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Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is Interviewed about the Russia- Ukraine War; Musk Takes on GOP in Congress; Questions about Floride; Iran Dismisses Any Proposal with Zero Enrichment. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 04, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:34:36]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, Russia's chief security officer is now in North Korea to discuss with Kim Jong-un the war in Ukraine. That's according to Russian state media. North Korea sent, as you remember, thousands of troops to bolster Putin's war effort there.

It comes as Ukraine's foreign minister now says Russia has yet to respond to Kyiv's peace proposals, despite Kyiv's negotiators giving them to Russia before their meeting on Monday.

[08:35:02]

This really is turning out to be a hugely consequential week when it comes to this war, starting with that unprecedented drone attack Ukraine launched deep inside Russia, targeting air bases in multiple regions this weekend. And then yesterday, Ukraine claiming it bombed a critical bridge linking Russia to Crimea.

And here in the United States, there's growing momentum right now around a bipartisan effort to slap huge new sanctions against Russia, something the president has not endorsed. Here is -- not yet endorsed, at least. Here is the majority leader, John Thune.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): I -- wouldn't say that he's there yet. I think that they are -- they -- they're aware, obviously, that we have a bill and that we're ready to move. So, we will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is one of the senators spearheading leading this sanctions bill effort, fresh off a trip to Ukraine to meet with President Zelenskyy, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Senator, thanks for coming in.

You met with Zelenskyy on Friday, I believe. This was your seventh trip to Ukraine. What did you see this time that you hadn't before? SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): What I saw first and foremost was the

maps and some of the intelligence that indicate that Ukraine, far from losing this war, actually can win it. The maps and intelligence are going to be on display in just a little while here at the Capitol with two of President Zelenskyy's top security officials coming to brief all of the Senate. All senators have been invited by Senator Graham and myself to hear and see what we did just last week, indicating the audacious and bold, brilliant move in attacking the Russian airfields was just one card that Zelenskyy and Ukraine have to play.

And the second point, which is very important, is that Putin has begun a massive invasion, really a re-invasion or summer offensive, and so the sanctions bill is all the more critical right now. That's why we hope to move forward with these scorching levies and sanctions that, in effect, would put Ukraine -- the economy of Russia on an economic island, in effect, stop the kind of aid that China has been providing, that fuel the Russian war machine.

And so, this sanctions bill is very important at this moment in history.

BOLDUAN: I want to ask you more about that in just one second. But the White House confirmed yesterday that President Trump was not informed ahead of time about Ukraine's drone attack on those Russian airfields that you're talking about, that you're going to be hearing more about when you brief senators.

Did you get a heads up, I mean, since you met with Zelenskyy and his team really just hours before it happened?

BLUMENTHAL: There was no indication about this specific operation. Keeping it under wraps in the way that they did was one of their major accomplishments. Putting those drones deep inside Russia ranks with the United States bin Laden raid and the Israeli pager operations. One of the great special operations maneuvers of all time. But the secrecy was also an accomplishment. Even as the president, as you'll remember, demeaned and baited Zelenskyy in the Oval Office about how he had no cards. Well, he has some very good cards. And what I hope to hear from this top team later today, that my colleagues will also hear, is some of the plans for the future.

And I will say, Kate, in response to your first question, what I also saw in Ukraine was some of the children who have been abducted and kidnaped. I met with them personally. My heart was in my throat as I listened to how they were, in effect, made orphans by Russian soldiers who killed or imprisoned their parents, and also some of the bombing sites. Putin has intensified the frequency and magnitude of his bombing of civilians. Whole neighborhoods, decimated.

And so this war has peace nowhere in sight. And we need to supply the kind of resources Ukraine needs to continue to fight. Their fight is really our fight because Putin will keep going against NATO, and we will be obligated to become more involved, possibly with troops on the ground if Putin is allowed to overrun Ukraine.

BOLDUAN: And this is -- sorry, Senator. And this -- and that's exactly gets me to your sanctions bill. I mean, there isn't anything in Washington that gets nearly the entire Senate around it. You've got 80 plus co-sponsors backing this bill, and these are seen as huge sanctions that would really cripple and hurt the war machine -- the war machine behind Putin's attack on Ukraine.

[08:40:06]

The president has not endorsed this move. Again yesterday, has not endorsed the sanctions bill. Is President Trump bulking on these sanctions? If so, why?

BLUMENTHAL: One of the mysteries to me, Kate, and your question goes to the heart of Putin, in effect, playing Donald Trump. He's making a fool of him. And I have no good answer for why Trump has failed so far to endorse explicitly this bill. But he's talked about sanctions. And you're absolutely right, 82 senators are co-sponsors. They are supporters on the record of this bill, 41 Democrats, 41 Republicans. And we are going to have more join us, possibly as a result of the briefing today.

And in the House, there is the same overwhelming majority. If this bill gets a vote, it will pass.

BOLDUAN: Right.

BLUMENTHAL: Speaker Johnson said he's in favor of sanctions. So, Donald Trump, I think, really is inexplicably inert, I'll put it kindly, on this bill, even as Putin continues to thumb his nose at him and play him for a stooge.

BOLDUAN: Well, I mean, just to put a fine -- fine point on it. I mean, this is me -- of recent, the most perfect example of how Washington -- Washington is these days. I mean this bill is backed by nearly the entire Senate. It has support in the House of Representatives. And everyone saying it will have an impact on something that is in U.S. interest. Yet, it still is facing uncertain odds in Washington. I mean, how far through the looking glass can you get?

BLUMENTHAL: And I think the American people deserve action on this bill. Our national interests and our security are involved. It is also, let's be very blunt, aimed at China, who is one of the major purchasers of Russian oil and other energy goods. The sanctions bill says, in effect, if you buy Russian oil and gas and uranium, your products will be subject to a 500 percent tariff coming to the United States. Seventy percent of all those energy products are bought by India and China. This bill says to China, if you continue to support Russia's war machine, you'll pay a price.

And so, it can be viewed not just as aimed at Putin and Russia, but also at China, who have profited from this war, even as the people of Ukraine are sacrificing blood and financially the destruction of their country.

BOLDUAN: It will be very important to hear how senators react when they leave that briefing that you and Lindsey Graham have coordinated for them after your trip. Thank you so much, Senator, for coming in.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have been standing by all morning long watching Truth Social to see if President Trump would respond to the comments from Elon Musk about the president's tax and spending bill. Elon Musk calls it a disgusting abomination. But as of now, President Trump has yet to respond at all. Calls himself a counterpuncher but remarkably quiet on this.

So, what's going on here? With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

So, Elon Musk, in calling this a disgusting abomination, says it will explode the national debt. Says it runs counter to all the work he did trying to cut government spending. What's the reality?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Please just never call me a disgusting abomination, John, please.

BERMAN: Never to your face.

ENTEN: Thank you. Thank you. Behind me is perfectly fine.

I mean, look, you know, President Trump wants to send these DOGE cuts to Congress through the rescission process. And that, get this, would only bring down the national debt by about $9 billion.

The big, beautiful bill over ten years, get this, through the roof in terms of the federal deficits and the debt, up $2 trillion. You don't have to be a mathematical genius to know that $9 trillion doesn't come anywhere close to -- $9 billion comes anywhere close to $2 trillion. So, all of DOGE's work that they would send, at least a part of it, to Congress gets completely wiped out, wiped off the map by the big, beautiful bill. No wonder Elon Musk is so upset.

BERMAN: So, as I said, he's taking on this bill. He's mostly critical of Congress here. In a battle between Elon Musk and Congress, who wins?

ENTEN: Yes, who wins between Elon Musk and Congress? Well, look, Elon Musk is a very popular guy amongst Republicans. A plus 63 net favorability rating. Beats Mike Johnson at plus 46, who, of course, is the speaker. How about John Thune, the Republican leader in the Senate, only a plus 30. So, if Musk is taking on these two gentlemen, it's not a fair fight. Elon Musk is a very popular dude.

[08:45:01]

But he is nowhere close to where Donald Trump is within the Republican ranks. Look at that, a plus 79 net favorability rating. So, if Donald Trump decides to turn his fire on Elon Musk, that is a fight that Elon Musk, simply put, cannot win. If Donald Trump stays out of it, he stands a pretty good chance, Elon Musk does, against Johnson and Thune. BERMAN: It's interesting because, again, I've said, Trump has been

quiet so far this morning.

ENTEN: Yes.

BERMAN: I wonder if he'll look at this segment -- he's a big Harry Enten fan -- and say, you know what --

ENTEN: Many are.

BERMAN: My popularity is a lot greater than Elon Musk's right now. Maybe I should weigh in.

ENTEN: We'll see.

BERMAN: I'll be interested to see if he stays quiet on Truth Social all day.

On the issue itself, Harry, when Elon Musk is criticizing the debt and deficits here, how much do voters really care?

ENTEN: Republican voters, they don't care. They don't care. I mean, look, cut taxes, even if the deficit increases, you know, you go back 33 years ago, it was just 22 percent who said cut taxes even if the deficit increases. But the party of fiscal responsibility is no more. Now 74 percent of Republicans say cut taxes even if deficit increases. So, if Donald Trump, more popular than Elon Musk, sticks his neck out, the Republican voters will absolutely be with him because they believe cut taxes even if deficit increases quite different than where they were in the early 1990s.

BERMAN: You are no disgusting abomination. You are a glorious miracle every day.

ENTEN: You too, my friend.

BERMAN: Thank you, Harry Enten. Appreciate it.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Beautiful.

ENTEN: I know.

SIDNER: You know, Sanjay Gupta says that love is a good thing. So, it's nice to see you, too, together.

ENTEN: Love will keep us together, as Uncle Neil once wrote.

BERMAN: Yes.

SIDNER: Thank you so much for that, Harry.

All right, this morning, the use of fluoride is under scrutiny as some states move to ban the adding of the mineral to the water supply. This despite new research showing that doing so could lead to millions of cavities and billions in dental costs.

We asked you to send us your questions about fluoride and its safety and effectiveness. And now CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is back to answer your questions.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

SIDNER: Good morning to you, Sanjay.

So, we have a question from Paula from Massachusetts who says, "in our household, we use filtered water coming out of our refrigerator. Does that eliminate fluoride in our water?"

GUPTA: Well, right. So, we get a lot of questions about this. The short answer is no. Most filters are not going to remove fluoride. Fluoride essentially is a mineral that dissolves in the water. So, it's actually really hard to -- to filter out. So, most common filters aren't going to do it.

Two types of filters will, reverse osmosis, where you're actually sort of forcing water through these membranes. And also something known as distillation, where you're essentially boiling the water and then collecting the water vapor back. That will get rid of fluoride.

But, you know, a couple things to keep in mind. First of all, in the United States, there -- most places aren't going to have very high levels of fluoride. They're going to be about half of what the concerning levels of fluoride are that we talked about yesterday. So, typically not going to be a problem. If you're worried about it, there's two things you can do. Your water company is actually required to give you a consumer confidence report that can tell you how much fluoride is in your water. And you can also go to the CDC's website. There's a "my water fluoride" page, and look up your area and find out how much fluoride is in your water.

But again, I understand the concern. But for most people, fluoride levels in the United States are not going to be that high.

SIDNER: Question Lucia from New York asked, "if fluoride was removed from drinking water, would brushing with fluoride toothpaste or rinsing with fluoride mouthwash be enough to protect your teeth?"

GUPTA: Yes. So, the answer is yes. And this really gets at, I think, at the heart of the issue in some ways because before the mid-1970s, before we started having more wide access to dental care and more fluoridated toothpaste, you had, you know, more cavities and you needed more fluoride in the water. The benefit of fluoridation in water has diminished as those other things have increased.

Now, a couple of things I think are interesting to keep in mind. And sometimes people forget this. But you don't need a lot of fluoride on your teeth to get that benefit. For kids under the age of three, just a rice grain size amount of toothpaste.

SIDNER: Oh, wow. GUPTA: For adults, just a pea-sized amount of toothpaste. Obviously brush your teeth really well. And preferably you want that fluoride to stick to your teeth. That's how it offers some of these benefits. These remineralizing benefits that we talked about.

You don't necessarily want to rinse afterwards as a result. You just want to let that fluoride sit there. Rinses as well. Fluoride rinses, I should say, can also be really beneficial, in addition to toothpaste.

SIDNER: You can save a lot of toothpaste. You just told us, a pea- size, that is --

GUPTA: There you go.

SIDNER: We all do a little bit more than that, I think.

GUPTA: We (ph) do.

SIDNER: That is good to know.

All right, Clarissa from New York is asking this, "does fluoride strengthen bones in the body as well as teeth?" What an interesting question.

GUPTA: That is a really interesting question because I don't know if we have that animation that I showed yesterday, but I'll sort of remind you that the way fluoride works again is sometimes your -- your bones, your teeth, they will start to lose their mineralization.

[08:50:08]

Fluoride can help remineralize your teeth. That's how it helps protect against cavities. So, I think the question for a long time has been, does it do the same thing in your bones then? Can it make your bones stronger? And the short answer is, no. And it's a little counterintuitive. But there was two cities that they looked at in Canada, Toronto and Montreal. Toronto fluoridate their water. Montreal does not. So, you had a good sort of test group here. And they compared bone strength over time. And what they found was that the -- the fluoridation was actually increasing the mineralization in the bones in Toronto, but that did not equate to stronger bones.

SIDNER: Ah.

GUPTA: In fact, the bones that were actually more mineralized were a little weaker, more likely to actually develop stress fractures.

SIDNER: Oh.

GUPTA: So, that's part of the problem. With too much fluoride, it can cause over mineralization and potentially weaker bones in your skeleton.

SIDNER: Right. So interesting, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and also giving us news you can use. What more can we ask of you? GUPTA: (INAUDIBLE).

SIDNER: It's so great to have you on. Appreciate it.

GUPTA: You got it.

SIDNER: All right, over to you, John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, Iran's supreme leader says of the United States, they cannot do a damn thing. So, what does this mean for whatever nuclear negotiations are taking place?

And collateral damage? A high schooler is now being detained after ICE searched for his father and found him instead.

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[08:55:56]

BOLDUAN: A Massachusetts community is rallying right now behind a high school student detained by immigration officials Saturday. Officials say Marcelo Gomes da Silva was on his way to volleyball practice in his father's car when agents stopped him. DHS officials say the target of the operation was actually his father, who was wanted for reckless driving, but they took the 18 year old instead. Marcelo's team, the Milford High School boys volleyball team, dedicated their game Tuesday to him. He's scheduled for an initial hearing before an immigration judge tomorrow.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the Navy to rename the oiler ship USNS Harvey Milk. The Navy auxiliary ship was originally launched in 2021 in honor of the gay rights activist and Navy veteran Harvey Milk, who served during the Korean War. Milk was forced to leave the service because of his sexual orientation. He was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California before he was assassinated in 1978. It is not clear what the new name of the ship will be. The change was announced just days into pride month.

Now we often talk about a bull in a China shop. Apparently that is old news. How about an elephant in a snack shop? This wild video shows security camera footage of a very pushy shopper, a wild elephant wandering into a convenience store in Thailand Monday. Locals say that the elephant is well known in the area, but shopkeepers say he's never actually stopped by before. Maybe he just felt, like, bad. They say that he went straight for the snack aisle and ate ten bags of sweets, dried bananas and peanuts. Staying true to form, of course. Park rangers were called to the shop and managed to shoo him. Probably woo him, or coax him with more peanuts and snacks away.

Sara.

SIDNER: I mean, he went for the snacks. Like, don't we all? No judgement.

BOLDUAN: I just also like how like one large elephant in a very small convenience store, but also a very gentle -- he seemed very gentle about it.

SIDNER: He did. He -- listen, he's doing what we all do. You go to the snack aisle and you go crazy and then you feel bad about it later and you leave. Thats, I think, what happened.

BOLDUAN: Yes. And then guilt sets in and you're shooed away by the police, or whatever.

SIDNER: Go, go, ma'am, enough. Enough of you.

All right, thank you, Kate.

All right, new this morning, Iran's supreme leader is making it clear what his response is to any proposal by the U.S. that Iran give up its uranium enrichment program in return for a nuclear deal. The response? A hard no. On Iranian state TV, the ayatollah, Ali Khamenei, said this about the U.S. Quote, "they cannot do a damn thing in this matter."

CNN has also learned the Trump administration has shifted its position on the issue of uranium enrichment in its new proposal.

CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid joining me now.

I mean, first to you, what is the U.S. shift on uranium enrichment, and why is it important?

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the U.S. has given Iran a new proposal just a few days ago. A new proposal for nuclear deal that will allow Iran, at least for a certain amount of time temporarily, to continue enriching uranium to lower levels. Levels that are not enough to produce a nuclear weapon. But at the same time, it is something that many U.S. officials, many Trump administration officials said that they will not allow. They spoke about zero enrichment. They spoke about dismantling Iran's entire nuclear infrastructure. But the proposal that the U.S. gave, which Iran has already rejected, did allow Iran some limited uranium enrichment and did not dismantle its entire nuclear infrastructure.

SIDNER: I am curious about this because Donald Trump killed the Obama engineered Iran deal. Is Trump's deal with these changes now similar to Obama's deal?

RAVID: I don't think it's similar. I think there are elements in the proposal Trump gave the Iranians. There are elements that are similar, but there are elements that are very different.

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