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Democrats Need Four Senate Seats without Maine; Platner Wins Maine Primary; Inflation Tops Four Percent; Leigh Ann Cladwell is Interviewed about Inflation; Tom Kloza is Interviewed about Oil; Bill Gates on Capitol Hill; Opening Arguments in Palisades Fire Trial. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired June 10, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

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[08:31:16]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, Graham Platner has secured the Democratic nomination in Maine to take on Susan Collins. There are a lot of Democrats nervous that this hurts their chances to retake the Senate. He might not be the strongest candidate. That if they can't unseat Susan Collins they'll never take back the Senate.

But, but there might be other paths for Democrats.

CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten is here.

Remember, Democrats need to win a total of four seats and lose none. What are the polls showing right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes. OK. So, that is the mathematical equation, right? They need a net one, two, three, four seats. That is what they need to net.

And I think that there is this idea out there that if Graham Platner doesn't win in Maine, then it screws the Democrats. That is not true at all. Yes, it may make it more difficult, but they have a real path even without winning in Maine.

What are we talking about? Well, why don't we just take a look at some polling in some key states, right? Some state polling in GOP-held seats. These are states that Donald Trump won by double digits.

But look at this, the Democrats, and the average of polls, are actually slightly ahead. Sherrod Brown in Ohio, he's up by three points. He's, of course, the former senator who lost his seat back in 2024. How about in Texas, which has not elected a Democrat to the United States Senate since 1988? What do we see here? We see James Talarico, again, a small lead. Well within the margin of error. But in the average poll, he's up three points.

So, in two states we have polling out in the last few weeks, last few months, when you average it all together, where you actually have Democrats ahead, again within the margin of error, but up by three points in two states that Donald Trump won by double digits just two years ago.

BERMAN: So, this would be two Democratic pickups. What are some other opportunities according to the prediction market?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. So, we're talking about math here, right? We need a net gain of four. This is one. This is two. How do you add in the other two? Well, why don't we look at the prediction markets. Look at the Kalshi prediction markets.

How about chance Democrats win Senate races in Alaska, right? The last time a Democrat won a Senate race in Alaska was back in 2008, Mark Begich. But Mary Peltola, look at this, a 62 percent chance of winning that race according to the Kalshi prediction market.

How about in North Carolina, where I think even the most let's just say experts who are the hardest on the Democrats' chances think that Roy Cooper, the former governor, has a real shot at being the first Democrat to win a Senate race in North Carolina since 2008. Roy Cooper, with an 86 percent chance. So, this is three and this is four. When you combine it with one and two. And all of a sudden we ask the question, can Democrats get to a net gain of four Senate seats without Maine? Well, the answer is, absolutely yes.

BERMAN: That's if they don't lose any of their own seats, which isn't a guarantee, by the way.

ENTEN: No.

BERMAN: There's not a guarantee. But we'll leave that aside for a moment here.

OK, so you just identified four races. Are there others? I mean how many places is there, say, a puncher's chance for Democrats?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, we talked about one. We spoke about two. We spoke about three. We spoke about four. That's the net gain of four. But if we wind out the map, right, a puncher's chance, at least a 20 percent chance that the Kalshi prediction markets, people putting their money where their mouth is in terms of Democrats winning, at least a 20 percent chance. Look at this. There are seven GOP-held seats. So, the map is actually really wide this year. It has widened out, which is not a big surprise when the president of the United States has an approval rating, if he's lucky, averaging about 40 percent. If you look at most of the polls, it's under 40 percent. Bottom line is, the map is wide. Democrats have a path without Maine. Yes, Maine helps them, but they have a clear path without it.

BERMAN: And it's much wider than it is today than it was six months ago. People like us talking about this. We're talking in a way that, oh, Democrats don't have a real shot. That shot has changed substantially.

ENTEN: It turns out a president south of 40 percent in his approval widens the map for the opposition party.

BERMAN: All right, Harry Enten, thank you very much. ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's talk more about that race in Maine. Arlette Saenz has been tracking this race very, very closely.

[08:35:02]

She's joining us right now and is there on site.

Arlette, what are you seeing, what are the big takeaways and what does it mean today?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, the real fight is coming in November now that this general election matchup is set between Democrat Graham Platner and Republican Senator Susan Collins. Graham Platner overwhelmingly won the Democratic primary here, but the general election voters could very well be very different. And this is a race that will likely boil down to how women voters are feeling heading into November.

Now, there are some national Democrats, even as Democrats here in the state stood behind Platner amidst these controversies, there are some in the national party and even here in Maine that we spoke with who are worried that these controversies, which range from an old tattoo that resembled Nazi imagery, to the way that Platner had treated some past ex-girlfriends, that that could complicate their ability to flip this seat blue in November. This morning, Platner continued to face questions about those controversy and whether they present any conflicts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRAHAM PLATNER (D), MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: I just want to make this clear, there's -- there's nothing out there that's actually concerning.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC ANCHOR: Can you just talk about the nature of the sexting in terms of, can you call for the release of the Epstein files? And can you call out those who have abused women and not be conflicted in any way?

Platner: Yes, of course. I mean, I -- I engaged in consensual romantic activities with adults at an earlier part in my life. That seems like a fairly normal thing most people do. Going to an island with billionaires to possibly assault children is a vastly, vastly different thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Republicans have already made very clear that they plan to put these controversies and scandals front and center in their messaging against Platner. Platner had already experienced a little bit of this during the primary earlier as his opponent, Janet Mills, the governor here, had run some ads calling out some past Reddit posts. But Republicans have promised to attack him on a much larger scale. So, that is something that he will have to contend with over these next five months.

BOLDUAN: And what specifically are we hearing from Susan Collins and her campaign? Like, how are they laying the groundwork for what the focus is going to be, specifically from the -- from the five term senator here on this race?

SAENZ: Yes. So, Collins has won five terms here in Maine. She has been popular across the political spectrum, even though Maine has typically voted Democratic in recent presidential elections. But Collins is also contending with those political headwinds that is facing much of the Republican Party across the country. There is still a lot of angst about the way that President Donald Trump has performed in office, and that has trickled down to many of the Republican senators as well.

Last night, in his remarks, Platner already tried to lay out some of his general election arguments against Collins, arguing that she is serving President Trump and not the people of Maine. The Collins campaign and Republicans on the national level have argued that she has done a lot for Maine that people will remember. She has that powerful post on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She's gotten money here to the state of Maine. But she is going to have to contend with those national political headwinds as this has been a tough year for some Republicans in races so far.

BOLDUAN: Arlette Saenz. Arlette, thank you so much. Really appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right, we have major breaking economic news. Inflation data just in. It's at its highest level in three years. Up over four percent. Much, much higher than when President Trump took office.

Let's get right to CNN's Matt Egan for these numbers.

They are in line with expectations, but expectations were bad.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, John, look, four percent inflation is back. And the war with Iran is the reason why. So, consumer prices up by half a percentage point between April and May. That is as expected. And that is actually a slight improvement from the month before. However, this is now the fastest three-month average since the four-decade high for inflation back in 2022.

This is not a blip, right? And this was enough to lift the annual inflation rate to 4.2 percent. The highest level in three years.

Now, this looks at the trend for one year inflation going back for the last three years or so. And you can see that it had been going in the right direction. In fact, when the president took office early last year, inflation was just three percent. It got to as low as 2.3 percent in April of 2025. Now, 4.2 percent. Now, the good news here is that this does look a lot less widespread

than it did four years ago, right? If you exclude food and energy, inflation, core inflation, went up only by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis. That beat expectations on an annual basis. It's just below three percent. So, it's not where we were supposed to be.

[08:40:01]

But again, it doesn't look as widespread as it did four years ago.

Of course, consumers cannot exclude food and energy from their budgets.

BERMAN: Right.

EGAN: And so, when we look at some of the drivers here for why inflation is going in the wrong direction, gasoline, not surprisingly, is the biggest factor, right? Gas prices up by seven percent on a monthly basis. Now, thankfully, gas prices have come down in the last few weeks. They're actually down 20 days in a row. So, that should help for the June inflation report.

But this is not just gas. Airfare also. Jet fuel has skyrocketed. So, airfare up by almost three percent on a monthly basis. Overall, groceries were only slightly higher on the month. But some things got more expensive, including eggs and lettuce as well.

Now, the problem for consumers is their paychecks are just not going as far, right? Wages are up, but not nearly as much as prices. So, wages in May were 3.4 percent. But inflation at 4.2 percent. That means if you adjust for inflation, real wages are actually shrinking.

BERMAN: Yes. Again, the number you have to remember, 3.4 compared to 4.2 right there. It's just not enough.

EGAN: No.

BERMAN: Not enough to keep up right now.

EGEN: No. And it's forced a lot of consumers to dip into savings, to put some of their spending on credit cards, neither of which is healthy, neither of which is sustainable.

BERMAN: All right, Matt Egan, thank you so much for this. I know you're going to keep digging into these numbers. Obviously, it has a big impact on everyone. Thank you very much.

EGAN: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, I want to get now to Leigh Ann Caldwell, chief Washington correspondent for "Puck."

And, Leigh Ann, if I can actually just keep these numbers up behind me here, because in our business, you and I, we talk about a lot of things in political races in the midterms, and this candidate and that candidate and this scandal and that scandal. But it might be that this number right here is the most important thing heading into the midterms in November. Inflation back up over 4.2 percent. What kind of impact does this have? How does this now color the next few months before November?

LEIGH ANN CALDWELL, CHIEF Washington CORRESPONDENT, "PUCK": Yes, John, I feel like you summarized it extremely well. I was talking to a Republican two days ago about strategy, midterm strategy, where money is going to go, what races they're confident in, which races they're down in. And they made the point that none of it matters if the war is still going, if inflation is still high, and if gas prices are still high.

So, ultimately, that inflation number is absolutely key to voter sentiment heading into the midterms. And voter -- and members of both parties, Republicans and Democrats, are acutely aware of that. And so, ultimately, that's how this race is going -- these races are going to be won or lost, John.

BERMAN: Yes. And you can hear it a little bit with Graham Platner last night in his victory speech there in the Democratic primary in Maine. The bottom line is, he wants to make the race about this in national issues and not about him. And it's going to be up to the voters to weigh all of that against each other. It will be very curious. I want to know how you think this will play out, at least there, over the next few months.

CALDWELL: Yes, absolutely. It's numbers like this that will absolutely help Graham Platner in his -- in his race against Susan Collins. Democrats are hoping that the race in Maine especially -- well, all races, is a referendum on Trump, on his policies, on the Republican Party, regardless of any sort of flaws that any sort of Democratic candidate might have, especially Graham Platner.

Now, Republicans, you know, Senator Susan Collins and Republicans who are fighting in that state to help her win are hoping to make it a referendum -- a personal referendum on Graham Platner. And so that is a big difference. So, it's going to be up to voters to decide which matters. Is it the personal liabilities of Graham Platner, or, as one Democrat told me, the professional failures of Susan Collins, according to a Democrat, and those -- that is the frame of how that race and really races across the country are going to be -- to be -- to be run.

BERMAN: Yes.

CALDWELL: But ultimately, the economy is going to matter a tremendous amount.

BERMAN: And while all that's happening with the economy, and the things happening out there in the country, just very quickly, Washington gets itself tied up in knots over many different things, largely because of, generally speaking, White House action. In this case, it's nominated -- or not nominating, tapping Bill Pulte to be acting chief of national intelligence, which the president has not backed down from. I think Republicans were trying to get him every opportunity to say, no, no, no, I'm not going to do this. We're going to do this in a different way. And he said, no, no, Bill Pulte's going to be the acting DNI chief for the foreseeable future here. What pressure does this put on Republicans on a range of issues?

CALDWELL: A tremendous amount of pressure. Speaker Mike Johnson went to the White House yesterday to talk to President Trump exactly about this.

[08:45:02]

Senate Majority Leader John Thune has said very publicly that the president needs to nominate a permanent position to give -- to give a wink and a nod and assurance to Republicans and Democrats on The Hill that Bill Pulte will just be temporary. And for the first time, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, those really powerful foreign surveillance powers that the United States has, which is set to expire on Friday, could go dark. And so really it's a game of chicken between Democrats who are threatening to block this legislation unless Bill Pulte is pulled down or someone permanent is named, and the president, who doesn't seem to be backing down.

BERMAN: Not now. We will see what happens over the next 48-72 hours.

Leigh Ann Caldwell, as always, great to speak with you. Thank you so much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: And now, meanwhile, you've got this new inflation data that just came out, as John was talking about earlier, that also, according to new government data, the Trump administration is warning that oil prices will likely remain high through at least July as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively paralyzed. Brent crude, the global benchmark, expected to average about $105 a barrel this month and next.

At the same time, there are fresh concerns about America's stockpile of emergency oil, potentially hitting a critical low as soon as this week.

Joining me now for some important perspective on this is Tom Kloza, chief energy advisor for Gulf Oil.

It's good to see you again, Tom.

Let's start with the -- let's start with the good news since it's rare these days. Gas prices are starting to retreat. Have been for a minute. How good is that news? How long do you think that lasts?

TOM KLOZA, CHIEF ENERGY ADVISER, GULF OIL: I would say to most Americans, enjoy it while you can because I think it lasts into next week. But it's not going to be a game changer. You know, we're down about 40 cents. Well probably drop another 10 or 15 cents. And most people around the country will be able to buy for less than $4.

But there's a day of reckoning that's coming in July. I think the Energy Department is right about that. And I think that's when we run out of some of the alternatives here that might create, you know, triple-digit oil prices again and higher gas and diesel prices.

BOLDUAN: Let's talk about the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and then we'll -- and then we'll head back to -- in another direction.

The way that they're -- it's being described is it's now slipping below Biden era lows to its most exhausted level since the Reagan era. And that is when the nearly 50-year-old reserve was still being filled up.

How much does that concern you? What does this mean for anyone, or should this mean for anyone who, let's say, you know, the acronym SPIRO (ph) is not something that they're generally talking about on a daily basis.

KLOZA: Right. Well, I think that strategic release is not just by the U.S., but overseas. Europe and Japan have been one of the wild cards here. You know, together with demand destruction and China buying four million barrels a day less crude than they were prone to, you know, those have been difference makers for now. But we'll start to run down in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve by the middle or the late part of July.

Today, we're probably, in all respects, below the Biden era lows that were reached in July of 2023. And he was lambasted for that policy back then. So, we're going to approach a point where we don't have additional strategic oil to release. It's not that we need it. It's the rest of the world that needs it.

BOLDUAN: And the focus, of course, remains on the Strait of Hormuz. And the president, last week, said that it could be Labor Day before the Strait is reopened. And that statement left former Biden energy security expert Amos Hochstein, who is on my show, that left him to say this.

Let me play this for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMOS HOCHSTEIN, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: That's beyond the deadline of when energy markets can actually handle the current state of affairs.

If the president now is saying, which he is, that we are going to have the Strait of Hormuz closed for another two, three months at least, to me, if I'm a trader in the markets, I'm saying, that's the biggest red flag that we've seen since the beginning of the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And, Tom, what do you think of this?

KLOZA: Well, I would agree with that. I think that once we start running down strategic reserves and let's say China comes back and starts buying at a more normal rate, then you bring $120 to $150 oil into the equation, and $5 to $6 gas. Again, we're in a break right now. We're in kind of an interregnum

(ph) or whatever, but it's not going to last forever. And I would say now that most of the big investment banks are planning for the Strait to be at least impeded through the rest of 2026. Normal is not going to be a word that's used for exits and flows out of the gulf for the foreseeable future.

[08:50:09]

BOLDUAN: Tom Kloza, thank you so much. It's great to see you. I really appreciate it. And we'll stick with it -- let's stick with the good news. Enjoy it while it lasts when it comes to gas prices going back down. I really appreciate it.

And we'll stick with the -- let's stick with the good news. Enjoy it while it lasts when it comes to gas prices going back down. I really appreciate it.

John.

BERMAN: All right. Bill Gates arriving on Capitol Hill to speak to members of the House Oversight Committee. These are pictures from, I believe, just moments ago. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT FOUNDER: I hope my testimony is helpful to the work -- important work of the committee to find justice for the victims. Thank you.

REPORTER: Did Epstein ever introduce you to any women? Do you regret your friendship with Jeffrey Epstein?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Interesting that Bill Gates chose to speak. The Microsoft founder there arriving. Of course, his name came up several times in the Epstein files. There was a relationship between Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein. The House Oversight Committee has been questioning many different people behind closed doors. Many people who have appeared in the Epstein files. Gates is the latest person there.

Notable that he did choose to speak to reporters. Not everyone does. There is no requirement that you talk going in, but there have been all kinds of newspaper reports -- there have been all kinds of reports in the papers over the last several days about sort of the public relations support that Bill Gates is getting leading into this question session from members of the House Oversight Committee.

Obviously, he is prepared for this. He's known it's coming for a long, long time.

Let's get right to Annie Grayer, who is on Capitol Hill.

We don't have her, guys. You got to tell me where we're going here.

All right, here's what we're going to do. We're going to get a reporter up there on Capitol Hill.

We'll be right back.

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[08:55:48]

BERMAN: All right, the breaking news, as you saw just moments ago, Microsoft founder Bill Gates just arrived on Capitol Hill. He will answer questions to members of the House Oversight Committee behind closed doors about the Epstein files. And he made a statement as he walked in, which was interesting.

I want to get right to CNN's Annie Grayer, who is on Capitol Hill watching all of this.

Annie, bring us up to speed.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, John, it's rare to see witnesses make statements at the camera stationed outside the hearing room ahead of these closed-door interviews. But Bill Gates did make a brief statement to reporters before entering the closed-door interview.

Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, MICROSOFT FOUNDER: I'm glad to be here voluntarily to testify, to help with the committee's work. I'll start with an opening statement in the hearing room. I hope my testimony is helpful to the work -- important work of the committee to find justice for the victims. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: So, as Gates mentioned, he is appearing voluntarily. And lawmakers have a lot of questions for Bill Gates. He appears in the Epstein files hundreds of times. He's referenced in emails, in phone call invitations, in calendar invites.

But the most explosive allegations are these two draft emails that Epstein allegedly was going to send himself but never sent. These are unverified claims where Epstein claims that he helped Gates to be set up with women, and he also helped Gates get medication to hide a sexually transmitted infection from his then wife, Melinda Gates.

Now, Bill Gates denies those claims vehemently, says they are completely false, but has said he regrets ever interacting with Gates. So, there are a lot of questions that lawmakers will start to get to shortly with that interview about to get underway, John.

BERMAN: All right, great to have you there watching this all happen.

Annie Grayer, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: In just over an hour, the man accused of setting one of the worst fires in California's history is due back in court. The Palisades Fire in Los Angeles killed a dozen people. It scorched thousands of homes and businesses in January of 2025. Prosecutors now say that Jonathan Rinderknecht was obsessed with fires. Mad at the world. Ranting about capitalism and vigilantism before sparking the fires. But his attorneys say he's innocent.

CNN's Nick Watt is tracking this one, back with us from Los Angeles this morning to tell us more.

What is expected in court today, Nick?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, we're going to get the opening statements. And as you said there, the prosecution is going to say that this guy, who was an occasional Uber driver, he's 29 years old, that he was pissed off at the world, hated billionaires, was fixated on Luigi Mangione and that after he finished his Uber shift New Years Eve, he was also annoyed, apparently, that he didn't have a date. He went up above the Palisades and set a fire that was quashed by the L.A. fire department, but then a week later blew up in those Santa Ana winds.

Now, his defense is going to say, that's nonsense. Sure, he was up there. He was watching the fireworks. And that fire was actually started by a firework. This is going to be a key wrinkle. So, the fire that Rinderknecht allegedly started was January 1st. As I just mentioned, it was suppressed, but then burning embers a week later blew up.

Now, here in L.A. it's been pretty tricky to find a jury that -- of 12 people who have no connection to the fire. And, in fact, they have failed to do that. There are nine women, three men. One of the jurors said she followed it very closely on the news. A friend's daughter lost her home. Another person said two friends lost homes. They both say that they can still remain impartial. There's another guy who was actually evacuated. He is an alternate juror.

So, things are going to kick off at 9 a.m. here in Los Angeles, as I say, with those opening statements. The city is watching. Sixty square miles nearly of this city were destroyed by those pair of fires that we saw last January. All eyes on the court, 9 a.m., when it opens.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, as so many people are still trying to rebuild and get their lives back on track still, absolutely.

Nick, thank you so much for covering it for us. Really appreciate it.

[09:00:02]

John.

BERMAN: All right, in Jacksonville, Florida, a suspected drunk driver plowed through the course of an ironman.