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CBS News Facing Turmoil?; George Santos Facing Legal Scrutiny; Iran and U.S. Trade Fire; Trump Still Seeking Anti-Weaponization Fund?; Election Primary Results. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Dropped or not? The president suggesting he's not scrapped his controversial anti-weaponization fund, saying people who were targeted by what he calls a crooked government deserve to be paid.

Plus, too early to call, two races in California coming down to the wire. Could a former reality TV star wind up in the final election to become the next mayor of Los Angeles?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And accused of insider trading, disgraced former Congressman George Santos facing a new investigation that he made money betting on whether he would show up at last February's State of the Union address.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We start this afternoon with President Trump casting serious doubt on whether his administration has given up on his so-called anti-weaponization fund.

After fierce pushback from Republicans on Capitol Hill and on the same day that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche testified DOJ would not move forward with the fund, President Trump says he still believes that January 6 rioters should get compensation, should get paid.

Let's get to the White House now and CNN's Alayna Treene.

Alayna, what more is President Trump saying about this fund?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, Boris, I mean, this fund, ever since it was announced that this would be part of that settlement with the Trump administration, really the president with the IRS about a past lawsuit and looking into the president's tax returns and whatnot, now that fund is facing, of course, so much criticism. And it has since its inception. And while others are saying this needs to be scrapped, the president maintained that it's not, that he's not dropping it, and he believes the people who have been weaponized by the Justice Department deserve to be reimbursed.

He was asked this in a "New York Post" interview. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: The anti-weaponization fund, have you dropped that?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, a court ruled against it. These were many great people. And I gave them pardons. I'm very proud to have given them pardons. And I think they should be reimbursed for a crooked government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So that was what the president said.

Now, this interview, Boris, was taped yesterday, the same day that the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche told lawmakers that it was being dropped and essentially said that they were not going to be moving forward with it. He was pressed specifically of whether that means ever. And he said, "Yes, that's correct."

So, different kind of messaging here we're hearing from the Justice Department versus what Trump said in this interview. Now, I think one of the things you need to know that's so important to all of this is that this is one of the very rare times that the president and his administration has kind of pulled back on something that was really politically unpalatable.

You heard many Republicans on Capitol Hill saying that they would not be able to move forward with the important bill, in the president's mind, on funding his immigration priorities if this weaponization fund were to move forward.

And so really we are seeing them capitulate to this, the president, however, trying to argue it's only because of a court ruling that it's not moving forward at this time.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene live for us at the White House, thanks so much for the update -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Now to California, where some key primary races remain too early to call.

Right now, Spencer Pratt, former MTV villain and one-half of the couple known unaffectionately as Spidey, Spencer's battling it out for second place in the race for L.A. mayor. And if he holds that position, he will go head to head against the incumbent, Karen Bass, in November.

And who will be on the ballot for California governor? Only the top two here will advance regardless of party. Steve Hilton, the Republican backed by President Trump, and Democrat Xavier Becerra are leading right now. Billionaire Tom Steyer is in third.

So let's go to Arlette Saenz, who is in Los Angeles.

Arlette, the final results here could take some time.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they really could.

California voters are still waiting to see who will be featured in those top race matchups for governor and for mayor. One issue here in California is that they are very slow with their vote counting, in part because of the size of the state, but also the universal mail-in voting, which allows voters to send in their ballots on Election Day, as long as they arrive within seven days.

So there could be a period of time where there's still a lot of counting and results coming in on this race. Now, in the race for governor, Xavier Becerra, the Democrat, a former HHS secretary, is in a strong position to advance to the general election.

And that is because many of the votes that are counted after Election Day typically are from Democratic voters. So then that would leave the question of whether he would face off against Steve Hilton, a Republican, or another Democrat in the populist progressive billionaire Tom Steyer.

But, last night, as they spoke to their supporters, both Hilton and Becerra tried to preview some of their general election messaging. Take a listen.

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XAVIER BECERRA (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I sued Trump more than 120 times before, and I won, and I won, and I won.

(CHEERING)

BECERRA: And anyone who wants to come at California will have to go through me.

(CHEERING)

STEVE HILTON (R), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Change is coming, change.

(CHEERING)

HILTON: Change is coming to California. Change is coming to California, and it's long overdue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, as for that L.A. mayor's race, the incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass is breathing a sigh of relief, as she has officially advanced to the general election.

The question is who she will face off against. Spencer Pratt, right now, with those early results, does appear to be in second place, but there is a chance that that gap between him and Nithya Raman, a progressive, could potentially narrow as more results start to come in.

Los Angeles is one of those areas that's very slow with vote counting, so still a lot to be learned from these results and who will be facing off in November.

KEILAR: And, Arlette, tell us a little bit about in Iowa some of the key takeaways there.

SAENZ: Yes, Iowa is very quickly becoming one of the biggest states to watch in this midterm cycle, and that is because there are incredibly competitive races, not just for Senate, but also for governor.

But in that Senate race last night, Democratic candidate Josh Turek, a former Paralympian, beat the progressive candidate in this race, state Senator Zach Wahls, pretty handily, and is now getting ready to face off against Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, who is running as the Republican to try to replace retiring Senator Joni Ernst.

Now, Iowa is typically a Republican state in recent elections, when you think about President Trump's wins going back there in his past three races, but Democrats do see some hope in this state. They think some of the economic pain that's being felt, especially by farmers who are impacted by President Trump's tariff policies, that that type of anxiety might work in Democrats' favor in this race.

But this is certainly one that Democrats will be keeping their eye on as they're trying to piece together the map to potentially try to reclaim the majority in December -- or in November. But Republicans also are feeling confident in their candidate, Ashley Hinson.

KEILAR: All right, we will be looking at that.

Arlette, thank you so much for the report.

Still to come: the U.S. and Iran accusing each other of launching new strikes overnight, as President Trump gives an update on the state of negotiations with Tehran.

Plus, longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley fired a day after clashing with his bosses at CBS News, but he's not staying quiet. Hear what he had to say about network leadership ahead.

And, later, a grisly warning in Japan. Police are telling residents to be on the lookout for a bear that has attacked people. We will have that story coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:13:16] SANCHEZ: Tensions remain high in the Persian Gulf after new strikes overnight by both the U.S. and Iran testing the fragile cease-fire.

Iran says it was targeting American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, the strikes hitting Kuwait's airport, killing at least one person and injuring dozens more. There's limited clarity right now on how negotiations are going to try and end the war. President Trump says that contacts are continuing, but Iranian state media are downplaying suggestions of progress.

Let's go live now to CNN correspondent Jeremy Diamond.

So, Jeremy, what is happening in the region right now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, over the last 24 hours, we have certainly seen an uptick in regional tensions, an escalation in attacks by both the United States and Iran in the region.

But both sides seem committed to trying to avoid the kind of escalation that would ultimately lead to a return to all-out war between the two parties. It all began yesterday, it seems, when the United States struck an oil tanker that was attempting, it would seem, to head towards an Iranian port, breaking that U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports.

And the U.S. also carried out what it described as self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets on a strategic island off the Iranian coast. Iran then carried out strikes against U.S. bases in Kuwait and Bahrain overnight, as well as striking Kuwait's international airport.

There was some quite significant video of one of those strikes hitting Kuwait's international airport and also missiles and interceptors that were lighting up the night sky in what was clearly the most intense round of Iranian strikes since this cease-fire took effect. One person was killed, 63 others injured in Kuwait, according to Kuwaiti authorities.

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Beyond that, though, it's not clear where things stand as it relates to the negotiations between the United States and Iran. The diplomacy has clearly not been killed by this latest round of strikes. Both parties still seem intent on trying to reach an agreement. But how far away we are from that potential agreement remains very unclear.

President Trump today indicating that the contacts between the United States and Iran are continuing. But it has been days now since the U.S. sent its revisions to this memorandum of understanding that both sides have been working on following President Trump's meeting with his top officials this past weekend.

Meanwhile, the president also confirmed that he was -- quote -- "perturbed" by the behavior of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. That's what led to that tense phone conversation that we and others reported on yesterday.

The president confirming the reporting from Barak Ravid about using multiple F-bombs in his conversation with Benjamin Netanyahu. The negotiations are continuing today in terms of talks between Israel and Lebanon, which was, of course, at the center of some of those tensions between Trump and the Israeli prime minister.

The U.S. secretary of state saying that he hopes that the second round of talks happening today will lead to a joint statement and an action plan for Lebanon -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, staying on top of the story for us, thank you so much.

Still ahead: Former New York Congressman George Santos, who you might recall went to prison on fraud charges after getting kicked out of Congress, he's under investigation again. How a bet on himself might have gotten him into trouble this time.

Stay with us.

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KEILAR: Former Congressman George Santos is facing more legal scrutiny after going to prison last year on federal fraud charges.

CNN has learned the ousted New York representative is being investigated for alleged insider trading on the Kalshi prediction market site.

Let's bring in CNN senior reporter Marshall Cohen.

Tell us about what has happened here. Of course, we need to remember that President Trump commuted Santos' sentence and he was able to leave prison early.

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. That was a great outcome for him last year, but he might be facing more legal problems down the line because of what's going on with these prediction markets.

All right, what are we talking about? Prediction sites like Kalshi and Polymarket, you can trade on almost everything, like sports, elections, the Billboard charts, the Grammys, and also the State of the Union.

And George Santos this year said he was going to be attending the State of the Union. He ultimately didn't show, but there was a market on Kalshi that asked the question of, would he be there, yes or no? And my sources tell me that Kalshi identified some suspicious activity on that market. They connected it to the former congressman.

They froze that account and referred it to the Justice Department and the CFTC for investigation. The CFTC is the federal agency that regulates prediction markets. And I'm told that they are in fact looking into this at the CFTC. Other outlets have reported that the Justice Department has also launched an investigation.

We've reached out to the DOJ for comment. The congressman did not comment to us when we asked, but he did tell NPR that he's not aware of any investigation.

And also, for full disclosure, I should point out CNN has a partnership with Kalshi. We use its data to cover major events. But folks like you and me are not allowed to use prediction sites because we work for CNN.

KEILAR: Yes.

So, OK, prediction markets, they've exploded, right?

COHEN: Big time. Big.

KEILAR: They're so popular, especially over the past year. Has the law really caught up with the popularity of this?

COHEN: No, not at all.

And we've heard from lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans, state regulators across the country, casino industry lobbyists, addiction counselors who specialize in treating young adults who are addicted to gambling, and they have all -- this broad spectrum of people, they have all said that more regulation is needed to crack down on these sites, because, in their view, it's just putting people at risk.

They think it's gambling, and that it's not treated that way under the law, and that real people could be getting hurt. Now, the companies say that they do a lot of proactive steps to safeguard vulnerable traders. And the federal government, the CFTC says that they are very aggressive about policing these markets. But it's an open question.

KEILAR: Open question.

Marshall Cohen, thank you so much. Very interesting report.

Still ahead: Former "60 Minutes" correspondent Scott Pelley levels new accusations against CBS leadership after being fired from the show. See his scathing exit statement next.

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SANCHEZ: The recent drama at CBS News reached new heights last night after longtime "60 Minutes" correspondent and former "Evening News" anchor Scott Pelley was fired by the network.

Pelley was fired for cause following a contentious staff meeting with new executive producer Nick Bilton. The veteran broadcaster reportedly told Bilton in front of the entire staff that the show's new boss was unqualified for the job.

Pelley also reportedly accused CBS editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of murdering "60 Minutes." After his firing, Pelley issued a statement, saying the show had lost its DNA after senior management and two correspondents were fired last week.

KEILAR: In his statement, Pelley says: "New management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I've been told to include assertions that are unverified."

He went on to say: "The collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of '60 Minutes' is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well."

We're joined by CNN media analyst and Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer.

Sara, I mean, first off, let's just talk about the role that Scott Pelley has played at "60 Minutes" over the years and at CBS News.

SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Well, he's been there for 37 years, Brianna, so he's not just a tenured journalist, but he's a culture- setter within the organization. He's won many awards. He's led the "60 Minutes" team for almost four decades, as I've noted, since 1989, and through a lot of tumultuous periods.

CBS has gone through so many different eras, when it was a part of a joint company with Viacom. Then it split. Then it came back together. Then it sold to Paramount. He's been a steady voice throughout all of it. And so to see him come out this loud around this issue, it's very significant.