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One-on-One With Former Vice President Mike Pence; Vote Counting Underway in California Governor's Primary; Primary Results Still Being Counted in Critical Races Across U.S. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This hour, one-on-one with former Vice President Pence. From the second Trump term to the president's remodeling of Reagan's Republican Party, what does Mr. Pence think about it all now, several years after his vice presidency ended? And what's ahead in his own political future? Kate Bolduan's going to ask him all the things, and he's ready for it.

Plus, still too close to call. We're waiting for results from some of the most consequential races of last night's primaries.

And check this out, terrifying video showing the moment a woman fell into a manhole after its cover gave way. Passersby, though, rushing to her rescue.

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

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: The breaking news, primary results and the results still to come. In California, the governor's race too soon to project. Trump-backed Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra leading the huge field of 61 candidates. Billionaire Tom Steyer, a Democrat, is currently in third place. Only the top two will advance, and these positions could move, right?

The final results will take time. In California, they count mail-in ballots postmarked as late as Election Day, so this really could go on for some time.

In Los Angeles, in the mayor's race there, CNN projects that incumbent Karen Bass will advance to a November runoff. But as for who she will face, again, too early to project. Will it be reality T.V. star Spencer Pratt or City Council member Nithya Raman? Again, more votes still coming in, possible some of the positioning there shifts.

In Iowa, we do have projections to make. Josh Turek, a state lawmaker and Paralympic gold medalist, will be the Democratic nominee for Senate. He won in a tightly contested race there, and Turek will take on Republican Ashley Hinson in the November general election.

The other big news out of Iowa, something very unusual. The Trump- backed candidate there, Randy Feenstra, did not win. He lost. This is one of the first times that we have seen this happen. The president, of course, has a solid record of backing the ultimate winners in primaries. Kate?

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: It definitely does.

Let's talk about, well, this and much more. Joining us right now is the former vice president of the United States, Mike Pence. He's also the author of the new book just out, "What Conservatives Believe: Rediscovering the Conservative Conscience". It's good to have you here.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you, Kate. Thanks for having me on.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it. Let's talk about these primary results last night, but just in general, the primaries leading up to the midterms so far, is, as things progress, do you see Republicans' chances of maintaining control of Congress getting better or worse?

PENCE: Oh, well, I think they're getting better by the day. And, look, the primaries yesterday continue to be very interesting as results roll in from California.

BOLDUAN: Leading on that interesting, for sure, right?

PENCE: Yes, well, you know, I give Steve Hilton an awful lot of credit. It shows a lot of discontent among people in California about the state of their economy. And in Los Angeles, I'm so impressed with Spencer Pratt, and the campaign that he's run. I think it's been fresh. I love how open he is about his faith, but his determination to create a better quality of life in Los Angeles. And it's going to be an interesting five months.

But I also believe, you know, living in the heartland, as we do, that the result in Iowa should be somewhat telling. Congressman Randy Feenstra is an outstanding conservative leader. I give great credit and congratulations to his opponent who won the nomination for governor. But the fact that Randy Feenstra was endorsed by President Trump and his opponent focused more on Iowa first as a message, I think, suggests that there's concern in the heartland, particularly on the farm, Kate, Kate, for the impact of broad-based tariffs the rising input costs for farmers.

[09:05:16]

And I expect Republicans will take all of that to heart. And I hope what they do, as I argue in my book, is return our party to the consistent advocacy of the conservative agenda that's defined the Republican movement for the last 50 years.

BOLDUAN: And what's happened in Iowa gets to this struggle and this question that you say that Republicans -- this choice that you say Republicans now face, because the whole book is about conservatism. And you -- one of the quotes that stuck out to me is, while conservatism has battled for freedom and limited government against the ambitions of the progressive left, populism has emerged as another strand of progressive ideology. It may go by a different name, but it is progressivism in disguise.

The Trump term two, is that populism? He is still the most influential member of the party. He has that track record other than what we see in Iowa last night. And when you see that, if that's where the party is still, is Mike Pence a man without a party right now?

PENCE: Well, let me say first and foremost, the reason I wrote the book is because for 50 years the conservative agenda has defined the Republican Party. It's the reason I became a Republican when Ronald Reagan was in the White House, a commitment to less government, less taxes, a strong national defense, traditional moral values.

For all those years, we contended against a liberal Democratic Party. But as the Democratic Party has moved more toward the progressive left, even embracing socialism and socialistic candidates, I wanted people to know around the country that a new threat to conservatism has emerged from within our movement. And it's -- I call it the populist right. It essentially advances policies of protectionism, isolationism, marginalizing traditional values.

And while they've had some success prevailing on the second Trump administration, not all, I think the second Trump administration has gotten a lot right, secured the border, extended all those Trump-Pence tax cuts, stood up to Iran, stood with Israel. But when you look at -- when you look at the stops and starts on Ukraine by this administration, when you look at, you know, voices on the outside that have even questioned our support for Israel, and the economic policies, Kate, nationalization of businesses, broad-based tariffs against friend and foe alike, price controls, I just wanted -- I wanted to write a book that it was about what conservatives believe in the hopes that in the midterms and in 2028, we return our party to those founding principles.

BOLDUAN: And while you say it might be coming -- there might be a movement of it within the party, I mean, Donald Trump has supercharged it.

PENCE: Well, in some respects, look, the president comes by his support for tariffs, honestly. I mean, he has supported broad-based tariffs throughout his career.

Now, during our administration, we used tariffs as a means of leverage, the threat of tariffs. That's how we renegotiated NAFTA. That's how we renegotiated a trade deal with South Korea, and were working on trade deals around the world before we left office.

But this administration is different with the liberation day tariffs against friend and foe alike. The Supreme Court turned them back, but you just saw where the USTR announced this week a new round of tariffs.

BOLDUAN: But, you know, no one's telling -- no one's making Trump do anything, right? I mean, Donald Trump is supercharging that populism.

PENCE: He comes by that very honestly. He really does. But I would tell you this new cabinet, the new voices, I mean, the idea of literally having the federal government take a percentage share of American businesses would have, I think, never even been discussed in the first Trump administration. And it comes from the outside, but also from voices on the inside.

BOLDUAN: He's so excited about it. He just said in an interview he wished he'd taken a bigger stake in it.

PENCE: I get that. I understand it. But the point that I make in the book is that Republicans have always believed in limited government, in free market economics, in free enterprise. Those policies, big government policies that have made their way into this administration are at odds with that longstanding tradition.

And -- but here's the thing I would say to you. There's no question in my mind that the president remains the leader of the Republican Party, and Republican primary voters at, as you can see, Steve Hilton's campaign in California, endorsements in Texas and Louisiana, and in Indiana, in state Senate races demonstrate the appeal and the support for the president's position.

[09:10:15]

But I think that comes from the fact that Republicans are grateful that for ten years Donald Trump has been willing to fight the radical left. He did it during our years and through the lawfare times of the Biden administration and since. But what I want to push back on, and I don't think that the --

BOLDUAN: You don't want it to endure, though?

PENCE: Well, I want a lot of it to endure. Look, I love my country. I want to see the president be successful. But what I don't want to see is people on the populist right conflating the president's personal popularity with a new agenda that's far afield from the conservative agenda, and that's why I wrote "What Conservatives Believe".

BOLDUAN: I was thinking about your time as vice president. You spent a lot of time working with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the director of National Intelligence himself, someone -- another man from Indiana at one point. When it comes to that, you have this announcement from the president, his now pick for acting director, Bill Pulte. What do you think of him?

PENCE: Well, I don't know him. I --

BOLDUAN: Do you think the director of National Intelligence should have intelligence experience and national security experience?

PENCE: Well, I was in Washington, D.C., on September 11th. I was there when the Congress stood up the director of National Intelligence and that department. And it was all designed to make sure that our intelligence agencies were all talking to one another, because 9/11 happened in part because the people at the FBI knew things the people at the CIA didn't know, and we missed the terrorist plot.

And when we stood that up, if memory serves, we actually said in the law that it requires a director of National Intelligence with intelligence and security experience. And I expect there will be issues around Bill Pulte's nomination. He can serve as the acting DNI for some time, but I would hope that when a permanent DNI is appointed by the administration, it'll be a man or woman who brings an extensive background in national security.

Look, we're living in an ever more dangerous world. We are at war with a leading state sponsor of terrorism that we know for a fact has assets in this country. Now more than ever we need experienced men and women at the DNI's office, at CIA and FBI and I think the Senate will call for that.

BOLDUAN: You finish -- you talk a lot about character throughout the book. And there's no question that the image of people in elected office is changed, and the expectations or standards that people are held to has changed and devolved over time. Donald Trump has made no -- doesn't make a secret about his past, and he is president two times over.

You finish the book talking about character, too. Integrity is essential to leadership. People follow people who they trust. A sincere commitment to personal honesty, a political principle, and political principle is a foundation of true leadership. It means not just doing the right thing when people are watching, but also doing the right thing when nobody's paying attention. As the Bible says, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and aspire to be the leader who keeps your oath even when it hurts.

People would like to believe that, no question, and it is up to voters each time. This weekend, you were asked about Ken Paxton, and I'm thinking about that marquee Texas Senate race kind of embodies this struggle and this question. Because can a man who's impeached by his own party for bribery represent the conservatism that you've now -- that you've written an entire book about?

PENCE: Well, look, I think that was up to the people of Texas. And the people of Maine are facing a similar contest and choices.

BOLDUAN: In different regards. But I want to know about Ken Paxton.

PENCE: But it doesn't change the fact that, you know, this is a party that I remember back in the 1990s, Kate. I'm old enough to remember when we say character matters. And the American people, you know, lived through much of the decadence of the Clinton years in the White House and all of those excesses. And in many ways, President George W. Bush restored to the White House that credibility.

BOLDUAN: Do you think the party, both parties, but your party needs the restoration here?

PENCE: I really do believe that the overwhelming majority of the American people expect men and women in public life to be people of integrity and to be people of character, and that we ought to be willing to speak about that.

[09:15:12] But also let me just say that I do think in all these contests now, it comes down to the control of the United States Senate.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

PENCE: And I'm very confident the people of Texas will do their part to make sure that Texas continues to support the Republican majority in the United States Senate. I mean, the reality is that keeping the House of Representatives is going to be very difficult.

And so at the end of the day, I'm going to support the Republican ticket around the country, but I'm not going to change my belief that character matters, and that as a movement we ought to be articulating that everywhere we go, holding up that standard. And I think that also goes to the heart of conservatism.

BOLDUAN: And that's the heart of the book. And I know you're not going to make an announcement here. I wouldn't expect it. But you said you have no active ambition to run again. Is there one thing you'd want to see or hear that would make you think that Mike Pence should run again, can win?

PENCE: Well, you know, Karen and I often say about, from our faith, that, you know, my life is not my own. But as you remember, I ran for president in 2023. I always say not so where you'd notice, but we ran. But, you know, my ambition right now is to be a champion for the conservative principles that drew me to the Republican Party.

I was a young Democrat in my teenage years. And when I heard Ronald Reagan articulate that vision of a strong defense, American leadership in the world, a limited government, traditional moral values, I joined the Republican Party and never looked back.

And I think the calling of my life right now is to continue to be a voice for those values. It's why I wrote the book, and we'll let the future take care of itself.

BOLDUAN: As we do. And the book, you can get it on sale now. Vice President Mike Pence, thank you very much for coming in.

PENCE: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thanks for your time. John?

BERMAN: All right. New accusations coming from former 60 Minutes Correspondent Scott Pelley after he was fired from the show. What he says they tried to get him to do while he still worked there.

And a growing number of people turning to A.I. chatbots for mental health advice. Is that the best place to go? What are the risks?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:20:00]

SIDNER: It's still happening, votes still being counted in California this morning. In the governor's race, Trump-backed Republican Steve Hilton and Democrat Xavier Becerra lead the wide field of 61, yes, count them all, 61 candidates. Billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer is currently in third place. It is only, though, the top two vote-getters who will advance, regardless of party.

Now, in the Los Angeles mayor's race, CNN projects incumbent Karen Bass will advance to the November runoff, but it is not clear yet whether she will face reality T.V. star Spencer Pratt or city council member Nithya Raman.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live this morning in Los Angeles with the very latest for us. Boy, there's a lot going on in California, a lot of interest in what's going to happen there.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There sure is, Sara. And voters are still playing this waiting game to learn which candidates will face off in November in both those races for governor and for the race for L.A. mayor right here.

To start with the governor's race, no one was able to declare victory last night, but that -- or the early results that have come in over the last roughly ten hours have shown Steve Hilton, the Republican, and Xavier Becerra in those top two spots with Tom Steyer right behind them.

The question right now is who is going to face off in November. Becerra is in a very strong position to advance to the November election due to the fact that many of the ballots that are counted after Election Day are typically more Democratic. That then leaves the question of whether this would be Hilton or Steyer that he faces off against.

But last night, as they spoke to their supporters, all of the candidates cautioned that this could take some time to learn the results. But both Hilton and Becerra started to preview what their November messaging might look like if they do make it to that matchup. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

XAVIER BECERRA (D), CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: I sued Trump more than 120 times before, and I won, and I won, and I won.

And anyone who wants to come at California will have to go through me.

STEVE HILTON (R), CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: Change is coming. Change. Change is coming to California. Change is coming to California, and it's long overdue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, in the race for L.A. mayor, the current mayor, Karen Bass, is breathing a little sigh of relief as she has now officially advanced into that runoff. The question is whether she will face off against the Republican and T.V. reality -- reality T.V. star Spencer Pratt or a local lawmaker, Nithya Raman. As you see there, Pratt's in a strong position now in second place, but there could be a potential narrowing between him and Raman as these votes continue to come in.

Now, a lot of people might be wondering, why is it taking so long to count the votes here in California. California is a very large state. They also have universal mail-in ballot, which allows voters to send in their final ballots on Election Day, and they just need to arrive about seven days later.

[09:25:08]

That adding also to the fact that many Democratic voters had held onto their ballots for longer than usual, suggesting there could be a lot of Democratic ballots still in the mail and coming in in this last minute.

But many of the campaigns are bracing for this to potentially go on for a long time. It could be days, it could be weeks. But, of course, they are very eager to learn what these final results are so they can try to get to those general election arguments to California voters.

SIDNER: Yes. It's going to be interesting, and people will be watching to wait to see what happens.

Arlette Saenz, thank you for your reporting. I know you got up really early for us this morning, and we do appreciate it.

Now, over to you, John Berman.

BERMAN: All right. With us now, Melanie Mason, Politico's California bureau chief and California Playbook co-author. I'm sure it's been a long night for you and an early morning. Again, just so people can see this, this is the race for governor there. The top two will advance. Right now, that would be Steve Hilton, Xavier Becerra. But still a long way to go, because only 58 percent of the estimated vote has been counted so far. What's the big dynamic you are now watching for here?

MELANIE MASON, CALIFORNIA BUREAU CHIEF, POLITICO, CALIFORNIA PLAYBOOK CO-AUTHOR: Well, I think the big question that all the campaigns are trying to figure out is how many ballots are left to be counted. I mean, as Arlette mentioned, California allows voters, so long as they have their ballot postmarked by Election Day, if it gets to the county registrar seven days within that postmark, it will be counted.

And so I think all of the campaigns are trying to figure out what is the universe of likely ballots still to be counted, and therefore they're going to figure out what their pathway is. So, you did see Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton sort of trading first and second place, but it's likely to see a surge of blue ballots coming in. The question is how many and are there enough to maybe give Tom Steyer a pathway to, you know, find his way into that top two?

BERMAN: I just wanted to show people why that's important and what you're talking about there, why it might really matter. I was trying to push into San Francisco but doing a very poor job of it right there on the Magic Wall. I'll go up to Marin County and then down to San Francisco here. We can see San Francisco, we estimate only 50 percent of the vote has been counted for, and you can see that Hilton's not even in the top three. So, if this is true, if there's a ton more vote from San Francisco still to come in, that could be good for Tom Steyer there. But we don't really know, because we don't know how many more ballots we're going to get from San Francisco. This is just an estimate of 50 percent. I just wanted to try to give people a sense of what you were talking about.

One other interesting dynamic that I want to show people here is in a Congressional race, California's Sixth Congressional District right now. This is one of the districts that was redrawn because Democrats thought it would be a good pickup opportunity. Kevin Kiley is the incumbent. He's an independent now, but he was a Republican, and he's definitely not a Democrat. And the first two people in this race right now, and the top two advance, are the independent and the Republican, not the Democrat. Still, only 50 percent counted right now.

But how nervous are Democrats here that they might be boxed out of this district they drew as a pickup?

MASON: Yes, this race actually is causing some unexpected heartburn among Democratic strategists, and I think it is because you see the fracturing of the vote because there are so many candidates, including so many Democrats that hopped into this new district that Democrats thought would be theirs to pick up.

Now, when I've talked to Democratic strategists, they think because of this blue shift that we're talking about with ballots statewide, that Richard Pan, the leading Democrat, may have enough to get into that top two, and Democrats may avoid that embarrassment. But I don't think that going into last night people thought that this would be the one that Democrats would be sweating, because, remember, this is one of the districts that the Democrats redrew. They thought that this would be a way that they reshaped the map after redistricting and, you know, give Republicans more agita. Instead, they're kind of, you know, furiously clicking to see if Kevin Kiley and a Republican end up getting through, Democrats are going to find themselves out in the cold.

BERMAN: All the dynamics of California at one point in one place here in the California 6th. The late counting, also the jungle primary tosses everything into disarray, but we will keep our eye on it.

Melanie Mason, great to see you this morning. Thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Still to come, a flight diverted after a passenger allegedly tried to open the exit door mid-flight, also tried to get into the cockpit. So, what we're learning about this now today.

And we are just minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Futures have been mixed this morning after all these three major indices closed yesterday rather flat, fueled by instability in the Middle East, of course, and now optimism over A.I. investments. Investors say any optimism that they have is also very cautious with the expected summer lull in trading and tons of geopolitical risks on the horizon. It's going to be especially important to keep an eye on what markets do today, as investors are expected to receive employment data ahead of Friday's release of the May jobs report.

[09:30:08]

We'll be right back.