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President Trump and Musk Turn on Each Other; Trump Threatens to Cut Musk's Contracts; Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is Interviewed about the Trump-Musk Feud; Playbills on Broadway. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 06, 2025 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Company's AI chatbot was threatened with being shut down, it threatened to expose the engineer in charge for an alleged extramarital affair. It was all just a test.

DARIO AMODEL, CEO, ANTHROPIC: This is an example of how we have to be very careful in how we take control of AI systems.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: You've spoken out saying that AI could manipulate or possibly figure out a way to kill humans?

FOREMAN (voice over): Almost two years ago, right here on CNN, the so- called godfather of AI warned it will get smarter, could get out of control.

GEOFFREY HINTON, KNOWN AS THE GODFATHER OF AI: And it knows how to program. So, it will figure out ways of getting around restrictions we put on it. It'll figure out ways of manipulating people to do what it wants.

FOREMAN (voice over): Now industry experts suggest that may be happening much sooner than expected, triggering warnings of catastrophic national security risks, a potentially extinction level threat to the human species, and at very least massive job disruptions.

: It's going to affect just about every segment of the economy. And a lot of Americans are going to be looking up wondering what happened to the jobs.

FOREMAN: It is important to know that this incident of the program refusing to do what it was told happened in a test, but the real-world questions about it go on.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we do have breaking news. We're told President Trump is planning to get rid of the Tesla he got in March. That's what a senior White House official just told CNN. The latest on this public dispute between the president and Elon Musk.

And not recommended for human consumption. Some popular junk foods will soon be required to have warning labels for consumers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:36:04]

BERMAN: OK, we do have a little bit of breaking news here. We're told President Trump is planning to get rid of the Tesla that he purchased in March. That's according to a senior White House official.

You'll remember this red vehicle parked just outside the White House. We're told it may be sold or possibly given away. That's according to another official.

It's still outside the White House for now, but it might not be there for long.

Now, as for the president, just a short time ago, he told Dana Bash in a phone call he's not even thinking about Elon Musk and that he won't speak to him for a while.

With us now, CNN's Hadas Gold.

And, Hadas, as you can imagine, this has been having these -- these ripple effects or what some people have called a blast radius inside their political world. What are you hearing?

HADAS GOLD, CNN MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been fascinating to see what's been happening to MAGA. They were watching yesterday unfold, like the rest of us, with sort of that shocked Pikachu face. Just like, oh my gosh, can't believe this is happening. And there's been a bit of like, please, parents, stop fighting. I hate to see my parents fighting with each other.

And, you know, Trump is definitely the leader of this movement. But I think there's a recognition that of all the people out there, Musk is probably the only one who can really go toe to toe with President Trump. And of course, he has these endless resources. He alluded to that saying in one of his posts, President Trump has three and a half years. I've got 40 plus years.

So, of course there is a bit of a question of which side people will go to. And that's where we've seen sort of three main reactions from the MAGA world.

The first reaction is an immediate defense of President Trump and a -- and a turning on Elon Musk. This is by a lot of people who already were skeptical of Elon Musk. Steve Bannon, of course, he called for an investigation into Elon Musk's immigration status. I think we have a clip of what Bannon was saying, even suggesting that the government should take over SpaceX.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON: The -- X should -- the -- President Trump should be taking immediately, I think. When he threatens to take one of the big programs out of SpaceX, President Trump tonight should sign an executive order calling for the Defense Production Act to be called in SpaceX and seize SpaceX tonight before midnight. The U.S. government should seize it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: Then you have people like Charlie Kirk. He immediately had Stephen Miller on to defend the big, beautiful bill. And he posted this on X. He said, "President Trump built this movement over ten years ago. His supporters are not going anywhere. I hope Elon and Trump reconcile and do so privately. It would be good for the country and the world if they do."

And then you have the segment who are saying Elon is right. Now, most of this is sort of this tech Silicon Valley, the more recent MAGA people of the Silicon Valley who are agreeing with Elon when it comes especially to balancing the budget and the deficit and the like.

And these are the ones who are coming out and calling for this new third party. We have Jason Calacanis. He is an angel investor, an entrepreneur. He hosts the very popular "All-In" podcast, and he posted, "the majority of Republican voters strongly agree with Elon and want the big, beautiful bill trimmed down. Elon Musk left the Democratic Party and sacrificed much in his relentlessly supported the GOP. The GOP leadership should give his counsel serious consideration."

We are still seeing the sort of aftereffects ripple effects of all of this. And I think we are going to continue to see sort of people segment themselves out in the sort of MAGA world, whether are you more Elon, are you more President Trump, especially if these two don't actually kiss and make up?

BERMAN: Yes, and I've got to say, the most immediate impact will be on support for this huge piece of legislation. I think that's where we'll see --

GOLD: The definition of the Trump policy of his, you know, legacy going forward. That's why it's so important to the White House.

BERMAN: We'll see which side people choose on that.

Hadas Gold, great reporting. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, for more now on the fallout and potential legal repercussions of this feud, I'm joined by CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Elliot Williams.

Elliot, thank you so much for being here.

Let's just talk about this first. Legally, can Trump just turn off government contracts to carry out his personal vendettas here, as you're seeing online? [09:40:01]

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: He cannot, as in so many things with the president. Yes, there is a legal avenue for taking the action that he is floating, but it's a legal avenue, and you have to pursue that.

Now, there's open ended language in the law, Sara, that a contract with the government can be broken or suspended if it's not in the government's interest. Well, what does that mean? Does the contract break the law? Does it harm public policy? Does it injure the state or the people?

Now, you know, do the final words of your question, this is a Twitter cat fight between two billionaires, not really a matter of public policy that would seem to warrant breaking a serious federal government contract.

SIDNER: I do want to ask about this, though, because Musk's companies, one in particular, are responsible for a really important part of America's defense system. It launches satellites for the Defense Department to use. And his company is the only one sending and bringing back astronauts to the International Space Station. He threatened to stop doing that, stop sending or bringing back astronauts from the Space Station. What are the legal potential ramifications here for Musk?

WILLIAMS: Well, honestly, just like any other party's contract, if you and I were in a contract, one can sue for breach of contract if the other party breaks the contract. And if he has an agreement with the government to provide services and simply stops doing them, not for any good legal reason, of course the government would have a right to sue him.

But government contracting is this incredibly complex body of law that would require written notice from one party to another. Now again, a tweet or a Truth Social post does not constitute written notice that federal contracting law would require. So, either of them would have to formally signify what basis they have for breaking this contract and why, and then go through months, if not years, of litigation over -- over the -- stating their reasons for why they were doing it. And that's just not the case here. It really is a personality dispute, not really a legal one.

SIDNER: Yes, as you mentioned, this doesn't constitute a legal notice. However, as you have said many times before, it could be used against you in court, some of those tweets that are public, right, if it ever were to go to that.

Elliot Williams, a pleasure. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining me now is Massachusetts Democratic Senator Ed Markey. I just want to get your reaction to -- to a specific thing that Elon

Musk said that really angered Trump. And here it is, what he posted on X. He said, "without me Trump would," roll up the prompter, please, so I can read the -- thank you. "Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and the Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate," Musk said. And he added, "such ingratitude."

Musk did give more than a quarter of a million dollars to the Trump campaign. Will Congress ever -- will you all ever tackle the issue of this uber rich influence on elections since both sides do benefit from big money?

SEN. ED MARKEY (D-MA): Look it, you're right, it -- the politics in America right now is an ongoing scandal. Once the Citizens United decision was made by the Supreme Court of the United States, we have been in this world where a flood of money is able to be spent disproportionately influencing the elections by the wealthiest people in our nation.

And this is a perfect example what we're talking about right now of Trump, in his bill, cut 16 million people off of health care insurance. Sixteen million people lose their insurance. $800 billion cut from Medicaid. $500 billion from Medicare. $300 billion from the Affordable Care Act. And Elon Musk says it's not enough. We have to cut even more. That's the debate.

And it's all for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. And -- and this is unbelievable. He then turns, that is Elon Musk. He then turns and says, but I want to put back in the $190 billion in tax breaks for Tesla and all electric vehicles. That's how selfish they are. It's a battle by these billionaires who want to hurt the poorest. Health is the first wealth. Ralph Waldo Emerson. They want to loot the health of ordinary families for their further enhancement of their own wealth. And yet, Elon Musk has the temerity to say that the oil and gas companies haven't lost their tax breaks, therefore he wants to keep his tax breaks for Tesla, for the all-electric vehicles.

But what he's learning is that the oil and gas industry, GOP really stands for oil -- gas and oil party, that it's even more powerful than him.

[09:45:05]

That the gas and oil industry has more influence in the Republican Party than he does for all of his money. And therefore, Tesla is not going to get a tax break, and you're going to see a continuation of the erosion of the Tesla stocks and their sales in the United States.

SIDNER: And you're seeing that erosion happen.

MARKEY: And he now realizes that he is a victim.

SIDNER: Congressman, let me -- let me ask you this. Musk has threatened to decommission its Dragon spacecraft immediately, which is the only U.S. option for delivering crew to and from the International Space Station. The Defense Department relies on Elon Musk to get most of its satellites into orbit. I mean, does Congress need to take a hard look at letting one entity have so much influence on such important infrastructure?

MARKEY: I do 100 percent Elon Musk now thinks that he is indispensable for the defense of our nation. And by the way, Donald Trump is now talking about his golden dome, his beautiful golden dome that he's going to put over our country to protect us from incoming missiles from Russia or from China. Well, that's going to require thousands of satellites to be launched up into outer space. First, it's a preposterous idea, but it is going to require trillions of dollars to be spent. And right now, Elon Musk is in a position to benefit from it and to withhold his company's capacity to be able to launch those satellites.

So, yes, this is getting ridiculous, where the federal government, the defense of the American people, becomes more and more dependent upon a single individual that would withhold that support for our nation.

SIDNER: Let me talk about another big issue. There is a fight, beyond the fight that you are seeing online. A fight over this mega bill that's very specific when it comes to AI. And some Democrats find themselves shockingly agreeing with Marjorie Taylor Greene, who admitted she didn't see the provision in the bill when she voted for it, but wouldn't have if she had because of the provision on banning states from regulating AI for the next ten years.

What do you make of that? Why do you think that language is in there? And what is your take on the fact that it is?

MARKEY: Well, hell is freezing over because Ed Markey, liberal from Massachusetts, agrees with Marjorie Taylor Greene. That position should not be in any legislation.

So, what the AI industry wants is for the Republicans to ban any of the states from promulgating any regulations of AI and then, in Washington, the Republicans will make sure there's no national legislation as well.

Why is this important? It's important because AI will supercharge the ability to compromise teenagers and children's information in our nation. AI is going to supercharge the ability to be able to use this technology to engage in compromise of the privacy of individuals, the -- the -- the housing, the educational, the -- the job opportunities in our nation. That's why I've introduced my AI civil rights act to move all of the protections from the real world over to the AI world, to make sure that this discriminatory possibility is regulated, is protected against.

So, this is something where we have to make sure that there is no preemption of the state's ability to regulate, because that's where the protections are most likely to be put in place in the years ahead.

SIDNER: Yes, It is interesting that Republicans always want to say that, you know, states should have more power. They should be able to dictate what happens in their states, and the federal government should move aside. This is a very different kind of legislation that's put into this latest bill.

Senator Ed Markey, thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Coming up for us, who will win big at the Tony Awards this Sunday? Who better to find out than CNN's Harry Enten.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Broadway does have something to see, not just in different -- terms of different price points, but in terms of the array.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

ENTEN: The array of different shows that are on Broadway. You have your musicals. I mean, I shouldn't be in a musical.

ENTEN (singing): And I know that I'm the hero of my story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, boy. Oh, geez. Oh, God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:59]

BOLDUAN: The Tony Awards are this weekend. Cynthia Erivo will be hosting for the first time. And we will soon learn which production -- which productions, which performers are deemed the best of the Broadway season. And while we don't know that quite yet, we do know that there is something magical about being at a live show. And that Playbill that you're handed at the door, it's more than just a program. It's a piece of Broadway that you get to take home with you.

CNN's Harry Enten went on a special assignment for us to meet the team behind those booklets that become a special piece of Broadway history.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: What is the magic of Broadway?

ANNABEL MCCONNACHIE, WAITING IN LINE FOR BROADWAY TICKETS: I just think there's like nothing like seeing performers live in a room.

ENTEN (voice over): If there's anyone who knows about Broadway, it's father-son duo Philip and Alex Birsh, the CEO and COO of Playbill. That's the company that creates the programs you see at every Broadway show. It's been around for over 140 years, but run by the Birsh family since 1973.

ALEX BIRSH, VICE PRESIDENT AND COO, PLAYBILL: Broadway, all of it, is all live. It is all right in front of you. It is a primal thing that we need is to be entertained by others in front of us in full.

ENTEN: Yes.

ENTEN (voice over): And when you go to Broadway, there is one memento that every theater goer gets to hold on to.

PHILIP BIRSH, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, PLAYBILL: It's a time capsule that people really appreciate because there's so much change in the world, yet we remain staunch in our devotion to giving people an accurate Playbill that is their souvenir and is their time capsule, and celebrates the -- the work that the people are doing on the stage and who created it.

A. BIRSH: And what makes Playbill itself so great is that it is almost always completely tied with joy.

ENTEN: We have this tremendous plant around us. How the heck does this work?

P. BIRSH: So, the first thing we do is we use this Heidelberg press to print the insides of the Playbill, and it changes every week.

[09:55:02]

Once we print the inside of the Playbill, we also have printed the outside of the Playbill, which is the cover of the show.

So, now we have both ends of it. And then we have the common section, called the wrap, where we have articles about all things going on in Broadway.

And then we take it over to the bindery, and we bind all those pieces together to have a finished Playbill.

ENTEN (voice over): In a given month, the factory can make more than 300 different editions of Playbills because they can change so much. And fans, well, they gobble them up.

ENTEN: And do you hold on to your Playbills? Keep your Playbills once you get them?

DEBBIE LEBEL, WAITING IN LINE FOR BROADWAY TICKETS: I frame them because I have an antique shop. And there's where they go.

KAYDE MASON, WAITING IN LINE FOR BROADWAY TICKETS: I have every Playbill of every show I've ever been to because it's a memory. It's frozen in time. It takes you right back to that moment where you experienced something new and saw something amazing on stage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENTEN: Well, that was a lot of fun.

And I -- I so -- I so love it that they now allow me to go on field trips. But I will say that I have decided to bring back a treat from the

field trip. Yes. The lovely Sabrina, if you could, if you please. Thank you very much.

BOLDUAN: Sabrina, you're like, this is my job right now.

ENTEN: I decided to get Playbills with everybody's cover -- their -- their face on it.

SIDNER: Yes.

ENTEN: So, there we go. Here we go.

SIDNER: Oh, my God.

BOLDUAN: Oh, Sara, you're so serious. What's the name of your play?

ENTEN: Here is for Sara Sidner.

SIDNER: I'm very serious.

The name of my play is "Don't Mess with Me."

ENTEN: Here is for Mr. Johnny Berman. Here we go.

BERMAN: That's pretty good.

SIDNER: Look how nice he looks.

ENTEN: And here, we're going to go to camera two, here is for Miss Kate Bolduan.

BOLDUAN: Oh, look, you froze me at a time I was actually happy.

SIDNER: That's a --

BOLDUAN: That's so rare. Thank you so much.

ENTEN: I know.

BERMAN: It says who's in the cast, though.

BOLDUAN: It has happened before.

BERMAN: It says, Sara Sidner and Kate Bolduan. That's the Berman show.

ENTEN: So, I just had a lot of fun there. I --

BOLDUAN: Yes, this is so cool, Harry.

ENTEN: Isn't that fun.

BOLDUAN: Thanks.

SIDNER: Thank you, Harry.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

ENTEN: There you go.

ENTEN: I've known them for a long period of time. My father, actually, one of the few people he actually liked was Alex Birsh. He actually taught him how to shave. Unfortunately, Alex forgot how to shave as a parent in that piece, but I was able to bring back goodies.

And look at John. John. John's such a big fan.

SIDNER: I mean, how sweet. Come on, show off our Playbill.

BOLDUAN: It's so good.

SIDNER: OK, just -- just quickly, John will keep this, but he did not keep --

BOLDUAN: He just admitted it.

BERMAN: We saved all of our Playbills and then we threw them all away a couple years ago and it's one of my biggest regrets.

Never throw away your Playbills. Keep them forever.

BOLDUAN: And also Harry also forgot -- forgot how to shave. That's one lesson as --

ENTEN: That's -- that's --

BOLDUAN: We love you so much.

We love you. We love you and we appreciate you.

SIDNER: Thank you for this, Harry. That was lovely.

BOLDUAN: A special programing note for everyone going back to this one, here we go, let's do one more switch. In a Broadway first, George Clooney's "Good Night and Good Luck" well be broadcast live on CNN this Saturday, tomorrow, at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, live on CNN and streaming on cnn.com and Max. It is clearly Friday.

SIDNER: It clearly is.

BERMAN: "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next.

BOLDUAN: Which camera?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)