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Trump and Musk Turn on Each Other in Escalating Public Feud; Soon, Combs Trial Resumes After Judge Warns Him for Nodding at Jury; Judge Blocks President Trump's Push to Stop New International Students from Coming to Harvard. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 06, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening now, where did our love go? Major new developments overnight in the off the hook split between President Trump and Elon Musk, who is posting what about whom this morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking overnight, Russia hits back. New video just in showing waves of intense drone and missile strikes on Ukraine, an attack President Zelenskyy says, targeted almost all of Ukraine and what Moscow is now saying today.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And attention, summer vacationers, a massive blob of toxic seaweed is invading Caribbean beaches. When it could wash up on Florida shores.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Developing this morning, bring back that loving feeling. Many marriage counselors advise never go to sleep angry. To be fair, it's unclear whether President Trump or Elon Musk went to sleep at all. But if they did, this morning, there are signs they could be sprinkling water on the scorched earth between them.

Overnight, Musk tweeted, you are not wrong to a friend who suggested there be peace with the president, and he backed off his threat to halt NASA's use of his SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after Trump suggested cutting off his government contracts. But, you know, who knows? We are standing by to hear from either of them on social media.

That most mature of methods the men have chosen for their near nuclear battle, it started when Musk began criticizing the President's huge tax and spending bill warning it would blow up the deficit. It escalated in spectacular fashion when Musk claimed Trump would have lost the election without him. And then the president accused Musk of going, quote, crazy.

Then Musk dropped what he called the really big bomb and claimed that the president is, quote, in the Jeffrey Epstein files, and that's the real reason they have not been made public. The White House reacted to that saying Musk was having a, quote, unfortunate episode. And, honestly, that's just a sampling of the last 24 hours. So, where are we now?

CNN's Kevin Liptak at the White House, working the phone, scouring the social media, where are we now?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. It seems like the big question now is whether these differences are irreparable or not, whether or not these two men can make up or at least stop torching each other online. And it really kind of depends on who you're talking to. There are plenty of Trump advisers who do not think that this can be fixed. And they point in particular to that accusation about the Jeffrey Epstein documents is something that President Trump is just not going to be able to walk away from.

But there are people who are close to both of these men who do hold out hope that they will be able to sort of kiss and make up. And you saw Musk at least open to a thaw, saying that you're not wrong, responding to Bill Ackerman, the billionaire investor. He's a friend of Trump and of Musk who said that he supported their efforts to make peace for the benefit of our great country.

As all of this was unfolding yesterday and late into yesterday evening, there were people close to both of these men who were trying to broker a peace. They do seem to hold out hope that if they are able to get on the telephone, that they would be able to kind of talk things out. But as of this hour, it doesn't seem clear that a conversation is on the books at all. A person familiar saying that Trump's focus now is getting that massive piece of legislation passed, which at the end of the day is where this feud all started for as catty and as nasty as it became.

And to be clear, one man insulting another man for not wearing makeup in the Oval Office is about as catty as it can get. This was a policy fight and President Trump still has to get this massive bill that contains almost his entire domestic agenda through the Senate.

And so the stakes here are very high even as some of the insults went very low. John?

BERMAN: Yes, as a makeup wearing man myself, I did take notice of that, Kevin Liptak. But I will say, you know, the sticking point here is the bill and it's not clear that there's any middle ground there.

[07:05:00]

So, we're going to wait and see on that on top of everything else. Terrific reporting, we'll let you get back to watching things. Let us know if there's white smoke or black smoke anytime soon. Kate?

BOLDUAN: You're beautiful inside and out, John Berman. I just want that stated.

So, the very public feud between Elon Musk and President Trump could be coming at a hefty price for Elon Musk. The world's richest man lost billions on Thursday as the fallout from his split with Trump played out in tweet after tweet, Tesla shares fell 14 percent, as Trump threatened to pull government contracts for Musk's companies. CNN's Matt Egan is tracking this angle of it, and it could be a big angle. What are you seeing?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Kate, what a bizarre situation, right? We had two of the most powerful people in the world just battling it out on the respective social media platforms that they own. I mean, this was entirely predictable, but it was also shocking at the same time, right?

And this completely unnerved Tesla investors. The stock, as you mentioned, fell 14 percent. This wiped out $152 billion in market value in one day for Tesla. It's the biggest one day loss in market value in Tesla history. And it also took a big chunk out of Elon Musk's net worth. He's still the richest person on the planet, but his fortune got $34 billion smaller. It's the second biggest one day loss for anyone since Bloomberg started tracking this more than a decade ago.

And, look, I think Elon's decision to go all-in on President Trump, right, never really made much sense in the first place. But this scorched earth approach to breaking up with Trump is even harder to make sense of. Because, I mean, think about it, Tesla is a consumer- facing company. So, he already alienated a big chunk of his core customers by helping to elect Trump in the first place. Now, he's starting to alienate another chunk of customers because he's gone after the president. And so it's just this really messy situation.

And, look, it's not just about Tesla, right? I mean, he owns a lot of different companies that rely on the government, for regulation, for federal contracts.

BOLDUAN: I was looking into this, yes. Keep going.

EGAN: And the president has already sort of threatened to go after that. I talked to former Medtronic CEO Bill George, and he said, never go to war with the president of the United States. There's going to be a lot of collateral damage to your business. Kate?

BOLDUAN: I mean, yes. SpaceX has obviously huge contract. Starlink was looking at his contracts with federal government as well, and not to mention the regulation that could be a real headache if headaches were wanting to be made.

Looking to the next hour though, May jobs report is going to be coming out. What are the expectations?

EGAN: Yes, Kate. We are expecting a slowdown in hiring. The forecast is that this report is going to show the unemployment rate stayed at 4.2 percent, that is low, but that jobs added were 130,000. That would be slower than the 177,000 in April. But this is something I think the market could live with, right, because this would still show that the jobs market is in a relatively healthy place.

But we have got a number of warning signs in just the past few days on the jobs market, right? We saw that private sector hiring in May, according to ADP, slowed sharply, right? It was at the weakest pace in more than two years. Weekly jobless claims are now at eight-month highs. Continuing jobless claims are at three year highs. That signals that people who do get laid off, it's taking them longer to get hired.

But, look, every time we doubt this jobs market, it tends to surprise us to the upside. It's been so resilient. And so we'll find out in about an hour or so how things held up in May during this trade war. And just looking at U.S. futures, not overly concerned about the jobs report coming up as you see futures a little bit higher.

BOLDUAN: A little bit higher. All right, you'll be with us.

EGAN: Yes. Thanks, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Matt. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Explosive moments in the sex trafficking trial of Sean Combs, why a judge threatened to kick him out of the courtroom.

And this morning, brand new details on President Trump's birthday military parade, the largest military parade on the streets of D.C. in decades.

And, quote, this plot was as serious as it gets. The FBI and local law enforcement arrest an Oregon teenager accused of planning a mass shooting at a mall.

Those stories and more ahead.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning, Sean Combs' sex trafficking trial is set to resume with more testimony from Combs ex-girlfriend who is testifying under the pseudonym Jane. Another explosive day in court yesterday where the judge threatened to remove Combs from the courtroom for seemingly trying to engage with the jury. The judge said on at least two occasions he saw Combs, and I'm quoting here, not vigorously in their direction.

Here now, Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney. Explain why Combs gesturing towards the jury is such a problem. Are they -- is the judge worried about influence, potentially sort of fear, ethical issues? What are the parameters here?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, and intimidation, et cetera. Sara, good morning to you. So, the jury is sort of this sacred, right, sort of group of people, and you don't want to influence them at all, right, real or imagined. And so the attorneys are often told, well, they're told basically every day, listen, the bottom line is, and during jury selection, look, the attorneys are not going to speak with you. They'll have no interaction with you.

[07:15:02]

They're not being rude, but I've instructed them that they don't want to influence your decision in any way.

Now, take that to the client himself. Certainly, we're emotional people. Everyone is. And so you're engaged in the proceeding, you may nod, you may do something, but you're not going to do that to the extent that you may influence the jury.

So, the judge here being concerned, saying, we're not going to head nod, we're not going to do any of that. And in light of that, if I see him do it again, I'll remove him. Very extreme, he won't be removed. And oftentimes the judge will say, ah, Mr. Jackson, step up to the bench. Your client's kind of nodding. Tell him not to do that, okay, in any way, shape or form, and we'll be okay. But I don't think he'll be removed. The judge is trying to take control and ensuring that the trial goes as it should.

SIDNER: All right. So, we had this person testifying named Jane, that is the pseudonym that they're using for her. She said that she was in an open relationship with Sean Combs and then detailed some of what that relationship built. Can you give us some sense of how impactful her testimony was for this jury, but whether or not it spoke to the charges against Combs, which is sex trafficking and racketeering?

JACKSON: Yes. So, Sara, very important witness because it goes to that issue specifically of sex trafficking. And what you're looking for is the checking of the box is where you having these relations in various places, interstate commerce, Miami, or, you know, New York, California, Turks and Caicos. Was it interstate commerce? But most importantly, was it forced? And when you talk about force, you talk about coercion. And so to the core issue of whether she was forced in sex traffic, you go into, well, how would he have done that? And so you learn about the sense of control, which seems to be a persistent pattern.

Similar to Cassie, not an 11-year relationship, rather, it was a three-year relationship, but nonetheless a relationship. And so the issue becomes was she doing this because she was a participant, enjoyed it and consented to it, or was she doing it because she was coerced to do it?

And so you look at, well, how did he control her? He gave her an allowance, right? There were indications he would remove that in the event that she didn't participate with him. And so, initially, yes, she was on board, but then she seemed to suggest she didn't want to be.

And so the jury question will be here, meaning the question of fact, again, is this something that you were on board with and was it consented to, or was this something that he, by virtue, Mr. Combs, the nature of how he dealt with you, the nature of the relationship with you, the control over you, the money he was giving you, the rent he was paying for you, that you felt you needed to do this. That's the jury question. And that gets you to sex trafficking if you believe that it was coerced as a juror.

SIDNER: There is so much here where I think at the end of four weeks of testimony here. And there is still at least a couple of weeks to go as we understand it from the prosecution.

Joey Jackson is always a pleasure for you to come and go through what has been almost every day explosive testimony coming out of this trial. Everyone is paying attention to it and I know you are.

JACKSON: Without question.

SIDNER: Yes, you are.

JACKSON: Thanks, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. John?

BERMAN: All right. Breaking overnight, quote, sometimes you are better off letting them fight. The new message from President Trump as Russia again overnight launches a round of explosive attacks on Ukraine's capital. New video just coming in.

And this morning top Republicans left in limbo as President Trump and Elon Musk vie for custody after this messy divorce.

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[07:20:00]

BOLDUAN: A federal judge has blocked President Trump's attempt to ban international visas for new students at Harvard. She issued a temporary restraining order. It was just Thursday, just yesterday, after the president signed a proclamation aimed at suspending those visas. Harvard says that this represents a government vendetta against the school, but the Trump administration claims it's trying to protect national security.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz is tracking this one and she joins us now. Katelyn, what more are you learning about this?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN SENIOR CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, this Harvard versus Trump fight over international students coming to the campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it's going off the rails. What has happened here is that Harvard sued originally because the Department of Homeland Security wanted to get rid of the entire program for international students coming to Harvard. The judge had stepped in really quickly and then they tried to do it a different way earlier this week with a presidential proclamation. That presidential proclamation was suspending an entire class of what the administration said were aliens who could be detrimental to the United States, people going to Harvard that could risk national security coming into the United States.

And so the judge following that presidential proclamation stepped in again. This is exactly the sort of thing that she had wanted to avoid previously, and yet the administration, Harvard says, was trying to make a workaround, prompting the judge's intervention again. Late last night, Judge Allison Burroughs wrote in this very short order saying, everybody stop, the administration cannot suspend international students like this. She wrote that she was stepping in because the school would sustain immediate and irreparable injury before there is an opportunity to hear from all parties. So, that prompted her late night order.

There is going to be a larger hearing on this in about ten days, but Harvard here, they keep arguing to the judge that what the administration is trying to do with cutting out their international student population about a quarter of the entire student body, it could be devastating to them. It throws the entire campus operations and research into disarray. And what the administration is doing is escalating and intensifying a battle over what Harvard says is their first amendment right. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Katelyn, thanks so much for tracking this one for us. I really appreciate it. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. thank you, Kate.

Still ahead, could President Trump and Elon Musk be headed for a truce, but who will blink first?

Plus, it's slimy, smelly, and spreading really quickly a massive blob of toxic seaweed, choking coastlines, and inching towards Florida, stretching more than 5,000 miles long.

[07:25:09]

Those stories ahead.

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BERMAN: So, this morning, the billionaire breakup, if it is a breakup. Elon Musk overnight seemed to soften his tone after his relationship with President Trump melted down before our very eyes yesterday. Neither man is a stranger to divorce.

[07:30:01]

And if the split is not healed, the question is who gets custody of the MAGA faithful?

With us now, Maura Gillespie, former press adviser, Republican House.