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Soon: Trump to Speak at WH Amid Plan to Nominate Blanche as A.G.; Trump to Nominate Blanche as A.G., Teeing Up Confirmation Fight; Senate Kicks Off Marathon Vote to Fund Immigration Enforcement; Alabama Family Pleads for Return of Son Missing in Japan 3-3:30p ET

Aired June 04, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: So, Boris and Brianna, as those efforts continue specifically to target the flies themselves, we are expecting to hear more updates in the days to come.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much for the important update on that.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: More coal at what cost? President Trump set to announce a $700 million investment in the coal industry, a controversial payout that is infuriating environmentalists.

And are Waymo's driving like teenagers? A new CNN investigation finds that the same feature that makes robotaxis less likely to cause dangerous collisions could also be creating entirely new safety problems.

SANCHEZ: And these are not the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they are mysterious people descending into the sewers beneath New York. Who are they? It's happening a lot. We'll discuss as we follow these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

Any moment we are expecting to see President Trump live at the White House as he makes an announcement worth hundreds of millions of dollars about the coal industry.

SANCHEZ: The event is happening as several controversies consume Capitol Hill, including the President's $1.8 billion anti- weaponization fund and his plan to nominate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche to become the permanent AG. Let's get right to CNN's Kristen Holmes who's at the White House with more on what we can expect. Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean the big thing is going to be those questions about Bill Pulte as the head of the DNI as well as Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. But we'll start with this coal announcement because that's what he's slated to talk to reporters about in the Oval Office. He's going to say that he's going to invoke the Defense Production Act to give money in tune of $700 million to these various coal facilities. It'll be to build cold facilities -- coal facilities, it will be to support them to restart some facilities that had shut down.

So, we'll go through each of these. It says they'll be allocating $425 million from the Defense Production Act to support coal plants, $75 million for construction of a coal expert terminal -- export terminal in California and $200 million from the Department of Energy, and that's in the form of a grant, on building and restarting coal plants in Alaska, West Virginia and Maryland.

And then, likely President Trump is going to take questions. And we have not seen President Trump since this decision to nominate Todd Blanche and since he is still not taken questions on his decision to nominate or put into an acting role, excuse me, Bill Pulte, head of -- the DNI.

So, the big questions, I think we're going to start with Blanche because there's a lot going on around this. The big question is whether or not he can get confirmed on Capitol Hill. Keep in mind, he already was confirmed to be the deputy attorney general, and he's been doing somewhat of an audition for the role of attorney general.

Some of the things that we've seen him do since he's been in this acting role, he approved the deal exempting Trump and his family from future IRS probes. He introduced the $1.8 billion anti-weaponization fund, which obviously was incredibly controversial, featured an enormous amount of blowback and has since been scuttled. He had a new indictment of James Comey. He subpoenaed journalists and their sources all at the behest of President Trump and announced sweeping fraud initiatives across the U.S. He also interviewed Ghislaine Maxwell before her prison transfer. That was done while he was still in the acting -- he was still deputy attorney general.

But I talked to a number of sources who say they aren't that concerned about getting him confirmed specifically because he had been confirmed. But there's a lot of questions about that coupled with Bill Pulte, because there is no way, at least what we're hearing now from senators on Capitol Hill, that they're not going to push back on Pulte's naming or being tapped to lead the -- the DNI.

So, it is quite interesting to see how President Trump is choosing people in this second term, in the second wave of these administrative positions.

SANCHEZ: Kristen Holmes, live for us at the White House, thank you so much.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is reacting today to President Trump's plan to nominate him for attorney general. Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, ACTING ATTORNEY GENERAL: Obviously, I'm honored and humbled that the President indicated he's going to nominate me today. I'm looking forward to working with the senators and -- and getting them the information they need through the confirmation process.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANCHEZ: Ever since Pam Bondi was fired in early April, Blanche, who was the President's personal lawyer for years, has aggressively pursued Trump's legal priorities, including new prosecutions of his perceived enemies. Let's discuss with Alberto Gonzalez, who served as attorney general under President George W. Bush.

Sir, thank you so much for sharing part of your afternoon with us.

Given Blanche's history with Donald Trump, do you think he would lead DOJ independently without any influence or favor for the President?

[15:05:00]

ALBERTO GONZALEZ, ATTORNEY GENERAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUCH: Well, that's going to be the -- the -- the challenge for the -- the Senate, isn't it? Because obviously, that's a very key question to ask. We typically want the Attorney General to be focused on protecting the Constitution, protecting the laws passed by Congress and then, of course, protecting the -- the executive office of the presidency.

But there's also a responsibility for the Attorney General to defend the Department of Justice and the hundred thousand dollar -- hundred thousand employees that work that. And right now morale is low. I understand if the Department of Justice, the number of vacancies are really amazing. People have been fired and people have left because they've been disappointed about the direction of the department.

And so, I'm worried about that. And that'll be a big challenge for the Attorney General. Now, I think the Attorney General has pluses and minuses going in. I mean, there's a -- the pluses are he is close to the President.

Now, people say, well, how can that be a plus for the Attorney General? It's a plus because the Attorney General can tell the President no. And oftentimes, the President will listen to the Attorney General. One of the concerns that people had about my confirmation was my relationship with President Bush. But I viewed it as a -- as a strength, quite frankly, making me more effective in telling the White House no.

Also, it makes the Department of Justice much more effective in dealing with other agencies because of that relationship that -- that the Attorney General might have with the President. But the negative is, of course, is that they -- again, to the extent there's any baggage in your background based on your performance, either in government or not, I mean, that's going to be out there. They'll know the kind of attorney general you're going to be. And that is going to be the challenge, I think, for -- for Acting Attorney General Blanche in this particular case.

But again ...

SANCHEZ: Sure.

GONZALES: ... it's not necessarily a disadvantage to have that relationship, because you know how the President makes decisions. You know the kind of information the President wants to make in those decisions. You know all the key players in the White House, which helps the Department of Justice. You also know all the other cabinet secretaries because you've been working with them. And so ...

SANCHEZ: Yes.

GONZALES: ... he's got some clear advantages. Obviously, there will be a lot of questions that members of the Senate are going to be asking about -- about the --

SANCHEZ: So, that our ...

GONZALES: Go ahead.

SANCHEZ: ... yes, so -- so -- so that our viewers understand, you served as counsel to George W. Bush when he was governor of Texas before he became president. That is obviously different from serving as someone's personal trial attorney. And I'm curious about, as you describe Blanche potentially having an advantage by having this history with Trump, the fact that when we saw Pam Bondi in that role, the President was putting out public messages demanding investigations of his political foes. And so, already with Blanche walking into this, given his relationship with Trump, he's going into a situation in which the President clearly has a disposition that the Attorney General should carry out his bidding. Do you see that as something that could totally hamper his nomination?

GONZALES: Well, I do believe that that is a legitimate area of inquiry. The Attorney General and the Department of Justice should not pursue investigations and prosecutions based upon the individual. It should be based upon the crime. So, to the extent you have information or reasons to believe that a crime has been committed, that's when you do an investigation. That's when you do a prosecution.

And so, if the -- if the President of the United States, for example, had asked me to -- to do -- to commence an investigation of a political foe of the President, I would have had a very candid discussion with the President and asked him, why do you believe a crime has been committed? And if he kept pushing, then what I might do is contact the U.S. Attorney in that area and say confidentially and say, okay, is there any kind of speculation or rumors or innuendo out there that this individual is engaged in any kind of criminal wrongdoing?

And if I become convinced that there's no basis for an investigation or prosecution, I would then tell the President of the United States, Mr. President, I can't do that. I'm not going to do that for this reason. And I would hope I'd have the kind of relationship with the President and the President would have the integrity to accept that that -- that my informed decision as to what is right in terms of the pursuit of justice.

SANCHEZ: I also wanted to get your thoughts on ...

GONZALES: Whether that will happen here remains to be seen. SANCHEZ: It is an -- an open question and some senators are -- are

concerned about that. Some are also concerned about what they've described as Blanche's equivocating or perhaps light discussion of what happened on January 6th. Senator Thom Tillis expressed concern about how Blanche looks at January 6th rioters, obviously with this anti-weaponization fund seemingly up in the air. How do you think Blanche should handle that during the confirmation process?

[15:10:04]

GONZALES: I'm not sure how Blanche should handle that. That's an advice that a -- a decision that his advisors will have to help him with. From my perspective, anyone who believes the election was stolen, or who believes January 6 was not an insurrection, or who supports the pardons of individuals convicted by the Department of Justice for events on January 6, and my judgment is disqualifying.

So, if I remember the Senate Judiciary Committee, those are the questions that I would ask. And if I didn't get the answers that I thought were appropriate, that, you know, that nominee would not get my vote.

But clearly, those are issues that -- that I -- I hope the members of the Judiciary Committee are going to be asking this nominee, because I think they are legitimate questions as the head law enforcement officer of this country, your views on those issues.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we look forward to seeing how the confirmation process goes and continuing the conversation then. Alberto Gonzales, thank you so much.

GONZALES: Thanks for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still to come, Senate Republicans rejecting multiple attempts to kill the anti-weaponization fund during today's marathon voting session. We're live on Capitol Hill on -- with an update on voterama and where things stand right now.

Plus, this Auburn University student missing in Japan, what his family is telling CNN happened in the hours leading up to his disappearance.

And later, a CNN investigation into Waymo robotaxis, a string of recent incidents raising new safety concerns.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:08]

KEILAR: Right now on Capitol Hill, the Senate is on the fourth hour of a marathon voting session as Republicans look to pass $70 billion in funding for ICE and the U.S. Border Patrol. Early on, the bill appeared to face an uncertain fate, with Republicans having to beat back multiple amendments aimed at killing the Trump administration's so-called anti-weaponization fund. CNN's Manu Raju is on the Hill and is with us now.

All right, Manu, what's the latest on voterama?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, the -- the President's decision to first move ahead with this weaponization fund and then keep it -- keep it open as an option, even after Todd Blanche, the Acting Attorney General, said that they would not move forward with it, has severely complicated this bill and its path for passage.

Now, Republican leaders are still confident that it can get over the finish line in the Senate tonight, but not without some drama that we saw on the Senate floor earlier today. In fact, for several hours, they kept open a vote on a Democratic amendment that essentially have scuttled this bill altogether and forced it to be rewritten in a way to target that DOJ $1.8 billion fund that the President had kept as an option.

Now, those Republicans who threatened to vote for that Democratic plan included Senator Bill Cassidy, who was knocked out of his primary in the -- by -- by a primary foe backed by Donald Trump, as well as several endangered Republicans. Cassidy ultimately voted with Republicans against that Democratic amendment, but several endangered members, including Senator Jon Husted of Ohio, Susan Collins of Maine, Dan Sullivan of Alaska, voted with Democrats, and that barely was able to be defeated by the GOP, allowing this measure to move ahead.

Now, still, the bill will eventually come to a final vote. It may not include language that would target that DOJ fund, and if it doesn't, senators like Thom Tillis are vowing to vote against it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: If this does not get added to the bill, could you support passage?

SEN. THOM TILLIS (R-NC): No, I'm not going to -- I'm not going to vote to get off -- I voted to get on it, with the goal of potentially getting an amendment done or supporting some other member's amendment.

RAJU: So, why is this so important to get this, to get the -- to target the weaponization fund here when the -- when the ...

TILLIS: Well, you know, even the ...

RAJU: ... is it because the President has kept this option open?

TILLIS: Well, even the AG has said that it's done, so I don't know why we just don't codify it. It takes that argument away from the Democrats. It's a win-win, in my opinion.

RAJU: The President said that today ...

REP. BRIAN FITZPATRICK (R-PA): Yes.

RAJU: ... he would not rule out this fund moving forward again.

FITZPATRICK: I am. We'll see how -- you know, what comes out of the Senate. But to answer your question about the weaponization fund, this issue's not dead. It's not over. We have to fix the law. I feel very strongly about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RAJU: Now, but just as a sign of how deep the dissatisfaction is, on the GOP side, over that DOJ fund, 12 Republicans just voted to try to target that fund in an amendment. Now, that amendment ultimately failed, did not have enough votes in order to get adopted. But that's a dozen Senate Republicans. And you heard right there at the end of that clip there Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick. He's a Republican from a swing district in the House.

So, if and when this bill gets approved by the Senate, as soon as tonight, it'll come over to the House where the Speaker of the House will have another challenge. Members like Brian Fitzpatrick wanting to target this fund in that bill, just showing you how much the President and his handling of this issue has complicated his legislative agenda, $70 billion immigration enforcement package that he wants on his desk. Guys.

KEILAR: Yes. Manu Raju, live for us on the Hill, thank you.

Still ahead, the frantic search in Japan. An Alabama family is pleading for the return of their missing son. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

[15:19:46]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:24:26]

SANCHEZ: A desperate search is underway for a 20-year-old University of Auburn student missing in Japan. James "Weston" Higginbotham has been missing since last Friday. His family says he got on a train by himself and turned his phone location off. Now, the family is pleading for his safe return. CNN's Isabel Rosales has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I spoke to Weston's parents who told me that they are going through hell right now. They can't eat. They can't sleep. They are so worried and desperate to find their son. They fear that he might have gotten too deep into the woods in the Kyoto area and then have gotten lost.

[15:25:04]

This all started as a fun family vacation to Japan to celebrate his young brother's graduation from high school. But now, instead, it's turned into this frantic search. Dozens of police officers, canines, even a helicopter searching in this mountainous forested region where he was last seen in Kyoto. Even Japanese volunteers have come out to -- to help out the family through translation to putting out flyers with his picture on it. They told me, the parents told me this all started on Friday where he

got on a train there in the Kyoto area. And they didn't think much of that. They weren't worried because they described him as somebody who's experienced as a hiker, as a solo traveler and who enjoys public transportation. So, he went out and about and they didn't worry up until the point where his location tracking on an app that the family uses to keep tabs on one another just went dark. And that wasn't like him.

They were alarmed, that is out of character for Weston. And he has not been seen since Friday. He took off with about $62. They've even searched his credit card history and there's been zero activity. They have several authorities involved. And local CCTV footage does show that he got off of the train in the Yamashina station around 8 P.M. local time Friday and then was seen heading into an area that does lead to a local trail.

My colleague, Hanako Montgomery, spoke on camera with the parents. Here's what Weston's mother told her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY HIGGINBOTHAM, MOTHER OF JAMES "WESTON" HIGGINBOTHAM: Every single second you think about your kid and then you have the flashbacks of when he was two when I was breastfeeding him, the birthday parties we've thrown for him. I want that back. I need him back because a family of three is not the Higginbothams. We're a family of four.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Now, before he went missing, the Alabama family had been in Japan for about a week. But his mother told me that they butted heads over her use of ChatGPT to try to help them navigate Japan. Kyoto area. Her son, she describes him as an environmentalist who's, you know, particular about the usage of A.I. and the costs that it bears on the environment. They had this tiff and then they all agreed they needed space. And that's when he went off on -- by himself.

Now, we did check in with local authorities who say that this is a missing person's case. They have no evidence to indicate that any sort of crime has happened here. But understandably, the parents extremely worried and all that they care about is getting Weston back. Back to you.

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to several for that report.

Ahead, running red lights, driving into oncoming traffic, nearly hitting pedestrians. Some new CNN findings raising major safety concerns over self-driving Waymo cars. That report is coming up.

Plus, police in New York are trying to get to the bottom of a mystery. These people that keep popping in and out of manholes. We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)