Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Today, House to Vote on Limiting Trump's Iran War Powers; Washington Post Reports Pentagon Taps Convicted Jan. 6 Rioter for Counterterrorism Job; Votes Still Being Counted in Some Key Primary Races; California Governor's Race Too Early to Call; 10 Hostages Freed, Suspect Dead in California Standoff. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- the mood here among these people, who are all local, who are taking pride in the fact that they are participating in building and contributing and protecting their community. They have been singing, they have been laughing, they have been joking around and honestly, against the backdrop of so much misery, it's been really wonderful to see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A vote to rein in the president, the House expecting to vote on another war powers resolution as President Trump suggests he would like to meet in person with Iran's supreme leader.

And it ain't over till all the votes are in. Two top primary races in California, still too early to call. Voters waiting to see who will be on the ballot this November.

And a fantastic finals is ahead. New York Knicks fans hoping this will be the year they win a title. They haven't won one since the '70s. There is just one seven-foot-four problem towering in the way, an alien known as Wemby.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

We start this hour watching Capitol Hill as Congress could soon take a major step in limiting President Trump's military action on Iran. In just a few hours, the House is expected to vote on another war powers resolution and there is some doubt as to whether Republican leaders have the votes needed to kill the measure again.

If it passes it would be a sharp rebuke of the president's handling of the conflict and would direct him to either win approval from Congress to continue the war with Iran or to remove U.S. forces from the region. CNN's Lauren Fox is live for us on Capitol Hill and joins us now.

Lauren, where do things stand ahead of this vote? LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. We expect that this vote is going to take place in just a couple of hours, Boris, but there's a lot of anticipation going into it, in part because of what transpired the last time that this nearly came to the floor.

Right before the Memorial Day recess, GOP leaders actually pulled this from being considered on the floor because of some absences and concerns that potentially, they did not have the votes to actually kill this which would have delivered a rebuke of the president. Today, we are watching really closely to see how many Republicans are willing to vote with Democrats on this measure.

Obviously, it would send a very strong signal to the White House at a really critical time in this conflict in Iran. Now, there are still questions about whether or not Republican leaders are going to be able to hold their conference together or not. Obviously, if this passed in the House, there are questions of what would happen in the United States Senate.

The last time that they had a war powers vote that actually took place on the floor of the House, there were three Republicans willing to vote with Democrats, but there was one Democrat who voted with Republicans, ultimately resulting in a tie. So, I just want to play out here that there is a possibility that in just a couple of hours, Republicans are going to stand up to the president on this issue.

But again, it's just really unclear right now where exactly the votes stand and one vote could make all of the difference here, Boris.

SANCHEZ: We will be watching this vote closely. Lauren Fox on the Hill for us, thank you so much. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": On the same day that Acting U.S. Attorney General, Todd Blanche said DOJ will not move forward with the Trump administration's controversial anti- weaponization fund, the president seemed to suggest otherwise.

Trump told a podcast that he had not dropped the fund and then he praised people that he says were targeted by the government.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIRANDA DEVINE, COLUMNIST, NEW YORK POST: The anti-weaponization fund, have you dropped that?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, a court ruled against it.

DEVINE: Yeah.

TRUMP: (inaudible) in the sand. These are people that have been decimated. These are people that risked their lives over nonsense. People who were treated -- there's never been anything like this, what happened to those people.

And 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)

KEILAR: Meantime the Washington Post is reporting that the Pentagon has hired a convicted January 6th rioter for a sensitive counterterrorism job that requires a top-secret security clearance.

Elias Irizarry was a freshman at the Citadel in 2021 and the paper says, some in the Pentagon are alarmed that he's been hired, but officially the Pentagon calls him "a qualified, patriotic young professional" and we are proud to have him as a political appointee.

Tom Dupree is a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General. Tom, I want to talk to you about this particular Pentagon employee because, on one hand, he's in a sensitive role and then on the other hand, he pled guilty to a misdemeanor. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who sentenced him, actually wrote a 2023 recommendation for his re-admittance to the Citadel noting his youth and susceptibility to influence in 2021, according to the Post. How are you seeing this?

[14:05:00]

TOM DUPREE, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, when I first heard the news, probably like a lot of people, I paused a bit and I thought, is someone who is convicted in connection with the January 6th, someone who should be given a top-secret security clearance to work at the Pentagon. But as you also noted, this case may be a little more complicated than presented at first blush.

Specifically, the fact that Judge Chutkan, who was the judge, the federal judge who presided over the main January 6th case, and is certainly not a big supporter of the Trump administration, that she came forward and said, look, I think that this was a young man, 19- years-old at the time, who got caught up in something, got swept up in something, but he deserves another chance.

And to your point, she wrote a letter of recommendation that basically allowed him to get back into the Citadel and resume his military career. So the fact that even a judge, who may not be ideologically aligned with the Trump administration, saw something in this young man and thought maybe he does deserve a second chance to get back on track, I think the story may be a little more complicated than it appeared at first blush.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's really interesting. And then on the anti- weaponization fund, how are you seeing what the president is saying, where he says people who were targeted by, as he calls it, a crooked government, deserve compensation. How are you seeing that with the acting Attorney General Todd Blanche telling House members that the administration wasn't moving forward ever with the fund?

DUPREE: My sense is that the attorney general meant what he said. He said repeatedly yesterday, under oath, that they are not going to be moving ahead with this fund. What I think we heard the president saying was simply that he believes the people who would have benefited from this fund were wrongfully treated. Now, I didn't quite hear from the president that they intend to keep moving forward with this fund. He acknowledged that some federal judges, one in Virginia, has basically put a hold on any disbursements from the fund. So it sounded from what the president was saying that he's unhappy that this has been paused. He thinks these people were wrongfully treated. But I haven't heard anything from anyone in the administration suggesting that they actually intend to re-up this fund and start making payments from it.

And in my judgment, this fund was ill-advised from the start. I'm glad they appear to have put the kibosh on it. And hopefully, it's the last we're going to hear about it.

KEILAR: Yeah, but you have to say appear, right? And you have to say hope. Because Todd Blanche, even though he said they're not going to move forward, that is a moment in time where he was saying this under oath. He won't put it in writing. And I wonder if that is problematic. Because obviously, his intentions while testifying can be one thing or his understanding can be one thing, but things can change, right, depending on what the administration decides. How are you seeing that?

DUPREE: Right. And look, I think you're right in that certainly nothing would prevent a subsequent attorney general or the president from saying next month or the month after, look, we've changed our minds. Even if Blanche meant what he said at the time, things have changed.

So you're absolutely right about that. But one thing that's very significant to me is that we now have two federal judges, one in Virginia, one in Florida, both of whom have really sunk their teeth into this issue. They are both focused on this settlement. They are focused on whether it's appropriate, whether it's fair, and whether it's lawful.

So even if the administration were to have a change of heart and really try to reignite this fund, it's hard for me to see how that would make these federal judges turn a blind eye. They are on to this. And I don't see either of those judges letting this fund move forward even if the administration has a change of heart.

KEILAR: So we should watch the courts like you are doing. All right, Tom Dupree, thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

Still to come, two big races in California, still undecided with thousands of votes left to count, as California does so slowly. How the results are shaping up so far after Tuesday's primary in the Golden State.

Plus, a 15-hour standoff involving hostages and a bomb threat is finally over. What we're learning about the man responsible. And then later, it's been 12 years for one team and more than five decades for the other. The Spurs and the Knicks both looking to end their title droughts as they get set for Game 1 of the NBA Finals.

We have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:14:07]

SANCHEZ: You know what that music means. We're watching some close races in California, with many votes still yet to be counted from Tuesday's primaries. Keep in mind, as it often does in the West Coast, results could take days. But leading the battle to make the November ballot for governor right now, a Republican backed by President Trump, a Democrat who says that California is bigger than Trump, and a billionaire. But only the top-two vote-getters will wind up advanced.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER BECERRA, (D) CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: After all the exhausting ads are run, the pundits are spun, and the billionaires try to buy their way in, it's the people, only the people, who get the last word.

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.

TOM STEYER, (D) CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Together we put the corporations on notice. Together we demanded more and better for the best state of them all. And now, we just have to be patient.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:15:00]

SANCHEZ: With us now is the co-author of Politico's California Playbook, Dustin Gardiner. Dustin, thanks so much for being with us.

What were your takeaways from the California governor's race results so far?

DUSTIN GARDINER, CO-AUTHOR, POLITICO'S CALIFORNIA PLAYBOOK: Hi, thank you for having me. It really was a great night for the Democratic Party establishment in California. Xavier Becerra, the more moderate Democrat in this race, the Democrat who is more of a continuation potentially of Gavin Newsom's policies. He is looking to be in very good shape.

And really, the question now is, is he going to face Steve Hilton, a Republican, or Tom Steyer, a progressive, in November? And it's looking like Hilton is leading for the other spot on the general election ballot. And so I think, yeah, it was a victory for the establishment here.

And Tom Steyer, the math is not looking great for him in terms of advancing in that second place spot. And had Steyer advanced, you know, he really ran on an agenda, a very progressive agenda that was anti-corporate, anti-special interests, and really challenging a lot of the powers that make decisions in Sacramento, the state capital here. And so I think it's a sigh of relief for a lot of the party establishment. SANCHEZ: What do you think of Steyer's campaign given, as you noted, that he's running as a progressive sort of anti-corporate message? He's a billionaire who spent more than $200 million on this race, spent upwards of $300 million running for president a few years ago. That's a lot of money to burn to not come in at least second place.

GARDINER: Yeah, I mean, if you look at Tom Steyer's political activities over the last decade plus, I mean, we're talking about a billion-dollar economy basically around Tom Steyer engaging in politics and running for president and governor.

And it's unprecedented. I mean, this is the most expensive candidate campaign that we've ever seen in California, especially at the primary stage. And yeah, he spent very heavily, but also there was a lot of money spent against him.

Tom Steyer spent a lot of his campaign really against big tech companies, A.I. companies, the electric utilities, fossil fuel companies. And those companies in turn ended up spending over $37 million attacking him. I mean, that spending was still dwarfed by what Steyer spent himself.

But he faced a lot of incoming because of that. But the amount of money Steyer is spending per voter, it's just unprecedented here. And it just shows that, I mean, no matter how much money in a race where Democrats have a choice between a progressive and a moderate, it was not a good year for the more liberal, more progressive candidates in California.

Really, the moderate establishment prevailed, not just in this race, but in quite a few races on the statewide ballot and quite a few lower ballot races, state legislative and congressional races here.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. One of those lower ballot races that we're watching closely is the L.A. mayor's race specifically. And that race obviously hasn't been called. But Spencer Pratt has shaken up that race. He currently leads progressive, Nithya Raman. Is his candidacy just online hype, or do you think he could actually stand in the way of Karen Bass' re-election?

GARDINER: Well, Los Angeles is a very deep blue city. And this is the outcome Karen Bass is hoping for. If the early returns hold and she does indeed face Spencer Pratt in November, Karen Bass, I think, would much rather face him.

Pratt is a MAGA Republican, a former reality TV villain. And he would probably be a much easier opponent for Karen Bass than Nithya Raman, who is a Democratic socialist-aligned city council member and a fellow Democrat. I think Nithya Raman might have given Karen Bass a much harder challenge in November.

So if it is indeed Spencer Pratt, Karen Bass likely has a stronger path to re-election, assuming that a lot of the Democrats that voted for Raman would most likely gravitate to Karen Bass, the incumbent Democrat, who's progressive in her own right, but just not as progressive as the Democratic socialist-aligned candidate. So I think Spencer Pratt will make a lot of noise and the race will certainly be a tabloid sensation. And there'll be a lot of national media coverage. But the fundamentals are Los Angeles is a deep blue city. It's a very diverse city. And there's pockets of the city where Spencer Pratt has done well, particularly areas that were damaged by the Palisades Fire and other fires where Karen Bass was very, very heavily criticized for her kind of uneven handling of those emergencies.

But beyond those pockets, the city as a whole, I think Spencer Pratt really has a tough time getting beyond the 30-something vote he got in this primary and getting beyond that in general. It's just going to be a very tough path for him.

[14:20:00]

SANCHEZ: Dustin Gardiner, thanks so much for sharing your perspective. Appreciate it.

GARDINER: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still to come, we're learning new information about the man behind a 15-hour hostage standoff in California. We've got the details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We have breaking developments out of California where Bakersfield Police just gave an update on a hostage standoff that lasted for more than 15 hours and ended with all 10 of those held captive freed.

[14:25:00]

They say the suspect was killed by police. Authorities also revealed that the man had strapped explosives to some of the hostages.

CNN's Veronica Miracle is in Bakersfield with the latest on this. Veronica, the first words from police are that they're so thankful they were able to tell the families that their loved ones were coming home.

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Brianna. 10 hostages, five of them who were tied up, all of them were physically unharmed at the end of all of this. It's pretty incredible given that we also know that there were incendiary devices strapped to some of the hostages.

The FBI did say that at a certain point in the investigation, they were able to recognize that those incendiary devices, they were not concerned about them. So whether they were inert or not, they did not specifically say. They said this is still part of the investigation. They're still testing it.

But at a certain point, they were not concerned about those IEDs or those bombs going off. So that was the good news. During this whole process, they were able to learn more about the suspect and possibly some of his motivations. His name is Anthony Scott Searles. He's 41 years old. He lives about 10 minutes from here.

We were actually just at his house, speaking to a neighbor. But listen to what law enforcement had to say about his long criminal history and how -- and I'll tell you exactly how that may have played a motive and a role in all of this. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SID PATEL, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, SACRAMENTO: He was a 41-year- old white male who served in the U.S. Army from 2006 to 2007. However, he was dishonorably discharged for going AWOL. That's absent without leave. He was no stranger to law enforcement and has a criminal history of using weapons to commit violent offenses. In 2014, he was charged with sex acts with a child under 14.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIRACLE: During the negotiation process, authorities said that the suspect wanted information about his case. He was very concerned about one of his cases from his criminal history, about how it was perceived. And they were able to pass him some papers. And so that was part of getting some of the hostages out.

Now, exactly which case that was, they haven't said. They said that this is still an ongoing investigation. But it gives you just a little bit of a glimpse of possibly what could have happened here. Now, this all took place on the second floor of this Chase building. And the second floor is the Kern County School District. It was 10 Kern County School District employees, all of them absolutely terrified.

One of them actually had a cell phone and was communicating until it died. And they were able to get that person diabetes medication. Now, we did speak to a neighbor of the suspect. And he said that a couple of months ago, something may have happened in his life that caused him to become very withdrawn and very unapproachable.

So in the last couple of months, the neighbors noticed a noticeable shift in the suspect's behavior before all of this happened. Back to you.

KEILAR: All right. So glad those hostages are out safely. Veronica Miracle in Bakersfield, thank you.

Top Trump administration officials back on the Hill today testifying. We'll discuss with the key GOP lawmakers, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)