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Iran Supreme Leader's Adviser Says Talks are Deadlocked Over $24 Billion in Frozen Assets and Warns of a Wider War; Followers of Far-Right Streamer Nick Fuentes Talk to CNN; New Season of "Summer House" Drawing in new Bravo Fans. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 05, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHSEN REZAEI, SENIOR MILITARY ADVISER TO IRAN'S SUPREME LEADER: ... Drag the war to the Indian Ocean, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, and we will give another dimension to the war by attacking these other American bases that we have been attacking so far. America will definitely suffer much more losses. America's losses will be very heavy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Let's discuss now with CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Let's first -- what do you think of that threat that he's making? What's your reaction?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, it's pretty realistic, Brianna. And when you think about how the Iranians have really prosecuted their part of the war effort, this is a logical extension of that. You know, we had bases in Kuwait attacked.

We had bases in Bahrain attacked. We had bases in Saudi Arabia attacked. And to include the destruction of an American AWACS, as well as the damaging of some of our refueling tankers.

So a lot of this is certainly within Iran's capabilities. So I would take his warning very seriously. And I think what we need to make sure is that U.S. forces have adequate protections, both from an air and missile defense perspective, as well as from physical security around the perimeter of these bases, because the Iranians are very serious about this.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: They're serious about the $24 billion as a precursor to any sort of deal. They describe it as an effort to build trust between Washington and Tehran. But if the U.S. agrees to that, then forgive me if I'm wrong, but all leverage is gone.

LEIGHTON: Yes, basically, at least a lot of the leverage would be gone, Boris. And this is one of the real problems that we have right now, because one of the things that we could do, you know, if you wanted to make sure you have leverage is not only stop the release of the $24 billion, but make sure that the Iranians understand that we could take over certain areas, such as, you know, the Strait of Hormuz or some aspect of Karg Island, and that would be a physical thing. Now, I don't think anybody is willing to do that, but that would be one way to regain leverage and to make it very clear to the Iranians that we're not fooling around.

But this is, you know, the dilemma that the Trump administration faces. They want to extricate themselves from this war. They want to try to make sure that they kind of put this off into the rearview mirror.

But the problem that you have is that the Iranians are still going to be driving that car that's behind you, and they are going to be trying to, at the very least, catch up with us on that highway of diplomacy. And if they don't catch up with us, they are going to try to find ways to really make things difficult for us. And they have a history of doing that.

And that history, I think, will continue if we're not careful.

KEILAR: Mohsen Rezaei is IRGC old guard, right? He led the IRGC for 16 years. He really helped kind of shape it into such a powerful institution.

And it says something that he's the one who is out there speaking for Iran. What should we take from that?

LEIGHTON: Well, first of all, this is a clear indication, Brianna, that the IRGC is in absolute control of Iran right now. It is their regime that we're talking to. And we have to realize these are hardline people.

They have been basically forged by the fire of the Iran-Iraq war back in the 1980s. And that relationship that they have with the institutions of Iran has really been solidified through this particular conflict, because it basically has coalesced all elements of the Iranian government, all the disparate elements that are out there, the intelligence services, the military and the IRGC. They're all coming together in an effort to protect that state because they benefit from that state being in existence.

And there's nothing that really that they would like better than to maintain that state, because what they're doing is they're not only controlling economic levers, but also the political levers. And that's critically important for them.

SANCHEZ: There's also some new reporting, exclusive new reporting, to CNN today about Israel secretly deploying elite military and intelligence units to Azerbaijan during the start of the war with Iran as part of a network of covert sites across the Middle East attempting to facilitate operations against Tehran. This is according to four sources familiar. What is the significance of the Israeli presence, not only there in Azerbaijan, but in these neighboring countries?

LEIGHTON: Well, what this does is the Israelis have, in essence, put bases close to the Iranian border. There was one that was only 60 miles from the Iranian city of Tabriz in northwest Iran. So what it shows you is this gives the Israelis the capability and by extension us the capability not only to collect intelligence, but it also gives them the capability to launch search and rescue missions and things of that nature.

It also allows them to potentially covertly insert operatives into Iranian territory from an area that is really close to the Iranian border. And those bases like the ones you mentioned in Azerbaijan, as well as ones in Iraq, those are very close, at least in some cases are very close to the Iranian border.

[15:35:00]

And that border is a porous border in certain locations. And that's what the Israelis have used in the past. And they certainly have a fairly close relationship with Azerbaijan. And they're going to use that relationship to not only further their military operations, but they're going to do it in a way that will allow them to gain a foothold in when it comes to intelligence and operational matters there.

SANCHEZ: Yes, I should just note for the record that the government of Azerbaijan denies this reporting. Colonel Cedric Leighton, thanks so much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Boris. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Appreciate it.

So we are sitting down with two self-described "groypers," fans of the far right streamer Nick Fuentes, to talk about what draws them to his sexist and racist rhetoric when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We know this much heading into the final matches at this year's French Open tennis tournament. A first time winner will be crowned in both men's and women's singles after two weeks of stunning upsets and dramatic finishes.

KEILAR: Today brought another unexpected twist to the chaotic tournament. CNN's Patrick Snell has been watching it all. Patrick, tell us what happened.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi Boris and Brianna. Yes, we have certainly come to expect the unexpected this year in Paris. Just minutes before Friday's second men's semifinal, we got the sudden news that Italy's Matteo Arnaldi was withdrawing from his last four match against compatriot Flavio Cobolli, this due to illness.

Now both players then actually appearing at a news conference with Cobolli very much keeping his distance from his friend and fellow Italian. Really huge setback, I will say, for Arnaldi, who'd had a grueling tournament up to this point, having spent almost 20 hours on court en route to his first ever Grand Slam semifinal. Let's hear now from Matteo Arnaldi. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTEO ARNALDI: I can't move and I can't eat and I can't drink, so it's like there was really no way that I would be able to play. I feel sorry for everyone that got the tickets and came, all the Italians that came to watch us. I feel happy for him that he's going to play the final, but at the same time, sorry because we couldn't play a match. You know, sorry. It's tough to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: In the final on Sunday, Cobolli will face his friend Alexander Zverev, who must surely be feeling this is finally his time to land a first career Grand Slam singles title. Zverev is now through to his fourth major singles final and second in Paris. The German star, the number two seeded, showing all his class and experience in the first semi of the day to take control by just powering his way through, not just the first set, but also the second to give himself what seemed like an unassailable lead.

But things seem to change after that. His opponent, the young Czech player, Jakub Mensik, receiving treatment on his neck. The 20-year-old totally revitalized after that and came out fighting, came back to win the third set 6-3 and get himself right back into this semi-final.

That though was as good as it got for the Czech youngster. Zverev re- establishing control to win the fourth and book his spot in a fourth Grand Slam final.

And a reminder that final seeing the Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska taking on Russian teen, the 19-year-old Mirra Andreeva.

And with that, it's right back to you, Boris and Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Patrick Snell, thank you so much for that.

And you are now about to meet a couple of so-called "groypers". That's the term that far right live streamer Nick Fuentes calls his listeners.

CNN's Donie O'Sullivan went to Miami to talk to two of them and learn why they're drawn to Fuentes, who often slings racist, misogynistic and anti-Semitic rhetoric.

SANCHEZ: The groypers say they take a lot of Fuentes's comments as a joke, but you should watch how serious the situation gets when these Fuentes fans were seen with CNN. Here's Donie with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICH: I broke up with my last chick. She was a pain in the ass, so.

DONIE O'SULLIVAN, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): So I've come to Miami to meet Rich and John. They're both groypers, the nickname given to fans of the far right streamer Nick Fuentes.

RICH: Like we don't hate women. We just find feminism annoying.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Fuentes is known for his sexist, racist and anti-Semitic rants.

JOHN: So when I first heard of him, I was actually in 2022 when him and Kanye went to visit Trump.

O'SULLIVAN: They had dinner at Mar-a-Lago.

JOHN: They had the dinner Mar-a-Lago. And I heard he's just like this white supremacist Nazi. I was always skeptical of those accusations because I'm like everyone gets called that nowadays.

O'SULLIVAN: What is it about Nick do you think that makes him so appealing to particularly young men?

RICH: There's a side of comedy like there's politics and it's kind of like Trump, you know, Trump is just genuinely funny. He's a funny guy. And that's very attractive.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Fuentes fans try to write his hate off as humor.

JOHN: And sure, maybe he does stuff to be edgy and make jokes. But we're young, we just want to have fun. And with these older people, we want to get a rise out of them, especially these mega Fox News boomers.

Like we want to get a rise out of you.

NICK FUENTES: I would just take away the right to vote for tons of people. Women, for sure.

O'SULLIVAN: How do you know when he's joking and how do you know when he's not? Because he says like women shouldn't vote. But that's not a joke, right? He means that.

RICH: Yes, it's still a joke, though. It's like, we're not going out of our way to repeal the 19th. You know what I mean?

JOHN: Trying to get on people's skin.

[15:45:00]

O'SULLIVAN: But you're saying you don't believe that Fuentes believes that women shouldn't vote?

JOHN: No, I think he does believe that.

O'SULLIVAN: You think he believes that they shouldn't vote?

JOHN: Yes.

O'SULLIVAN: Do you think that?

RICH: He probably does, deep down. O'SULLIVAN: So he's not joking?

RICH: Yes, but he wouldn't do anything about it.

JOHN: But we know that's not really in the cards.

RICH: We're not trying to change that.

FUENTES: When I say women's rights, what do we obviously need to do? Take them away. This is just what everyone knows needs to be done.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): It seems that even among the groypers, it isn't always clear when Fuentes is joking and when he's not.

JOHN: I think women should only be allowed to vote if they're married, because I think if they were married, they would vote with their husband.

O'SULLIVAN: Rich, do you think women should vote?

RICH: Sure. Let them vote. I don't have an issue with it.

O'SULLIVAN: You don't?

RICH: No. Let them vote.

O'SULLIVAN: You're charting some heads here, guys.

JOHN: That's for sure.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Rich is 23. John is 25. Both came of age during the rise of Trump, COVID, the Me Too movement, and what many young men like them view as the excesses of cancel culture.

JOHN: We're going to an Orthodox church tomorrow.

RICH: I don't know where the nearest one is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Orthodox?

RICH: I'm Orthodox. Are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, but I'm Catholic, but all my friends are Serbian.

RICH: Maybe we'll go to a Catholic church tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I can send you some if you want.

JOHN: Oh, really? What's your number?

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): These men have come to see themselves in Nick Fuentes. His cancellation across social media platforms for his spreading of hate they view as part of a broader attack on men like them. JOHN: And you look at his audience, they feel like they can relate to him because they're young men. A lot of them can't get girlfriends. A lot of them are struggling financially.

They're not going to have the life their parents had, their grandparents had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut the f*** up. Nobody cares. You're not him, bro. You'll never be him. Just kill yourself.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Soon after I left Miami, pictures John posted of our interview on social media got Fuentes' attention, and he wasn't happy his followers had spoken to CNN.

FUENTES: How about that CNN thing? Oh my gosh. These like two absolute chuds.

Look at us. We're in our Nick Fuentes t-shirt and hat.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): In online audio chats, groypers began to turn on Rich and John.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't wait for this guy to be dodged and have his life ruined forever.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Rich and John did not want to be interviewed again.

JOHN: How's everyone doing tonight?

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): But John posted a 30-minute video on social media where he tried to defend his groyper honor.

JOHN: I consider myself a groyper, and I know everyone's saying I'm not a groyper, and giving me death threats, and telling me to kill myself, and that they're going to rape me. And that's fine. I don't really care.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Even though Fuentes was mocking them.

FUENTES: Spilling to the CNN journalist he's going to make them look like complete idiots.

O'SULLIVAN (voice-over): Here was John, still trying to placate the hate.

JOHN: To anyone that, you know, I might have offended or thought that I was trying to sabotage the movement, I am sorry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Our thanks to Donie O'Sullivan for that report.

Still to come, Amanda, West, Kyle, Carl, many other people I am not familiar with. I don't know who they are, but they are all at Summer House, and people like CNN's Phil Mattingly are addicted to this reality TV show.

It's having a bromance. We'll discuss next.

[15:50:26]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Scandal. Forbidden romance. Deception.

Sounds like a soap opera, but we're talking about the sizzling drama of Summer House.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Bravo's hit reality show centers on a group of friends who share a Hamptons house every summer, and millions of viewers have tuned in for this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is anything like Cruella de Vil?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it looks good. Incredible, honestly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: KJ, you called Ciara and Mia your sisters for life. Which one is giving tough love and which one is letting you get away with everything?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neither one of us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's really bad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I am so confused. Summer House has some new fans entering the chat this season. Men, a whole lot of men, and they are here for it.

Let's discuss this new bromance with the hosts of Bravo Bros, the podcast, Steele Russell and Sean Morrison. Fellas, thank you so much for joining us. This has always been a dramatic show, Sean, but this latest West, Amanda, Ciara drama has been on a new level.

KEILAR: He's told. Boris is told.

SANCHEZ: Help me understand what's going on.

SEAN MORRISON, CO-HOST, BRAVBROS PODCAST: It really has taken on a life of its own, and it's great to see, honestly. The way that it's been playing out, the way that Steele and I have both been getting text messages from our friends growing up. A lot of guys, a lot of guys whose wives and girlfriends all watch Bravo.

They're interested in getting into it because they want to be part of the conversation, and we're just here to help them out.

KEILAR: Yes, totally. And our Phil Mattingly, who loves this show, said, the real ones have been there since day one, but I welcome the newly converted. So Steele -- and here we have a picture of him, so that everyone can know this is how he feels about it.

But he's not -- listen, he's not ashamed, and that's the point, is that dudes are not at this point in time. Steele, what is it? Explain for the uninitiated what this drama, this kind of triangle is, that is especially drawing people in.

[15:55:00]

STEELE RUSSELL, CO-HOST, BRAVBROS PODCAST: Well, I think that this one was just so polarizing because nobody expected it. You know, we had Scandoval a few years ago, which kind of blew up, and that actually brought a lot of dudes into the Bravo space as well. But this one in particular, you know, Kyle and Amanda have been the rock of the Summer House for so long. And we saw West do a lot of dumb stuff with Ciara two years ago, and he went through the ringer last year.

So we just assumed that he learned his lesson. Lo and behold, he didn't. So for him to double down and do it with Amanda, I mean, the entire world was rocked, or at least the Bravo sphere.

And I think that that's what got everybody so drawn into this one, was they couldn't really believe that he would be this dumb.

SANCHEZ: When someone shows you who you are, the late great Maya Angelou said, believe them. Steele, your wife got you into Bravo. Do you think this is a typical path for men to get bro radicalized?

RUSSELL: I think that Summer House is a great way to kind of dip a toe. So for anybody out there that's wondering how to get your husband or significant other to turn into a BravBro, Summer House, Southern charm, their ensemble cast. So you have a lot of dudes on the show as well that you can relate to a bit more.

And once you get done with like a Summer House, Southern charm, you go to a Vanderpump rules. And then from Vanderpump rules, it's time to dip a toe into the housewives realm. So I think if you follow that path, you're going to have some success.

SANCHEZ: It's the gateway.

KEILAR: Yes, it's a gateway show drug here. We're hearing.

OK, but Sean, also you point out that when it comes to Summer House, like the men are more relatable on this show. Why?

MORRISON: They really are. And I do think like Steele said, that Summer House is a great gateway show because a lot of people, a lot of guys can relate to just going to the shore, especially on the East coast where we live. Everybody relates to go into the shore and having a good time.

And you see guys starting businesses, whether that's in the alcohol industry or starting things on social media. One of the guys, West, who's involved in all the drama, he actually does writing for sports. So it kind of brings in that world that we're all familiar with. And then it brings into a different place where we get to reality TV. And again, we just want to harp on it. It's a great thing to do with your significant other.

Just sit down on those Tuesday, Wednesday nights when nothing else is on, especially when sports start to run dry. Watch a little Bravo. You're going to have a great time and it's going to bring you closer and your girlfriend and wife, they're going to appreciate it.

SANCHEZ: It's a great alternative to CNN, which I know you guys also watch very closely. Steele, actor Jon Hamm, yes. Jon Hamm told Andy Cohen that he's a fan, that he's team Ciara.

Aside from Phil Mattingly and Jon Hamm, are there any other surprising fans that you heard or are watching this very closely?

RUSSELL: Oh man. Actually, yes. I played professional baseball for about six years and it's interesting.

I've had a bunch of my former teammates reach out to me during all of this and say that they've just gotten involved with the Summer House craze, that their wife or girlfriend finally convinced them to watch Bravo. And then when you look across the board, as far as some of the bigger names that have gotten into it, I think Jon Hamm is probably who we all look to as the main BravBro, if you will. But I think you'd be surprised to look and see there's quite a few dudes out there that are into this show.

It's just getting over that idea that they can't say it out loud. You know, there's a stigma that comes along with Bravo and dudes. And it's like, hey, nobody's too tough for a TV show.

And if you think you are, that's just ridiculous, all right?

KEILAR: OK, so Sean, I got to tell you, I don't think that my husband, like I could ever get him to watch reality TV. But if this is the show, then I need you to tell me, what am I going to go home -- tonight? I'm going to go home. I'm going to get the wine. Maybe I'll have a little rose. And then what do I say to my husband to get him to sit down and watch Summer House with me?

What do I say, Sean?

RUSSELL: Pitch it.

MORRISON: You're on the right path with the rose. Get the rose flowing. That's going to get things moving in the right direction.

But I would say a good hook is you get to watch people honestly implode their lives. I mean, it's very fascinating to watch people who seem to be in a great position, whether in business or whatever they might be doing. And then they show up on this TV screen and they don't know how to handle it.

You never know where it's going to turn. It's always going to be very fun behavior to get into. And that's, I think, the best way to do it. It's just fascinating.

SANCHEZ: Steele, my producer.

MORRISON: I think there's a lot of sports. Oh, go ahead.

SANCHEZ: Actually, she's like demanding that I ask you something that I could not understand.

KEILAR: Will West and Amanda last? Will West and Amanda last?

SANCHEZ: Honestly, Steele, answer however you want to answer. You were about to say something about professional sports.

RUSSELL: Excuse me?

KEILAR: Real quick, we have 30 seconds. Steele, will West and Amanda last?

RUSSELL: Absolutely not. No, they're trying to hang on right now to get through this turmoil. But no, if they're smart, they'll get married.

That's the only way that they can come out of this even remotely OK. But no, they're not going to make it more than a year. I give them a year tops.

SANCHEZ: Wow, I believe in them.

[16:00:00]

Steele Russell, Sean Morrison, the BravBros. Thank you both. Appreciate your time.

KEILAR: So much fun, you guys.

SANCHEZ: And your passion for this. This is great.

MORRISON: Thanks, guys.

RUSSELL: Yes, we love it. Thank you for having us.

SANCHEZ: Cheers.

KEILAR: I'm going to do it. I'm going to watch this tonight.

SANCHEZ: Let me know how it goes.

KEILAR: OK, yes, you should watch it too, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Ah, I prefer reading books and I don't know, other stuff.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END