery over the next, you know, day and a half.

46:45But for Trump, this is kind of, you know, if he has to be there, that is kind of what he wants to be hearing. We're going to see how we'll see, though, how he ends up kind of treating this next day, reacting now that there are these strikes going on. All right. Adam Kankrin and Kristen Holmes in Ankara, Turkey, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. Joining me now is CNN's National Security House analyst Alex Blitzes. Alex, what do these new U.S. strikes mean for the so-called ceasefire? Is this MOU, is this agreement effectively unraveling? Well, it certainly means that the Iranians are not honoring their portion of it because it was supposed to include freedom of movement through the Strait of Hormuz.

47:21And over the last 24 hours, they've attacked what appears to be three different ships. And what's notable is at least one belonged to Qatar in terms of being Qatari flagged. This comes after Qatar and other GCC states sent delegations officially to the funeral of the late Ayatollah Khamenei, even though they were attacked unprovoked with missiles and drones and actually brokered the ceasefire. Now their ships are being attacked again. And so the U.S., from what I'm told from senior officials, has had enough. They said, look, they're not honoring the agreement. We can't let this go. They need to get hit.

47:51And for the Europeans, this is the one thing that they said they weren't going to tolerate. They sent fighter jets to protect GCC states previously and freedom of movement in the strait or international waters is one of the few legal pretexts they have to get involved. So another foolish move by the Iranians, clear why they're doing it, but not wanting themselves any favors. The U.S. also reinstated sanctions on Iranian oil sales, as you heard Adam just talk about this now, reversing a key concession from the ceasefire. So what does that mean? So what I was told in speaking to U.S. officials, they felt that the strikes the last time weren't sufficient to deter the Iranians from hitting vessels because they clearly did it again.

48:29So they were going to not only hit back hard militarily, but also slap economic sanctions back on to really hit them where it hurt, which is the wallet, because there's been a number of intelligence reports coming in that the Iranian economy is, in fact, hurting, one from the war and then in combination with the legacy sanctions and then the blockade collectively has put them in a bad position. So if military strikes aren't going to do the trick, the U.S. is upping the ante with putting the sanctions back on. We'll see how the Iranians respond to that. The president's in the region, of course, in a country that borders Iran, Turkey.

49:01Is that a flex? Is there concern about his safety? So I think to that extent, the Central Command has the authority to strike back in protection at that point. And I believe they were given the authority to do so. You know, given the fact that the president's in Turkey, I couldn't imagine him not being given a heads up given the proximity. Iran did launch, I believe it was missiles or drones earlier on in the war towards Incirlik Air Force Base in Turkey, even though they denied it. And so within striking distance, but Turkey at that point chose not to invoke Article 5, you know, the NATO charter and sense that, you know, if one party's attacked, they all are, and then NATO would have to respond.

49:38If they were to launch an attack, particularly in Turkey, while all the NATO heads of states are there, that would really be poking the hornet's nest. So is it a risk point? Yes. Would it be incredibly foolish and very unlikely for the Iranians? Yes. And at what point, I have to ask Adam, the ceasefire memorandum of understanding, etc., the firing has not ceased. At what point is the ceasefire over? At what point is the war back on? I mean, the United States is bombing Iran and Iran is attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. That looks like war to me. So I think it's largely going to depend on how much longer President Trump is going to let that go and whether or not the Iranians are going to continue this behavior.

50:20And speaking to regional mediators who were present for the last round of negotiations that ended just before the funeral for the late Ayatollah. Not a lot of progress had been made in that last session. It's on hold until the 10th. And what they said that came out of that, their feeling was that the Iranians were trying to impose their interpretation of the MOU, which is that they're able to control the strait and direct ships, you know, which way they have to go through waterways as a means of exerting pressure. And now they're attempting to enforce that, you know, again, by attacking ships.

50:49Still clearly haven't learned the lesson. If this continues and this latest round of strikes doesn't close it, I think, you know, further action is entirely possible. A U.S. official tells CNN's Zachary Cohen in our Pentagon Bureau, quote, this is punishment and, quote, it won't be over for a bit. How long do you think an attack on Iran like this could last? So I think every time Iran opens up on the ships in the strait, the U.S. is going to continue to attrit or target those offensive capabilities along the strait that Iran is using. So whether So that's drones, missiles, small boats. And that's, again, why we're seeing those types of targets being hit today.

51:23You know, if it was a one-off incident, you know, did the IRGC, was it a rogue commander? The president sort of brushed those things off in the past. We've seen three ships attacked in the last 24 hours. So if there was a mistake or somebody acted independently, the government had time to step in. It's clear that this was either given approval or was coordinated. And at that point, you have no choice but to hack back harder. So they'll continue to strike those targets along there to degrade Iran's capability to hit ships. and they'll continue to do so as long as they feel it's necessary. Alex Plitzis, thanks so much.

51:51Appreciate it. We're going to have much more on our breaking news out of the Middle East. The United States launching new attacks on Iran just as President Trump arrives in Turkey, which borders Iran for NATO meetings. I'm going to talk to a former ambassador to Turkey from the United States next. Also tonight, a CNN television exclusive, Lindsay Fifield, an ex-girlfriend of Graham Plattner, is speaking out on camera for the very first time. That's ahead.

52:17And we're back with the breaking news on our worldly United States military announcing it is conducting powerful strikes against Iran just as NATO leaders are gathering for a summit in Turkey. U.S. Central Command says the strikes are in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Former Republican Senator from Arizona Jeff Flake joins us now. He served as a U.S. ambassador to Turkey during the Biden administration. Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. What do you make of these retaliatory strikes against Iran as the NATO summit gets underway in neighboring Turkey?

52:52Well, I think that those strikes were going to happen regardless of whether the NATO summit was going on. And the fact that it's going on, I don't think changed the calculus at all. There was some mention, I think the president said that, you know, Turkey could have supported Iran. Turkey was never going to support Iran in this conflict. They may have differences the way this war is being carried out, but there's no love lost between Turkey and Iran. At the NATO summit today, President Trump said he's considering lifting sanctions and selling American-made F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, despite the fact that there's a congressional ban that went into place during Trump's first term in office.

53:31Prime Minister Netanyahu has said this is a bad idea. What do you think? Do you think selling the F-35s is a good idea? Well, these F-35s, most of them were partly created by Turkey. Turkey was part of the F-35 program, but then was kicked out of the program because they purchased a Russian's weapon system, the S-400. Yes, I do think that we ought to sell F-35s to Turkey, provided that Turkey complies with our statutory requirement. And Congress is involved in this. The administration can't do it alone. But the Turkey get rid of the S-400. According to U.S. statute, Turkey would have to not be in possession of the S-400.

54:14And that's always been the sticking point. The Biden administration would have liked to have sold F-35s to Turkey as well. that we just couldn't get Turkey to rid itself of the S-400. If they can do that, yes, we have to sell them. Turning to the dwindling Democratic support for Graham Plattner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, he's facing this disturbing rape allegation from Jenny Rassikot. We interviewed her on CNN yesterday. It's an allegation he denies. We should note last month you wrote an op-ed after Maine Democrats voted for Graham Plattner to be the party's nominee in the Senate race against Republican Senator Susan Collins.

54:54At the time, the rape allegation had not been made, but there was plenty of information about Plattner that you didn't care for, including the Nazi tattoo, the New York Times story about not nice behavior against women, etc. And you were calling on main Democrats to back Collins. You argued that, quote, compromising on character always comes at a cost. That's a suggestion you made that you said happened to the Republicans when they backed Trump. Why should Maine Democrats take your word on that, given that they could argue that that standard has not consistently applied towards Republicans, given Trump, given Ken Paxton in Texas and on and on?

55:36It hasn't. And I would argue that Republicans ought to do the same in Texas to put character over policy and back Tallarico rather than Paxton. I won't be surprised if additional information comes out on Paxton. He was impeached by a Republican House in Texas, and there's a lot there. The point I was making in that op-ed is that when you elevate policy concerns over character, you lose every time in the short run or the long term. And back in 2018, when Jeff Sessions stepped aside, that created a vacancy. And Roy Moore, if you remember him, who was credibly accused of pursuing teenage girls, was the Republican nominee.

56:20And Republicans at that time did the right thing and revoked endorsements. I actually wrote a check to his Democratic opponent who won and then was defeated three years later. So if you elevate policy over character concerns, you lose every time. And I think Democrats ought to realize that as well as Republicans. Former Ambassador Jeff Flake, thanks so much. Good to see you. Coming up today, I sat down with another ex-girlfriend of Democratic Senate candidate Graham Plattner. She previously told part of her story to The New York Times, but in the aftermath of that interview with Jenny Rassicott that I did yesterday, Lindsey Fifield has decided to come forward and talk about more of her experience in her very first TV interview.

57:14And we have the breaking news for you in our national lead tonight. an emotional CNN television exclusive with Lindsay Fifield. She's an ex-girlfriend of Graham Plattner, the Democratic Senate candidate in Maine, and she's speaking out on camera for the very first time as Plattner faces an accusation of rape from Jenny Rassicott, who he dated five years ago and who told her story to us on CNN yesterday. Plattner denies that accusation. And Fifield told me just this afternoon that much of Jenny Rascott's story rings true to her own experiences dating Plattner from 2013 to 2014 in Washington, D.C.

57:53She describes a controlling, occasionally violent partner whom she says was hostile and callous towards women's feelings. This is not Fifield's first time speaking out about Plattner. She spoke to The New York Times for a piece published in early June ahead of the Maine Senate primary. Plattner denied her allegations of physicality following the New York Times report. That was in an interview with MS Now. But today, as Plattner's fellow Democrats abandon his campaign following the Rassikot allegation of rape, Fifield is reflecting on her time with Plattner. A warning, the content of this interview includes graphic details of domestic violence that viewers could find disturbing or possibly triggering.

58:35Here is my conversation with Lindsey Fifield. You already knew Jenny's story. Yes. But what was your reaction to her telling her story yesterday? I was so proud of her. I was so proud of her. And I know how hard this has been for her. But I also know that she deserved that vindication. She deserved to come out and actually tell her full story. Because the way that it was told before, the parts that were left out before, had left her vulnerable to a lot of attacks that she did not deserve. and she should have been protected the whole time. It's unfortunate that she had to tell her story this way, that she should have never had to come out with her name and her face.

59:15She should have been able to tell the story anonymously, in my opinion, but I'm proud of her for doing it. And I didn't know until the story came out that she had said that I was an inspiration or one of the reasons that she decided to tell her story. I really didn't know that that was the case until I read it in Politico. and it means a lot that she, I mean, she's blowing her life up. I blew my life up and I think she saw that happen to me and she saw the attacks that I faced. How do you thank someone for something like that? She took a lot of courage and she didn't have to ever talk about this and I think it's just, I'm very grateful, very grateful that she did.

59:53She said one of the reasons that she came forward was because, so more than a month ago, the New York Times published a story about you and about Jenny and about another woman. And neither of you told everything. Right. There were things that had happened that neither of you wanted to be on the record saying. Right. Very private, personal things. Yeah. There was a lot in the story about how you are a conservative Republican. Right. After the CNN.com story, after the Politico story, after the CNN interview, lots of Democrats withdrew their endorsements. Senator Gallego, Ro Khanna, Senator Elizabeth Warren, all came out and said, no, he needs to drop out or I'm withdrawing my endorsement.

1:00:38What did you think of that? As much as I'm grateful and I'm glad and I hope that those finally this was enough. Finally, there is also that feeling of pain of like, but my accusations weren't enough, like our story. And again, I never thought that I was going to be the lone voice in that story. I really thought that mine was going to be the lesser of the stories, that mine was going to be like, not a footnote, but like my story was meant to bolster the other stories that were being told. Jenny's story. Jenny's story. Is rape. Yes. And I had believed until the publication that that was going to be like the central focus of the piece.

1:01:12And so it blindsided me. But I think the biggest betrayal after that piece came out was feeling like I had been, you know, they wouldn't even use the word abuse. A lot of people just kept saying, oh, mistreatment or, you know, no one was describing it was domestic violence it was intimate partner violence and it was domestic abuse and those are words that I've never felt comfortable I've never really talked about myself as a I've never called myself a victim I've never I don't like using that kind of language so one of the first things that came out about Graham Plattner yeah um was that he had a totem cough yeah an ss right tattoo on his chest and he denied knowing that that's what it was right Right.

1:01:54And that's not true. No, because he called it that when you guys were dating. Yeah. I never knew what that word was. I didn't even know how to spell it correctly. When I said he's got a Nazi tattoo, I had to look it up on the ADF website and I had no idea what it was and I had no photographic evidence of it. So for the first two months after like from that, you know, everyone talks about the text from August, we were looking for pictures. We were going back through trying to find old pictures. So if I'm fabricating this story, I'm doing it without even having a photo of this tattoo that I like.

1:02:23Like, that's the crazy part that I think people are missing. Let's go back to June to the New York Times story. He just flatly denied anything physical. He said he was a bad boyfriend, but he flatly denied anything physical and said anything, and this did seem mean to you, anything to the contrary was politically motivated. And that did, he said that on MSNOW. And that seemed... Well, it worked. Well, you're right. It did seem to have worked. The Democratic Party just kind of moved on. Yeah. Like, oh, it's just politically motivated. and then that's it. Everybody just kind of moved on from the story after that.

1:02:55But he was lying, right? So when he said, he's a bad boyfriend, but there's no physicality. Oh, that's a lie. And I think the thing that a lot of people, and I'm hoping more people will come forward at least saying this, is he was known for being very rough with people. I mean, he apologized sober the next day on many of these occasions. With you? With me. And so when he, yes, I know there were times when he was blackout drunk that he would say, oh, I don't remember that. But then days later, he would come back and details would slip out. And he said, well, that was before or something. And I'd catch him in a lie.

1:03:28And it would be like, wait, so you do remember you weren't blackout drunk. But on rare occasions when he'd be, you know, the next day, very apologetic, very contrite. Not, oh, I don't remember doing that, but I'm sorry if I did that. It was, I remember doing that. And I'm sorry. It was not a, I was in a blackout drunk situation. He acknowledged that he did it, knew that he did it, and apologized. Yes. Sober. Sober. When he was sober. Yes. This is a very painful process and has been for a long, long time. Yeah. Continues to be. But it's important because you want the voters to know about him. What do you want them to know?

1:04:08I think they know now. They needed to know the truth. They needed to know, because these things translate. It's not like the things that he does in private in his relationships with women, the things that he has done to women, coercive control, lying, deception, abuse, and really horrible things that we know about him. Sorry. We know that you can't be that way in private and not have it translate into how you would govern or how you would, you know, when you're put in a position of power. and I think it terrifies me to think of him having any type of power politically because what is he going to do with the women in his office?

1:04:50How is he going to manipulate? How is he going to deceive? When I saw him lying about the Nazi tattoo, that was the first kind of chip in my armor where I was like, I can't let him continue to lie like this. I couldn't watch him continue to just deceive people and run this fantasy that he's this changed person that had this dark past when really he's doing these things to this day. I mean, Jenny's accusations are only a few years old. So, like, we know that he's continued to do this to women. We're going to have much more in my conversation with Lindsey Fifield in moments as pressure continues to mount among Democrats for Grant Plattner to get out of the main Senate race.

1:05:32That's next.

1:05:38Welcome back to Lead. We have more from our exclusive television interview tonight. Our powerful sit down with Lindsey Fifield, another ex-girlfriend of Maine Democratic Senate candidate Graham Plattner. She's appearing for the very first time on camera here. Before we play more of the interview, a warning to our viewers. This interview does include graphic details of violence that are disturbing. One of the things that was so striking about what Jenny told me yesterday is. After, according to her, he raped her. he passed out. The next morning according to her he didn't seem to remember anything she had said you don't remember what happened last night you know, what happened last night was not okay.

1:06:22He knew. But he didn't ask her what happened. Nope. Because he didn't want to, that rang true to me too. Yeah. And then a few weeks later after she learned she wasn't pregnant because he had not used protection also against her wishes. Yeah. She reached out to him again, told him he was, she wasn't pregnant, reiterated that what happened was not okay. And again, he read it and didn't ask what happened. Cause he knew. And I think that's the thing that, and also I, I, I don't want to overemphasize this, but this is a man who is so hostile to the feelings of women and he think he is disgusted by any show of emotion anytime that I ever cried anytime that I ever tried to like appeal to him but would start crying I found myself having to like harden myself or not cry and he would only respond to like toughness or like masculine energy basically of just like I'm not gonna he would say don't bring emotions or don't, don't try to manipulate me or like he, he feels like, um, or anytime that I confronted him about any kind of deception or cheating or anything, which was often, it was dismissed as just me being a woman and me being like, and, and just the callousness and hostility that he had toward any kind of emotion like that.

1:07:50The abuse that I suffered has impacted, like the ripple effects were huge he isolated me from friendships that I've now this situation I will say something good that has come out of this is I've reconciled with friends that I had become estranged from because they've reached out and remembered like he isolated you from us you weren't allowed to be friends with us because you didn't he didn't want you going to certain hill parties that he wasn't invited to or what he was really controlling of my movements and so So it was, it has been really vindicating, or not vindicating, like good has come out of this, that I have reconciled with or reconnected with different friends and people who are like, oh my God, we wish that we had known the extent of what you were going through at that time.

1:08:36But it explains a lot to them now. But also my behavior after that relationship and other relationships moving forward, And the way is I want to protect my daughters. I want to abuse proof them. And I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I'm going to figure it out. And I'm talking to Cheyenne and other people about like, how are we going to make sure that this generation, I've got two little girls. It's another reason that I decided to tell this story is I will be damned if this ever happens to them. And if they ever find themselves in a relationship and they don't feel like they can call me and tell me immediately.

1:09:10And I didn't feel like I could. And I was, I not only didn't feel like I could tell anyone what was going on, I protected him. When Jenny told her story, what, if anything, aligned with your experiences? The eyes. The dead eyes, where he couldn't hear your protests. I just know exactly what that looks like. I know exactly what it looks like. And that is something that I feel like people need to understand. is it was almost like looking at, like, a pit bull, where they just, there's, it's nothing, but not just nothing, but, like, a capacity for violence, and you see it, and you know it's there, and it's terrifying, and I, but also, yeah, a deafness to anything that, you know.

1:10:02Consent? Yes, like, I'm going, like, this is going to happen, and I think that was the hardest part. Oh God, I'm sorry. Jenny also talked about unprotected sex as something she didn't want to happen that he made happen. Is that something you experienced? Yeah, so that was something that was really I think the worst and most violating part. This was a relationship that went on and on and on and that even after my roommates and people were like this has to stop Then it continued in secret where we continued to see each other even after I had told people like no I'm really really done like we're really broken up this time like I'm not maybe like are you sure?

1:10:52And then you know that it's it's it's humiliating It is embarrassing that I continue to go back despite but a lot of use a lot of it a lot of that you were what you're motivated by was trying to protect him. I was trying to help him, yeah. You've shared so much with us today, and I really respect it. CNN reached out to Graham Plattner's campaign with many questions following this interview. In a statement, the Plattner campaign told CNN that Fifield's allegations are, quote, categorically false and comes from a person with a well-documented political agenda, unquote. If you or anyone you know is in a situation where there is domestic violence or sexual abuse, there is support available to you to find resources and develop a Safety Plan, the National Domestic Violence Hotline, is free 24-7, completely confidential.

1:11:37You can call 1-800-799-SAFE. That's 1-800-799-7233. Or you can go to thehotline.org, thehotline.org. Free confidential support is also available 24-7 through the National Sexual Assault Hotline, 800-656-4673, 800-656-4673. Or online at rain.org, R-A-I-N-N, two N's there. R-A-I-N-N.org. Help is out there. You are not alone. We're going to go live to Maine next for the latest from the Plattner campaign and reaction on the ground.

1:12:23Back to the breaking news. We're continuing to track the fallout from the allegations against Maine's Democratic Senate candidate, Graham Plattner. I have now spoken with two women in on-the-record, on-camera interviews who dated him, both of them sharing with CNN viewers disturbing details from the relationships with him, abusive details. Plattner denies any non-consensual behavior. Both of the women disagree, one of them accusing him of rape. CNN's Arlette Sines is in Portland, Maine. Arlette, what are Mainers saying to you? Well, Jake, Maine voters that we spoke with today used words like disappointing, heartbreaking and disqualifying to describe the latest rape allegation that Graham Plattner is facing in this campaign.

1:13:09Many of the Democratic voters that we spoke with said that they believe it is time for him to step aside and allow the party to find a new Democratic nominee to face off against Senator Susan Collins in November. Maine, of course, is one of these Senate seats that will be key in these midterm battles as it comes to control of the U.S. Senate. And Democrats had long hoped that they would be able to unseat Collins. And now there's some big questions about whether that will happen in this campaign. But I want you to hear from two of the voters that we spoke to today who had this to say when we asked if they thought the Plattner should drop out.

1:13:46It's extremely disappointing and troubling and I think probably disqualifying. So do you think he should drop out at this point? I do, unfortunately. Do you think Plattner should drop out? It's a tough call. He'll have to make that decision. But the party is abandoning him on a national level and on the state level. I don't think he has a choice.

1:14:13Now Plattner has yet to publicly share any decision, but he would need to drop out by 5 p.m. on Monday in order for the Democratic Party to begin considering another nominee. Then that would set off a two week sprint for the state party to determine who would they they would put forth as their candidate. Party officials are still working through exactly what a process would look like. They've insisted it would be open and transparent. But some of the ideas that have been floated are potentially holding a mini convention or a caucus for Democrats to select their nominees. So still a lot of questions going forward about how Democrats might replace Plattner if he decides to drop out.

1:14:54But ultimately, we are still waiting for that decision from Graham Plattner about the future of his campaign. Charlotte Sines in Portland, Maine. Thanks so much. We're going to have much more reaction to this interview with Lindsey Fifield accusing Plattner of disturbing and violent behavior. And the breaking news is Democratic support for Graham Plattner is falling apart. Stay with us.

1:15:20We're back with the breaking news. Democrats reckoning with the backlash to Maine Senate nominee Graham Plattner after two former girlfriends, two women, have now spoken to me on camera, on the record, one accusing him of rape, another one today, Lindsay Fifield telling me he was violent and hostile during the relationship. He denies all the claims. Let's bring in my panel. Corinne, your reaction to what we just heard from Lindsay Fifield in a very understandably emotional interview. Yeah, absolutely. And I just think it's so telling that she had to come out and tell her story again after doing so a month later.

1:15:56And both she and Jenny, after their conversation with you, I think it's quite clear that one, Lindsay wasn't given a fair shake on all of this because of her political affiliation. She was held to higher standards of scrutiny than the man being accused, the man with the Nazi tattoo and a trove of offensive Reddit posts being accused of now rape and various other disturbing behaviors. And I think that that just says a lot. The fact that Democrats are only coming out now and taking her for her word, and it's disturbing. It's really disturbing. What do you think, Sochi? I mean, I think also Democrats need to learn from this lesson.

1:16:29There are a number of Democrats who came out to campaign for Graham Plattner after the first New York Times story, and they said it was politically motivated. All I would say to them is the statement that they have now given you, they're now saying it is all politically motivated, that he didn't do any of these things. And so this is disgusting. Now, we are almost at 24 hours. I think we are at 24 hours since the last story broke. Where is Graham Plattner? He, at this point, he is apparently, according to reporting, still trying to figure out whether he's getting out of the race and potentially picking a successor.

1:17:04A man who has raped, allegedly raped a woman and has sexually assaulted and done other things to potentially another girlfriend, et cetera, should not have a say on successor. He needs to get out of the race. And there needs to be more pressure from the Democratic Party to make clear that he has no say moving forward about who is going to be the Democratic nominee because he doesn't deserve that, not when you are being accused of rape. We just checked his social media, nothing from him. Yesterday, he did issue a video statement in which he denied Jenny Rassikot's story, her rape story from 2021, less than five years ago.

1:17:46It was like November, December 2021, you know, fairly, fairly recently. One of the things that struck me in my interview with Lindsey Fifield that we didn't include it just because we were crashing. We just did this this afternoon. Was she talked about one of the reasons she stayed in this relationship for two years. And one of them was because he had PTSD, which he's talked about. And he self-medicated, which he's talked about, too, by drinking a lot of alcohol. And she felt an obligation to stay with him and to help him. and also anytime that she said anything to him about something he did, something non-consensual that he did and on and on, he would say to her, like, oh, you're making me feel bad about myself.

1:18:27And so there was this, look, it's not uncommon. I'm sure you two have heard more about this type of thing from your female friends than I have heard. But it is this vicious cycle of toxicity. And it creates, A, an unfair blaming of the woman and B, an unfair sense of shame that the women feel. Talk about that if you would. Well, look, I have a lot of sympathy for folks who are struggling with PTSD and the aftermath of the type of combat that their partner is. These are very difficult things. But at some point, you're running for Senate as somebody with zero experience doing so. And this cannot end up being an excuse for over and over again for very disturbing behavior.

1:19:09And again, it's not just that he's falling back on this explanation. It's that he has told his fellow Democrats over and over again that nothing worse was coming after. And not only is that a liability for the party, both morally and politically, it's just not fair to Maine voters. I spent a lot of time reporting on New England politics. I've followed this race since the very beginning. Oh, there. You used to be with the Boston Globe. I was previously with the Boston Globe. And this is just deeply unfair to Maine voters. They deserve better. They've been lied to over and over again. They're a wonderful state, wonderful people.

1:19:38It is. Yeah, and in this instance, it sounds like he was using it as a permission structure to conduct the actions that he was doing. If I were advising him right now, instead of talking about who is going to be your successor, how do you get out, et cetera, if I were part of his team, I would tell him, go get some help. Go either to rehab, you need help. And whether that is saving your marriage, that is saving what is a piece of your life, go ahead and do that and exit the race. I think at this point there is enough out there. And from my understanding is there is potentially more that there are rumors right now in Democratic circles that Republicans are holding on to opposition research.

1:20:19And they're waiting until after Monday to drop it because they wanted him to stay in the race. They want to run against Graham Plattner. There is more coming out. The longer he stays in, the more that there will come out. And this man clearly needs some help. You know, one of the things that also struck me in the interview with Lindsey Fifield today, she talked about how Plattner called her before he announced he was running. And she thought it was just like a check in. And he told her how well he was doing. And she was really, really happy for him. Like she really was glad it sounded like he had gotten his act together.

1:20:52He had moved back to Maine and on and on. and then she realized later that he was just kind of like making sure I wasn't going to go public with anything. But as it was, she wasn't planning on it. But then came the lie about the Nazi tattoo. And she's like, that's not true. He called it a Totenkopf with me back in 2013. And then came all the other stuff and she felt like she had an obligation to tell the truth, not to stop anybody from electing him necessarily, but although she painted a very vivid picture of what he could be like if he got power, but just to tell the truth. And what you're painting basically is that Democrats had warnings from the very beginning.

1:21:33You know, Lindsay's not the only person that knew about this tattoo. There were people within the campaign that understood his political director, Genevieve McDonald, resigned in about October, I believe, when she figured out that this was all going on. And Democrats have completely attacked her also. Attacked her completely unfairly for something that she is, I mean, she's basically being vindicated right now, right? She warned them that this was going to blow up and be a bigger deal And it has. But Democrats right now who finally have said this is the this is the final straw. Well, you've had warnings since October.

1:22:00And I don't think there's an excuse for that. What do you think, Sasha? Yeah. I mean, I think that Democrats did have warning warnings when it came to this. And I do think that a lot of people are talking about vetting. I like to talk about it as a tested candidate. As we head into 2028, I do think you can do all the vetting that you want. There is one thing about vetting. There's another thing about running in a competitive race and being tested. whether that is in a swing state or a competitive district, where stuff like this comes out and you lose a primary or you lose your general election.

1:22:32In this instance, he was not tested. And I think that is a big conversation moving forward. Yeah, although we should note the governor, Janet Mills, who was running against him in the Democratic primary, she ran ads of women reading some of the offensive posts on Reddit, really disgusting stuff, blaming rape victims for their role in being raped, etc., etc. and he still clocked her in fundraising and then the primary. Thanks to both of you for being here. You can follow me on Facebook and Instagram in threads and BlueSky and X and on the TikTok at Jake Tapper. You can follow the show on X and Instagram at The Lead CNN.

1:23:04If you ever miss an episode of The Lead, you can watch the show on the CNN app. Erin Burnett out front starts right now.

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