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Sexting Scandal Clouds Presumptive Dem Nominee's Senate Race in Maine; More Clashes, Arrests at Protests Outside Newark ICE Facility; Hassett Says, People Look at Their Wallets and They Decide How to Vote. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 01, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:37]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Sexting and the Senate. Could new revelations in one of the most watched races in the country put Democrats' chances of taking Congress in jeopardy?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Overnight, more clashes and more arrests after protests outside of an ICE detention facility. The new curfew in place, what demonstrators are demanding, and why state officials claim extremist groups are making things worse.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: And big booms and a fireball rattle millions on the East Coast. What caused this scare in the sky?

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

BERMAN: All right. We are standing by for a big day of primaries in six states tomorrow, but the big political news in the headlines this morning comes from a state that heads to the polls next week. Maine is a crucial state for Democrats in their hopes of taking back the Senate in November. And The New York Times was the first to report that Democratic Senate Candidate Graham Platner sent sexually explicit messages to several women a few years ago shortly after he was married.

Now, Platner's own wife disclosed those messages to his campaign as a potential liability. Platner's wife just released a statement saying she is deeply hurt that those messages became public, and she is accusing a former campaign official of betraying her trust. Kate?

BOLDUAN: We bring out to talk about this, Andrew Desiderio. He is the senior Congressional reporter for Punchbowl News. It's good to see you, Andrew. Good morning, and thank you.

ANDREW DESIDERIO, SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, PUNCHBOWL NEWS: Good morning.

BOLDUAN: What are you hearing about the impact that this news is having or could have on what really has become a key Senate race? Voters are heading to the polls in Maine for the primary there early next week. DESIDERIO: Yes. Democrats cannot take back the Senate majority if they do not win the state of Maine. So, this is super critical for them. And on top of that, look, Democrats have tried and failed many times to defeat Susan Collins, the incumbent Republican senator. So, for Chuck Schumer, this is really a top priority for him.

Unfortunately, for many Democrats, including Senator Schumer, they didn't get the candidate that they wanted out of the primary. Of course, Governor Janet Mills of Maine dropped out several weeks ago after she failed to gain really any traction in that Democratic primary. Yes, voters are heading to the polls next week in that primary, but it's all but certain that Graham Platner will be the Democratic nominee.

And the question then becomes, what is the tolerance level among Democrats, both primary voters in the state of Maine as well as national Democrats, elected Democrats here in D.C., for what will obviously continue to be a drip, drip of, you know, scandalous personal history to come out about Graham Platner?

BOLDUAN: And you mention the drip, drip because this isn't the first kind of negative hit that Platner's campaign has faced since he got into this race. I mean, and as the polls would show, it hasn't cut into his support so far. I mean, Mills got out because she couldn't -- her numbers were just not holding up, and she wasn't fundraising. Then he's led Collins by like nine points in a University of New Hampshire poll released last week. I wonder what this race really then is going to come down to. What are you hearing?

DESIDERIO: Well, look, I was in Maine a couple of weeks ago, and the contrast between these two candidates, or candidate and incumbent rather couldn't be more clear. Susan Collins is trying to rely on her mastery of the system in Washington, which has allowed her to become the Appropriations Committee chair, to steer over a billion dollars to the state of Maine in her -- throughout her tenure atop that committee. And Graham Platner is running on a platform that would essentially blow up that entire system that Susan Collins has relied on to steer money to the state of Maine throughout her career.

So, there are really some really stark contrasts there. And you're right, Graham Platner has shown a very unique ability to weather many of these scandals, and I think many of his supporters in Maine are wary of what could come out next. For example, I was at a veterans town hall a couple of weeks ago with Graham Platner, and a Vietnam veteran stood up and said, look, you and I both know that there's more coming out here, and the Republican onslaught is going to be just incessant. So, I want to know what your plan is for combating all of that.

[07:05:01]

So, I think it shows that his supporters, his most passionate supporters, are keenly aware of the dynamics here.

BOLDUAN: That really is an interesting -- that's a really interesting window, Andrew. The question not being, what is coming out, sir, tell us now, it's how are -- it's stuff is going to come out, and how are you going to manage it from a supporter. That's really interesting.

It's great to have you. Thanks for jumping on this morning. I really appreciate it. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

New this morning, multiple protesters arrested outside Newark's Delaney Hall ICE facility after officials say they refused to comply with the city's curfew. Take a look.

You can see video there from the scene overnight showing dozens of officers outside the facility that's been at the center of protests and unrest for days now.

Lawyers representing detainees have alleged brutal conditions. They say detainees are faced with overcrowded rooms, extreme cold, no food or spoiled food, and lack of medical care. DHS is refuting the allegations.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is joining us now. She's been watching all of this. Brynn, what are you learning this morning? This has been going on now for quite some time.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. We're getting used to these scenes at this point right now. We actually pressed DHS to figure out how many people were actually arrested over the evening. This was the first full day of the curfew being in place by the Newark mayor. From 9:00 P.M. to 6:00 AM, that curfew is in place. And so we're trying to see what ended up with all these clashes with that protest in place.

But we've heard from the governor of New Jersey essentially saying that these are outside agitators that were coming in. According to DHS, the people that were arrested, they had helmets, they you know, they had weapons on them. So, we're trying to get some clarity exactly what's going on here, but these scenes, of course, as you mentioned, they have been going on for over a week now.

I do want to hear from the governor here who did talk about some of these arrests.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): Over the last two nights, that protected zone has been violated repeatedly. Last night, we saw masked individuals attack the barrier, taking aggressive, dangerous actions against Newark and New Jersey State Police. They threw projectiles, they used barriers as weapons, and lit tires on fire in the street.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Yes. And, of course, the concern here is these -- how far is this going to go, right? The governor in that news conference saying, let's bring the temperatures down. Let's remind everybody about why these protests are actually happening, which you explained to the viewers, the inhumane conditions inside this facility. She actually called for the visitations to be restored to the detainees that are inside, which is going to take place today, full day of visitations. There was about a partial day yesterday. And essentially she's just saying we got to get back to what it is.

We saw actually Hakeem Jeffries go into the facility yesterday saying he talked to some of these detainees and saying these conditions are still bad. So, again, the big question is here, when are we going to see these clashes end? And it doesn't look clear at this point.

SIDNER: Yes. And when are they going to see some changes maybe inside the facility? We just -- a lot of evidence we have not seen, obviously, hard to get in there. But we will all be watching this, and I know you will be. Thank you for coming on this morning. I do appreciate it. John?

BERMAN: All right. A new exchange of strikes between the U.S. and Iran after President Trump requests changes to a proposed deal between the two countries.

Breaking overnight, rescuers are investigating knocking sounds deep inside the flooded cave where two people could still be trapped.

And this morning, a dramatic eyewitness account of a meteor that burst through the atmosphere off Massachusetts, and here is the account. It was really loud. I was in the bathroom and my sister's up there and we thought something hit the house. Here's more.

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[07:10:00]

BOLDUAN: This morning, gas prices nationwide are now averaging $4.32 a gallon. That's down about 19 cents from a week ago, but as you're keeping track, they're still hovering at 45 percent higher than they were at the start of the war with Iran. And surging energy prices are one of the big reasons, but just one of many reasons that Americans are down on the economy. Still, a recent Gallup poll shows just 16 percent of Americans rate the economy as good or excellent.

The Trump administration, though, continues to struggle with that fact, and the director of the president's National Economic Council yesterday tried to paint a rosier picture on the economy, downplaying the pessimism that Americans are feeling right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Well, look, in the end, people look at their wallets and they decide how to vote, and if they look at their wallets and look at how much money they have after, you know, the increase in prices, they're going to find that they have a lot more money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: So says Kevin Hassett.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us now with much more. What are you seeing though, Matt?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Kate, it's nice to be here with some good news on gas prices. Relatively speaking, right? As you mentioned, the new national average is $4.32 a gallon. Not cheap, of course, but that is down another 2 cents just since yesterday, and it's 24 cents below the wartime high, which was $4.56 a gallon.

In fact, when we look at the trend you can see that gas prices were really, really cheap before the war started. Of course, they skyrocketed. They were kind of stuck around $4.50 a gallon for weeks, but now finally moving in the right direction. In fact, this is a new one-month low for gas prices.

[07:15:00]

And in some states are experiencing even bigger decline in the past week, 30 cent drop or more in Ohio, in Florida, and Colorado.

Now, this is happening, of course, because the oil market is starting to price in a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, right? Even though we don't have a deal yet, traders are optimistic here. And so that's why oil futures, they plunged last month, and that drove down the price of gasoline. Also, we've had some refineries in the Midwest that were shut down, and they've reopened. So, all of that has helped.

However, market might be losing some patience here with the diplomatic efforts, because we're starting another week where even though there's a lot of talk about progress, there's no deal yet. And oil futures this morning, look at this is actually the highest levels that I've seen of the day, almost 4 percent higher, above $90 a barrel. And some analysts, they're expressing some frustration and surprise over how the market seems to be falling for all of these headlines about an imminent deal even though one hasn't been reached yet, and even though the physical market is really getting hurt.

RBC Analyst Helima Croft, she said that time is running out to reopen the strait and stay --

BOLDUAN: Look, the market's been patient for quite some time, and like that has been one thing that has been seen, so, at some point, that patience was going to run out.

EGAN: At some point, yes, and the question is whether or not pressure in the actual physical market is what causes that. Because we've seen a whole bunch of oil executives warn in recent days of trouble there. The Exxon -- one of the Exxon executives, he said that inventories, they've fallen to unheard of levels and that, at some point, if they get low enough, you could see oil prices in the physical market really skyrocket.

BOLDUAN: Really interesting, and important to track wherever it's headed.

It's good to see you, Matt.

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate.

Ahead, musician after musician pulling out of a Trump-backed concert series for America's 250th anniversary party. President Trump has an announcement. He'll do it himself.

And we can call it food Angels in the outfield, I guess, an epic catch robs the ray of a grand slam and saves the buffet all at the same time.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: So, this is cool. The U.S. Men's National Team got a win in the first of two pre-World Cup tune-ups. Pressure is mounting for this squad as it's just 11 days away from its World Cup opener.

Coy Wire is joining us now. Did you hear that the Knicks are also in the finals? I just wanted to make sure you understood that.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Lots of Knicks jerseys even down here in Atlanta walking these halls.

Sara, listen, for weeks the U.S. Men's National Team has been searching for answers like someone frantically checking every couch cushion for lost keys. Finally, their star, Christian Pulisic, came up big, the captain finally finding the back of the net. He hadn't scored for club or country since December of last year, but he helps the Americans knock off Senegal in a much needed World Cup tune-up win.

The U.S. have had a string of disappointing performances with questions swirling about confidence, chemistry, and whether this group could live up to expectations. But for one night, doubts took a backseat. A 3-2 win, a clean performance, and a goal from their biggest star.

All right, the surprises keep coming at Roland-Garros. We've already seen Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Coco Gauff sent packing, and now another huge shocker in the women's draw. Four-time champ Iga Swiatek stunned by Marta Kostyuk, who stays undefeated on clay this season.

Kostyuk will now face fellow Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. This means there, we are now guaranteed a first-time women's champ at the French Open this year. Tonight, we have Naomi Osaka set to meet Aryna Sabalenka under the lights.

Baseball just delivered one of those you've-got-to-be-kidding-me moments. Top-seeded UCLA had won 78 straight games when leading after eight innings. They were one inning away from making it 79, then St. Mary's ripped up the script. In the tenth inning, Nicoa Smithen delivering the game-winning knock. The Gaels win 6-5, eliminating a UCLA team that spent the entire regular season ranked number one in the nation, never lost a series, and looked destined for Omaha.

Finally, there are game-saving catches, and then there are catering- saving catches. The Rays' Jose Siri tracking a would-be grand slam, but Siri says, Sorry, I cannot help you with that. Siri over the wall making one of the catches of the year.

But wait, there is more. Beyond that fence sat a buffet table packed with food that was about to become collateral damage. One leap, one robbery, one very grateful catering crew. Angels still lost to the Rays 5-2, Sara, but the catch saved four runs and potentially dozens of chicken wings.

SIDNER: Those chicken wing, they look good.

[07:25:00]

Like can we go back to that beautiful being footage, as they call -- wow, great catch. But I was worried about the food, so, typical.

Coy Wire, it is such a pleasure, saved by the catch. Man, that looks good. All right, I'm clearly hungry. Thank you, Coy. John Berman?

BERMAN: I was trying to figure out if they're being food safe, if the food was properly covered during the game, so flies and what not.

SIDNER: Oh, my God.

BERMAN: Did flies get in?

All right, here we go. Five men emerge from a cave after a week trapped underground, and this morning rescuers report they hear knocking. Could it be two men still missing?

And a spike in cases of Lyme disease before the summer season even really gets going, new concerns about a tick-borne illness that can make people allergic to red meat.

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[07:30:00]

BERMAN: So, new this morning, a booking crisis leading up to the celebration of the nation's 250th anniversary in Washington.