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Trump Claims No Cuts to Medicaid in Sweeping Bill; Opening Statements to Begin in Mike Lindell Defamation Trial; Study Shows Fluoride Ban Would Increase Kids' Cavities by Millions. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 03, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: As Politico note this morning, aides to the president are saying their plan will shield deserving Medicaid recipients like the elderly and disabled, while targeting those who officials have cast as a drain on the nation's safety net. In other words, they say, cuts and coverage would only affect people who don't deserve it in the first place.

With us now is Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York. Early on in the process as this bill was working its way through the House, you were concerned about the cuts to Medicaid. Ultimately, you did vote yes. Now it goes to the Senate where they have a chance to massage it a little bit. What changes would you like to see the Senate make in terms of the cuts to Medicaid?

REP. NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS (R-NY): Well, I think the house struck the proper balance here. Going into this, I was very concerned that they would be reducing the match that the federal match, that the New York State and other states receive from the federal government. We were able to keep that intact for traditional Medicaid. New York will continue to receive its 50 percent federal match. We also did not want to see per capita caps that would also hurt states like mime. And we were able to ensure that that was not in the bill either.

And the reforms that were put in place were very modest. Number one, we protect our seniors, our disabled, our children with developmental disabilities and our most vulnerable citizens, those who the Medicaid program was intended for. What we do on the expansion side is we ensure that dollars do not make their way to benefit individuals who are in the country illegally. And we also put in place mechanisms for checks to ensure that only those individuals who are actually eligible for the program are on the program.

And the other thing was the work requirements, which is supported by vast majority of Americans. And this is something on able-bodied individuals, those who of working age, those who do not have dependents, they would have to work 20 hours a week, so part-time. Either work, volunteer or be educated, whether even online programs could qualify for that. So, it was a very reasonable requirement for that. Again, a vast majority of American support that.

BERMAN: So, no changes in the Senate. Is it your position -- and there have been estimates that as many as 8 million people could lose Medicaid coverage if this goes through as the House passed it. Is it your position that none of those 8 million people deserve the Medicaid coverage?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, that number is only if people do not comply with the modest work requirements working part-time. And, again, it's not only working. It could be volunteering. It could be doing online learning. There are many ways to qualify for that. And that is only imposed on the individuals who have the mental and physical ability to comply.

So, there are a lot of exemptions in place for those individuals who are not able-bodied, who may have mental health or developmental. The developmental disabilities, there's no work requirement at all. So, it's, I think, very reasonable and I think we shouldn't make the assumption that people do not want to do those things to improve themselves.

BERMAN: Let me -- you obviously know this is an issue that Democrats are leaning into. One of those Democrats is former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running to be mayor of New York City. And Politico's got a piece out this morning. Let me just read you a quote that describes it from the Playbook this morning. Andrew Cuomo hasn't won the New York City mayor's race, but he is already planning a national campaign to take on Trump. In a wide-ranging interview with Politico's Sally Goldberg, the former governor mayoral frontrunner says he plans to campaign against Trump's proposed Medicaid cuts to help Democrats in swing districts across the country.

So, what do you think of the idea of Andrew Cuomo going on the road on Medicaid or anything for that matter?

MALLIOTAKIS: Well, let's see if Andrew Cuomo even wins the Democratic primary next week. It's been a very competitive race and there is a possibility there that you have three Democrats on the ballot going into the general election which means a Republican could actually win with a very low margin of like, let's say 30 percent. There is a scenario that allows for that.

What I would say is we should focus on improving New York City, the disaster that has come to New York City with the illegal immigration, shelters that have popped up all over our city to house people who have been here committing crimes, gang members, drug traffickers. There's so much that needs to be done to clean up the streets of New York City. If it were not for President Trump, by the way, we would not see these criminals that have wreaked havoc on our city being deported.

I had to do a freedom of information law request to find out that there were 16,000 crimes committed by 4,000 individuals in the country illegally in our city alone, and we were paying as taxpayers to put them in luxury hotel rooms. It is egregious and it is an insult to the taxpayers. Property taxes have risen year-after-year because they keep increasing the property tax levy. We have a congestion tax to now drive into the city center. There are all sorts of things that have happened. [08:35:01]

And we're not even talking about the rise in anti-Semitism in this city that has taken place that is horrific, the rise in subway attacks that is horrific.

So, there's a lot of work to be done, and the next mayor, whoever that may be, needs to focus on those problems and stop worrying about a national campaign or a future presidential run.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Nicole Malliotakis, we appreciate your time this morning. Thank you. Sara?

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

Tense moments in the murder retrial of Karen Read as a witness, takes the stand and accuses the defense of wanting her to lie under oath.

Plus, new this morning, president Donald Trump issuing a warning to California after a trans athlete competed and won at a state track and field final. The penalty the state could now be facing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning in Denver, opening statements are set to begin in the defamation trial against MyPillow Founder Mike Lindell. He's being sued by a former executive with Dominion Voting Systems, who says Lindell spread false and dangerous conspiracy theories that the company and its workers had rigged the 2020 presidential election.

[08:40:08]

CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter joining me now. All right, give us some sense of this case. Walk us through what we can expect to hear in the opening statements today from those who are suing Lindell.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. Here we are in -- the 2020 election and it's still being litigated in court, and as we know that the big liars that were behind this in 2020, some of them have already been held accountable. We remember that incredible settlement that Fox News had to pay to Dominion a couple of years ago. There are other cases pending, other trials against Newsmax, for example, but today, it is Mike Lindell's turn.

The former Dominion executive, Eric Coomer, filed a defamation suit against Lindell back in 2022. So, Coomer has been waiting for justice for a number of years as well. Coomer was right here on CNN in December of 2020, describing how he had to go into hiding because of all the death threats he was receiving as a result of the conspiracy theories that somehow Dominion had rigged the 2020 election against Donald Trump. Those lies, according to Coomer, really hurt and destroyed his life.

Here's a part of what he wrote actually in an op-ed back then. He said, it is unconscionable that certain fringe media personalities looking to increase their personal notoriety, gain website traffic or ad revenue, would continue to prey on the fears of a public concerned about safety of the electoral system.

So, this is Coomer's day in court, opening statements start today. Then he takes the stand this afternoon. Lindell, meanwhile, Lindell's trying to make a media circus out of this, Sara, and that's the other interesting thing about this.

SIDNER: I mean, it's interesting that you note that huge settlement. Fox settled this. They did not end up in court. Lindell is not settling. What are we going to be hearing from Lindell? How is he responding?

STELTER: Right. He is leaning into this. He is calling this the trial of the century. He is trying to make it into a fundraising opportunity as well as a chance to promote his pillow company. His obscure video streaming platform, Lindell T.V., has been promoting him as a martyr. And here's some of what he said on that platform yesterday, trying to lean into this case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE LINDELL, CEO, MYPILLOW: This is about us as people getting secure elections or, I'm sorry, we lose our country. There is no -- if you knew what I've seen and what I know, there is no other alternative. Anyone that says, well, we'll get more secure machines. And this -- by the way, this isn't just about Dominion or the ones that sued people, Smartmatic and this Coomer guy. This is about all the machines.

When you talk about defamation, there's only one truth. And the truth is I didn't know the guy and he came after me and why? This is very, very organized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Listen, until the jury reaches a verdict, Lindell's going to try to re-litigate 2020. He is going to repeat his lies about the election. But this is not just about the past, Sara, it's also about the future because what happened in 2020 can very well happen again. We can see this conspiracy coalition coming up with baseless theories about our election rigging, targeting companies, targeting individuals. It happened before. It could happen again. But one way to maybe stop it from happening is to see justice take place through the legal system.

SIDNER: It will be interesting because everything he says can be used against him in court. Brian Stelter, thank you so much. That was a great reporting this morning. Kate?

BOLDUAN: This morning a dog bite expert is back on the stand in Karen Read's murder retrial. She's accused of running over her boyfriend, who was a police officer in Boston, and leaving him to die.

On Monday, jurors also heard about a series of sexist text messages about Karen Read herself, messages that were sent by the lead investigator in the case to his friends.

CNN's Jean Casarez is following this retrial very closely for us. Jean, what is the defense trying to do with this here?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the defense had an opening statements to the jury. You are going to see evidence of bias, conspiracy and framing of Karen Read. So, this is their exhibit A in a sense. But this didn't work out the way they wanted to because the prosecutor, everyone thought, including the defense, I'm sure, they're going to call Michael Proctor, the disgraced, fired Massachusetts state lead investigator. They didn't. They got evidence out from everybody else. They didn't need him. So, now the defense has to call him.

On Friday, the defense told the judge, open court, no jury, your Honor, we don't want to call him because we've got to go on direct questions. And then on cross, he's going to give the whole case like his closing argument to the jury. So, they call the next best thing, one of the old high school friends that was on that text chain who can corroborate that they are real texts and he is the one that brought in this evidence for the defense. Take a listen.

[08:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN DIAMANDIS, CHILDHOOD FRIEND OF MICHAEL PROCTOR: But I assume you guys are out to make it cut and dry since it involves cops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next comment by Bird (ph)?

DIAMANDIS: Something stinks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the comment by Mr. Proctor?

DIAMANDIS: Yes, but there will be some serious charges brought on the girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me the last comment on that page.

DIAMANDIS: She's -- she hot.

These are not my words. I'm not really comfortable reading these. Do I have to say these words out loud?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From all accounts, he didn't do a thing wrong. She's a whack job, and then uses the C word to describe. Is that accurate?

DIAMANDIS: That's accurate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: But on another shift to all this, the defense did a very preliminary direct examination, made the prosecutor do this, but the prosecutor stepped up and he boldly got all these texts out instead of including the worst ones. But then said, is there anything about tampering with evidence at all or destroying evidence on this text chain? The answer was no. BOLDUAN: Fascinating. Let's see what happens again then today. It seems the twists and turns here continue.

CASAREZ: We're in the defense case.

BOLDUAN: All right. It's great to see you. Thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right. This morning, a new study details just how costly removing fluoride from water could be for children as more states adopt bans.

And new video from a rescue mission after a plane crashed into the ocean, leaving three people treading water for an hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:50:00]

BERMAN: All right. This morning, a new study finds that removing fluoride from drinking water could significantly increase the number of cavities for children and increase healthcare costs by billions of dollars over the next few years. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. has long advocated to stop fluorination, claiming it is linked to health issues. Utah and Florida have since passed laws banning local governments from adding fluoride to public water.

With us now, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. So, Sanjay, exactly, how does fluoride help with cavities but what are the concerns?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, you know, with the first part, it's interesting. When you eat sugar you have these microorganisms in your mouth that take that sugar and create acid. And that acid -- and I think we have an animation of this, but that acid essentially starts to demineralize your teeth. There's lots of minerals in your teeth. Those acids start to demineralize. You can see a cavity sort of forming there.

What fluoride does, interestingly, it basically remineralizes the teeth. So it's sort of protecting against the long-term effects of having that demineralization.

The concerns are interesting and this is a bit of a nuanced issue, and as you look at some of these concerns, I'll say this phrase that we use in medicine all the time, the dose makes the poison. So, we have known that people who are getting excessive levels of fluoride in their water, for example, can have conditions like skeletal fluorosis, where their bones actually become brittle and weaker. Dental fluorosis, sometimes you may have seen streaks of white in people's teeth. That's typically dental fluorosis, an indication they're getting high levels of fluoride. And then neurotoxicity, which is the thing that I think has gained a lot of attention recently.

Again, the dose makes the poison. But what they found in a few studies, at least around the world, was that when you had really high levels of fluoride exposure, it was associated with lower I.Q. later on in life. Studies looking at moms, for example, who are pregnant, what happened to their kids, high levels of fluoride exposure led to lower I.Q. later in life.

In the United States our drinking water is about half the level typically of what the fluoride exposure would be to be a concern. So it's not really a concern here in the United States, but in many countries around the world, that's what they've dealt with.

BERMAN: Yes. So too much can be a bad thing, but what does removing it all together, what can be the risks there?

GUPTA: Yes. So, you know, this is based on modeling data. You referenced this when you were leading into this segment, sort of saying, okay, if we start to remove fluoride, what happens over the next five years? What happens over the next ten years? How many more cavities would sort of be created as a result? And you can see there basically over the next five years, 25 million excess decayed teeth. And they define decayed teeth as teeth that at least needed a filling, okay? So, over ten years, closer to 54 million.

It's a little bit hard to sort of know these numbers exactly, but that's what they're -- that's sort of how they model it out.

BERMAN: So, how do you then weigh the risk versus the reward here?

GUPTA: Yes. One thing I'll tell you is that there are countries around the world, John, that have removed fluoride from their drinking water. But as a result, they've also often done other things. So, in Iceland, for example, they don't fluoridate their water. Kids get twice a month fluoride rinses. In England, they fluoridated milk, for example. So, there's these different strategies, different fluoridation schemes around the world.

I think in terms of risks and rewards here in the United States, I think what is interesting, if you Google this and you say, what does the CDC say about this, they'll say that fluoridation of water, one of the biggest public health achievements of the last century. But if you look at the data, which we've done a lot here extensively in our unit, most of the benefit that you see from fluoridation in water occurred before 1975. Why 1975? Because it was around that time that dental care overall became much more accessible to people, improved, and you started to have much more widespread adoption of floor data toothpaste.

So, significant benefits, I think, to fluoridated water. But those benefits have incrementally gone down as we've had other strategies, John.

BERMAN: Oh, that date is interesting as a bit of a turning point there.

All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for this. And don't forget, you can scan the Q.R. code on your screen and head to cnn.com to send us your questions about fluoride.

[08:55:01] I know there are a lot of them, and Sanjay will be here all week to help answer them. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. A dramatic rescue after a small plane crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast. A witness spotted the crash told police. And minutes later, a multi-agency search and rescue effort was underway. All three people on that plane survived and were saved by the rescuers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coast Guard, Coast Guard, you have two that you're in contact with. There is one more about your 11:00. He's drifting on it on by themselves. Do you copy?

42 have been given a rescue beacons. They're making contact with the third. The helicopter is hovering overhead now. I believe more vessels festivals are coming on board.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Well, officials say the three people were treading water for about 45 minutes to an hour before they responded. They were immediately given medical treatment by local fire rescue personnel. The NTSB and FAA are, of course, investigating the crash.

Now, this morning, President Trump announced California will face large-scale fines after a transgender athlete competed and won events in the girls' track and field championships over the weekend. The weekend there, you see the people out protesting. He already threatened to remove funding. The group that oversees high school sports in California had changed the rule for that competition, allowing biological females to be co-winners if they were runners up. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. To celebrate the new CNN original series, My Happy Place, some of CNN's own are getting in on the fun, like one of our favorites, Mr. Bill Weir, a man who has traveled the world a couple times over truly for work and even in his personal life. And now he's taking us to his happy place, the wide slot canyons of Buckskin Gulch, Utah.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to one of my very favorite, happy places. I got a bunch of them, on mountains and swamps and coral reefs all over the world. But this place is special. This is Buckskin Gulch, Utah, one of the longest slot canyons anywhere in the world.

On a satellite map, it looks like a snake 16 miles long. But down in it is another world made of rock and light, time and silence.

It is so quiet that the only sounds are the buzz of a fly and maybe a commercial airliner 35,000 feet above.

Through alleys as wide as your shoulders and high as skyscrapers, each bend in the rock reveals a new surprise.

This is all created by eddies of water spinning, boring over eons to create these incredible sculptures. Look at this.

But to enjoy the wonders of Buckskin Gulch, one must also enjoy crotch-deep ice, cold puddles.

And then if you're lucky, right around the time your toes are frozen numb, you find a little pocket of sunshine, like a little oasis of warmth.

I first backpacked here right before the pandemic, thrown in with an eclectic group that included Mr. All Right, All right, All right, Matthew McConaughey, and that's Dan Buettner of the Blue Zones, getting a lesson in quicksand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, thanks for sending up this trip, Dan.

WEIR: But on that amazing trip, we were all most impressed with the man who led the way, Glen Van Pesku.

This guy is a legend in the world of ultralight backpacking and so- called through hikers.

GLEN VAN PESKI, AUTHOR, TAKE LESS, DO MORE: Well, you're on the trail for, you know, a week or a month or a year depending on the trail.

WEIR: I don't know about you, Glen, but my happy place usually involves some threat of danger. What are they here?

PESKI: You could twist an ankle. You could -- you can run out of water, hypothermia.

WEIR: Snakes, scorpions, any of those critters?

PESKI: I've seen rattlesnakes down here, scorpion once.

WEIR: A former engineer, Glen spent decades shaving every spare gram of weight from his pack until his garage became a company called Gossamer Gear, and his philosophy became take less, do more.

PESKI: Yes, that's my sleeping pad.

WEIR: You find that's enough, Glen?

PESKI: I do with the right skills. And this is you know, true in a lot of life. If you have the knowledge and skills, sometimes that can take the place of stuff. And your brain doesn't weigh anymore no matter how much you pack in it. I think especially our culture, there's so much focus on, well, to be happy to be fulfilled, we need to get more stuff, you know, another car, another vacation house, more stuff for the kitchen, whatever the stuff is, like ultralight backpacking reminds me like how little I actually need.

[09:00:16]

And that the things that make me happy isn't the stuff. It's the places.

WEIR: It's the experience.

PESKI: It's the experiences.

WEIR: Yes.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Amazing, the lessons and the visuals and the place. A new episode of My Happy Place airs this Sunday, 10:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

A new hour of CNN News Central starts now.