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Interview with Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH): DHS Chief Mullin Faces Second Day of Tense Testimony on Capitol Hill; Trump Names Housing Official with No Intel Experience as Acting DNI; OpenAI CEO to Meet with White House, Lawmakers; New York Knicks, San Antonio Spurs Face Off in Game One Tonight. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 03, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: It's round two today for Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin as he returned to the Hill to face questions from another group of lawmakers. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. SHRI THANEDAR (D0MI): When will DHS revert back to the 72-day training requirement for new ICE agents? When will ICE agents who received less training have to retake or recertify courses, they were exempt from because of the accelerated training schedule?

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It's interesting to me how you always point out the behavior of our ICE agents but you don't point out what caused it by the so-called peaceful protesters, which is a lie.

THANEDAR: It's a simple question --

MULLIN: I will answer the question. July 1st, we bring it back up. We had to rewrite the curriculum. All training starting July 1st will be back up to the regular standards.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Dave Joyce of Ohio. He sits on the Homeland Security Committee. Congressman, thanks so much for being with us this afternoon.

So is this an admission from the Secretary of DHS that the rules and the revisions that were put into place by his predecessor, former Secretary Noem, for ICE agents, including condensed training, were a mistake?

REP. DAVE JOYCE (R-OH), HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, thank you for having me. No, I don't think so. But I do think Secretary Mullin is the best man for the job.

He's coming to the -- unfortunately, there's been some maybe not perfect alignment in his transition there. But once he's there now, he's making the necessary changes to bring the department back up to speed and making sure that they have the wherewithal and the training that they need to effectively perform their jobs.

SANCHEZ: Well, Congressman, it sounds like when you say he's making the necessary changes and he has the wherewithal to get them on the right track, that at some point there were mistakes and that they were on the wrong track.

[14:35:00]

Is that an inaccurate assessment of what you're saying?

JOYCE: No. What I'm saying is that because of all the problems that we had under Secretary Mayorkas, with nothing being done, with violating the law and not following through the law, we had an open border and we had people in our country. And so the one promise President Trump made is he was going to strengthen the border, shut the border, and get down to business and find the people who are in this country and get them out.

That required hiring a lot of folks on a very quick basis to get them up to speed so they could do their job. And they've now gotten that up to speed. They're now getting the funding that they need, hopefully.

We'll find out if the Senate does that this afternoon. And then he's making the necessary corrections to now have this agency running in tip-top shape going forward for as long as it needs to be, because it was completely debilitated and handicapped under the last administration.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I do want to ask you about President Trump's installment of the acting director of national intelligence, Bill Pulte. Several of your Republican colleagues, including Senators Cornyn, Cassidy, and Tillis, say they see no evidence that Pulte is qualified to be the DNI. Do you think he has the experience needed to lead the U.S. intelligence community?

JOYCE: Well, it's not in my purview. Obviously, it's a Senate confirmation. And the Senators should rightfully challenge him to make sure that he has the wherewithal and the competence to be able to handle 18 intelligence agencies that come underneath his umbrella.

But I think it's fair to ask those questions. And if they don't confirm them, then so be it. The president has a chance to put a next choice in place.

SANCHEZ: Well, there are questions about the fact that he's being put in this role as an acting director and whether there's an intent by the White House to not have him confirmed. Because obviously, if half a dozen Senators, high-ranking Senators, are asking about qualifications, there had to be some communication with the White House that they were skeptical of him. You don't think there was any communication between the White House and leaders in the Senate over his nomination?

JOYCE: Well, I can't tell you for sure what conversations took place because I wasn't party to them. All I know is the president's allowed to make the choice. He obviously made a choice. I wouldn't doubt that they probably weren't conferred with ahead of time. And they're going to make their qualifications -- or his qualifications known going through the process of having his hearing and doing what's necessary to figure out whether or not he's the right man for the job. And if they reject him, then the president can appoint somebody else.

But at this point, he's only been named. He's not acting.

SANCHEZ: That's fair. Congressman, I understand that it's not ultimately your choice. You serve in the House and not in the Senate.

Nevertheless, just as someone who sits on the Homeland Security Committee, does it concern you that the acting director of national intelligence, as far as we know, has zero intelligence experience in his background, something that the law that established the position back in 2004 requires of the DNI? This is the actual citing of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, Section 102A. Anyone nominated to the role must have extensive national security experience.

You're not concerned that Bill Pulte apparently has none?

JOYCE: A, I've never studied his resume, so I really don't know what his background is. My dear friend, Tulsi Gabbard, had been there, and Tulsi put together a group that was assembled and ready to go. And at this point, again, the Senate will make their decisions on it.

I'm very serious about national security. I believe in homeland security, and I believe that Chairman Garbarino has the right process in mind of trying to make sure that we're safe and secure throughout the homeland and making sure that we have the right people in place here at the House level. We had our hearing today with Secretary Mullin.

Like I said, I think he's on his way to putting together now that the funding will hopefully be resolved. But I think what's really embarrassing is that we've held up the funding for so long, and the people at Homeland deserve to know they're getting paid. They deserve to know that we've got their back and that the people who are out there doing our business on a daily basis, protecting the homeland, know that we have their back.

So hopefully that will be taken care of shortly, and we'll have the right professionals in place to be able to make sure that's done on a competent and fair basis.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Dave Joyce, we have to leave the conversation there. Very much appreciate your time and perspective.

JOYCE: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman set to meet with the White House and leaders in Congress to talk about artificial intelligence. We'll get into what we know about this meeting straight ahead.

[14:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Today, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is making the rounds in Washington. A person familiar telling CNN, Altman is scheduled for meetings at the White House and with members of Congress. President Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday requesting early government access to new advanced AI models before they are publicly released.

CNN AI correspondent Hadas Gold is joining us now. So, Hadas, what do we know about Altman's meetings and OpenAI's stance on this new executive order?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Sam Altman heading to Washington. He's not a stranger to Washington, but he is spending all day meeting with officials at the White House and on Capitol Hill. As you noted, this is coming just one day after President Trump signed that executive order.

It's the first executive order from the White House we're seeing that is kind of tiptoeing into, I wouldn't call it regulation but at least having government more involved and getting a look at these advanced AI models before they're released publicly.

[14:45:00]

And under this executive order, AI companies who have these super advanced models that have really amazing cybersecurity capabilities will voluntarily give their models to the government for review up to 30 days before the release to others.

Now, it is voluntary. So we expect Sam Altman will be discussing the details of this executive order with the White House. OpenAI had been supportive of this executive order.

Sam Altman posted on X yesterday that he is supportive of it as well. But there's a lot of other things that they're discussing as well, because this executive order is really just the beginning of what we are going to see coming out of Washington and of the states when it comes to regulating AI. So Sam Altman, according to a source, will be speaking about safety policy, where the models are going next, and cyber capabilities.

And they're going to be discussing this new blueprint that OpenAI just released in the last two hours, which is their idea of how they think the government should be regulating AI, specifically about a federal framework that they say will bring consensus along with all these other state safety laws. So it's OpenAI trying to get their hand involved in what these rules will be like, because obviously that will affect their business. We also know that Speaker Mike Johnson just told Politico that he will be discussing a House framework that is being developed that will be a bipartisan bill for regulating AI companies. So that will be on the docket for Sam Altman as well.

And Senator Bernie Sanders told our own Kaitlan Collins last night that he will be also meeting with Sam Altman. He said it was Altman who requested this meeting, and that he plans to discuss with him this moratorium that Senator Sanders wants on data centers.

Of course, that's been on a lot of people's minds, data centers that can take up energy. People are concerned about water. They're concerned about noise.

They're concerned about a lot of things when it comes to data centers. This is one of the things that really gets people animated when data centers come to town. But the flip side of that is that if you want AI to work, you need data centers.

And these AI companies, they are hungry for these data centers. That's why you're seeing a lot of investment into them. That's why you're hearing about these companies talking about putting data centers in space, because they need more of them.

If you want AI to work, not only do you need a data center to help develop and train, but also every time that you send a query to a chatbot, it's going through one of those data centers. So I'm sure it'll be a very interesting conversation there with Senator Sanders -- guys.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly will be. Hadas Gold, thank you.

Here in just a few hours, the Knicks are looking to start their quest to win their first championship in more than 50 years. After the break, a former Knicks player joins us to talk about just how big this moment is, not just for the team, but for all of New York.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. A judge dismissing charges against a California dermatologist accused of poisoning her husband with liquid drain cleaner.

Emily Yu was arrested and charged in 2022. Her lawyer argued the family routinely mixed Drano with lemonade to bait and kill ants, and her husband's accusation was part of a high-stakes divorce. The judge said the district attorney withheld key evidence from the grand jury, including samples showing the lemonade was drinkable and not harmful. Prosecutors say they plan to file charges again.

Also, police in Aurora, Colorado, waded in to save a woman after they say she accidentally drove into dangerous floodwaters. This was part of intense flash floods and a hailstorm on Monday. Police video showing the high water filling the inside of the car, but an officer carried her to safety unharmed and then gave her a ride home.

Uber is celebrating 10 years of its lost and found index and released a list of the most unique items that people have left behind this year. Topping the list, dentures, but not just any dentures, ones with two teeth, breast milk, human hair, questions I have about that, and a Donny Osmond group picture follow -- paging Dana Bash -- an ankle monitor rounds out the top five. To be clear, the Dana Bash reference has to do with Donny Osmond and not the ankle monitor. I just want to be very clear about that.

Now, when it comes to the most commonly forgotten items, phones, of course, top that list. Haven't you left one? New York and Miami top the most forgetful cities.

Boris, Miami?

SANCHEZ: That was a heck of an Uber ride I left all those things in.

Tonight's NBA Finals have the makings of a classic. You have the San Antonio Spurs and their young all-world player, the 7-foot-4-inch alien Victor Wembanyama, and the New York Knicks, hungry for their first title in more than 50 years, looking to avenge their last trip to the Finals in 1999, a loss to the Spurs. Tonight's game is in San Antonio, but that is not stopping the New York faithful from turning out for a watch party outside Madison Square Garden in New York.

And few people appreciate what the Knicks mean to New York, like Quinton Richardson. He's a former Knick himself, now a co-host of the Knuckleheads podcast. Q, thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. I wonder what you're going to be watching for tonight, that will give us an indication of how this series is going to go.

QUENTIN RICHARDSON, FORMER NBA PLAYER, NEW YORK KNICKS: Man, I'm going to be looking to see who's going to set the tone first, who's going to hit first, and who's going to get out of the gate to try and set their impression on this series. And with the referees, with the flow, with just setting their tempo and their pace to the game, I'm interested to see which team hits first.

[14:55:00]

SANCHEZ: Victor Wembanyama, I think, rose to another level, especially during that first game of the Western Conference Finals, hitting that three from very, very deep. How does the Knicks go about stopping somebody unlike anyone we've ever seen before in an NBA court?

RICHARDSON: This will be no one-man job. This is a team effort, man. I'm pretty sure Mike Brown has put together a game plan and a scheme for the whole team to be a group effort of helping on him.

This isn't somebody that you just line one guy up and say, he's going to stop him, he's going to shut him down. I'm sure it's going to be a full team effort, a scheme effort, and a whole game plan mapped around for everybody to be able to chip in and stop Victor because he's, like you said, out of this world and something we've never seen before.

SANCHEZ: Yes, you know what it's like to play in the Mecca, right? Madison Square Garden is a venue like few in the world, certainly none like any other in the NBA. There's an additional pressure of playing there.

What is it going to be like for these Knicks players to walk into the arena with history looming over them, the first time the Knicks are potentially going to win a championship in something like 50 years? What is that going to be like for them?

RICHARDSON: Yes. I honestly have no idea. I'm blessed that I will be in the building for game three and I'll get to feel that energy.

But I'm like seriously, we never sniffed this close. We didn't make this type of a run. So I'm saying this is a lifetime-type thing for this generation, and I'm sure the energy in the garden is going to be on another level, out of this world, like Wimby is.

But these fans deserve it. I love it for the people in the organization that's been working there for this long, for Mr. Dolan, the owner, and everybody, the execs on down that's been there. It's been a long time.

Like you said, they won one in 1970 and '73, and then they got there in '99, and there's not been anything close to this since. So this group is special, and they're doing something that this whole generation will probably remember forever.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I'm so jealous that you're going to the game. Is there any way that you can talk to Mr. Dolan to spare a ticket for me, a sad Heat fan that hasn't seen his team rise to this level in a few years?

RICHARDSON: Listen, I'll be there on work duty, so I won't even be there as just a normal fan, although I will be rooting and supporting the Knicks and hoping they get the W. I'll be there in a business work capacity, so I'll be getting it in.

SANCHEZ: Obviously, as someone who played in the NBA for many years, I imagine that you had some rituals, maybe even some superstitions that you took part in before the game. Any that you're going to take part in now before you try to watch your Knicks secure a win?

RICHARDSON: Oh, no. I mean, all that's out the window. I used to have a nap.

I used to have to get a pregame nap and have my special little pregame meal and stuff like that, but none of that matters for me now. I'm just a fan sitting on the couch observing what I'm observing, so I can be ready to talk about it when I get up there to work. So, I mean, for me, I don't need the pregame for this.

I just sit back and enjoy it. This should be special. This should be a classic. I'm excited for it.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and so is the entire NBA. You have the biggest market in the country going up against what promises to be one of the young generational talents. So, we're going to put you on the spot.

What is your prediction for these finals? Who wins the series? Who wins finals MVP?

RICHARDSON: I got the Knicks in sixth. I'm hoping they get it done. This will be historic, obviously.

And MVP, I will go -- Jalen Brunson is the likely choice, but I'm going to go with Karl-Anthony Towns as a dark horse.

SANCHEZ: He's got his work cut out for him, potentially defending Wembley. Quentin Richardson, thanks so much for joining us this afternoon.

RICHARDSON: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still to come, the untold stories of America's expansion from the descendants of those who transformed the U.S. map forever. The CNN original series, "THIS LAND," premieres on Sunday night at 9 Eastern on CNN.

Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now America is pulling together a group. He's looking at can we go out there and try to be part of the bounty of 1840s California.

Abraham Lincoln is in Springfield, Illinois, and he is friends with members of the Donner Party.

Lincoln's not seeing his political future. He's just thinking, I'm kind of stumbling in politics. Maybe we should go to California like so many others.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: History is replete with moments of accident, serendipity. We'll never know how the history of the United States would have been altered, but it would have been if Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln had agreed to join the Donner Party.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But the West was part of Lincoln's imagination, and the idea of California would never go away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Catch the back-to-back premiere of the CNN original series, "THIS LAND," Sunday night at 9, and the next day on the CNN app.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KEILAR: So is the fund not done?