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Iran Retaliates After U.S. Strikes Over Downed Helicopter; Soon, Bill Gates Testifies Before Oversight Committee on Epstein Ties. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired June 10, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, Iran launches new attacks at U.S. targets in the Middle East after shooting down an American helicopter, this after a fresh round of U.S. attacks. We have a new damage assessment this morning.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we are also standing by for Bill Gates to arrive on Capitol Hill. He's about to face questions from House lawmakers about his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

And widespread flooding just wreaks havoc across multiple states. When these waterlogged communities might now actually catch a break.

Sara is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. The breaking news this morning, Iran says it launched strikes on U.S. assets in the Middle East, including an American base in Jordan. This follows U.S. retaliation for the downing of an Apache helicopter. Iran also targeting the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, video geolocated by CNN does appear to show a flash coming from the area of a U.S. naval facility there. Both Bahrain and Kuwait say they intercepted a number of Iranian strikes.

The U.S. military now says that it has completed its own strikes against Iran in response to the downed Apache helicopter. Iran state media says U.S. strikes hit two reservoirs, cutting off drinking water access to 20,000 people.

There's been a really great deal of back and forth over the last 24 hours. You can see -- no, we don't have the map. Oh, there it is. You can see it on the map. The black dots reported are U.S. strikes. The red dots are Iranian strikes. Iran now says it is reviewing negotiations with the United States after all of this.

Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House this morning for the situation. Where does this leave things?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Look, John, I mean, this is clearly the biggest escalation between Washington and Tehran since the ceasefire began back in April. Now, I will say you know, the United States is arguing that this was in self-defense, that these strikes were in retaliation for what they accuse Iran of, which was downing that Apache helicopter yesterday. Of course, both of those crew members were rescued, and President Donald Trump said that they were not injured and are safe, but then, of course, Iran firing back in response to these strikes.

To break down where we saw these, the IRGC said that it targeted a U.S. military base in Jordan. The military there said it had intercepted five Iranian missiles. They also targeted the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. There, we have video of that geo-located by CNN appearing to show a flash from that region. There were also sirens that sounded in Kuwait.

As for the U.S., they said that they hit Iranian air defenses, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz. The military, though, coming out today and saying that the U.S. has now ceased its attacks and believe that, you know, at least from my conversations with administration officials arguing that they believe that this is contained.

Now, I do want to say as well, a U.S. official I spoke with yesterday said that they believed that the strikes when they were beginning to launch this, and we heard from CENTCOM that they began firing these missiles, that they were hoping to contain them, and that they wanted it to be a proportional response that would not get in the way of negotiations, or at least completely upending where talks are now and the progress that has been made thus far.

We'll see whether the Iranians agree with that. Of course, as we've reported over the past couple days, both sides saying that they're closing in on a framework, something we have heard, of course, repeatedly throughout the last several weeks. A question now is really does this change that state of play, or will they agree that these tit-for-tat strikes were necessary, they are done, and they can go back to the negotiating table? It's a question we're waiting to get some answers on. John?

BERMAN: Yes, so much back and forth. It really stretches the definition of ceasefire, but we'll see where things land after the next 24 hours.

Alayna Treene at the White House, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, this morning on Capitol Hill, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is going to be facing some tough questions.

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He's set to go behind closed doors with the House Oversight Committee to testify privately as part of their Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Now, you'll remember that files released earlier this year by the Department of Justice have cast an ugly shadow over Bill Gates and his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. For example, in two draft emails from Epstein in 2013, the convicted sex offender apparently claimed to have facilitated sexual encounters for Gates and help him attain medication to hide a sexually transmitted infection from his wife. Gates has strongly denied this, calling these claims false.

A CNN KFile review found several hundred more references to Bill Gates in the files. Gates has since apologized for associating at all with Jeffrey Epstein. He's repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Let's talk about what he's about to face, though. CNN's Legal Analyst Joey Jackson is here with more on this.

So, what do you think -- if you were working with the House Oversight Committee, what do you think that they're aiming to get from him? What questions should he face, Joey?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, quite a bit. Kate, good morning to you. Now, of course, he's denied wrongdoing. He's not criminally charged at all, but there are significant questions.

Now, remember what this Oversight's Committee's job is. They've been in high gear in investigating anything and all things Epstein since about the summer of 2000 and 2025, right? And so they've had a number of people come before them, like who, right? Like Bill and Hillary Clinton. That's pretty significant. Like the personal assistants and attorneys and accountants of Epstein himself. Pam Bondi was there, former Attorney General Bill Barr, number of people. Why? Because they wanted to get at the essence of what's going on here involving Epstein. He died, and people want accountability.

To Bill Gates, what is the issue? The issue is all about the nature of the relationship. What was your relationship like with Mr. Gates? When did it begin? When did it end? What were you doing together? What was the purpose upon which you established this relationship? How often did you meet? Were there lunches? Were there dinners? Were there breakfasts? What was the central focus of that?

Now, Bill Gates is indicating that this was all about philanthropy. He's a person obviously known based on his wealth. He says he's going to give it away. He's very focused on health. He's focused on hunger. So, I think they're going to examine the nature of that relationship to determine what he knew, if anything, and when he knew it, if anything there. So, it would prove to be a session at which they will get out that intel based upon the questions they ask.

BOLDUAN: There's an interesting element of this that the New York Times is reporting about, Joey, which is that the former chief investigations counsel for the House Oversight Committee has actually been helping Bill Gates prepare. People who go before Congress are always prepared for these -- for testimony, but here's how they describe it in the Times.

Gates has turned to Jake Greenberg, who until December was spearheading the Oversight panel's Epstein inquiry in his role as the committee's top investigative official. This arrangement, while not uncommon, raised eyebrows among government ethics experts.

Do you see an issue here? Is there any legal exposure that Gates could have even more broadly?

JACKSON: So, a couple of things to parse. Number one, in terms of that hire. If you're Bill Gates, you obviously want someone who has some familiarity with the committee. What is the process like? What are they focusing on?

BOLDUAN: I mean, but I'd say that's some familiarity.

JACKSON: Oh, that's major familiarity, right? But you want someone who's intimately involved with the committee was involved. December, that's a pretty short time ago. What were they focused on before? What should I expect and anticipate?

Now, there are ethical and legal rules. This person, Mr. Greenberg, cannot engage with the committee on behalf of Bill Gates because there's a one-year bar when you're coming out of a committee going into private practice, but you certainly can advise, and I think that's what the expectation is, that he'll be advising.

But, you know, look, in terms of legal exposure, remember this is a transcribed interview. It's not going to be out in the public. There's not going to be audio, from what we understand. There's not going to be any video. We don't expect that there's going to be any Fifth Amendment, you know, I plead the Fifth. I think they just want to know information, and I think that's what they'll get, but it doesn't appear that Bill Gates himself has legal exposure to this point.

BOLDUAN: The questions continue. They continue asking questions. What justice looks like, again, for survivors remains elusive.

JACKSON: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Joey. Thank you so much for coming in. John?

BERMAN: Explosive protests overnight after a video of a brutal stabbing goes viral. Where things stand this morning.

Millions of Americans could see their Social Security checks getting smaller, a lot smaller. The critical warning.

And a Republican candidate for governor refuses to answer how many people he has killed.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that the only person you've ever killed?

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I would say as a child, yes.

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BOLDUAN: All right. So, some of the breaking news overnight, Graham Platner pulled off a decisive victory to win the Democratic Senate nomination in Maine, now setting him up to face five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins this November.

Platner took more than 70 percent of the vote so far, that is despite the string of controversies that has followed his campaign, created some struggles for elected Democrats and their support for him, as we have even heard on our show.

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In the end, a controversial tattoo, revelations that he exchanged sexual text messages with multiple women, as well as the allegations of toxic relationships and physically threatening behavior, none of it stopped Maine voters from choosing Graham Platner.

Now, Graham Platner is saying this.

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GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: And any of those who feel let down or disappointed or disillusioned, it is my job to earn your trust, faith, and support, and I will spend every day of this campaign, and if I have the privilege, every day in the United States Senate doing exactly that.

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BOLDUAN: Let's get to it. CNN's Jeff Zeleny standing by. So, Jeff, what is the message here? What's the big takeaway?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kate. Good morning. Did you see the people standing behind Graham Platner there, largely women? Women are going to determine the outcome of this race. There's no doubt about it. About 60 percent of the electorate in Maine is expected to be women.

At least that was the percentage in the last general election here. And Graham Platner was effectively saying, trust me, but I will earn your trust. Well, we shall see if that happens over the next five months or so.

It was a very overwhelming win. There's no doubt about that, more than 70 percent of the vote, as you said right now. But this is the Democratic electorate. An entirely different electorate is going to await him in the fall campaign.

So, he is trying to pivot to the general election, trying to make this a referendum about Susan Collins, and he started doing that last night.

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PLATNER: If you reflect Maine's values, why are you funding masked agents who are ripping our neighbors off the streets, driving them off in unmarked vans? That is not the freedom that I served four tours defending. If you are an independent voice, why do you vote with Donald Trump 95 percent of the time? If you're so bipartisan, why were you the deciding vote to put Brett Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? (END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, it's easy to pivot to Susan Collins and attacking her during a speech last night, but there's no doubt the campaign, the hard part of the campaign begins right now.

And for all the vetting that was not done leading into this, the vetting will be done right now, and Republicans are already promising a massive campaign against him, to remind voters of everything that has been learned about him over the last year or so, from the Nazi tattoo on his chest to his relationship with women and others.

But, Kate, the question here is Democrats are effectively pinning their hopes on winning a Senate majority on Maine. They must pick up four seats. Maine is the easiest, of course, because Maine is a blue state, effectively. Kamala Harris won there. But Susan Collins has been in many tough races. There's no doubt about it. But this is the toughest of all. So the race is on in Maine.

We'll see how he stands up. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Yes. And then Maine voters on that Democratic primary sent a loud message though last night.

ZELENY: They did.

BOLDUAN: And now it's, this is now was and will remain and will be one of the closely watched and probably expensive races of this entire cycle now.

It's great to see you, buddy. Thank you so much.

ZELENY: You bet.

BOLDUAN: We also have breaking news, President Trump posting just moments ago that, as he says, Iran has taken too long to negotiate and saying that they now will have to pay the price. What does that mean?

And police arrest a pilot who flew tens of thousands of passengers over 17 years. The reason for the arrest, they say his pilot's license was fake.

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BERMAN: So, the Stanley Cup Finals now all tied up. Let's get right to CNN's Andy Scholes because, Andy, we are in, like peak sports right now. We're in a peak sports moment.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, there's so much going on right now, John, NBA Finals, Stanley Cup Final, World Cup starts tomorrow.

And I tell you what, though, this Stanley Cup Final has been one entertaining series. It's just been comeback after comeback, and the Hurricanes and Golden Knights, they've now scored 33 goals, which is tied for the third most in the Stanley Cup Final through four games.

And last night, Carolina was up 3-1 in the second period, but then Vegas battled back, back-to-back goals. The second here from Brett Howden tied the game at three. But Jordan Staal, in the third period, coming through with about as good as a goal as you'll see. Look at this, falling down, but still able to somehow flick it in for the go- ahead goal. Staal became the first player in 44 years to score at least one goal in each of the first four games of the final. Carolina would get an empty netter at the end and win 5-3. The series now tied two games apiece. Game five is in Raleigh tomorrow.

Serena Williams, meanwhile, a successful return to professional tennis yesterday, as she and Victoria Mboko won their opening match at the HSBC Championship in London. Serena, a vintage shot right there to win their fifth game in that first set.

Now, this was the 44-year-old's first match since the 2022 U.S. Open. Her husband, Alexis, and two children were there, watching mom get the win. Serena was asked after the match if this made a Wimbledon return more possible, and she said now she's just taking it one day at a time.

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All right, the World Cup, as I mentioned, kicks off tomorrow. I was in Auburn last night to see the reigning world champions Argentina play in their final tune-up against Iceland. More than 88,000 on hand, making it the most attended soccer game in Alabama history.

Everyone there, of course, to see Messi. He got a huge roar from the crowd when he came in the second half as a sub. He immediately scored on a penalty, which had everyone going wild. Argentina would win 3-0. They kick off their title defense Tuesday in Kansas City against Algeria.

All right, finally we have game four of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden tonight. The Spurs able to come back to win game three. The road team has now won each of the first three games of the finals for just the second time in NBA history. The Knicks hoping this won't be the first finals ever to see the road team win the first four games.

And maybe the Knicks, though, are destined to win in six. Check out Evan Pfeufer's yearbook prediction from six years ago. While others were listing academic awards and accolades, Evan simply put, Knicks in six, 2026 NBA Finals.

Quite the prediction there, John. But win or lose tonight, let's hope the Knicks fans behave out there on the streets.

BERMAN: I'm not sure the Knicks fans ever really behave, but let's just hope for a good game in a series that will continue.

So much great sports, Andy Scholes, thank you so much for all of that.

All right, a month's worth of rain falls in the span of just a few hours, and the same place bracing for a new round of dangerous severe storms. Look at the flooding there.

And overnight, the surprise performance from Taylor Swift. That's not her. There she is. Will the world ever be the same again?

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