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Netanyahu was Preparing Significant Iran Attack When Trump Convinced Him to Stand Down; Raman Surges Past Pratt into Second Place in L.A. Mayoral Race. Interview with Rep. Kevin Kiley (I-CA): Vote Counting Still Underway in Los Angeles Mayoral Race; Robotic Dogs to be Deployed at World Cup Venues. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired June 08, 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]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: ... The two have now spoken twice since Iran launched its first strikes on Sunday. With us now, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East, Dana Stroul. Dana, thank you so much for being with us.

So I want to get your reaction to this news that Netanyahu is preparing a significant strike against Tehran in the context that President Trump over the weekend publicly called on Netanyahu not to attack Iran and then overnight the IDF launched new strikes. So what does this tell you about where things now stand?

DANA STROUL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: Well, first of all, I think it's important to remember how this started. This started with a negotiated ceasefire under Trump administration auspices last week between Lebanon and Israel, and it's Hezbollah in Lebanon that violated that ceasefire. And now it's the Iranian regime in Tehran that's trying to challenge it by sending missiles at Israel for what it accuses Israel of doing, violating a ceasefire.

So really, this is about Iran trying to flex its muscles in those final days before there's some sort of negotiation between the United States and Iran over that war.

SANCHEZ: Yes, Iran has been demanding that the U.S. agree to unfreeze billions of dollars in frozen assets held in foreign banks. Trump is, of course, concerned about any comparison to the JCPOA and the Obama deal and his repeated refrain about pallets of cash being sent to Iran. Ultimately, if Iran is saying that unless these assets are unfrozen, there won't even be a discussion over a memorandum of understanding, isn't that a step that the United States may have to take?

STROUL: Yes, these are really difficult choices for President Trump. I think what we've seen in the recent days is Iran testing his resolve. Is he willing to go back to war or is he really desperate for an off- ramp to this war?

And what they are saying is this $24 billion, and clearly, he is feeling boxed in by Republicans in Congress who were so critical of that Obama-era deal. And so I think the challenge for him is how does he save face, make the case that this war was worth it given the situation we're in now? And I think then there's a challenge of is some level of sanctions relief or unfreezing these funds going to be something that Trump can justify to those hardliners who want to see a maximalist negotiation when clearly what his team is doing here is quite minimal, almost an open for open.

Open the Strait of Hormuz and end the U.S. naval blockade and push everything else down the road.

SANCHEZ: The U.S. apparently is planning to allow Iranian assets to be used to support rebuilding Gulf countries, U.S. allies that have been impacted by Iranian attacks. Iran is calling that plan absurd. Is there anything Tehran can do to push back?

Could this ultimately be a bargaining chip in the broader negotiation?

STROUL: Well, first of all, Tehran certainly still has chips that they can play. They continue to demonstrate that they're capable and willing and prepared to launch missile and drone attacks on Gulf countries. About this potential using of Iranian frozen funds to reconstruct Gulf countries, I don't think I've seen any Gulf reactions to this.

It's very reminiscent of European decisions to ring fence frozen Russian funds in Europe for Ukraine reconstruction. And I don't recall the Gulf countries being very supportive of that a couple of years ago. So there's much more to this story, and we'll see how it evolves. At the same time that Gulf countries are talking about some sort of reparation fund to help Iran rebuild their country.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Dana Stroul, thank you so much for joining us for this conversation.

STROUL: Pleasure.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Still ahead, as Californian officials pour through millions of mail-in primary ballots, President Trump is again claiming, without evidence, that its elections are rigged. We're going to speak with a California congressman locked to his own type race, Representative Kevin Kiley.

[15:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: In California, the votes are still being counted in some of the marquee primary races, two of the biggest ones, the governor's race, the L.A. mayoral contest, but with President Trump's preferred pick, Spencer Pratt, now falling to third in the L.A. mayor's race. He's now amplifying his election fraud claims, and he's calling California officials crooked.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, it's looking, look at what's happening.

KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Where's the evidence to that?

TRUMP: It's four days.

WELKER: The Republicans are doing well in California.

TRUMP: In California, it's -- no, they're not, they're dropping fast because it's a rigged election. Let me tell you, it's four days, and they aren't even close to coming up with --

WELKER: That's why they can't (CROSSTALK)?

TRUMP: You know why they're doing that? Because they're cheating on the election.

WELKER: What, do you have evidence to support that?

TRUMP: All I have to do is look. All I have to do is look --

WELKER: That's not evidence.

TRUMP: -- and I listen, and I listen to people, and let's see what happens.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Earlier today, Trump leaned into that narrative that Pratt should still be ahead of progressive L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman. She currently holds a very narrow lead over Pratt for the second runoff spot, following a surge of votes counted over the weekend. One of them will face off against the incumbent Karen Bass in November.

And then in the governor's race, Democrat Javier Becerra will face one of two contenders in the general election, pro-Trump Republican and former Fox News host Steve Hilton or Democrat Tom Steyer.

We're joined now by California Congressman Kevin Kiley. He is a former Republican now running as an independent in a newly drawn congressional district. Thank you so much for being with us.

REP. KEVIN KILEY (I-CA): Of course.

KEILAR: And just so people know, you're currently in the lead in the sixth district. The district that you represent right now is going to cease to exist as it currently exists because of redistricting.

[15:40:00]

And CNN hasn't called the race yet. But as of this weekend, 66 percent of the votes are in. You're in the lead. There's a lot of candidates. But you look like you have a spot for the runoff. Is that acceptable to you that there's 66 percent of the votes in as of this weekend? KILEY: That is the thing that I think is fair to criticize. And in fact, the Washington Post did an editorial saying this super slow vote counting undermines faith in democracy. The New York Times did this editorial saying, what's going on? This is like something out of the pre-telegraph era.

So I do agree California needs to get its act together. Pretty much every other state in the country, whether it's a red state or a blue state, they have most of their results tabulated on election night. There's no reason we can't do that in California.

KEILAR: So what would you change about what California is doing? Because right now, everyone's got access to those mail ballots. A lot of people are turning them in in person, day of.

They're mailing in ballots on Election Day, which means they come in after Election Day. So something would have to change. And when we talk to election officials, they say it would actually change the access that people have gotten used to.

What do you say to that?

KILEY: Yes, well, here's the thing is California actually has some of the worst access and participation as well. When you look at the Election Performance Index, which is a nonpartisan rating, California ranks 41st among those metrics of access and participation and transparency. So not only do we get our results a month after the election, we also don't do well by these other measures.

So this isn't brain surgery. You don't have to reinvent the wheel. You can just look at basically any other state of the country.

Look at Massachusetts, look at Colorado. They have all kinds of voter protections. And they also manage to count votes in a timely way.

I think the bigger issue in California is just basic government performance. And you do see that play out.

KEILAR: For counting in time.

KILEY: Yes, counting in time.

KEILAR: Just like getting it done.

KILEY: And I think it's a function of why I rely so long on the DMV. Why don't people get their unemployment checks in a timely manner? It's just a basic issue of government performance that really transcends partisanship or anything else.

KEILAR: CNN's Manu Raju was just talking to Speaker Johnson about Trump's claims and the evidence that exists or does not exist. And I want to play part of their exchange. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: I'm not saying it's rigged. I'm saying it stinks to high heaven. And everybody knows that.

Let's remove the appearance of impropriety. Let's have, what a concept. Let's have votes on an election the day of the election.

That's what many states are able to do. I think California is playing around with this.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But what evidence is there to prove that this is rigged?

JOHNSON: Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream, it is impossible to prove. But I think everybody knows instinctively something is wrong here. And that's a concern.

We need people to believe in the integrity of our election system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream, it is impossible to prove. I don't hear you saying that. Do you agree with that?

KILEY: No, I agree with the statement that we should be able to count votes on election night.

KEILAR: No, that's not what he said. He said, let's have votes on an election the day of the election. Do you agree with that part?

KILEY: I think that we should have most of the votes counted on election night, yes. And I think that when you look at what the Washington Post said, for example, or the New York Times, they hold that view as well. And I do think it's true that when you have this extended process, where we get one result on election night, and then people go on with their lives.

They voted, you know, the election's over. Then over the course of the next several weeks, votes continue to come in. I think that does at least have the effect of eroding trust in the process.

And it also leads to all kinds of instability. Because let's say you're a candidate, and you have to wait for weeks. You don't know if you're going to be elected to your city council or to your school board. Or the whole control of Congress could be at stake. We've seen that happen before.

And so it really shouldn't be too much to ask that California does a little better job with this.

KEILAR: Are you hearing something different in what Speaker Johnson is saying, where he says, let's have votes on an election the day of the election? It sounds like he's talking about having people voting on election day.

KILEY: Yes, I mean, I think that in California, we've gone very far in the other direction. I'm all for absentee voting. I think people should be able to vote by mail. And I'm OK with having a somewhat extended voting process as well. You know, maybe California has gone too far, where they now mail every registered voter a ballot, whether they request it or not.

KEILAR: Do you want to change that?

KILEY: There have been some issues there. I think that's probably something that should be changed. You should be able to request one, but just automatically send it to a registered voter.

You talk to anyone, they get ballots at their house. That's from a former resident, from someone who's passed away, that sort of thing. So I would be for saying everyone can get an absentee ballot if they request it.

They'll mail it to you. You can mail it back at your convenience. But mailing one to every single registered voter, folks who have moved, counties moved out of the state, some have passed away.

I do think that that's not a good practice.

KEILAR: Your race has been a really interesting one to watch because of redistricting and just how you've gone from representing the third to trying your hand in the sixth. And you recently switched party affiliation from Republican to Independent.

[15:45:00]

You have conferenced with Republicans since you became an Independent. And you haven't said what you're going to do if you're elected. Can you take us through your thought process on that?

KILEY: Yes, of course. And this is one of the sort of structural factors that really makes it difficult for folks to be an Independent in the U.S. House of Representatives. It's one of the reasons I'm the only one out of 435 members.

I'm the only Independent in the House since 2019. If I win this election, I'll be the only second Independent elected to the House in 70 years. Because you have these structural factors like the rules of the House that say in order to even get committee assignments, which is really necessary to be a fully functioning member of the House, you have to caucus with one party or the other.

So I'm actually trying to change that. I think that if you want to be an Independent, you shouldn't be forced to make those choices that reinforce --

KEILAR: OK, but we don't have a lot of time. And I want to know, are you going to caucus with Democrats? Are you going to conference with Republicans?

And does that calculus change based on who's in control of the House?

KILEY: Well, ideally, I wouldn't have to make that decision. We could change the rules of the House. KEILAR: OK, but you do. But you're going to have to make that decision.

KILEY: So if I do, if I haven't been able to change the rules of the House, which is my goal, then I'll make the decision at the time on the same basis that I make every decision answering to my constituents is what's going to be best for them, not answering to party leaders.

KEILAR: Don't you need to tell them that before they vote?

KILEY: I think my constituents will trust that it's my job to represent them, to listen to them. And at the time that I make that decision, I'll ask them what they think the best thing for me to do is. But I can't answer in advance in the abstract.

You know, I think that that's a matter to decide at the time.

KEILAR: To see the outcome of the election?

KILEY: To see who the candidates are, to see what they're promising in terms of what the agenda is going to be, to see how those things would impact my district. That's the difference between being an independent and being someone who's just of one party or the other. I don't pre- commit to just voting for this party or that party, this way or that way.

I'm going to answer to my constituents in terms of what is best for my district.

KEILAR: All right, Congressman Kevin Kiley, thank you so much -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: A press conference is underway in Texas where officials are discussing the spread and response to a flesh-eating parasite threatening cattle. Moments ago, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins confirming more cases of the New World Screw Worm, saying one case discovered just hours ago in a goat, another in a dog.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: These developments obviously represent a serious threat to our livestock and wildlife, but they haven't caught us off guard. We have been tracking this pest for a long time, and we have fought before, and we will do so again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Screw worms are the larvae of a parasitic fly that feeds on the tissue of warm-blooded animals. An infestation could signal a major threat to food production. Officials plan to contain and eradicate them using sterile flies.

Now, Secretary Rollins says they've expedited their release and have already deployed millions of them. A story to stay on top of.

Still ahead, expect tight security at World Cup venues across the U.S. over the next few weeks, including robot dogs. We'll discuss how exactly these crime-fighting Fido's will be utilized next.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Some special moments from the sports world to share with you. In golf and tennis, two major tournaments seeing first-time winners taking the top prize in spectacular style.

KEILAR: CNN's Don Riddell is here with the details. Don, you're here in spectacular style. So let's start with tennis, because the French Open has just been filled with drama.

So many of these big-name players either dropping out or getting knocked out. Tell us about the German player who seized the moment.

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT, WORLD SPORT: Hey, guys. Yes, it was just an incredible French Open from start to finish. I was beginning to think after a few days, does anybody want to win this?

As you say, so many big names, both defending champions out early. And the stage was set for Alexander Zverev in the men's draw on Sunday. And, you know, they say the best things come to those who wait.

But it had been an agonizing wait for Sascha Zverev. He played in three major finals and lost them all. He'd been badly injured on this court back here in 2022.

So to finally beat Flavio Cobolli in five sets there, highly emotional. He was already an Olympic champion, and he's a very accomplished player. But it always felt like something was missing. Not anymore.

SANCHEZ: Not anymore. Now to golf and the U.S. Women's Open. The winner talked about having to grind it out.

RIDDELL: Yes, Nelly Korda is having an absolutely sensational season. The American world number one has played eight tournaments. She's won four of them.

This was her second consecutive major victory. That putt, that was a nervy putt from two and a half feet. If she'd missed it, she would have been heading for a three-way playoff.

But very, very close. As I say, she's played eight tournaments this year. She's won four of them.

She's come second in three others in historic season from Nelly Korda. That's her fourth major title. Pretty emotional from her, too.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NELLY KORDA, WINNER, U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN: I feel like I'm in a dream. Gosh, I just can't even explain how much this means to me. Thank you all for coming out and cheering me on.

It really brings tears to my eyes. I have literal tears coming down my eyes or down my face. Because I feel like I'm just so lucky.

[15:55:00]

Lucky to have all of your guys' support and everyone's support right here in my corner. So thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Well played, Nelly. What a great time it is to be a sports fan, guys. Great stories there. The Knicks halfway to an NBA championship. First time in half a century.

The Stanley Cup's incredible. And the World Cup starts on Thursday. It's all happening.

KEILAR: It's all happening. Gosh, that final putt. High drama there. Don Riddell, thank you so much for that.

Security at the World Cup is getting an assist from technology to keep fans safe. Specifically, a robot dog named Spot.

SANCHEZ: The robots are produced by Boston Dynamics. It's a robotics company that's owned by the Hyundai Motor Company -- or Hyundai Motor Group, I should say.

The company's robots have become a familiar sight at some sporting events. Let's discuss with Merry Frayne. She's Senior Director of Product for Spot at Boston Dynamics.

Thanks so much for being with us, Mary. How do the robots identify security threats? And how do they alert human security officials when they see a threat?

MERRY FRAYNE, BOSTON DYNAMICS: Yes, that's a great question. Thank you for having me. So these robots are going to be walking around the World Cup facilities.

And really what they're looking for are hazardous situations. So they might be looking for an abandoned backpack. Or for something that might become dangerous to a human guest.

And our security guards are using these film streams from the robots to get into places where maybe a fixed camera would have a harder time seeing. So they're sending alerts both autonomously. And there's a person in the loop who's looking around and seeing with the robot's eyes.

KEILAR: So why do they look like dogs? I'm assuming even though -- I mean, I like it. I think it's very cute. But I'm assuming there's also like a utilitarian reason for it.

FRAYNE: Yes, yes. So, you know, nature has done a really good job of designing optimal energy usage in its agile mobile platforms. So, you know, Spot's built on about 30 years of cutting-edge robotic research.

And animals were always one of the inspirations on how to build something that could go anywhere that a person could go. And that was really the purpose with Spot. It's something that was extremely stable and could also operate in areas that are designed for people.

Go up and down stairs, go across different floor types. It can even go into really dangerous areas that maybe a person shouldn't go. So that was a lot of the reason for that form factor with the four legs.

SANCHEZ: What about potential privacy concerns? Is Spot storing what it sees somewhere in a recording? Does that video get deleted?

FRAYNE: So the robot is basically being used as a walking security camera. So what you can think of is all the ways that FIFA uses their existing security cameras, that footage is going to be treated the same way from the robot. It's not stored in a persistent way on the robot, but it's going to that central command center where the security personnel are reviewing those tapes.

KEILAR: So, Merry, what's the interaction between Spot and, say, people? I mean, how do you see this happening? He's kind of down there.

They're up here. What do we need to keep in mind?

FRAYNE: Yes, so you'll be seeing a lot more of Spot, you know, walking around at these kinds of events. So Spot doesn't have facial recognition technology. That's not what it's looking for.

It's really looking for things that are dangerous to people. And so when you see the robot, you can give it a wave because those folks back in the security operations center, they're going to see that and they're going to be able to respond from headquarters. But really, this robot is just walking around looking to keep people safe.

SANCHEZ: Merry, I'm not going to lie. Watching this footage makes me feel a little bit weird. It's a little bit, it's a little bit uncanny.

I only say this because earlier in the bureau here in D.C., we had actual puppies and I got to play with one and hold one. And then I'm looking at a robot and one of them that we have in this footage has like an arm, like a prehensile arm that moves around.

KEILAR: But he's alerting that there's puddles, whereas the other puppies were creating puddles.

SANCHEZ: Fair, fair assessment. What do you say to folks? What do you say to folks who see this and think, oh man, maybe we're getting closer to Terminator every day.

Maybe it's not such a great idea. Even though it is helping to keep people safe, it's scary.

FRAYNE: You know, Hollywood does, I think, a really good job of making robots seem a lot more intelligent and a lot scarier than they actually are. You know, please remember, this is just a tool. It does look like a dog and it has some cute little doggy mannerisms, but it's really just a tool that is being used by people to do a task.

That's it there. It doesn't have any superhuman smarts, Terminator style, Hollywood intelligence associated with it. It's a tool that people are using to get a job done.

[16:00:00]

And part of the reason why we make the robot have those, those more friendly gestures is to change the perception robotics in America, because we have movies like the Terminator. You know, what we really want is for people to understand that robots can be there to help them and to make their life better.

KEILAR: Listen, I want you to fool me into liking the robot dog. So I'm OK with it. Merry Frayne, thank you so much for being with us.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END