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Polls Open in Maine as Senate Primary Draws National Attention; Trump Fuels False Election Claims as Pratt Eliminated from L.A. Race; Dramatic, Hours-Long Search for Apache Crew After Crash; Trump Again Says Iran Deal is Close as Region Remains on High Alert. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired June 09, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

ALYSE ADAMSON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: So I think we can expect to see some grilling along those lines because there are some answers that the public is still demanding and Congress is still demanding and that Pam Bondi in her testimony did not satisfy. So I think we can expect to see a tough fight there.

But again, Todd Blanche was second in command, and he may then turn around and point the finger at former Attorney General Bondi. We don't know. We'll just have to see.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Yes, we will all be watching. That's for sure. Alyse, great to see you as always. Thank you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BERMAN: All right, what happens after today's primary in Maine? A brutal new example of the ads that Graham Platner will face as he wakes up to new criticism from a former staffer.

Breaking overnight, an Apache helicopter goes down near the Strait of Hormuz. Barak Ravid of Axios got some new details about the search for the people on board that helicopter.

Lumberyards are for wood, not hot air balloons. At least they're supposed to be. So what brought -- there it is -- that balloon down right near -- I think that's fertilizer there -- right near the fertilizer?

Kate and Sara are out today. I'm John Berman with Erica Hill. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

HILL: It is election day in America. Four states holding primaries. But really, I would say the main focus this morning it's on Maine, where more polls are opening there this hour.

This is a key race, of course, that could decide control of the Senate. It's giving voters their very first chance to weigh in on Graham Platner. He's the Democrat who's hoping to ultimately unseat Republican incumbent Susan Collins amid the scandals, though, that hang over his campaign. Platner, who's an oyster farmer and Marine veteran, has now faced multiple controversies as he's risen from a political unknown to now a top contender in that primary. Among the controversies, a tattoo he says he didn't realize was linked to Nazi symbolism until last year when he covered it up. And of course, over the last few days, he's been facing allegations of unsettling behavior with past girlfriends. He's denied those allegations.

And now there's this, an op-ed in The Washington Post from the Platner campaign's former political director headlined, "I know firsthand why Graham Platner shouldn't be a U.S. senator." This is the same former staffer who confirmed to CNN that Platner's wife had told her he'd been sexting multiple women outside their marriage.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in Maine at a polling location in Portland for us this morning. So you've been talking to a lot of voters, getting reaction in terms of how they feel at this moment for the primary. What are they saying this morning, Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erica, many of the Democratic voters that we've spoken to this morning have said that they are sticking behind Democratic candidate Graham Platner, despite those controversies, because they want to defeat Senator Susan Collins in November. This primary is serving as a very early test for Platner of whether he is able to consolidate a lot of that Democratic support behind him, even as he is grappling with these scandals in his campaign. Now, Platner is not the only person on this ballot.

The Maine governor, Janet Mills, suspended her campaign last month, but she is technically still has her name. And so we will be watching to see how much support she might get at this time when Democrats have been very anxious about their ability to defeat Susan Collins in November because of these controversies around Platner that have arisen. But take a listen to one of those Democratic voters we spoke with earlier this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So who did you support in the Senate race today?

ERIN EVANS, MAINE VOTER: Graham Platner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And why is that?

EVANS: I think he's the right person to unseat Susan Collins and he represents Mainers. And we need a change in the Senate. We need a change in the entire government.

And Graham Platner is going to start it and the rest of this country is going to learn. I think if anybody has things in their past and I think he's changed and I think he's a real person and I'm proud of him for standing tall and dealing with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Platner is favored to win this Democratic primary, which then would set up the next big test in November. That is the big question over all of this race is whether Platner voters will be able to look past many of those controversies around Platner as they cast their ballots in November. This is a state where Senator Susan Collins, the Republican, has served five terms.

There have been other times when Democrats have thought maybe that would be the year, they could unseat her. They were hoping to do that this year. But there are many national Democrats who are very anxious about this race now in the wake of these controversies.

Maine is also an incredibly diverse state. We are here in Portland. This is one of those liberal coastal areas.

[08:05:00]

But there are more rural communities, more conservative leaning communities in the state, which really brings a very different general electorate into play come November and female voters are expected to play a huge role. So for Platner today, this is really his first test. But the real battle will be come November in that general election fight.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Arlette, good to have you this morning. Thank you.

BERMAN: All right. With us now is CNN Washington bureau chief and political director David Chalian. David, good to see you.

We are watching margins today. What we basically expect Graham Platner to emerge with the Democratic nomination. The question is, what happens tomorrow?

And we're getting a taste of that because we're getting a look at this pro-Susan Collins super PAC commercial that will be released. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Graham Platner called Rural Mainers stupid and racist.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're calling me stupid and racist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who says something like that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Platner said cops are bast*ards. All of them. Graham Platner has no respect for law enforcement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Graham Platner said some lobstermen are absolutely terrible people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Graham Platner, you got it absolutely wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It disgusts me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Graham Platner would be a big embarrassment for me. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would never vote for Graham Platner.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Some tough stuff there and a lot of money going behind ads like this, David. What are the days going to be like ahead for Platner?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, I mean, you're getting a taste of it here. And by the way, in that ad that you just played, John, not a single mention of the most recent controversies hitting the Platner campaign, the sexting that he admitted he did and that his wife brought forward to the campaign. And of course, the allegations of some physical contact with ex-girlfriends.

He denies that there was real fear, intimidation, physical physicality there. But they didn't even touch that there. This is his old Reddit post. So more of this to come.

Now, what happened here, remember, is that Janet Mills, the Democratic governor, dropped out of a race. So she started litigating in February, March, some of his comments that he made on Reddit about women and the like, but really then just dropped out of the race, was not gaining traction in the Democratic primary electorate that she was seeking to woo.

So he didn't get a primary where this got fully vetted. That means Susan Collins and her allies plan to do precisely that. And it is going to be a long five months for Graham Platner to answer to ads like that.

BERMAN: So overnight, CNN projects that Spencer Pratt, who was a Republican, though it's a nonpartisan primary for the L.A. mayor's race, he will not head to the runoff. It will be Karen Bass and Nithya Raman, who are both progressives and Democrats, David. Now, President Trump is already out calling this rigged.

California counts its votes late. It can be frustrating, but that's the way they count. There's no evidence it's rigged.

You know who else says there's no evidence of any impropriety? Steve Hilton, a Republican running for governor in that state. Listen to what he told Erin Burnett.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE HILTON, (R) CANDIDATE FOR CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: We've got teams standing by, lawyers standing by, and actually it's the same answer that actually I've been giving for a few days now. We've seen nothing that would give us cause to intervene in that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Still, President Trump is making these baseless claims --

CHALIAN: John -- BERMAN: Go ahead. And just what does it tell us about November?

CHALIAN: Yes, well, what is so interesting to hear Steve Hilton say that, right? He very much, he very well may end up in the top two. We're not done seeing California count all the gubernatorial ballots, but it may be Xavier Becerra versus Steve Hilton.

He's Trump endorsed in an overwhelmingly Democratic state. So he's got to look for ways to separate himself from Donald Trump. If he's going to win over some voters in that battle against Xavier Becerra, this is one way he's clearly doing that.

And of course has the evidence on his side that there's nothing untoward going on or that has been presented yet.

To your note about Donald Trump and what he's saying about Spencer Pratt, as you noted, if Californians do not like waiting this long for the votes to be counted, they can elect state legislators who will change the laws in the state. But this is how the state is set up to count votes.

They allow mail to arrive for seven days after the election, as long as that ballot was postmarked by election day or before it gets counted. And it takes time to count all these votes. And what we've discovered with Nithya Raman discovered here against Spencer Pratt, a lot of her more liberal progressive voters, they were the late arriving ballots later to be counted in the process and knock Spencer Pratt out of the top two in that race.

BERMAN: And of course, when President Trump was asked for evidence of some of these claims over the weekend, he walked out of an interview with Kristen Welker. David Chalian, great to see you this morning,

CHALIAN: Without providing any evidence.

BERMAN: It's a great point. No evidence before he walked out.

HILL: No evidence, just a departure.

BERMAN: Exactly.

HILL: We do have new details for you this morning on that helicopter crash or the Strait of Hormuz. We're learning a little bit more about the dramatic search for the two U.S. soldiers who were ultimately rescued.

Plus, we're just days away from the official start of the World Cup.

[08:10:00]

You know, we've talked so much about just how pricey the tickets are. What about the potential business opportunities, though? We're going to take a closer look at the possible economic boom.

And a spectacular view from outer space. Astronauts catching -- take a look at this -- time lapse video of the Southern Lights. And there's more where that came from.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:15:00]

BERMAN: All right, just in. New reports that the U.S. military says it's investigating whether Iran is responsible for a U.S. Apache helicopter that went down near the Strait of Hormuz. This brand new reporting from Barak Ravid of Axios, also says that there was a dramatic hours-long search before the crew was found and rescued from the water.

Also, Israel's military today launched new attacks in southern Lebanon. Both Iran and President Trump have warned Israel against continuing the offensive there.

Let's get right to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House for the latest on all of this. Good morning, Alayna.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Yes, I'm going to start with what we know about this Apache helicopter. There was a statement out from CENTCOM this morning saying that at 7:33 p.m. yesterday on June 8, two crew members from that U.S. Army, it was an AH-64 Apache, were rescued by American forces after their helicopter went down near the coast of Oman. CENTCOM says that they were patrolling regional waters and that the soldiers were safely rescued within, they said, approximately two hours and are now in stable condition. We heard the president, who was taking questions from reporters about this early this morning, said that none of them were injured and that they are doing fine. I think this line from the CENTCOM statement is important.

They say that the cause of the incident is under investigation. We're still learning, of course, what exactly happened here. But to give you a sense, I mean, one, the loss of this aircraft marks the first loss of an Apache since this war began.

And I note that these helicopters have been previously used to attack Iranian small boats in the Strait of Hormuz. Apaches, you know, primarily used for precision strikes, close air support and air reconnaissance. So we're still learning to get more about what exactly happened and how this helicopter was downed.

But all of this comes, as we're also hearing from the president, you know, touting his efforts to get Israel and Iran from stopping their exchange of strikes. Also this morning when he was talking to reporters, he tried to remain confident in a deal and also argued that perhaps a deal could be struck with Iran in two or three days. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They were going back and forth and now they both agreed through me to stop. And we're in the final throes of what will be a very, very good deal that will not allow in any way, shape or form nuclear weapons, etc. And the Strait will open up right away.

It'll open up immediately upon signing, which could be in two or three days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So very fast timeline that the president putting out there. I should note that we have not heard any immediate response from the Iranians to the president's claims. And of course, Trump has been very optimistic and said similar things in the past, you know, at least 37 times, actually, according to CNN's count, that a deal would be close.

He said that since the start of the war. So we'll have to see where things stand. But I think what we've seen in recent days, we're in a very fragile place with this ceasefire and where talks are.

But Trump trying to maintain that he feels very good about a framework's chances at this point -- John.

BERMAN: Yes, just two or three days or just around the corner for 78 days. Now, do be clear. That's a long time for two or three days. Alayna Treene, thank you very much for that.

All right, an unexpected landing, a hot air balloon. There it is. It is not carrying the Wizard of Oz and it is not Oz's landing and it's landing in a lumberyard.

And a World Cup referee left out of the biggest sporting event in the world. Why he was denied entry to the United States?

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: The word from House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Democrats are a hard no on a Republican bill headed for a vote this week that would provide nearly $70 billion in additional funding for immigration enforcement and ICE. So it's important to remember, too, for voters, immigration still ranks among the top concerns. So just which party do Americans trust more in this moment to handle the issue?

Who better to answer than CNN's chief data analyst, Harry Enten, joining us now. So who do Americans trust more when it comes to tackling immigration?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: You know, Donald Trump has been the most consequential president when it comes to immigration policy in the 21st century. And the result is right here. Democrats have a problem on immigration.

Take a look right here. OK. Trust which party more on immigration at this point in Trump midterm cycles?

You know, you go back to last midterm cycle where Trump was president. Look at that. Democrats could run on immigration.

They were more trusted by seven points. But after nearly a year and a half of Trump's second term, what do we got? We got Republicans actually more trusted on immigration by eight points.

And more than that, Republicans with a 16 point lead among independents. Republicans would absolutely love the 2026 midterm cycle to be about immigration. The more it is in the news, the better Republicans do compared to other issues.

HILL: So when it comes to the voters and they're looking at these two options, what do they want to see from Democrats when it comes to immigration? Where are Democrats failing?

ENTEN: And yes, OK, where are Democrats failing? Because look at this. You've got a 15 point switcheroo, right?

Republicans are doing something right in the voters minds. But more than that, Democrats are doing something wrong. What do voters want from Democrats?

They want them to moderate. That's what they want. They want Democrats to move to the center on immigration.

Immigration Dems should move to the Senate. We're talking about 59 percent of all voters. But more than that, look at this.

There is wide agreement across socioeconomic classes and racial and ethnicity classes. Look at this -- 51 percent of black voters.

54 percent of Latino voters. 59 percent of white college voters. And 67 percent has come over to Erica's side.

67 percent of white non-college voters all agree they want Democrats to move to the center on immigration.

[08:25:00]

Just 18 percent, just 18 percent of voters want Democrats to shift to the left on immigration. So part of this is Donald Trump and the Republican Party and what they're implementing on immigration.

But it's also what Democrats are offering. And at this point, what Americans think and voters think that Democrats are offering, they are offering an agenda that is too far to the left on immigration. They want them to moderate and move to the center on immigration.

And that is true among black voters, Latino voters, white college voters, white non-college voters. You rarely ever see this quadruple agreement, but you do see this agreement on immigration. They simply put the voters want Democrats to move to the center.

They think that Democrats are too radical when it comes to immigration policy.

HILL: So that's the party split as we look at it. But when it comes to President Trump himself, his approval numbers across the board, not so great. What about immigration?

ENTEN: Yes. What about on immigration? Well, I think it is so important to make historical comparisons on immigration because immigration at this point, at term two, has been something that has been an anchor to presidents of past.

But take a look. OK, 21st century presidents, immigration approval at this point in term two -- guess who has the highest approval in immigration? It's Donald John Trump who has the highest approval on immigration, 42 percent.

Barack Obama was just a 36 percent. George W. Bush was way down there at 30 percent. So at this point, Republicans are more trusted on immigration than Democrats are. And more than that, after the most consequential policies when it comes to immigration of any president this century, Donald Trump has highest approval of any president on immigration at this point in a second term.

As I said at the top, immigration is an issue on which Republicans would love this midterm to be about, because simply put, they're beating Democrats. And Donald Trump is better liked on immigration than either his two predecessors who got a second term in the 21st century.

HILL: You know what I think the perhaps the real takeaway from this segment is? Harry likes to dance. Did you see how much of this there was?

It was like a sashaying event -- Harry Enten.

ENTEN: You know what? I need the exercise because I don't really hit the gym quite nearly enough, Erica.

HILL: OK, well, we've just taken care of that. So now you're done. You can go have your Carvel.

ENTEN: I'm going to have my fudgy the whale and I'm going to have a nice chocolate malted as well.

HILL: OK, there we go. And that's the plan for the day. The other plan for the day, a whole lot of voting happening in some key primaries. We're going to take a closer look at those races we're keeping an eye on today.

Plus, is the U.S. actually prepared if the health crisis happens during the World Cup? Why some experts warn officials really have a major blind spot here as millions are gathering to cheer on their teams?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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