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Primary Results Still Being Counted in Critical Races Across U.S.; Trump's Pick for Iowa Governor Defeated in Primary; CBS News Fires Scott Pelley After Clash with Management; How AI is Changing the Way People Invest. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The officer carried her out of the car and to safety. The police department says that the officer even gave her a ride home, which is very, very nice and very, very. What's going on, Colorado? What's going on?

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, counting in California, big races there that we still cannot project as elsewhere. An unusual setback for the president.

A metaphorical bloodbath at 60 minutes. Scott Pelley fired after speaking out about management there. There are fresh accusations this morning.

And passengers jumping into action, holding down a man who tried to open an emergency exit door and also get into the cockpit.

I'm John Berman with Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BOLDUAN: So this morning, too early to call. The results are still rolling in from some of the biggest primary races overnight. In California, no projection yet in that crowded governor's race. Trump backed Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra. They're currently leading the pack of 61 candidates. I'm going to play for you what they told supporters overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HILTON, (R) CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: It looks very much as if Californians really will have the chance to vote for change in November and take and take our state -- and take our state in a new direction.

XAVIER BECERRA, (D) CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: The underdog stayed in the fight. Like my parents, I never gave up. Never stop putting one foot in front of the other. Never stop believing in the beacon like goodness of California.

And thankfully, neither did you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So there's also a Democratic candidate, Tom Steyer. He's currently in third place. And also a important reminder in all of this is just how the way things work in California is part of the story.

The top two vote getters, regardless of party, advance here. The final results could take some time. California counts mail-in ballots postmarked as late as Election Day.

So those ballots are still rolling in. In the Los Angeles mayor's race, CNN projects the sitting mayor, Karen Bass, will advance to the November runoff. But who will join her is still up in the air, as you can see. Former reality TV star Spencer Pratt or city council member Nithya Raman.

Another state to watch, Iowa and the race, especially to fill the state's first open Senate seat in more than a decade. Josh Turek, a state lawmaker and Paralympian, won the Democratic nomination for Senate there. He will advance to take on the Trump endorsed Republican Ashley Hinson in the November election.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live this morning for us in Des Moines. And that Senate seat is seen as a potential flip pickup opportunity for Democrats. They're at least hopeful. And then there's also the governor's race.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate, good morning. It is that governor's race that delivered a stunning defeat to the Republican establishment here. And it really broke the streak that President Trump has had in terms of his endorsements in this midterm election a season.

It was last Friday, when the president issued an endorsement of a congressman here named Randy Feenstra. He was largely thought to be winning this Republican governor's race. Well, that did not happen.

Last evening, a businessman by the name of Zach Lahn came out of nowhere over the last several weeks, backed by the MAHA movement, Make America Healthy Again, of course, and he won the Republican governor's primary. Now this is going to be a very competitive governor's race here.

Democrat Rob Sand is seen as a rising star in his party. And he talks about building bridges between both the parties here. So a big blow for the White House, there's no doubt. But it is that Senate race that, of course, is one of the many puzzle pieces, if you will, for the midterm elections.

If Democrats have a chance to win control of the Senate, it is still an uphill battle, there's no doubt. It is going to come from states like Iowa, because Democrats have to pick up four Republican held seats. And of course, this is an open seat because Joni Ernst, the Republican senator is retiring.

But Josh Turek, a Democratic state representative, a Paralympian as well. He won the Democratic primary last evening. He'll be facing Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson.

BOLDUAN: Jeff Zeleny, you're the best. Thank you so much, Jeff. I really appreciate it, Sara.

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

Joining me now is CNN senior political analyst Mark Preston. Mark, where would you like to start? Would you like to start in the most populous state in the country? Or I don't know, somewhere else where there's a lot of crops growing?

Let's start with California. All right. What do you say?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I say let's go to California because that is the best story right now in politics.

SIDNER: It is All right, so --

PRESTON: So I'll tell you what, Sara --

SIDNER: Go ahead.

PRESTON: No, you go ahead, please.

SIDNER: I want to talk to you about the governor's race, but also the mayoral race. I don't know which one is more wild. I'll give you the choice.

PRESTON: All right. Well, so let's break it down right now. Out in California, anger, anger against the establishment, anger about what's happening in cities, anger at their choice of candidates. Right now, we're seeing all of that play out in California.

We're also seeing that play out on the Republican side as well. We won't get too much into the details. You can go to cnn.com, look up all the results. But there were congressional primaries up and down the coast that everybody here in Washington who wants to see where control of the House is going to end up after the midterm elections are paying close attention to.

But the two most fascinating races, the race for governor, a crowded field. Democrats right now seeming to at least open the path for a Republican to place in the top two and really one of the most Democratic states in the nation to be in the November elections. Still a lot of vote out right now. That may not happen. But Steve Hilton right now is in a good position.

But it's really about L.A., isn't it? Isn't it all about Los Angeles, where we have Spencer Pratt, somebody who many of our viewers grew up watching on reality television, has come out of nowhere, has used this advent of AI to try to capture this anger in L.A. against incumbent Karen Bass, the mayor, and he seems to have done so well.

Again, he needs to place in the top two out of the three folks right now that are there. Karen Bass is already going to move on. But right now, stokes vote is still up. But we could see Spencer Pratt in the general election in November, which is something two, three months ago, would be absurd.

SIDNER: Absolutely. It's remarkable. It also tells you about the anger of people in Los Angeles, which is like the bluest of blue part of California.

And you look at this. And if you look at the two next top vote getters, it is 52 percent. So 52 percent of people who voted did not vote for Karen Bass, who was the incumbent and the Democrat in this race that everyone whose name everyone recognizes.

It is a true bout of anger that you're seeing there in California about the way things are and they're asking for change. We'll see what happens here. But it is fascinating to watch all of this.

Let's go now to Iowa, a Trump pick candidate there suffering a rare primary loss. What does that tell you?

PRESTON: Well, again, Donald Trump gets into this race very late. He comes in just in the last couple days, the candidate that he chooses a congressman who, mind you, has been criticized for not being a great campaigner loses to somebody who is even more conservative than he is right now, who aligns himself more with Trump, perhaps than a Randy Feenstra so who lost last night. But what it does show is that Donald Trump -- look, Donald Trump still controls Republican Party, Donald Trump will still control the Republican Party when he leaves office.

But it does show that it's starting to slip just a little bit. Not everywhere. He has had an amazing run so far, taking out incumbents like Thomas Massie, John Cornyn, Bill Cassidy.

These are all hardcore conservatives. But Donald Trump didn't think that they were loyal enough to him. But it goes back to the anger thing again.

Let's go back to the anger. There's a whole realignment of both political parties, Sara. We'll see this play out over the coming years.

It may not feel like it's realigning right now, but when we look back at this time, we will look at these moments in politics and say, ah, that's what was happening.

SIDNER: Yes, I can't wait to the book 20 years from now that looks back at what happened during this time in history. Mark Preston, maybe you will be the one writing it. Thank you so much.

It is such a pleasure to have you here. And I like seeing you outside there on the water. Look at you.

Appreciate it. Enjoy that.

PRESTON: Beautiful out.

SIDNER: Looks like it -- John. BERMAN: I didn't know we're having class outside. Like who said we're having class outside today.

SIDNER: I would have done it.

BERMAN: I'd like to get a sailboat. We're all inside here.

All right, that said, breaking overnight while Mark Preston was sailing.

What is going on at 60 minutes? A giant whoa, Scott Pelley fired after taking on CBS management. He's the fourth correspondent out in just the last month. There aren't that many left. Accusations flying back and forth over there will bring the latest.

New details on a House ethics probe on a Democratic lawmaker accused of sexual misconduct.

And this morning, police on a bear hunt searching for a bear that chased a man and attacked him right in the parking lot.

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BERMAN: All right, breaking overnight. Scott Pelley fired from 60 Minutes, the longtime CBS anchor and veteran of the show. This after he lashed out at management during a heated staff meeting, he accused management there of murdering 60 Minutes.

Let's get to see a chief media analyst, Brian Stelter. So, Pelley out. And honestly, that's just the beginning, because since then, we've heard more from Pelley. We've heard more from CBS, and there could still be more to come.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Absolutely.

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In a statement to me overnight, John, Scott Pelley charged that the new leaders of CBS News have been trying to inject political bias and poison 60 Minutes. Here's a part of his statement.

He said, "For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story." He said he's been, "... told to include assertions that are unverified."

Now, Pelley said he managed to ignore those instructions or refuse those instructions. But he is explicitly now on the record, saying that Bari Weiss and her leadership team are trying to add bias and infect the story of 60 Minutes.

Now, for her part, Weiss has not directly commented on this claim, but she has been saying for months that she wants to revive and reorient CBS News to bring it into the digital age, that she wants to tell accurate and fair and honest stories. So if she does respond on the record of Pelley, I suspect that's what she would say. But right now, this is a stunning war of words inside one of the biggest news outlets in the country.

And it's been going on for almost a week now because last Thursday is when some of Pelley's colleagues were fired. Two 60 Minutes correspondents and the top producers were all forced out. So it's a total overhaul of 60 Minutes, leaving people wondering, is this happening for political reasons or for cultural reasons?

Weiss's team has argued it's for cultural reasons, that the show is archaic, that it's in desperate need of change, and that they're bringing in outsiders to make that happen. However, Pelley is suggesting it's for political reasons, saying it's apparently to curry favor with the Trump administration.

We all know President Trump watches 60 Minutes, rants about 60 Minutes. He sued the program in 2024. The former owners of Paramount settled in 2025 to make that lawsuit go away. So there's a political cloud hanging over all of this -- John.

BERMAN: Very quickly, Brian, Scott Pelley, the fourth 60 Minutes correspondent to go in like the last month. There aren't that many more. Any sense of what happens now?

STELTER: No, no. That's this is going to be a huge rebuilding challenge for Weiss and her new executive producer, Nick Bilton. This is going to trigger even more scrutiny of Weiss and what she's doing at CBS.

Some believe she's doing the right things but in the wrong way. Ultimately, it's up to Paramount CEO David Ellison to decide. And so far, he has been backing her renovation of CBS News.

But all this is coming as Paramount's trying to buy CNN and the rest of Warner Bros. Discovery. So the regulatory cloud is also hanging over all these changes.

And I suspect we will hear more from Pelley. The way that this all went down last night suggests there might be a legal fight or some sort of tug of war about his future.

BERMAN: Yes, that'll be something. Brian Seltzer, great to see you this morning. Terrific reporting on this as always -- Sara.

SIDNER: We're all watching. All right, thank you so much, John.

What President Donald Trump is saying this morning about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the U.S. continues to try to work towards a peace deal with Iran.

Plus, would you let your AI handle your money, your investments? One investment platform sure hopes so as they launch a new feature that lets AI agents trade stocks for you. Those stories and more ahead.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: Artificial intelligence chatbots are everywhere and now they're getting into investing. You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?

Stock trading app Robinhood has launched agentic trading where users can have AI agents handle their trades, make payments as well as build and balance their portfolios. The company has also launched a new agentic credit card. Joining me now is Madison Mills, senior AI reporter with Axios.

So glad you're here. This is really fascinating. First of all, is it agentic? Am I saying that right?

MADISON MILLS, SENIOR AI REPORTER, AXIOS: Yes, yes.

SIDNER: Agentic trading. What is that?

MILLS: Yes, I mean, it's a fancy way of saying you're handing the keys over to an AI agent, right? You can hook up any AI agent you want to your Robinhood account now and you can have it trade for you or buy stuff for you. Now, critically, Robinhood has kind of created a couple of guard rails in there because obviously there are safety concerns with that.

You have to have a separate account specifically for those credit card purchases or for your portfolio, for example. So you really have to fully decide to opt in to handing the keys over. But with that tool, you're going to be able to say things like diversify my portfolio for me, tilt me to AI stocks and then have it do it on your behalf.

SIDNER: AI is like, oh, I'm tilting you to AI stocks. I want me, more of me.

MILLS: Yes.

SIDNER: How much control is the AI being given when it comes to this? Because you said it's a separate account, so you don't have to sort of put it over all of your retirement fund.

MILLS: Yes.

SIDNER: You could have it in a separate account and it does what? Can you just like press a button and be like --

MILLS: And be hands off, yes.

SIDNER: And use it.

MILLS: Yes, exactly. I mean, this is like when we say agentic, this is really what we're talking about is like fully hands-off. So you are like AI agents with hands.

They can run for you. I mean, if you've used any of these AI tools on your desktop and had it connect to your Chrome browser, for example, you've seen this in action. If you have it like run through your e- mail, for example, it just does it for you.

It can do the same thing with your investment portfolio, with your credit card. And then what's super interesting to me is what happens with things like pricing. If you've got everyone buying stuff using AI agents, checking for the cheapest price on something, does everybody just buy the cheapest thing for some products?

I'm very interested in that.

SIDNER: It's fascinating because this was also really hurt the financial -- the jobs in finance, you know, where you have like a financial analyst, this person and that person helping you. But one of the things that I'm curious about, because I would actually try this. I won't try a whole lot of things.

I don't have AI in my e-mails or anything else, right? It's not hooked up to Google. It's not hooked up.

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But I would like to see how good it is by giving it a couple hundred bucks and letting it go.

MILLS: Yes.

SIDNER: But there is one small problem and that is whenever you go on to any of these chatbots, they're so complimentary. It's almost annoying where you're like, hey, I've got this idea. Can you -- and it'll be like, great idea! When it's probably a trash idea. So how do you deal with that?

MILLS: Well, Sara, you are hitting the exact pros and cons of this, right? I mean, on the one hand, Robinhood has a history of democratizing access to the tools that Wall Street has had access to forever. So like low broker fees, no broker fees, agentic trading.

Wall Street has done that forever to help people make more money. And historically, the human portfolio managers are the ones who make financial mistakes, not the bots. So that's super interesting.

But then the challenge is other aspects of this, like security concerns or any sort of trading that could happen that maybe a user didn't want to happen happening.

SIDNER: Yes, I wouldn't trust it with my portfolio, but I might trust it with a couple hundred bucks to see what happens.

MILLS: You have a risk tolerance here. I love it.

SIDNER: I have a tolerance. It's $200. And even that, if I lose it, I will cry.

Madison Mills, thank you so much. I do appreciate it. This is really interesting -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: The NBA Finals tip-off is today. Well, tonight. And as the Spurs take on the Knicks, officials across the country are on high alert, preparing to keep and ensure fans are safe during these big events.

And a flight diverted after a passenger tries to open an exit door and tries to enter the cockpit. Other passengers jumping in to help the flight crew here. What we're learning now about this scary situation.

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