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NJ Sues ICE Facility for Access Amid Claims of Inhumane Conditions; Newark Mayor Threatens More Legal Action Over Access to ICE Facility; Dr. Oz Takes Questions During White House Briefing; Trump Appoints Federal House Finance Chief With No Known Intel Experience as Acting National Intelligence Director; 321 Confirmed Ebola Cases in D.R. Congo, 48 Deaths; Survey Finds 83 Percent of Americans Are Under Financial Stress. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 02, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:50]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": The state of New Jersey is suing the private company that operates a controversial immigration detention facility in Newark and the city's mayor is threatening even more legal action. State and local officials are demanding access inside Delaney Hall to inspect it amid allegations of maltreatment and inhumane conditions.

The company running the ICE facility has been accused of psychological abuse and serving spoiled food, claims that DHS is denying. Delaney Hall, we should note, has been the site of numerous protests, some of them recently turning violent.

CNN's Brynn Gingras joins us now with more on these new legal threats against the facility. What have you learned, Brynn?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so Boris, really the Newark mayor came forward in the news conference today saying he was going to start taking legal action, if he could, against this private company that runs Delaney Hall. They have a contract with the federal government. And then only a few hours after that, we heard from the state attorney general and citing the health department as part of this lawsuit against that company.

So it certainly seems like a coordinated effort here to try to hopefully, ultimately, in their words, get that place shut down. In this lawsuit, the state is basically alleging that this private company, GEO Group, is not allowing state health officials into their facility to inspect all parts of the facility that they want to look at, like the medical center, some places where they serve the food, really noting those allegations that we have been hearing for the last couple of weeks now, why there was a hunger strike in the first place by detainees.

They essentially have stated that there were some serious medical needs that took place inside Delaney Hall that were ignored, citing a case of tuberculosis, citing the spread of COVID-19, the flu, and basically saying that these organizers of this facility did not let their health inspectors go in and try to see what the root of this problem is, and that is against the law.

So that's part of the base of this lawsuit. But again, like I said, that was filed after Newark's mayor made similar claims in a news conference. I want you to hear more about what he was talking about, what he told the press as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAS BARAKA, (D) NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: We have to understand that this case is against GEO. GEO is a private company who is hiding under the auspice of a contract that they have with the federal government, the federal government who has no employees that work here. So this is not a federal facility.

These are not federal grounds. This is a private facility, private workers, and they are subject to state and municipal laws. They cannot be shielded by a contract that they have with Homeland Security, which is what they're trying to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Now listen, Homeland Security, the Borders Czar Tom Homan, the company who has not responded to our request for comment, all of them denied that this is all going on inside Delaney Hall. It's also important to note, Boris, you brought up those incidents that have been going on outside of that hall, some have gotten violence, some protests.

We know that there was a curfew in place for the last couple of nights. From Sunday into Monday, there were 60 arrests. Last night, there were no arrests, and Newark mayor is hoping he can get rid of that curfew maybe tonight or tomorrow. So possibly conditions outside are improving. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Yeah, a lot to keep an eye on with this story. Brynn Gingras, thank you so much.

Still to come, we're going to go to the front lines of the fight to contain the Ebola outbreak. CNN's Clarissa Ward will take us to a hospital in the heart of the red zone to show you the heroic doctors and nurses trying to save lives.

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[13:38:23]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Just moments ago, at the White House press briefing where the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, it's kind of confusing, but they've been having this rotating cast of characters doing the briefing, Mehmet Oz was asked about really the headline of the day which is that Bill Pulte, who is in charge of Federal Housing Finance Agency, has been appointed as Acting Director of National Intelligence.

Did you follow all of that?

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Well, it's controversial because he doesn't really have intel experience. Our Kristen Holmes just asked Oz about it. Here's that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEHMET OZ, ADMINISTRATOR, U.S. CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: -- program. Yes (ph)?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Thank you so much. I know this is in your wheelhouse, but you are speaking on behalf of the White House today. Can you respond to any of the criticism from Republicans on President Trump's decision to tap Bill Pulte who has no known intelligence experience as Acting DNI?

OZ: Well, I think Bill is a great guy. I know him socially. I've not worked with him in his current job, but I do trust the president's judgment. He is a very sharp and quick study of people, their emotional abilities and their ability to persevere in the in the face of hardship. So I have confidence in his decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: No, none of those things really have anything to do with being DNI. It's important to note.

SANCHEZ: There was a follow-up question about Pulte as Acting DNI and, apparently, Mehmet Oz said that that wasn't his wheelhouse and that he would sort of pass along all questions to the White House. There are questions about whether or not Pulte would even actually be confirmed given what Kristen noted, resistance from Senate Republicans, at the very least voicing hesitation were the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, Susan Collins, John Cornyn, Lisa Murkowski, Bill Cassidy, Thom Tillis, all of whom you would need for the votes in order to be confirmed for the position of Director of National Intelligence.

[13:40:12]

KEILAR: It's one of the reasons why this is sort of an interesting pick for someone to do the White House briefing, because previously we've seen Marco Rubio. That makes sense, right? He's the Secretary of State.

We see the Vice President, J.D. Vance, doing the briefing. We saw the Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, doing the briefing. All of those folks have deep knowledge, obviously, of sort of critical parts of what's going on with this administration. They were able to pretty fulsomely explain a lot of things about the economy and about foreign relations and about what is going on when it comes to intel.

Mehmet Oz does not really have that breadth of experience. SANCHEZ: We're being told that as part of his briefing, which we are obviously still monitoring, he said that he studied others' performance at the podium for prep for today. We'll see if he answers more questions about Pulte or any of the other major issues. A lot of headlines we're tracking this afternoon.

KEILAR: You've also studied that briefing, Boris.

SANCHEZ: A little bit, perhaps not quite as close as Mehmet Oz, nevertheless.

(LAUGH)

KEILAR: Perhaps not. So we are now going to take you to ground zero of what is the world's third largest Ebola epidemic in history. Health officials saying there's now nearly 350 confirmed cases of this rare strain of the virus.

SANCHEZ: Nearly all of them are in the Democratic Republic of Congo. And CNN's Clarissa Ward and her team went there. They entered what's known as the red zone of an Ebola treatment ward and experienced the front line of a war against this deadly disease.

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CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It is a surreal, but now all too familiar ritual. Health care workers painstakingly disinfect the coffin of the latest suspected victim of the Ebola virus at Bunia's General Hospital.

As family members look on in anguish, unable to get close to their loved one, torn apart by grief and consumed by fear. Oh, my father, why God? This woman cries. Oh, God, this is my only father. As the dead are carried out, new potential cases are arriving.

At the entrance to the hospital, everyone's temperature must be taken.

WARD: So this is the room where they take people who are found to have a fever. There is a woman in there now. Obviously, they don't know if she has Ebola or not. But they're going to keep her here until they do more tests and get a better sense of what's going on.

WARD (voice-over): At a makeshift coordination center inside the hospital, Dr. Richard Kojan and his team are working round the clock to keep up with an outbreak they say is out of control. They agreed to show me and photojournalist, Alex Platt, what they're up against.

WARD: We are now getting ready to go into the so-called red zone of this hospital. That is the area where all suspected Ebola patients are put. And there is a lot of protective gear, unsurprisingly, that one needs to wear to go inside.

WARD (voice-over): Bundibugyo is a strain of the virus that few were expecting. There is no vaccine and no cure. The doctors write our names on our backs so they can recognize us. And then it's time to go in. At the moment, patients are treated in hastily constructed tents. 30- year-old Gloria is a lab technician, one of dozens of health care workers believed to be infected.

WARD: She says it's difficult to breathe.

WARD (voice-over): Earlier, we met her sister waiting outside for news.

WARD (through translator): I saw your sister. She's waiting for the moment she can hug you again. Do you want us to tell your sister something for you? A message?

WARD (voice-over): Do not be afraid, she says.

But it's impossible not to be scared. Some of the patients here are in very bad shape.

WARD: How do you stay strong when you're seeing this?

DR. RICHARD KOJAN, ICU DOCTOR, ALIMA: For me, it's our humanity.

WARD: Your humanity?

KOJAN: Yeah, it's our humanity. When people are suffering like this, it's bad, you know? I feel it. I feel it.

So he was in coma. It's Ebola confirmed.

WARD (voice-over): Ten-year-old Meshach (ph) is still very weak. His mouth ravaged with blisters from the virus.

[13:45:00]

He asked the doctors for a banana, an encouraging sign. Slowly, slowly, Dr. Kojan (ph) warns him. His condition is improving, but he has a long way to go.

WARD: He wants to lay down? Let's help him lay down then.

WARD (voice-over): They lay him down in the corridor while his room is disinfected. Nothing about this situation is OK, but these doctors are doing everything they possibly can. As we walk to another ward, a familiar sound in the distance.

WARD: You can hear the cries of a family who are claiming the body of their loved one. This is a scene that's playing out here multiple times every single day.

WARD (voice-over): This is a temporary ward for suspected cases. Patients lie waiting for test results that are taking up to a week to process.

WARD: So this is the situation that health care workers really want to avoid and are racing to put a stop to. You have five patients in the same room, all of them suspected of having Ebola, but doctors can't be sure. They can't rule out the possibility that one person in here may not have Ebola, and then, of course, there's a strong chance they could contract it.

WARD (voice-over): Every exit from the red zone is as careful as the entry. Protective equipment must be sprayed down with chlorine and methodically removed.

WARD: We were in there for maybe half an hour, and I could barely stand up by the end. It's incredibly tiring, really hot. You're sweating so much. You're thirsty. I just, like, help us understand the kind of stamina that you need as a doctor to be going in and out of that red zone multiple times every single day.

KOJAN: It's really hard. We have to stand strong for those patients, and otherwise, you know, the situation will be really very, very bad.

WARD: That 10-year-old boy, that's hard to see.

KOJAN: The first day, you know, he was really bleeding, a lot of diarrhea and shock, you know, so you have to get a way to give IV fluid. It's not really easy. So, and for me, you know, like, ICU doctor, when you have a situation like this, it's very hard to just say, I have to stop because I'm tired.

WARD (voice-over): On the outskirts of the city, the family we met earlier is burying their father, 72-year-old farmer, Papa Babona Bodwan (ph). The burial team forms a cordon around his grave, the mourners forced to grieve at a distance. The final cruelty of this vicious virus.

Clarissa Ward, CNN, Bunia, Democratic Republic of Congo.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Clarissa for that extraordinary report.

Still to come this afternoon, are finances stressing you out? You are far from alone. New numbers show how many Americans are worried about money. The number of people who aren't may surprise you. Stay with us.

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[13:53:09]

KEILAR: A new study reveals that more than eight in 10, more than eight in 10 American adults are feeling stress, strain, or uncertainty about their finances. The research from Edward Jones and Gallup comes as inflation hit a three-year high in April as persistently high gas prices put pressure on household budgets.

But the study also revealed a mixed picture in terms of how most Americans feel about their financial well-being. CNN's Matt Egan is with us now. That's a lot of people, Matt. What are you learning about how they're feeling?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Brianna, look, a lot of people are stressing about money right now. They are struggling from years of high inflation, and oftentimes their paychecks are failing to keep up with higher prices. So this survey finds that just 16 percent of Americans are financially fulfilled, where they feel confident and their finances are stable.

Far more, 51 percent are considered conflicted. They're not in crisis, but they're not confident either. And look at this. About one in three, 32 percent, are financially stressed, where they are feeling overwhelmed about their finances. Now, among those who are financially stressed, this survey finds that only 19 percent can cover a $10,000 expense with their savings. The rest, presumably, would have to resort to borrowing.

And 52 percent say that their finances are controlling their lives. And the vast majority, 73 percent, say that they've experienced actual stress when thinking about money. So who is feeling financially stressed? Well, this survey finds that that skews towards younger generations.

About four in 10 Gen Z-ers, four in 10 millennials, fall into that financially stressed category. Also, it skews more towards non-white households, specifically Black households and Hispanic households.

[13:55:00]

But look, this is bipartisan. About one in three Democrats fall into this category of financially stressed and almost one in four Republicans.

Now, their survey, this is not an outlier. It is backed up by a series of other surveys with similar findings. A CNN poll recently found that about half, 51 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with their financial situation. University of Michigan says that consumer sentiment has never been lower, and the New York Fed says that one in ten are facing food insecurity.

Look, I think the bottom line here is this is just another reminder that behind all of those positive economic headlines about low unemployment and high stock prices, many Americans are struggling right now, and often it's because of the cost of living. Brianna, back to you.

KEILAR: Yeah, they're telling us how they're feeling, and it's clearly not good. Matt Egan, thank you. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts after a quick break.

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