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Senate GOP Beats Back internal Revolt to Pass $70 Billion ICE Funding Bill; Rural Voters on Trump and Inflation; HBO's Buzzy Hit "Euphoria" Ends After Three Seasons. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 05, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, Lauren

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the next step for this bill is going to be it has to go to the House of Representatives. The House is going to take it up next week, we expect.

They were supposed to actually be in town today to vote on it, but they are now going to return next week to consider this legislation. But look, this is really just about this immigration enforcement bill moving through that really got tied up in the politics of this weaponization fund. The weaponization fund wasn't ever in this underlying legislation.

But because of the timing of the announcement from the acting attorney general that this fund was going to be created and the fact that this bill was already moving through the Senate, it became sort of this moment where Republican senators who had concerns about Donald Trump's weaponization fund were using it as a way to try to hold the administration accountable and make sure that this fund didn't actually go into action. Now, there was this really, really critical three hour stretch when this voting marathon began yesterday morning in which there were four Republicans who looked poised potentially to vote with Democrats for this amendment that would have sent this entire package back to committee where they could then strip out any future possibility of a weaponization fund.

However, ultimately, Republican leaders, after about three and a half hours of negotiations on the floor, were able to convince Senator Bill Cassidy to vote with Republicans to block this Democratic amendment. From there, you had about 15 more hours of tough political votes for Republicans. And again, this is just an opportunity for Democrats to hold Republicans accountable on a myriad of tough political issues going into the election year.

But obviously, that weaponization fund, the ballroom funding, those became really ground zero for all of their political attacks against Republicans last night and into the morning -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, late night, early morning for the one and only Lauren Fox. Thank you so much, Lauren, I really appreciate it. Overnight, a landing gear suddenly collapsing, sending planes nose

crashing into concrete. Several workers were injured. We've got more on what's happened.

And it's the finale that more than 25 million viewers tuned in for. You may have heard of this show. One of the stars of Euphoria is here.

[08:05:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. A lot of focus on the California primaries, but very interesting developments in Iowa as well, including a candidate the president endorsed losing in a primary. We really haven't seen it that much.

What could be going on? With us now, CNN Chief Data Analyst Harry Anton. Iowa, one of the things we know about Iowa farm country, pretty rural --

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Field of Dreams.

BERMAN: How do rural voters feel about the president?

ENTEN: Yes, you know, Iowa has been traditionally a field of dreams for the president United States, but it's quickly turning into potentially a field of nightmares. There seems to be a rural revolt going on in this country against Donald Trump. Take a look here.

Rural voters on Trump. Look, according to Fox News, he was easily winning them back in October of 2024 versus Kamala Harris, 18 points ahead. The exit poll even had a bigger margin.

But look at where he is now. Whoo, down there underwater underneath the cornfields. He's now 14 points underwater. That's an over 30 point switcheroo against the president United States. As I said, there appears to be a rural vote going against Donald Trump.

BERMAN: What could one of those reasons be?

ENTEN: You know, one of the big reasons that there seems to be a rural vote against Donald Trump. Simply put, it's the economy.

It's inflation. Take a look at this. You thought that that switcheroo was big.

How about this one? Rural voters on Trump and inflation versus Kamala Harris. He was more trusted by 37 points.

Now he is 19 points underwater with rural voters on inflation. That is an over 50 point switcheroo against the president of the United States. Rural voters like the rest of the country turning against Trump on the key issue that got him elected to a second term back in 2024.

BERMAN: That is a big, big shift. ENTEN: That is a huge shift.

BERMAN: OK, as you know, the president's sort of endorsement primary magic wore off in Iowa, and you saw this happening kind of in real time on election night.

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know, Donald Trump went and he has won all of these primaries. The candidates he's endorsed have won all of these primaries. Did not happen in Iowa. We'll just talk about Iowa Republicans here.

The gubernatorial primary. He endorsed Randy Feenstra, a congressman from Iowa, and Feenstra actually won the absentee vote in that state by 15 points. Trump endorsed late, but the other candidate, Lahn, Zach Lahn, look at this.

He actually won those who voted on election day who knew about Trump's endorsement. In fact, they were considered more favorable to Lahn than they were to Fincher, even after knowing that Trump had in fact backed Feenstra.

It seemed to me that Iowa Republicans said, you know what? We hear you, Donald Trump, but you know what? We're dismissing that message. Again, part of a larger picture in my mind of rural voters not tuning into what Donald Trump is selling them at this point.

BERMAN: So if something different is happening with rural voters, maybe in Iowa, what might that mean for Democratic chances in November? What are the prediction markets say?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. The last Democrat to win a Senate race in Iowa was all the way back in 2008.

It was Tom Harkin. It was Tom Harkin. But what do we see here in terms of the Democrats' chances in Iowa in the governor's race and the Senate race?

They have gone up like a rocket. We're now talking about Rob Sand running for governor with a greater than 50 percent chance.

[09:40:00]

And it turns out that Josh Turek, who the Democratic establishment wanted, his chances have also been considerably rising at this point. If all of a sudden, you're able to put Iowa on the board, if you're a Democrat hoping to win back control of the United States Senate, hey, that would be a massive piece of the puzzle. And the last time Iowa elected a Democratic governor was all the way back in 2006.

And that looks like a more likely possibility than not, according to the Kalshi prediction markets, at least at this point.

BERMAN: All right. Iowa, stay tuned.

ENTEN: They're very nice.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much. A lot of news. We'll be right back.

[09:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: The hockey just keeps getting better and better and better and there was an overtime stunner in the Stanley Cup Finals. Let's get right to Patrick Snell for the highlights. Hey Patrick.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS: Hey John, yes there certainly was an absolute thriller of a game one of the Stanley Cup Final which featured lead changes. Nine total goals. Late, late winner Vegas and Carolina producing another classic in game two. Carolina fans thinking their team would be facing an 0-2 series hole heading back to Vegas after the visitors taking a 2-0 lead here heading into the third period.

Brett Howden scoring both goals for Vegas. The 28-year-old with four points total in this Stanley Cup Final. But the Hurricanes storming back in the third. Three unanswered in a five-minute span to take a shot lead, starting with Logan Stankoven and solo effort. Then it's Jordan Staal scoring on the power play right here to make it 3-2.

Crowd going absolutely wild, but this one far from over as it turned out. Just over a minute to play, now it's the veteran Mark Stone coming up clutch yet again with the goalie pulled. Stone puts it in from close range to overtime. We go then -- Carolina on the power play and it is Seth Jarvis ripping a one-timer from the left circle to win it for his team. Series tied up at one apiece so Vegas for game three on Saturday.

At the French Tennis Open in Paris Poland's Maja Chwalinska has become just the second qualifier ever to reach a major final in the pro era. The 24-year-old has previously been very open indeed about her battle with depression which kept her out of competition for a year and a half earlier on in her career. Chwalinska ranked 114 in the world beating the Russian player Diana Shnaider in straight sets on Thursday.

Up next in Saturday's final another Russian the teenager Mirra Andreeva.

Meantime we're set for game two of the NBA Finals Friday night in San Antonio where the Spurs will look to bounce back after New York's dramatic comeback victory in game one. The red hot Knicks have won 12 straight playoff games.

The last seven by double digits. Even Elmo has taken note first tweeting -- I'm not doing it in my Elmo voice. Elmo hopes both teams have fun ahead of the finals. But after some fierce backlash from some rather crusty New York fans I will say, Elmo tweeting, nixed that last message. Elmo didn't mean to spur you on. John, we'll see if Elmo tweets again after game two.

On that note back to you -- Kate.

BERMAN: If Elmo does tweet hopefully, you will use his voice next time. Patrick Snell, thank you very much.

SNELL: OK.

BOLDUAN: Thank you JB.

We're following this news this morning. An actor from Top Gun Maverick and Jumanji has been stabbed to death. His girlfriend's son has been arrested. 81-year-old James Handy was found unconscious in the front yard of his Los Angeles home yesterday -- Wednesday. He later died at the hospital. Police say Michael Gledhill, the 44-year-old son of Handy's girlfriend, turned himself in to police when they arrived at the home. He has been booked on suspicion of murder.

Now in Germany, several airline staffers are being treated for injuries after the nose gear of a Boeing 787 jetliner suddenly collapsed at the gate. This was at the Frankfurt Airport. Lufthansa says the passengers for the what was to be a Los Angeles bound flight had not yet boarded. Now the cause of this collapse is very clearly under investigation.

In Northern California police are investigating now after multiple elementary school students became sick at school and then tested positive for marijuana. Some of the parents only found out about this after they're taking their children to the emergency room concerned over the unusual symptoms that they were experiencing. According to an e-mail from the school a staff member had shared food with students. The school told an affiliate KBRV that it is cooperating with the authorities and prioritizes the safety of students -- John.

[09:50:00]

BERMAN: All right, so one of television's most talked about shows is over. HBO's Euphoria ended with this bonkers dramatic finale that included really an old-fashioned duel featuring one of the season's most talked about characters crime Lord Alamo Brown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE, ACTOR, "EUPHORIA": So what's your name? You want to tell me who sent you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rue.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: So you got a score to settle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right chills like serious chills. With us now is actor Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. You know him as Alamo Brown or Adebisi for fans of Oz from 20 years ago. You are so very bad in this.

You are a very, very bad person in this show.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Yes, yes, he was. He was the probably the baddest person in the show and there were a lot of bad people in that show.

BERMAN: What's it like -- how do you find that space to be so evil in a show like this?

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Well first of all you need a great writer like Sam Levinson. And you know, because this character was his brainchild so it's so well curated in the script. And then just for me as an actor you just have to tap into your own resources, you know, lost pain traumas and draw them through.

BERMAN: What's so interesting about I think Alamo is compared to some villains you never figure out why they're evil or what went wrong or was there ever any goodness. There's some backstory here which puts some humanity in this.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Yes, this was really one of the exciting parts of joining, you know, the season and playing this character because he was so rich. As you said you rarely get to see the making of a man and here, we get to see his childhood trauma which he projected onto other people so it humanizes him. You can empathize.

I mean it doesn't justify what he does but at least you can understand what the cause is, yes.

BERMAN: So we played a little bit of it that scene and I was watching this scene with my with my son and my wife and my son just kept saying such amazing cinematography and it is. When you're filming a scene like that I to me that's going to be iconic if it isn't already, I think we're going to be talking about this scene for a long, long time. Do you know -- to what extent do you know that it's going to turn out to be something special?

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Well look, before joining the cast and the show I mean I did I binge-watched the first two seasons. So you know, you've got a track record of greatness, you know, it was the cinematography, the music score was incredible and then Sam Levinson shared his vision for this show, which was epic, you know. Heavily influenced by the Western iconography but in a modern twist. So you've seen what they've done with the other shows. We have an incredible cinematographer with Marcel Reeve and they shot it all on film so you know they're going to make you look cinematic and it's going to be epic.

BERMAN: You said you binge-watched the first two seasons. What's it about? People say to you hey what's Euphoria about? How do you answer that question because it's not an easy answer.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Well it's about life isn't it, especially for the through the eyes of a younger generation, you know, a generation that doesn't necessarily have a voice. So we watch high school students grow up in high school and then go out onto the wild frontier of life. Some legitimately and others illegitimately and that's where they meet Mr. Brown.

BERMAN: It is a crazy finish. It's a crazy fascinating character. As I mentioned, I first remember seeing you in Oz as Adebisi. You single- handedly kept me out of prison for the last 26 years, right, because I absolutely didn't want to be in there with you. But it's just fascinating to see these different types of characters and the different types of evil here. And I was fascinated to see on Wikipedia -- thank you internet -- you have a master's in law. It's like yes, I mean, you have an education that tells you how not to end up being some of these characters that you play.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: I do, exactly. And ironically my master's was in criminology and criminal justice. So you know, I was I was very aware and astute as to the ramifications of breaking the law. So yes, it's ironic that now I'm playing outlaws you know.

[09:55:00]

BERMAN: What's next for you?

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Do you know what, I'm --

BERMAN: Musical comedy?

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Why not, you know, a romance? I like to keep my audience guessing but essentially, you know, anything that gives me a chance to show my range, you know, and you know it's got to be comparable to what I've played. So whatever that manifests I'm open to it.

BERMAN: That's a high bar though after a character like that, that's a high bar.

BOLDUAN: You could just read the dictionary. I'd be like, yes, please tell me more. You're such a soothing. Anyway, and I really like that track out.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Oh thank you.

BOLDUAN: Which I know is exactly the whole purpose of why you wanted to come on today was for that but --

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Well, absolutely.

BERMAN: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, thank you so much for being with us. Phenomenal work.

BOLDUAN: Congratulations.

AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE: Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Are you ready to end the day?

BERMAN: Let's do it.

BOLDUAN: Let's do it. Thanks for joining us, everybody, this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

BERMAN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next, Kate.

BOLDUAN: John Berman. Sorry we're trying to be friendly to each other.