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Israel & Iran Trade Strikes, Testing Fragile Ceasefire; Ivanka Trump's New Real Estate Project in Albania Sparks Protest; Pelley Says CBS Editor-in-Chief, Bari Weiss, Should Be Removed; 7.8 Magnitude Quake Kills Dozens in The Philippines; Chinese Leader Begins Two-Day State Visit to North Korea; Trial Begins for Palisades Fire Suspect. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 08, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:32:43]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Back now to the Breaking News. A major test for peace negotiations and the power of U.S. influence in the Middle East.

This hour, Iran and Israel both saying that they are pausing strikes, or at least momentarily stopping them, after launching new attacks that saw the worst breakout in fighting since a ceasefire that was installed in April. President Trump is urging restraint, and he's now held a second phone call in the last 24 hours with Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Let's discuss with Matt Miller. He served as the State Department Spokesperson under former President Biden. Matt, thank you so much for being with us. Why do you think that both Israel and Iran are so focused on Lebanon that they're willing to jeopardize a peace agreement over it?

MATT MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON UNDER BIDEN: I think for two very different reasons. First of all, from Israel's standpoint, Hezbollah has been an existential concern for them going back decades now. And one of the things I think the prime minister of Israel has set out as a strategic objective for the end of the war with Iran is to maintain his flexibility to continue to attack Hezbollah, no matter what agreement the U.S. and Israel reach with Iran. That's something that President Trump and actually Iran are strategically aligned on.

Both of them want to see a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah come into effect with the ceasefire between, or then the ultimate resolution between Israel and Iran. Iran has made really kind of a dramatic change or has attempted to make a dramatic change to the status quo, and that is to tie the resolution of the conflict that they have been locked in with the United States and Israel to a resolution in the north of Israel. That's something that has never happened before. Iran has forced that into the ceasefire negotiations. It was part of the original ceasefire negotiations back in April. You may remember that the U.S. announced that there was a ceasefire, only for Iran to say no, it's not done yet because you've not reached a ceasefire in Lebanon. And so, now, they're trying to force it as part of the ultimate resolution. And what they did over the weekend was not just try to force it into the ultimate resolution through diplomatic talks, but by actually launching missiles at Israel.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, and in response, you had President Trump saying publicly that he would call Prime Minister Netanyahu himself and say don't respond, don't retaliate with any attacks. He then, according to sources, called Netanyahu twice in 24 hours, passing along that message not to strike, and then Netanyahu went ahead anyway and launched strikes overnight.

[13:35:00]

What does that tell you about the dynamic between the U.S. and Israel right now?

MILLER: It tells you that there is a divergence between the U.S. and Israel in terms of what they want to see as the outcome of this war. As I said, Israel, certainly this Israeli government wants to see maintained freedom of action in Lebanon.

They want to be able to strike not just southern Lebanon, but Beirut and the southern Beirut suburbs, not just now but into the future, whenever they feel threatened by Hezbollah, either in response to Hezbollah attacks or to preempt what they see as likely Hezbollah attacks. Iran wants to tie Israel's hands and prevent them from doing that. So far, the president, it seems, is so eager to end the war that he is willing to accede to that Iranian demand.

I think Iran took a calculated risk over the past 24 hours that they could link these two together and launch direct strikes on Israel in response to something that Israel had done in Lebanon, something that Iran has never done before. Before the launch of this war, they had struck Israel directly twice, in April and in October of 2024. Both those strikes were in response to Israeli attacks on Iranian interests or inside Iran.

This was very different. And I think they took the calculated risk that they could do this, and Trump would intervene and pressure not Iran to stand down, but pressure Israel to stand down, which is exactly what he did.

SANCHEZ: Did President Trump create that impression by saying things like that he calls all the shots and that Netanyahu would have to accept the parameters of a deal no matter what?

MILLER: I think it was two things. It was both his comments, and not just those comments over the past 24 hours about how he would pressure Bibi, but the comments he has made going back months where he has made clear that he is the one that's going to decide, not just for the U.S., but also for Israel, kind of inserting himself into Israeli politics and saying, I'm going to make the decisions.

But it's also this ongoing dynamic where his continued behavior, the way he talks about the war, and you and I have talked about this on set here before, that in my opinion, he just talks too much. And part of the thing he has done is made it clear to the Iranians that he is eager for a deal, that he wants a deal very badly. He wants to see this war end. He wants to see the Strait of Hormuz open. He wants to see gas prices come down.

And the Iranians calculated that because of that eagerness on the president's part, they could take this step ultimately with no consequences.

SANCHEZ: Matt Miller, thanks so much for joining us.

So you were looking at live pictures right now of Albania, where mass protests have erupted for a seventh straight day. This is all over Jared and Ivanka Trump's plans to build a luxury resort on an uninhabited island and protected beach off of the coast of Albania. This is the moment that the first daughter announced the couple's project.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVANKA TRUMP, PRESIDENT TRUMP'S DAUGHTER: We were on a friend's boat and we stopped for a swim. Effectively, that's how we found it. We swam to the islands. We went on a hike barefoot all the way up to the top and we were just captivated, and it stayed with us ever since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: The country's prime minister says that Trump and Kushner are part of a group of investors from around the world and an environmental review is still underway. We're going to monitor these protests and bring you the latest as we get it from Albania.

Coming up, he has spent decades telling other people's stories and now he's telling his. We'll speak with Lulu Garcia-Navarro from The New York Times about her sit-down this weekend with Scott Pelley.

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[13:43:03]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Veteran journalist, Scott Pelley is telling his side of the story after CBS News fired him from the storied "60 Minutes" program last Tuesday. Pelley told The New York Times that the network's news division is "on fire" and that its new Editor-in-Chief, Bari Weiss, should be removed.

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SCOTT PELLEY, WORKED FOR CBS NEWS FOR 37 YEARS: The best thing that I can imagine in terms of describing it is that it's like your spouse was murdered. There are some moments of the day I feel fine. There are some moments of the day that I just frankly fall apart, when I least expect it, not that there's any particular trigger. But I do want to be clear that I do not feel sorry for me. I don't care about me.

I'm fine. I care about these people that I left behind, the people who are still trapped there and this institution that I love so much. We can save this. It's possible to land this plane. But right now, CBS News, in my view, is on fire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Pelley was forced out after he blasted the new Executive Producer of 60 Minutes, Nick Bilton, in front of staff. Weiss picked Bilton for the role after firing the show's former Executive Producer, Tanya Simon, veteran correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega, and other senior staffers as well. We're joined now by New York Times journalist, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who spoke with Scott Pelley.

She hosts "The Interview" podcast and she's also a CNN Contributor.

[13:45:00]

Lulu, this was such an emotional, at times, interview with Pelley. He was pretty emotional, especially talking about the people, his former coworkers and producers that he had worked with. Tell us more.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR, INTERVIEWED SCOTT PELLEY AFTER CBS FIRING: I mean, you know, Scott Pelley has been an icon of journalism for three decades now. And he sits at the heart of what is an American journalistic institution, which is "60 Minutes." If you think about the longevity of "60 Minutes," how it has impacted journalism, the way we tell stories, but also it is in everyone's living room on Sunday.

He is a known quantity in a way that I think many other -- in a way that few other journalists are. And so, this for him is, as he said, an existential moment. He loves "60 Minutes," as he said, with a devotion that is unrivaled. He also is incredibly worried about the institution of journalism writ large. And so he really felt compelled to speak out. And that was the substance of our discussion.

KEILAR: He details one instance where he says, Bari Weiss hours after deadline actually requested changes to his Minneapolis story on the protests and the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And he said that he had made sure that his team included an accurate portrayal of how very aggressive, his words, the protesters were, that they were half of these confrontations. Here's more of your exchange about this instance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELLEY: Bari Weiss sends an email to my boss, Tanya Simon. Two of the things in the email include, can we make the protesters look more violent? Now, I'm paraphrasing. I don't have the quote, but that's what was communicated to me. And the other thing was Renee Good's car, you need to describe her as driving toward the officer. This is not what you see on the video.

There was a thumb on the scale for the president's version of events that I felt was a level of political influence that I had never seen in 37 years at CBS News.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Is it possible to see this as the system working? She had notes, you felt they didn't make sense to take, the piece ran and there was no retaliation.

PELLEY: Well, it was the interference that is a problem, especially a story that's been approved by the top editors. And the bigger problem, Lulu, frankly, is not any kind of political influence. The problem was the incompetence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: A CBS News spokesperson said, Pelley's argument is not credible. There's no political interference at the news organization. I know you challenged him a bit on his assertions of political motivation. What were your takeaways from that part of the conversation?

GARCIA-NAVARRO: You know, this is something that we know, as journalists, is often hard to parse, right? Any sensitive piece, especially on something like the Minneapolis killings is going to get a lot of scrutiny from the editorial upper levels of any news organization.

CBS, as you heard there, says that it's not true but Scott Pelley felt very strongly that he had done a fair, accurate portrayal of what had happened and what was known at that point. And that what Bari Weiss was asking for was actually unfair. We should say at this point that it's not only Scott Pelley who has said this, but it is Sharyn Alfonsi who was fired as well, a "60 Minutes" correspondent.

It is Cecilia Vega, another "60 Minutes" correspondent, White House correspondent before that at ABC News. So this is now several people who have alleged the same pattern from Bari Weiss. Now, apart from actually seeing the documents themselves, it is quite hard to know.

I will also say that, again, CBS News has absolutely denied this. But the wider issue under which this sits right now is that there is a battle over the news and information and journalism itself.

[13:50:00]

We see that from the administration. We just see that in every iteration across social media and everywhere else. What is truth? What are facts? What is fair? These are at the very heart of public discourse. And so that is the context within which Scott Pelley's very emotional and very sober retelling of what he experienced sits.

KEILAR: Yeah, it's a very worthwhile interview. Lulu Garcia-Navarro, thank you so much for joining us to discuss it.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Thank you.

KEILAR: Boris?

SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour, a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocking the Southern Philippines this morning. At least 35 people were killed, more than 200 injured, according to the Associated Press. There's other footage that shows terrified school children running for cover as the structure behind them collapses.

Officials say the quake set off landslides that killed at least 13. And here, you can see the shopping mall just crack and fall to the ground. The Philippine Seismology Agency says the main quake was followed by some 140 aftershocks.

Also, a red carpet welcome for Chinese leader, Xi Jinping in North Korea. Kim Jong-un and the North Korean first lady both on hand to welcome President Xi for a two-day state visit. The trip is seen as a chance for Beijing to reassert its close historic ties with Pyongyang and comes on the 65th anniversary of the two countries' Treaty of Friendship, China's only mutual defense agreement.

According to Chinese state media, President Xi told Kim, no matter what changes on the international stage, the longstanding friendship between the two governments will remain the same.

And take a look at what happened along a stretch of I-75 near Chattanooga, Tennessee. A free show on the highway, this is a truck hauling fireworks that caught fire on Saturday. A dramatic display captured on camera by a local content creator. You see him on the upper right hand. Traffic in both directions was stopped while firefighters put out the fire. Fortunately, no one was injured.

Coming up, prosecutors say the man accused of starting one of the worst fires in California's history was upset about not having plans for New Year's Eve. We're taking you inside jury selection at his trial when we come back.

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[13:57:05]

SANCHEZ: A year and a half after the deadly Palisades Fire, the man accused of igniting it is heading to trial. Prosecutors say that Jonathan Rinderknecht was, quote, "Pissed off at the world when he allegedly sparked the flames that would eventually go on to kill a dozen people and devastate the lives of thousands more."

Jury selection is kicking off today, and CNN's Nick Watt has reported extensively on the fire, its impacts, and the case. Nick, I imagine that prosecutors are going to be hard-pressed to find jurors who don't have some kind of personal connection to this.

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: For sure. Listen, this fire wiped out 37 square miles, nearly took an entire neighborhood of this city off the map. So what we've seen this morning, about 90 or so prospective jurors have gone in.

They've been just told the procedures, and they've been given a questionnaire to fill in. They were also -- the list of potential witnesses was read out to see if the jurors recognized any names. So tomorrow, we'll be back for that process of jury selection in earnest.

Now, what the prosecution is going to say is that this young man, 29 years old, was pissed off at the world, didn't have a date on New Year's Eve, and after he finished his shift driving Uber just after midnight, walked up above the Palisades and set a fire. Now, the defense is going to say, sure, he was there, but he was watching the fireworks. They say he is a scapegoat for failings of officials and the fire department.

Now, here is the other wrinkle here. He allegedly set this fire in the early hours of January 1st. The Palisades Fire, which caused all that devastation, didn't erupt until the 7th. So what apparently happened is he set that fire. It was put out by the L.A. Fire Department, but there were some embers underground, and when the winds picked up January 7th, that is when the Palisades Fire blew up.

So prosecutors are going to have to prove, number one, he set that fire on January 1st, and they're going to have to prove, Boris, that that fire on January 1st did continue to smolder and then blew up to cause the Palisades Fire. It's going to be a tough case.

SANCHEZ: And prosecutors will also not be able to present evidence in court that they were able to present to secure the charges against him, correct?

WATT: Yeah, this is kind of interesting. So allegedly he prompted ChatGPT to create images of people running away from flames. So the images created are not going to be allowed, but the prompts he put into ChatGPT will be allowed. Now, his lawyer says that these images of people running away from flames were because he is very concerned with the environment. There's also an issue with this rap song, this French rap song, which is going to be allowed. That song is called "Un Zder, Un The" which is a joint and tea.

Now, Rinderknecht's lawyer says it's about a guy smoking weed and drinking tea. This is not about arson. So trial is going to last about two weeks. Jury selection back on tomorrow. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Nick Watt, thanks so much for bringing us up to speed on that case --