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DOD Official Urged Trump Administration Not To End Grant For Biological Threat Research, Harvard Tells Court; Testimony Resumes Today In Sex Trafficking Trial Of Sean Combs; Ukraine Says It Struck Bridge With Underwater Explosives. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning we're going to look inside the filing from Harvard University arguing how the Trump administration cutting off funding for the university is hurting more than just Harvard. The university says a Defense Department official warned the Trump administration that canceling a $12 million biological threat research grant for Harvard could put national security at risk.

Let's get right to CNN's Katelyn Polantz. And, of course, this is all to argue -- what Harvard is arguing is that what the Trump administration is doing is not just bad but illegal.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: They're arguing that it's unconstitutional, but they are also saying what the Trump administration is doing, pulling more than $2.4 billion in federal funding for research done at Harvard University -- 950 ongoing research projects stopped cold. What that does is it harms not just Harvard, it harms the entire country, national security, and in one case, the Defense Department.

There was one of these grants that was pulled from Harvard University in May that the Defense Department said it's over -- $12 million they're not getting. That grant -- it was to research biological threats. And there was an official at the Pentagon who wrote to senior officials at the Pentagon saying don't stop this grant. Harvard -- they are the people that are the top performing team working on this sort of thing and the Defense Department needs this sort of help.

The quote from the Pentagon official in internal emails obtained by Harvard's lawyers that were surfaced in court yesterday. That official wrote, "Inadequate knowledge of the biological threat landscape poses grave and immediate harm to national security."

But we're not just talking about Defense Department grants to Harvard, John. We're talking about grants that benefit lots more people than just the military. Other Harvard projects that are losing their federal funding, Harvard says, include an $88 million study into pediatric HIV and AIDS. A $7 million breast cancer prevention study. And also the additional studies into antibiotic resistance, other military battlefield studies. So a lot of money that is being stopped now.

We do now have in court the full argument from Harvard's legal team in this major case about grant funding. We're going to be waiting to see what the Trump administration says to defend themselves to respond to this. And we do expect an opinion sometime this summer. There's going to be oral arguments in July. It's a really big case -- John.

BERMAN: And you'll be looking through the Trump administration documents as soon as they come out. Katelyn Polantz, thank you as always -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So President Donald Trump working overtime right now to get Republican senators on board and get on board quickly with his sweeping domestic policy agenda as he is aiming to get his massive tax cut and spending bill that passed the House to get it passed through the Senate and headed to him before July 4.

He had the Senate majority leader at the White House yesterday. He's been putting in personal calls to some of the other Republicans who have been the most vocal with their concerns about what's headed their way. Republicans making clear that changes are coming to the House- passed bill, but how much and what? A lot of Republicans talking specifically about changes to the trillions of dollars in cuts to programs like food stamps and Medicaid and the impact that would have on their constituents.

Maine's Sen. Susan Collins telling reporters she's "...very concerned about not only low-income families but our rural hospitals."

Other senators, of course, are concerned about the impact the bill will have on the deficit. Rand Paul concerned about the debt ceiling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): You can say it doesn't directly add to the debt but if you increase the ceiling $5 trillion, you'll meet that. And what it does is it puts it off the backburner and then we won't discuss it for a year or two. So I think it's a terrible idea to do this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And joining me right now is the former Republican governor of New Hampshire, Chris Sununu. It's good to see. Thanks for being here.

CHRIS SUNUNU, (R) FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR: You bet. Good to be here.

BOLDUAN: So the Senate takes up the bill now and they've made -- Republicans have made no secret that they will see changes, though Thune seems to try to be suggesting that it's not going -- not going to veer too far from the priorities.

But take a senator like Josh Hawley.

SUNUNU: Sure. BOLDUAN: He has been -- he's conservative. He has been very vocal about he will not support -- cannot support any cuts to Medicaid benefits. He called it -- what he said is -- he wrote about this. He said, "Cutting funding for a program like Medicaid would be morally wrong and politically suicidal."

Do you agree with that?

SUNUNU: It's not politically suicidal and I don't think it's morally wrong. I think it's just a huge number. And I -- the dynamic comes to this. Most states have expanded Medicaid.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

SUNUNU: Under traditional Medicaid the feds pay 50 percent, the state pays 50 percent. But under expanded Medicaid 90 percent is paid by the federal government. So what they're saying is OK, let's ratchet that back to the traditional --

BOLDUAN: But didn't you do that in New Hampshire?

SUNUNU: We do. We do it in New Hampshire.

So the question is are they going to be dumb and cut the whole thing back to 50 percent or are they going to ramp it down -- block grant more of this money to the states? See, with a block grant, let the states decide how much go to SNAP. How much go to supporting rural hospitals and things of that nature.

[07:35:05]

They're also looking to cut back that tax. It's kind of a matching tax --

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

SUNUNU: -- that then goes to support a lot of the traditional or non- Medicaid patients. Those that have uncompensated care as we call it. That's the rural hospital argument you see.

So I don't think it's politically suicidal if they do it the right way.

BOLDUAN: Why -- where is the disconnect because you do not think it is politically suicidal? Why does Josh Hawley then think it's politically suicidal? What --

SUNUNU: Because everyone in Washington is a coward. I mean, really, they -- everything they do in D.C. is based on the lowest common denominator of rough decisions. They don't want to make any tough decisions. They have to cut money somewhere. They're going to have to make some changes in --

BOLDUAN: You, you know, five seconds ago in relative history were also a man that needed to get elected and needed to answer --

SUNUNU: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- to his constituents. What if this is then answering to their constituents?

SUNUNU: I'm telling you if you -- if you can cut taxes, if you can find ways to make tough decisions and be super transparent about it. People want to know the government is spending their money in a responsible way and they know that sometimes that's a tough decision.

To say that we're not going to do anything on Medicaid -- you know what that tells America? We're going to do nothing on Social Security or Medicare or any of these other things. We're going to keep running up our debts. We're going to keep spending money in inefficient ways. We're not willing to make those tough decisions. So it's not easy but the American people want to know that there's responsibility on the other end.

And I'm not saying you go slash Medicaid, but you find ways to let the states make more decisions on their own so that they can make those shifts. Get rid of the bureaucracy and the wasted money. Get a lot of the -- look, it's a state-run program with federal money so let the states run it.

I can't tell you -- let's say I needed a new pharmaceutical -- a new medication for someone with a rare disease. You know it would take me almost two years as a governor to sometimes get that approved by the federal government. Why?

Let the states decide. Let the states have more power and say in it and you'll save tons of money without losing any access to services.

BOLDUAN: It's -- it is fascinating to hear you say that those elect -- those in Washington are all cowards. I think a lot of people saw the flip, which was Josh Hawley speaking -- standing up and speaking out against what maybe Donald Trump's position he thought would be, which is Medicaid -- cutting Medicaid benefits, which people still fear is actually going to happen -- that that actually was a sign of courage on the part of a conservative Republican senator.

SUNUNU: Well look, I guess -- yeah, if you're looking at the courage against the administration and all of that. I'm just saying that courage to make tough decisions and say look, we have a fiscal crisis. We have a very inefficient Medicaid system. There's much more -- there's much better ways to make the entire system more efficient without losing all the -- it isn't about the federal government saying we're taking this SNAP benefit or we're taking this access to rural hospitals. It's letting the states decide how to best manage that, ramping it down over time so that the states can adjust with their matching dollars.

BOLDUAN: Let me get your opinion then on -- you talked about being transparent, and this is about -- I mean, what it comes down to is being candid --

SUNUNU: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- and candor with --

SUNUNU: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- your constituents and everyone, and the -- and the people you work for.

Your take on Republican Sen. Joni Ernst. She is really well respected. She has this town hall -- this meeting with voters and for our viewers, to remind them, talking about Medicaid and she says this in response to concerns about Medicaid cuts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People will die!

SEN. JONI ERNST (R-IA): So people are not --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People will die.

ERNST: Well, we all are going to die, for heaven's sake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Then facing criticism she then posted a video saying -- well, saying this on social media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERNST: I made an incorrect assumption that everyone in the auditorium understood that, yes, we are all going to perish from this earth. So I apologize. And I'm really, really glad that I did not have to bring up the subject of the tooth fairy as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Again, to reiterate, in relative terms about five seconds ago you were --

SUNUNU: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- a politician.

SUNUNU: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: What do you think of this as a politician -- as a former?

SUNUNU: Yeah. So this is a great example of I think over the last six months messaging matters. And I get she's trying to be, you know, kind of funny about it and all that.

But at the end of the day it's a callousness that is coming out of D.C. right now. When you make tough decisions, you don't do it in a callous way, right?

Elon Musk going around with a chainsaw and getting excited about cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs. Those jobs have to be cut. But understand those are families and those are lives, and those are livelihoods. You have to do it with some empathy and understanding.

There is real fear when you cut back on Medicaid and those are very legitimate fears. I don't think people are going to die and all that but they're legitimate fears. So you address them, and you connect with that empathy as someone who is trying to not just sell the idea but really make sure people understand the hows and whys you're doing it.

So I would just -- my message to all of Washington is be careful of your messaging and your methods. If you do -- if you handle those the right way, then the American public will go along with the tougher decisions. But when they're just kind of picking and choosing about what they want to do and when they're too -- a little callous and snarky about it, it doesn't -- it keeps you separated from the American public.

[07:40:10]

I would argue this is the biggest problem Washington has. They're in a bubble, right? They're not connected to what's happening on the ground. Mayor and governors and school boards are really there with parents and families going through this stuff. It's a -- it's a lack of connection to the constituency that I think ultimately drives a lot of this bad messaging. And you've got to -- the whole package has to be sold here.

BOLDUAN: And one of the problems with this whole thing is how big the package is and how fast they want to move it. Talk about a message -- an issue with messaging. No matter what, I can promise you as a recovering creature of covering Washington they're going to have a problem with messaging one way or the other because they're trying to move it so fast. They really are. There's no way it --

SUNUNU: They are trying to move it fast but remember they don't do anything. I mean, this is like the one bill we've talked about in the last three months, you know, so --

BOLDUAN: Right. I mean, look, you've got -- you've got to have -- either you've got a deadline of 10 years, or you've got a deadline of two weeks --

SUNUNU: That's right.

BOLDUAN: -- which is -- that's not way to run a railroad.

SUNUNU: And the rescission bills are coming, right?

BOLDUAN: Right.

SUNUNU: The DOGE bills and the other cuts are coming --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

SUNUNU: -- and those are going to be even bigger discussions that are going to have to be happening. We're just getting started on this. So if you don't get your messaging and your tone right with the American public, you're not going to very successful. But if you do, you build that political momentum and you get some wins and you can build on those going into '26.

BOLDUAN: Look at the smile on a man's face --

SUNUNU: I love it.

BOLDUAN: -- when he's left politics.

SUNUNU: It can be done, and it can be done the right way.

BOLDUAN: We'll see.

Good to see you. Thank you for being here.

SUNUNU: Thank you -- you bet.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thank you, Kate.

This morning the racketeering, conspiracy, and sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs continues. Prosecutors plan to call Eddie Garcia to the stand. Now, he worked as a security supervisor at that hotel where Combs was filmed beating Cassie Ventura in 2016. Garcia invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination before agreeing to testify under immunity.

Also expected to testify, longtime finance chief Derek Ferguson, and Bryana Bongolan who filed a civil suit accusing Combs of sexual battery and claiming he once dangled her from a 17-story balcony.

On Monday cross-examination of a former employee known as Mia concluded. She spent three days on the stand detailing years of alleged sexual abuse by Combs. The defense pressed her on why she stayed in the job despite the abuse and questioned social media posts and messages she sent to Combs expressing love and admiration for the man she now calls her abuser.

A Beverly Hills Hotel employee also testified claiming Combs stays included charges for oil damage and that he booked under the alias "Frank Black," a nickname of the late notorious B.I.G.

Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson.

To the stand today a lot is going to happen here --

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes.

SIDNER: -- because this is a person who was in that hotel who was apparently aware of what happened with these security cameras.

Give us some sense of what you think prosecutors are going to do to use him and then how the defense may come after him. JACKSON: Yeah. So Sara, good morning to you.

So what is this all about? Now, number one, let's talk about immunity. What does that mean? It means that whatever you say will not be used against you --

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: -- in a court of law. Usually it's the other way -- whatever you say will be used. And so you fear not with respect to what went on.

There's a backstory as to the video. Were you offered money to keep that video quiet? Did you accept a bribe from him? Did you say you were going to stay quiet? Why? Because it all goes to show Sean Combs -- not only his demeanor and comportment on the video but his knowledge as to what the video meant.

If you're prosecutors, it meant that you were engaged in sex trafficking. If you're the defense, it means you were engaged in domestic violence.

But that -- the nature of the backstory with regard to the video and what was said and how that transaction went between him and Mr. Combs very important, I think. Inquiring minds always want to know the lead- up onto that.

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: So from a defense perspective attack -- I mean, look, the reality is that everyone knows the video is bad. At the end of the day what you're doing if you're a defense is does it show a racketeering enterprise? Does it show, right, anything relating to sex trafficking or just a domestic -- and I don't want to say "just" -- it's very significant.

SIDNER: Right, but?

JACKSON: The domestic violence of it.

And so, you know, important witness but there are other important witnesses, to be clear, who have testified and who will testify.

SIDNER: That's right. And one of the witnesses that seems to be quite important is his chief finance officer who is going to be taking the stand ostensibly today.

What will prosecutors try to drag out of him to try and prove the charges that are on the table?

JACKSON: So what happens is that let's talk about what those are. When we talk about racketeering generally, we're speaking about it in terms of a criminal enterprise. You look at these racketeering charges. You look at how they would go towards mob bosses, underbosses. When you follow the money that's where you get to what was happening. Now many believe, right, that this is not a racketeering case. Racketeering in English means you're running an enterprise. You have various underbosses -- coconspirators who are doing your criminal bidding. And as a result of that, that criminal bidding relates to things like sleep deprivation. We heard that from Mia. Forced labor, right? Things like drugs. Things like guns. Things that are just pretty bad with regard to your activities that are of a criminal variety -- obstruction of justice, bribery.

[07:45:07]

But whenever you look to see the finances, where were they going to? What was it being spent on? Were you engaged in the sort of -- remember, it's a federal case --

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: -- so you're showing the sort of inter-commerce -- the interconnection. Where were you, what were you doing, and what was the nature of those activities? Were they criminal? Follow the money. The money gets you to the nature of your conduct and whether it was criminal.

SIDNER: Yeah, it will be really interesting to hear sort of some of these details from his finance chief to see if the prosecution is able to prove that this was actually a business. That he was kind of making money off of this and moving people around to further the -- his desires.

JACKSON: Criminal enterprise.

SIDNER: Yeah.

JACKSON: Alleged.

SIDNER: All right. We will see what happens. The defense is always going to come with it as well.

Joey Jackson, I really appreciate you.

JACKSON: Always.

SIDNER: It's always good to see you.

JACKSON: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: All right -- John.

BERMAN: So this morning a softball dynasty comes to an end in dramatic fashion.

CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes is with us now. This was something.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Oh, what a game this was, John. And NiJaree Canady, the first softball player ever to get a million dollars of NIL money, and that was money well spent for Texas Tech because she has now led them to the final for the first time in school history. Canady was just dominating the Sooners through six innings. She gave up no runs.

And the Sooners, who have won four-straight national championships -- they were down to their final strike in the top of the seventh when their nine-hole hitter Abigale Dayton comes to the plate and she comes up with a moment dreams are made of -- a two-run home run to tie the game and save the Sooners' season.

But it was short-lived. In the bottom of the seventh Lauren Allred, the sac fly and Mia Davis is going to slide in to score the winning run.

Tech wins 3-2. They're the first team to reach the championship in their World Series debut since 2000. And Canady has thrown every pitch for Tech in Oklahoma City thus far. They'll face Texas for the championship.

Meanwhile in Paris, Lois Boisson pulling off a huge upset taking out third-seeded American Jessica Pegula in a three-set thriller. Boisson ranked 361st in the world and is making her grand slam debut. The 22- year-old is the lowest-ranked woman to reach the French Open quarterfinals in the last 40 years.

One thing is for sure, John. She will certainly have that home crowd there in Paris on her side again when she faces Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinals.

BERMAN: Not good for U.S. players but certainly super-exciting to see.

Andy Scholes, thank you --

SCHOLES: Yeah.

BERMAN: -- very much for that.

SCHOLES: All right.

BERMAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead we've got some breaking news for you. We are just learning that Ukraine has struck a Crimea bridge using underwater explosives. New video just in to CNN.

And tourists seen on camera running for their lives, fleeing that massive volcanic eruption from Mount Etna.

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:52:15]

BOLDUAN: Police in Portugal are launching a new search in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. It was 2007 -- 18 years ago when 3-year-old Maddie McCann vanished from her family's hotel room while they were on vacation. Portuguese detectives are now searching around the hotel once again acting on a new request from German prosecutors.

The main suspect in this case is a German national who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of a woman in Portugal from 2005. He's under -- he is under investigation in the McCann case but has not been charged.

Multiple sources tell CNN the acting head of FEMA told staff during a briefing yesterday that he was previously unaware the United States had a hurricane season. The remark raised concerns among some staffers about David Richardson's experience. He's a Marine combat veteran and martial arts instructor with little experience in handling natural disasters.

Well, some interpreted the remark as a joke; others were left bewildered, according to new CNN reporting. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told CNN the comment was made in jest, adding, "FEMA is laser-focused on disaster response and protecting the American people.

And it is one of the world's most active volcanoes and it is most definitely putting on a show and proving that right now. Wild images coming out of Italy Monday. Mount Etna erupting, sending clouds of ash and soot into the sky, so much so it sent some tourists running.

Authorities say the latest eruption sent a plume of ash and rock some 21,000 feet into the air. Experts say there hasn't been an eruption of this magnitude in more than a decade. Despite the awe-inspiring and somewhat ominous show here officials do say that there is no danger to the population at this time -- Sara.

SIDNER: Incredible pictures. All right, thank you, Kate.

New this morning for the third day in a row Palestinians coming under fire while they make their way to get aid from a distribution site in southern Gaza. Palestinian health officials say at least 27 people were killed. The Israeli military says its forces first fired warning shots then fired near "a few individual suspects" who were advancing towards them -- away from the designated route.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond joining me now from Jerusalem. Jeremy, what is the latest here? You're seeing a little bit of a conflicting narrative here.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Well today, at least, we are seeing that the Israeli military is at least acknowledging that they did indeed fire upon people who were on their way to this aid distribution site in southern Gaza after a similar incident appears to have occurred on Sunday -- one that the Israeli military did not acknowledge but for which we are seeing mounting evidence that, in fact, the Israeli military for the last three days has indeed fired upon Palestinians heading to this aid distribution site, according to eyewitnesses, doctors at local hospitals, as well as the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

[07:55:20]

Today at least 27 people were killed and dozens injured in this incident according to the Ministry of Health and the director of the al Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military, indeed, acknowledging that they opened fire on people after "several suspects" were moving towards those troops and after they say they had initially fired warning shots.

All of this, of course, is raising more questions about this new Israeli and U.S.-backed aid distribution mechanism run through the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. They have just one site that has been open over the last few days in this part of southern Rafah, which is forcing thousands of Palestinians to in some cases walk several miles through dangerous declared combat zones, through Israeli military lines in order to reach this site.

GHF has said that their -- they acknowledged this incident, but they said it happened in an area "well beyond our secured distribution site and control."

But, of course, Sara, it's important to recognize here that these people are only in this area -- even if it is a kilometer or a half- kilometer away from the site, they are only in this area because they are trying to reach this distribution site. And that is why humanitarian aid organizations like the United Nations, for example, have refused to participate in this mechanism. They say it increases the dangers for Palestinians rather than having hundreds of distribution sites across Gaza -- Sara.

SIDNER: Jeremy Diamond, great reporting from you this morning there from Jerusalem. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: All right. We do have breaking news. We've got new video just in. You see it right there. Ukraine says this shows it hitting a key bridge connecting Russia to Crimea with underwater explosives. You can see the explosion there.

Now, Ukraine is leaning into technology and ingenuity to counter Russia's advantages in numbers. Just days ago Ukraine struck deep inside Russia thousands of miles from the front lines using drones to hit Russian air bases.

With us now is CNN senior military analyst and former supreme allied commander of NATO and partner at the Carlyle Group, an investment firm, Admiral James Stavridis. Admiral, thank you so much for being with us.

We're just seeing this brand-new video provided by Ukraine of an explosion at the Crimea bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland.

ADMIRAL JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, PARTNER, THE CARLYLE GROUP (via Webex by Cisco): What does this tell you, and the fact that Ukraine is eager to show this to the world? Let's go back to where you started a moment ago, which is those long, thousands of miles drone strikes. This is like launching strikes from Norfolk, Virginia to Los Angeles, California. And they did so in big numbers, John. These were 100 drones.

They took out, by all reports, about 40 strategic bombers. So think those big U.S. B-2, B-1, B-52 -- the heart of our strategic deterrence. Forty of those destroyed. That's a three to five to seven billion dollar cost. That's all in one strike. That's real innovation.

And now you see the Ukrainians -- and you know the admiral loves this -- going to sea and taking it on using underwater drone technology. Pretty remarkable. A lot of commentators kind of reaching for analogies here have used Pearl Harbor to kind of categorize the strikes deep into Russia with the drones. I'm going to go back to ancient history and say it's more like the Trojan horse. These were wooden crates that came into the country and the drones -- the warriors, if you will, leap out of it.

Final thought. You know, it's kind of David and Goliath, right? If you get hit enough times with a stone right in the middle of your nose it's going to change your thinking. That's why the Ukrainians want to show this to the world and show it to the Russians.

BERMAN: You know, I'm glad you brought up the Trojan horse because this was really as much about -- I don't know if it's espionage or subterfuge as it was about technology. The fact that they got the drones close enough is an act of intelligence in and of itself. Still, a lot of people are looking, particularly at the drone attacks, saying this is an example of how warfare has changed right before our eyes.

What are the implications of this going forward maybe for the U.S. in our own defenses?

STAVRIDIS: They are powerful and -- oh, by the way, another good comparison. You mentioned tradecraft and like an espionage.