Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Israel and Iran Trade Missile Attacks; Trump Ends Interview Abruptly; Platner Holds Event Ahead of Maine Primary. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired June 08, 2026 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:31:40]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, if you're just joining us, we are following breaking news out of the Middle East. Israel saying it's preparing for several days of fighting with Iran. Speaking with reporters, the Israeli military says it is also preparing for the possibility of a prolonged campaign. That's according to the IDF. Iran fired close to 30 ballistic missiles since its first attack. And explosions have been reported in several Iranian cities, including Tehran, and a petrochemical plant was hit in the southern part of the country.

President Trump, in an interview with "The Financial Times," says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, quote, "won't have a choice" but to accept a peace deal, calling -- declaring, "I call the shots. Netanyahu does not call the shots."

The group chat is back.

But we're bringing along Becca Wasser. She's the defense lead at "Bloomberg Economics."

We're going to get to who calls the shots. First, I want to talk about said shots. What was interesting to you about this escalation because, obviously, Israel has been going against Hezbollah for weeks, right, since the start of this. What made this a turning point?

BECCA WASSER, DEFENSE LEAD, "BLOOMBERG ECONOMICS": So, Iran has decided that it is going to essentially bail out one of its proxies, rather than one of its proxy groups, Hezbollah, bailing it out. And that's a change in how things have been done.

But I think what's notable about Iran's response and its attack is that it launched over ten medium range ballistic missiles on an Israeli air base. To me, that is not the behavior of a country that is out of missiles, as some U.S. officials have claimed. It's showing that Iran has range and it has the capacity, the capability and the depth of -- that missile depth to be able to do this again, again and again. So, it was a shot across the bow. But even if it's a warning shot, I

think there's a lot of signaling behind it. And that kind of pushes us towards thinking that if things were to escalate further, we are looking at the potential for a much longer extended conflict.

CORNISH: Yes, everybody's talking about going for days, getting ready, digging in. And then the president had a Truth Social this morning saying Iran -- saying Israel and Iran must immediately stop shooting. You know, signed the president. It feels as though he's saying one thing and everyone else, who also has a vote, is really planning to dig in.

WASSER: And, I mean, President Trump wants out. That is very clear. This was an -- this was a war of his making.

CORNISH: But he doesn't want out on -- at any cost. So --

WASSER: No, he wants out on his terms and he wants something that is face saving. And to him, a deal that kicks the can down the road with some of the most important critical issues is face saving enough.

But as you said, Iran gets a vote. Israel gets a vote. And I think with Israel in particular, we're seeing one of the things that comes up with alliances, which is alliance entanglement. Trump can try and contain Netanyahu. He can try and contain some of Israel's behavior, but he doesn't control Israel. Israel isn't a proxy of the United States. They are a sovereign nation with their own decisions. And I think we're seeing that here. But it risks potentially drawing President Trump into a much longer conflict, which is what he's campaigned against.

SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: So, when I think back to 2015, the criticism on the Obama administration was that the Iran deal kicked the can down the road.

[06:35:06]

So, if Donald Trump were to broker another deal that kicks the can down the road, are we better off with this deal now than we were with the Biden deal in 2015, or are we worse off? Did he manufacture a crisis that has made it worse, or did he address something that needed to be strengthened and will make it better?

WASSER: In 2015, was the Strait of Hormuz closed? No. And so even if there is some type of deal, an MOU, something more lasting, in theory, the Strait of Hormuz could be reopened, but it truly is going to be closed. There's going to be a reticence to send commercial shipping through it. There's going to be Iran continually demonstrating that it can control the Strait, that it can close it at various times. And that is going to have massive impact on our global economy and on oil prices.

So, even if we are in this sort of like no war, no peace scenario where the Strait is kind of open and kind of closed, we're still looking at about, you know, brent crude being $95 to $105 a barrel.

CORNISH: Oh, jumping in here. Now you've got the Houthis talking about trying to stop Israeli flagged ships in the Red Sea.

WASSER: Yes.

CORNISH: To your point earlier, is it because they feel emboldened? It's because they're looking at what's going on and saying, you know what, it looks like Iran will jump in and help us after all.

WASSER: I think it's more for the Houthis. They've sought this one out. They've kept their powder dry, in part because they haven't had to. For one, commercial shipping, for the most part, has rerouted, at least initially, from the Red Sea. Now there's a return of traffic as folks are rerouting from the Strait of Hormuz and sending ships to the Red Sea, particularly because Saudi has an oil pipeline that goes through Yanbu, which is located on the Red Sea. And then also for the Houthis, I think for them, a lot of this has been standing up to Israel. And now there is this direct linkage of the Israel's front in Lebanon to the Iran War. And so, they're jumping in because they want to pressure and punish Israel for its behavior across the region for issues that the Houthis care the most about.

CORNISH: Are we in a scenario now where this ceasefire is done? And I know I hear from voices in Israel saying, no, no, no, Hezbollah has been acting. This has always been precarious. But is there something about the exchange over the last 12 hours that really has linked the U.S. to Israel in a way that this could be considered a violation of the ceasefire?

WASSER: I think if we're looking at linkages, we are seeing the linkage of the Iran War to what Israel is doing against Hezbollah. That is the biggest linkage. And Israel has tried to delink those two and say that those are two separate conflicts. Now, they're quite clearly the same. But I do think that some of the diplomacy and the negotiations are imperiled, especially if things escalate further.

CORNISH: Wait, I have to stop you because as we are speaking Trump posted on Truth Social about this issue.

WASSER: Oh, no.

CORNISH: Becca, here's what he says. "Both sides, Israel and Iran, are looking to do an immediate ceasefire. Final negotiations on 'peace' are proceeding, subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way. The blockade will remain in place and in full force and effect, until a 'final deal' is reached. Things should move quickly."

Does that mean there's been a phone call to the region? What do we read in, in how he is saying that?

WASSER: I mean, he is up early this morning for some reason, especially when he has --

CORNISH: Not for some reason. This is an ongoing time (ph).

WASSER: Or, that's what I mean.

CORNISH: Yes. WASSER: Like, I think this is -- this could potentially be the reason. And we'll be asking the White House whether there has been some sort of communication. But --

CORNISH: But I see that phrase "ignorance and stupidity." And it sounds like he's maybe, you're laughing, maybe losing some patience.

WASSER: He's definitely lost patience.

CORNISH: Right.

WASSER: He's lost patience with the war. He's lost patience with Netanyahu based on public reporting time and time again.

CORNISH: Right.

WASSER: And so, I think here he wants negotiations to go forward. He wants some form of a ceasefire, even if there is some of this lower- level skirmishing within the ceasefire. What he does not want is a direct escalation to high intensity warfare, like we saw during those 39 days of really intense fighting.

CORNISH: You know, one of the interesting things about this war is the information of it, as we're talking about the president being up early, giving an interview to "The Financial Times" where he knows markets are up early. And there's also been this back and forth online, right? The information war that's emerging.

And you've got Iranian outlets circulating video that they say shows ballistic missiles marked with messages. But here's the thing, the messages allegedly referencing Jeffrey Epstein and other online conspiracy theories. It's framing the conflict as a fight against what they call a, quote, "criminal gang."

Now, CNN is unable to independently verify the videos of the missiles. But combined with something like the Iranian Lego images, propaganda, they seem to be hitting a political nerve or are trying to hit a political nerve.

Can you talk about the use of this kind of information?

[06:40:03]

WASSER: I mean, we've seen this from conflict to conflict. You know, in the early days in Ukraine, there was actually a bunch of crowdsourced fundraising that was put a missile -- put a message on a missile that's being sent to Putin.

CORNISH: Right.

WASSER: You know, even, frankly, you've seen this with propaganda, with U.S. troops even, where sometimes they will mark maybe missiles, but often, you know, their airplanes that are dropping bombs and marking that up. It's (INAUDIBLE).

CORNISH: Yes. I think it's because with Ukraine I was thinking that was the first TikTok war where the early, you know what I mean, weeks of those war, it was like so very online. And now we're in this what I'm calling "edgelord diplomacy." Like this total kind of like cutesy memes, videos, over this like -- overlaid over something incredibly serious.

FISCHER: If that was the first TikTok war, this is one of the first true internet blackout wars. We've had so little connectivity to what's been going on, on the ground that it gives the Iranian regime power to control the message, to put propaganda out as they wish. And so that's a key difference between what happened in Ukraine and Russia and what's happening here.

In Ukraine and Russia, they did limit access to American social media. You'll recall they blocked Instagram and other platforms. But a lot of the media, like Telegraph, was still viable.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: That's not the case here. So, the government has a lot of control and power over what they can blast, because the people themselves cannot.

CORNISH: What's the difference between, you know, letters dropping over Germany, right, or Germany, like, and this, this era where there's this disbursement of meme and meme culture? How do people in military circles, how have they been looking at these videos?

WASSER: I mean, I think there's a sense of amusement because there's always a sense of black humor. But I think the difference is geography, right?

CORNISH: So, then what's the point? Like, I just -- if why, for Iranians, what's the point of, like, jokes?

ELENA SCHNEIDER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "NOTUS": I mean I think communicating in the way that Donald Trump likes to communicate. It's answering back in his own language. They're using his own sort of meme-ified way of, you know, posting pictures of himself as Jesus, which he ultimately pulled down. But, you know, communicating in that sort of language not only seems natural, but it's also a way to sort of skewer him back.

CORNISH: One of the things I think I said when BBC interviewed some people who reportedly made these videos and they said, we wanted to show we're not like in a cave somewhere. We are fully involved in the sort of modern culture, and that they were trying to somehow show that.

FISCHER: Well, I mean, they are more so now because the internet blackouts have been improving. There have been more people coming online. And I also think they want to show the case that they're not rudimentary when it comes to how they as a country and people communicate about this war. We assume that, in America, given how online we are, that we are the best meme makers, we are the best people who know how to communicate sophisticated -- in a sophisticated way during a time of war. CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: And I think this is their way of saying, like, not so fast, America, we're on this as well.

CORNISH: I have to ask one more thing, Becca, because I have you here. And we often talk about Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, what he's up to. And over the weekend he was in Normandy and he was marking the D-Day anniversary. And people are talking about his speech because he started to talk about -- actually, I'm going to play it for you so you can hear. Again, this is supposed to be memorial D-Day. Here is what the defense secretary had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: Sadly, today, different European beaches are stormed by different dangerous ideologies. Beaches in Spain and Italy and Greece and Bulgaria. Boats and men arrive. When will European capitals do something about that invasion? Or is it too late? I pray not, and I believe not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, is he like under orders to always talk domestic sort of ideology in these contexts?

WASSER: I don't know about that, but let me tell you what I do know. That moment was not for politics. That was a moment for remembrance. That was to remember those who gave the biggest sacrifice so that we in America and those in Europe could be free.

And that was also a moment in that speech for remembrance that Secretary Hegseth gave in front of the very few members of the greatest generation that are left. And so they are standing on the very beaches that they landed on, on that day, remembering what they saw and what they lost, things that, frankly, we today cannot even fathom, and that moment was supposed to be for them. So, it's supposed to be about remembrance, not politics. And that's where I come down on it.

CORNISH: Anybody else? What's going on there with Hegseth talking about it? I thought it was weird to talk invasion or use language that, like, I don't know, Nazis would have used about people invading the homeland. It felt like a sort of dissonance there.

[06:45:01]

SEUNG MIN KIM, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Clearly a dissonance. And again, as Becca said, I mean, there is a time and a place for politics.

However, I mean, if you look at all the cabinet secretaries, I feel like Hegseth is the one that is reflexive, reflective of Trump the most. I mean this is -- I mean that is a Trump ideology, right? They're saying that, you know, injecting politics into an arena where politics may not be appropriate, I mean that's something that the president does all the time. CORNISH: Yes.

KIM: I mean that's -- I mean that is --

CORNISH: Compared to like a Rubio or some other kind of (INAUDIBLE) like that.

KIM: Right. Right. I mean that is someone that knows that the president is always watching.

CORNISH: OK.

Becca, thank you, as always. I love having your insights.

The rest of you guys, stick around.

Next on CNN THIS MORNING, we're going to talk about how six days after the election, the reality TV villain hoping to be the hero for L.A. Could Spencer Pratt's bid for mayor be crumbling?

And later on CNN, Tim Cook's legacy is on the line. Can he get Apple back in on the A.I. race before he leaves the company?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:18]

CORNISH: OK, it's been almost a week. Votes are still being counted in L.A. Nithya Raman now pulling ahead of former reality TV star Spencer Pratt in the Los Angeles mayoral race. Ramon an L.A. city council member, gained about 3,000 more votes than Pratt on Sunday. The two are fighting to see who will face off against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass in November. In a contentious interview that Trump abruptly ended with NBC's "Meet the Press," he continued to falsely claim fraud in California elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: How it's looking. Look at what's happening in California.

KIRSTEN WELKER, HOST, "MEET THE PRESS": Where's the evidence to that?

TRUMP: It's four days. In California it's --

WELKER: But Republicans are doing well in California.

TRUMP: No, they're not there. They're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days and they aren't even close to coming up with --

WELKER: That's how they -- that's how they count the votes in California.

TRUMP: You know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election. WELKER: There's -- what? Do you have evidence to support that?

TRUMP: They're -- all I have to do is look. All I have to do is look.

WELKER: But that's not evidence.

TRUMP: And I listen. And I listen to people. And let's see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Group chat is back.

Why did he get so upset about this in particular?

KIM: Well, he's being challenged on something -- a misinformation that he's spreading. But the president has been on this for some time. He has counted -- he has pointed to particularly California's notoriously slow system of counting votes, particularly because they allowed mail- in ballots that are postmarked on or before Election Day. That's his biggest issue.

CORNISH: Let me just hear that one more time, they allow mail-in ballots that have been posted on Election Day. So, these are people who at least got their --

KIM: Right. Right.

CORNISH: They put it in the mail on that day.

KIM: Right.

CORNISH: But because they arrived later, it takes a while to cut (ph).

SCHNEIDER: And they wait until a full week after Election Day. So, as of tomorrow will be the cutoff for their arrival. But yes --

KIM: Yes.

SCHNEIDER: They allow for basically a full week sort of grace period for these ballots to show up. And 80 percent of California uses mail- in balloting. So, it's a lot of ballots that have to come in and then get processed.

KIM: Yes. But I just wanted to underscore that because what Trump is saying is very much reflected in the media ecosystem, where there are people who are like, look, in this silence, we're going to fill it with the allegation that California is rigging the vote.

FISCHER: Yes. And news organizations have always struggled with how do we handle those types of comments? Because you don't want to inadvertently elevate somebody undermining an election before the results come in because you are inadvertently amplifying what could be misinformation.

CORNISH: Yes. Do you think that's what happened with Pratt? I mean there's so much reporting because it's like, oh, reality, oh, this, oh, he did better than he ever thought he could. But L.A. is like 20 percent Republican and he had Trump's backing.

FISCHER: Oh, it's a great question. I think that people just got overly excited about the fact that somebody novel is breaking through. But I don't think anybody was preemptively saying that he won the election and that these elections were rigged because Spencer Pratt happened to be doing well. I think the president's comments are taking it a step further than sort of the Pratt-osphere was.

CORNISH: The -- I -- the Pratt-osphere? Sara (INAUDIBLE).

KIM: I like that.

CORNISH: How did we get through all these months without using that phrase?

I want to ask about one more thing. There was a rally for Graham Platner on Sunday. He's fresh off of beating back these allegations of toxic relationships that was reported in "The New York Times." And there was still an enthusiastic crowd there. A reminder that he's someone who fundamentally was put forward, not through the party.

I want to play for you a clip, for instance, he was talking about the war and endless wars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: War is not about money. War is not about political power. War is about suffering. It is about pain. It is about violence. It is about death. And it is awful. One of the reasons I want to go to the United States Senate is I want to be a strong voice to stand up against war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, is this the kind of message that's resonating in Maine? Is it his -- the way he's talking about the economy, or is it really Democrats there not liking Susan Collins? What do you account for him being able to ride through some of these scandals?

SCHNEIDER: I think it's a bit of all of the above. I think that he is a unique and dynamic character that has burst onto the scene. He was able to drive out former Governor Janet Mills, who was sort of the Washington preferred candidate.

CORNISH: As she has said is still on the ballot and is still a possibility for people to vote for.

SCHNEIDER: Correct. Has -- those around her have certainly reminded people in Maine that tomorrow, when they can vote, they can still vote for her.

CORNISH: So, she hasn't come out. She hasn't been like, hey, surprise rally.

SCHNEIDER: No, has not.

CORNISH: OK.

SCHNEIDER: And I think it's important, though, to watch what that percentage is, because I think how much Janet Mills wins in this primary could be very telling about the challenge that Graham Platner faces in trying to reunite the Democratic Party as it heads into an incredibly contentious general election against Susan Collins. And look, Susan Collins is certainly one of the most vulnerable Republicans who's going to be on the ballot come November.

[06:55:04]

But it is still going to be a long road for Graham Platner, who has a lot of baggage that he is carrying into this race that we haven't actually yet seen Republicans fully deploy against him.

CORNISH: Yes. OK. We're going to do group chats now, in part because, Seung Min, your group chat somehow still has politics in it.

KIM: Yes. Well, because it's funny.

CORNISH: Oh, OK.

KIM: Because we are actually talking about this.

CORNISH: OK, we'll decide that.

KIM: Well, so, up in Alaska, which I really want -- I really want to do like on the ground reporting there, but basically there is --

SCHNEIDER: As does everybody else.

KIM: As does everyone else. But there is -- so the incumbent there is Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. But now, mysteriously, there is a second Dan Sullivan running in that race, which has really infuriated the current senator, Dan Sullivan. He is accusing Democrats of trickery and putting this candidate up to running in that race. Democrats deny it. You should check out our interview with our colleague. Manu Raju did an interview with Senator Dan Sullivan where you can tell he's very incensed about it.

CORNISH: So there's not even an initial, nothing to help anybody out?

KIM: There is. One is a "j" and one is an "s." See, I can't even remember which one is which.

CORNISH: OK. Not a great sign.

KIM: That's right.

CORNISH: Sorry to the voters out in Alaska.

KIM: Exactly. Yes.

CORNISH: OK, group chat from you, Sara. FISCHER: So, there is a "New York Post" report out that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are going to get married in Madison Square Garden. Is that true? Is it a decoy to throw people off from what their real plans are?

CORNISH: Is it wishful From New York's chamber of commerce?

FISCHER: Right. Probably, because that would draw so much attention.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: Reportedly, you know, a thousand guests. Whether or not this is true, it's in my group chat because when you see huge, huge celebrities like this, they typically want to go out into more private spaces.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: They're not leaning in to big venues like Madison Square Garden.

CORNISH: Right. Although Dua Lipa getting a lot of pushback in Italy from people there for -- it's Italy, right?

FISCHER: Yes, Italy, yes.

CORNISH: Like for her nuptials there with Callum Turner.

FISCHER: And that was the whole thing with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.

CORNISH: Yes.

FISCHER: You know, sucking all the oxygen out of the room. We'll see how it goes down.

CORNISH: Would they get married in secret?

SCHNEIDER: I mean, possibly. We don't really know. She's famous for being able to pull one over on all of us. The thing that's hanging out in my group chat is the new song that she just put out on Friday, which is for "Toy Story 5." I have a five and a three-year-old. We haven't been to the movies yet, but having a Taylor Swift song attached to a "Toy Story" at least makes millennial moms maybe a little bit more excited to go to the movies this this summer and see -- and see -- and see her sing some songs there.

CORNISH: Can I ask one quick question? I know it's the start of the week. We're all getting our assignments from our editors. What are you working on?

FISCHER: I mean, I just got back from Monaco. I was there for F1 Grand Prix.

CORNISH: F1. OK. FISCHER: And you might be wondering, like, why is a media reporter there? It's because all of the big dealmakers in media, technology and business are flocking to these lifestyle sports. Whether that's F1 --

CORNISH: What about the war? I mean --

FISCHER: Not mentioned. Which is fascinating because F1 in Monaco, it's all happening on these big yachts, which depend heavily on crude oil, which is being stuck in the Strait right now. There's not a mention of it. It's like it didn't even happen. And it's fascinating, though, because this is a place of global commerce at this point. Every big major bank and technology firm, media outlet, they're all there with their executives. And it's like the war doesn't even exist.

CORNISH: Yes. Yes. OK, what about you? What are you working on?

KIM: I mean there are serious questions about national intelligence debates in Washington this week, which is what -- is going to be a large part of what I'm going to be following. Obviously, the president's appointment of Bill Pulte as his acting director of national intelligence is causing serious problems on Capitol Hill about the reauthorization of these critical surveillance programs, which expires Friday.

CORNISH: Which is (INAUDIBLE) on The Hill. Are you, like, what are you reporting on?

KIM: I think the president is just really trying to keep Pulte away from Senate Republicans because Republicans are mad about this. So, we're really going to be following, first of all, who the president's going to nominate permanently once Pulte's done with that job.

CORNISH: Yes.

KIM: But also the impact on what's happening on The Hill with the president's -- because as we know, Trump and congressional Republicans have not been getting along for the last several weeks.

CORNISH: Yes. But I would say, on a morning like this, the people who are in charge of our intelligence communities, there's going to be more questions, not fewer questions.

KIM: Right. Definitely.

CORNISH: And for you, what is in your reporter's notebook?

SCHNEIDER: It's still primary season, baby. So, we've got Maine that's coming up tomorrow. There's going to be more on the horizon. Colorado is one that I'm keeping a close eye on, which people aren't really talking about yet. The governor's primary there. Senator Michael Bennet is trying to become governor. Can he actually pull this off in a moment in which establishment figures are maybe not seen as positively by Democratic primary voters? So, there -- we've got a few more Tuesdays to cover in the rest of June before we get a little break in July. CORNISH: Yes. And, of course, we will be keeping an eye out on the

president's moves, if only because he's supposed to make appearance in New York for this game between the Knicks and the Spurs.

I want to thank you guys for being with us this morning. Really appreciate your expertise.

And we're going to continue this -- following this breaking news out of the Middle East, the exchange of hostilities between Iran and Israel after an escalation where Israeli forces were able to make some response against petrochemical plants in Iran.

[07:00:02]

This has created a broader conflict. We're going to be listening more for the president to speak today. So far he's only put out a Truth Social post asking Israel and Iran to stop the shooting.

And then also, just minutes ago, saying that final negotiations on peace are still proceeding, quote, "subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way."

Stay with us. The headlines are next.